The next chapter of “The Crumbling Foundation” dealt in detail with the practice of Casting-out members who sinned or broke one of the rules. “Of all the harmful and unscriptural practices of The Word of God Foundation, the worst is the practice of shunning. As we shall see, removal of a person from all fellowship has no basis in scripture.” It pointed out, and cited several Bible verses in support, that yes, the Bible supported a form of shunning. But it was a last resort, and Jesus’ command to treat those removed from the congregation as pagans or tax collectors meant treating them as unsaved. Christians were to act with love and kindness toward them, with the goal of restoring them to faith.
Samuel thought of Gloria Lighthorse and Phil Peterson, and all the others he’d seen over the years. Their treatment was unloving. Kingsley reserved special condemnation for the practice of shunning family members. He finished by noting that fear of shunning kept many Disciples in the firm grip of New Jerusalem. Faced with the loss of contact with family and friends, they dare not speak out, or voice contrary opinions.
The book made an interesting note, which Samuel agreed was true, although he’d never thought about it. Disciples were most often Cast-out for violating the myriad rules governing sex. The Word’s publications, studies, and Servant’s rule books offered endless discussion of what was, and was not proper. Dating was wrong unless the couple sought marriage.
Even within marriage, the Foundation regulated sexual relations. Because of all this, Disciple teenagers married often married too young, and entered marriage with false expectations. Assuming they weren’t Cast-out for trying to be normal teenagers. Again, Samuel thought of Gloria Lighthorse, a perfect example of a young Disciple broken by the rules.
Other rules and traditions further altered the nature of interactions between married couples. A man’s status within The Word determined his wife’s status. Knowing this, young women sought out men most likely to advance within the religion. Ricky Halbert was a good example, as the nephew of an Apostle he attracted attention. At the same time, the man assumed dictatorial authority over the family. The Word required wives and children to submit to his headship.
The next chapter, dealing with finances and transparency, or lack thereof; was a real eye-opener. Sales of books and magazines produced a large income for many years. The sales force worked for free, the production labor nearly so. “The Crumbling Foundation” provided detailed analysis of the available information, documenting the large sums New Jerusalem received. No one knew where all this money went. Each Gathering heard an accounts report every month. The big annual Grand Gatherings, and smaller area conventions also reported their accounts to attendees (although hiding the details of transfers to New Jerusalem).
Then the money disappeared. New Jerusalem publicly stated that all the money supported Disciple-making and missionary work. No Disciples ever questioned that, and New Jerusalem adamantly refused to release any accounting. American law required no financial disclosure, The Foundation stood on that legal argument. In other parts of the world, it did meet requirements to file public reports. These showed considerable cash sent to the American headquarters.
The end of the book provided a stirring conclusion. “As we have seen the Disciples have built their lives on a foundation of sand. The Word of God Foundation has proven itself wrong on doctrine, wrong on its understanding of scripture, and most emphatically wrong on its predictions of future events. For a religion almost entirely built on expectation of future events, it is remarkably lacking in its ability to see the future.
“One wonders why the Disciples continue in the face of so many problems. The answer lies, at least in part, in the concept of ‘sunk costs.’ Having invested so much of their lives in this religion, they cannot imagine leaving it now. So they toil onward, slaves to a publishing house that uses their free labor, even as it controls every aspect of their lives. This work was written with the hope of freeing perhaps a few from their bondage.”
It was with all this in his head, that Samuel attended the next Servant Committee meeting.
**
In Samuel’s eyes, the meeting started badly and went downhill from there. Caleb started it off with a mandate from New Jerusalem. The Servants were to meet every two weeks, and submit various reports to the Apostles. Insuring progress on the coming years “New Work” required added attention. New Jerusalem did not provide any details about the “New Work.”
“They are asking us to redouble our efforts to reach a goal, without telling us what the goal IS.” Sergei Ivanov protested. Several other heads bobbed in agreement, although no one said anything.
Samuel had decided early on that he was going to let others do the talking wherever possible. He’d just go along with whatever the group decided to do. He recognized his cowardice, but had made up his mind that discretion was the better part of valor. He couldn’t change anything, so why rock the boat?
“We know what the goal is,” Caleb snapped back, “it’s to bring Paradise to Earth.”
