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The
Family’s Policy on Lying & Deception
Original compilation by ed Priebe
Revised and edited by WC
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Print this |
this edition 2005 |
The Family
Official Policy on Lying & Deception
"The Family still cannot be fully frank"
(THE RT. HON. LORD JUSTICE WARD)
The Family International call themselves "an International Christian
fellowship," and present themselves as a loose-knit group of independent
missionaries. They claim to be the best examples of Christians living the truth,
endowed with more truth than any other, and boast about proclaiming The Truth
to the world. By contrast, their history of speaking to law enforcement agencies,
the court and the media has been one of deception, misinformation, cover-ups and
outright lies.
- In a single court case in the U.K. the Lord Justice Ward found members
of The Family: "lying"; "dishonest"; "economical with
the truth"; "evading the truth"; trying to "rewrite the truth";
"did not tell truth"; not telling "the whole truth"; presenting
a "distortion of truth"; having a "failure to face the truth"
and "failure to tell the truth"; having a "habit of lying";
"not frank"; "less than frank"; "not forthcoming";
"disassembling the truth"; "disingenuous" in their attempts
to shirk responsibility.
The judgement
is replete with descriptions such as: "travesty of truth"; "half
truth"; "not the whole truth"; "could not get near the truth";
"not made privy to the truth"; "doubt I heard the whole truth";
"the (actual) truth is"; "must face the truth"; "evidence
was neither full nor frank"; "lack of frankness"; "less than
full and frank"; "sought to deny the authenticity"; "evasive";
"very evasive"; "lies"; "clear evidence of cover up";
"frankness was probably lacking"; "The Family still cannot be fully
frank"; etc.
- Charity Fronts: The Family now operates as a collection of charitable
organizations under the umbrella of the FCF (Family Care Foundation). While the
FCF is clearly connected to The Family, they are on record supressing and denying
this fact.
- Sexual abuse: The Family has printed publications and videos which
can only be interpreted as condoning child-sexual abuse and child-adult sex, many
recently exposed on TV worldwide. Scores of second generation members have already
testified, appeared in court and on television, and sworn affidavits that they
have been sexually abused. Yet Family spokespersons regularly refute these claims
and deny full responsibility and accountability, ignoring the ruling of the court
that "rather than suppress these horrors, they should be brought out into
the open, fully and frankly acknowledged."
The questions we address in this article:
- Why would The Family, while claiming to be an honest bonafide Christian organization, enshrine lying and deception as part of their internal policies?
- Why are their PR Spokespersons under standing orders to lie?
- Why do these individuals in The Family lie so willingly?
In this article we examine their secret documents and insider publications to show how The Family
has gone to great lengths to define what is a “lie,” when it is permissible to
lie, and the justifications for lying. In tracing the history and roots of The Family’s Policy on Lying and Deception, we hope
to bring public understanding of their mindset, and the reasons why The Family’s
spokespersons are not always up front:
Outline of topics covered:
- DOCTRINES: The Family believes in being “deceivers, yet true”
- The Family has distinctions between "lying" and "lying"
- reconciling lying and the scriptures—“Let’s not call it deceit”
- lying to "accomplish God's purpose"
- The Family has a list of scriptural references to justify lying and deceit
- The Family believes in "being technically honest"
- The Family has directives on how to lie the "right way"
- The Family compiled a publication of all Berg's writings on how and when to lie
- The Family believes in finding the "proper balance" about lying
- SECURITY: The Family feels “compelled” to deceive to protect their security
- The Family holds apocalyptic and paranoic beliefs about a "coming Jewish Antichrist" world
- The Family believes it cannot trust other Christians
- The Family hides incriminating literature
- The Family by their own admission lied to authorities in the face of irrefutable evidence
- The Family is briefed on what to say to authorities
- The Family advises its members to hide their identity
- The Family: siege, exaggerated sense of threat & heightened security
- The Family has a definition for lying to "save a life"
- The Family believes in lying to protect their leaders
- SEX: The Family believes the world doesn't understand their sexual freedoms
- The Family has a history of denying sexual abuse ever occured
- The Family avoids prosecution for years of promoting adult-child sexual contact
- The Family endorses Adult-Child sex in secret
- MONEY: The Family conceals its true identity to collect donations
- The Family believes it must deceive "the system" (society at large) to survive
- The Family doesn't want to be connected to the FCF
- CHILDREN: The Family teaches their children how to be tight-lipped and to lie
- The Family has special publications teaching children to lie
- The Family uses deceit on its own children, manufacturing Bible stories
- SPIN CONTROL: For years, The Family denied that it was connected to the Children of God
- The Family: "Deny it flatly, absolutely" that you are The Children
of God
“DECEIVERS YET TRUE”
“Deceivers, yet true” captures The Family’s thinking on lying. It
is a catch phrase used among Family members meaning “condoned lying,” originating
from the Mo letter Deceivers, Yet True! in which their founder
Berg wrote:
"The Lord & His Prophets frequently used deceit & sometimes
outright lies, believe it or not, to accomplish God’s purpose. The law is the
standard, but there are always exceptions to the rules, particularly if God’s
the One Who makes the exceptions! God Himself is going to lie to them & deceive
them because they refused the truth ... God lied to them & deceived them &
deluded them & damned them! What better proof can you have than that?—God
sometimes uses lies!" (ML 1248, par. 4-5)
“Deceivers, yet true” is Berg's (mis)application* of the KJV Bible verse
(2Cor.6:8) “By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers,
and yet true.” The Family allows its adherents free license to use deception as
long as they remain "true in their hearts":
"Paul says, 'As deceivers & yet true'. (2Co.6:8) Sometimes you
are almost compelled to deceive people, to make them think a certain thing when
really that’s not the thing.—Being misleading & evasive." (To
Lie?--Or Not to Lie!--That is the Question!, ML 1400, par.5)
"(Maria: Deceivers yet true!) (2Cor.6:8) Yes ... we are deceivers yet true."
