The Marks Of A DRG

"Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am the
Christ: and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them".   Luke 21:8

False groups don't draw their strength from their errors.  They draw strength from
their ability to counterfeit elements that are present in healthy religious  groups
but are treated differently.

Family.   Within a dangerous group there is often an intense sense of identity and
family.  Family members are viewed as brothers and sisters, united against the
outside world.

In ETEC the family theme got many to join.   In one sermon Virgil Meares
preached that you have to forsake friends and family.  His  purpose was to
have my husband and I ostracized.   I publicly corrected him by sitting that
the Bible never said any such thing.  We are to forsake their way of life,
that is their lifestyle, and choose the Christian way life.  We are to always
love and witness to friends and family peradventure they too come to know
Jesus and live for him.

Biblical Emphasis.   Many DRGs give much attention to Bible study with
their own interpretations.   They are also warned about reading authors who
are outside of their own groups.

ETEC used many biblical concepts that were invented by them, for example,
lifeline, spiritual authority, transparency, shepherding, disciples, "taking
dominion", etc.  The members were often cautioned about reading any books,
article or newspapers, like the Washington Post , that even hinted at any
corruption in their church.

Sacrifice.   Members of DRGs are usually asked to make unreasonable
sacrifices.   A former of a DRG, says, "It doesn't start out that you are
the only ones making sacrifices for the truth.   I didn't want anything
cheap.   I wanted something that cost me for my commitment".

Among other things members of ETEC were asked to double their tithes
and during tax refund times the Elders and Deacons attended fundraising
seminars taught by professionals on how to use certain techniques get
more money from the members.  On a specific fundraising the Meares
held retreats in which the people were told that it is the Word of God for
them to pay $5000.00 per working person or they will be killed.  In homes
where both spouses worked the pledge was to be $10,000.00.   On another
occasion after the Deacons had already pledged $5000.00 per person, Bishop
Meares said that God told him to double his pledge and asked if they have.
He then instructed them to prophesy this message to the members.   Later
in the court case against them the Bishop perjured himself by saying that
he never said any such thing.  Fortunately he was taped.

Exclusivism.   DRG members develop the belief that they alone have
been entrusted with the truth.

The members of Evangel Temple Church believed that they alone were
entrusted with the Bishop's vision which incidentally was a lie and
unscriptural.   This vision was called "Reconciliation of Black and
White Christians".   I informed the members and the Bishop that no
man can reconcile Christians.  Jesus has already done this at the Cross.
There are no Black or White Christians, there are only Christians.  The
only thing that the Bishop can do is provide fellowship so that both
Blacks and Whites can love each other.  The ministry of reconciliation
is given to the church but this to reconcile the lost to Christ, not the
Christians who are already saved.

The Bishop had planned an elaborate celebration for the grand finale
to take place on the steps of the Washington Capitol.   He had selected
a black minister, Luther Blackwell, and a White Minister, Jack Hayford,
who were supposed to kneel on the steps facing each other and ask
forgiveness.   This milestone was to be called "MORE".  It never came
to fruition but this was a typical example of doing things for show.  There
was to be One Million people, because of the lawsuit, he gave the idea to
Farrakhan.

At the time the Bishop had approximately 483 Ministers under his
"covering".   Covering, according to Roberts Matthews, an Elder
in the church, meant that they provided insurance for small churches.
Matthews incidentally was the Elder chosen to tell the members to
borrow money from the banks or any lending institutions regardless
of the interest rate even if it was 16% or 17%.   One member had six
loans from six banks totaling twenty thousand dollars.  His mother
had to deed her home in order to financially bail him out. His name was Robert Gaskill.

Indoctrination.   An additional mark of many dangerous religious
groups is their use of sophisticated methods of recruitment and
coercive persuasion.  Rather than allowing converts to make decisions
of faith based on their own sense of good judgement, some groups
break down individual thinking by one or more of the following
technique:

Isolation.    Recruits are located from family, friends, and news media
in order to screen out opposing points of view.  ETEC members were
told not to listen to news media or read newspapers such as Washington
Post.

Peer-group Pressure.   Potential converts are subjected to intense
persuasion by group members.  Evangel Temple created peer
groups called Kingdom Life groups (KLG) to better monitor the
members pledges and personal lives.   The Deacons were instructed
to regularly hassle and cajole members into making their pledge
steadily and promptly and report to the Elders weekly.

Love Bombing.   Group members give prospects an overwhelming
sense of acceptance, belonging, and significance by "bombing" them
with flattery, touching, and hugging.   ETEC cloyingly loved its
members as long as you stayed under their control.  The minute you
asked questions or stepped on their toes, they were ready to kill you.

Removal of Privacy.    Recruits are hardly ever away to collect and

often common knowledge.   In ETEC Deacon candidates were asked
very personal questions such as their sex lives.  In my case my husband
refused to answer and I simply told Donald Meares that we have a
good thing going and we intended to keep it so.  However I was
affronted because my oldest child was older than my inquisitor.

