If I ask you what the most common teaching and principles of Christian churches are based upon, many of you would probably list "Love one another" or "God is love" as some top answers. These are things I often heard growing up in church, and my mother probably has countless Sunday School craft projects of mine proclaiming these statements still in her basement (Mom, please feel free to toss those, I no longer need an empty toilet paper roll glued to tissue paper to tell me how to love). As I look back, I realize that I heard these statements over and over again, but this is not what I was taught. I learned that I should love the other members of the cult, whether ATI or my parents' church. It didn't matter if these members were guilty of crimes from car theft to child molestation, if they said that they had repented, that was good enough, and they should be welcomed into our homes.
I can remember at least two men (a low number, but still above zero) who were close friends with my parents who would visit our home often. There was something about these men I didn't like, and while they never hurt me, I did not trust them. I would be told to be polite and give them hugs to greet them and bid them adieu, but I hated to do so. When I was a slightly older child, one of the men went to prison and was convicted of child molestation. This man continually testified how much he loved and wanted to serve God, so, regardless of his sex offender status, he was still a trusted friend of the family. We would write letters to him each week and he would write back. This went on for years, but I stopped writing to him after his trial and medical proof of guilt. Recently he sent my mother a letter actually confessing to the molestation, yet because he "loves God", it's ok.
The other man had become an active part of my parents' cult and he was recently investigated by the FBI for selling child pornography. He is also now in prison, but emotionally supported by my father and the cult because he is a "devout Christian". Those are just the two who were most often in my life and in my house. I can go on and on about all of the other criminals I know who are openly mentally ill and violent, (They need a great deal of help, but the cult does not encourage them to seek such help from a secular source, such as a Dr) but welcomed around 200+ church members and their children. But why shouldn't they be? We are told to love one another, and they claim to believe the same as the cult.
Bill Gothard, the founder of ATI would send updates to ATI families each month. In his update from April 1997 he writes "Being an exhorter, I tend to overlook the negative and concentrate on the positive. This approach to life gives me continual energy and encouragement. In recent weeks, however, two events have stunned me sufficiently to realize that conditions in our country are far more desperate than I had realized...(The first event is about non-married heterosexual couples living in sin) The second incident also occurred in Chicago. The city council voted to extend medical insurance and other benefits to the live-in partners of sodomite city employees despite the outcry of many community groups. This horrendous decision was announced on the radio the next day along with ridicule for those who opposed it and a closing blasphemous statement: 'God was not available for comment.' The fact is that He has already given comment in both Scripture and history. Whenever a civilization accepts sodomy as a way of life, severe judgements follow." Didn't God also say to love one another?
In 2005 when hurricane Katrina struck I was 17 and very, very involved in the cult's activities, and wanted nothing more than to be part of the team of young people who would go into ministry services through ATI. That was the only world I knew, and I wanted to be a big part of it. I trusted almost anything that I heard from the preacher or leaders. There were so many chances to donate to the people of New Orleans but I didn't give anything because I had been taught that Katrina was God's way of cleansing out the "horrendous" sin in their city and if I gave to them, I was only working against God's will and encouraging them to live in sodomy and practice their ungodly ways. Looking back, I can see how terrible of a person I was to think that over 2,000 people deserved to die and so many others lost all they had. I was brainwashed into being an asshole. Several years later I went to New Orleans with some friends. Many areas were still marked with signs of devastation. The people I met there were wonderful and friendly. I felt so guilty for ever believing that these lovely people should be punished as a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah.
You may have noticed from my other posts that the cult strongly believes that women are inferior to men. In another update from Sept. 1997, Bill Gothard introduced CharacterLink, an internet filter to block sinful websites at home and work. He decided ATI needed their own internet filter because "the world's" were still sinful. He writes: "We discovered that present systems try to block out bad sites, but with an estimated two hundred or more pornographic sites being added every day, this approach is ineffective. We further discovered that one of the most widely used protection services has, on its board of advisors, representatives from militant sodomite groups and NOW (National Organization of Women)."
I looked up NOW and I see why ATI didn't want anything to do with them. From the NOW website: "The National Organization for Women Foundation (“NOW Foundation”) is a 501(c) (3) organization devoted to achieving full equality for women through education and litigation.
