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In Reply to: Re: Jesus Christians - Australian Story posted by tazy on June 07, 2007 at 00:14:55:
Tazy, you wrote: "... even anticipating some later changes such as allowing members to hold jobs ..."
I'd like to correct the idea that allowing members to hold jobs was a later change in TF's history. In 1973, Amos O'Test (you Aussie oldtimers might remember him) was a top leader in the Pacific Northwest, N.A. There was a big push on to flee America because of the supposed punishments God was about to heap on the U.S., falsely prophesied by Berg. Amos and other leaders, undoubtedly on orders from Berg, instructed many of us to go out and get jobs to finance our trips out of N.A. In fact, I had never had a system job until after I joined TF.
TF, especially its leadership, has always been hypocritical with regard to their ideal of not needing secular jobs and just living by faith. Not many months after "fleeing" the U.S., I was in the Far East, where heaps of money came pouring in from street litnessing alone. Two-person teams were sent out on the road for weeks, sometimes more than a month at a time, and were expected to live by faith. That meant that almost every dollar was sent to leadership, and we were reprimanded if we dared spend any of the money for a place to sleep, which we were expected to get for free. I've wandered the streets of many strange cities late at night with money in my pocket but unable to find a place to sleep because of that abusive policy.
Berg and all Family leaders have always had double standards, requiring of their followers what they do not require of themselves. Oh yes, I did see close up just how those leaders lived on faith, the faith and fruits of others. Parasites all!!
