Reply #34: actually, this sounds more like a cult than the religious right we know... [View All]

[NorthernSpy]

Consider this bit:

A few weeks earlier he had urged them to attend his three-day Bible camp, even if they didn't have the necessary $200, even it meant quitting jobs they'd worked all four years of college to attain. Rise from your seats, he urged the young people, and walk down to the stage to say you will go to camp.

"If you go to camp and your life is not changed I will pay, personally, your way," he said, staring up at the diminishing crowd, more and more of whom were now standing with him and looking back at their friends.

"Camp totally changed my life," said Imani Lawson, 20. "Before it, I was like, 'Why am I going to camp? I'm a pre-med and Spanish major and my grades suck.' But I asked God about it and God totally spoke to me about my grades. He said, 'Just keep going to church, I'll take care of that.' " And he has, Lawson said. "School became so easy, I'm like, 'Wow, God.' "

Lawson's parents have expressed concern about the intensity of her involvement with Smith's ministry, she said, but this has not dampened her enthusiasm. Nor has it worried Smith, who urges his followers to go home to families and roommates and spread the word.

Ooooh -- welcome to the Farm, sister...

:scared:


That bit about the throwing away your career to attend this guy's "Bible camp" should have the alarm bells ringing loudly for anyone who reads this. Churches tithe, and they do make certain demands on their members. But even far-right fundy churches don't encourage paritioners to give up their normal lives, or to put their jobs and schooling in jeopardy. Someone needs to get it across to the reporter that the behavior of this church "leader" is a sign that something has gone wrong with this organization.


:think: