Why is there so much CSA in 2x2ism? Some will say that there is no more or less than any other organization. Well, that's wrong. Sure there is CSA in nearly every organization, but the rate of it in 2x2ism is vastly higher than even the Roman Catholic Church. It's estimated that 2x2ism has a CSA rate that is at least 5 times higher than the RCC. And that estimate was made before the explosion of disclosures of CSA following the Dean Bruer revelations. Preliminary investigations have the number of CSA perpetrators at vastly over 250 perps (edit: as of Sept 2023 there has been over 650 perps reported to AFTT). The number of victims is in the thousands (as of Sept 2023 there is more than 3500 reported victims). How is this possible? 2x2ism is a very small community - less than 75,000 laity, and less than 2000 ministers (only 35% of which are male) worldwide. There are only 420 2x2 ministers in the USA in 2023. By looking at minister USA convention photos from the mid-1990s, between 15-25% of all male ministers in those photos have been credibly accused of CSA. For perspective, the CSA rate among RCC priests is about 1%. Truly horrifying. Back of the envelope calculations have it that about 50% of the male 2x2 ministers have been involved in sexual interactions with children or adults.
So what is causing these extreme rates of CSA among 2x2s? There are various factors, some not unique to 2x2ism, and some very unique to 2x2ism. In many ways, 2x2ism has created all of the components for maximal CSA. So let's get started with the analysis. Organizational Structure is the over-arching facilitator of all of the corruption (CSA, abuse, financial malfeasance, etc). There is much more detail about organizational structure problems discussed on another blog post, but the short of it is that 2x2ism lacks: 1) no clearly defined roles, 2) no formal redress process, 3) no financial transparency, 4) no oversight board of directors chosen from both clergy and laity, 5) no constitution, 6) no clear admittance process to ministry, 7) no formal training of ministry. Nearly everything we know about bad organizational structures and the perverse outcomes they will create, exist in 2x2ism. The unnatural working conditions of the ministers is a large driver of the CSA problem. Ministers are not trained in a formal institution, they are expected to learn 'on the job' while living full-time with their assigned same-sex partner - sometimes sleeping in the same bed! This assigned 'mentor' has essentially full control over the new minister, open for all sorts of abuse of power. These ministers are expected to be celibate, but are not trained in how to be celibate (how to avoid being in tempting situations, how to find other ways to release pent up sexual energy, etc), nor are young ministers encouraged to have healthy same-sex relationship with other people their age. The life of a minister is truly a life of boredom with no outlets - they are expected to spend all of their days chitchatting with laity - there are no actual ministries for them to engage in. Furthermore, by living in the homes of the laity, the ministers are exposed to all sorts of temptations out of their control, while at the same time the laity pretends that the ministers are asexual beings. An additional issue related to lack of training of the ministers, is how the process of becoming a minister happens. A person, usually 18-23 y/o, will tell the existing minister that he/she would like to become a minister. A short interview is conducted (the contents of which are limited to inquiry that the candidate understands the theology of the group), and then unless clearly obvious red flags exist, the person is 'ordained' a minister on the spot. Obviously whatever character flaws this person had prior to the 'ordination' still exist, but strangely the congregants view this new minister as 'unable to sin' - Jesus-like. The 2x2 doctrine says that a person can only be 'saved' if they verbally hear the doctrine in person from one of the 2x2 ministers - so this magical power bestowed on the 2x2 ministers creates a 'divinity-like' aura on them among the laity. By the laity treating the ministers as if the ministers are sinless and omniscient, this creates a power imbalance which the minister may take advantage of (knowingly or unknowingly). In many ways, the laity views the 2x2 ministers as 'angels' here on Earth, and thus are extremely compliant to the ministers and desiring to please the ministers. 2x2ism has a long history of exclusivity, frowning on fraternization with outsiders, which creates an extreme form of group-think and tribalism. This causes 2x2s to see no value in outside experts or authorities, and that all issues can be handled internally by the 2x2 leadership. Hence it is no surprise that so much CSA and other malfeasance was never reported to outside authorities, that perpetrators were moved around, that 2x2 leadership had little understanding of the recidivism of CSA perps, etc. Over a century, this has created a vast number of 2x2s who have not only been victims of CSA themselves, but have later as adults repeated CSA onto other children - the cycle repeats. This applies also to the high prevalence of lesbianism among the female ministers - they are doing to the younger ministers what was done to them when they were young. In many ways, CSA and homosexuality has become normalized within 2x2ism - generational grooming. The lack of a formal legal organization or legal entity for 2x2ism (church with no name, etc), makes it impossible for victims of CSA by 2x2 leadership to sue the 2x2 church (since no church actually exists - this is the argument a high ranking overseer used in a court case). This in turn means that there is no financial downside to 2x2ism of 2x2 ministers committing CSA, and thus there is no incentive for 2x2 leadership to actually try to avoid having CSA happen. As it stands right now, leadership has zero incentive to be pro-active, and instead are being re-active - removing 'bad apples' only after much evidence has accumulated. Nothing motivates changes in internal policy more than the fear of financial ruin. So until 2x2ism is organized as a legal church, with non-profit status and financial transparency accounting practices, there will be no incentive for 2x2 leadership to do anything more than reactive 'bad apple removal'. In recent decades, 2x2ism has had vastly dwindling numbers of not only congregants, but also ministers. In the USA, the 2x2 ministry has declined from a high of about 800 ministers in 1980, to about 420 ministers in 2023. Thus, the loss of a minister due to CSA or otherwise is a major problem for 2x2 leadership - they are short on ministers. It also causes 2x2 leadership to have little incentive to do any sort of screening of potential ministers of any kind (other than those who show any form of disobedience to 2x2 leadership!). Most mainline churches (Anglican, Roman Catholic, etc) do extensive psychological screening examinations of candidates who desire to enter seminary (training to be a minister), and many are weeded out. 2x2ism has no screening process other than avoiding the most obviously mentally ill. Why would 2x2ism allow anyone with homosexual urges to be a minister? It's going to be hell for them and for their same-sex live-in 2x2 minister partner. When you are short on ministers and minister-candidates, the standards of behavior are essentially zero. The lack of ecumenical relations (interacting with Christians from other churches) is a major problem for 2x2ism because it blinds 2x2s from seeing better ways of doing things or from avoiding problems that other churches might have gotten into. Again, this prideful ignorance is part of the exclusivity of 2x2ism. However, it also causes a sentiment that 2x2s are a big extended family, and thus more loose ways of doing things (such as in a family) are permissible within 2x2ism. 2x2s pride themselves on the 'extended-family' environment of 2x2ism, and it is this familial closeness which is a major facilitator of CSA. It's well known that perpetrators of CSA are most likely family members or close friends of the family, so by creating the sentiment of a large extended-family composed yet in reality of near-strangers, is extremely dangerous. Contrasting the 2x2 CSA with the CSA in the RCC (almost all committed by homosexual priests on pubescent boys) or the CSA in the Boy Scouts (almost all committed by homosexual scout leaders on pubescent boys) demonstrates why 2x2 CSA is unique (almost all heterosexual male perpetrators on pubescent girls). Thus it is this contrived extended-family is a major part of the problem - many 2x2 children are instructed by their parents to refer to the 2x2 ministers as 'uncles' or 'aunties'! In other words, the parents have created contrived familiarity of their own children with strangers, and those strangers have then taken advantage of the children. The high-control aspect of the 2x2 doctrine over a century has created a population of very docile congregants - anyone with the courage to disagree was excommunicated or made unwelcome. These are congregants who are 'easy pickins' for abusers, CSA or otherwise. Conversely, the near divine status which the congregants hold the 2x2 ministers in, makes the occupation of 2x2 minister extremely attractive for power-hungry, narcissistic, etc types of personalities. Really, being a 2x2 minister is an awful lifestyle, so it is only the power that comes with the job that can be an allure for new candidates - some of which have little hesitation to use that power for sex with of-age and under-age congregants. These are all just basic things that nearly every existing church already has dealt with and found ways to avoid. Unfortunately, because the 2x2ism is not operating as a legal church, it has not built the organizational apparatus that significantly lowers the probability of corruption and other perverse outcomes. It has inadvertently built a system that is near utopia for a CSA perpetrator: no ministerial entrance screening, high-control conditioning of members, no character-formation training, submissive congregants, unnatural celibacy environment, no oversight controls, no financial accountability, no legal accountability, open-access homes and contrived familial expectations, no ministerial training of any kind including pastoral, no redress systems for injustices, etc. 2x2ism is essentially a community ruled by leaders who no one knows how they became rulers and no one knows where the money is. Money goes in, orders come out. It's like being a member of an abusive family, and not knowing that you can actually leave. It has created an entire sub-culture within it of child sexual abuse which is higher than any other religious group in the country.
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Where do we even start with this? 2x2ism has essentially a doctrinal corpus of zero – aside from some notes perhaps taken at a convention by a member or an oblique letter from a minister, there are no official or semi-official documents dealing with not only doctrine but frankly with anything about 2x2ism. It is a group that can both affirm or deny at the same time or at a different time any claim one makes about it. They will say that their doctrine is ‘the Bible’, but when asked, “Very good, but which parts of the Bible specifically or what summary of the Bible generally?’, they respond ‘the entire Bible’. Of course, the entire Bible cannot be their doctrine since the Bible itself is composed of 66 books, each written by different (sometime multiple) authors for vastly different audiences about vastly different concerns at very different points in time. There are two creation myths in the book of Genesis, for example – you cannot accept both at the same time. In any case, the summary in this post about 2x2 theology will approach the situation from a slightly different angle than what you may have seen elsewhere. The goal here is to understand the metalevel, not the particular intricacies of a peculiar quasi-doctrinal component – there are many other websites and books which deal with that.
