Gwen Shamblin 5: She is a shit writer!

[LovelyLuna]

welcome @throwaway9988! have a seat and stay a while.

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

One of the things that floors me is how so many of the young people in their engagement stories credit Gwen and RF with curing their emotional ills, aka strongholds or sins.

In addition to the ever present selfishness/ self focus/ self absorbed/ overeating/ secular world involvement/ rebellion from authority/ laziness, moodiness /wanting peer approval/ over weight/etc , a great number of them report being freed from depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, bipolar, and schizophrenia.

The selfishness, etc. I ascribe to most of them being still teenagers or very early 20s, It goes with the territory.  But the depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, etc. is mind boggling. These are serious.  Being all in for God, waiting for "The Growl" and losing weight doesn't cure bipolar or anything else., 

Who diagnosed these people:  themselves or Gwen?

TL;DR  Since RF doesn't believe in meds, what happens to those members who need medication to cope with depression, etc? Do they just get worse and worse?  Are they just told to pray harder and lose more weight?  Are they castigated for not laying down their sin/ stronghold? Do other members just pretend they don't see what's happening?

Of course now that they have Gwen and RF their lives are all joy, love, peace, calm, and a great job.

 

  

[RemnantSurvivor]

1 hour ago, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

One of the things that floors me is how so many of the young people in their engagement stories credit Gwen and RF with curing their emotional ills, aka strongholds or sins.

In addition to the ever present selfishness/ self focus/ self absorbed/ overeating/ secular world involvement/ rebellion from authority/ laziness, moodiness /wanting peer approval/ over weight/etc , a great number of them report being freed from depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, bipolar, and schizophrenia.

The selfishness, etc. I ascribe to most of them being still teenagers or very early 20s, It goes with the territory.  But the depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, etc. is mind boggling. These are serious.  Being all in for God, waiting for "The Growl" and losing weight doesn't cure bipolar or anything else., 

Who diagnosed these people:  themselves or Gwen?

TL;DR  Since RF doesn't believe in meds, what happens to those members who need medication to cope with depression, etc? Do they just get worse and worse?  Are they just told to pray harder and lose more weight?  Are they castigated for not laying down their sin/ stronghold? Do other members just pretend they don't see what's happening?

Of course now that they have Gwen and RF their lives are all joy, love, peace, calm, and a great job.  

I can’t speak about specifics on this because I don’t have any personal experience in this. What I can say though is that there is a huge “air” so to speak that is put on. Absolutely you are told to pray harder and if your prayers aren’t being answered then you must be sinning somewhere—aka lose more weight the vast majority of the time. And it is widely encouraged/expected that you are to get rid of the anti depressants in remnant. And yeah—you just have to pray harder or get rid of your sin and then God will heal you. Heck, even legit medical issues (like having the flu or bronchitis or pneumonia or really anything) can be blamed on “not being pure enough”. But on the flip side of it, it can be blamed on “spiritual war fare” like @throwaway9988 was talking about. My heart hurts to think about the people who are suffering silently with the things mentioned in the previous post. As far as members not seeing/saying anything, it’s highly probable that the suffering member is putting up a “happy” front.

[formergothardite]

Another "devotional" devoid of God and probably just copied from her book. 

Quote

The body processes food more slowly than the mouth chews it and swallows it. Therefore, it is important to eat slowly enough that your brain can signal your mouth that your stomach is satisfied! This is your red light, and do not run a red light! Stop! In a few minutes you will feel even more sated, as it takes 20 minutes for the food that you have eaten to hit the bloodstream so that you feel the satisfied feeling. If you do not stop, you will feel stuffed in a few minutes. Avoid any uncomfortable feelings after eating. When you sit at a meal, feel your way through. It is good to stop, put your fork down, and talk in the middle of the meal to give time for the food to get into the bloodstream.

 

[quiversR4hunting]

3 hours ago, formergothardite said:

give time for the food to get into the bloodstream.

ummm I know my degree is only in business and learning/development but I don't think that is how it works. Last I knew the food goes down the pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and then out. I believe what she means have time for the absorption of the nutrients to happen but you can't sit there long enough for that food to do that because after you eat it takes 6-8 hours to food to pass through the stomach and small intestines. The nutrients are absorbed into the blood stream in the small intestines. 

It does take time for your brain to register you are full so talking during meals does slow down the intake of food and gives the brain more time to register full but that is not what she said in that devotional. 

I know I don't have a fancy dietitian degree but geez louise, she purposely being stupid? 

