You might be in a cult if…

…your leaders decide to kill of two of the most promising and healthy programs in your ministry.

…your leaders continue to ignore the voices of sound Christian men and women in your group.

…your leadership is always engaged in a godfather-like struggle for power.

…your organization resembles a business.

…your leaders make claims indicating tragic events are examples of God’s anger.

…your leaders continually live in denial of real pain and hurt.

…your leaders repeatedly marginalize those who follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

…you aren’t sure who is in charge.

…your group’s missionaries implant their own culture in every country they go to.

…your group’s missionaries lord over their authority in life-long shepherd/sheep bonds.

…numerous former members report trauma triggers and panic attacks.

…your organization’s mission statement doesn’t mention Jesus.

[Note: The ubf 50th anniversary mission statement was re-written and did not mention Jesus. The link was removed from the ubf.org website, but remains on the Korean websites.]

The marriage decision is one of the most critical decisions you will make in your youth. Some say it is the single most important decision. In my experience, it is the most impactful and deciding factor for the rest of your life: 50, 60, 70 years ahead. So I would plead with you to pause and pray, and ask many, many questions. Do you really want to go through the “marriage by faith” process in ubf?

Marriage By Faith Secrets

Ok, so you’ve made the decision: you will go through MbF. Probably, like me, you feel this is your only option as a shepherd in ubf. It’s not, but that is how you feel you can best glorify and honor God. So let’s make this process as smooth and pain-free as possible. Here are some facts to understand and my advice based on my own experience. I found that these things made the ho-hum ubf live far more exciting. On one hand you are stuck in UBF, but on the other hand you are stuck in UBF ;)

1. MbF is the “holy grail” of Korean missionaries. As a young man, you really want to get married. But did you realize your shepherd wants you to get married way more than you do? If you successfully pass MbF, your shepherd will gain much honor and prestige. Use that to your advantage. NOTE: Koreans have a loud bark, yes. But they are not really “marines of Christianity”. You can push them. They are more like marshmallows. But be wise in how you push. You will need more cunning, more prayer and more wisdom to pull off a successful MbF than anything you’ve done in your life.

2. Go on holy dates. You already attend so many meetings right? Well use each Friday meeting as a “holy date”. You won’t be able to talk to any woman, that would kill your chances of MbF. But while you are sitting in your chair, imagine you are already married to one of the single women there. Try out different women, dating them virtually in your mind. Pay attention to their testimony and see if they seem like someone you like. Of course, if your chapter doesn’t have mixed Friday meetings (with men and women), you’ll have to be more creative, like going on holy dates during Sunday service. If you already have met a girl in UBF and she likes you, then you’re in luck. You can both go on a holy date together (but be certain never to talk to each other or even look at each other during the meeting).

3. Do 5:30 AM Daily Bread before beginning the conversation. Suck it up and do Daily Bread for three weeks straight. Then ask for a meeting with your shepherd to talk about marriage. At that meeting, don’t talk about yourself, focus the discussion on your shepherd’s marriage. Normally he will want to share how beautiful his MbF process was. Be sure to express how much you want to glorify God like he did.

4. Use reverse psychology. After a few years of holy dating, you probably have a good idea of who you would like to marry. Hopefully you have had a chance to indicate this to the girl, but that is not necessary. In MbF, you get to choose your wife as “the man”. But your marriage will be far better off if you can be friends with the girl and get some indication if she likes you too. So what do you do? BY NO MEANS do you ever, ever ask to marry a specific girl. That is cause for dead-dog training and possibly a two year delay in the MbF process. So you use reverse psychology. Come up with a prayer topic that is general, but would open the way for the girl you like to be your “chosen one”. For example, if you are filled with Russian mission vision, pray something like this: “I will marry any UBF shepherdess who has Russian mission vision.” Share that for three weeks in a row after initiating the MbF conversation with your shepherd. BY NO MEANS do you share this prayer topic before meeting with your shepherd. That is also cause for a 6 month or 1 year delay in your MbF. There is an added bonus by sharing such a prayer topic: you might find a girl who likes you this way. If some sister hears that you want to be a missionary to Russia, she might suddenly start talking about Russia a lot in her testimonies :)

More secrets, tips and tricks to come… feel free to comment here. This is an open mic and I will never reveal your identity.

I agree with this post from 2007:

“UBF is the kind of organization that sucks your life away. You don’t associate with anyone outside of it, and once you become serious about it, you actually move into a church dormitory and spend all of your time doing free work for the church: recruitment, maintenance, cooking, etc. Christianity is only a tertiary concern. Surely nobody can be surprised that religion, which encourages a mindset of blind devotion and taking things on faith, would lead people right into the hands of exploitative cultists.”

http://www.cydeweys.com/blog/2007/06/29/religious-cult-preying-on-vulnerable-lonely-college-students/

But there are other reasons why I didn’t become a priest in the RCC, and reasons why I would not consider it even today. Mainly those reasons have to do with the ceremony and rituals the priests perform. I think a priest should be praying, serving, helping, etc. But standing around in a robe and performing ceremonies? I don’t want any part of that. I’m not against such things being done by priests; its just not for me.

Just before I resigned as Director of Detroit UBF, I found out about a UBF plan to convert all UBF directors into UBF pastors, complete with a robing ceremony. This contributed to my resignation.

Early on, UBF was a para-church for laypeople. There were no robes, no ceremonies, and I loved it! But over time UBF has become its own denomination (and I hesitate to say it is a church; it is more of a cult-like para-church on steroids held together by bonds of human loyalty and ambition).

