Friend of mine has been abducted by Religious Cult

[FreakinDJ]

Good friend and mentor for many years.

Suddenly out of frustration he retires last summer around July. I usually talk to Fred 1 or twice a month when we are not working together. He comes by and spends an afternoon with us here in our home for Bar-B-Ques and such a couple times a year.

About 2 months ago I try to give Fred a call, and this smart-assed little twirp answers Fred's cell phone and says he won't allow me to talk to Fred. Fred is there, but I can't talk to him. I figured it was Fred's family playing around with me and I never gave it another thought. Fred has a son and daughter, both some where in their 40s, both well educated and fairly successful.

I since had attempted to call Fred a couple of times with no reply

Then out of the blue Fred gives me a call today. Starts telling me he is part of this car caravan going around the country telling people the "End of the World is coming" Said he walked away from his home and started traveling with this religious side show basically. Kept referring me to this website if I wanted to know any more

http://www.familyradio.com/index.html

Fred's Home was paid off

Including the machine shop

and his Mercedes , Harley, Truck

Said he just walked away from it all

Here is the part of the Website showing their little traveling Freak-show

http://www.familyradio.com/english/connect/caravan/

[Arugula Latte]

1. I wonder what Fred will do come May 22 after Jebus fails to show?

[bluestateguy]

8. Like the Millerites inb 1844

They quietly dissolved after the Second Coming failed to materialize after the chosen day.

[Common Sense Party]

25. Or the Miller Lites, circa 1994

The image of the Virgin Mary failed to appear in the foamy head of beer and it caused quite the apostasy.

[bluestate10]

12. The cult leader will get a miracle talk directly from God

and will string Fred and the others along for a few years until the next appointed end of the world date comes and goes, proving that he is full of shit.

[glinda]

17. The Cult Leader will get gas money from Fred.

[FreakinDJ]

28. Even at todays prices Fred's home is worth +$250K

then throw in a working machine shop

[FreakinDJ]

26. This Religious Cult Leader has been WRONG Before

In his book, 1994?, Camping stated the end of the world may occur somewhere between September 15-17 (p. 531). He does not know the exact day because Scripture says "no man knows the day nor the hour" (Matt. 24:36). But according to Camping we can certainly know the month and the year that Christ will return. Source: Stephen C. Meyers, 1994? A Summary Critiqueoffsite, Christian Research Journal, Winter 1994.

Camping actually set many dates for the rapture, including:
• September 15, 1994, the Jewish Day of Atonement
• September 25, 1994, the Jewish feast of tabernacles
• October 4, 1994, the anniversary of Jesus' actual birthday as calculated by Camping
• December 25, 1994, based on Camping's explanation of Revelation 11:10offsite (people sending each other gifts)
• February 25, 1995, the Jewish feast of Purim
• May 3, 1996 Camping explained how the "four watches" alluded to in Mark 13:35offsite extended the September 6, 1994 date until then

For a while Camping also taught that September 6, 1994 was the right date after all -- but for the beginning of the Great Tribulation, not Judgment Day. But in line with Camping's theology that would mean the return of the Lord would take place no later than 2008. Source: information gathered by David Rastetter, who operated a website titled, Family Radio is Wrong!

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/2027-harold-camping-family-radio

[texastoast]

29. I KNEW Jesus was a Libra

No way he could be on the cusp of Sagittarius and Capricorn. No way.

[TheKentuckian]

46. I have a vague sense it would be spring but I'd be proud to have Jesus join us Libras.

[originalpckelly]

30. I was walking down the street the other day...

Some dumb ass was wheeling a cross down the sidewalk saying that Christ was coming soon. :crazy:

[Kievan Rus]

50. Guess he forgot about Matthew 24:36 and Luke 13:35

[niyad]

34. may 22? all the posters around here say may 12.

[Arugula Latte]

52. The link posted in the OP says May 21, so the 22nd is the day after, according to that, at least.

http://www.familyradio.com/index.html

[undeterred]

2. Walking away is quite a bit different than being abducted.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. How awful! I looked at the site, crazy stuff...