[ajknowsthings]

So for anyone interested in learning more about cults and the mental/psychological side of it, check out Cults in our Midst by Margaret Singer.  It was written in the 90s so pre Gwennie-bear but a lot of the things she uses are examples in the book.  Food deprivation/sugar use (a lot of her food choices involve sugar which is a mind alterant) - this keeps people from thinking.  Also the demand for purity as well as creating an atmosphere that implies there is only one way to be (why individuality is discouraged - dressing, thinking, etc).  She employs a ton of techniques from Schein's stages of conversion: repetition, thought-stopping, control of environment AND Lifton's eight criteria.  Literally no question all of this is cult behavior.  The sad thing is in my research I've found a lot of people who join are not unintelligent which is hard to wrap my head around.  But there are plenty of smart people in that cult that have just been brainwashed and were pounced upon at a vulnerable time.  Also for SJWaterford - a lot of assumptions are made that the young kids who join had a bad childhood or relationship with their parents which IS NOT the case.  Many kids who join cults historically have had loving families and normal upbringings, they were just able to be "caught" at a time when they may have felt undecided in the world.  Hence the terrifying implication of them going on their "missionaries" to target high school children.  Your story is horrifying.  

Question about the tithing - where is all that money going?  If 1500 members are making let's say on average $50k a year.  They donate 10% a year.  That's $7.5 million dollars A YEAR.  I would venture to say that number might be conservative.  As far as I can tell they don't have typical outreach programs like community good works, food drives, etc.  So who is collecting that?!?!?!

[formergothardite]

41 minutes ago, ajknowsthings said:

where is all that money going? 

Gwen's hair? 

[The Roman from Ipanema]

I suppose you could say that her writing is in shambles.

[RFSurvivor_2]

1 hour ago, TheRomanfromIpanemaII said:

I suppose you could say that her writing is in shambles.

This is quite possibly the best first post ever written. Welcome to the forum @TheRomanfromIpanemaII!

[SilverBeach]

4 hours ago, ajknowsthings said:

The sad thing is in my research I've found a lot of people who join are not unintelligent which is hard to wrap my head around.

They are vulnerable and want to belong. Things that are totally unrelated to intelligence. Check out culteducation.com. I've been interested in cults for a long time.

[WorseThan1Thinks]

6 hours ago, ajknowsthings said:

She employs a ton of techniques from Schein's stages of conversion: repetition, thought-stopping, control of environment AND Lifton's eight criteria.  Literally no question all of this is cult behavior.  The sad thing is in my research I've found a lot of people who join are not unintelligent which is hard to wrap my head around.  But there are plenty of smart people in that cult that have just been brainwashed and were pounced upon at a vulnerable time. 

Yea, I've heard cult experts say something to the effect of cults appeal to the emotions and that intelligence has nothing to do with it.  Gwen and other's defending her and Remnant constantly talk about how they have member that are doctors, lawyers, police.  (It's not like they have a ton of them, maybe 1-2 in each category, but they tout these few members and their esteemed professions often).  As if they are not able to be deceived.  One of Remnant's rebuttals is "obviously we're not a cult if we have those type of people in Remnant."

Scientology has doctors, lawyers, nurses, police, Hollywood movie stars, etc, etc as members.  That doesn't stop Scientology from being a cult.

Jim Jones had a doctor and nurses in his cult that literally, knowingly made and served the cyanide laced kool-aid to the other members.    

Nope, intelligence or college degrees don't stop someone from joining a cult and the presence of those people certainly don't make it exempt from being a cult.  

[SuperNova]

2 hours ago, TheRomanfromIpanemaII said:

I suppose you could say that her writing is in shambles.

This is a terrible joke and I love it. You're gonna fit right in here. Welcome!

[RFfree]

The beginning of the end for me was when I had traveled to RF for another festival, and I saw a young lady at the church that I adored. We hugged and when I asked how she had been, she told me how life was wonderful and just recently she had decided that she needed to cut back on her Diet Coke, that she was drinking it when she didn't feel physical thirst and I'm standing there all WTF in my head...she was thin and had lost more weight from the last time I'd been for a visit and she was smiling, happy, and saying Praise God that she was giving up her greed for Diet Coke ? That was when I first started to question what I was doing there, but it still took time before I was done for good.

[RFfamANON]

10 hours ago, TheRomanfromIpanemaII said:

I suppose you could say that her writing is in shambles.

Hahaha this is great. I have always personally referred to her as Ramblin’ Shamblin. But I like your pun better 

[formergothardite]

Today's devotional is still all about Gwen's God of Hunger. 

 

Quote

Approach the food like a normal Thin Eater—someone not greedy or fearful. Start by serving yourself half of what you used to eat or by cutting the food in half. Next, rate your foods. Taste each item. Eat the tastiest morsels first. Leave behind the least favorite, dry, messy-looking bites. Eat smaller bites and savor each one. Sip your drink between bites to wash the palate off so you can start over and taste the next bite. Stop when your stomach feels politely full—this volume will vary between individuals. In its relaxed state, the stomach is about the size of your fist. Please note that American serving sizes are any- where from 3 to 10 times larger than what individuals eat in other parts of the world. Wrap up the leftovers and save them for later or ask for a carryout. Keep telling yourself that you can eat the next time you get hungry.