Even at the most basic level, 2x2ism does not even take a firm position on something such as the nature of the divinity of Jesus. Some 2x2 members believe that Jesus is God; others believe Jesus is a god but not God; others believe Jesus was born a man and was made divine by God; others believe Jesus was born a man, lived a perfect life, and was rewarded with immediate entrance into heaven; and finally others believe all of these scenarios at the same time or on different days. 2x2 ministers will neither deny nor confirm any of these beliefs on a consistent basis. However, if one asks a 2x2 minister if the group ascribes to the doctrine of the Trinity (which is the first of scenarios in the above list), the minister will state that the group “does not believe in the Trinity because that is a Catholic thing made up later and is not part of the Bible”. It never dawns on the 2x2 that the doctrine of the Trinity is what almost every Christian group believes (except JWs and Mormons), and has believed since 325AD because there is a lot of evidence for it in the Bible. This sort of lack of consistency on any component of what for every other religious group is very firm about (their doctrine), makes it clear that 2x2s have both a doctrine of nothing and a doctrine of everything at the same time – which is of course an extremely cult-like characteristic. It’s unheard of among Christians. The 2x2s do have a few things which they are adamant about, things which to Christians would not be classified as doctrinal, but for 2x2s is the closest to doctrinal that it comes. The first is that the 2x2 ministers must not own a permanent home of their own – they must either rent a home with money given to them by members, or they must be guests in the homes of members. The latter is the case in the Anglosphere, the former is the case in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It seems strange to insist that ownership is the key issue, but this is related to the second component that 2x2 ministers are not to have any serious accumulation of assets – be they material or financial. So, generally things such as a computer are fine to own, but a car would be considered too much. Though, a motorcycle might be ok. 2x2 members are forbidden to meet for their worship services in buildings which are owned by the 2x2s as communal property (what is normally considered a church). This means 2x2s can meet in homes of the members (the most common method), in buildings (including churches) rented from other organizations, or in buildings owned by a member or small group of members although purposefully built for 2x2 events (generally this is for their annual conventions). The reason given for this by the 2x2s is that apparently this is what Christians did in the ancient world before 325 AD, and thus therefore it must be what Jesus insisted his followers do. Of course this interpretation of history is more than a bit off, it’s forcing a conclusion from very ill-fitting evidence. Yes, there were no official Christian communally owned buildings before 325AD, because for the most part Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire – or at least not to be promoted on the same religious level as traditional Roman/Greek religion. The state was the only entity with the resources to build religious buildings at the time, and it certainly wasn’t going to be constructing buildings for a religious sect which was opposed to the state religion. This line of 2x2 reasoning is the equivalent of stating that 2x2s should be restricted to only performing their worship services in Aramaic, Greek, or Latin since that is what early Christians did, so it must be what Jesus instructed his followers to do. Interestingly, early Christians did some of their meetings in basilicas – large enclosed open air public (or privately owned) buildings who’s built purpose was as a court. Early Christians did meet in homes, but this was out of necessity not choice, and the reason for the necessity also included that Roman Law forbid private meetings of large numbers of people, as the Roman authorities believed this would be used to plan or instigate insurrections – it was considered treason. Once Christianity was accepted as no longer a problem for the state, then basilicas were converted or built new to function as permanent communal areas of worship for Christians. The third point of quasi-doctrine of the 2x2s is that they insist that 2x2 ministers must operate in same-sex celibate pairs. What this has to do with the actual content of the religious instruction the 2x2s are spreading, or the function of their worship services, seems to matter not. It’s form over function that matters to the 2x2s. There are many things to unpack here that are clearly not congruent with early Christianity. Even the 12 apostles of Jesus did not travel in same-sex pairs the majority of the time, in fact many of them were married (not celibate). Paul of Tarsus was not only alone about 80% of the time mentioned in the New Testament, but it is not clear he was celibate (he may have married prior to his conversion). Peter, he who denied that he knew Jesus three times, was married and spent almost all of his ministerial life living with his wife and family in Palestine. The other odd thing is that 2x2s allow female ministers, which is clearly not obviously supported in the New Testament nor in early Christian tradition, and furthermore there is no way that female celibate pairs were traveling around doing ministry in the ancient world, simply because of the danger they would encounter as females. For many decades, almost the entirety of the existence of the 2x2s, there has been strictly enforced restrictions on the activities, dress, and social interactions of the 2x2 members. Dancing of any kind was strictly prohibited. Alcohol of any form was prohibited in large parts, though not all, of the 2x2 world. Smoking of tobacco was also prohibited. Much of the 2x2 world prohibited the use of any device which could emit recorded music (radios, etc) or moving pictures (cinema, television, etc). Slightly less strictly enforced was a prohibition on being a spectator of any entertainment event not organized by the 2x2s themselves (spectator sports, spectator theatre, circuses, etc). Prohibitions were strictly enforced on the apparel and physical appearance of both sexes, though significantly more strict controls for women than men. Males were mandated to be clean-shaven, to have closely cropped haircuts, and wear no jewelry other than a wedding ring. Women were mandated to not cut their hair; not wear their hair ‘down’ but rather up in a ‘bun’ style on their heads; to never wear trousers but only dresses/skirts; to never wear jewelry other than a wedding ring or a small broach; never dye their hair; never color their nails; never wear makeup of any form; never wear clothing that exposed skin above the elbow or above the ankle; never wear clothing which conformed to the contours of their body (ability to ‘see’ the form of the body); and other similar restrictions. Social interactions were a major component of mandated restrictions, including: minimal fraternization and certainly no friendships with non-members, no participation in political activities, no participation in non-member sports, no participation in non-member social events (other than funerals), restrictions on type of occupation (with nurse or teacher being generally the only accepted form of outside-the-home work for females, etc. Of course there were restrictions on reading material – educational and otherwise – especially with a strict prohibition on any Christian theological, apologetics, historical, or otherwise materials. In general, acceptable reading material was limited to technical, history, and general interest. Philosophy was strictly prohibited. And last, but most important, attendance at 2x2 worship meetings was mandatory – between 2 to 4 one-hour meetings a week, a full day special meeting per year, and a four day convention per year. Attendance at multiple special meetings and/or conventions was highly encouraged. Then there was the mandatory opening of one’s home to provide lodging and food for the 2x2 ministers in one’s home when they asked it of you – which could range from 4 days per quarter to 4 days per month or more – depending on the number of 2x2 members the 2x2 ministers had access to in given region. Conversely, financial donations by the members to the ministers was not explicitly mandatory, but was heavily subtly suggested and expected. So that’s about it, that’s the entirety of what 2x2 quasi-doctrine is. In summary, it is extremely light to non-existent on content, but very heavy on the form of the 2x2 experience. In other words, being a 2x2 is about conforming to a set of activities, it is not about the actual content of one’s ethics (or even the existence of ethics). There are no works of charity done by members, and there is no expectation of doing charity. There is no attention to improvement of one’s character, other than to be more obedient to the 2x2 system. There is no focus on any of the virtues, not even the Seven Virtues of Prudence, Temperance, Justice, Courage, Faith, Hope, and Love (Charity). There is no effort to having any positive impact on the local community, there is no effort to engage with other churches in any social programing or dialogue, there is no engagement with the local education system, etc. The 2x2 bargain is essentially: perform the 2x2 experience, and you will be rewarded (unlike everyone else) with eternal life. Conversely, failure to conform to the 2x2 experience in even the slightest way, will result in your expulsion, ostracization, shunning, and damnation to an eternity in hell. It is not obvious to 2x2s that their system is not actually Christian, that they are not Christian, that they are in fact the exact opposite of what Jesus’ ministry was all about. Christianity is an ethics-based system, meaning that participants are expected to use their free-will to make decisions regarding if a particular activity, behavior, apparel, etc. is congruent with Jesus’ Two Commandments (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.'). There are zero hard-rules for a Christian, it is not a system based on rules (or laws), it is a system based on free-will and determination. This is why the Seven Virtues are important for Christians, because they are habits which when cultivated and trained in one’s behavior, makes one better able to exercise one’s free-will in accordance with Jesus’s Two Commandments. As Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill” – this means that Jesus has created a new era in which people are no longer bound by adherence to the letter of the law, but instead are required to use their mental capabilities to understand the meaning of the spirit of the law and fashion their decisions to that end. This is a MUCH more difficult expectation than to simply conform to a set of laws, this means one has to think deeply about the entirety of a set of circumstances before acting. 2x2ism on the other hand, does not require anything more than conformity to its set of quasi-doctrine restrictions. Let’s take a few examples of the differences between the 2x2 system and a Christian system. 2x2ism prohibits the consumption of alcohol, whereas Christians can drink alcohol but are expected to use their judgment to consume alcohol in a temperate fashion (to never get inebriated). 2x2ism categorically prohibits dancing, while Christians can dance but are expected to use their judgment to participate in dancing only so far as it does not lead to outcomes that hurt oneself or others (notably sexualized dancing). 2x2ism expressly prohibits all television and cinema, while Christians can use these media forms but are expected to use their judgement to avoid content which is spiritually harmful (hedonism, sexual impropriety, loss of emotional control, etc). 2x2ism places many restrictions on the apparel and personal appearance of its members, while Christians are expected to choose apparel and appearance which is spiritually healthy (modest not vain, not sexually suggestive, not slothful, not gluttonous, etc). In many ways, a legalistic system like 2x2ism is what is used for children before they have the ability to cultivate the virtues of prudence and temperance – a system of rules, not a system which expects adult responsibility. This is not to say that 2x2s don't obey the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament, because they do for the most part. Yet the 2x2 observance of the Ten Commandments is in line with the Judaic understanding that observance is to the letter of the law, not the spirit of the law - contrasted with what would be expected of Christians. For example, a 2x2 will certainly state that she obeys the 6th Commandment 'Thou Shall not Murder', but she will take this to mean not physically murder someone (even someone trying to kill her) - an extremely literal interpretation of the law. For a Christian, the 6th Commandment is interpreted much more broadly to prohibit physical murder, even of the unborn, except in cases of self-defense, but also to prohibit non-physical murder such as the murdering of an other's reputation by slander. Gossiping, for a Christian, is considered a violation of the 6th Commandment. Yet, for 2x2s gossiping is not only exempt but actively encouraged. So if 2x2ism is clearly not a Christian system, then what type of system is it. Well, it’s a legalistic system, and it fits perfectly as a copy of the legalistic system which proceeded Christianity, which is Judaism. All of Jesus’ conflicts with the Judaic religious leaders were about the legalism versus ethics debate, with Jesus on the side of the ethics-based mode of living while the Judaic religious leaders on the side of the legalistic system. The Judaic system was/is comprised of an elaborate set of laws one must adhere to - it's not just the Ten Commandments, there are 613 laws in the Old Testament. Judaics were forbidden from intermixing with non-Judaics, even with their Samaritan cousins. There are multiple dietary restrictions, restrictions on types of employment (only certain families could be priests), mandatory sacrifices made at the Temple (and only the Jerusalem Temple, the Samaritan Temple was forbidden), etc, etc. To this day the problem of letter of the law versus spirit of the law remains with Judaics, just as with 2x2s, manifesting in things as foolish as the kosher light switch and Manhattan's Invisible Jewish Wire. Interestingly, just as the 2x2 system promises eternal bliss for conformity to its legalistic system, the Judaic system promised material well-being in the present for conformity to its legalistic system. 2x2ism isn’t even promising that things will go well in the present if you conform to its system, it’s expecting you to engage in a bargain for which there is no way of knowing that this bargain has any probability of being true, and worse if it turns out to be a lie, then there is no refund. Thus, 2x2ism is a Judaic system that is even worse than Judaism itself in terms of legalistic control of the members. At least someone in Judaism could evaluate in the present if abiding by the rules was improving their life, and if not, then stop obeying the rules. 2x2s have no way of knowing if the rule-abiding pays off or not. For a 2x2, there is constant indoctrination that they and only they will be rewarded in the afterlife for their rule abiding in the present, such fierce indoctrination that it is analogous to the gaslighting of an abusive spouse - see this letter routinely given to 2x2 ministers. When a Judaic stops participating in the rules of Judaism, becomes a secular atheist for example, she is still considered a Judaic by her old Judaic group. It is believed that she has 'lost her way', but there is hope she will return to the fold. However, if a Judaic not only leaves the group, but becomes a Christian or a Muslim, then she is considered dead to the group - there is a ceremony called 'sitting shiva' which is essentially a 'funeral' for this person who is now considered dead and all ties are cut with them. While 2x2s don't have a formal 'sitting shiva'-type ceremony, all of the mentioned is very similar to how former 2x2 members are treated. To become a Roman Catholic is arguably the single worst thing a former 2x2 can do - as seen from the perspective of the 2x2s. Interestingly 2x2ism is a ‘restorative’ religious movement, meaning that it seeks to return to the essence of early Christianity, as it claims that in particular the Roman Catholic Church corrupted Christianity from its original set of beliefs. Yet in 2x2ism’s case, it has not recaptured early Christianity, but instead has recaptured the essence of Judaism. In other words, 2x2ism has reverted back human progress by more than two millennia! Furthermore, 2x2ism has restored many of the early Christian heresies about the nature of Jesus. This is so far from mainstream Christianity, let alone early Christianity, that it is a cruel joke. In the most recent decade or so, due primarily to the loss of large numbers of its members, 2x2ism has become less restrictive on its many quasi-doctrinal rules. The restrictions on female apparel and personal appearance has lessened to essentially no restrictions except when attending 2x2 meetings. The restrictions on activities and entertainment has essentially been lifted as a don’t ask, don’t tell situation. In many ways, 2x2s nowadays behave identical to any secular person, but that doesn’t mean 2x2ism has become Christian – far from it. The mandatory attendance at meetings remains, but more importantly there remains zero focus on the core message of Christian ethics. In fact, without the legalism in place 2x2s are morally adrift unable to discern what a morally healthy life should look like. This has created an explosion of all sorts of deviant behavior among the 2x2 youth – from reams of promiscuity, to binge drinking, to maximal hedonism, to gluttony, etc, etc. It’s a Rumspringa-type situation, without the ‘safe-space’ to return to. If it’s any consolation to the 2x2s, the exact same sort of thing happened to millions of Jews who left the legalism of their religion without embracing Christianity. The solution for the young 2x2s is to actually learn what Christianity is, and to incorporate it into their lives before they drive their lives into the ditch. It would be cruel to leave the reader (probably a questioning or ex2x2), without any 'next steps'. So I am going to put a short list here of things which should be helpful to understand Christianity better.
