In Reply to: true, but.. posted by porceleindoll on March 24, 2005 at 01:12:34:
it seems that perhaps it might be helpful to clarify that "the cult", tho made up of individuals w/ individual personalities and varying capacities to love, ITSELF takes on a personality of it's own, linked to the personality of it's leadership. i think one can say that "the cult's love was phoney and manipulative" and still recognize some remarkably loving individuals that were in the movement. of course, most of us remember times when we would repress our sense of what would be the loving thing to do, and yield to "the cult's" definition... we were in constant conflict between selves, our true self and our cult self.
i remember doing things that i am now ashamed of , tho at the time i veiwed it as fighting my carnal mind, and trying to yield to the "new man" (read cult self.)
and sometimes i could be a real jerk all on my own, no help from the cult!(still can!)
btw, it is interesting to note that a guy wrote a book about people who left churches for various reasons ("Exit Interviews"), and he found that of all the people interviewed, NOT ONE had been contacted by church leadership to ask why they had left, or to continue in relationship. i've seen the same thing w/ companies, etc. i think that one is pretty much human nature.