Do his kids know? Could he be suffering from some kind of dementia? :(

[FreakinDJ]

35. Probably just Depression

Fred has not been the luckiest man I know and certainly doesn't deserve 1/2 the curves that have been thrown in his life.

[MrScorpio]

4. Is this same "Family" that was featured on 20/20 and the like?

[Mnemosyne]

15. This one, MrS?

Sex and power inside "the C Street House"
Sanford, Ensign, and other regulars receive guidance from the invisible fundamentalist group known as the Family

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/07/21/c_street/index1.html

[MrScorpio]

18. No, not those guys

It's a cult that used to be called "The Children of God"

http://www.exfamily.org/the-family-in-the-news.shtml

They go by the name "The Family International" now.

[Mnemosyne]

33. I actually partied with a couple of these guys for a week or two in the mid-seventies, wow.

I received "Mo" letters for a few years afterward. Another girl from town, age 16 also, left town with them. I wasn't a good prospect, too independent minded I guess.

Twisted people, using sex/love to recruit gullible young people.

I had almost forgotten. Thank you for the link. :hi:

[bengalherder]

49. Ahhhh, the 'flirty fishers'

So called because they would encourage the women of the group to prostitute themselves to seduce lonely men and/or gain money from them which would be fed to the cult.

If he has family, they'd better start trying to get legal help pronto.

[Donnachaidh]

5. my son's gonna be pissed -- he graduates on the day they give for the Rapture

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[AngryAmish]

9. I would complain that it screws up the baseball season...

but the Cubs are gonna suck anyway. If the Cubs win the World Series, start looking hard for the 4 Horsemen...

[a la izquierda]

11. Poor kid...I get my PhD a mere 9 days before.

I'd be pissed if the rapture happened and I didn't have my degree.

[Donnachaidh]

37. He's actually jazzed about it -- we live in a red state

We'll go pick out the cars we want from all the leftovers. Might even start looking at an upgrade in housing as well. :rofl:

[a la izquierda]

51. I live in Oklahoma...

there's some nice rides/houses around here. I like your son's style. LMFAO.

[NNN0LHI]

6. I hope Fred's comet comes into the station and he is happy

Sounds like Fred had a bad case of more money than brains.

Eh, it happens.

If he has any more stuff like trucks or motorcycles to give away let me know.

Don

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. Harold Camping? Yep, thats a cult.

This dude has been setting dates for the end of the world for decades.

I am sorry to hear your friend is caught up in this. :(

[white_wolf]

10. Blah

Cults today. No creativity or originally. At least the one's from the 90's were creative, I mean Heaven's Gate come on, now that was a creative cult. A shame about the suicides though. This Harold Camping guy is just recycling the same stuff that has been said for centuries. On a serious note I am sorry your friend got conned by this guy and I hope he comes to his senses and realizes he made a mistake. Despite my joking above I certainly don't want a repeat of Heaven's Gate or Jonestown.

[Edweird]

13. Years ago my sister got involved with the "Disciples of Christ" cult thing.

It took her a while but she eventually snapped out of it.

I hope your buddy snaps out of it sooner rather than later.

On a side note: I went back to take care of some business and stayed with her over the weekend during this period. I had a buddy of mine (best friend and musical partner in crime) with me. She, of course, pressured us into going to church with her. Lulz ensued. The only clothes we had with us were our 'regular' stuff: all black gothy type clothes. We got the 'soft sell' and it was hilarious.

[white_wolf]

16. Disciples of Christ?

I could be wrong, but aren't they a mainstream denomination? I'm almost positive I've seen a lot of churches with that name around my home town and on trips.

[Edweird]

22. Could be the same one.

They had my sister, a struggling single mother of two, selling her furniture to raise money for them. That alone, not even counting all the other indicators, qualifies it as a 'cult' in my book. This was 12-15 years ago, so maybe they've changed their ways or maybe there's a similar name issue. I'll text her and ask, but she's a slacker about responding....