Many 2x2s and ex-2x2s focus on the doctrinal problems of 2x2ism. A few others focus on the abusive nature of the organization. But even less actually focus on the business model - and yes it is a business. All churches are businesses. It's just that all normal churches are Non-Profit Businesses, rather than For-Profit Businesses.
Ask yourself - is 2x2ism a Non-Profit? Is it registered as a Non-Profit? No it is not. All normal churches are registered as Non-Profits, because not registering as a Non-Profit means the IRS will tax you as a For-Profit business. 2x2ism is not registered as much of anything, except when registration can be used to petition for immigration visas as a 'legitimate' religious organization or attempt to get military service waivers for its ministers. Does 2x2ism have financial records that it shares with its members? No it shares nothing. It's 100% secret. It's financial assets are all hidden. Non-Profits do not behave like this. Non-Profits must file financial statements annually which are available for all the world to see, such as this. The 2x2 business model is one of the most incredible systems I have ever seen. It is a For-Profit global business scheme that is comprised of a series of independent business units. Here is how it works. Each business unit consists of a group of 'development officers' who's entire function is to solicit money from innocent people. But instead of calling them 'development officers' as most churches would, the 2x2s call them 'Workers'. Does it surprise you that these Workers are not trained in seminaries or any other religious training? They don't need to be, they are not in the business of spreading the Gospel, they are in the business of taking money. They are Working alright, working at taking money. The innocent people they take money from are called Friends. Isn't that a nice word instead of what these types of people are normally called (suckers). Have you ever thought about the 2x2 propaganda that they "don't take collections"? It's true they do not pass a collection plate in the meetings. But have you ever asked yourself why? It's pretty obvious when you understand how the whole thing works. It's the classic con job. The 'Workers' insist there are no money collections taken in their 'meetings' in order to gain the trust of their 'marks'. That's the first step in the con, gaining the confidence of the 'mark'. Then the 'Workers' explain about their great 'sacrifice' to be homeless and penniless for you the sinner. You feel like you have been given an undeserving gift, a gift that you must reciprocate with some small token to show your gratefulness. It's no surprise that then privately the issue of the 'needs of the kingdom' are brought up, and money is handed over from the mark AKA Friend AKA sucker to the 'Worker'. The Workers can keep a small amount of their 'take' for themselves, but most of it is sent up the ladder to the regional overseers. What is unique about the 2x2 business model is how small the commission the Workers can keep for themselves - next to nothing. This is because in other organizations the 'development officers' have to pay for their own housing and living expenses out of their earnings. But in the 2x2 model, not only are the 'Friends' being fleeced for money, but the 'Friends' are also charged with covering all the living expenses of the 'Workers' by providing them housing, transportation, food, etc. This is brilliant! 2x2ism has figured out a way to offload the majority of its expenses directly onto the suckers it is fleecing! Amazing! A side note about it being a con-artist operation. How do we know that for certain? Because it's part of 2x2 doctrine! - the Living Witness Doctrine. 2x2 ministers claim that no one can be 'saved' unless that person hears the 'gospel' verbally spoken from the mouths of 2x2 ministers in person - that the 2x2 ministers have some sort of magical power to 'save' people by speaking. And by 'gospel' we don't mean reading the Gospels, no - we mean only the 2x2 ministers' sermon. A sermon which likely has little to no Gospel content in it at all. What other operations insist on in-person sales-pitches like this? I'm sure you can think of why they insist on an in-person sale-pitch, just as the snake-oil salesman does. How much money does 2x2ism have? Annually, more than $90 million per year. There is accumulated wealth of well over $1 Billion. Here are some numbers: Lets assume that there are 100k friends and that the average given to the workers is a low $500 per year - yeah some don't give any but some give at least that each week and even more come convention time - so that's $50mm total income. We'll be generous and assume there are still 2500 workers of whom 500 are on rest at any given time and say they're each given $500 annually from the common pot and we'll round that up to $1.5mm in direct expenses. Say another outlay of $20k for each of 450 convention - several cost more to put on even with donations of food, flights, etc., but many more would require much much less than that - and that's another $9mm in direct expense. We'll also be generous and say that each pair of workers holds one gospel meeting per month in a rented hall that costs $500 - some don't pay at all but some do - so that's another $500k in direct expenses. Food and transportation and clothing and the occasional trip home and medical and lodging are all provided and even those younger workers whose older companions don't share the cash inflow sometimes have to get by with just that but lets say there's another $2000 per worker in discretionary spending per worker per year so that comes to another $5m. That leaves $34mm cash left over each year that should go back to the overseer/trustee accounts each year. I think its way more than that, but lets assume its just that. + 50,000,000 income - 1,500,000 worker start-off cash - 9,000,000 convention expense - 500,000 gospel meeting expense - 5,000,000 worker discretionary spending = $34,000,000 Excess profit from operations goes to Overseers annually And the excess annual income is even before adding income from the messier areas of inheritances - whether cash bequests or entire estates left to the workers individually or directed to the overseers to be placed in trusts - and funds donated by newly recruited workers. Both have been going on since the early days and tho that's income that comes in regularly I think its harder to estimate averages. Some don't leave anything to the workers and some just leave a small amount but some have left their entire estates - I know of one family where the children were left with nothing other than a few mementos and the overseer got all the properties of the wealthy parents. Some workers turn over all to the overseer and some give away to relations or others they know. Individual workers get cash and other gifts apart from their 'ministry' functions too - even some junior workers I knew got some surprising generous gifts. Let's see what sort of inheritance/bequethments 2x2ism gets: 100,000 friends is about 50,000 2x2 households, 300K average household net worth, 2x2s give 10% of net worth to Overseers. $30k x 50k households = $1.5 Billion in assets will be Willed to Overseers!!! Assuming that most of those households are retired folks equally distributed between the age of 65 and 90, then each year for the next 25 years as they folks die, Overseers will take in $1.5 B / 25 = $60 million per year!!! Here is an actual legal clause crafted by the California Overseer for 2x2s to put in their Wills. It does not state the assets are to go to a Trust, because it does not! It says the assets go directly to the Overseer or 2x2 Royalty. Imagine that! The document even mentions that your lawyer will find this clause too vague! Imagine that!! We know that this sort of transfer of estates to the 2x2 Royalty is the primary source of money for the 2x2 system. And we know that Overseers and high-ranking 2x2 ministers spend a great deal of time with elderly congregant, 'keeping them on the path to heaven' - these are called 'Field Visits'. In most regions there is a carved out period of time after conventions for these 'Field Visits' to be conducted to ensure that the near unto death 'faithful' are committing their estates to the 2x2 system. And what are conventions actually for? The 4 day conventions are psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually abusive brainwashing camps, where existing members are separated from society and have their minds warped and coerced by the VIP 2x2 ministers (the most effective salesmen). Why do you think California spends over $100,000 per year flying 2x2 ministers around the globe? To parachute in the top snake-oil salesmen to other areas. Here is a global list of 2x2 conventions to see the magnitude of the effort. In addition to the money changing hands in the 2x2s, there is also the matter of the undeclared non-monetary benefit of all the housing and food supplied by the congregants to the 2x2 ministers. The standard line is that the 2x2 ministers are simply guests in the homes of the laity, but in fact it is the 2x2 ministers who inform the laity that they (the ministers) will be staying in the laity's home for such and such days - it is not an invitation, it is a command. In other words, the laity homes act as a large AirBnB-type network which is accessible to the 2x2 ministers at any time they so desire without charge. Let's do a small thought example using just the 2x2 ministers in the UK to get a sense of the magnitude of this undeclared benefit: - 40 2x2 ministers (16 male, 24 female) - 40 x 365 days = 14,600 days of undeclared benefit per year for the UK alone. - Average day benefit monetized = $200 - $2,920,000 undeclared benefit per year for UK alone! If we extrapolate that from the UK to the global 2x2 minister population of about 2000 ministers, it works out to $146,000,000 per year undeclared benefit!!! All of the money that is sent up the ladder to the Overseers of each region (business unit), is then passed on to a few select 2x2 members who manage it. These select members pretend to be just ordinary 2x2 folk, but in fact they are not. They are the financial controllers of the entire 2x2 enterprise. They are 2x2 Royalty. If you have been in 2x2ism for a while and have gotten to know a lot of people in it, you will have gotten to learn who the 2x2 Royalty are. They use the monies that 2x2ism pumps into their accounts for their own investments and businesses. All of this money was obtained illegally. It is not a registered non-profit. It is not tax exempt. It does not file taxes. It is all hidden monies. In other words, it is money-laundering. The money is not held in bank accounts, because that would be far too obvious for the IRS to pick up on. Instead the money is run through the business enterprises of these 'royalty' 2x2s. Used to buy real estate, etc. We know of certain 2x2 Royalty who have entire real estate empires with multiple guest cottages for high-status 2x2 ministers to 'relax' in. Even in some of the smallest 2x2 US states, there is in excess of $15 million held by one single 2x2 Royalty member. Imagine what the situation is in Washington, Oregon, and California. British Columbia and Alberta have vastly over $15 million between them. Why do I know that it is an illegal enterprise? Because of how the money is handled. Let's follow a typical money transaction. The Friend gives cash to the Worker. If the Friend gives a check, the Worker will endorse the check to another Friend in exchange for cash - the reason is to make sure all the money never enters the formal banking system where it can be tracked. The Worker keeps all this cash on hand until a personal interaction with an Overseer (convention, special mtg, etc), where it is handed over to the Overseer. The Overseer then hands this cash off to a Royalty 2x2 member. The Royalty 2x2 cannot deposit this money in a bank account of any kind. Even if a legal Trust was set up, the money could not be deposited in it since the money would then set off alarms with banking authorities and tax authorities. They would have to pay tax on it -perhaps even 35% tax. If 2x2ism was a legit organization, they would put this money in an account, and then they would have to pay tax on it. They would quickly realize that they don't like losing 35% in tax, so they would incorporate as a legal non-profit so that they would not have to pay tax. But in becoming a non-profit, they would then insist on all donations to them be made by check to the legal name of the non-profit so that they could comply with federal tax and anti-money-laundering laws, and 2x2 members would be given tax receipts for their donations. However, 2x2ism is not registered as a non-profit nor is it giving out tax receipts, so that means that the money cannot be deposited into a bank account by the Overseer or by a 2x2 Royalty member. Where is the money being stored? The 2x2 Royalty member uses the money in their own personal businesses and investments (real estate, etc). This way the dirty 2x2 money is mixed with legitimate business money and disguised so that the tax authorities are not tipped off. This is classic money-laundering. After the money has passed through the legitimate business, it is then able to be deposited in bank accounts. You might be thinking, "It's all just gift money from the Friends, and the Friends paid taxes on that money, so why would the Workers have to pay taxes on it". You yourself probably have received gifts of money and never declared it to the IRS. Or perhaps you aren't