But the trappings of a church are now being displayed publicly. UBF is moving away from being a layperson ministry and attempting to put on a good face of church-like activity such as baptisms. Since my family now worships at a Baptist church, I am highly offended by the recent baptisms in UBF. And I am highly offended by the attempt to convert UBF directors into UBF pastors just because of their length of service and without proper ordination policies.

http://www.ubf.org/content/baptism-testimony-diana-guzman-chicago

I also came to realize that Confucian thought had become a barrier that hindered my writing of messages, testimonies, etc. I could never quite grasp the meaning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Where did I pick up Confucian ideas in America? Certainly such thoughts came from a Korean version of Confucianism, perhaps mixed in with Taoism and Buddhism. Today I would like to delve into this a little deeper. This is a big topic, and one to which I expect to give more thought. In the future, I plan to examine the 12-point UBF spiritual heritage in light of these Confucius teachings. At first glance, the heritage lines up well with Confucius ideas.

Example: The Lens of Li and Junzi

The main ideas of Confucianism are (as I understand them from my research)… etiquette (li), parental piety (hsiao), humanity (ren), loyalty (chung) and nobility (junzi).

For many years, these ideas were the lens through which I viewed Scripture. When I wrote a message or testimony, the content was judged as “good” or “bad” based on how clearly these ideas were presented. So my worldview was shaped by these things.

Now all of this was unspoken and implicit. Never was I told explicitly: “Write a Confucian message!” But these unspoken values became woven into the fabric of my faith.

Here is an example from one of my messages I wrote on John chapter 3.

John 3:1-3  1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.  2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”  3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

My concluding paragraph about verses 1 through 3 was this:

Now consider Jesus’ words, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again”. This is very controversial.  At the same time here is the greatness of Jesus. In the presence of Christ, all the worldly greatness is gone. People face this reality check, “Who am I?  Do I see the kingdom of God? Do I experience God? What is my future?”  These words of Jesus make me to think about myself.  Have I been born a new?  Do I see the kingdom of God?  Like Nicodemus I have devoted myself to Bible study. I have tried to live an honorable life with the best I can. I have now become a man of modest accomplishment in this world. If Jesus were here today, would I come to him?  What would I do if Jesus says to me, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again”.  This is true with you.  What would be your response as you hear from Jesus, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again”?

Oh how I missed SO many chances to share the good news of Jesus! Instead, I labored to keep proper etiquette, to respect the “spiritual order” of parental piety, and to live a loyal, human and noble life!

How did the Confucian ideas affect what I wrote in the paragraph above? Let me explain.

Etiquette:  The teaching called “li” is about “the proper way”. This is a belief that includes ritual, propriety and etiquette. It includes a set of rules for interaction with others. Knowing and finding your role in a system is important. In UBF, I learned the “rules of engagement” for a messenger (and also for testimony writing). The first rule is to accept the thoughts of your shepherd (leader).  The words above? Those are not mine. They were dictated to me, given to me as the words I should present as my thoughts. Because I looked at my life through the lens of “li”… I accepted this as normal.

Nobility:  The teaching called “junzi” is about righteousness, honesty and trustworthiness. A junzi is a nobleman. It was a term used by Confucius to describe his ideal human. UBF trained me to be a “junzi” man. So I became devoted to Bible study, and to whatever activity was presented to me. I tried to live a noble, honest life. Because I also viewed life through the lens of “junzi”, I made the words above my own, and defended them as being my true feelings and thoughts.

The proper lens: Grace

Although there are theological differences among the Christian greats, I have found a common theme. They all looked at Scripture through the lens of grace.  The grace of God is the last word of the Bible; the lasting impression God would leave with mankind.

And not only was grace the lens that the ancient greats used, it is the lens through which modern Christians use:

“In the New Testament, ‘grace’ is a word of central importance – the keyword, in fact, of Christianity. The thought of grace is the key that unlocks the New Testament; and it is the only key that does so. However well we may know the New Testament, we cannot get inside its meaning till we know something of what grace is.”  — J.I.Packer
http://www.fbccs.org/resources/papers/grace.asp

When I see Scripture from the viewpoint of grace, I see a marvelous fabric of love, hope, faith, joy, peace, goodness, righteousness, holiness and justice! The grace of God melts away all other worldly ideas and restores Jesus as my Lord and King!

The UBF educational videos are here: http://www.ubf-media.org/staff/
(The videos are in Korean language however)

Teaching material is already in the works. UBFTV used to list many Korean language Staff training videos. (Note: new video website– http://www.ubf-media.org/staff/)

The plan is to create Kindergarten, elementary, middle school and high school curriculum (K-12). This is mentioned on page 150 of the 50th Anniversary Book. The book also mentions a UBF University for college students.

Today I found the demo website  setup for the UBF schools:

http://ubfschools.org/

Here is a link with the English translation (even though Washington USA UBF is the host)

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fubfschools.org%2F&act=url

Here is a link to the summary of the K-12/University school system to be created:

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fubfschools.org%2F&act=url

Google translation below:

[2 years(?)] Education Ministry

As a former Director in UBF and member for 24 years (1987 to 2011), it is very easy for me to see how the claims against Lee can be levied against numerous current UBF leaders and in fact against the official teachings and practices of UBF as an organization. It is even more apparent to me that a core problem in UBF is doctrinal error. The teaching of UBF, and the methods used to perpetuate that teaching, are indeed non-Biblical. This is extremely ironic, given the inordinate amount of time dedicated to Bible study in UBF. But even that is not so ironic to me. It is very easy to see that “Bible study” in UBF is not critical thinking or exploritive learning, but is almost exclusively “Pavlovian response technique” and “Bible memorization”. UBF repeatedly trains people to ask certain questions based on certain Bible passages until they can respond in the UBF-ordained manner.

