Recovery from the occult forum - an explanation

[Sanctuaryandbliss]

I haven't read through the whole thread but I think having a place to sort out what happened in a safe environment is a really good idea.

When I was in high school, I was approached by a Cult called the Forever Family led by Stuart Trail. I was vulnerable and looking for love and acceptance which I was not finding at my Catholic Church at the time. I was in the cult for over a year, even became the house church secretary. When the time came that everyone was being moved to New York, I panicked and called a friend who had gotten me into the cult and who later joined a Baptist Church for help to help me get out. Members of her church came and helped me leave. My parents were not okay with me attending a Baptist Church, my local Catholic Church wanted nothing to do with me, and I drifted into the occult. I was heavily involved with the occult not knowing the true dangers. I was so naive that I didn't know the grip that satan had on me. I had gotten into drugs, alcohol and sex. It wasn't until years later, I saw the passion play titled Thou Art the Christ that my heart was opened to the truth. I started attending a non-demoninational (sp) church and spoke to the pastor about my past. My pastor did an evening study about the occult shortly after our talk. When I told him about all the unpublished books that I had on the subject, his only response was to throw it all out. I threw one book out 3 or 4 times. I don't know how it kept showing up in my apartment. Things got scary at my place, things I couldn't explain. When I told a co-worker about it, she called her pastor and her entire church prayed for me the whole night. Whatever had been in my place was removed.

The cult I was in, still exists under a new name. They are called the Church of Bible Understanding. The people I knew in the occult are still very active in PA. What happened to me happened 20 years ago, so I have pretty much sorted my past out. I was lucky. I was drawn to a bible believing church that had a great pastor who understood my past and was able to help me. People that have not experienced these things sometimes have trouble understanding it. When a person is coming out of this type of environment, he/she needs to be able to talk about it. To get it out. To clear his/her mind and head. My church even allowed me to attend the children's bible time (as a helper) so that I could resort and learn the basic truths that had gotten distorted from my past.

Sorry that I seem to be writing a book. But this area should exist with parameters in place. There should be knowledgable understanding, patient and loving pastors as moderators and managers on the thread. These individuals should be involved in the discussions. And very importantly these individuals should be consistantly lifted up in prayer by any and all prayer warriors on this site.

I think thats wonderful that you brought that up. And I am glad you are ok now. And I hope the people that are seeking help now can find it. I pray for them.

~Blessed Be.

 

[tkoman]

Sorry that I seem to be writing a book. But this area should exist with parameters in place. There should be knowledgable understanding, patient and loving pastors as moderators and managers on the thread. These individuals should be involved in the discussions. And very importantly these individuals should be consistantly lifted up in prayer by any and all prayer warriors on this site.

Yes - and don't forget the laity there as well. However, the point you just brought up is HUGE.

As a friend to the forum I have to watch confidentiality here, but at this point I can say that the if the above cannot be done, or no one is willing to do it, then . . shut it down, suspend it until it happens, something, or it will cause more harm then good.

 

[Sanctuaryandbliss]

Actually, the Satanist (I speak in the singular because no one else has come forward yet) is not allowed. I was blocked from the beginning. This place is not for me, it is for the Christians who wish to have support in changing their spiritual path from an occult path to Christianity. No non-Christians allowed. To be fair, I don't think I would really be very helpful in that regard. I have been told I can be very persuasive, and these are people who do not wish to be persuaded.

In fact, there is no place here for me. Which is why I roam and post and people get mad. How about a place in NCR for occult paths? The Christians who get all scandalized could stay out and we would have a place to play without worrying about being an undue influence.

As far as the "love" I have received here...all too conditional. Stay on your chain or be slapped, and even if you stay on your chain we will pretend you didn't and try to slap you anyway. I like the chain...but the slaps need to be just a bit more loving. And preceded by at least dinner, maybe some dancing, a little wine...

I dont support your beliefs. But I believe in religious equality. which will probobly anger people in no time.

There may not be a set place here for you. so make one, maybe not on these forums but other places. I think everyone should have a place where they can speak in the safety that they wont be slandered against.

Now in saying this, I am probobly going to be shunned for standing up for a follower of xeno. So be it. people judge each other all the time. My time will come before God and thats all that matters to me.

~Blessed Be.

 

[Bamboo_Chicken]

Dear Staff and Members,

I have read the threads started on the new Refuge forum and I’ve read the 40 PMs I’ve been sent about it in the last 24 hours – some supportive, some not. To be honest, I didn’t foresee this sort of forum-wide attention, although I would like to clear up as much as I can here.

Firstly I saw it asked when the forum was created and why not all staff and members were alerted to this – for as long as I have been on staff, it has never been common practice to alert every staffer and member when a subforum was created. The forum was created a little over 24 hours ago, at which point I PMed the staff who had been given access to explain what was happening (namely the Recovery Team, the Pastoral Team and the Ministry Admins who oversaw Spiritual Warfare and Deliverance Ministry). At the time I asked that they not post (or moderate) in the forum unless invited to as the mods for the forum had not yet been decided and those involved were seeking refuge from the moral-panic reaction to ex-occultists.

