| Author | Message | ||
| Timmy Registered user Username: Timmy Post Number: 181 Registered: 8-2006  |
Hi All! I happened upon this Cult Recovery web site http://www.factnet.org/ and was surprised by their recommendation. I am not sure I agree with them, but wonder what your response would be. Here is a quote: “Twenty five years of helping cult victims has thoroughly convinced me that the wrongdoing by destructive cults will stop ONLY when ALL profit is removed from that wrongdoing by holding the cult’s top executives PERSONALLY accountable before the law! If you or a loved one has been harmed by a cult, get a lawyer and sue the cult’s senior executives today. They are ultimately responsible for the harm that the cult has caused you and your loved ones. By getting full legal and financial restitution from the cult’s ill gotten profits you will not only help make your life whole again you will also do the most effective thing possible to prevent the cult from doing the same harm to others. Be encouraged, there are now many legal precedents established on cult abuse and mind control. Destructive cults have already paid former cult members hundreds of millions of dollars either though secret out-of-court settlements, pre-trial settlements or through enforced court judgments. Stop letting your former cult keep victimizing you. Use the law to go get your life made whole again and to help stop the wrongdoing, I did.” End Quote. Some friends that left the SDA church about the same time we did received an Easter card from their former SDA church, (they have been out about two years) It started out by saying "Happy Easter!" and ended by saying "You are on a path to destruction" We got a good laugh out of it but our friends have talked about taking legal action against this church for harassment. (This type of thing has happened several times since they left) What are your thoughts? | ||
| Timmy Registered user Username: Timmy Post Number: 182 Registered: 8-2006 |
oops, can this be moved to the "new thread" area? | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 3630 Registered: 3-2004  |
I have wondered about suing the SDA church for all the tithe I paid. I would have to pray a lot and ask God is that is what He wants me to do. Diana | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 5811 Registered: 12-2003  |
Tim, we've also thought a lot about this subject. It actually is very close to the issue Richard faced when he was fired from LLU last June. He decided in advance that he would not sue if he were to be fired. He knew that his termination would be the result of his refusal to stop his work on Proclamation and this website, and he decided that if he were to sue, it would completely distract from the ethical and conscience issues that underlay his refusal to stop his ministry. If money became an issue, the spiritual matters would be completely eclipsed, both from LLUs perspective and from his own. A suit would require long, intense involvement that would be an emotional, intellectual distraction from the work God had given him to do. As for suing the church...each person has to make that decision. I do not believe, however, that getting a financial award from a lawsuit against a cult would bring any real healing to the victim. The victim's real damage from a cult is spiritual. Chasing "getting even" is a distraction. It keeps one's feelings of being victimized unfairly alive instead of being able to go belly up before God and admit one's own involvement and culpability in the whole process of deception. Ultimately, when we leave a cult, we find healing only when we admit our own weakness and ask God to heal our hearts and replace the hold of the cult with His Spirit. The money from a suit might give us a feeling of satisfaction, but it won't address the spiritual brokenness that is the real fallout from a cultic experience. Cults vary in size and power. A small cult might be ble to be "found out" if a victim reported illegal activities to the authorities. A large cult is likely to be untouchable. As Richard often said, many people have sued the various schools at LLU over the years; suits against them are very common. But, as Richard says, you can't win a suit against the university. They have lots of money and powerful attorneys. Even if one had a good case, it would take a long time, a lot of money, and the process could ruin you. Actually, I don't think suing really results in "healing". I think it's more of a distraction, a place to vent anger, than a process of surrender and submission to the Lord Jesus. Colleen | ||
| Raven Registered user Username: Raven Post Number: 752 Registered: 7-2004  |
Colleen, I agree with you. For one thing, I don't believe I have been damaged enough to justify a lawsuit (certainly I've never been harassed as Timmy described with the Easter card!). Even if I had been severely damaged, all the money in the world is not going to provide spiritual healing. I find it unbelievable that site would suggest such a thing. | ||
| Timmy Registered user Username: Timmy Post Number: 183 Registered: 8-2006 |
Colleen and Raven, Thankyou for your comments, I agree 100% with what you both said. I agree that money does not help heal and that the process may only perpetuate anger, but the the line that got my attention was this, "...you will also do the most effective thing possible to prevent the cult from doing the same harm to others." I guess I am just getting desperate here. I would give anything to see my family experience the freedom Christ has made for them, and feel the joy and security of salvation I do now. You are right, it is not a money issue. | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 5815 Registered: 12-2003 |
I understand, Tim. The problem, of course, is what Paul described. We are not fighting against flesh and blood but "against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12). Lawsuits will never disarm darkness. Jesus alone can deliver us all. Colleen | ||
| Dennis Registered user Username: Dennis Post Number: 1053 Registered: 4-2000  |
Recently, I was visiting the official Seventh-day Adventist website for some reason that I no longer remember. I noticed three registered trademark notices with just their official name. I have never seen anything like that on Christian denominational websites. By the way, Sylvia monitors the local SDA church service occasionally on a community TV channel. Amazingly, she counted the word "Sabbath" being used twenty-three times during a recent televised worship service. There was not a sermon on the Sabbath either. Obviously, they are obsessed with legalism continually. Dennis Fischer | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 5816 Registered: 12-2003 |
Dennis, that triple-trademark is almost funny--if it didn't seem so paranoid! Twenty-three mentions of Sabbath? Hmmm...that's pretty revealing. Richard remembers that we began counting the numbers of times the pastor mentioned "Jesus" in sermons during the weeks before we stopped attending the SDA church. Usually the single mention of Him was in the prayer..."In Jesus' name, Amen." Often, however, the prayer would end, "In Your name, Amen." Interesting... Colleen | ||
| Timmy Registered user Username: Timmy Post Number: 184 Registered: 8-2006 |
"The more you repeat the merits of the product or service you are selling, the more it becomes natural to you and your prospect. It is this feeling of naturalness that you want to achieve, because when an idea becomes as if second nature, it won't appear as if you're trying to sell but, instead, just highlighting the obvious." "Repetition also breeds familiarity. The more often you reiterate the benefits of your product, the more likely your target buyer will feel and think that what you're saying is the one and only truth. " Sounds familiar. A sales/business recommendation at: http://ezinearticles.com/?Strengthening-Your-Persuasion-Strategy-Through-Repetition&id=448128 | ||
| Dennis Registered user Username: Dennis Post Number: 1055 Registered: 4-2000 |
Good point, Timmy! | ||
| Reb Registered user Username: Reb Post Number: 8 Registered: 5-2007 |
I wouldn't want to sue the SDA Church. I'm not even angry, I'm too busy praising God for delivering me(at least mentally and spritiually if not physically yet) from this cult! I'm just relieved that the SDA Church is NOT the truth! Praise God! |