But I’m getting ahead of myself…

1976 Allegation #4 – Non-Biblical Education Methods

Forced Repentance

CLAIM: The 1976 claim was that Samuel Lee ordered a missionary candidate to put red pepper in his eyes and bang his head on a wall to demonstrate his repentance. The letter also claims many more physical abuses, but does not name them.

FACTS: The forced repentance is well-known in UBF and well-documented. In the book “Churches that abuse“, a statement is recorded: “Preparation for Summer Conference [in UBF] usually reached fever pitch the three weeks prior to the event. It was during these times that extensive spiritual manipulation and indoctrination occurred. Lee would meet nightly with all the UBF staff, accusing some of “playing Satan,” and actually saying that he had prayed they would die if they did not repent.”

COMMENT: The 1976 Korean shepherds said it best: “Missionaries who experienced inhumane training have bitter and askew hearts. We can not bear it any longer. Isn’t repentance originated by the Holy Spirit?”

Forced testimony sharing

CLAIM: The 1976 letter acknowledges that testimony sharing can be used as a good educational method through which we can accept God’s word into our hearts. The claim is that Samuel Lee abuse this method, forcing shepherds to confess their sin so that he could give them some kind of suffering or penance, and so that he would know their weak points.

FACTS: UBF teaches a “shape up or ship out” attitude.

COMMENT: Coercion is a major contradiction of Jesus’ teaching methods. Such forcing of testimonies is a form of BITE control.

Personal (Lee) philosphy

CLAIM: The 1976 letter claims that the essence of Christianity is Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection, and that this essence was tainted by Lee’s overstressing of Genesis Bible study. The claim was that this resulted in Bible study methods that were not those of Apostle Paul or of Jesus. They further claim that Lee’s personal philosophy was infused into messages and Bible materials in a way that blocked free and creative thinking, and as such, hindered the faith of students.

FACTS: Nearly all the question sheets and messages used for UBF Bible study are heavily influenced directly (almost verbatim) from Samuel Lee’s material. Some recent effort has been made to create new material, but such effort is simply a rewording of Lee’s material at best.

COMMENT: 24 years of UBF study and UBF life clearly demonstrates to me that Lee’s philosophy is very much alive. If you don’t believe me, then read the UBF 50th Anniversary book. A precious few leaders in UBF in 2012 have begun to question the Genesis-based philosophy that permeates UBF.

Inhumane training

CLAIM: The 1976 claim was that Samuel Lee was absorbed with all kinds of training, to the point of becoming proud, thinking himself to be the best trainer in the world. They claim that Lee’s training was spiritual, mental, emotional and physical abuse, using harsh language, beatings and torture. The claim was that this resulted in all UBF shepherds becoming nearly identical and also universally feeling horror, guilt, shame and self-accusation.

FACTS: The UBF motto is declared on their UBF history page: “We are soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ. By correctly handling the word of God, we want to establish a Christian view of life.  We are soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ. For the sake of Bible Korea and World Mission, we participate in the sufferings of Christ voluntarily.” Such soldier mentality was not accidental. Thinking and living like “holy soldiers” gives rise to submitting to inhumane suffering as training.

UBF further admits to training shepherds in Korea to be “pillar-like”… “But from 1967 we trained students and raised them up as messengers. Through this training, student leaders grew to be independent Bible teachers. Even after graduation, they continued to study the Bible and struggled to live according to the word of God and later grew to be pillar-like shepherds in each UBF center.”

COMMENT: Again the 1976 Korean shepherds have the most appropriate comment: “You are proud that you are the best trainer in the world. We have been proud that we have wonderful trainer like you. What are the fruits of your training for the last 10 years? You were proud that you chose us from the best intellectuals. We tried our best to accept your training. But according to you, we turned out to be useless. Is there any problem in your training?”

1976 Allegation #2 – Human Rights Abuses

Violent Behavior

CLAIM: The 1976 claim was that UBF training involved beatings, sitting naked in ice water, starvation and pulling toenails. They further claimed that shepherds were instructed to hit each other and that several shepherds were hospitalized. The claim is that these things were done rather randomly, even for seemingly reasonable failures, such as missing a leader’s meeting because of a severe snowstorm.

FACTS: It is clear that something happened in the first 15 years of UBF history to cause numerous Korean shepherds who were leaders to speak out about such human rights abuses. Their statement in this section is telling: “We can not find anything like this in Jesus. If a victim sues you, UBF will be considered a cult and will be sentenced as guilty.”

COMMENT: I have heard this statement in UBF messages: Jesus did not care about human rights. The result of 24 years of UBF teachings was that my conscience became numb. Although the acts of violence appear to have ended (though some reports do exist), such actions have not been replaced with compassion. Instead, acts of violence against people’s minds and souls have taken the place of the historical acts of violence. There are reports of “dead dog” training in isolated cases after 1976. But such training has been changed into what I call “dead conscience” training. The physical torture has been replaced with mental torture. Shepherds in America will experience such mental pain typically only when they raise questions or issues about actions or teachings or history that bothers their conscience.