The Foundation focuses on a broad range of women’s rights issues, including economic justice, pay equity, racial discrimination, women’s health and body image, women with disabilities, reproductive rights and justice, family law, marriage and family formation rights of same-sex couples, representation of women in the media, and global feminist issues." Yes, it would be terrible to associate with a program who fights for the equal rights for women and would assist in any type of service that would allow a women to make a choice about her own fertility instead of letting God tell her husband that they need to have as many children as possible. Why on earth are we leaving these choices in the hands of emotional women who shouldn't even have jobs in the first place?! Professor Harold Hill would have no issue starting a boys' band at an ATI conference.
The concept of loving one another is clearly not shown when a leader uses such hateful language towards those who are transgender or homosexual. But raping children or your sisters gives you no label. Maybe if they got to click around on the internet a bit the incest wouldn't be as prevalent. There is an ATI song we all learned, "The Ten Unchangeables". One unchangeable was if you were a boy or girl. I later learned that you can change that, with the right amount of medical treatment. We were taught that people who are trans are much more blasphemous than homosexuals because those who were trans were rejecting the way that God made them. But they aren't. That IS who they are! I was actually surprised when I got older and found out that there are a high percentage of homosexuals and transgender who actually go to church and are far better Christians than the ones I knew.
I have recently become very close with a woman who was born a man. I have never met her in person, but we "met" and talk thanks to mutual family and friends. I "knew" her as a man at first, but we never really talked until she told everyone that she was going to become a woman. Now I talk to her almost every day and I am fascinated by her transition and her journey. 10 years ago I would have probably ignored and just prayed for her, which makes me sad and ashamed that I was ever like that. I was taught that I should hate what she is doing and who she is. I can't tell you how happy I am that I no longer think that way and I have the privilege of being a part of her life. She is such an amazing person. She is hilarious and we are able to compare stories of breaking away from who we were once told we should be. We compare outfits and tales of dating nightmares. I love her, she has become like a sister to me and I am excited to have her as a huge part of my girls' lives. She has been a huge support to me in overcoming the lies and hatred I was taught, and now I can't imagine my life without her.
If I followed the teaching of the cult, I should forgive and trust my father for the physical and emotional harm he has inflicted on my family and me. He is active in church and reads the Bible every day. I should have no problem trusting someone who has an abusive nature, as long as they proclaim their love for God, and let him see my girls anytime, yet I am to keep the girls far from anyone who would partake in any act of "sodomy" (I am not a fan of that word, but I'm quoting) among consenting adults that has no bearing on my life whatsoever.. I'm sure the cult will strongly disagree with my choice to limit the girls' time with their grandfather yet encourage their time with a girl who was not always such. Just because someone is different than you are doesn't mean they are wrong. It doesn't mean we should shut them out of our lives and rejoice when disaster befalls them. That is not love, that is a cult of malicious hatred.
I can remember at least two men (a low number, but still above zero) who were close friends with my parents who would visit our home often. There was something about these men I didn't like, and while they never hurt me, I did not trust them. I would be told to be polite and give them hugs to greet them and bid them adieu, but I hated to do so. When I was a slightly older child, one of the men went to prison and was convicted of child molestation. This man continually testified how much he loved and wanted to serve God, so, regardless of his sex offender status, he was still a trusted friend of the family. We would write letters to him each week and he would write back. This went on for years, but I stopped writing to him after his trial and medical proof of guilt. Recently he sent my mother a letter actually confessing to the molestation, yet because he "loves God", it's ok.
The other man had become an active part of my parents' cult and he was recently investigated by the FBI for selling child pornography. He is also now in prison, but emotionally supported by my father and the cult because he is a "devout Christian". Those are just the two who were most often in my life and in my house. I can go on and on about all of the other criminals I know who are openly mentally ill and violent, (They need a great deal of help, but the cult does not encourage them to seek such help from a secular source, such as a Dr) but welcomed around 200+ church members and their children. But why shouldn't they be? We are told to love one another, and they claim to believe the same as the cult.
Bill Gothard, the founder of ATI would send updates to ATI families each month. In his update from April 1997 he writes "Being an exhorter, I tend to overlook the negative and concentrate on the positive. This approach to life gives me continual energy and encouragement. In recent weeks, however, two events have stunned me sufficiently to realize that conditions in our country are far more desperate than I had realized...(The first event is about non-married heterosexual couples living in sin) The second incident also occurred in Chicago. The city council voted to extend medical insurance and other benefits to the live-in partners of sodomite city employees despite the outcry of many community groups. This horrendous decision was announced on the radio the next day along with ridicule for those who opposed it and a closing blasphemous statement: 'God was not available for comment.' The fact is that He has already given comment in both Scripture and history. Whenever a civilization accepts sodomy as a way of life, severe judgements follow." Didn't God also say to love one another?
