Yearly Archives: 2017

If you're a Gen-Xer like me, George Orwell probably had a big impact on your political ideology. His landmark 1984 was required reading in my English Literature class in high school, and for good reason. I graduated a couple of  years after the title year of the book, and right smack in the middle of the Cold War. The fight against communism wasn't so much a geopolitical fight, but an ideological battle for truth, against propaganda, and against totalitarian regimes who would try to control the masses by controlling the flow of information. Is it just me, or are there some troubling similarities between Orwell's Big Brother and Stanton leadership? The desire for total control over the flow of information, and the tendency for members to [...]

No, you can't withdraw from a nonmember. On one facet of "withdrawal," Merie was dead right, and current Stanton leadership is stunningly wrong in their quest to quash dissent. I remember her teaching that once someone leaves the church, the church can't "withdraw" from them because they've already "withdrawn" themselves from the group. For this reason, the church cannot take disciplinary action against a nonmember. The sect has been apparently taking liberties with this, and stretching itself to extend its reach on disciplinary measures. They've even invented new forms of discipline to rise up to the task, like re-interpreting "mark and avoid" to fit their current desire to suppress dissent. But I'll tell you right now, they are just sowing the seeds of tyranny. Here's [...]

Can women teach men? As a vocal critic of Merie's unbiblical leadership in the formative years of the Stanton churches, my opinion might surprise some. I have not been critical of her teaching as a female--only of the actual things she taught. I do think it's fair to point out the hypocrisy of how Stanton teaches that women should be absolutely silent "in the church," yet when the closing prayer for the "worship service" is done, all bets are off. They can teach in whatever capacity they want, because it's outside the times 10:00 to noon, or whenever their churches meet. I do believe women can teach men within very broad Biblical boundaries, which I'll offer my thoughts on here. But women being "silent" during [...]