In response to the forum being ‘for Satanists’, I would like to reiterate what Erwin said earlier:

It's NOT a satanic exclusive private forum.

It is for CHRISTIANS who are recovering from a past of occultism.

It is only accessible by members of the Recovery Staff Team, and the Pastoral Team.

Only members of the Recovery Staff Team and the Pastoral Team can grant access to members. No one else can give this access except them.

Once access is given, a "refuge" icon shows up in the member's post but only staff can see this.

I apologise for the lack of explanation given to members or staff, this was only done 10 hours ago just before I went to bed.

I repeat, this is a private RECOVERY forum for CHRISTIAN members recovering from a past of the occult. Recovery already has a private forum, this is a subforum.

This forum is not a place where anything but Christianity will be promoted. I will not assume that anyone doesn’t understand the process of recovery because everyone has been through their own journeys of pain, but I will ask that you take a look at the way you yourself have worked through your past, and then see if the same would work for everyone else you know. This forum is a place for those who have been involved with branches of the occult in the past and who want to work through it with others who have experienced similar things. Contrary to popular belief, it was not created solely for one person, although it hoped to be a solution to the disharmony that had been occurring within Spiritual Warfare and, to a lesser extent, the Deliverance Ministry. The suggestion of a subforum was brought up a little over a month ago, at first only mentioned to the mods of the area via PM. When the disharmony continued, regardless of what was tried, I started a thread in the Superadmin requests forum outlining what was happening and if there were suggestions on how to handle it (I had been helping out in Ministry at the time). Suggestions varied from banning to mentoring, although the subforum idea was not lost (Staff can view this thread here).

Further discussion then took place publically in two threads:

subforum for spiritualwarfare?
Wiki: Let the Whining, er Complaining Begin!

Once suggestions had been made, a wiki was started as a place to compile it all. The wiki can be found here.

Before the wiki was started, I had PMed the Recovery Team and asked them to read through and post any thoughts on the thread in the private staff forums, as well as the ‘subforum for spiritualwarfare?’ and ‘Wiki: Let the Whining, er Complaining Begin!’. To my knowledge the Ministry Team was also aware of these threads as they were in the Ministry HQ and Ministry wiki and Ministry staff posted in them. I had (wrongly) assumed that the entire Pastoral Team knew what was happening as well because I had asked them to give input in the staff thread and believed they had followed it from there. The lack of communication there was my fault, and, while I apologise, I can only endeavour to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Now, why a private forum? Having seen the reports that are generated by posts on spiritual warfare, I find it no wonder that members asked for a private forum where they could speak about their past without being attacked from all sides. We tried having it in the open and it didn’t work. Silencing our members does not simply make things go away, yet allowing our Member A to discuss their pain disturbs Members B and C so much that they want A’s posts gone because they are disturbing and may influence younger members. When a solution is worked out so that Member A can find support and Members B and C won’t be overly disturbed, complaints are made because they can’t see Member A’s posts anymore. Maybe I’m the only one that finds this ironic, but I am yet to understand why this is such a big issue for those who will never, nor who would want to, be involved in this forum.

Over the last 24 hours I have see both support and questioning of the authenticity of the new ‘recovery from the occult’ forum. I want to make sure it is understood that we are not appearing as professional counsel, but as support for those whose past within the occult has affected their Christian journey. It was asked why this forum could be private to protect members, and not other forums such as Married Couples or Depression – my answer would be that, other than the protection of our younger members, comes the protection of members who have faced harassment because of their past involvement in the occult. I have not seen the same degree of harassment anywhere else on CF/4U.

I apologise if I have missed other major concerns – please feel free to post in here or PM me and I will get back to you as soon as I can. (Please understand that replying to 40 PMs while contending with real life may take me more than 24 hours. I will try to reply as soon as I can).

 

[RoseyK]

I think thats wonderful that you brought that up. And I am glad you are ok now. And I hope the people that are seeking help now can find it. I pray for them.

~Blessed Be.

Thank you. It is by God's love and grace that I am now His. He showed me the love and acceptance that I had been searching for all those years. He alone removed all the hurt and pain.

Yes - and don't forget the laity there as well. However, the point you just brought up is HUGE.

As a friend to the forum I have to watch confidentiality here, but at this point I can say that the if the above cannot be done, or no one is willing to do it, then . . shut it down, suspend it until it happens, something, or it will cause more harm then good.

If it is to be a prayer warrior for the moderators on this site, I would gladly volunteer to take on this responsibility. I also am available if someone needed a listening ear so that he/she could sort things out. I am not qualified to be a moderator for the group. I will be praying that the right individuals will step up to the plate to take on this responsibility.

 

[A New Dawn]

Perhaps the reason why most of the staff werent aware of it, was because it doesnt concern most of the staff

I'm sorry, not only does it concern all of staff, it concerns all of the members. All of the members have a right to know there is a secret forum for dealing with satanism. Everything about it, from it's secrecy to it's closed participation to it's selection of mods and it's rules screams something that is not even closely linked to Christianity or transparency.