(Deceivers, Yet True!, letter 1278, par.6)
*Christian scholars note that this is a misinterpretation—The
NIV BIble reads: “Through glory and dishonour, bad report and good report; genuine,
yet regarded as imposters.” (Paul was saying that he was genuine and had integrity,
despite the fact that some regarded him as not genuine).
LYING “TO PROTECT SECURITY”
The Family feels “compelled” to deceive - this arises from their belief
that they need to do so in order to "protect their security."
Security is a major buzzword in The Family. To understand what motivates
this "need" it is necessary to understand a bit about their world view.
The Family holds apocalyptic and paranoic beliefs about the so-called "coming Jewish Antichrist" world government. They believe the final Antichrist dictator predicted in the Bible is
about to appear on the world scene to persecute and kill Christians, and that
he is actually already ruling the world from behind the scenes through
his followers, the Jews (whom Berg refers to as “Antichrists”); that Jewish people
(all “Antichrists”) hate The Family and want to destroy them for exposing
the Jew’s so-called plans to take over the world:
"The Antichrist government is already here! The Antichrist is already
here! He’s undoubtedly running things from behind the scenes!"(The
Antichrist & His Government are Already Here! ML 2184, par. 64)
"Our bitterest enemies, the Antichrists, are out to get us more than
the general system is out to get terrorists, because we are a terror to our enemies!
They fear us more than anybody because ... governments don’t even know what is
going on, but we do & we are spreading the Word abroad & telling the World
about it, & they hate that.
"We are living now almost like under Antichrist conditions, because the Antichrists
are after us right now & they would like to hurt us now just as much as if
the Antichrist reign had already begun, because it has—in them! They’d like to
kill us if they could, if they could do it legally or illegally or strangle us
or imprison us or anything they could do to stop our work, but most of all, shut
our mouths!
"Well, all that to say that we really need to be more prayerful & more
careful & more scrupulously conscious of security in everything we do from
now on, because we are their bitterest & most powerful enemies on Earth &
there is no one they would like to get like us, nobody!" (Know
Your Enemies! ML 1931, par. 2–5)
The Family believes it cannot trust other Christians because most of them
supposedly work with the forces of the Antichrist:
"The Devil has found out that by using the religionists, whatever their
religion may be, whether it’s Churchianity [mainline Christianity] or
... whatever it is, he can rule the world! So don’t think you’re going to get
any more mercy from the religious people, not even the Christians, they’ll probably
be the worst! So don’t be surprised when good Christians, even more likely the
died-in-the-wool fundamentalist evangelical Pentecostal Christians, want to murder
you and beat you up, kill you if they can ... I meant to talk about security;
but this is to apprise & advise you of why we have to have security."
(Constant Vigilance is the Price of Security!, ML 1889, par.
25, 50, 52 & 54)
The Family believes the world doesn't understand their sexual freedoms.
For decades, The Family of enforced The Law of Love doctrine, a policy
that promoted promiscuity, prostitution, sexual abuse of children and teens, and
incest. When facing charges of widespread sexual abuse of minors, The Family decided
that they could never let the public know their true beliefs on the subject, and
responded with official denials:
"(MARIA: WELL, WHAT ABOUT INCEST?—THAT'S A BIG BIG QUESTION IN THE
FAMILY RIGHT NOW.) Honey, this subject of incest is so dangerous I hardly even
dare talk about it in the privacy of our bedroom! I mean the System practically
goes berserk when you talk about incest! (Maria: Well, we'll just have to tell
the kids that it's not prohibited by God, but you'd better watch out because it's
dangerous!) Of course it is!" (The Devil Hates Sex,
but God Loves It! ML 999, par. 20, written May 20, 1980)
The Family had promoted adult-child sexual contact for years and was criminally
guilty on a massive scale. When forced by a court to acknowlege widespread sexual abuse, the strategy of The
Family was to claim there were only isolated incidents, but nothing on an institutionalized scale, and that nothing was orchestrated from the top.
