I may be slow about coming to this realization, but it just seems to me that Maria and Peter, and Berg before them are just a bunch of CROOKS!
As for being true "shepherds"... well, according to the Bible, "a true shepherd giveth his life for the sheep", and "whoever is the greatest among you shall be servant of all". "No greater love hath any man than to lay down his life for his friends".
Now that sounds like real love to me, and Jesus is the sample of whom we are to follow if we are Christians. And from my observations after being out of the Family, it just seems to be that the Family's "shepherds" and WS units are just staying "selah" to hide from the authorites... NOT BECAUSE OF SO-CALLED ANTI CHRIST ENEMIES! They never, at least since 1975 when I joined, were upfront and open... never showed their faces or led the troops into the battles.
Their enemies are the "Vandari" and who are they... those who would bring them ot court for the sexual and physical abuse they suffered. But why can't they... they don't know the legal names and addresses of those who abused them. They can't even address the leaders of this organization because they don't even know if their communications will get to them. The leaders don't answer questions directly... only throgh their "channels" or helpers.
The WS' "Creations Units" are just hiding from the law because their artists are plagerising their art. Their "office" personnel are busy, busy copying hundreds of computer programs and movies to send out to their members.
Their finacial men are hiding to evade taxes and keep the CM Family members from finding out EXACTLY where and how much of their money is being used for what projects!
In Japan, this Friday is the day that Shoko Asahara will get his final judgement for his part in the "sarin poisoning" done on the Tokyo metro about 9 years ago. His group is known as "Aum".
According to those who escaped from his group, Asahara's "words" were to be obeyed without question. He was their guru. New members went through an intense period of brainwashing by wearing strange headgear that had eletrodes to connect to the waves of Asahara. Daily they memorized the teachings of the group. Asahara's pictures were everywhere! They were put into small enclosures and rooms to only have Asahara's influence.
Fianlly, after the sarin attack, the police found him hiding in a little room with all the money... thousands of yen! Who answered the door when the police arrived... his own daughter! She was trained to LIE for him! She kept adamantly denying that her father was there.
My conclusion... the Family's leaders are not shepherds and deserve no respect, at all! They are simple crooks running from the law for a multitude of crimes. The Family members are only pawns... and are used to "fight as front line soldiers" to defend their leader's crimes... NOT TO DEFEND THE FAITH OR TO DEFEND THE TRUTH as Jesus' disciples did.
WAKE UP FAMILY... YOU ARE BEING USED TO PROTECT CRIMINALS... ZERBY AND KELLY!