 

[AmazonGrace]

Stop when your stomach feels politely full

 

Politely full? what is this supposed to mean?

[Fashion Forward]

20 hours ago, ajknowsthings said:

If 1500 members are making let's say on average $50k a year. 

They shared once that between 30-40% of their membership are children. So you'd have to cut that number down a bit.

Still doesn't make sense as to where that money is going though, you're right.

[FeministShrew]

Maybe Gwen's hair is so big because it's full of money.

[ajknowsthings]

1 hour ago, FeministShrew said:

Maybe Gwen's hair is so big because it's full of money.

I had that exact thought.  That or she has a massive collection of wigs with every hair style

Gwennie-Bear's next episode of You Can Overcome...your flat hair situation

On a more serious note, the fact that all those are children is even worse.  Elizabeth never stood a chance and neither do many of the children still there...so happy for the survivors that got out!!!

[RFfamANON]

3 hours ago, Fashion Forward said:

They shared once that between 30-40% of their membership are children. So you'd have to cut that number down a bit.

Still doesn't make sense as to where that money is going though, you're right.

A RF member told me once how awesome it was that Gwen could travel all over the world to find special unique pieces of furniture and art for her house. This member said they thought it was “such a blessing to be a part of it.” Excuse me? Um you are a part of what?  It’s your money and her house. Not the kinda thing I want to be a part of.

So my guess is that all of that money is going to support an extraordinarily lavish lifestyle for miss Gwen and her plus one. 

[formergothardite]

Gwen has apparently decided to stop pretending her devotional has anything to do with God. No this is all about devotion to Gwen. Worship her! Today's devotional starts off as shitty advice for people who struggle with addiction and then just goes to an advertisement for Weigh Down. 

Quote

The best way to enhance your lifestyle is to watch and imitate the right behavior. If your issue is alcoholism, watch a person who is not a drinking buddy but rather one in control who barely sips their wine and stops after one glass. If your issue is lust, watch a righteous man who would never look to the right or the left, who is perfectly faithful and in love with his wife. If you have avarice for money, watch a generous person. If you are an overeater with food as your passion, it might be hard to find a Thin Eater (people who have been thin from birth) to imitate, since close to 70 percent of the population is either overweight or obese. And you must be careful… even if someone is thin, it does not mean that they are a Thin Eater. A Thin Eater is someone who has never had a preoccupation with food. Food is not their “thing”… they do not get pulled off by the sweets or the chips and the dip, and they do not grow up dreaming of eating ice cream or raiding the pantry. They are not anorexics or bulimics or people who are exercise-a-holics… They are FREE from the passion of food. In order to truly imitate and get in contact with someone free from gluttony, call the main WeighDown office for your Regional Representative, and call and even visit your WeighDown Regional Representative—take them to lunch. Another thing you can do is visit the WeighDown Ministry Staff in Franklin, Tennessee. There, you will find plenty of Thin Eaters to choose from, to visit, and to pray with. It is exciting to see so many people, young and old, men and women, all races and backgrounds, who have lost 5, 10, 50, 100, 150 pounds or more! What is even more exciting is to hear their testimonies of how they have keep it off for 3, 5, 10, 15 years or more! I have kept my own weight off for over 30 years now and have no fear of ever being overweight again!

 

[RFSurvivor_2]

19 hours ago, Fashion Forward said:

They shared once that between 30-40% of their membership are children. So you'd have to cut that number down a bit.

Still doesn't make sense as to where that money is going though, you're right.

This percentage is relatively accurate, however I must point out that 60-70% adult members out of (close to) 3000 members worldwide is still significant. That is a lot of cash being distributed to the church/Gwen.

[fransalley]

If your issue is alcoholism, watch someone in control that stops after one sip?

Does she NOT realize how dangerous that advice is?

[CTRLZero]

Quote

And you must be careful… even if someone is thin, it does not mean that they are a Thin Eater.

Why does the term "Thin Eater" sound so Harry Potterish?  Beware the impostor Thin Eaters!  I can't imagine how strange it must have been to grow up in the Shamblin household. 

So, if Gwen is not a natural Thin Eater, and she wants people to look to her, does that mean they should be careful and not, say, turn over a sizeable amount of their income to her?  Or did she morph into a true Thin Eater.  And why am I thinking about this so much, lol! 

Quote

take them to lunch.

Ha ha ha ha ha! 

[formergothardite]

Yes! Come to Remnant Fellowship and buy lunch for members! Do people actually do this or is she just begging for people to come buy her favorite folks some food?