Forced arranged marriage

CLAIM: The 1976 claim is that Samuel Lee forced single male shepherds to take an oath: “I am the husband of a female German missionary.” The claim is that marriage was used to strategically encouraged loyalty to UBF and to Lee himself. One man’s name was changed to “Three Years”, so that he would remember Lee’s direction to marry in UBF within three years. The claim was that Lee ignored existing engagements and excommunicated anyone who would not marry in the way Lee ordered, which set up Lee as the arranger of marriages.

FACTS: The 50th anniversary book published by UBF in 2011 states that UBF wants to create a “culture of mature actions”. One of those actions is listed as “marriage by faith”.

COMMENTS: No one outside UBF would understand the phrase “marriage by faith”. But to an insider, this means the ultimate test of loyalty to UBF. Marriage done “by faith” requires both partners to be UBF loyalists. They must have already demonstrated clear loyalty to UBF teachings and ways. The majority of such marriages were indeed arranged by shepherds. After Lee’s death, other leaders took over this responsibility. Often multiple marriages would be celebrated on the same day. This was not as extensive as the mass weddings by the Moony/Unification Korean organization, but has a similar look and feel.

2012 Allegation #2 – Human Rights Abuses

Narcissistic Behavior

I claim that the violent acts of the past history in UBF training have been replaced, in America, with narcissistic acts. While there are a few UBF leaders who may indeed have full-blown Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), many UBF shepherds display narcissistic behavior.

Coerced arranged marriage

“Marriage by faith” is an official, documented teaching of UBF. Although there is no longer one man, Lee, arranging marriages, there are many “marriage arrangers” who often use similar political or strategic plans to coerce UBF young people to marry within UBF. As of 2012, wanting to marry someone outside UBF is still grounds for being driven out of UBF. The claim of “no divorce” in UBF is also false. One rather recent arranged marriage in Toledo UBF ended in divorce only months afterward.

News:

Utopia in Kimchi Tank – Exploring the hazards of the Korea manipulative sect which recommands the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

Description:

In recent years, we saw many zealous Korean religious sects preaching in the universities campus. They usually attract students’ participation by special cultural activities. Then, through systematic Bible study class, they instill their ideas gradually. However, many of such sects are in the name of Christianity, claiming themselves to be a godly and full of love’s Kingdom of Heaven that rarely found on earth. In fact, their claiming is unreal and they are the blind-believers abusive organisations. They bring to believers lots of poison and ideological manipulation. In order to explore these phenomena, we expecially held a lecture. We invited someone who has been caught in such denominations and some senior religious people. They will explain how to distinguish between authentic and problemed denominations. Let’s discuss how such campus mission movement influenced the students.

Speakers:

  Dr. Kai-Yum Cheung Teng (Alliance Bible Seminary, Associate Professor of Cross-culturalResearch Department)

  Pastor Wu Chi Wai (Hong Kong Church Renewal Movement, General Director)

  Former University Bible Fellowship UBF (South Korea manipulative sect) Division Leader

Date:

2012/04/11 (Wednesday)

Location:

T.Y. Wong Hall (TYW_LT), 5th/F, Ho Sin Hang Engineering Building, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Time:

19:00 – 21:00pm (7:00 pm to 9:00 pm)

Object:

University professors and students, people who have concerns about new religious movements from South Korea.

Organizer:

Concern Group on Newly Emerged Religions CGNER/

Hong Kong Church Renewal Movement HKCRM

Enquiry Hotline:

8132-2841

Web site:

http://www.cgner.org
http://www.facebook.com/events/378534852179368/

No registration. Free admission

]]> 863 http://www.priestlynation.com/freedom-of-the-mind/ http://www.priestlynation.com/freedom-of-the-mind/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:26:32 +0000 http://www.priestlynation.com/?p=513 Continue reading Freedom of the Mind→]]> One of my friends recently mentioned to me how he heard people dismissing me and my blog as “just another anti-ubf” website. Some have stopped reading because they incorrectly assume I hate ubf and want to see it destroyed. That is not my purpose. I am blogging for freedom, to put it simply.

I am blogging on this website to ask tough questions that UBF leaders do not want to ask or have refused to ask. I am blogging to capture the thoughts and memories I have so that I and others can refer to them later (I’ve heard my Russian friends are translating some of my posts and putting them in a more logical arrangement.) But most of all, my purpose here is to open people’s minds, to “give them a lot to consider” (as one person who wrote me said in response to my articles).

I don’t want you to leave UBF. I don’t want you to stay in UBF. I want you to think; to think for yourself and open your mind. Why should we be so fearful of asking questions and discussions? Who knows, it may just lead to more joy, peace and faith than you’ve ever experienced!

Recently I found an excellent website expressing some very good thought processes, especially in regard to thinking and observing things in a religious environment. Today I present a small part of an article by Steven Hassan and Lama Surya Das called “Spiritual Responsibility“. This section of the article deals with the question of how to assess a church or religious organization.

Questions to Help the Assessment Process

1. Who is the leader? What are his/her background and qualifications? Have you relied solely on trust that all of the information you were given is true or have you done independent investigation? Do you feel pressure to accept and not question at all? Is it possible that there are misrepresentations or falsehoods?

Is there external corroboration for extraordinary claims of accomplishment or are they simply his/her say-so? If “miracles” have been performed, can they be replicated under open observation or even under scientific conditions? Are there other explanations for the “miracles,” such as magic tricks, hypnosis, etc.?