However, a court investigating reports of child sexual abuse in The Family found it was:
"totally satisfied that there was widespread sexual abuse of young children and teenagers by adult members of The Family, and that this abuse occurred to a significantly greater extent within The Family than occurred in society outside it."
A court investigation into The Family's literature, sex videos and living practices
found:
"[The] Family encouraged the sexuality of children, they became [...]
objects of the Law of Love when [...] by reason of their want of age and understanding
they were unable to give full and free consent especially under the pressure of
advances made upon them by adults. [...] a high proportion of children were exposed
to [...] adult sexual activity. [...] a significant number of children, more within
The Family than outside it, had masturbation and even sexual intercourse forced
upon them by adults."
To avoid criminal prosecution for its crimes and as a condition for winning a landmark custody case, and, leader of The Family Peter Amsterdam (a.k.a. Kelly Smith) quietly acknowleged that The Family was indeed responsible for promoting child sexual abuse, and gave the court a cosmetic apology.
The Family continues to try to distance itself from the topic of sexual abuse.
To avoid prosecution, The Family still responds to accusations
by victims of abuse by denying it happened, and labeling the victims vindictive,
bitter “apostates” who are out to destroy The Family.
The Family denies culpability for Child Sexual Abuse. Investigations by the court found:
"[The Family] failed fully to acknowledge [their] responsibility
for this past misconduct."
The Family does not believe that adult-child sex is intriniscally wrong. After The Family had reached a settlement with the British court and publicly renounced child/adult sex, Karen Zerby, the current leader of The Family, told Family leaders that the truth was they still saw nothing intrinsically wrong with child/adult sexual contact:
"This [sexual contact between adults and minors]` is about the only
subject where we're really going along with the System, we're playing along with
them, we're acting like we believe what we did was wrong, because we have changed,
and stopped doing it." (Current leader Maria a.k.a.
Karen Zerby, in "Summit '93 Mama Jewels #2)
The Family believes it must lie in order to collect donations. The stigmatization
of being known as a cult, and the bad publicity connecting them to their sexual
practices would cause the public to stop giving donations. Frequently members of The Family refuse to divulge that they are The Family when soliciting donations in exchange for their literature, tapes and videos. Instead, they present themselves
as "independant missionaries."
To enhance the perception of being Christian missionaries, they engage in a vigorous
program of public aid, “helping the poor” and disaster victims. The FCF (Family
Care Foundation) was formed in 1997 to advance the goals of The Family's public
relations program, to broaden their financial support, and redistribute funds
internally through a tax-exempt operation. Members of The Family registered various
charities operating under the umbrella of the FCF, to lend legitimacy and
credibility to their local operations. As a rule, members srunning
these "charities" as project managers do not mention their affiliation
with The Family.
The Family believes it must deceive "the system" (society at large) to survive.
Various directives urged members of The Family to infiltrate churches, and seek
the favor of city councils, politicians and other officials.
Prefering to be known as wholesome Christian missionaries, The Family hired PR
consultants and embarked on marketing and branding campaign to remake their image
and disassociate their name with their past crimes and controversial practices.
They deliberately conceal their controversial policies and practices from the
public as much as possible.
During the administrations of George Bush Sr and Bill Clinton, The Family had a singing troupe sing in the White House, but made no mention of their connection to any controversial doctrines and practices.
The Family believes the enemy is everywhere, and it must conceal its identity
by using "deceit," "decoy work" and "camouflage"
to protect themselves from public scrutiny; and that there is a scriptual license
for such actions:
“Isn’t that what we’re doing when we come in under seemingly false pretenses
& pretending not to be who we really are? Aren’t we deceiving & lying?”—No!
We’re [using] a little bit of camouflage, a tiny bit of deceit or decoy work.
We are simply coming in & doing our best not to reveal our exact identity.
We can’t go around broadcasting to everybody exactly who we are.” (A
Rose By Another Name! ML 1858, par. 2, 3, 16)
“Anything that calls the attention of people & neighbours to your home
is dangerous. Anybody who is out of the Family is not safe. I don’t care how peaceful
the contact seems to be. Always consider that...whatever you say out loud is going
to be heard by the enemy & whoever you greet at the door could be the enemy!
