Note: Most Friends who would read this would call me bitter. I assure you that I am not bitter. I maintain close friendships with many who are still a part of this group. Most of my extended family are still in, along with my parents. The following is what I have come to understand after I decided to quit going through the motions, and really started questioning and looking at things through a clear lens…not through the foggy lens that we have been given our entire lives.
· There are over 10,000 Religions in the world
· There are over 45,000 denominations of Christianity in the world
· We were taught that ours was the only right one because it was the only one that went all the way back to the Apostles. Every other religion and denomination was started by man. They were all “false religions.”
· We were the only ones that do everything like we read in the Bible, placing emphasis on the fact that we don’t have church buildings, and our Workers are homeless.
· We were indoctrinated from the day we could talk – and were told that if we didn’t profess through a Worker, that we would go to Hell and burn for all of Eternity. We lived in fear of this, especially after we were 12 years old and were told that we were now responsible for our own soul.
· We were told that if we were to question anything we had been indoctrinated with, that it was of the devil. We would and were losing out. End result is we would end up in Hell to burn for all of eternity. When someone would “lose out,” and we would ask why they left, usually the answer was “they were questioning.” The other main answer was “they got offended.”
Today I realize that “The Truth” as we called it is one of the most untruthful and dishonest religions that I am aware of for the following reasons:
If we believe the Bible and what Jesus taught, the most important and simple message he left was simply “love.” With the message of love that he left, everything else automatically happens.
With “The Truth,” we can be completely devoid of love, but as long as we are completely submissive and obedient to the Workers, show up at all meetings and functions, have an “open home” for the Workers, always keep them on a pedestal, keep ourselves looking like the Workers taught, i.e. dresses, buns (women), short hair (men) etc., we can be an Elder and will be looked on highly by the rest of the congregation. “Love” (Jesus’s most important message) has nothing to do with any of it.
With the information age we are able to know exactly how “The Truth” denomination was started. By one main man, William Irvine, along with two others, John Long and Ed Cooney—all who died “outside” of “The Truth.” This is the truth and a fact, and finally well known by most, but now……
· The beginnings of “The Truth” can no longer be talked about or you will be considered a troublemaker.
· We are now told that our beginnings don’t matter so why talk about them…even though we were raised being told that our beginnings (a lie about going back to the Apostles) was why we were the only right way. It was OK to talk about them if that is the narrative, and it included that every other religion was started by man.
· Some of the Truthers will admit that we were taught the lie about our beginnings. Many deny it. Some don’t have an answer, and some still believe it. There is no consensus due to the fact that it was all a lie, and they just don’t know how to answer for the exposed deception. They handle it by not talking about it. Shut it down. “It’s not important.” You’re a troublemaker by wanting to talk about it.
In what world are your beginnings not important, or worse yet…it’s taboo to talk about? The answer is, only when they were built on a lie.
There are so many other little things such as:
· We have been taught that that “false religion” has church buildings. We do it like what we read in the Bible. Church in the home…yet we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on Convention grounds that we only use four days out of the year. Yearly Convention now is a very important part of “The Truth.” You could say, it’s almost their fiscal year. There is no such thing as convention (or Special Meetings) in the Bible. At least the “false religions” are smart enough to use their buildings throughout the year and make better use of something they pour a lot of money into.
· Finances: They are handled in deceptive secretive ways. At least other churches have documentation and accountability for all monies collected. The amount of money secretly held by “overseers” with no accountability is mind boggling. When Paul collected the money bag, he was clear where it was going. They passed out the collection in front of everyone. It went to the poor and hungry. It wasn’t collected secretly, kept in secret accounts for the Workers to use as they see fit with no accountability. Do we read in the Bible about sending “Workers” on world tours called “Convention Rounds”?
Have you listened to recordings of the excommunications of Sunday meeting Elders in Alberta who found out about Willis Propp’s Credit cards, accounts, and secret corporation he started. Listen to what happened when they questioned the workers after their shock of discovering it all. Twelve Elders gave up their meetings instead of complying with what they knew to be wrong. Here’s a link to recordings of a couple of the excommunications of Elders that would not comply with the deceit. https://tellingthetruth.info/history_divisions/alberta_acct.php
(scroll down to recordings)
· Workers are not allowed to be married. If asked about this, they will tell you that there used to be married workers (which is true). William Irvine took anyone, married or unmarried into the work. Their canned answer now is that it’s just not practical in this day and age. We know that some, if not many of the Apostles were married. How can they say with a straight face that its more impractical today than it was for the Apostles to be married? Just another deceptive, answer to this unbiblical requirement.
· Workers Hierarchy – Main Overseer – State Overseers – Elder Workers – Male Workers – Female Workers – Elders – everyone else. No such hierarchy exist in the Bible. It’s a perfect manmade structure for control, and a perfect environment for abuse.
· Professing through a worker…waiting for some time until they “get it”…then being approved by a worker to be baptized. No such thing in the Bible. We only read that If they believed, they were simply baptized. This is just more Worker control.
· A huge thing they brag about that makes them different is the Workers being homeless. Yet the Apostles had homes. A majority of the Friends and Workers don’t even realize that when Jesus sent the Apostles out 2×2 without a bag, sword or purse, that it was a temporary mission to teach them a lesson before he left them. They don’t know about or talk about Luke 22:35-36 where he changed it back after asking them if they learned a lesson.