knowledgeable about the US Tax Code. The trouble is the size of the gift. Imagine if you were depositing cash in your bank account of $10,000 or more every month (Overseers take in a lot more money than that). Now imagine that you are a drug dealer and you are making those same deposits. The bank doesn't know if you are a drug dealer, it just knows that you are making large cash deposits, and that you have no other real income in that account from a traceable source. The bank then will red flag your account and report you to the authorities for potential money-laundering. You see, it's not that you received a money gift, it's that you have frequent large money gifts from an untraceable source, which sets off the bank's alarms. What I am trying to get at is that it's not just a tax issue, but it is also a banking anti-money-laundering issue. Imagine what the FBI would think when they investigate someone for potential money-laundering, and the person says "I'm an pastor in a non-registered church with no name and no organization. This money I receive is all just gifts from people who like me. Yes, it's all cash gifts, but that's their choice." The FBI will start to laugh and have you in handcuffs so fast that your head will spin. And it is because of this that the Overseers cannot allow all that 2x2 money to go into the banking system. And because the money is not going into the banking system, then for certain they are not paying tax, and for certain they are laundering it with the Royalty 2x2s. Perhaps you have been told that the 2x2 money is all in Trusts. Do you know what a legal Trust Agreement is? A Trust is a legal entity with a fixed life that at the point of setting it up designates a real beneficiary. This initial constitution of the Trust, or rules about how the Trust is to operate, cannot be changed once it has been setup. So ask yourself, why would 2x2ism use Trusts which have to name a real beneficiary, when 2x2 has no legal entity of its own to be that legal beneficiary, so the real beneficiary would have to be an actual person (overseer or 2x2 royalty). Furthermore, if that beneficiary decides to leave the 2x2s, he will remain the beneficiary of that Trust - not good for 2x2ism. A Trust cannot be 'passed on' from one person to another once it is set up. This is why 2x2ism does not use legal Trusts, instead it uses personal accounts of 'trusted' 2x2 Royalty, and it launders the money through these people. There are no 'Trust' accounts, despite what 2x2s think. Note, that even if the money is in a 2x2 Royalty account, that person can borrow against that account for their own purposes. You might be thinking that the 2x2 ministers themselves file tax returns just like everyone else. No they do not. Overseers specifically instruct 2x2 ministers to NOT file a tax return. Why would they do that? Even if you don't have much income, it's a a good idea to file a tax return in order to create a paper trail for the IRS, and perhaps to qualify for any unearned income tax credit. But no, they are told not to file. The reason is that filing would create a way for Federal law enforcement to track them. What are they going to put on the tax form as to where all the money they got came from? They don't have a legal employer. They are free-lance contractors for an illegitimate organization - exactly the same as how a mafia runs. In summary, follow the money flow. Only criminal enterprises would go to such extreme methods to avoid registering as a non-profit. Think about all those sizable bequethments from dead people - just how exactly is that money getting into the accounts of an overseer? Simple. The bequethment is a check made out to a 2x2 Royalty member, a regular inheritance type of deal, which the 2x2 Royalty then deposits in his own personal checking account. The 2x2 Royalty member then gives cash to the overseer - the money is now outside the banking system. An Overseer and some 2x2 Royalty have already been criminally charged in Australia for money-laundering, see here or here. One of the biggest scams that the 2x2 ministers use is to defraud elderly 2x2 members by gaining control of their assets via Power of Attorney and then by moving the victims's assets to accounts of 'elders' or overseers. This has happened many many times. A 'helpful' 2x2 elder will offer to be PoA for the victim, and will convince the victim to not mention this to the victims next of kin - this is quite easy if the victim has no 2x2 children. Later when a next of kin discovers what has happened, the victim is too ashamed to say anything, even if they are competent to understand what happened, and the relatives are led to believe this was all the victim's wishes. One thing to keep in mind is that nearly everyone in 2x2ism is living in fear, and so they can be manipulated by higher-ups for basically anything. The 'elder' who has Power of Attorney on an elderly member is most likely is being blackmailed by someone higher up to get him to do these scams. Perhaps he messed with little kids. Perhaps he is a closet homosexual. Or just the fact that his name is on one scam, means that the higher up can rat him out if he doesn't do more scams. These people use blackmail to keep the whole thing going and to keep people from going to the authorities. The regular 2x2 sheep won't even speak up because they have been conditioned to think 'worker' = God, and therefore anyone who suggests 'worker' (or even fellow 2x2) did something wrong, is themselves the bad person for making this suggestion. If the sheep don't side with the 'worker', then the threat of shunning is enough for them to get back in line. Sometimes even heavy handed things happen to keep people in line such as 'suicides'. The 'suicide' victim in this particular case was the lieutenant of the UK overseer - alleged to be the wealthiest overseer in the world. Ask yourself, how easy is it for an adult to drown themselves in a bathtub? It's nearly impossible because even if the person goes unconscious, at the slightest intake of water into the lungs, the body will shoot out adrenaline to wake the person and have them flailing about to get out of the water. The only way to drown oneself in a bathtub is to first overdose on drugs or to electrocute oneself in the tub. Or of course, have someone hold your head underwater so that your involuntary flailing is unsuccessful. A key difference between 2x2ism and other cults is that most other cults (Scientology included) are actually registered as non-profits, which means that they have to spend all that money they take in. That's why most other cults have huge campuses, visible real estate assets, publishing companies, etc. They need to do something with the money. 2x2ism, because it is not a non-profit, can sit on all that cash and is not forced to spend it on visible hard assets. And since 2x2ism is not a non-profit, then it should be paying tax on all that income - but it is not, instead it is money-laundering all that income into the personal businesses of a few Royalty 2x2 families. The fact that 2x2ism has hundreds of millions of dollars socked away, and never spends a cent on doing real charity work, and yet keeps taking money from its 2x2 members at every chance while pretending that 2x2ism is penniless organization, tells you that 2x2ism is most certainly a money oriented machine that cares only about enriching the Royalty 2x2s at the top of the pyramid. The beauty of this business model, despite being illegal, is that if one of the 'Workers' commits a crime such as sexually assaulting a child, the victims of the crime are unable to successfully sue for damages from the Worker since the Worker himself/herself has no personal assets to seize. In a normal organization, the victims could sue the organization as well. But in 2x2ism case who do you sue since you don't even know who controls what or where the money is? This is the exact legal defense that a 2x2 Overseer used - that he was not a minister since there was no church that he was a minister of, and therefore how could he be held accountable. Beautiful. This is exactly how organized crime is set up. Even worse, all that hidden away money is then used by Overseers to pay for expensive lawyers to defend any 2x2 minister charged with a crime. What a racket. Or to put it in legal terms - racketeering. Thankfully in the US the Dept of Justice can use the RICO act to pierce the organizational structure. I am certain that there has been not only a lot of CSA and other sexual abuse by 2x2s, but that there has been 'sharing' of victims (aka human-trafficking). This could be used as an example of criminal conspiracy, and thus triggering the RICO Act. There are two forms of human-trafficking going on with the 2x2s. The most obvious form is the trafficking across state lines of children for the purpose of sex with children by 2x2 ministers (and some rank and file members). The other type of human-trafficking is the trafficking of the ministers. Almost all 2x2 ministers are people who as children were raised by 2x2 parents, and specifically conditioned by 2x2ism and their parents to aspire to have a 'career' as a 2x2 minister - to do so is is considered the most important thing one can do with one's life. One of the hymns even uses the words "The Call to Labour". The conditioning process of the young children to aspire to be 2x2 ministers starts with the table-graces, then moves on to the hymns at 2x2 services (#402, #403, #406, #407, #408), to the particular bible verses which are emphasized by 2x2 bible studies and 2x2 services, and finally on to interactions which 2x2 ministers themselves - all of which have extremely heavy emphasis on giving one's life to 'labor in the field for the work as a servant of God'. In essence, a 2x2 childhood is psychological conditioning to recruit young people into the 2x2 system as 'ministers' aka human-labor. Why is this human-trafficking? Because being a 2x2 minister is effectively to be a slave - you are not permitted to have an sizable material possessions, no home (rented or owned), no vehicle, no spouse, no family, nothing other than being an itinerant 'minister' under 100% control of the 2x2 Overseers. From what you wear, how you cut your hair, what books you read, who you interact with, where you go, EVERYTHING - is only with the permission of the Overseer. You have been conditioned as a child to put yourself into slavery by an Overseer. You cannot escape so easily because you have no money, no home, no vehicle, no friends, no support network, etc outside of the 2x2 system. You are locked in. You are a slave. You are trafficked. Human-trafficking. Do you remember that Alberta 1995 fiasco with 2x2 Overseers setting up a Corporation in AB? What tends to get overlooked is that they set up a for-profit Corporation, not a non-profit. Think about that for a minute. Why would they do that? Why would they willingly set up something that would force them to pay income tax? The reason is that a corporation has shareholders, people who it can pay out its earnings to. A non-profit cannot pay out to shareholders. Notice on the AB incorporation papers who the shareholders are - Overseers. They were looking for a legal way to enrich themselves. Perhaps the cause of the entire Alberta scandal was that the Overseers wanted to keep the assets (mineral rights I think) for themselves instead of handing it off to the 2x2 Royalty. Don't you find it interesting that the incorporation papers were made public - by whom? How did they even know to look for them? It's a needle in a haystack situation, so how did this information slip out? Obviously it was purposefully leaked. And what sort of person would know about it and then decide to leak it? Someone who stood to lose a lot of money - a 2x2 Royalty person. From looking at Alberta Worker Lists on the TellingtheTruth site we notice something very interesting. The two 2x2 ministers seemingly most on the frontlines of carrying out the Great Purge of 1999 were inevitably sent off to other countries as punishment for how bad they handled it. Jim Knipe went to Argentina, and Gwen Fipke is 'overseas'. That's a very important thing to understand. Knipe and Fipke were just carrying out orders from higher up, and so when it all spun out of control they were cast aside as fallguys. This tells you something very interesting about what the true priorities are at 2x2 Inc. We all know what happens when a 2x2 minister commits a felony crime such as child sexual assault - they get sent to another field, but still in the same country, perhaps just a few hundred miles away - where they can still solicit donations. That means that they can still interact with their parents, siblings, and friends pretty much as before. Notice what happened to Knipe and Fipke, they were sent thousands of miles away to countries they don't know the language. That shows you what sort of 'infractions' by a 2x2 minister are worse than others. Clearly causing a mass exodus of money-donating 2x2 members matters a lot more than committing a felony crime. Speaking of western Canada, do you remember the scandal of an overseer who attempted to transport $30,000 across the Canada/US border in a briefcase in the 1990s? This is a very good example of a situation where the money laundering almost got caught. First off, why didn't the overseer just wire transfer or use a check with the money instead of trying to transport such a large amount of cash? Remember that he would have had to convert it from Canadian Dollars to US Dollars at a bank before hand in small batches in order to not tip off the