The enemy is always listening. Don’t tell him what he wants to know. Don’t ever
give any sensitive information unless somebody asks, & then don’t tell’m if
you can help it. Don’t give out any more information than you have to. Never give
out information about yourself if you can possibly help it.”(The
Mop, Section 116, "Security" points 173, 142, 73, 39, 59, 61 & 124)
“Let me tell you, all through the Bible there was a lot of concealment &
cover-up used for the sake of security! Let’s not call it deceit, let’s call it
secrecy.” (A Rose by Another Name! ML 1858, par. 5)
“We’re in a dangerous war & when it’s necessary to protect the security
of the Lord’s work & His children you may have to lead people to believe that
something is a certain way when it’s really not that way.” (To
Lie?—Or Not to Lie!--That is the Question! ML 1400, par. 5)
"You don’t have to tell everything you know, & for the sake of security
you don’t always have to tell the whole Truth ... in order to protect yourself
& others from unnecessary trouble!" (Contend For
the Faith!, What’s in a Name? ML 143A par.139, written Dec.2, 1971)
The Family has distinctions between
"lying" and "lying"
Doctrinal schisms about lying
The Family gradually condoned deception and later outright lying as part of its policy. The very first directives of The Children of God (earlier name for The Family) have their founder Berg admonishing against lying. But his later writings have him explaining that although using deceit and being misleading are better than outright lying, even outright lying is acceptable if it "protects security and prevents persecution (read: adverse media attention)," and that "God's prophets often lied and used subterfuge."
Lying is bad:
"You’re all becoming liars! Where did you get the idea you could keep on
lying like this and get away with it? What does God’s Word have to say about liars?
How far are you going to go to lie to save your neck, to deceive people!
"And why do you folks lie when it’s not even necessary? The truth would have
served your purpose much better. You just don’t have to tell him the whole Truth!"
(Personal Visits--Parts II & III, ML 143A par. 137-138)
"I hate to lie! It hurts me, it bothers me ... I hate it!" (Deceivers,
Yet True! ML 1278, par. 7)
"It’s a terrible thing to tell lies! The Lord is against lying, He hates
it! It is awful! God hates it! Liars shall have their part in the Lake of Fire,
he says. (Rev.21;8)" (To Lie?--Or Not to Lie!--That
is the Question! ML 1400, par.4)
Lying is good:
"Thank God you did deny..." (The Four Deadly
Sins!--NRS 9, ML 759 par. 15)
Don't Lie—Never deny being with The Children of God. Founder David
Berg admonished against denying affiliation with The Children of God (the earlier
name of The Family), and denying his name, "Mo" or "David Berg":
"I can already smell the stink of compromise in some of you who have
become ashamed of the name and changed yours for fear of persecution, trying to
change your name outwardly and still call yourselves Children of God inwardly!
If you really are a Child of God, but you change your outward name, you’re going
to have to deny that you’re ... a member of the Children of God, and you’ll be
lying! And one lie leads to another! One lie can never stand alone! It always
has to have several others to prop it up. 'Oh what a tangled web we weave, when
first we practice to deceive!' (Personal Visits--Parts II
& III, ML 143A par. 130)
Do lie—never say you are the Children of God:
"deny it flatly, absolutely... So that’s your story & don’t forget
it!" (The Maltese Doublecross–Pt.1! ML 797–1)
The Family: Lying the "right way"
lie, but don't lie
The Family does not believe in telling the whole truth:
"For God’s Sake, don’t wind up a perpetual liar! You don’t have to tell
everything you know, and for the sake of security, you don’t have to always have
to tell the whole Truth, and sometimes, you may even have to say one thing that
is true, but give someone the impression you mean something else in order to protect
yourself and others from unnecessary trouble! But for God’s sake and His Work’s
sake, and your own sake, don’t come right out with bold-faced lies that aren’t
even necessary and that are going to require more lying to prop it up!
"Ask God for the right answers! Ask God to lead you what to say and to protect
you and the Truth! He’s a lot smarter than you are, and He certainly won’t lead
you to tell those stupid, unnecessary and damaging lies! May God help us! 'As
deceivers, yet True!'—Not liars! There’s a difference!" (Personal
Visits--Parts II & III, ML 143A par. 139-140)
The Family: don't connect the dots, please
"being technically honest"
For years, The Family denied being the Children of God. In the late 70s, the group's
founder David Berg was summoned to court in Tenerife Spain, to face charges about
the movement's new practice of religious prostitution ("FFing" or "Flirty
Fishing"). Berg fled the island and a wave of negative publicity followed worldwide. Shortly after, the ‘Jonestown’ suicides happened, and Berg was convinced the Devil (through the world media and supposed coming government crackdowns) was now ‘out to get them.’ He decided it was time to deny being The Children of God, orchestrated a fake disbanding, and changed the group's name to "The Family of Love."
