This blog deals with my life inside a doomsday cult. The name of the cult was once Shoresh Yishai, but now is commonly referred to by members as the Family.
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- A History of God: Refuting Jack’s Delusions
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moderndoomsdaycult 
Just wanted to share a new blog post.
http://decidedlyfact.blogspot.com/2011/12/left-side-left-outleft-to-think-and.html
Be Well.
Very interesting, my brother and (former) sister-in-law were a part of this group from the very beginning. My sister-in-law was in the youth group that Hickman led. All the people you speak of here (L., G., R.G., etc) were her good friends and school and church-mates (when it was a Lutheran Church…and then as it transformed). This church began it’s tranformation in the “Jesus Revolution” days of the late 60’s. This continued right thru the “Charismatic”, “Spirited Filled” phenomenon that many evangelical churches went thru. My belief is that many of “Abba’s” (Jack Hickman) teachings were on the mark most of the time, even when he was engaged in the secret sexual abuse of teenagers. His teachings (IMJ) remained fairly orthodox (christianity-wise) up thru much of the transforming period towards the “Jewish flavoring” of the congregation, as more Jews converted and as more people came to faith in Christ. I do believe, for whatever issue may have caused it, that he was/ is mentally ill, and that the illness progressively took over his brilliant mind and he retains the uncanny charismatic personality and speaking ability that draws people in. Maybe it’s mental illness, maybe it’s pure evil but whatever it is, it is looney. It could be that he suffers possibly as the man “Legion” suffered in the New Testament story of the demon possessed man, not the least of which of his sufferings is a severe case of “Delusions of Grandeur”!! He was overtaken by illness, but he remains(ed) fluent and influential (like Charles Manson!). I am amazed though that when very smart intelligent Christian people realized they were in a cult and this had gone way off base, they shelved, or tossed out ALL of their Christian beliefs. So many that I know of seemed to take in and believe as “gospel” Hickmans descriptions of the fallable, falsified, canonical New Testament, (by the way–none of those critiques were new or original, apologies to Dan Brown, but your plots are nothing new) and then have kept those critiques applied to their lives. Meanwhile they have (rightly) thrown out so much of the other crazy things he tried to lead them into. I understand disillusionment, but I remain flabergasted that these folks who have studied and read C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, Bonhoeffer, etc. hold onto their disillusionment with Christianity as some sort of badge. I can only conclude they never got it in the first place. Family members of mine have rejected “abundant life” in the Lord, some of these were (are) the smartest people I know, yet the “foolishness of God confounds the wise.”
Please write more! Did you go to the school they had in Massapequa? How about a post about the school, and how children were taught? The paddling, spank until they cry, making “bricks” for the pyramids with “babies” in side, etc…oh, eating fried crickets and grasshoppers because they are kosher, killing the chickens on the front steps, then giving the feet out as prizes. Etc etc.
I have something I plan to publish on the blog soon. Stay tuned.
Do you reveal your true name?
No. My name is not important.