If there is a former leader or member, have you sought him or her out to hear for yourself critical information? If not, are you afraid to trust your ability to discern the truthfulness of what you learn?

If you find yourself saying that you don’t care if there are major deceptions, ask yourself if you knew this information before you became involved, would you have even bothered to make a commitment of time and money?

2. Are there exclusive claims made to wisdom, knowledge, love, and truth? If so, the burden of proof is on the leader to demonstrate his or her superiority, not on members to disprove it. A truly “developed” spiritual being exudes love, compassion, and humility. Any person who claims to be “superior” but does not practice what they preach is of questionable character. There is never incongruency between words and deeds. A person who uses fear and phobia indoctrination to control followers demonstrates insecurity and lack of spiritual maturity.

3. Is total submission and obedience required? Any relationship that demands giving up one’s personal integrity and conscience is dangerous and leads to totalitarianism. Be wary of those who advocate “the ends justify the means,” especially when it clearly serves their own self-interest. Also, make sure that your desire “to believe” doesn’t simply activate the common psychological defense mechanisms: denial, rationalization, justification, and wishful thinking. If a doctrine is true or a person is truly spiritually advanced, they will stand up to the scrutiny of objective evaluation. If they do not prove themselves, they are probably not worthy of your commitment and devotion.

4. Does he/ she have a criminal record, a legacy of allegations against him/her or a history of misconduct? If there are allegations of misconduct against the leader, the responsible follower must seek out the negative information and the sources of that information to evaluate the truth. If a leader claims to be celibate and allegations are made that the leader engaged in inappropriate sex, this is an extreme violation of integrity. It must be investigated vigorously. It is never appropriate for teachers, therapists, or spiritual masters to take advantage of a power differential over followers. This is especially true in the area of sexuality. It is grossly unethical to engage in sexual relations with someone who has placed their trust in as a teacher/advisor/master. Many followers are incredibly vulnerable to this and unable to resist sexual intimacy. Anyone should be able to say “no.”Is he or she a “trust bandit,” stealing hearts, souls, minds, bodies, and pocketbooks for his or her own ends?

5. Does the leader demonstrate psychological problems and awareness of their existence?Does the leader have addictions to power, drugs, alcohol, sex, even television or shopping? Does the leader have emotional outbursts? Does the leader physically abuse followers? Does the leader drive expensive cars and wear expensive clothes while extolling the virtues of renunciation?

Does the leader financially exploit followers by expecting them to live in poverty while he or she indulges in luxury? Is the group or leader’s driveway habitually filled with luxury cars while ordinary people find him or her inaccessible and unreachable?

Does the leader ever encourage deception or use deception as a “technique” to trick followers into so-called correct thinking and understanding?

Codependent behavior by a spiritual teacher should be a warning sign of danger. Codependency includes: obsessively trying to control others; allowing people to hurt and use them; lack of clear boundaries; being reactive, not proactive; tunnel visioned; obsessive worrying and denial; expectations of perfection and suppression of human needs. (Beattie, Beyond Codependency, Harper/Hazelden, 1989)

6. Are questions and doubts permitted within the organization? A healthy spiritual environment must engage individual followers at their level of experience and should encourage them to feel and think and therefore question their beliefs and exercise good decision-making. In this way, the follower can investigate, discriminate, and test the dogma and the environment they are being asked to accept, between what his or her personal issues are and what might be an unhealthy environment. If intense pressure is used to dissuade people who wish to talk with former members or critics, it is a clear sign of information control. Controlling information is one of the most essential components of mind control.

7. Is the organization open or closed? Are there organizational secrets? Are there “in” groups and “out” groups? Are there restricted teachings for initiates only?

Are there secret texts and publications “for your eyes only”? Is there real financial accountability? If a group says that you can look at its accounting records, does it actually provide access? The only way to know is to ask to see the records. If you are afraid to ask, what does this say about the atmosphere of the group?

8. What structural checks and balances exist within the organization to prevent abuse of power? Are there divisive sectarian biases, even in the name of interdenominational ecumenicism and universality? Is there an independent “ethics”committee to challenge and change policies of the group?If there are abuses or injustices, what structure exists to correct them?

Can anyone legitimately question the actions of the leader without threat of emotional withdraw or fear of expulsion to “hell”?

Do the rich and powerful get preferential treatment?
Are “indulgences” (spiritual pardons) sold? Is there a “code of silence” against unethical behavior of leaders?

The question the sparked my mind today is this: “Was Jesus created or a Creator?” From a Scripture standpoint, it is impossible to conclude that Jesus is a created being. Jesus is God who incarnated into a human body, but Jesus is Lord of Lords and has existed throughout eternity.

I thought that if something is not true, why bother asking the question? Shouldn’t we be preaching the truth? Through the ensuing discussions however, I realized this question was asked in order to discover the truth, not to dictate truth. Then I instantly realized that the thousands of questions I had asked (in making hundreds of Bible study question sheets) were asked with the intention of dictating truth. I realized today that after doing this for many years, I had ended up dictating ideals and opinions. I started out with the good intention of telling the truth to others, but ended up binding their lives to a system of pious actions. I had lost the joy of discovery and investigative learning!

So I wonder, why do you ask questions? Are you telling the Bible what you want it to say? Are you telling others to follow your church’s programs?

A LinkedIn discussion reveals some really good reasons why people ask questions. When we study the Bible and preach Christ, we must take utmost care to know these things. Otherwise, we can use the sword of the Bible as a weapon.

