Life as a Member of Solid Rock Vista (now Esoteric Talks) - #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?
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?
Life as a Member of Solid Rock Vista (now Esoteric Talks) - #2
Today I want to highlight a common practice at solid rock, called “scapegoating”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapegoating
From the article:
“Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame.”
Nearly every person in the group is scapegoated at one time or another, all except James of course. However there is one person who merits special attention, in my opinion, and that person is Judy, Jennifer’s mother.
Judy is an interesting person, because she is the only woman in the group’s history who never succumbed to James’ flattery and sexual innuendo. By resisting James, he never came between her and her husband Larry. She, her husband, and her other daughter left in 1988 but James’ vitriol for her has continued unabated into the present time, with her name and her husband’s name (Larry) coming up in conversation on a regular, if infrequent, basis.
James referred to her as a spider. He never referred to her in positive terms, and his influence lead to Jennifer’s estrangement from her for over 20 years. This impacted not only Judy’s relationship with Jennifer, but with her son-in-law Jess and their children.
Questions:
Why did James villainize Judy for over two decades after her departure? Do you think there is a relationship between James villainizing Judy, Jennifer’s estrangement from Judy, and James affair with Jennifer?
Does Jess have a role here? If so, what?
All of the current members are aware of these events. What do you think they think about them? Current members include Connie Parkinson, Steve Filippo, Tammie Filippo, Jess Thieme, Diana Blanc, Lorrie York, Curtis Taylor, Rex Christensen, and Pat Christensen.
Life as a Member of Solid Rock Vista (now Esoteric Talks) - #3
A common theme at the group is one of blaming the victim for their own suffering and for the harms that befall them. It’s called the Just World Hypothesis. Here is an article that I think is quite relevant to the worldview of the group:
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v3n2/justworld.html
The entire article is fascinating in light of the group’s dynamics and history. Here is a quote that sums it up well:
“The belief in a just world may take the place of a genuine commitment to justice. For some people, it is simply easier to assume that forces beyond their control mete out justice. When that occurs, the result may be the abdication of personal responsibility, acquiescence in the face of suffering and misfortune, and indifference towards injustice. Taken to the extreme, indifference can result in the institutionalization of injustice.”
I have a two very specific examples highlighting the institutionalization of injustice that I have seen at the group:
1. Nobody in the group visited Michele in the hospital after she had a heart attack. James said we would be enabling her if we visited, so none of us went, not even her own husband. She was in the hospital for over a week.
2. Danny had a terrible motorcycle accident after he and his family left the group. James said it was because Danny left and was no longer under the group’s spiritual protection.
Questions:
How do you think Michele and Danny felt about these events and how James and the group interpreted them?
After reading the article, can you think of other examples when we blamed the victim for their suffering? Is it right to call ourselves Christians with this worldview? What about Luke 13:4?
Life as a Member of Solid Rock Vista (Esoteric Talks) - #4
The people of the group believe that nobody is ever harmed, and I mean this in an objective sense. There is no actual harm done to people from outside of themselves, because they choose to be harmed. A common phrase one hears as a member of the group is “You just want to be a victim.”
One phrase that is not discussed is “You just want to be a perpetrator.” Seems logical, doesn’t it? If it’s true that some want to be victims, then it must also be true that others want to be perpetrators. Let’s take, for example, a leader who has repeated sexual affairs with married women, and he himself is married. If the women just want to be victims, then it stands to reason that the married man having these multiple affairs wants to be the perpetrator. But this side of the coin is never discussed.
The truly brilliant result is that it immediately raises their pride: “You just want to be a victim.” “No I don’t!” This person is now set on a trajectory to constantly prove how much they don’t want to be a victim. This includes tolerating massive amounts of verbal and emotional abuse in order to prove that one doesn’t want to be a victim. One is is constantly “working” to prove they’re not a victim, and all of that “work” is founded in pride, in a desire to prove otherwise.
There is no correct answer to the statement, “You just want to be a victim.” If you answer, “No I don’t,” or “Yes I do,” you’ve fallen into the trap. If you answer, “You just want to be a perpatrator,” you’ve fallen into the trap. Think about the world view of the person who says, “You just want to be a victim.” Such a person is saying three things:
1. You are God. You completely control what happens to you and others. You are in complete control of this situation, even as we speak.
2. You are using your God powers to hurt yourself.
3. You can learn to use your God powers better.
“You just want to be a victim.” Can you feel the lure? You just received a challenge. The challenge goes even further than this, because if you walk away from the challenge by not answering, the rebuttal is that you must REALLY LOVE to be a victim, and, you aren’t serious about your spiritual development or “the work.”
Imagine yourself as a person interested in spiritual things, seeking “something more,” yet walking away from this engagement without answering or even looking back. Could you?