(THE IRF!--NRS 7, ML 757, par. 14, Jan 1979)
"...you can't hurt us anymore!--We've already disbanded!--I fired 300
leaders last year, and this year we all split!--So now what are you going to do
about us?--Hunt us down to the last young mother and small child?" (Whose
Fool Are You? ML 800 par.19)
"we disbanded in face of the persecution of sects this year"
(An Answer to BBC!, ML 583)
"Let’s also try to get away from being called the 'Children of God' where
that name is hated, and simply call ourselves the new Family of Love!" (The
Re-Organisation Nationalisation Revolution! ML 650 par. 28)
The Family is briefed on what to say to authorities:
"Thank God I had briefed them before about what to say. If it ever
came up ... they were to deny it flatly, absolutely. If they suspect or have any
proof that you were members, you can tell them you no longer belong to that outfit
at all. So that’s your story & don’t forget it!" (The
Maltese Doublecross)
The Family: "Deny it flatly, absolutely" about being the Children
of God (late 70s). While living in hiding in Malta, Berg and his staff had
trouble extending their visas, due to suspicions of their being the Children of
God. On questioning by Police, Berg denied that he was connected to The Children
of God, and instructed his followers to do the same:
"But the main line of questions was, 'Are you folks connected with
some kind of religious organisation? Are you sure you’re not connected...with
that certain group? Are you those people?' And thank God I had briefed them before
about what to say. If it ever came up, if they ever approached any of them ...
they were to deny it flatly, absolutely. They have nothing to do with them!
"If they suspect or have any proof that you were members, you can tell them
you no longer belong to that outfit at all. In fact...the RNR changed the name,
everything! I told them you can say there was an absolute split & we have
nothing to do with those people anymore.
"So that’s your story & don’t forget it! It’s very important in case
they nail you." (The Maltese Doublecross–Pt.1! ML 797–1,
par.9, 12, 13, 15, 28, 29)
The Family hid all incriminating literature identifying them as the Children
of God:
"Then after that, the next thing would be a search to see if they could
find anything to prove you’re identified with those people. And of course you
know what would have proved it the easiest was lit [literature], or books &
stuff like that. So we had them pack all lit, books, anything at all that would
identify them as belonging to an organisation at all ... in a couple of big suitcases
& hid them. So when they came they didn’t find a thing that could prove that
they were those people, not a scrap of literature, not a book, nothing!"
(The Maltese Doublecross—Pt.2! ML 797-2, par.19-21)
"During the middle of the night we had collected all the selah [security]
material together, apart from the RD [Rough Drafts of Berg’s letters] suitcase.
Since we had no fireplace or shredder, we all sat in the livingroom & began
tearing up the FF Letters & anything we wouldn’t want to fall into someone
else’s hands.
"As each garbage bag got full we’d add in some leftover garbage & brave
Bepe would run out to various areas & distribute it on the street for the
garbage men to pick up the next day!—This was between the hours of 3 to 6 a.m.,
so he had to be real careful. Bepe found a sewer manhole & dumped a suitcase
full of GP [General Public] Lit & Books down it! Whew! He was really shaking
when he got home!" (by Berg's aide Alfred, The Maltese
Doublecross--Pt.4! ML 797:4 par.33–35
The Family by their own admission, has lied to authorities in the face of irrefutable
evidence. Berg's aide Alfred, relating what happened when he followed Berg's
instructions to lie when questioned by a policeman:
"Then he said, 'But you belong to the COG, right?' I told him no. He
flipped through our photobook ... then he said, 'And you want me to believe that
you are not with the COG?'And I said, 'Yes.'But he shook his head saying, 'No,
I don’t believe it.' I know you don’t', I told him.
"He showed me a picture of me with a poster in the background saying 'Les
Enfants de Dieu' [French for 'Children of God']. And he said, 'What about that?'
So I ended up admitting that I had been with the COG, but that was quite a few
years ago. He showed me another photo that had the words COG written on a poster.
I told him that photo was taken about 6 years ago, but that I was not with them
anymore.
"He referred to Sara’s files & said, 'But all this is COG writings!'
I said, 'Yes, we have a lot of friends in the COG.' Well, no matter what I said,
he didn’t believe me. He was sure I was lying." (The
Maltese Doublecross—Pt.4! ML 797-4 par. 5, 7–10)
The Family believes in "being technically honest" —because
of a name change, they have flatly denied being part of the Children of God:
"There’s just something about false denial that the Lord doesn’t like!
Even our attempt in Malta didn’t work, although we were being technically honest:
We were no longer 'those people', officially, legally, by that name.