Here is my favorite list of the purpose of questions from the LinkedIn discussion:

* To obtain an answer
* To open a dialogue
* To show interest
* To signal your presence
* To encourage someone else to express themselves
* To demonstrate knowledge
* To lead someone to think or respond in a particular way
* To obtain the corresponding action implied
* To trigger a debate
* To commence a joke

When I left UBF, I took 5 months to do it. I asked many questions and raised many issues in order to open a dialogue. And I am now embarking on a new phase of my spiritual journey toward Heaven. I am seeking the joy of discovering the truth!

I do not think this is the only picture, but it does depict some key teachings in the book of 1 Timothy.

This diagram troubled me greatly though. So I asked some friends to describe their reaction. I learned from their responses that the diagram looks ok as far as what a church structure should look like based on 1 Timothy (I personally would include Galatians and other Scripture though). The problem is that the diagram does not reflect the current structure of UBF. This prompted me to draw my own picture of the UBF structure (based on spending 24 years in the organization).

These two diagrams visually tell the story of what I and my friends have been saying for a long time: How does UBF get from its current structure to the structure God presents in Scripture?

Public link: UBF 1 Timothy Diagram

Local copy in case the link disappears:
ubf-1timothy-diagram

My first attempt at a UBF structure diagram:
ubf-structure-2011

The single most important psychological theme in UBF that needs to be examined is what I call the Sisyphus Syndrom. Simply put, this syndrom is the condition of people who do the same thing over and over again, legalistically and proudly claiming they are right. They see their failure, but refuse to make any adjustments, corrections or changes to have a different outcome. When things fall apart, they simply start all over again, doing the same things. This futile repetition is symbolized in Greek mythology in a king named Sisyphus, who was made to push a boulder up a hill, only to find that it keeps rolling back down the hill. Here is an explanation:

As a punishment from the gods for his trickery, King Sisyphus was made to roll a huge boulder up a steep hill, but before he could reach the top of the hill, the rock would always roll back down, forcing him to begin again. The maddening nature of the punishment was reserved for King Sisyphus due to his hubristic belief that his cleverness surpassed that of Zeus. As a result when King Sisyphus was condemned to his punishment, Zeus displayed his own cleverness by binding King Sisyphus to an eternity of frustration with the boulder rolling away from Sisyphus when he neared the top of the hill. Accordingly, pointless or interminable activities are often described as Sisyphean.

(source)

Chapters of UBF around the world have regularly displayed a pattern of collapsing every 5 to 10 years. When a UBF chapter experiences a mass exodus of leaders and/or members, the director of that chapter just starts over, focusing on new students who don’t know the dark history of UBF. This pattern started in the 1970’s and continues to happen in 2011. It has happened in UBF chapters all over the world, such as India, Minsk, Toledo, Germany, etc.

Most Christian churches experience division and members leaving. Christianity is not immune to factions and disagreements. But this destructive pattern in UBF is not a Christian pattern. Christians respond to divisions, arguments, etc. with change, repentance and love. UBF’s response for 50 years has been silence, rejection, closed-mindedness, legalism and more fervent repetition of their same actions and belief system.

But my eyes were opened recently to see that I had hurt others. I had been treated quite differently from others, probably because I became one of UBF’s biggest fans.

From a historical perspective, UBF missionaries from South Korea first came to America in the late 1970’s. Almost immediately, cult-watching groups picked up on UBF’s practices. For many years, I became one of the primary defenders of UBF against such accusations of being a cult. Through my attempts to defend UBF on Wikipedia and various other websites, I came to realize that I could not defend UBF against the cult accusations. It is a fact that the basically sound UBF statement of faith has been negated by cult-like practices. People who study in UBF eventually find out just how much control the group wants over their lives, including who and when to marry, where to work, where to go to school, what kind of degree to have, and all the while demanding absolute attendance at daily meetings. These things are not known to those who initially join the group, and the control is instituted a little at a time over many years.

I will leave it up to others to decide whether UBF is a cult or not. But as a former Director in UBF, I can clearly say that the authoritarian, obedience-driven and honor-desiring actions of UBF leaders has created an unhealthy environment for spiritual, mental and even physical growth. I will certainly not defend UBF as a Christian organization any longer.

While students may enjoy the wonderful fellowship UBF offers initially, spiritual life often becomes stagnated after graduation. I observed this stagnation repeatedly as over 100 of my friends (counting husbands, wives and children), left UBF ministry over the past 20 years.

Here is a good summary of the current situation of UBF ministry in America (and around the world outside of South Korea) from a cult-watching group:

* Note: I was one of those who sent in emails defending UBF to this cult-watching group.

This entry on University Bible Fellowship (UBF) — as shown below the blue line — is in need of updating. Doing so is on our lengthy to-do list, and we do not know when we get around to it.

That said, the primary update of note is that on March 18, 2008, the Board of Directors of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) voted to re-admit the UBF as a member.

Since early May, 2008, we have received emails from a number of UBF members pointing out this fact. Some also point to a handful of endorsements the UBF has received, as well as to its membership in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). Most of the emails make clear that membership in the NAE — and, to a lesser extend, in the ECFA — is seen as a stamp of approval for the UBF.

We do take such memberships into consideration, but they do not weigh heavily in our evaluations of groups. Many organizations are ill-equipped to deal with issues surrounding high-demand organizations and cult-like groups. They tend to base their determinations almost entirely on whether or not a movement’s Statement of Faith passes their standard of orthodoxy.

