Possible New Recruits - their Blogs and Sites

[Que]

Since February I have been using Google Alerts to search through Blogs, News, and Web sites for "Ronald Weinland".
Recently it has found [three] sites where people are blogging about possibly joining Ron's church, or advising people about the '2008...' book.

[Edit: first blog site removed.]
http://www.freewebs.com/doesgodadvocatethesecret/discuss.htm?blogentryid=3380862
http://www.ex-christian.net/index.php?showtopic=23711
http://freecatalogs.blogspot.com/2008/05/2008-gods-final-witness-book.html

I am thinking that we should probably post comments on these sites to warn that RW has been proved to be a false prophet, and is ruining the lives of his followers.
And we could give links to this Forum & Weinland Watch, Don't Drink the Flavor Aid, Shadows of WCG, COG Writer, Ambassador Watch, As Bereans Did, and Is It Really The End Times?
(Also: Two Witnesses Forum)

What do people think?  Surely it is better to catch people at the "top of the cliff" rather than try to pick up the pieces at the bottom!
What should we write in a 'sample' post.  Should we just list the facts, list the failed prophesies, or perhaps try hard to shock the readers?

Thank you for any suggestions or comments!
-- Peter (aka "Que")

[PurpleHymnal]

Well the first blog is definitely sarcastic and anti-Weinland---they link to SkepChick fercrineoutloud!

As for the other three sites, I have had traffic to the blog from Ex-christians, so I think someone posted the address over there already.

In truth, most of the "recruiting" on the Internet was done by Anthony Wilson --- he goes by the userid "arwilson529", and most often he's been pretty soundly trounced wherever he has spammed about the book(s).

Dave Conley (from Virginia) hijacked a thread on ATS at the beginning of the year (as Rt250@aol.com --- must have been why he earned an eldership in March), but the mods there shut it down because Conley violated their TOS by using the thread to recruit. Think his wife (or else he had a sockpuppet) was involved too, as the user called "Anticipation of Peace".

Other than those two examples, the church itself hasn't done much recruiting outside of the official websites. They were hoping, I think, for word of mouth to get it out, and for a while it did, until people started realizing they were recruiting underaged children in.

Mind you, I haven't seen the MySpace pages that were in full swing prior to the March 15 sermon; I think a lot of the children who got sucked into the church came in through MySpace. Although that has now been (apparently) shut down. Even though those who were underaged when they first joined the church are still members.

[Sunny]

I think their "recruiting" efforts have slowed too because Weinland said in his last message, and possibly other messages as well, "You people are not teachers.  You should not be going out there and trying to talk to people about this stuff.  Just refer them to our website"... (not exact quote, but pretty close)

This kind of talk makes people shut their mouths...

[PurpleHymnal]

Yeah what was that quote? "You should be a student, a student, student, student! Not a teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher!"

[xinit]

http://foo.ca/wp/2008/05/01/crazy-in-the-mail/

I am thinking that we should probably post comments on these sites to warn that RW has been proved to be a false prophet, and is ruining the lives of his followers.
And we could give links to this Forum & Weinland Watch, Don't Drink the Flavor Aid, Shadows of WCG, COG Writer, Ambassador Watch, As Bereans Did, and Is It Really The End Times?

Hi Peter

I'm the guy who writes at foo.ca

I check sitemeter every so often to see who's checking the place out, and I seem to register for more forums accounts on more sites every time I do. I'm by no means a believer in anything that Weinland has to say, and I admit that I ordered the book because I have some odd predisposition to reading popular religious ... oddities.

I don't really know the audience here, and I'm not really trying to offend anyone if they happen to be a sincere fan of anything I mention from this point...

If you check foo.ca you'll see that this month has been busy already thanks to a variety of things that I'm investigating; creationist literature, medical tomfoolery, unfriendly followers of Christ, and it seems that acquiring a Bible from a missionary is more difficult than a Quran. I'm a big fan of Jack Chick, but not for any reason that he or his organisation would approve of; especially seeing that I was baptized Catholic and am not an apostate atheist... 

Propaganda in all its forms is an interesting reflection of the culture that produced it, and I'm a big fan of investigating the other side of an argument before I take a position on it (hence my recent attempts to acquire the book in question)...

[Ironwolf]

xinit,

Welcome, and you have the dubious distinction of being our 100th member! I hope you continue to participate here.

[Que]

Thanks for the posts.
Hello 'xinit'. Sorry, I shouldn't have included your site on the list.
I have become sensitive about seeing links and 'advertising' for the 2008... book.
We know that once people become 'hooked' it is very hard to convince them otherwise!

For anybody who wants most of the links in one place, here they are ...

start
http://ironwolf.dangerousgames.com/forum/index.php
http://www.shadowsofwcg.com/weinlandforum/index.php
http://ambassadorwatch.blogspot.com/
http://asbereansdid.blogspot.com/
http://www.cogwriter.com/news/
http://dontdrinktheflavoraid.blogspot.com/
http://isitreallytheendtimes.blogspot.com/
http://shadowsofwcg.blogspot.com/
http://weinlandwatch.wordpress.com/
end

It will be easier to highlight them all if you include the 'start' and 'end' words (then copy and paste to wherever you want).
In case Windows users want to know, after highlighting you can use Ctrl + C (to copy) and Ctrl + V (to paste).
Have a good day ....

EDIT:
By the way this has just appeared on the radar :-
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977342348
(The comments are interesting as well.)

[Que]

This is an example of a blog that mentions RW :-

...link removed by Que...

