Quote:
Originally Posted by Thankful Jane
Over a year ago, someone presented me with a folder and said I might be interested in the contents. I opened it and couldn’t believe my eyes. In my hands was a full page spread from the Houston Chronicle dated April 30, 1977. I had never seen this article before. The person who gave it to me was in the Church in Houston at that time, and they happened to see the article when it was published. We, of course, were discouraged from reading anything but church materials ...
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This reminds me of a similar newspaper article which ran in Cleveland about the same time. I grew up in Cleveland, but migrated with the church to Columbus in September of '77. Actually the Cleveland Press article ran every day for a week at least, with the title "Church or Cult."
What always bothered me was the hush-hush attitude of the leaders. While I was in school in Columbus, every person I ever knew, friends and family and neighbors, were reading about the church I once attended in Cleveland. After I heard about the articles, I tried to get copies, but no one seemed to have it. One would think that reprints would be made available for church members.
Similar attitudes were held concerning the two books,
Mindbenders and
God-Men. By the time we found out about the books, we were instructed not to read them.
Because of this I had no way to prepare myself for the change in attitude which quickly developed in my family. They had been reading articles I didn't even know existed. We were told, "
the brothers are taking care of it."