Wednesday, October 20, 2004

How not to defend UBF

(related: 1, 2)

I would say that most attempts to defend UBF reveal several unflattering things about UBF: willingness to twist scripture and take scripture out of context, unwillingness to answer uncomfortable questions, lack of care for and even hatred toward people who were abused. But some UBF defenders really take it over the top when they try to portray themselves as somehow part of a Christian mainstream (what chutzpah!) and condemn UBF detractors as "heretics" because they disagree with UBF's condoning child neglect, or condemn UBF detractors as "anarchists" because they disagree with UBF's emphasis on absolutely obeying one's leaders.

An interesting thing about the hardcore UBF defenders I've encountered is that they will never say that "UBF has changed". Since, as they believe, UBF has no real serious problems at all, there is no need for UBF to fundamentally change.