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Archive through April 24, 2003Steve20 4-24-03  8:45 pm
Archive through March 15, 2004Pheeki20 3-15-04  10:12 am
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Melissa
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Username: Melissa

Post Number: 234
Registered: 7-2003
Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 10:22 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I choke over the words "mainstream protestant"... They're "ONE OF" us??? I thought they WERE the church....

I'm so confused...

...forgive the sarcasm if it's offensive. Just a little off-handed humor....
Pheeki
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Username: Pheeki

Post Number: 286
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 10:36 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Who are we to believe? If the son says his father attended SDA church (even if he wasn't officially on the books)I believe him.

Did they send out memo's on Malvo or anyone else?
Roseheartgirl
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Username: Roseheartgirl

Post Number: 6
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 10:47 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hi everyone, I have not posted much since I first joined this group, but I read the post here quite often, and I enjoy reading your posts.

Yes, I saw this article when it first appeared upon the fox website. And when I saw it was mentioned that he was an SDA, I thought oh no! Another cult based on ellen white, and a very terrible story indeed. I was very greaved to have read that seven af the victims were such small children. There seems to be so many of these small cult groups around I afraid to say based on ellen white, (so very much like the davidians) but none I hope as bad as this group.

I saw plenty of these small groups while growing up in Southeren Oregon. Some more radical then others. Though I nerver saw any ploygamy involved. They were more concerned in perdicting the end of the world, and seeing how long there bodies would let them fast. That sort of thing. My mom seemed to flitter in and out of these small groups, after she left the sda church , based on the idea that the sda church was not following ellen white close enough. And believed the church was becomming to fordish. This happened I think around beginning of my junior high years or a little earlier. I remember be draged off to such long meetings of these various groups. I found these meetings very boring and confusing, and very turned off by them. Though majority of the time I got to stay home with my dad, and I was very gald of this. My dad though continued to attend the local sda church, and still dose. My mom though passed away from cancer just a few years after I graduated from college.

Though the one thing I can remember from these groups is that they all seemed to adopt the ellen white dress code of long dress down to almost ankles, and sometimes pants underneath. It hit me when I heard on the fox news last night, that this small cult group form fresno, the nieghbors reported seeing the women as wearing long flowing black dresses, wow!
Colleentinker
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Username: Colleentinker

Post Number: 103
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 12:35 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The official word from the Adventist church about David Koresh also was that he was NOT Adventist, and my memory seems to recall that they publicly distanced themsleves from any ties to him at all.

Without knowing the details at all, I'm thinking that perhaps this Wesson may have been Adventist but either left or was disfellowshiped much as Koresh had been. The deception, of course, is that it was Adventism that gave Koresh the fuel for his fire, although he added his own crazed interpretations and practices to it. I'm inclined to think that Wesson's son knew what his father was. The church, however, will probably never admit any ties with him if he had them at one time. Long black dresses, huh...

I've thought for years that Adventism will ultimately do one of two things to people if they do not find Jesus first: it will either launch a person into unbelief or agnosticism, or it will suck a person ever deeper into a morass of mental illness. One cannot try to live by Ellen's counsels and stay sane. Constantly monitoring one's lifestyle, clothes, food, habits, thoughts, etc. mires one in compulsions, obsessions, guilt, and shame. On the other hand, when one believes Adventism is the truth but finds it impossible to "keep" properly, he has no choice but to give up on God and religion . After all, one can't go to another church when Adventism is the TRUTH. TRUTH, on the other hand, makes one crazy with failure and guilt, so what option is there but to leave altogether? And then where's one's integrity? It's all so confusing and hopeless.

Finding Jesus, I believe, is the only way to avoid being psychologically ruined by true Adventism.

Praise God for choosing us from eternity and for calling us to himself!

Colleen

Doug222
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Username: Doug222

Post Number: 484
Registered: 3-2001
Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 8:10 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I did a google search on "dorian wesson" and "seventh-day adventist." There were plenty of hits that all quoted the son as saying he was a member of the seventh-day adventist church. On another board, I saw someone say theat they heard he was part of an off-shoot morman group.

Initially, I was thinking that maybe the son got SDA and Mormanism confused (something that happens frequently)--I want to give SDA's the benefit of the doubt. My rationale for that was that SDA's do not practice or teach polygaamy, as a rule. Then I realized that David Koresh did the same thing.

I guess only time will tell who Dorian Wesson really is. I am sure that the media will be digging up every scrap of information that is available in the very near future.

In His Grace

Doug
Colleentinker
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Username: Colleentinker

Post Number: 104
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 7:29 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

BTW, Richard heard a news report where the son was speaking with a reporter who said Wesson was Mormon. The son quickly corrected him, saying no, he was Seventh-day Adventist.

Interesting.

Colleen
Praisegod
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Username: Praisegod

Post Number: 3
Registered: 3-2004
Posted on Sunday, March 21, 2004 - 10:41 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

When I was training to investigate child abuse, one of the main ìred flagsî that investigators and law enforcement are told about is to watch out for a highly religious family. Originally, I was quite offended by this remark (still SDA back then) but I came to understand it after 10 years of investigating.

I believe that many of these people join the most rigid groups because they recognize that within themselves they are really being driven to do evil things. (I wonít get into the argument about whether itís demonic or mental illness.) They donít have a relationship with the Lord, but rather hope that by using a checklist, they can control themselves. Obviously, that doesnít work. It didnít even work for those of us trying to be good SDAs who didnít grasp the true gospel.