authorities. And by converting it like he did, the cost of conversion (the FX rate) would have cost him quite a bit. So economically speaking, transporting the cash was a stupid idea. But because he was money laundering, there was no other option. And the reason we know it was money laundering is because of what happened when he tried to cross the border. At the border the officer told him to declare any amount of cash he had greater than $10,000. The overseer refused to declare the money. It is not illegal to transport large amounts of cash across borders, but it is illegal to not declare it. Declaring it is just a matter of filling out a small form for the Border Officer - putting your name, passport ##, address, etc on it. Aha! But the Overseer refused to do this simple thing. Why? Obviously if he did fill out the form, then Federal law enforcement would have evidence of his transporting cash. So instead, the Overseer turned his car around and returned to Canada, where he gave the money to some 2x2 members instead to take care of, while he then attempted a second crossing of the border without the cash. That's the smoking gun right there. There is absolutely no reason to behave like this unless you are trying to hide something. Not too many people think about it, but what does 2x2ism do with its old 'Workers' AKA development officers when they can no longer solicit donations? These are people who gave their entire lives for a system and when they finally 'retire' they don't have any savings to pay for their retirement. And how do they pay for their medical care in the USA? You'd think that all those donations given by 2x2 members to 2x2ism would be used to help these old expired ministers. But no it's not. Instead a scam is used. Since they have never actually worked, they do not qualify for Medicare - free health care for old people. They also do not qualify for Social Security - old age pension. So how do they get by? Simple, by fraud. It works like this: At some point before they hit 65, they are 'employed' by a Royalty 2x2 family business. They don't actually work there, but they are put on the payroll. This way they can accumulate the much needed 10 years of work 'credits' with the Social Security Administration in order to qualify for pensions and old age free healthcare. It's a fraud. If they don't use that fraud, then they try another - the Medicaid fraud. Medicaid is free healthcare for the poor and indigent in the US, 2x2 ministers claim that they are poor (despite all this money the Overseers have) to qualify. Some enterprising 2x2 members then set up nursing/care homes for these old 2x2 ministers, taking in the US government's cash into their business. It's also a great place to launder some of the off-the-books 2x2 money. Have you ever wondered why 2x2 ministers travel to poor countries? Why are they sending 2x2 ministers to poor countries? There aren't enough 'suckers' in those countries to make it even break even. It's widely known that all of the 2x2 ministers in poor countries are only able to be there because of donations from 2x2 members in rich countries going directly to them. The 2x2 ministers in these poor countries don't live in the homes of the 'friends'. Why is that? Strange, no? In fact they live in quite nice apartments paid for by donations from their 2x2 member acquaintances back home. Very strange isn't it. Once you start to understand that 2x2 is a business, it all comes into focus. These 2x2 ministers in poor countries are used for a number of 'special assignments'. Things such as being a 'support team' for pregnant 2x2 female ministers from rich countries who need a discreet way to get rid of the baby. Acting as offshore banking fiduciaries. Offshore banks do not like to have accounts with US citizens. So non-US citizens are used as 'fronts' to open the accounts for Royalty 2x2s. Providing 'relaxation' locations for high-profile 2x2 ministers (mostly male) who want to 'let their hair down' without any prying eyes. Notice how many are in Thailand, land of sex tourism. It is also extremely likely that 2x2s are involved with international organ trafficking - either by sourcing organs in poor countries for use by 2x2s from rich countries, or by facilitating organ transplant in poor countries by a local doctor with a paid 'donor' from a rich country into a 2x2 from a rich country. 2x2 ministers are uniquely situated to facilitate this international transaction, just as rabbis have been convicted of for Jews. Ultimately, nearly all the hardcore 2x2 minister pedophiles who are in danger of being convicted in the USA, and quickly flown off to 'minister' in a poor country (along with a fat annual stipend from the Overseers to stay out of the the USA). It's important to notice that there are very few male 2x2 ministers in the poor countries - which is exactly the opposite of what one would think (sending lily-white female virgins to dangerous places). There is a reason for this - the male 2x2 ministers are needed back home in the rich countries to manage the 'Friends' AKA donors, especially the old ones regarding bequethments. Would you send your 18 year old naive daughter to a poor dangerous country where she doesn't speak the language, doesn't know much of anything about the world, etc.? No you would not. But it happens all the time to these young female 2x2 ministers. Why? It's obvious. They are the most expendable of the 2x2 ministers. They have the least amount of power. If they ever try to blow the whistle on what goes on, they are easily marginalized and shunned because they are female (in a male dominated cult) and they have very few connections back home to believe them. And they are also the most gullible, easy to give a nonsense rational for something offside and they will believe it. 2x2 overseers have sent multiple young female 2x2 ministers to Kazakhstan to 'minister', not exactly a good fit for an English-speaking naive little girl. And just how do these 2x2 ministers even go to third world countries? Don't most of these countries require a visa or don't many of them explicitly prohibit religious proselytizing? Well, the 2x2s have found a way around that - another scam. They apply for student visa's to 'study the language', and then once in the country start going after converts in an effort to get them to bequeath their property to 2x2 'ministers'. Of course, not to local 2x2 'minister', but to the big shots from US/Canada/Aus/etc. Do you remember the Vietnam scandal? That's exactly what it as all about. Have you ever wondered why there were/are such different rules of conduct between different regions of 2x2ism? No TVs, no divorce, no alcohol, etc in some areas while completely permitted in others. We have heard that this is due to the decisions of the different regional Overseers. But ask yourself, doesn't it seem strange that these Overseers would meet together and not come up with a common consensus of what was condoned 2x2 behavior? Having such very extreme differences in condoned behavior across regions seems like a very bad idea don't you think? People do talk after all, especially when the 2x2 ministers are preaching that 'One Way, Always the Same, Never Changing, etc'. The reason that there was no consensus between the Overseers about these issues is that the Overseers are not like bishops of a normal church, but instead the Overseers are the CEOs of their own totally independent organization for each region. They rarely ever meet with one another. In fact, it's widely known that in the US, the Eastern Overseer and Western Overseer hated each other - no kidding, they were not brothers-in-Christ, they are competitors. They each want to take over the other Overseer's regions. It's exactly like different mafia families fighting over territory. It's all for money. Have you ever wondered why do 2x2s not agree with the Trinity? Why do they take such a hardline on this. It seems strange....until you understand what accepting the Trinity would mean. It would mean the end of their 'Jesus showed us a life for us to pattern after' concept of submission to the 2x2 system. By removing the 'Jesus as a pattern' idea, that would change the concept 'daily dying' from meaning to suffer, to meaning to avoid becoming slave to one's passions. In other words, accepting the Trinity would mean that suffering to be 'true to The Truth, The Way, the Workers' would be unnecessary. This is exactly the same reason why 2x2ism will not permit a doctrine of 'Grace'. And it is this 'suffering in The Truth to be like Jesus' that keeps 2x2 members in their bondage to the 2x2 Overseers and system of spiritual abuse - to be cash cows for the 2x2 Royalty. You might be thinking, "are all Workers in on this big illegal scam operation?" No. Almost all of the 'Workers' are truly just that - workers - people diligently running around doing their job of soliciting money and thinking they are doing 'God's Work" of spreading the Gospel, a gospel they know essentially little about. It's only the people at the very top - the Overseers and some carefully chosen heirs to the Overseers - who know what is really going on. And it is only they who interact with the true Big Bosses - the 2x2 Royalty. The Overseers are sort of like the CEO, COO, CFOs of the organization - they run the day to day operations, they get some plum perks, etc. But it is the 2x2 Royalty who are the owners, the shareholders, the ultimate beneficiaries of this illegal operation. Given that 2x2ism is a large illegal scam operation, it seems pretty clear that all of the 'Workers' can be criminally charged for their part in it. I wonder how many of them realize that while they were innocently duped into their roles, that they could do prison time for their activities in soliciting and defrauding people. There is a statute of limitations I believe, so many of the folks who stopped being 'Workers' years ago will probably not be charged. The young person who joins 2x2ism's 'ministry' (and it's not a ministry, it's a con artist scam) must sell all of their belongings and give the proceeds to 2x2ism's big bosses. The new recruit has no home, no income, no vehicle, no savings, etc - they are completely at the whim of their 'bosses'. It's a life only a hair's breadth away from being homeless and starving. This creates some VERY perverse behavior from the 2x2 ministers. They must have 100% obedience to the 'big boss'. What a tyrannical system - worse than even any Totalitarian political system ever devised. To try to leave the 2x2 'ministry' on your own, you must have people outside who will help you - give you a place to stay, help you with money, etc. Imagine being sent to a foreign country where your support network is even less. Another interesting aspect of this job is the 'scandal' leverage that is used by the 'big bosses' against the 2x2 ministers. It is estimated at least 50% of 2x2 ministers have been involved in a sexual liaison with a 2x2 member (adult or child). Not to mention the numerous financial scandals. The entire edifice is a nest of dirty little secrets that are 'leaked' whenever the 'big bosses' want to punish someone. These implicit threats of exposing the scandals is what keeps so many 2x2 ministers from speaking up - even after they have managed to escape from 2x2ism. And because of the success of this mode of control, all sorts of situations and conditions are set up where the 2x2 ministers will be entrapped in a scandalous activity - precisely to achieve leverage over them. Why do you think known homosexual older male 2x2 ministers are frequently paired, not with other homosexuals, but with eager-to-please young male 2x2 ministers? So that inevitably a sexual event occurs which then can be used as leverage against both of them. Why do you think the laptop of a top 2x2 overseer was handed over to law enforcement after he was found dead in a hotel room? Because there was likely mountains of 'dirt' aka kompromat on that computer about hundreds of 2x2 ministers and elders. Also note that a 2x2 minister 'wiped' the cell phone of the overseer before handing it to police. The 2x2 minister took over 6 months before he gave computer and cell phone to police, and only did so at the insistence of outsiders. Are you thinking, "What can I possibly do about this?" Well, you actually don't have to leave 2x2ism, you can just stop giving money. Stop giving the 2x2 ministers ANY money, stop letting them stay in your homes, stop providing them with automobiles, and stop feeding them. The Overseers will have to start paying the 2x2 ministers in order to cover these operational expenses. Stop giving money for conventions, let the Overseers pay - they have the money after all. Make it be known that you will not be giving anything in your Will when you die to 2x2ism. Help your friends and relatives to stop giving also. Soon the fact that you are not giving money will be noticed and you will be spoken to. Take that opportunity to explain that you will start giving when 2x2ism is setup as a legal non-profit and publishes its financial records for all to see. I mean, even those 'false churches' do that for pity's sake. Very quickly, you will get a the full treatment by the overseers and high-ranking ministers. If that doesn't show you what the true goal of the ministry is (money), I don't know what will. There is a lot of discussion about doctrinal problems of 2x2ism, problems about the legalism, etc. But rarely does anyone get to the heart of the matter of what is wrong with 2x2ism - the organizational structure, a structure which facilitates all the other problems folks see.
