Is your church a cult?

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-06-2009
Is your church a cult?
1
Fri, 02-27-2009 - 7:11pm

I was reading

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-15-2006
Sun, 03-15-2009 - 11:54am

i think my sister heard about,the secret on oprah..isn't that a book?


she loved it.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-15-2006
Sun, 03-15-2009 - 11:56am

me and DH very much feel this way too.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-15-2006
Sun, 03-15-2009 - 12:00pm

i don't think it's fair anybody judge what

 

Avatar for rollmops2009
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-24-2009
Sun, 03-15-2009 - 12:11pm
How do you mean "our own versions of scripture"?
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Sun, 03-15-2009 - 12:18pm

I didn't say that it did and that of course wasn't the point nor did it answer my question.

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-06-2009
Sun, 03-15-2009 - 12:20pm

It's great to be positive -- but shouldn't that positivity extend to people who make different choices than you do? shouldn't that positivity be granted to people who believe or act differently?

The biggest thing that bothers me about the Secret is the 'oh be positive and you'll get better' attitude about sickness -- as if those who can't just WILL themselves to get better just gosh darn it weren't positive enough -- I've seen 3 family members and 3 dear friends die horrible deaths from cancer - I have two good friends dying now -- so they just didn't THINK POSITIVELY enough? REally? tell that to my sisters three boys and the husband she left behind.

and Patrick Swayze IS going to die ... he has terminal incurable pancreatic cancer -- I admire his strenght and his conviction and his energy and his attitude but he will die from this disease...as will my friend Jacke who's dying of stage 4 breast cancer right now at the ripe old age of 40...

so yeah...be positive that's fine...but don't blame the victim for 'not being positive enough' that makes me so angry

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Sun, 03-15-2009 - 12:26pm

How familiar are you with them, besides reading the material the produce and believing what they write and speak?

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Sun, 03-15-2009 - 12:28pm

Churches are not the only organizations that can be cults or cult like and can brainwash people into believing and paying for their message.


PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-04-2009
Sun, 03-15-2009 - 12:28pm

Well, yeah, which is KIND of the entire point.

You can be a good, loving disciple of God's, sing His praises to the Heavens and be devout and positive all your life and in one fell swoop, due to NOTHING you did, lose it all. And it does NOT mean you thought negatively and brought it on yourself *nor* does it mean you have lost favor with God. It might not have a single thing to do with YOU at all. Bad stuff happens to good people. And for reasons that sometimes no one can explain.

One of the reasons why Job is included in Scripture is as a counterpoint to the Proverbs which, alone, can give a very legalistic and unrealistic viewpoint of faith (do good, work hard and you'll be blessed, both in the afterlife and right now). And lots of times that works. But it doesn't always and Job is God's message in Scripture that it's not His plan that we're guaranteed an easy, profitable life if we're faithful enough (and conversely that lack of prosperity is equal to lack of faith).

This is the complete opposite of Joel Osteen's (and others') message. You're absolutely right to distrust Osteen's message. What they're selling is heresy.

************

Kitty

************

Kitty

"If you can't annoy somebody with what you write, I think there's little point in writing."-- Kingsley Amis, British novelist, 1971 t .

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Sun, 03-15-2009 - 12:31pm

Wow.

PumpkinAngel

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