Why does UBF continue to be controversial and show up on cult-watching lists?
The primary reason (in my opinion) for controversial and often bi-polar opinions about UBF is the undocumented UBF belief system. The public statement of faith for UBF is in line with Christianity. There is much organized effort to promote UBF as a Christian church. Yet, actions speak volumes about what UBF leaders really believe.
Today I am posting a list of undocumented doctrines UBF teaches by the actions of its leaders. If one was to read through the hundreds of UBF messages posted publicly, you might be able to discern these teachings. Having lived and breathed UBF for 24 years, I will save you the trouble. It is extremely rare to find any of these documented. Raising questions about these teachings is very problematic for a UBF member. Or, God forbid, if someone suggests a different way to go about putting these teachings into practice, it is tantamount to “spiritual suicide”, if you are a member of UBF. Fortunately, I no longer carry that burden.
Here is my list so that I don’t forget. I am also posting this list as a personal act of repentance. I not only believed these teachings, I promoted them absolutely for many years as a leader in UBF.
I will add to this as I recall various things. And I will use this to expound on each teaching. By posting this list, I am not implying that these teachings are good or bad (not yet). I am also not explaining how these differ from Scripture’s teachings (not today anyway).
1. Class system: sheep, shepherds, native leaders, Korean leaders
2. Directorship hierarchy: the idea of a tree structure of benevolent dictators.
3. Marriage by faith: Willingness to let a leader choose your future spouse.
4. Pioneering: Sending out one or more families to campuses around the world to setup a chapter of the organization, often without any valid support.
5. Covering: Willingness to cover all sins and not expose things that bother your conscience.
6. Loyalty to leaders: Willingness to obey and follow leaders above all other authority.
7. Separation: Willingness to be separated from friends, family and the world in order to join God’s true children.
8. Appeasement: Letting someone who speaks up have a task to do to keep them busy.
9. Propoganda: Speaking only positive things about leaders and the organization.
10. Duplicity: Willingness to ignore facts and adhere to double-standards, double-meanings and secret language.
11. Vertical communication: the idea that group discussion and communication methods (such as email) are bad.
On a note related to my “massive project”, a friend of mine pointed me to a treatise written by Jonathan Edwards from the 1700’s. His quote below inspires me to write my own treatise.
“It is a hard thing to be a hearty zealous friend of what has been good and glorious, in the late extraordinary appearances, and to rejoice much in it; and at the same time to see the evil and pernicious tendency of what has been bad, and earnestly to oppose that. But yet, I am humbly but fully persuaded, we shall never be in the way of truth, nor go on in a way acceptable to God, and tending to the advancement of Christ’s kingdom till we do so.”
Adding three more:
12. Conscience binding: All Scripture must be bound to a UBF ideal or activity.
13. Empire building: Every nation should become a “priestly nation”, which means people should become UBF-style people.
14. Numerical-driven performance: Members are judged and rewarded (or made to feel guilty) based on numbers: number of prayer sessions, number of times going “fishing”, number of sheep, number of just about everything. Activities are geared toward molding ambitious people with a soldier, fighting spirit to conquer.
I am finding a lot of UBF teaching is documented now, in the Blue Book. This is the purpose my new blog project on this website: to examine and explain teaching in the UBF Blue Book.