When I talk about the problems of the organizational structure of 2x2ism, I am referring to more than just its hierarchical structure. There are many organizations (corporations) which are hierarchical, and most run reasonably well, some even excellently. It is not hierarchy by itself that is the problem. The big trouble with the 2x2 structure is the COMBINATION of the following: 1) Appointed Hierarchy with no clear process of what are the requirement to be appointed. 2) Lack of Rule of Law - no written 'constitution' which delineates the rules and roles. Rules change, rules are bent, rules are ignored. 3) Lack of clearly delineated roles – who exactly is responsible for what exactly. Roles have no boundaries. 4) No Redress mechanism. No formal independent process (tribunal) of how to appeal a bad decision of an authority figure by a subordinate. 5) No transparency regarding unwritten rule making, decisions, money handling, etc. Basically money goes in, and orders come out. Don't ask who, when, why, what, where, or how. 6) No contact or communication allowed with other religious organizations. This facilitates 'group think'. 7) No 'Board of Directors' comprised of various representatives from the different parts of the organization (clergy & laity) to control/hire/fire the 'CEOs/Overseers'. 8) Lack of legal entity recognized by the state – this limits the state’s ability to enforce the state’s laws onto the organization. Essentially the organization is operating similar to organized crime. So, what is the above? In technical terms it is despotism. This is pretty much how North Korea is set up. For religious groups, the technical term is a cult. You can check here how it compares to cult warning signs. Aside from the absolute control these structure create, they also create schizophrenia/anxiety conditions in the members as the 'rules' are constantly shifting beneath their feet. These types of organizational structures are obviously unhealthy, but more importantly in order for them to exist, they require very strict punishment of anyone even beginning to question things. Dissent can spread like wildfire through these types of organizations, so it must be stamped out fiercely - hence the excommunications and shunnings. You don't think 2x2ism fits the above model? Let's test it and see if that is true. Who are the top leaders of 2x2ism? The Overseers. How did they get their job? Not sure. Were they elected by the Friends or Workers? No. Did the Friends elect representatives who then elected the Overseers? No. Do the Overseers have term limits? No. Do the Overseers have complete authority over the Workers in their territories? Yes. If a Worker disobeys an Overseer, what happens? The worker is punished (re-assignment or expulsion). Can the Worker appeal the decision of the Overseer? No. The Overseer's authority is absolute. If a Friend (member of laity) is punished by a Worker or Overseer, what redress does she/he have? None. Do the Overseers have a written constitution (bylaws) which govern what they do and do not have authority over? No, there is no such thing. Overseers have complete authority over workers - even down to determining their hairstyles. Do the Overseers of the various territories meet to discuss matters? Yes. Is anyone else allowed at those meetings? No. Are minutes of the meetings published for Workers or Friends to read? No. All the money which Friends contribute to 2x2ism, where is it? Don't know. Are there open financial records of all the money that 2x2ism has? No. Are there written rules about doctrine of 2x2ism? No. Is doctrine different for 2x2ism in different parts of the world? Yes. Widely different? Yes - no drinking in some places, drinking in others; no divorce in some places, divorce in others; no TV in some areas, TV in other areas, etc. Are 2x2s encouraged to investigate Christian doctrine from sources other than Workers? No. Christian reading material is forbidden. Do the Friends have any vote in any matters of 2x2ism? No. Do the Friends in a local area have a vote on who they want as an elder? No. Do the Friends in a local area have a vote on who they want as Workers? No. Do the Friends have any vote in who they have as Overseer? No. If there is a disagreement between Workers and Friends, how is that disagreement resolved? Workers are always correct, Friends must obey Workers not the other way around. Are meetings open to all? No, the owner of the home of the meeting can bar whomever from entry, almost always due to being told so by a Worker/Overseer. But wait you say, 2x2s have the Holy Spirit and so they will never do bad things. The Overseers will never do bad things. The Workers will never do bad things. Whoops, that's not true. Too many examples of many mistakes by Overseers and Workers (child sexual assault being just one of them). So if the Overseers/Workers are sinners just like you and I, why would you want to give sinners UNLIMITED power over others? Power which cannot be challenged unless you want to be kicked out of 2x2ism, where 2x2ism is touted as the ONLY path to eternal salvation. That seems very dangerous and stupid to give such power to people who will make mistakes. Wouldn't it be better if there was an organizational structure which stopped the mistakes before they got rolling too far along? Of course there is no such thing as a perfect org structure. But what I am talking about are org structures which either enhance or reduce human fallible behavior. It's important to realize that org structures are very influential on how humans behave. There is an entire field of study about how org structure influences human behavior - called Organizational Psychology. It means that people DO NOT make decisions independent of org structure - instead the org structure has large impacts on the decisions they make. The most famous examples of this involve sadistic behavior among some prison guards - otherwise nice normal people in their daily lives, but given the opportunity to abuse someone because their job allows it to be possible, in fact do things which are seemingly out of character. The point is that an org structure which assumes everyone will behave ethically and 100% in the interest of the organization, is an org structure which is doomed to fail. If you want people to avoid behaving in a certain way, you need to put controls in place so that they are not provided the opportunity to behave in the undesired fashion. That is after all why we have laws and punishments. If 2x2s like their org structure so much, why don't they advocate it as the org structure for governing their country? The checks and balances that were expressly written into the US Constitution? Toss them out. The Constitution itself? Toss it out - no need for 'rule of law', let's have rule of the Overseers. Appeal Courts? Toss them out - the judges never make mistakes. Trial by Jury? Throw it out. Again, why involve the common people in the process, they don't know anything. Let's just get rid of courts altogether, better to just have informal secret meetings of the leaders to decide who should live or die. The meetings of the leaders? Definitely keep that secret, never print any meeting minutes or allow it to be recorded. Travel abroad? Prohibited. Visitors from abroad? Prohibited, except if paired with a 'minder'. Books, TV, Films, etc from abroad? Never, we have all we need here, do not need to learn from anyone else. What if someone gets asking questions that we don't like? Exile them. Seriously, this is exactly what the 2x2 organizational structure results in if it were used to govern a country. North Korea. And you think this is a good system? Whether at a country level, a state level, a municipal level, or a church level, this is a terrible system. Only a lunatic would agree to live their lives with such a system. That's why I seriously wonder if 2x2s suffer from some sort of mental illness. It is exactly because of the org structure of 2x2ism that is there is a huge deficit of freedom of speech and thought within 2x2ism. As mentioned, there is no mechanism to ensure that controversial ideas can voiced without fear of reprisal (expulsion or shunning). There's no question in my mind that if 2x2ism had complete freedom of speech and thought, exclusivism would die in a week or two. And conversely without that liberty, various prejudices, notions, and wrong ideas can grow because coercive strategies prevent their destruction. The desire to purge outside or destructive influences is done with the best motives in mind. But that end justifies what kind of means? The justified means should only be counter-argument, counter-preaching. Idea versus idea. Not the complete shutdown of discussion which might be considered controversial. Read J.S. Mill's On Liberty about why freedom of speech is so important - it's not so that everyone gets a say, it's instead to ensure that all ideas get a chance to be heard and weighed for their merit by all. It's also to get one to defend their beliefs against the new idea, and in the process get a better and deeper understanding of their own beliefs. Thirdly, it is to fire up passion for your own beliefs as unchallenged beliefs become dead beliefs. Ask yourself, why are the 2x2 leaders so strict about censoring laity access to Christian books? Why do they want to keep you in the dark? If your position in the correct one, then exposure to the other positions will only strengthen your position, no? Unless of course, your position is incorrect and the 2x2 leaders don't want you to discover this. Despite what you think about the Roman Catholic Church, it does have a lot more laity input into the daily workings of the parish than you might imagine. I know it seems strange, but there is a wide spectrum of different parishes in the RCC, all driven by local laity input. Even the Pope is really only a referee among the bishops, tasked with applying the constitution of the RCC (The Magisterium and Canon Law). The Pope is severely limited in what he can do by the constitution. All of the mainline Protestant churches have a lot of laity control of the parish - including the hiring and firing of priests. Just to look at Anglicanism, which is basically a microcosm of containing both RCC (high church) and Calvinist (low church) styled parishes. The laity (the Friends in 2x2 lingo) has control over finances, maintenance, hiring/firing, etc, and even so far as to restrict what things the priest can discuss in his sermon. By control I mean that the laity votes on committees, votes on a board of directors, etc. If you are a paying member, you have a vote. The parish is nearly 100% laity driven. The priest is a spiritual advisor and nothing more - not a marriage counselor, not a money manager, not dispute resolver, not a child rearing expert, not a fashion advisor, not a entertainment advisor, not a friendship veto, etc. And these priests are considered spiritual advisors because they have been formally trained at very reputable institutions to do so. Do no hire untrained people to do spiritual work. This type of laity control over the parish is unheard of in 2x2ism. And yes, despite your protests to the contrary, it is your 2x2 problems (particularly your org structure) which define you. Improve your org structure and a lot of your other problems will solve themselves very quickly. You've had 2x2 Friends and Workers running around for more than 100 years claiming that the Bible explicitly states that ministers must travel in pairs, something that one reading of the 4 Gospels shows to be demonstratively false. You tell me just how such a ridiculous claim was able to exist for so long (still does) in your organization as front and center doctrine. There is only one way to have such a ridiculous belief go unchallenged for so long, and that is to have a despotic org structure which prohibits outside interaction and questioning. Ask yourself how so many (not all) of the other churches avoided many of the problems that 2x2ism has committed. Many have avoided exclusivity, such as your Living Witness Doctrine and your 2x2 Baptism only doctrine. Many have avoided dumb interpretations of Scripture (denying the Trinity, Legalism, etc). Many have avoided spiritually abusing its members. Many have avoided anti-intellectual fundamentalism. Many have avoided being unresponsive to the issues raised by its members. These are all things which are called 'no-brainers'. Meaning that it takes a very bad org structure to commit these kinds of mistakes. And 2x2ism committed those types of mistakes. All of your problems, from the big to the small, are baked into your org structure. That's right, even the rampant CSA problems are being facilitated by your org structure - it has what has made decades of cover-ups possible. Build a house with a bad foundation, and your house will be full of problems - that's 2x2ism in a nutshell. You definitely did not build your house on the Rock of Peter. Like the foolish man in the parable, you built your house on sand, and now it is all coming crashing down. Ok, so you admit 2x2ism has a bad org structure. Now what? Can you ask the Overseers to change the org structure? You can, but they have no interest in changing it. You can ask the Workers to change it, but they have no say in the matter. But here is what you Friends can do: 1) For each house meeting group, have an election for the position of elder. Have the election every 2 or 3 years. You can separate the physical location of the meeting from the position of 'elder'. Draw up a list of requirements to qualify to be an elder. 