"But the Lord knew in our own hearts we knew we were the people they were
talking about, regardless of our name change! So in a way, although it was the
truth, it was also a deceit!"
"In a way it was a lie, & apparently God didn’t like it, because it didn’t
work. Maybe it would have worked better if we’d been honest in the beginning &
said so.
"We may try to cover, we may go underground, we may hide, we may flee, we
may do everything we can do to keep from getting caught, but once they catch us
... we’d have a hard time denying it! They wouldn’t be questioning us if they
didn’t have a pretty good reason to believe it, huh?—Like the police in Malta:"
"Thank God you did deny us there! But you put it in a way that you convinced
them you’re no longer part of that organisation, & you aren’t!--Ha!--And probably
the Lord spared you to spare me. But I don’t think, when it comes to the showdown
& swearing under oath in court before witnesses & things like that, that
we’re going to get away with denying we belong to either one or the other, or
that we’re 'those people'!" (The Four Deadly Sins!--NRS
9, ML 759 par. 3, 4, 9, 10, 15 - written Jan, 1979)
The Family now admits to being the CHildren opf God. In recent years, with the scare over the post-Jonestown suicides gone, Family spokespersons no longer deny the link between the Children of God and The Family. The pretense & deception served its purpose, but has since been dropped.
The Family: siege & heightened security
Lying “to save a life”
The Family believes in outright lying to protect their leaders. As we have established, The Family live in a stage of siege, in an exaggerated
sense of threat and heightened security, believing there are enemies everywhere
out to get them. Every Home is supposed to have a fleebag packed and ready****. Above
and beyond using deception “to protect yourself from unnecessary trouble” or to
“protect security,” protecting the leadership and inner circle staff (WS) from
being identified and caught is considered a matter of “absolute extreme emergency”
and a matter of life and death:
****(Eternal vigilance: The price of freedom! ML 1104; Gotcher
"FLEE BAG"? ML 386, etc)
"Of course, there’s an exception to every rule, if there’s some very
good reason. I know we were denying it there in Malta & Sicily to save me
as much as yourselves, because we were in a pretty tough spot. Besides, I was
at stake, & if they had gotten you, they might have gotten me too! So thank
God you did! There is a time & an exception for every rule.” (The
Four Deadly Sins!--NRS 9, ML 759 par. 16--written Jan, 1979)
"If you have to lie to save a life, I think it’s worth it! And I think the
people who would strain at a gnat of a little lie at a time like that & swallow
a camel of costing someone’s life are just hypocritically self-righteous!—And
let somebody go to prison or torture or death just because they weren’t willing
to tell one little falsehood to save them! But I certainly don’t recommend it
& it would be in the absolute extreme emergency, just like it was with our
folks in Malta. (See No.797!)" Deceivers, Yet True!
ML 1248 par. 8 *
* The above quote is one of the main defenses that Family
spokespersons use when confronted about their blatant dishonesty.
The Family believes in lying to "accomplish God’s purpose" and
finding the "proper balance" in lying:
"So the Lord & His Prophets frequently used deceit & sometimes
outright lies, believe it or not, to accomplish God’s purpose. The law is the
standard, but there are always exceptions to the rules, particularly if God’s
the One Who makes the exceptions! The Lord Himself says that if they reject the
Truth—this is in 1Thessalonians—'I will send them strong delusion that they might
believe a lie, that they might all be damned who received not the love of the
Truth.' (2Th.2:10–12)—He’ll send a lie!
"God Himself is going to lie to them & deceive them because they refused
the truth & they were wicked & deserved to believe a lie because they
didn’t want to believe the Truth! So God lied to them & deceived them &
deluded them & damned them! What better proof can you have than that?—God
sometimes uses lies!
"(Maria: Deceivers yet true!) (2Cor.6:8) Yes ... we are deceivers yet true.
(Maria: So you have to find a proper balance. Some people get off too much on
the other side lying about every little thing.) Yes, some people get in a habit
of lying about every little thing!
"I hate to lie & very rarely in my life have done it! It hurts me, it
bothers me, but if I have to do it to save my life, I might do it! And a few instances,
although I have not outright lied, I have deceived or I have said something that
I knew they would believe I meant one thing when I really meant another, deliberately,
in order to save some situation or spare someone or in order to escape some situation
or whatever. It’s very serious. (Maria: But normally you don’t make it a habit.)—Amen!