Unfortunately, often a group’s Statement of Faith does not quite describe what it actually teaches in word and/or in practice. In other words, a church, movement or organization can have a Statement of Faith that is theologically sound — and yet teach doctrines ranging from aberrant to heretical and/or engage in practices that are sociologically and/or spiritually abusive.

Therefore when it comes to University Bible Fellowship, our concerns regarding the organization have not been diminished as a result of the movement’s re-acceptance by the NAE.

In fact, we consider UBF’s authoritarian, high-demand nature to be evidence of a faulty understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ — and of the Bible’s teachings regarding disciples of Jesus.

We do not accept the notion that much of the University Bible Fellowship’s cult-like ideas regarding authority, submission, obedience and discipline can simply be explained by the group’s Korean influences. It is not Korean culture that should influence a Christian’s walk with Jesus. Rather, it should be the other way around.

In short, we have seen nothing that suggests University Bible Fellowship’s teachings and practices should not — at the very least — be cause of concern for Christians. In our opinion, the UBF is an unhealthy organization whose teachings and practices provide a breeding ground for spiritual elitism and abuse.

Theologically, we consider the University Bible Fellowship to be at best an aberrant movement. In Christian theology, aberrant means, “Off-center or in error in some important way, such that the doctrine or practice should be rejected and those who accept it held to be sinning, even though they may very well be Christian.”

Our advice to Christians is not to get involved with the University Bible Fellowship.

(source)

“Call it a clan, a tribe, a family, a community… but you need one. Thank you for being part of our community!”

These are quotes I heard at the opening address of the 20th anniversary celebration of a software company. In twenty years they went from 1 customer to over 10,000. Many of the first customers are still customers.

Why is it some people of the world understand community and humility and leadership and personal growth so well? This company has even learned from their mistakes.

In simple terms, prooftexting is the practice of using quotations from a document in order to support your idea. When that document is the Bible, those ideas can become tools to bind and isolate other people’s consciences in harmful ways. As I look back on Bible messages I have written, I see that I have become a master prooftexter, unfortunately.

Here are some ways people have defined prooftexting using the Bible (did I just use prooftexting to make my point about prooftexting?)

“A proof-text is a verse or short passage from the Bible used by someone as part of his proof for a doctrinal belief he wishes to substantiate to others. However, since verses and passages may rely extensively on the context in which they appear for correct interpretation, pulling these out of their context and having them stand alone in a “proof” can, at times, be very misleading. In addition, a set of such proof-texts can completely ignore other passages which, if added to the mix, might well lead to an entirely different conclusion. Someone who relies strongly only on a list of proof-texts in order to make a doctrinal argument may have a very weak case for his argument.” source

What is the danger of prooftexting an idea with the Bible? The danger is first of all that we may (and probably will) miss the author’s intended point. We may then in fact miss God’s message entirely! An even greater danger is that we may end up telling God what we want Him to believe about us. We may end up building a worldwide network of people who think, act and believe the same incorrect fallicies. Ultimately, prooftexting will lead to destroying our chances of unity in the Lord. The splintered state of Christianity in 2011 is proof of the discord such a method causes. We end up building walls around our proof-texted ideas, yet claim to be “one in the Lord.”

How can we avoid prooftexting? I would think the most important solution would be to submit to the Holy Spirit. When we are indwelled with Him, our mind will be open to think clearly. Our heart will be full of the things of God which unite: grace, truth, faith, hope and love. Practically, I have found some ways to avoid prooftexting my own idea. First, always make an effort to quote multiple verses. One verse by itself is dangerous. Read the entire passage, the entire book if necessary. Second, get multiple sources of input. Unity is broken when we only listen to our own church’s teachers. Read the ancient men and women of faith! Learn from other people, other books, other blogs, other people who think differently than you do.

(more about prooftexting)

According to a Stanford University article, the “primary purpose [of Confucianism] is to achieve harmony, the most important social value.” Confucius seems to have been very concerned about creating a harmonious society– an idealistic, humane place for people to be happy.

The Religious Tolerance website describes the teachings like this: “Confucius taught that when societies operate under laws, people are punished by authorities after having committed illegal activities. People generally conform to the laws, often without necessarily understanding the rationale behind them. He promoted a different way: to internalize behaviors so that actions are controlled beforehand. People then behave properly because they wish to avoid feeling shame and want to avoid losing face. In theory, the result is a reduction in the number of coercive laws required for smooth functioning of the society.”

Most articles about Confucianism list five to seven core beliefs. Here is my summary of what I learned about five key teachings of Confucius.

Li: (Etiquette) The teaching called “li” is about “the proper way”. This is a belief that includes ritual, propriety and etiquette. It includes a set of rules for interaction with others. Knowing and finding your role in a system is important. Control of emotions, restraint, obedience to authority, conforming and “keeping face” are highly valued and important.

Hsiao: (Filial piety) The teaching called “hsiao” is about love within the family and about keeping order in relationships. It includes love of parents for their children and of children for their parents. Sometimes this is called ‘filial piety’. Often it is considered among the greatest of virtues and must be shown towards both the living and the dead. The term ‘filial’ (meaning ‘of a child’) characterizes the respect that a child, originally a son, should show to his parents. This relationship was extended by analogy to a series of five cardinal relations (“wu lun”): Sovereign-Subject, Father-Son, Elder-Younger Brother, Husband-Wife and Friend-Friend. In time filial piety was also built into the Chinese legal system: a criminal would be punished more harshly if the culprit had committed the crime against a parent, while fathers often exercised enormous power over their children. Much the same was true of other unequal relationships.