2) For each 'field', have an election for the position of 'worker'. Tell the State/Province Head Worker that your 'field' will no longer accept Workers in your field unless they have been elected by the 'field'. You can elect any Worker you want - even ones who are not yet Workers or folks who were former Workers, or even married Workers who live in the community. Any Worker who knew that a majority of people in a particular field wanted them, would be very happy to be there. 3) For each 'field', elect two people for the positions of ‘Financial Secretary’ and ‘Treasurer’. Have elections for these roles every 3 years, with a maximum of no more than 3 terms (9 years total). The Financial Secretary will setup a non-profit legal entity for your 'field', with its own tax ID number. The Treasurer will open a bank account in the name of this legal entity for your 'field'. All money donations from Friends in that field are to be deposited in that account. The Financial Secretary will be the book keeper for this account and for presenting the bank statements to a meeting of all the elders once a quarter (90 days), with the approval of the Treasurer. Any payments out of this account will require both the Financial Secretary and the Treasurer’s signatures. The Treasurer and Financial Secretary are to be ‘checks’ on each other. The Workers in your 'field' will be given ATM cards for that bank account, cards which have daily/weekly/monthly limits on them - limits set by a meeting of the elders and enforced by the Treasurer and Financial Secretary. 4) Create a ‘Board of Directors’ composed of all the elders in the field and the Financial Secretary and the Treasurer. This Board of Directors meet quarterly, and publish the minutes of their meetings. 5) Have the elders in your field write a Constitution for your field - things like the roles of Workers, the roles of Elders, how people get those jobs, how they are removed, etc. These should be the Bylaws of your Field. All the friends in the field then vote to accept/reject the Constitution. Once you have a Constitution, you now have an agreed upon process for what to do and what not to do. 6) Have the elders in your field write a Doctrine Statement - things that you all agree about your faith, including what is not allowed. All the Friends in the field then vote to accept/reject the Statement. 7) For each 'field' elect 5 people (not related to elders) who are responsible for resolving disputes in the field. Election every 3 years, max 3 terms. Any Friend who believes they have been improperly treated by Elders or Workers can ask for a 'hearing' of this Dispute Board. The Dispute Board meetings are open to anyone who wants to attend, though only the Board and the folks directly in the dispute can speak. The minutes of the Board Meeting are recorded and distributed to anyone who wants to see them. The Dispute Board has authority to overrule the Elders on these individual cases put before it. 8) Each house meeting group should have at least one ecumenical meeting per year. That is, the members of the house meeting group should have one inter-faith meeting with folks from a different Christian denomination each year. Just a small 2 hour get together with food to exchange ideas about each others' churches and Christian fellowship. These are all things that you can do right NOW at your local house meeting level. You will never make changes by writing letters to Overseers or Workers. Folks have been doing that for over 100 years, and it has got nothing done. You need to do it yourselves. If you make these changes, it will spread like wildfire through the whole 2x2 system. Once the changes are in a majority of fields, then the fields can make big changes to the org structure of the Overseers/Workers. Big changes. But you have to start at the bottom - the local level where you are in control. By the way, read the book Animal Farm. It's a nice novel about 2x2ism. Take the sheep parts to heart. Many people upon learning that 2x2ism is comprised of a lot of lies and falsehoods, become angry. They feel duped. They are angry at 2x2 ministers. They are angry at themselves. They are ashamed of themselves for being duped. They feel guilty. They want to leave 2x2ism, but they don't want to lose their family or friends. They are confused. They feel lost outside of 2x2ism.
These are all normal natural thoughts and emotions. But if these thoughts and emotions aren't directed in the right direction, unhealthy things can happen. It is tempting to just go along with the status quo - go to meetings, play nice, keep your thoughts to yourself, etc. This is called Denial, and it is extremely unhealthy. Perhaps you will hear people tell you to 'just get over it' or 'move on' or 'forgive' - all of this is bad advice. Anger left unexpressed, held in, turns against you and becomes depression. Shame becomes insecurity and self-loathing. Not only will you suffer psychologically, but your physical body will also suffer. It's very important to deal with these things properly. Left untreated, it can potentially metastasize into very serious mental illnesses and personality disorders. Coming to grips with the problems of 2x2ism is very similar to the Five Stages of Grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. A lot of people get stuck in the bargaining stage thinking that if they write enough letters to 2x2 ministers, then reforms will happen. There has been no reforms and there will be no reforms, because reforms will destroy the entire 2x2 system. Yes, that's a depressing thought, but you have to accept it and begin the next stages of the recovery process. The very first thing to understand is that you have been spiritually abused. 2x2ism is an Exclusivist, Fundamentalist, Calvinist sect. The very nature of the exclusivity doctrine of 2x2ism makes it spiritually abusive. Are you familiar with what spiritual abuse is? Examples of it, I mean? It's important that you understand exactly what events you experienced were spiritually abusive. There are excellent write ups here and here about 2x2 specific spiritual abuse. Spiritual abuse, like any other type of abuse, is trauma. It will cause various forms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is far more common than people realize. PTSD takes on many different forms of symptoms (depression, anger, anxiety, etc) but at the root of it is trauma. In other words there is anger because of a hurt because of an injustice done to the victim. It's very important to get to the root of this injustice and figure out how to deal with it. Many of you, in addition to being spiritually abused, might also have been emotionally, physically, or sexually abused by your parents, siblings, spouse, other family members, 2x2 ministers, etc. Perhaps you don't even know that you were abused, it was passed off as 'discipline'. It was commonly preached by the 2x2 ministers that parents were to beat the children to make them submissive before the age of three so that the children would not have any memory of the conditioning. Maybe you were in a bad accident of some kind, maybe you lost a loved one, maybe you suffered from a painful sickness, etc. All of this is trauma, and all of it needs to be treated so that you can avoid becoming very psychologically and physically unhealthy. When people suffer from PTSD, they develop coping strategies to help them get through life - most of these coping strategies are not healthy, things like drinking, smoking, illegal drugs, legal drugs, sexual promiscuity, same-sex attraction, workaholic, obsessions, raging, lying, abusive behavior, emotional deadness, overeating, eating disorders, etc. If you have any of these coping strategies, perhaps you didn't even realize that you were doing these things, you will need to recognize this and treat it as well. The healing process has quite a few steps: 1) You must first educate yourself as to what sorts of trauma exist because at this stage you don't know what is normal and what is not. You can do this by reading books about trauma/abuse. I recommend: 'Toxic Parents', "Healing the Scars of of Emotional Abuse", "Soul Survivors", "The Body Keeps the Score", "Why Does He Do That","The Verbally Abusive Relationship", "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse ", "Churches that Abuse", "Redeeming Power: Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church". There are also some excellent write ups about spiritual abuse on this site with good recommendations for books. 2) As you read through the books about abuse, you will start to piece together how your background might be similar - what was abusive and what was normal. Nearly everyone raised in 2x2ism has been conditioned into a fundamentalist high-control understanding of life, which is by definition abusive. As a 2x2, part of the spiritual abuse was isolation from the normal society (this is called neglect). You will have also been robbed of a sense of identity other than being a 2x2 - you probably do not embrace your National identity or your Western Civilizational identity. As you explore your background and the way it made you feel at the time, you will be able to identify the trauma. For myself the 2x2 specific trauma was the following:
3) Now that you have a framework of what is 'normal' and what is not (abuse), write down all the things which you think were a problem in your background . Write your autobiography about your experiences of the abuse and how it made you feel/think. You can post it online if you want or not. The writing process will help you to organize your thoughts, to stop you from second guessing yourself about the past. Combined with what you learned from the books about abuse, you can now see the links between events in your past and current thoughts and behaviors you have. 4) Now it's time to find a therapist who specializes in trauma. Perhaps even a Christian one. A good type of therapy for PTSD is EMDR, so try to find a therapist in your region that is trained in EMDR. You will focus on the feelings you had during the trauma events and EMDR will 're-program' your thoughts and feelings about those events. You should also read as much as you can about EMDR so that you can understand how it works. Some other type of therapy are Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Internal Family Systems, Dialectical Behavior Therapy. You should also watch some of the interviews with Christian therapist Patrick Doyle. You may even use group therapy, such as ASCA. 5) As you use therapy to heal those open wounds, you will start to lose the need to use your old mal-adaptive coping strategies. The faster you get rid of those things the better, because they are crutches that have terrible side-effects. If you are a substance abuser (alcohol, drugs, etc), get enrolled in a 12 step program such as AA. You will also need a lot of physical exercise, 30 mins of cardio 4 times a week. Exercise is a huge part of recovery. I recommend the very simple and can be done indoors with very little space, 30 Day Shred. Yoga has proven to have both exercise and therapy benefits. In addition, you need to start eating healthy foods - go see a nutritionist or search the web. If you have chronic body pains, there is a good chance it is from the PTSD. Here is a great book about how to get rid of those chronic pains. 