I hate it!" (Deceivers, Yet True! ML 1278 par. 4-7)
The Family compiled a publication of all Berg's writings on how and when to
lie:
"Every one of these people we witness to is a little judge examining
your testimony, & if they catch you in one lie, they will debunk & throw
out everything you’ve told them! So except in some rare extreme & unusual
Spirit-led cases,
"It’s a terrible thing to tell lies! The Lord is against lying, He hates
it! It is awful! God hates it! Liars shall have their part in the Lake of Fire,
he says. (Rev.21;8) A lot of it has to do with your motives & the intents
of your heart. God does not like lying!--But that doesn’t means that as a Christian
in the Lord’s army you’ve got to tell people everything. Sometimes you only need
to tell them part of the truth, not the whole truth.
"Paul says, “As deceivers & yet true”. (2Co.6:8) Sometimes you are almost
compelled to deceive people, to make them think a certain thing when really that’s
not the thing. We’re in a dangerous war & when it’s necessary to protect the
security of the Lord’s work & His children you may have to lead people to
believe that something is a certain way when it’s really not that way.—Being misleading
& evasive."
"So you’ve got to be prepared by the Spirit to sometimes ... handle questions
in some way that you don’t actually lie, but you just give the impression that
something is or isn’t so." (To Lie?--Or Not to Lie!--That
is the Question! ML 1400 par. 3-5, 12—published Jan. 1983)
The Family has compiled a list of scriptural references to justify lying and
deceit. The Mo letter "To Lie?--Or Not to Lie!--That is the Question!"
(ML 1400, published Jan. 1983) contains these sections:
- Scriptures on Not Telling All
- Scriptures on Deceivers Yet True
The Family believes God’s Holy Spirit can inspire them to lie:
"So except in some rare extreme & unusual Spirit-led cases, it’s
a terrible thing to tell lies!"
The Family lies to avoid rejection
Reconciling lying vs. the scriptures:
“Let’s not call it deceit”
The Family advises its members to hide their identity from the public to
avoid rejection due to being connected to their controversial practices and policies.
They currently operate as series of charitable fronts, and as a rule never reveal
they are The Family, nor exactly how they will spend donations received:
"All the false cults & religions try their best ... to deceive
first with genuine truths in their original sales pitches.
"So you say, 'Isn’t that what we’re doing when we come in under seemingly
false pretenses & pretending not to be who we really are? Aren’t we deceiving
& lying & trying to do the same thing they’re doing?'—No! We are not wrapping
up lies in some truth. We’re wrapping up a whole lot of Truth & all Truth
with a little bit of camouflage, a tiny bit of deceit or decoy work ... so they
won’t necessarily recognize that it’s the same people with the same Message.
"We are simply coming in & doing our best not to reveal our exact identity,
the identity we’re best known by, our unpopular identity, our bad-publicity identity
image ..."
"Let me tell you, all through the Bible there was a lot of concealment &
cover-up used for the sake of security! (Maria: It wasn’t exactly deceit, though,
was it?—Because we usually think of deceit as being something evil.) Let’s not
call it deceit, let’s call it secrecy."
"Therefore it is certainly wise for us to conceal our identity as far as
being linked or associated with certain names of certain groups which have received
a lot of very bad, adverse publicity ..."
"So if sometimes you have to be, as the guy said, “Red like a radish”—look
red on the outside, look a bit dragonish on the outside or even a little bit wolfish—in
order to make them think you are one of them ... appear to be somewhat like them,
this is not contrary to Scripture. Josh always used to use the Scripture, “As
deceivers yet true”—& that’s true! (2Cor.6:8) We can’t go around broadcasting
to everybody exactly who we are."
"So call it what you will. If you want to call it deceit or false pretenses
or whatever, we are the true sheep. We’re not trying to lead them into a false
cult, a false religion or a false doctrine.
"I mean, a sheep by another name is just as sweet! Right? And a rose by another
name smells just as sweet. If the Devil has made what was once a good appearance
into a bad appearance, then just change it!—Change the name, change the appearance,
change the looks, change the operation!"
"So oddly enough, as Satan often operates as a wolf in sheep’s clothing,
we may sometimes have to operate as sheep in wolf’s clothing!" (A
Rose By Another Name! ML 1858 par. 1-3, 5, 6, 16, 19, 20, 23)
The Family
A history of denying sexual abuse
- Up until 1984, The Family mostly taught their children to be suspicious and
tight-lipped around outsiders.
- By 1985, The Family realized they needed to warn their children and teens
not to talk about child-adult sex.
- In 1988, The Family issued a four-page pamphlet to the public, flatly denying
that child-adult sex had ever been promoted or taken place in their communities.
- In later years later The Family was forced to admit that some sexual
abuse happened, but blamed it on errant individuals.
- In 1990 The Family released a special comic publication teaching their children
how to lie.
- In 1994 The Family was cornered in a British court by Lord Justice Ward and
forced to acknowlege in the face of irrefutable evidence, that their writings
had unleashed years of sexual abuse on members of The Family. Despite The Family's
denials, the judge found: "a significant number of children, more within
The Family than outside it, had masturbation and even sexual intercourse forced
upon them by adults."
