Reception
The group has been heavily criticized by the press and the anti-cult movement. In 1971, an organization called FREECOG was founded by concerned family members of followers, including deprogrammer Ted Patrick, to "free" them from their involvement in the group.
Frequently, critics of the movement cite the writings of David Berg, as well as incidents of alleged criminal behavior by individuals. TFI members, meanwhile, state that the entirety of Berg's writings do not reflect the organization's fundamental beliefs (contained in the "Statement of Faith") or policies (contained in the Love Charter, published in 1995). Likewise, they reject the concept of the entire group being blamed for the wrongdoing of individuals, even when involving members at the highest levels of leadership.
Due to the high commitment nature of the group and its controversial beliefs, the movement tends to generate strong feelings in both current and former members. An example of the contrasting views of TFI life can be seen in the accounts of second and third generation members: former members at x-family.org and MovingOn.org and, as of 2005, current members at MyConclusion.com.
There have also been theological discourses, examinations, studies, essays on TFI beliefs and doctrines written by mostly older former members, a notable example of which is Make Straight Paths, though some second and third generation former members have published studies as well .
Read more about this topic: Child Abduction In The Children Of God
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of passion and who shows up one day in the reception room on the forty-ninth floor threatening to make a scene. The lawyers pay the woman off; sometimes uniformed guards accompany her to the elevators.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)