6) Get yourself as far away from 2x2s, 2x2ism, talk of 2x2s, etc as possible. You will feel drawn to social media websites about (ex)2x2s, try to stay away. There are many people who wasted decades on those sites enmeshed in a reliving their past. It is not healthy. If you suffered abuse from other people (family members, etc), also get away from them. All of those things are a trigger for you, they will just re-traumatize you. You need to heal. If you discover that your parents or siblings were causes of your trauma, you need to have no contact with them until you are healed and they have changed behavior. If they do not change behavior, you cannot be around them. 7) Surround yourself with loving normal people. As you leave 2x2ism, you have lost your old 2x2 social network and so you desperately need a new one. Here is where the danger lies. Many people who leave 2x2ism do terribly at the transition process - because they don't know how to navigate the situation. Some ex-2x2s try to replicate their former 2x2 social network among other ex-2x2s (from online communities to in-person ex-2x2 home meetings!). Other ex-2x2s try to replicate the 2x2 social network by joining another fundamentalist sect (JWs, Church of God, Pentecostals, etc). A third group of ex-2x2s go straight to "if 2x2ism isn't true, then Christianity is false" and become atheists while throwing themselves deep into popular culture, with little to no social network other than people they might know from work. Recently, many young ex-2x2s have even become attached to bizarre subgroups such as furies. The most healthy transition process when leaving 2x2ism is to join a normal church as quickly as possible, because this will give you the quickest way to a healthy new social network. Humans are social animals, so messing up this step of the process can create another trauma event all of its own. So join a church - a normal mainline one such as Episcopal/Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, United Church of Canada/Australia, Eastern Orthodox, Dutch Reform, or Roman Catholic. If you are curious why these and not others, here is a short write up why. Avoid fundamentalist churches, avoid hyper-liberal churches (Unitarian, etc), avoid mega-churches, and avoid entertainment-churches (Hillsong, etc). Become involved in the church committees and groups - this is how you get to know people the quickest. If you are inclined to be a non-believer, join a church anyways - you need the community, the loving people. Joining a church is the best and easiest way to create the new social network you desperately need. 8) Combined with finding a new church, you also need to educate yourself about what Christianity actually is, because 2x2ism definitely did not teach you that. If you have wisely chosen your new church, it should have adult theology programs for you to enroll in. The biggest mistake ex-2x2s make is in thinking that they can understand the Bible all by themselves, without ever considering the opinions of others who have spent their entire lives learning about the Bible. You need help, don't be a prideful ignoramus! Join a bible study group. Listen to Bible in a Year podcast. Watch or listen to A History of Christian Theology or American Religious History. 2x2ism is a Fundamentalist sect, so it's very important to understand why Fundamentalism is fringe extremist ideas. Perhaps, enroll in a Roman Catholic RCIA course. Start reading the Daily Office (or here) as it methodically goes through all the OT and NT readings over a 3 year period. Perhaps try the book, You Can Understand the Bible. Read CS Lewis Mere Christianity. Listen to great works of sacred music. Here is a list of essential Christian books. Try watching some of the Journey Home series from EWTN. Watch some of Bishop Robert Barron's lectures or books or sign up for daily Gospel Reflections. How about watching or listening to Fulton Sheen? Perhaps listen to a Christian service webcast everyday. Join a online Bible Study Group. Dig deep, there is a lot to learn. 9) Educate yourself about the history of your civilization so that you don't feel so adrift identity-wise. You can start by taking a course in the Foundations of Western Civilization at a local college or online. Watch Kenneth Clark's BBC Civilisation (Youtube here). Take a course on How to Look at Great Art and How to Listen to Great Music. Read the Western Canon of the Great Books or at least get a survey education There are hundreds of wonderful courses you can watch or listen to in your home/car/etc from The Great Courses, courses which will give you a classical education. Including many courses about religion and Christianity. There are online Great Books programs, homeschooling programs, podcasts, etc. 10) Take control of your own life. It's your life to live, not someone else's. Live it the way you want to, and tell the rest of them to go pound sand. Focus on the 5 key aspects to a healthy life: Deep Relationships, Parenting/Mentoring, Meaningful Work, Lifelong Learning, and Spirituality. 11) If you have a spouse in 2x2ism and you don't want to be in 2x2ism, please read How to Deal with a Divided Home. If you have relationship or parenting trouble, there is a lot of great books to help out! Start with the basics, How to Win Friends. Try Parenting With Grace. Here is a great website for moms with many books and readings for how to parent properly in a Christian way. If you are a child living with your parents and want to get out of 2x2ism, please read Helping 2x2 Kids. If you are a 2x2 minister and need help getting out of 2x2ism because of lack of support, please visit this site or this site. Addendum 1 - 2x2 Ministers: For folks who are 2x2 ministers or have been 2x2 ministers, the recovery process has some additional steps which are not so necessary for 2x2 laity. The problem on the face of it seems to be about housing and money, but actually most 2x2 ministers have enough contacts to have a place to stay and someone to feed them. No, the bigger problem is a mental problem, about how to reconcile their 'calling' with reality. The thing is that their calling to preach the Gospel was probably quite real, and the calling probably is still active, but the trouble is that they are not in the best group to live out their calling. It's likely they still want to do ministry or spiritual direction, but are not 'plugged in' with an institution that can properly train them and make them most effective in the process. God certainly doesn't call us to minister in ineffective ways. What am I getting at? They need to consider being a pastor at another church. Obviously they would need to get some training (bible school or seminary) to qualify for that, but the training would likely be very helpful. There are 'union seminaries' which are denomination agnostic - you pick your denomination after graduation. Most seminaries charge a tuition, which might be very difficult for ex-2x2 ministers to pay, since they usually have very limited financial resources. There are scholarships from some seminaries. Also, if you are a member in good standing in a particular Christian denomination, the local dioceses may sponsor and pay for your seminary training. There are also special seminaries for mature (middle-aged) folks. Another option is the Religious Orders. Normally folks think of these as nuns and monks in monasteries, but actually most folks in Religious Orders not cloistered up in a monastery instead they are active daily out in the world. The beauty of the Religious Orders is that you don't have to pay anything, just your time. They will train you theologically, pastorally, and even technically (medicine, education, etc), in some of the best universities in the world. There are hundreds of different types of Religious Orders, each focused on a particular charism (goal or mission). They run K-12 schools, parishes, hospitals, universities, crisis centers, etc, etc. These are celibate lives, but you are given training how to be celibate, and you live with same-sex folks who are living the same vocation as you. Some well known orders are: Francisicans, Dominicans, Salesians, Vincentians, Jesuits, Benedictans, Augustinians, Sisters of Life, etc, etc. There are religious orders in all of the liturgical denominations (Anglican, Lutheran, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic), though the Roman Catholic religious orders are by far the largest. There are also 3rd Order religious orders which have married members. Based on conversations with ex-workers, I have noticed that the biggest obstacle for ex-workers is to understand what exactly 2x2ism is, and how it compares and contrasts with Christian orthodoxy. It is important to understand that 2x2ism is an Exclusivist Fundamentalist Restorative Anti-liturgical Anti-Catholic sect. Each of those layers must be unpeeled. If they are not unpeeled, then other ministry career paths are closed off for them. Roman Catholics are 50% of the world's Christians. Add to that the other liturgical denominations (Anglican, Orthodox, Lutheran, etc), and the total is 75% of the world's Christians. Add to that the remaining non-Fundamentalist groups (Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, some Baptists), and it is more than 95% of the world's Christians are outside your scope. Thus, the secret to successful transition out of 2x2 ministry is to unpeel all these layers so that all possible ministerial careers are open to you, and then your calling can be fulfilled in the most effective way. I believe that the anti-liturgical and anti-catholic strains among ex-2x2s is kneecapping workers and ex-workers from exploring career options which are best suited for them. They do have different paths out of 2x2ism than regular lay people do, and so pushing secular careers for them is not the best option. Some resources to unpeel the onion: Religious Orders presentation Boston College, History of Fundamentalism, Catholicism and Fundamentalism, Early Church Fathers, Apostolic Fathers, Union Theological Seminary, PSJS Seminary for Older Vocations, Nashota House Seminary, Lutheran Seminaries, Roman Catholic Seminaries, Reformed Church Seminaries, Presbyterian Seminaries, All Accredited Seminaries. Anglican Religious Orders, Lutheran Religious Orders, Orthodox Religious Orders, and Roman Catholic Religious Orders. Life of a Franciscan Friar, Testimony of Mormon who become a nun, Testimony of Baptist who became a RC priest, Testimony of Pentecostal pastor who became Catholic, Sisters of Life. Addendum 2 - LGBT: I have noticed that there are a significant number of young 2x2s and ex2x2s who are homosexual or transgender. It's a very sensitive subject since these young people feel very isolated by the 2x2 community (homosexuality is forbidden). In fact, 2x2ism treats homosexuality and transgenderism as abominations. These folks are in a very fragile situation, and are likely to be exploited, and perhaps groomed into very unhealthy lives. The decrease of 2x2 restrictions has seen a blooming of homosexuality and transgenderism among the 2x2 population, and they struggle to find a way to reconcile the 2x2 view on the matter with the secular view on the matter. Obviously these people need to be treated with care, the issue is 'what kind of care?' I firmly believe in the Christian ethic of Love, which means to Will the Good of the Other, regardless of the pain it causes oneself. You may notice that is what Jesus did for his friends when he died on the cross. I know I am going to take a lot of flack for what you are about to read, but in all humility please read it carefully. Ok, I firmly believe that LGBT folks did not choose their situation, but I also believe that their situation is not genetic in the sense that it was hardwired that they would be LGBT. I believe, and the medical literature supports this, that certain folks who have certain dispositions when placed in certain circumstances during childhood development will become LGBT. That is, LGBT is primarily the result of environmental causes, events during childhood development that have to do with the child's relationship with the parents, siblings, and peers, yet that another child with these same events might not become LGBT because that second child has a different type of disposition for which those events didn't have the intensity or magnitude of impact. For example, studies have shown that about 50% of adult male homosexuals in the USA were sexually assaulted in their childhood, while only 7% of heterosexual males were sexually assaulted as children. So clearly there is not a one-to-one link between being sexually assaulted during childhood and becoming LGBT, but the probabilities are much higher, especially if the events happened in confluence with other conditioning. I highly encourage you to read the autobiography of Joseph Sciambra entitled Disordered, in which he explains how this happened to him and led to this life as a homosexual male in San Francisco. If you want to learn more about it from a psychologist, look up the books and lectures of Joseph Nicolosi. He has passed away now, but there are many psychologists who continue his work and therapy practices. This is not 'Conversion Therapy' (which is mostly a hoax), this is serious trauma therapy that gets to the underlying traumas which are triggering the disorder. It's the same sort of therapy that is used to treat depression, anxiety, etc, but tailored for this particular disorder. The therapy doesn't try to change the sexual orientation of the client, it only focuses on the trauma, and when the trauma is sufficiently processed then the disorder mitigates to a large degree. Success rates are about 1/3 'cured', 1/3 moderate reduction, and 1/3 minimal reduction - which is exceptionally successful compared to similar rates for treating depression and such. |
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