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In Reply to: Re: openmindedness posted by MG on August 12, 2002 at 00:01:35:
Yes, I think stories like that are very helpful. The more that people write about their experiences, the better.
We know one couple like the one you describe also. They have been on that kind of status for years and feel comfortable that way, apparently. They seem to hold to Maria's clever admonition that if they are not strong enough to be a full time member, they will still reap in the benefits if they tithe (such a diabolical way of getting money out of intelligent enough people who want to leave). The husband even went to school and became an accountant, yet still held to the belief that the F. was the best way to live even though they couldn't live it. They always baffled me in their rationalizing.
They home schooled their children, but put them in high school so they could get a diploma. Of course, being unprepared for the world, they totally acted out. Two of the girls became pregnant, their husbands were dope addict jerks whom they had to leave and they are now single moms eeking out a living. They all ended up smoking and influenced my children. One went off to India to be a full-time member. They seemed like one confused family. I could never understand how they justified sitting on the fence when Berg (whom they are following) made it very clear that he hated fence sitters and insisted that people be for him or against him, no inbetweens. They are so loyal and dedicated to this end that they would tithe all the gifts they got from their families to their own detriment. Very proudly they would state how they had to live on pancakes for two weeks just so they could pay their tithe.
As far as I know, they are still tithing and reading the MOP. At one point, they came over to visit us and test the waters. I suspect they had been sent over to find out our status as we had quit tithing and no one had heard from us. I believe they were asked to find out if we were enemies. They asked some pointed questions and when they found out that we did not believe David Berg was God's endtime prophet, that was the end of their visiting us.
I figure, it's what they want, I simply have no idea what else to say to people who are in such denial.