Life as a Member of Solid Rock Vista (now Esoteric Talks) - #5
Throughout the years, James will occassionally withdraw from people. Typically, something happens and the cohesion of the group is threatened. He starts complaining about not being their teacher anymore; talks about moving away; starting a new group elsewhere; saying he’s not appreciated; saying how misunderstood he is; talking about the abuse of teachers and how badly abused he is; saying he is going to “work” with or without them; and generally retreating for a period of time. In recent years this includes taking down his online presence.
He would often conduct one of his public polls during these times, and the reaction from group members is predictable. These “retreats” are a test of members’ loyalty and always served as a catalyst for renewed commitment to him. I hope you can tell that I am using the word “retreat” to indicate a withdrawal, a pulling back.
Whenever it happened, we all gathered around him (quite literally) to console him. We would tell him how much we appreciated him, how wonderful he is, how much we would miss him, how much we want him to be our teacher, etc. If there is an obvious person who is the cause of all this (it’s usually not a current member but it can be), we would disown that person in various ways to show our loyalty to James such as gossiping about the person, and lots of discussion about how unconscious the person is, how unaware the person is of how wonderful he and the group are. We were quite incredulous, “How could the person be so asleep? They just don’t understand. What a shame.” The member, whether ex or current, knows they are being gossiped about. Gossip is a huge component of the group’s dynamic. They don’t call it gossip, of course. It’s just a discussion about the person in order to learn more about “the work.” In other words, they use the person’s supposed “weakness” as an example of what not to do.
Gathering at James’ and Connie’s home for hours and hours at a time during one of these “retreats” was quite common. Current members sitting at home during one of these retreat/withdrawal periods were obviously not serious about “the work” were not considered part of the core of the group. (Jockying to be part of the core of the group is favorite pasttime.) Many times throughout the years, but especially during these times, we would quote John 6:68 in showing what good students we are and how much we need him as a teacher: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
After a period of time, he would receive a message from God telling him something “new.” (For example, I remember that after one of these “retreats” of his, God told him about a Fifth Way.) After he hears from God and receives this new message, during one of the meetings there will be a group “snapping” experience (described elsewhere on this blog - there’s also a book by the same name that describes this experience). After they’ve all had the confirmation that he’s still supposed to be their teacher (aka snapping), the cycle begins again. He is now the renewed teacher, and the students feel reaffirmed in their commitment to him.
Today I want to highlight a common practice at solid rock, called “scapegoating”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapegoating
From the article:
“Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame.”
Nearly every person in the group is scapegoated at one time or another, all except James of course. However there is one person who merits special attention, in my opinion, and that person is Judy, Jennifer’s mother.
Judy is an interesting person, because she is the only woman in the group’s history who never succumbed to James’ flattery and sexual innuendo. By resisting James, he never came between her and her husband Larry. She, her husband, and her other daughter left in 1988 but James’ vitriol for her has continued unabated into the present time, with her name and her husband’s name (Larry) coming up in conversation on a regular, if infrequent, basis.
James referred to her as a spider. He never referred to her in positive terms, and his influence lead to Jennifer’s estrangement from her for over 20 years. This impacted not only Judy’s relationship with Jennifer, but with her son-in-law Jess and their children.
Questions:
Why did James villainize Judy for over two decades after her departure? Do you think there is a relationship between James villainizing Judy, Jennifer’s estrangement from Judy, and James affair with Jennifer?
Does Jess have a role here? If so, what?
All of the current members are aware of these events. What do you think they think about them? Current members include Connie Parkinson, Steve Filippo, Tammie Filippo, Jess Thieme, Diana Blanc, Lorrie York, Curtis Taylor, Rex Christensen, and Pat Christensen.
Life as a Member of Solid Rock Vista (now Esoteric Talks) - #3
A common theme at the group is one of blaming the victim for their own suffering and for the harms that befall them. It’s called the Just World Hypothesis. Here is an article that I think is quite relevant to the worldview of the group:
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v3n2/justworld.html
The entire article is fascinating in light of the group’s dynamics and history. Here is a quote that sums it up well:
“The belief in a just world may take the place of a genuine commitment to justice. For some people, it is simply easier to assume that forces beyond their control mete out justice. When that occurs, the result may be the abdication of personal responsibility, acquiescence in the face of suffering and misfortune, and indifference towards injustice. Taken to the extreme, indifference can result in the institutionalization of injustice.”
I have a two very specific examples highlighting the institutionalization of injustice that I have seen at the group:
1. Nobody in the group visited Michele in the hospital after she had a heart attack. James said we would be enabling her if we visited, so none of us went, not even her own husband. She was in the hospital for over a week.
