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Post by godlesspanther on Oct 20, 2010 5:10:41 GMT -5
I saw a thread about "if you could ask RR members a question...'
Yes, there was one RR member who did participate. And there were rather expected answers.
OK, I was once a member of a cult. I'm not going to talk about which cult that is because that would drag the discussion into other directions. But, when I was a member of this particular cult I, at one pint in my life decided that I would no longer go to the public gatherings of this cult and take my guidance straight form the sacred text.
The reason that i decided this was because I no longer felt that those gatherings were adding anything useful to my life. After I had pursued other interests in my life for about two months, I then decided that I would read the sacred text again. I was really disappointed with what I had read after not engaging in group activities. I then participated in a group activity one more time. I saw something completely different from what I had seen before.
I have never returned.
So, I ask of you, Rapture Ready member, what if.....
And I'm not asking you to try this experiment, just think about it. What if you left temporarily? After a while of not going to church, not paying any attention to the RR forums, not reading any of the latest literature... and then you returned?
Do you think that you would have the same devotion, the same enthusiasm, the same degree of belief?
Do you think you might look at those people in a different way? Do you think that you may see the signs of cult indoctrination?
Just think about it. That's all.
Think about how you look to people who are not members of your cult.
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Post by Art Vandelay on Oct 20, 2010 5:33:53 GMT -5
Most of these people have been indoctrinated since birth. It'll likely take a lot more than a brief hiatus to shift such dogma.
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Post by Rime on Oct 20, 2010 6:42:44 GMT -5
There is such an intense emotional investment for many of them that it would be impossible for them to look at it any differently than the way they do right now. They know all the verses that justify their mode of thinking and that's enough to allow them to keep thinking that "whosoever isn't with us is against us."
Now enter Mr. Mannn to tell me to get a mirror and then refuse to respond when I ask him to discuss it.
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Post by godlesspanther on Oct 20, 2010 17:17:22 GMT -5
There is such an intense emotional investment for many of them that it would be impossible for them to look at it any differently than the way they do right now. They know all the verses that justify their mode of thinking and that's enough to allow them to keep thinking that "whosoever isn't with us is against us." Now enter Mr. Mannn to tell me to get a mirror and then refuse to respond when I ask him to discuss it. So now you have me curious. Who is Mr. Mannn (Mann?) and what is his mirror about?
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Post by Caitshidhe on Oct 20, 2010 18:27:22 GMT -5
Mr Mannn (I think it's three Ns but I'm not sure) is a Rapture Ready mod, or else just a high-raking member of the forum, who occasionally comes around here to antagonize us under the guise of 'debating'. Mostly he says he's 'trolling by not trolling' or 'arguing by not saying anything', he dodges questions and refuses to provide clear answers. I think he harvests what we say and takes it back to RR to show everyone there how terrible we are. He's just another stupid freaking troll with too much time on his hands, but he manages to be that much more annoying because he's so shit-eatingly self-righteous and arrogant.
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Post by Mlle Antéchrist on Oct 20, 2010 20:56:19 GMT -5
Mr. Mannn is the Andy Schlafly of RR.
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Post by Bezron on Oct 21, 2010 8:53:38 GMT -5
Last board name here was (possibly is) Snidley Whiplash
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Post by godlesspanther on Oct 21, 2010 16:12:13 GMT -5
Mr Mannn (I think it's three Ns but I'm not sure) is a Rapture Ready mod, or else just a high-raking member of the forum, who occasionally comes around here to antagonize us under the guise of 'debating'. Mostly he says he's 'trolling by not trolling' or 'arguing by not saying anything', he dodges questions and refuses to provide clear answers. I think he harvests what we say and takes it back to RR to show everyone there how terrible we are. He's just another stupid freaking troll with too much time on his hands, but he manages to be that much more annoying because he's so shit-eatingly self-righteous and arrogant. I saw his blog. The boy has some severe brain damage.
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Post by Admiral Lithp on Nov 3, 2010 4:21:26 GMT -5
Basically, he's too much of an asshole to tolerate, but not enough of an asshole to ban.
And yes, most RR members are fucking nuts. Like "how dare you not respect Christians, but we don't have to respect the dead."
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Post by futthewukk on Nov 3, 2010 7:18:08 GMT -5
It took me years to work my way out of the brainwashing.
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Post by godlesspanther on Nov 4, 2010 21:34:02 GMT -5
It took me years to work my way out of the brainwashing. Did you actually participate on the RR forum or one similar to it? *
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Post by lesigh on Nov 5, 2010 17:40:35 GMT -5
So, I ask of you, Rapture Ready member, what if..... How about a banned former Rapture Ready member to answer your questions? I was raised in a rapture believing home. I had many negative experiences in church. I discovered RR at a time when I was desperately attempting to find a way to hold onto my faith. I was never a good fit for the board. Going to RR greatly attributed to my rejection of evangelical Christianity. I left RR when I decided I didn't want to be a Christian anymore and was hedging over into deism. I once wrote a deconversion testimony that I later regretted. I was miserable, I had some personal experiences, I began a massive search for a faith, and eventually found myself reading about Eastern Orthodox Christianity. It's so different from how I was raised, it might as well be a different religion in all respects. Had I not discovered it, I likely would be agnostic today. Anyway, I converted and then moseyed on back over to RR for a while on a whim. It really was like waking up from cult involvement. I still get ill just thinking about my experiences in pentecostal churches (I even joined a board for ex-pentecostals). I got banned in RR apologetics for stating that Christ is the Great Physician- it was what the modly e-mail told me. I just feel really badly for people who stay there out of fear- and fear really does drive that particular faith. An unexamined faith won't last. It really is worth it to check what you believe, investigate and come to your own conclusions about it. Always good advice.
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Post by Admiral Lithp on Nov 6, 2010 20:02:50 GMT -5
That may very well take the cake for Stupidest Reason For A Ban Ever.
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Post by The Lazy One on Nov 6, 2010 20:06:11 GMT -5
Wait- they banned you for saying Christ was the Great Physician? Exactly why is that ban-worthy? I thought it was one of the many titles given to Jesus by the Christian religion?
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Post by lesigh on Nov 6, 2010 21:33:10 GMT -5
Wait- they banned you for saying Christ was the Great Physician? Exactly why is that ban-worthy? I thought it was one of the many titles given to Jesus by the Christian religion? The particular mod in question was looking for excuses to ban me because I was actually able to rise to their challenges without ad homs, and I like to think my posts made sense. IIRC, it was in conjunction with saying that the Church is the ark of salvation, yet it was only what I said regarding Christ that set her off. She was a Calvinist, and apparently, the entire concept of Church being a hospital for sinners was too much for someone who saw herself as one of the elect. For all that we all go by the title Christian, they don't consider me one, especially as I'm an iconodule who has a spiritual father, a set prayer rule, I partake of sacraments, I use sacramentals, I pray to saints and for the dead, etcetera. They certainly aren't anywhere near being Orthodox in their doctrines, though I would never venture to guess their eventual state regarding salvation as they are so fond of doing to anyone who is from a liturgical tradition. The heterodox will do what they do. I don't consider myself saved at this point- it's not a thing you'll hear us say. We use the same words, but we mean vastly differing concepts a surprisingly large amount of the time. What we think of sin, heaven, gehenna, hades/sheol, Christus Victor, etc. is markedly different from what the post-RCC spin-off groups believe. Orthodoxy is in it's own category- we're a bit far removed from the new rapture doctrines. Overall, I like the way a Jewish friend of mine put it after going to Pascha one year- "Well, if you're going to be Christian, be Orthodox. Otherwise, why bother?"
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