-----
"Wednesday, May 14, 2008
I finaly got some working Counters for my blog
...details removed by Que...
-----

I did post a comment, but it hasn't appeared in 4 days.  I notice that the other pages don't have any comments either.

This is an older page :-
"Monday, May 5, 2008
...details removed by Que...

Can somebody with experience of blogs advise how easy it is to check if the blog has received any comments?  Thanks...
(Maybe he does receive comments, but just doesn't release them to the blog.)

[PurpleHymnal]

Looks like he hasn't bothered reading Weinland's blog up to/past the 17th of April.

details removed

I remember there was a member of my local congregation who was schizo. His parents had him anointed repeatedly. Finally the minister completely disfellowshipped him, so he could receive medication. I think he ended up killing himself though I'm not sure.

[Que]

Episode # 1

Hello, while surfing the web for Constantine information I spotted this page :-  (with one of RW's Google ads right in the middle of it!)
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/religion/christians/constantine.htm

So I sent an email to the people who run the site, poste-haste (or should that be web-haste?).

-------------------------
Hello
I have seen an inappropriate Google advert. on this page :-
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/religion/christians/constantine.htm
It is advertising a book called "2008 : God's Final Witness" that can be downloaded for free via the website link in the advert.
The text reads, "Unprecedented destruction will come in 2008, leading to America's fall."
I think that could be rather damaging to young minds. (The writer has been proved many times to be a false prophet.)
More information can be found here :- http://ironwolf.dangerousgames.com/forum/index.php/board,3.0.html
Thanks very much for your time.
-------------------------

I have received this email in return :-
-------------------------
Hi! I'm sorry you didn't like our advertising. If you'd like to  subscribe to the site, you can see it without any ads at all; it's  only 99 cents. Just click on "subscribe" on any page.
Karen Carr
Kidipede - History for Kids
-------------------------

I'm not impressed 
How about you ?
Perhaps they could have complained to Google...

[PurpleHymnal]

That's messed up. But maybe the person on the other end didn't realize what the site linked to---if you send her a follow-up email, include the following two articles, they may help:

Children and the Church and the Culture of Death

This Just in: Your March 22 Sermon Summary

Children and the Church and the Culture of Death Part Two

That information might make them stop and reconsider. Or maybe it might not.

[Slother30]

This has to be the most extreme example of a blog that mentions RW :-
(The blog pages say that he has a psychological condition.)

LINK Removed BY slother29
-----
"Wednesday, May 14, 2008
I finaly got some working Counters for my blog
details removed by Stones-----

I did post a comment, but it hasn't appeared in 4 days.  I notice that the other pages don't have any comments either.
The blog shown above has had 11 hits (about 4 of them will be mine).
There are links to his other two blogs that have had 5 or 6 hits in 2 years.

This is an older page :-
"Monday, May 5, 2008
Are we doomed?
details removed by Stones

Can somebody with experience of blogs advise how easy it is to check if the blog has received any comments?  Thanks...
(Maybe he does receive comments, but just doesn't release them to the blog.)

the reason i don't publish comments any more is because most of them are hatefull. and i am no longer a follower of RW. i just am open to the idea that their will be a prophet among us. in my life time. regardless of who he or she is. i am just keeping the idea entertained.

Looks like he hasn't bothered reading Weinland's blog up to/past the 17th of April.

details removed

I remember there was a member of my local congregation who was schizo. His parents had him anointed repeatedly. Finally the minister completely disfellowshipped him, so he could receive medication. I think he ended up killing himself though I'm not sure.

i don't know what you mean by CT could you clarify?

[Que]

To Slother29
It is good to hear from you 
Hopefully you weren't too concerned about your personal details being repeated in a public forum.
We are glad to see that you are no longer a follower of RW. We have lots of evidence in these forums and websites that he is a false prophet.
[To other readers -- Slother29 has a list of links to the other forums and sites.]

About the idea that there will be a prophet among us, this is what I wrote in another thread in the forum :-
-------------------------
"Maybe I am naive, but I have always thought that a true prophet and his flock would behave much like Jesus was reported to behave.  For example: calm, patient, understanding, very forgiving, very quick to help the poor and injured, and assertive when necessary - but not aggressive."
-------------------------
I guess another excellent indication of a true prophet would be that all the predictions come true !!

The way to spot a false prophet, according to Matthew 7:15-20, is "You will know them by their 'fruits'." Meaning that actions or comments would conflict with what is written in the Bible (especially the NT), and they would do things like threaten their critics and mockers with very slow deaths (like RW did!).
-------------------------
"...It seems to me that those threats cannot be inspired by a place like Heaven."
-------------------------

About the 'CT' thing, I'm not an expert, but I think it might stand for clinical therapy.
[Could somebody correct me if I'm wrong, thanks!]
You might already know but therapy is nothing to be afraid of -- the sessions can be very helpful.
For example, they can help with any issues that might be concerning you;
...and also with further developing your relationship skills.

Hope all that helps...
-- Peter (aka "Que").

[PurpleHymnal]

They might call it different things in different jurisdictions, but it's essentially the same thing: cognitive therapy, behavioural therapy, basically you sit there and talk to someone.

I like Peter am glad you are no longer following Weinland and I wish you the best of success with your treatment regimen Slother29. Apologies if you felt personally attacked by any of the information we posted here, that was not our intent at all.

[PurpleHymnal]

By the way Peter, looks like someone visited the articles I mentioned for you to mention to Karen Carr. Did they report an inappropriate Google AdWords for RW's site on the HistoryKids site yet?