Sleep Deprivation and Fatigue.   A person's resistance is broken
down by long meetings and extended work hours.  Evangel Temple
required members to attend mandatory meetings and special services
almost nightly.   They were constantly exhausted.  They had marriages,
families, jobs and personal lives that literally fell apart because of the
time spent at the Church.

Games.   Complex games are played for the purpose of creating a
sense of dependence.  Deacons were called on their vacations and
sometimes asked to return because the Church supposedly could
not do without them or their services.

Mind Control.   Members are conditioned to stop thinking and to
accept without question the revelations and doctrines of their
leader.   The members of ETEC were told that they were not to
get information or revelation from anywhere except from the
pulpit.  They were to look for key words which had hidden
meanings.  These were given when new doctrine and ideas were
about to be introduced.   Donald Meares stated that the Elders were
the head of the body of Christ, the Deacons were the shoulders
and the people were the feet.  He explained that the Deacons were
not to serve the people but to serve the Elders and their people had
to obey.   I remember one member saying to me that she felt so bad
that he placed them as the feet.  I told her the body has only one
head which is Jesus Christ.  We all belong in the Body and what-
ever part we are is not identified in the Bible.  Whenever we talk
about two heads we are describing an abnormal creature.  God's
true Church is not abnormal.

Members were not to ask questions.  If they did, they were told
that they were "touching" God's anointing".  This to was taken
from the Bible but it is out of context.  Jesus is the Anointed One.
He was touched, beaten, spit upon, and killed.  He said the servant
is not greater that his master, so all the "anointed ones" should
expect to be touched if they want to be like him.

Confession.   The self-respect of the members is broken down
through persuading them to share their innermost secrets with
the group.   In ETEC they called this routine transparency.  Donald
Meares insisted that he should be able to ask the group anything
concerning their personal lives. Often he repeated and even  joked
about private information shared with him in counseling.

Fear.    Negative thoughts or doubts about the group or its leader
are said to be soul-threatening.   The Deacons in the Church were
told to squash all murmuring and complaints which Evangel Temple
called "evil reports".   Anyone leaving the group was warned about
harsh spiritual consequences.   The Bishop and Elders told the
members that they are planted in the church and should not
uproot themselves because it is not God's will.

Chanting And Singing.   Members are subjected to constant repetition,
which blocks their rational thought processes.

Childlike Dependence.    The leader demands absolute submission to his
control.  Bishop Meares and his family ruled the members wholly.   They
even went as far as arranging marriages between homosexual men and
straight Christian women.   Rodney Benson was pianist at church, they
arranged his wedding, I brought his ring, I didn't know he was a Homo.  He
married a choir member, she had twins for him.  Rodney left her and
was living on 16th st & florida with his poo partner, who killed him.
I knew about four marriages they arranged.   Romans  chpt (1).

No Questions.   Members are taught to accept question the revelations and
interpretations of the leaders.  One such revelation is a talk Bishop Meares
had with God  who enlightened him that the church was going to
financially take care of him and our children will take care of his
grandchildren, etc. I decided not my children.

Dress.   Conformity of dress is encouraged to suppress individuality.  The
Deacons had to wear white gowns.   According to the Elders there were
too many colors around.

The result of DRG indoctrination tends to follow a pattern.  While all
of us need to look for dangerous thinking in ourselves, there are
certain patterns that keep showing up in DRGs.

Dependence on gifted teachers who claimed to always have messages
from God.

Self-justification based on the belief that outsiders are under the control
of Satan.   ETEC claimed that outsiders had lying spirits or spirits of
division or Absalom spirits.   They alleged that these outsiders want
to takeover the Church or that they were insane.   They said this about
me.

Loss of freedom as individual thoughts, feelings, and choices are
increasingly replaced by group thoughts, feelings and decisions.
Bishop Meares accomplished this through so called prophesy.
When a Prophecy from God does not come true, the Man is a
False Prophet.

Loss of conscience as the group and its leaders draw the individual
into behaviors that destroy moral courage.  The members of ETEC
not only lost their conscience but their wisdom and common sense.
They were encouraged by Don Meares to Swindle and financial
lending institutions.

Adjustment of expectations from what was originally promised to
what was received.   Evangel Temple promised of prophesied
many things but rarely produced results. Money was collected for
projects that never came to fruition.   One such project was "Garden
in the Ghetto".   The Bishop had prophesied that God had given them
the thirteen acres behind the church.   However, in retrospect, we
discovered that the government intended to build a shopping center
on this land.   This fact we known long before the money was
pledged by the members and accepted by the Meares.  The  Bishop's
excuse or rationalization was that the Apostle Paul had made
a mistake and so could he.  The mistake that he referred to was
the incident in which Paul had received a vision of a man from
Macedonia asking him to come over and help them.

When Paul went to Macedonia he found a woman instead of a
man.   This was just an excuse to steal the people's money.   Not
surprisingly, In the District Court the Bishop testified that he was
not aware that any money was collected for the project.   He said
that it was just a concept.   What a liar!

Fear of leaving the group under the threat of loss of eternal life
and reward.   ETEC indoctrinated the people into thinking that
it is not God's will for them to leave or even visit another church.
Subtle treats were interjection into most of the services given
from the pulpit.