[WolverineDG]

47. That particular Disciples of Christ IS a mainstream denomination

http://www.disciples.org/

It is *NOT* a cult that tells you to sell all your stuff & follow some prophet.

dg

[jtuck004]

14. Make sure the kids know how to keep the property taxes paid. n/t

[glinda]

19. Years ago these people in white robes came to our door out in the country.

They said they were Disciples of Christ or something like that. They needed a place to stay. They actually seemed pretty harmless, vegetarians blah blah... so after talking to them for an hour, we let them sleep on out floor in the downstairs. Mind you... we were way out in the Country so.....
Next morning they were gone and so was my cooked chicken out of the refrigerator.
The farmer down the road caught them stealing from his fields also.
:rofl:

[jtuck004]

23. Sigh. Nice of you to try though ;) n/t

[MH1]

20. these nuts pass out their lit at the train station here

the scary part, to me, is that they don't look like nuts, just some normal people handing out flyers. Then you read the thing and it's like Oh.My.God - that clean shaven normal looking guy is into this????

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. These cults are dangerous

and it will come to either him coming to his senses, or when the second coming don't come...

The damage in the meantime can be impressive.

I am sorry.

[Warpy]

24. If he's got family and they haven't been sucked into the cult

let's hope they've thought to protect his assets. "Just walked away" doesn't happen with most cults. They take all the assets to fund their activities and keep the cult leader in mink lined Lexuses.

If this is David Berg's old bunch, they didn't just love bomb him, they sex bombed him to trap him.

It might be worthwhile to do a search on Fred's son, at the very least, find out if there's anything you can do for them at your end.

If his assets are protected, you can relax. He's getting a road trip with fringe benefits thrown in. When the world doesn't end on schedule, he might even wake up.

[FreakinDJ]

27. I'm going to go by his house tomorrow

and perhaps even the county recorder's office too if I need to

Fred was a hoarder. I find it hard to believe he just walked away from any thing

[Lucian]

31. You and I have two different definitions of abducted.

It seems as though "Fred" joined on his own free will.

If he's happy doing it, let him be, no matter how stupid it is. I wouldn't give up my house and shit to go join a traveling show of idiots, but to each his own.

[Stevenmarc]

32. No one get involved with a cult because their life is going swell

Obviously there is a big heaping pile of dysfunctional shit going on in his life, so unless you are prepared to deal with that all you really can do is be there when he comes back to reality.

[lumberjack_jeff]

36. The end of the world is nigh!

Can I have the machine shop? I mean I've only got five months in which to enjoy it.

[visiter]

38. FreakinDJ - Please PM Me

I am a relative of Fred. I saw your thread and wanted to get into contact with you. I just registered to this site today and for that reason I am unable to PM you. Thanks.

[immoderate]

41. You can't send or receive PM's until you make a few posts.

I'm not sure how many. It can be done in a few minutes. Meantime, I PMed him about your post.

--imm

[FreakinDJ]

42. Here is my phone number - you account can not receive PMs yet

same area code as Fred 375 9597

Yes I am very concerned for Fred. Feel Free to contact me day or night.

When I talked to Fred yesterday he said the caravan was in Texas and heading to Oklahoma

[felix_numinous]

39. Sorry for your loss

I lost someone too to religious extremism. I tried so many ways to influence him away from it, and finally had to give up. We still socialize occasionally but he knows I will walk away if he starts proselytizing.

[Joanne98]

40. Where did the money for his assets go?

[FreakinDJ]

43. I have a sick feeling this "False Profit" got it all

We have the same 401K manager - I'll check with them to see if Fred withdrew his funds.

If not I'll make sure they are frozen until after this Messiah's End Date has past

[madrchsod]

44. these guys are well funded and have a good website...

i hope your friend will recover.

[FreakinDJ]

45. Who is funding this crap

that is what I would like to know

[salin]

48. kick