As for "who is telling you this" you must be kidding. As for the rest: Alternatively you could go with AGW, if you'd prefer.
The idea that this church group does not follow basic doctrines of Christianity with respect to "believe and be saved" is mindless denial. You might as well as someone to demonstrate that water is wet. Pathetic.
Does the left generally allow their beliefs to be questioned, no matter how stupid the premise is? "Women are men" - you must accept "We've got 12 years to live" - you must accept "MAGA hats are racist" - you must accept "White guys create a Christian group to defend against people who might want to kill them" - RRRRREEEEEEEE Take the red pill and you'll understand.
All of the above .. Christian groups should not try to force their religious beliefs on others through law = physical violence. This violates main rule on which Jesus based his teachings.
That was a complete sentence. You're basing everything you think you know on an article that was clearly made by someone who wants you to think this is bad. You don't exercise any additional research on the topic, you have no evidence they've harmed, plan to harm, or have forced anyone to do anything. Nope. Instead you swallow an obviously biased article hook line and sinker, then attempt to spread the word and convince us you're right about something you have zero actual knowledge of.... ....but they're the one's pushing their beliefs on others. Sure.
I have done enough research to know that Christian doctrine states that if one does not "believe" one goes to hell. I never claimed these folks were forcing people to do things - nor did I claimed they have done harm to people - sans the psychological damage inflicted by belief in the above doctrine.
Yes you did. Then I can suppose you can prevent actual evidence that the "extremist nutters in the OP", are actually doing what you suggest. Or evidence that they're "extremist nutters" as you so eloquently stated.
They are extremist nutters ... teaching people to "prep for Biblical War" is the mark of extremist nutters.
Why? If the Jews had prepared for Biblical war, millions of them wouldn't have died in gas chambers. Israel exemplifies having learned that lesson.
I explained this in previous posts ... creating a "black vs white" - "Good vs Evil" "God vs Devil Paradigm .. is part of ramping up the fear factor that goes on in more extremist variations of Christianity. Bring in the apocalyptic narrative .. End times stuff - such that you need to prepare for "Biblical War" - and you are right at far end of the spectrum. Do you know anything about mind control mate ?
Good vs evil is quite simple on it's face from a "preparing for war" stance. It's simply the people who are trying to kill you. The aggressor. As I edited my last post after you responded.... If the Jews had prepared for biblical war before WW2, millions of them wouldn't have died in gas chambers. The Jews in Israel learned this lesson. Had they not, every man, woman and child in Israel would have been killed in the 6 day war. If you had some evidence they were planning on being the aggressor, I would agree. The group would be dangerous. Being prepared to defend yourself does not make you an extremist or a nutter. Being able to defend yourself from those with the professed desire to kill you doesn't make you crazy. This group is operating in the same manner as our military: be planned and trained in the event of war.
Okay so you do believe that basic Christianity practices mind control. I think that's just silly but you sure danced around that long enough. Perhaps you should go to an actual church sometime and not just believe what you see in Hollywood movies.
I don't think the group is inherently that dangerous - I should probably walk back the initial tone a few notches in that respect. I get your angst with my tone in this respect. What I do maintain however, is that there is some sophisticated mind mumbo jumbo going on. Haven't looked into it that deeply so as to make a sound minded determination if there is intent or not. Intention is one of the main distinctions between what exit councilors would label destructive cults and not so much. What I can tell you is that a number of chickens in the coal mine are squawking. One thing you mentioned was "operating in the same manner as the military". Then by definition some manner of mind manipulation is going on. You have to for military training. I would not call this intentionally bad though - in of itself. I don't have an issue with military training and preparedness. It is the context that matters - and what kind of mind bending is going.
It is not a "belief" - it is a simple statement of fact. One that you are blowing out of proportion. Question - Is the organization trying to get the people to believe something .. if the answer is "yes" some kind of mind manipulation is going on. That is the stated purpose .. to "change your mind" or "alter your thought patterns" This goes on in the media, political parties - and general discussions among individuals. There is a big spectrum from normal "trying to convince someone of something" to " highly advance and sophisticated mind control techniques" So the question isn't "Does Christianity Practice Mind Control" .. the question is "where is Christianity on the spectrum" although this is the right question it is not specific enough because there is also a broad spectrum within Christianity. What I was addressing was there this group was on the spectrum - and as I said to another poster - my initial tone came off a bit harsh .. and should be walked back a few notches. That said - there is a fair number of Chickens in the coal mind of mind manipulation squawking rather loudly - at least on the surface. I have not delved deeper into the group to make an sound assessment with respect to "Intent". Intent is what distinguishes between what cult exit councilors would label - destructive cult and - not so much.
You really believe 100's of thousands of poor southern Whites fought and died so the top 1% could keep their slaves and thereby depress their own wages?
Well by your broad definition of mind control I would think that a doctor telling his patient that they should quit smoking because he believes it is harmful to their health, would be a form of mind control. We all hopefully engage in reasoning which often entails explaining why we believe our position is preferable as well as what we might consider the pitfalls of any contrary positions.
Indeed there is a broad spectrum - which includes both good and bad mind control. Intent matters as does context. Sometimes deception is involved .. sometimes this deception is unintentional - sometimes this deception is intentional. Sometimes the mind control is for good purposes - such as your example of quitting smoking or my example of training soldiers to follow commands without question. Generally - if the adherent is directly aware of what is going on - it is not considered "destructive" / bad. One of the insidious aspects of some sophisticated mind control techniques is that the adherent is not aware. What you get in these cases is that rather than question one's beliefs and using reason to come up with detailed explanation - adherents will engage in "thought avoidance" or what is known as "thought stopping" . There is a reason why - in general - you can not reason with a religious extremist. Their brains have been to avoid critical thinking with respect to some topics.
When I look at how the article on this group of people was written, the "mind bending" attempted by the author is pretty obvious to me.