When he sent them, he instructed them “when you go into a city, stay in one house until you are no longer welcomed there.” He didn’t tell them to change houses every other day to see how much money they could collect in secret envelopes from each place where they stayed. On this mission that the “Workers” supposedly follow the example of, the Apostles spent ALL their time seeking lost souls. So much different than how the Workers spend their time now while living off the “Friends.”
· The traditions: This is too long of a subject to talk about. How the Workers have picked and chosen which ones to follow, and their wrong interpretation of them. Example: They pick the one where Paul told the women not to have “shorn” hair (very short – butch like) and interpret that as not even trimming your hair, but they don’t pick in the same passage where he tells them to never pray without a head covering. They decided that “women’s clothing” in the Bible means “dresses.” Paul said Women’s hair is their covering…somehow, they decided that buns were the only appropriate thing. Imagine a Sister worker showing up to speak without a bun? It would be an outrage! The main point is, they entirely lost the purpose of why Paul thought those were necessary during that particular time and customs of that time period.
· Another thing they claim that makes them right is the fact that they don’t go by any name even though amongst each other they call themselves “The Truth” or sometimes “The Way.” The main point is that they are very much exclusive, and if you are not a part of “The Truth,” and you have not professed through a worker, you are not a “brother” or “sister” in Christ. You are considered an “outsider,” or “the world.”
· They prohibit drinking wine even though Jesus’ very first miracle was turning water into wine. Some Workers deceitfully claim that it could have been grape juice. They ignore that grape juice would be the cheapest wine (if there was such a thing, which there is not) and that it says that he turned the water into the best wine. The best wine is fermented for sometimes years until it peaks, which makes this miracle so amazing. Of course, this doesn’t fit their narrative, and their narrative is always the most important thing no matter what you may read in the Bible.
· They still pray in old English style and call this the “Language of God.” They have so many of their own made up language and terms, example; “Is he professing”, “Is he one of the Friends”, “they have always had an open home”, “he is our Overseer”, “Alternate Elder”, “Elders wife”, “Convention”, “Special Meetings”, “Wednesday night study”, “Union meeting” “Companion”, “Worker”, “Worker is resting”, “emblems”, “taking their part away,” and so many other things they have made up and are integral parts of their faith and beliefs.
· Even the “emblems” is not how we read it in the Bible. They supposedly follow the example of when Jesus broke bread at the Last Supper. This was done at a table where he broke up a loaf of bread and shared it with those that were with him. He didn’t pass around a slice that everyone took a tiny piece of. He then also passed around a cup of wine (not cheap grape juice). Of course, their canned answer for using grape juice is that there may be an alcoholic in the congregation and taking a sip may send them into a tailspin.
· Why they wouldn’t encourage using a Bible that is written in our own language so that we can better understand it makes no sense. They claim that the King James Version is the most accurate, but this is based on absolutely nothing. In fact, many other versions have gone through numerous iterations of checks for accuracy by unbiassed editors and Bible scholars to insure the accuracy to the original version. The King James Version has not gone through this.
· The hypocrisy of not allowing TVs when every Worker has their own laptop with full internet access is amazing. TV is tame in comparison to those laptops. A TV is usually displayed out in the open, and there are regulations on what can be shown. The depths of evil that you can access from just a click on a laptop makes TV look like nothing. And what makes it so much worse is they use them behind closed doors. Just about all of the Workers spend hours every day on their laptops and cell phones. Workers’ lives have no resemblance to the Apostles even though one of the reasons they use as being the only right way is that they follow the example of the Apostles.
There is so much more that you could write a book…
Bottom line: “The Truth” looks nothing like what we read in the Bible. They miss on almost every aspect, and most definitely everything that is important. They are completely blinded by their own made up traditions, self-righteousness, and Workers’ misinterpretations of the Bible. Many, probably most, believe their own lies and deceptions which, of course, does not make the lies OK. They chose to bury their head in the sand, and not question, even though everyone knows that the real truth will hold up to any amount of questioning. In any case, you can be sure that anyone or any group that shames someone for questioning will always be because they have things that will not hold up. There are things to hide. There will be dishonesty and deceit. It won’t be truth.
The massive amount of abuse that has taken place within “The Truth” by some of the most trusted “Workers,” “Elders” and “Friends” is simply a result of the environment that they have created that includes but is not limited to the Hierarchy, the trust, the putting of Workers, and Elders to a lesser extent, on a pedestal. It’s a religious denomination that is more deceitful than most. It has almost all the attributes of what makes up a cult. Many ex-2x2s believe that it is a cult. I have no problem calling it just that.
What makes it more distasteful is how they look down and talk about other religious denominations. How they claim that they are all false, even though most are more honest about their beginnings and their beliefs.
It’s for these reasons that I am thankful I have left, and I will never be back. I understand the fear of leaving because of the indoctrination. The fear of Hell if you leave that was instilled into us. It’s not because of the exposed Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) that I have left. I left before “Bruergate” (March 23, 2023). The CSA would be reason enough to leave, but there is so so so much more. It’s a house of cards built on a lie, made up traditions and narratives.
And last of all. Yes, there are very good people that are still a part of it all. I believe that their way into Heaven will not be because of “The Truth”—it will be in spite of it.
Andrew Otero
November 21, 2024
Alberta Division/Purge on TellingTheTruth.info
https://tellingthetruth.info/history_divisions/alberta_acct.php