Christians as a whole are extremely naÔve about the abuse that may go on within the families of people they see each week at church. Much is missed because when kids or even adults tend to say things, no one believes it and just thinks, ìThat canít possibly be true within MY church.î

Praise
Dennis
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Username: Dennis

Post Number: 45
Registered: 4-2000
Posted on Sunday, March 21, 2004 - 1:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yes, Marcus Wesson's mother, now living in Washington state, recently told a news reporter that she raised her son as a strict SDA. She went on the say that they didn't dance, were not a cult, and were even vegetarians.

Apparently, Marcus Wesson was facing another eviction from a house plus the threat of losing custody of some of his children to their mothers. Being that Malvo, the infamous, Adventist DC sniper boy, was sentenced earlier this month to life in prison, this additional mass murder case makes the GC spinmasters work overtime these days. They intentionally withheld the information that the Wesson family had a strict SDA background and occasionally attended the SDA church and considered themselves as an Adventist family. The GC communications team merely reported that no membership records have been found to date. Furthermore, they are claiming that Adventism is not a cult, but rather that it is a "mainline Protestant church" of all things. Wow, I thought that the mainline Protestants were the very ones who will soon kill the Sabbatarians.

Truly, many Adventists continue to "go off the deep end" both theologically and with excessive physical and sexual abuse. Investigating SDA scandals has become a full-time profession for many. Consequently, there are forums, websites, magazines, ministries, and other organizations that serve as watchdogs about the "real truth" in Adventism today. Adventists tend to highly mistrust each other and their leadership in particular. In this information age, many Adventists are increasingly no longer trusting the official spin about what is happening in their church--not even theologically. Praise the Lord!

Dennis Fischer
Colleentinker
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Username: Colleentinker

Post Number: 109
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Monday, March 22, 2004 - 12:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Good point, Dennis! And Praisegod, I so agree with you. I've also pondered that many of the most rigid, conservative church people are trying to purge themselves of deep guilt by living externally ascetic lives.

This phenomon brings to mind an anecdote I've mentioned before, but I continue to find it funny and thought provoking: I have a friend (former Adventist) who grew up in an Adventist pastor's family but with a mother who was not overly rigid. "My mother used to say," this friend told me, "never trust anyone who won't eat cheese." The point, of course, is that dietary rigidness tends to cover something deeper that's out-of-control.

Praise God for setting us free!

Colleen
Gatororeo7
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Username: Gatororeo7

Post Number: 122
Registered: 4-2002
Posted on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 11:13 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Greetings to all!

I kinda thought a little about the Marcus Wesson case would be on here after all I've heard, but before I comment let me give you all the low down on me.

Sara and I arrived in California towards the beginning of the month. I am stationed at Beale AFB, near the Marysville/Yuba City area. So far we're really enjoying ourselves. I haven't actually started my job yet, I'm still inprocessing. But int he few weeks I've been here we've purchased our first family car and we're about to move into government housing on base. This is all an exciting time for us. We praise God for how he's blessed us all.

I heard about Wesson last week when the story broke on the local news here out of Sacramento. Obviously we were shocked and appalled like everyone else. I had heard one of his sons go on about the Adventists not being a cult on the news, which seemed to have no relevance to the story they had on, but Sara and I both raised our eyebrows. We went down to Fresno last weekend to visit Sara's family from down there, whose all SDA. I was already a bit apprehensive about the whole deal. They had seen us the weekend before here at Beale and it went fine. I believe it was last weekend when the facts about his ties to the SDA church came out. The Fresno Bee had several articles about him and I read the comments from his mother in last Saturday's paper. This was obviously a topic of conversation among the rest of the family all weekend (to the exclusion of Sara and myself, for obvious reasons). The general feeling is that they are really disturbed about the whole thing. My sister-in-law made the comment, "Well that just makes us all look goood doesn't it?" I get the idea they were looking for ways to defend themselves against attacks they knew were coming. I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut, but it was pretty obvious they were disturbed by the whole deal. The fact that the SDA church denies the whole thing doesn't surprise me at all. I expected it. granted, the murders were horrible, but for the SDA community in Fresno, they seem to be preping themselves for a string of attacks.

I still don't have my computer yet, but I'll be poping in more often now. God bless you all!

Joel London
Colleentinker
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Username: Colleentinker

Post Number: 112
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 11:54 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Joel, it's good to hear from you! I'm glad to hear you're getting settled and having such a good time.

It's interesting that at the local level, the Adventists are not trying to pretend there was no connection between Wesson and the church. But as you said, it's not surprising that they officially deny the ties.

Colleen
Dennisrainwater
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Username: Dennisrainwater

Post Number: 80
Registered: 8-2000
Posted on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 2:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Welcome to California, Joel!

I just recently moved from Paradise, just a hour or so to the north of you. My job took me right by Beale AFB on hwy 70 each morning around 7:30 am -- so I know your area well. My brother was once stationed at Beale (I was stationed at McChord in Tacoma, WA, and in England at bases that are now sadly closed.)

I wish you had gotten there a bit sooner -- perhaps we could have had occasion to meet in person. We are now happily settled in North Carolina.

God bless you in your new life -- in so many ways!! :-)

Den <><
Lydell
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Username: Lydell

Post Number: 575
Registered: 7-2000
Posted on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 7:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Joel, hope you can encourage Sara to get involved with the Protestant Women of the Chapel (don't know if the Air Force uses the same name or not). There will be ladies of all protestant denominations there--you don't have to attend chapel services to be a part of the fun, plenty of support, encouragement, help and advice in adjusting to military life and the new duty station, and friendship. Can't tell you just what a world of difference it will make for her! There is babysitting provided. She won't need to feel uncomfortable about being the only one there who is new since there are new people coming in all the time.

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