In Reply to: A correction to Jesse (Rockon)'s statement posted by Bystander on February 13, 2003 at 08:52:08:
I can relate to that Bystander, that was the practice when I was there and I believe still is: Mo/Maria/Peter letters taking the place of the bible, and learning bible truths together. No learning on your own much less room for individual interpretation. We were not allowed to think for ourselves, we had to think the same thoughts and accept everything fed us as truth. And if we didn't understand it or accept it, to just put it on the back burner and the truth will be revealed in good time. That was the measure of our spirituality. On how "yielded" we were, on how "unquestioning" our faith was. Classic mental programming at its' most insidious as it used the bible as its front.
When I left and when the full realization dawned on me that what I learnt in the fam was crap (we were programmed to accept the crap as "The Word"), I got thrown into a monumental crisis of faith. I felt betrayed and lost. The "truths" that applied in the fam were actually lies outside it after all. I couldn't be a witness though I so wanted to. How could I? Even my sample was so off. So to get back to Jesse's statement "The Bible is true regardless of where we learned it or who taught it to us." I beg to differ. In the context of the above background, it did make a hell of a difference because I learnt it from a sex-crazed megalomaniac "prophet". It's a good thing that you left when you did Jesse. You are not as tainted as we are. Your faith is still intact. More power to you. Most of us are still struggling with it.