 

[tkoman]

If it is to be a prayer warrior for the moderators on this site, I would gladly volunteer to take on this responsibility. I also am available if someone needed a listening ear so that he/she could sort things out. I am not qualified to be a moderator for the group. I will be praying that the right individuals will step up to the plate to take on this responsibility.

You share my prayer as well. Thanks.

 

[tkoman]

I'm sorry, not only does it concern all of staff, it concerns all of the members. All of the members have a right to know there is a secret forum for dealing with satanism. Everything about it, from it's secrecy to it's closed participation to it's selection of mods and it's rules screams something that is not even closely linked to Christianity or transparency.

OK, well certainly it has been publically announced, so it's here - now we need to deal with it. I can point out many more things done here openly not closely linked to Christianity than its concept.

 

[GreenMunchkin]

OK, well certainly it has been publically announced, so it's here - now we need to deal with it. I can point out many more things done here openly not closely linked to Christianity than its concept.

That was unnecessarily passive aggressive, wasn't it?

The issues that remain are accountability, and setting a minimum age for people who can go into the forum.

 

[tkoman]

In what sense?

 

[GreenMunchkin]

In what sense?

In that Omaega have been asked not to post, and the only staff permitted access are those verified by the person needing help. That just opens it up to a whole world of problems right there.

And I'm aware there's a 17 year old with access. He's clearly an exceptionally caring and intelligent 17 year old, but as adults, and Christians, we have a responsibility to protect young people from being exposed to graphic and uber-lusty descriptions of sex with demons.

 

[tkoman]

I can vouch that the lack of ability to choose the mods is also a problem. Serious problem and I am truly shocked at the behavior of at least one of them.

You bring up very valid issues and I do share many of them.

 

[RoseyK]

I was 17 when I was involved with the cult and 18 when I got involved with the occult. Young people are exposed to these things at a very early age. It is on the tv, in the classroom, in the newspaper. If you are not aware of the subtle ways that satan uses to get a foothold into your life, you wouldn't notice it until it is too late. If trying to get help, a young person should be granted access even at 17 or 18.

 

[Sanctuaryandbliss]

I was 17 when I was involved with the cult and 18 when I got involved with the occult. Young people are exposed to these things at a very early age. It is on the tv, in the classroom, in the newspaper. If you are not aware of the subtle ways that satan uses to get a foothold into your life, you wouldn't notice it until it is too late. If trying to get help, a young person should be granted access even at 17 or 18.

I have to agree on this point here on age. Exposure at a young age is common but if we can counter it? then wouldnt that be best?

 

[Erwin]

The Pastoral team are discussing this forum at the moment and it's likely going to be changed in terms of its administration, private status, and focus, so please be patient while this is sorted out.

I'm tempted to close this thread until the above is sorted out, but will leave it open for now - I'm going to bed now (midnight here almost) - everyone please focus on the issues and not on each other - everyone's intentions are in the right place, and we are all really talking about the same issue, just approaching from different ends - so please be patient with one another, encourage one another, and don't assume the worse in each other.

 

[tkoman]

Thanks Erwin - you have my prayers. Signing off until more is figured out,

IC

 

[Sanctuaryandbliss]

The Pastoral team are discussing this forum at the moment and it's likely going to be changed in terms of its administration, private status, and focus, so please be patient while this is sorted out.

I'm tempted to close this thread until the above is sorted out, but will leave it open for now - I'm going to bed now (midnight here almost) - everyone please focus on the issues and not on each other - everyone's intentions are in the right place, and we are all really talking about the same issue, just approaching from different ends - so please be patient with one another, encourage one another, and don't assume the worse in each other.

Night Night.

I am sure we will be civil, we all have concerns. And I am sure we can all adress them in a civil manner. We all want to see where that forum is or isnt going. time will tell.

~Blessed Be

 

[RoseyK]

I have to agree on this point here on age. Exposure at a young age is common but if we can counter it? then wouldnt that be best?

I agree. If they are just curious, they should not be on the thread. That is just asking for trouble. If coming for help, they should be able to get it. (maybe getting parental approval if under a certain age would be a good parameter.) I was out of my parents house and on my own at 17. Maybe if under a certain age, they could just get one on one help through PM's. It is important to have a safe environment that a person feels safe to discuss things.

 

[RoseyK]

I agree with Erwin. Be blessed.

 

[Sanctuaryandbliss]

I agree. If they are just curious, they should not be on the thread. That is just asking for trouble. If coming for help, they should be able to get it. (maybe getting parental approval if under a certain age would be a good parameter.) I was out of my parents house and on my own at 17. Maybe if under a certain age, they could just get one on one help through PM's. It is important to have a safe environment that a person feels safe to discuss things.

Agreed. I was out of my parents house the same age. I understand people wanting to keep them safe, but sometimes sheltering can do more harm than good. If they need help and want Christ. they should be able to recieve Him. If its only curiousity then no, they should not be allowed. These people that need help are not animals in a zoo. They are people like you and I. and they need guidance. As children of God, we should welcome them with open arms if help and Christ is what they seek.

~Blessed Be