“That’s The Lord’s job, how are we supposed to do that?”
Fleetingly, a thought crossed Samuel’s mind. Could Sergei harbor doubts about The Word? He often voiced disagreement with the rest of the committee. Could he find out what Sergei thought? He needed to think about that.
“We must have faith the Lord, through His Apostles, guides us in what He commands us to do.”
This from Benjamin Oldendorf, nearly a word for word quote from Sunday’s Bible study. The man had never had an original thought in his life. He thought what The Word told him to think. Now that Samuel’s mind understood how New Jerusalem worked the puppets, he saw it everywhere.
“This isn’t up for a vote,” Caleb snapped.
He went on to say the Servants would meet every two weeks as mandated, end of discussion. He moved on to the next item; financial changes. New Jerusalem directed all Gatherings worldwide to transfer all funds that exceeded immediate needs to the Seattle headquarters. This sparked another round of dissent, this time joined by several Servants.
“How can they just take our money?” Alan Jefferies demanded. Sergei asked if it included the balance of the savings account held for roof repairs. Samuel, seeing he would not stand out alone if he objected also said this didn’t sound right.
Caleb picked up some papers he had taken out of his briefcase, explaining the Apostles expected the questions and provided the answers in advance. The papers were a brief prepared by the legal department. Listening to the document, Samuel decided that New Jerusalem acted within the letter of the law. That didn’t make it right, in his view. The brief cited a court case from California a few years later. The Foundation wanted to sell a Gathering House, and replaced the local Servants when they objected. The new Servants completed the sale. The court noted that a Limited Liability Corporation owned the House, but that Foundation rules governed the LLC. Constitutionally, the court had no authority to mediate a dispute within a church.
Sergei leaned forward, his face red. “Are you saying that if we refuse to comply with this, they’ll just replace all of us?”
“All who object, yes.”
“But those funds are donations, dedicated to replace the roof. The Disciples expect us to use the funds for that purpose.”
“If we need to replace the roof, New Jerusalem will provide the money. This is the Apostle’s decision.”
Samuel could not remain silent, “It may be legal, but it feels like highway robbery. I rather imagine many will agree when they hear about it.”
He heard murmurs of agreement, and a few objections. He wasn’t alone, but he doubted the others would fight with The Apostles.
“I don’t think accusing the Apostles of theft is fair,” Mile Oldendorf said, “they are looking out for The Lord’s interest in this. Some Gatherings might not manage The Lord’s money properly.”
“Exactly so,” Caleb said, holding up the papers, “They cite several instances of mismanagement and even theft. With all the money at New Jerusalem they will be in position to do what’s best for all Disciples.”
Samuel lapsed back into silence. “The Crumbling Foundation” was correct, the slaves refused to see the manipulation and intimidation the Apostles used to hold them in sway. A short time ago, he could not have imagined the Apostles engaging in such manipulation and intimidation in pursuit of money. He knew he’d no doubt think of more examples tonight, when he looked back at previous interactions with New Jerusalem.
Caleb read a few more items from the stack of legal papers. The hand writing was on the wall. They could not fight New Jerusalem, the sided with the Apostles. The Servants agreed, unnecessarily, to send the requested money. Although they grumbled, no one wanted to surrender the little power and prestige they had.
When he returned home, Judith asked him how the meeting went. He told her about the new schedule for Servant committee meetings and New Jerusalem’s confiscation of the Gathering’s money.
“I don’t think you should call it confiscation, if New Jerusalem needs our money, we can trust them to use it wisely.”
“That’s not the point. They shouldn’t just come in and take it. The Gathering donated funds to run the Gathering, and cover extra costs like the roof. They deserve a say in sending it elsewhere.”
She said it was The Lord’s money, the Apostles could spent it as they saw fit. When he said that New Jerusalem had to have made millions over the years, what did they do with that?
“Why are you so negative all the time lately? They used it to advance Disciple-making all over the world. No other religion preaches Paradise the way we do. It is The Lord’s command for this time.
“You need to work on your attitude. You’re trying to get facts and logic instead of faith.”
Samuel, having no response to that, started getting ready for bed. He knew he was running headlong into a wall.
Armageddon’s Slaves © Jeffrey Thomas All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. All events and characters are
products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living
or dead is purely coincidental
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