Ren (or Jen): (Humanity) The teaching called “ren” is about benevolence and humaneness towards others. Ren is the central ethical principle, and is equivalent to the concepts love, mercy, and humanity. Perhaps it is best explained by Confucius in the following statement which sounds very similar to a Biblical teaching: “Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.” A Wikipedia resource mentions that “Confucius never stated whether man was born good or evil,[4] noting that ‘By nature men are similar; by practice men are wide apart’ [5]—implying that whether good or bad, Confucius must have perceived all men to be born with intrinsic similarities, but that man is conditioned and influenced by study and practise.”

Chung: (Loyalty) The teaching called “chung” or “zhong” is about loyalty to the state or to ruling authorities. This is similar to “filial piety”, but on a entirely different level. This teaching is about being loyal to authority and those in power. According to a Wikipedia entry, chung seems to have been twisted around by the rulers in Chinese society : “It [chung] is particularly relevant for the social class to which most of Confucius’ students belonged, because the only way for an ambitious young scholar to make his way in the Confucian Chinese world was to enter a ruler’s civil service. Like filial piety, however, loyalty was often subverted by the autocratic regimes of China. Confucius had advocated a sensitivity to the realpolitik of the class relations in his time; he did not propose that “might makes right”, but that a superior who had received the “Mandate of Heaven” (see below) should be obeyed because of his moral rectitude. In later ages, however, emphasis was placed more on the obligations of the ruled to the ruler, and less on the ruler’s obligations to the ruled.”

Junzi: (Nobility) The teaching called “junzi” is about righteousness, honesty and trustworthiness. A junzi is a nobleman. It was a term used by Confucius to describe his ideal human. To Confucius, the functions of government and social stratification were facts of life to be sustained by ethical values. Junzi is often translated as “gentleman” or “superior person” and sometimes “exemplary person”. Junzi literally means “lord’s son”. As the potential leader of a nation, a son of the ruler is raised to have a superior ethical and moral position while gaining inner peace through being virtuous. Despite its literal meaning, any righteous man willing to improve himself can become a junzi.

Sources:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_beliefs_of_Confucianism
http://geriatrics.stanford.edu/ethnomed/chinese/fund/beliefs/
http://www.religioustolerance.org/confuciu2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucianism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junzi

In order to renew my understanding of the U.S. Constitution, I will be starting a new blogging series about various related topics and the document itself. I still believe this document is of great importance to humanity.

Some quotes about the Constitution:

“A constitution embodies the fundamental principles of a government. Our constitution, adopted by the sovereign power, is amendable by that power only. To the constitution all laws, executive actions, and, judicial decisions must conform, as it is the creator of the powers exercised by the departments of government.”

“As the British Constitution is the most subtle organism which has proceeded from the womb and long gestation of progressive history, so the American Constitution is, so far as I can see, the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.” (W. E. Gladstone’s famous remark about the Constitution)

“The term ‘rigid’ is used to describe the U.S. Constitution, in opposition to “flexible”, because the provisions are in a written document which cannot be legally changed with the same ease and in the same manner as ordinary laws. The British Constitution, which is unwritten, can, on the other hand, be changed overnight by act of Parliament.”

“The book which had the greatest influence upon the members of the Constitutional Convention was Montesquieu’s Spirit of Laws, which first appeared in 1748. The great French philosopher had, however, in turn borrowed much of his doctrine from the Englishman John Locke, with whose writings various members of the Convention were also familiar.”

Why do I have such a problem with these things? Part of it may be due to the number of times I’ve studied certain Bible passages, such as Mark 8:33 “But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Perhaps a more underlying reason is that any principle I thought I had was melted away as my father slowly died of Lou Gehrig’s disease in the late 80’s. There is no principle or theology that can comfort the soul in such times. Another reason may be that I have seen principles, theology and religion used for purposes that are contrary to the love, grace and truth Jesus clearly demonstrated. I have seen religious principles used to control and manipulate more slyly that even the best Vegas card dealer!

Yet none of these possible reasons justifies my lack of respect for religious principles. I must be “connected to the ancient Christian faith and doctrines”, as someone recently told me. Why do I need to struggle so hard to re-invent Christianity? Christianity was established long ago. I really just need to discover it. I am starting to realize in a big way that Christian life is not about submitting to a particular church’s rules or inventions. Christian life is (and always has been) a journey. It is a journey of faith, a journey with fellow believers and a journey toward a glorious meeting with Jesus Christ my Lord! This journey has been taken up many a time before me. I am realizing I need to respect those journeys and races of faith run before me.

For example, I am excited about G.K. Chesterton’s journey. His quotes are nothing short of amazing! He once said, “Just going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.”

Some quotes more relevant to today’s topic by Chesterton: “No man who worships education has got the best out of education… Without a gentle contempt for education no man’s education is complete.” Perhaps my disdain for principles isn’t such a bad thing. I need to contain such disdain however, and not let it cloud my mind from the wisdom and knowledge of theologians, philosophers and educators.

This Chesterton quote stood out to me today: “Without education, we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.” How will I know if someone knows what they are talking about when I hear a message that supposedly came from God? Well, I must educate myself. So I now dedicate myself to learning the ancients!