2. Danny had a terrible motorcycle accident after he and his family left the group. James said it was because Danny left and was no longer under the group’s spiritual protection.
Questions:
How do you think Michele and Danny felt about these events and how James and the group interpreted them?
After reading the article, can you think of other examples when we blamed the victim for their suffering? Is it right to call ourselves Christians with this worldview? What about Luke 13:4?
Life as a Member of Solid Rock Vista (Esoteric Talks) - #4
The people of the group believe that nobody is ever harmed, and I mean this in an objective sense. There is no actual harm done to people from outside of themselves, because they choose to be harmed. A common phrase one hears as a member of the group is “You just want to be a victim.”
One phrase that is not discussed is “You just want to be a perpetrator.” Seems logical, doesn’t it? If it’s true that some want to be victims, then it must also be true that others want to be perpetrators. Let’s take, for example, a leader who has repeated sexual affairs with married women, and he himself is married. If the women just want to be victims, then it stands to reason that the married man having these multiple affairs wants to be the perpetrator. But this side of the coin is never discussed.
The truly brilliant result is that it immediately raises their pride: “You just want to be a victim.” “No I don’t!” This person is now set on a trajectory to constantly prove how much they don’t want to be a victim. This includes tolerating massive amounts of verbal and emotional abuse in order to prove that one doesn’t want to be a victim. One is is constantly “working” to prove they’re not a victim, and all of that “work” is founded in pride, in a desire to prove otherwise.
There is no correct answer to the statement, “You just want to be a victim.” If you answer, “No I don’t,” or “Yes I do,” you’ve fallen into the trap. If you answer, “You just want to be a perpatrator,” you’ve fallen into the trap. Think about the world view of the person who says, “You just want to be a victim.” Such a person is saying three things:
1. You are God. You completely control what happens to you and others. You are in complete control of this situation, even as we speak.
2. You are using your God powers to hurt yourself.
3. You can learn to use your God powers better.
“You just want to be a victim.” Can you feel the lure? You just received a challenge. The challenge goes even further than this, because if you walk away from the challenge by not answering, the rebuttal is that you must REALLY LOVE to be a victim, and, you aren’t serious about your spiritual development or “the work.”
Imagine yourself as a person interested in spiritual things, seeking “something more,” yet walking away from this engagement without answering or even looking back. Could you?
Life as a Member of Solid Rock Vista (now Esoteric Talks) - #5
Throughout the years, James will occassionally withdraw from people. Typically, something happens and the cohesion of the group is threatened. He starts complaining about not being their teacher anymore; talks about moving away; starting a new group elsewhere; saying he’s not appreciated; saying how misunderstood he is; talking about the abuse of teachers and how badly abused he is; saying he is going to “work” with or without them; and generally retreating for a period of time. In recent years this includes taking down his online presence.
He would often conduct one of his public polls during these times, and the reaction from group members is predictable. These “retreats” are a test of members’ loyalty and always served as a catalyst for renewed commitment to him. I hope you can tell that I am using the word “retreat” to indicate a withdrawal, a pulling back.
Whenever it happened, we all gathered around him (quite literally) to console him. We would tell him how much we appreciated him, how wonderful he is, how much we would miss him, how much we want him to be our teacher, etc. If there is an obvious person who is the cause of all this (it’s usually not a current member but it can be), we would disown that person in various ways to show our loyalty to James such as gossiping about the person, and lots of discussion about how unconscious the person is, how unaware the person is of how wonderful he and the group are. We were quite incredulous, “How could the person be so asleep? They just don’t understand. What a shame.” The member, whether ex or current, knows they are being gossiped about. Gossip is a huge component of the group’s dynamic. They don’t call it gossip, of course. It’s just a discussion about the person in order to learn more about “the work.” In other words, they use the person’s supposed “weakness” as an example of what not to do.
Gathering at James’ and Connie’s home for hours and hours at a time during one of these “retreats” was quite common. Current members sitting at home during one of these retreat/withdrawal periods were obviously not serious about “the work” were not considered part of the core of the group. (Jockying to be part of the core of the group is favorite pasttime.) Many times throughout the years, but especially during these times, we would quote John 6:68 in showing what good students we are and how much we need him as a teacher: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
After a period of time, he would receive a message from God telling him something “new.” (For example, I remember that after one of these “retreats” of his, God told him about a Fifth Way.) After he hears from God and receives this new message, during one of the meetings there will be a group “snapping” experience (described elsewhere on this blog - there’s also a book by the same name that describes this experience). After they’ve all had the confirmation that he’s still supposed to be their teacher (aka snapping), the cycle begins again. He is now the renewed teacher, and the students feel reaffirmed in their commitment to him.
