Life as a Member of Solid Rock Vista - #1

Mr. and Mrs. S were members in the early years of the group. They and their family were subject to a tremendous amount of abuse. They were among the more wealthy of the group, and I estimate they gave thousands and thousands of dollars to the "church." I am not at liberty to say how much, because I don’t know the actual total, but I know that it was a tremendous sum and even my conservative estimate would shock most people.

One event that stands out in my mind right now regarding Mr. and Mrs. S is when James instigated all of the men to deface their property. They painted a large handicapped symbol onto the pavement of Mr. and Mrs. S driveway. This is not a photo their defacement, but it looked like this: http://www.hooksigns.com/i/PRODUCT%20IMAGES/Handicapped-Symbol-12x12-1.jpg

As I recall, the men got the colors reversed, painting the white where it should have been blue and the blue where it should have been white. I also recall that they somehow managed to blame Mr. S for this mistake.

The symbol was about 4 feet wide by about 6 feet long, and they picked the location very carefully: they placed it exactly where Mr. S parked his car.

I remember all of the men laughing about it. In fact we all laughed, I am ashamed to admit.

Questions:

Why did the men agree to defacing somebody’s property?

If any of the men secretly objected, why do you think they remained silent? Had any of them openly objected, what might have been the result to them personally? Do you think an objection would have stopped the event from happening?


Do you think they considered how this would make Mr. and Mrs. S feel, or their children?


Do you think Mr. and Mrs. S had the symbol removed while they were still in the group, or after they left? If you think it was after they left, why do you think they waited?


Should we care about the expense they incurred to remove the symbol? Do you think James and the men reimbursed them for this expense?


What should current members’ reaction be to the memory of this event?

What do you think their reaction actually has been over the years? If any of them read this now, what do you think their reaction will be?

Will they shoot the messenger or will they repent?