- The Family's spokespersons now insist that all sexual contact between adults
and minors was halted by 1986.
The Family
Special publications teaching children to be tight-lipped:
The Family instructs its children to be tight-lipped and to lie:
Several 2nd generation members have now testified that they had lied to help protect their parents from prosecution, having been well-trained on how to answer to authorities.
The Kidz MOP—Volumes I & II, section 84:"Security",
quotes 4, 5, 6, 13 & 43 — published 1985
The “Deceivers, Yet True” comic
The Family's response to child abuse investigations: By 1990, the threat of authorities taking children born and raised in The Family's
into protective custody on reports of child-sexual abuse was growing. The Family's
current leader Maria (Karen Zerby) commissioned a top Family editor, **Ed Priebe
(Hart), to write the text to a DO (disciples only—secret publication)
32-page comic book entitled, “Deceivers, Yet True!—2Cor.6:8”, for The Family's
children.
**Ed Priebe—now an ex-member—has written
an apology
on his account of writing this propaganda.
The “Deceivers, Yet True!” comic contains nine different Bible stories about concealment
and subterfuge.
The Family
Manufactured Bible Stories
to convince children to lie
The most convincing so-called Bible story,"Protecting Baby Moses" about
Miriam and Aaron’s parents instructing them to lie, was actually never in
the Bible—it was a piece of fiction which The Family called a "dramatization
of Exo. 2:1,2; Heb.11:23."
In this fictional account, Moses' parents have just had their third child, baby
Moses, and the father explains to 7 yr. old Miriam and 2 yr. old Aaron that they
should lie to the Egyptian soldiers if asked, “Is there a baby boy in this house?”
Two Egyptian soldiers walk by when baby Moses cries. His mother hides him in a
back room. The soldiers enter and say, “We heard a baby, where is it?” and 7 yr.old
Miriam lies, “There’s no baby here. That was just me! I was making crying sounds,
pretending my dolly was crying.” One of the soldiers asks 2 yr. old Aaron if he
has a baby brother. Remembering his father’s advice, Aaron too lies, and the soldiers
leave. When their father returns later, he praises both children lavishly. The
moral to the story is reinforced:
"Do you think it was good for Aaron and Miriam to lie to the
Egyptian soldiers? What would you have told the soldiers if you had been there?
Why do you think the soldier asked little Aaron if he had a baby brother, when
Miriam had already told them that there was no baby there?
"There are still cold-hearted 'Egyptians' today who would even try to take
away children from God’s people. So take a tip form this story about baby Moses
& do your best to protect your Family! Amen?"
The Family used deception on its own children, by implying the fictional
story was recorded in the Bible. The comic concludes with A Word of Caution!
so that children raised in The Family know they should only lie to authorities:
"If one of God’s people is forced to tell a lie to save their life or
to keep from being persecuted by the wicked, the Lord may allow it. But watch
out if you start telling lies just for your own selfish reasons, because you want
something that somebody else has, or you lie when you’ve been bad because you
don’t want a spanking or punishment.
"Remember, just because in an emergency or desperate situation, God’s people
may sometimes have to use deception to save God’s Work, this does not mean that
we should lie to members of our own Family! Col.3:9 says, 'Lie not one to another!'
"The Bible stories mentioned in this Comic show that when the anti-God, anti-Christ
System of this World forced God’s children into a corner, God allowed them to
use deception in such absolute emergencies! God bless you & protect you &
give you wisdom to know when to be a “deceiver yet true.”—In Jesus’ Name, Amen!"
SUMMARY
What can we expect from The Family today?
As we have shown through court documents and The Family's own writings, The Family has a policy in place calling for the use of deception and outright lying, even under oath, in order to avoid trouble and legal liability, to avoid being identified, and to protect their leaders.
While belonging to one of the tightest high-control groups, they do not like to reveal their membership in The Family, but prefer to be known as a loose-knit, gathering of independant missionaries. They depend heavily on this deception to raise funds for themselves, and to support their leaders who have already been found responsible for promoting among other things, child sexual abuse, and cruel and unusual punishment of children.
We hope this documented information has helped you in regards understanding more about The Family, their past record on truth and lying, their motivations for lying, the extent The Family will go in lying, and why they lie so easily while professing to live as honest Christians.
We encourage you to scrutinize The Family's charity fronts, by asking them about their true (often illegal) affiliations with The Family. Note their answers. Ask about how they use their donations, what their true beliefs are. You can expect them to distance themselves from their recent record of collective criminal activity, and tout you a "new improved Family" "just trying to serve the Lord."
The exFamily.org Staff
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