Ham

My kids got their very own copy of "Earl the Christmas Squirrel." You may feel sorry for them, but they actually found it hilarious!

Yep.. that's it. forgot it was published. I think this was one of Martinpukes failings. He did not really have the capacity to manipulate in a subtle manner- after a while, all he could do is scream. He replaced "tithing brings wings to life" with "if you do not give me a minimum of fifteen percent, God will not even spit in your direction."

Pretty good Oldies.. but how about: "Don't bother praying if you do not tithe." I heard that one taught!

Skyrider, sounds pretty valid to me. Makes me feel bad for the kids. Just makes me think though. If she dumps him, why not go all the way? Donna should distance herself as far as possible from the source of abuse, the organization itself. Then I would have a little respect for her. Instead, she is locked into the same kind of crap. Besides the obvious perks, I can't see how pleasant the situation really is.

Maybe they were trying to target a different kind of crowd. Anybody into sado/masochism would find that kind of reward to be a dream come true!

Here's another one from the Vey dictionary. "Rewards." The God-given divine right to humiliate, abuse or make utterly miserable the supposed non-standing part of the "family" of God at the gathering together, and even at this present time, if you are counted among the "most faithful".

I always wondered what would happen if "would you 'be blessed' to scrub my floors, toilet and rest of the house for the big meeting?" was answered by, "no thanks. I am already as 'blessed' as I need to be.."

Just a thought.. why should they get divorced? True, it would free up ole craigers and Donna to pursue whatever relationship they would want. But, who would in their right mind marry either of them? Maybe at tax time, Donna can still claim ole Craigers as a dependant. Probably all that she can get out of him..

Heh heh.. holy cow.. poor kids. Probably need psychological councilling after that! Might be better off leaving her in the back room of some defunct cult- at least the kids are spared.

They really oughta lay off of these positive phrases. It's really sick.. makes bondage sound so wonderful.

"Priviledge" is a pretty interesting concept. As my little brain can understand it, what are they REALLY saying? "This organization, being the best thing to happen to the world since the introduction of soap, is worth sacrificing more than one seventh of your time, more than fifteen percent of your income, just to have the "opportunity" to kiss our rear ends even more in a bigger way, even though we have little to offer other that rehashed B.S., but you will suffer great consequences if you do not." I beg to differ.

Kinda looks like a really twisted biker, doesn't it?

Thanks Pat!

I have seen several folk subjected to that kind of attitude. I think the key issue is that many of us allowed the ministry to define the terms. The phrases would be powerless without a non-standard definition being given to the terms. And a lot of the terms underwent a slow, gradual metamorphosis. "Family of God" actually had a good connotation at one time in the Vey dictionary. After a while, if you were not one of the family in "the household" you were not worth spit. "Well, they are just in the family" just was a nice euphemism for what was really intended. They also have changed the meaning for the term "love" several times. This helped to define who, what where when and why anyone or anything should appropriately be considered of being worthy of love. Certainly you are not, you did not give over fifteen percent this week. I think a lot of the phrases were really a blank check. Just write in a new condition or definition. Of course- keep the original phrase; then you are never wrong. You can say that "from peas to soup, we have always told our followers that they are supposed to have the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation (in the household)."

That picture brings new meaning to the word stagnant.. man, is that the best smile she can produce? Exie, something that would really be scary- Rosie minus makeup.

Heh heh heh.. have to put one of hockey mask thingies on her. The only problem, it would be less scary.

I think the main problem was when people accepted the definition of the terms. The word, the word, and nothing but the word sounded pretty nice. But since "the word" was equivalent to "the ministry", anything else in your life but the ministry was relegated to the category of "second rate cause."

Those were kind of my thoughts when I started what has "the word" cost you. True, "the word" cost US little. But add to that statement "the word is the ministry and the ministry is the word" and you start to really have some problems. Go a little further- "we eventually should come to the realization that we owe our very lives to the ministry." Whew, who ever thought of that? Now you're in real deep doo doo if you believe that! Funny how seemingly innocent phrases can be used to manipulate at first in a subtle manner. After a while it is not very subtle anymore.

The only other possibility: this was one of the "holiday" pictures sent out with the card to scare the staff.

Exie, that photo was probably taken after a two week session with reflections.

har har har har har!

Hello Uncle H. You have some pretty good comments. I think a lot of wayfer mentality accepted almost anything that somebody, especially an "instructed" higher up would speak in "prophecy" as coming straight from the Lord, as long as there were no glaring irregulaities, and that it generally fit the bill of exhortation and/or comfort. I don't know.. this one really did not sit right with me. Quite true that hindsight is always 20-20! But you know, all of those little doubts and funny feelings about stuff through the years , along with the stuff "put on the back burner" really start to add up.

Same here.. I think it has been a "snow week" here at work. best regards..

That's funny- I think I vaguely remember it. Kind of funny how people go to so much trouble to keep the squirrels out of the birdfeeder. Unless you are really are a bird lover, I think the squirrels provide a little more entertainment.

"Alternatively, you may consider using the un-discarded macaroni boxes. Carefully cut them into two inch by two inch squares. After applying the vaseline, your guests may not notice the difference."