In 2005 when hurricane Katrina struck I was 17 and very, very involved in the cult's activities, and wanted nothing more than to be part of the team of young people who would go into ministry services through ATI. That was the only world I knew, and I wanted to be a big part of it. I trusted almost anything that I heard from the preacher or leaders. There were so many chances to donate to the people of New Orleans but I didn't give anything because I had been taught that Katrina was God's way of cleansing out the "horrendous" sin in their city and if I gave to them, I was only working against God's will and encouraging them to live in sodomy and practice their ungodly ways. Looking back, I can see how terrible of a person I was to think that over 2,000 people deserved to die and so many others lost all they had. I was brainwashed into being an asshole. Several years later I went to New Orleans with some friends. Many areas were still marked with signs of devastation. The people I met there were wonderful and friendly. I felt so guilty for ever believing that these lovely people should be punished as a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah.
You may have noticed from my other posts that the cult strongly believes that women are inferior to men. In another update from Sept. 1997, Bill Gothard introduced CharacterLink, an internet filter to block sinful websites at home and work. He decided ATI needed their own internet filter because "the world's" were still sinful. He writes: "We discovered that present systems try to block out bad sites, but with an estimated two hundred or more pornographic sites being added every day, this approach is ineffective. We further discovered that one of the most widely used protection services has, on its board of advisors, representatives from militant sodomite groups and NOW (National Organization of Women)."
I looked up NOW and I see why ATI didn't want anything to do with them. From the NOW website: "The National Organization for Women Foundation (“NOW Foundation”) is a 501(c) (3) organization devoted to achieving full equality for women through education and litigation.
The Foundation focuses on a broad range of women’s rights issues, including economic justice, pay equity, racial discrimination, women’s health and body image, women with disabilities, reproductive rights and justice, family law, marriage and family formation rights of same-sex couples, representation of women in the media, and global feminist issues." Yes, it would be terrible to associate with a program who fights for the equal rights for women and would assist in any type of service that would allow a women to make a choice about her own fertility instead of letting God tell her husband that they need to have as many children as possible. Why on earth are we leaving these choices in the hands of emotional women who shouldn't even have jobs in the first place?! Professor Harold Hill would have no issue starting a boys' band at an ATI conference.
The concept of loving one another is clearly not shown when a leader uses such hateful language towards those who are transgender or homosexual. But raping children or your sisters gives you no label. Maybe if they got to click around on the internet a bit the incest wouldn't be as prevalent. There is an ATI song we all learned, "The Ten Unchangeables". One unchangeable was if you were a boy or girl. I later learned that you can change that, with the right amount of medical treatment. We were taught that people who are trans are much more blasphemous than homosexuals because those who were trans were rejecting the way that God made them. But they aren't. That IS who they are! I was actually surprised when I got older and found out that there are a high percentage of homosexuals and transgender who actually go to church and are far better Christians than the ones I knew.
I have recently become very close with a woman who was born a man. I have never met her in person, but we "met" and talk thanks to mutual family and friends. I "knew" her as a man at first, but we never really talked until she told everyone that she was going to become a woman. Now I talk to her almost every day and I am fascinated by her transition and her journey. 10 years ago I would have probably ignored and just prayed for her, which makes me sad and ashamed that I was ever like that. I was taught that I should hate what she is doing and who she is. I can't tell you how happy I am that I no longer think that way and I have the privilege of being a part of her life. She is such an amazing person. She is hilarious and we are able to compare stories of breaking away from who we were once told we should be. We compare outfits and tales of dating nightmares. I love her, she has become like a sister to me and I am excited to have her as a huge part of my girls' lives. She has been a huge support to me in overcoming the lies and hatred I was taught, and now I can't imagine my life without her.
If I followed the teaching of the cult, I should forgive and trust my father for the physical and emotional harm he has inflicted on my family and me. He is active in church and reads the Bible every day. I should have no problem trusting someone who has an abusive nature, as long as they proclaim their love for God, and let him see my girls anytime, yet I am to keep the girls far from anyone who would partake in any act of "sodomy" (I am not a fan of that word, but I'm quoting) among consenting adults that has no bearing on my life whatsoever.. I'm sure the cult will strongly disagree with my choice to limit the girls' time with their grandfather yet encourage their time with a girl who was not always such. Just because someone is different than you are doesn't mean they are wrong. It doesn't mean we should shut them out of our lives and rejoice when disaster befalls them. That is not love, that is a cult of malicious hatred.
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