YoungLife
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| Aren’t all religions cults? Young Life is problematic but sending Jewish kids from Bethesda off on Birthright Israel trips is just fine? |
Anonymous
Good point |
Anonymous
Anything can become cultish including being on social media. If you teach your children that religion is not all there is to life but a path to follow while living life, no group will be able to tempt them into a cult-like behavior. Our young life is mostly games and singing and socializing and there is always a fun theme. Frankly it's a nice offset to all these kids being on their phones or badmouthing each other and doing tick toc challenges. Kids who want to get better at social skills should look into it. It's very positive and fun especially if you see church as a help to your life but not the end all be all. |
Anonymous
I'm Catholic and I think this is a false equivalency. Take a look at YoungLife's tax returns. Why are they hoarding so much money? Why does the CEO make so much money? |
Anonymous
| I'm a conservative Christian, I went to Young Life events 2 or 3 times with a girlfriend (20 years ago), and I know the Young Life leadership in my town. Don't bother with it. It's thin soup at best. |
Anonymous
You think some Jews aren't profiting from these trips where they suggest kids born in Maryland are God's chosen people and have more right to the land in the Middle East than others with generational ties to the region? Think again. |
Anonymous
|
Young Life can vary from group to group. In some places it attracts kids who want to socialize but aren't heavy partiers. In other places it attracts kids who put up a front about being religious but then party heavily on the weekends. It does have a religious component, and in my experience over time they'll try to get kids to commit to more activities, attend various camps, and fully subscribe to a conservative brand of Christianity. Personally, when I found it starting to be too much, I had no problem cutting ties with YL. They didn't pressure me in any way to come back.
I'm sure it's considered weird by people who dislike Christianity and don't think kids will benefit on their college applications if they say they participated in YL or attended one of their camps. |
Anonymous
|
it's gross right wing "christianity"
they are trying to proselytize your kid say no |
Anonymous
Show me their tax returns. Until then, it's a false equivalency. |
Anonymous
This |
Anonymous
My brother and were national class athletes in high school. Someone at YL figured it was a good thing to kidnap us to go to a Young Life meeting. We weren't really kidnapped as we knew what was going on and we liked the girl who brought us, a future doctor. She lost her older sister to cancer so my brother and I went out the way to treat her well. Couldn't pierce the sadness. The YL meeting itself was boring. Despite having a dreadful home life, we were excellent students and were used to inductive thinking. There was none of that taking place. Can't say whether it was a cult because we didn't stay long enough. Plus we were mentally tough kids and this crowd didn't fit that mold. My single mother insisted we treat our peers well though. No hard feelings as we left but we still felt concerned over the girl who lost her sister. My brother went to a D1 athletics powerhouse where he was an All American and 4.0 student. The women's team had a full complement of scholarships. To a one all of them were members of FCA. It was necessary to survive socially. None of them performed at a Power 4 level, and while there are people of faith who are top athletes, he believed FCA was at his school was a cult, and that cult inhibited performance. Significantly, the coach never addressed it. I saw these women at competitions and they were mostly attractive and nice, but their attraction to the cult made them undatable. When God excuses any outcome it doesn't work. An All American athlete from another nearby school liked my brother, in part because she could see his future as an excellent student. She was an ordinary church goer though and it scared my brother away. I think he shouldn't have dismissed her. Facts and behavior matter. |
Anonymous
Jews I know who have taken advantage of this are not religious. They're just people who have jewish blood in their veins, taking advantage of a free trip. |
Anonymous
| My daughter got "fired" from being a young life leader back in college because she decided to study abroad over the summer and not go to camp with the kids. This was after being involved for 8 years and giving a lot to that organization. She has been so much better off without it, has an amazing corporate job in DC where she has been very successful, and has found a wonderful church and her faith is stronger than it has ever been. I would steer clear. |
Anonymous
And all the power to them. |
Anonymous
+1000000 |