In Reply to: Re: After reading the article about backsliding posted by Steve Matheson on July 19, 2006 at 06:42:19:
Hi Steve. A couple observations. You said:
'As I said in my writing I do believe it's important for any one who leaves the Family not to throw the baby out with the bath water.'
This depends on what you think the baby is & what the bathwater is. I found after leaving that all the good, redeemable things in the Family were readily available in legitimate Christian groups & Christian individuals -- without the horrible abuses. So the Family was & is totally irrelevant.
If 'the baby' is US individuals (FGs & SGs), then of course we shouldn't throw ourselves out, but I think you're referring to core good things in the Family, & upon years of reflection, I have to ask WHAT core good things? If the core is Jesus then he's not unique to the Family. He's better off without the Family.
A few years ago the Family had to think & think what made them unique, & they could no longer say Witnessing, since many other Christians were now witnessing. So what did they finally say made them unique: Communal life & sexual freedom. Like, we needed either one, fraught as both are with issues of control potential & abuse potential?
I do beg to differ with your statements also:
'I was leaving what the Family had become, due to following bad doctrines, bad teachings and a dictatorial system of government. I think if the Family had stuck with it's original teachings and basic bible beliefs it would have evolved into a much better organization.'
The Family WAS a dictatorial form of government from the beginning, & that flowed out from Berg's dictatorial, perverted personality. Berg was teaching the Gabriel doctrine back at Huntington Beach. He was teaching Abrahim & spirit possession back at TSC, sexual abuse of teen girls, including getting them pregnant & having a harem as far back as TSC. The Law of Love first came out in 1971, 35 years ago. It was all there, even though the evil weed may not have fully bloomed.
When I consider these things, I feel there is little to redeem out of the Family experience. People should just get out & stop living in a false & abusive caricature of Christianity.