Anonymous
07/04/2022 13:02
Subject: Tell me about Young Life
cult cult cult
Anonymous
06/28/2022 14:41
Subject: Re:Tell me about Young Life
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There's a hashtag and profile on IG called #DoBetterYoungLife. I'd check that out.
I was involved with Young Life in the 90s, from middle school through college. Setting aside the fact that my leader was molesting boys and the "leadership" (a volunteer board of parents) did nothing but move him to another school, it was problematic for its black/white thinking (anyone who is not a Biblical literalist/evangelical/fundamentalist is not a "real" Christian). My father, a church-going expert on ethics, told me later that he was worried about the cult-like aspects of it, and he just had to trust that I was smart and would figure it out some day. Well, I did, but it wasn't fun to then be shunned by my friends for "backsliding" when all I did was decide to see nuance in the world.
I cannot imagine allowing my children to participate in any type of activity that discriminates openly against LGBTQ folks. In the 90s, we were less aware, and it was easier to expect those folks to remain in the closet and conform.
When I was a leader there was a training where they drew a ladder of high school kids from the most popular to the least, and then they circled the second rung of the ladder and told us to focus on those kids as our hook because if we only had the most popular kids, we'd scare off the others, but we didn't want to focus on the outcasts, because then no one else would come (I mean, thinking about this in terms of the attitude of Jesus towards outcasts is just sickening).
So no, I would not let my kids do Young Life. There isn't enough oversight to make sure that the leaders aren't idiots or pedophiles or failure-to-launch cases trying to redeem their high school years by befriending your high schooler. They are causing real, serious harm to LGBTQ kids. They drive a wedge between kids and parents if they aren't already evangelical Christians (Catholics, mainline "liberal" protestants, and all other religions are going to hell). They have an actual formula for building emotional tension during their camps so that kids will be overwhelmed when it comes to receiving the Young Life version of Jesus as their lord and savior.
If you are a character in the movie Pleasantville, sure, join Young Life. Everyone else, beware.
I attended Young life with my Catholic friends and we certainly never heard any messages that Catholics or mainline Protestants we’re going to hell.
The black/white thinking and LBGT stuff is basically the same as what you see in most churches that are not “affirming” like UU and maybe the Episcopalians and some others.
But yeah some kids do get caught up and take it to extremes (these kids were called “straight edge” back in the day lol). Me and my friends went but never took it too seriously. I see it like any other church group, which I no longer attend. I’m agnostic and always have been even in the YL days.
As a parent you can't guarantee if your child will just attend the fun stuff or will get sucked into "Campaigners" and then being a leader in college. But yes, I agree that the troublesome stuff happens mainly at Campaigners, though I've read plenty of heart-breaking stories of what kids were told at camp as well.
Anonymous
06/27/2022 23:05
Subject: Re:Tell me about Young Life
hi
Anonymous
06/27/2022 21:50
Subject: Tell me about Young Life
Lost my v-card at a YL co-ed sleepover.
Boys were supposed to be large hall space and girls were supposed to be in the two child care rooms. We of course sneaked around as teens are bound to do.
Half the fun of being in YL was seeing what you could get away with right under your leaders' noses. We went on a Disney trip where we all got buzzed off of water bottles full of vodka. When 3 kids puked, the leaders seriously never questioned anything other than food poisoning.
None of the kids I was in YL with that I've kept in touch with are religious now. TBH, I was no longer religious back then, but it was an easy way to get away from my parents and do activities. They'd have never paid for me to go to Disney with a school group. They wouldn't even allow me to go on my Senior class trip to the Baltimore Aquarium because that was a "ghetto area" to them and full of nothing but trouble. They'd happily pay $$ for me to go to Disney and YL camps where nothing buy debauchery happened.
Boys were supposed to be large hall space and girls were supposed to be in the two child care rooms. We of course sneaked around as teens are bound to do.
Half the fun of being in YL was seeing what you could get away with right under your leaders' noses. We went on a Disney trip where we all got buzzed off of water bottles full of vodka. When 3 kids puked, the leaders seriously never questioned anything other than food poisoning.
None of the kids I was in YL with that I've kept in touch with are religious now. TBH, I was no longer religious back then, but it was an easy way to get away from my parents and do activities. They'd have never paid for me to go to Disney with a school group. They wouldn't even allow me to go on my Senior class trip to the Baltimore Aquarium because that was a "ghetto area" to them and full of nothing but trouble. They'd happily pay $$ for me to go to Disney and YL camps where nothing buy debauchery happened.
Anonymous
06/27/2022 21:32
Subject: Re:Tell me about Young Life
Anonymous wrote:There's a hashtag and profile on IG called #DoBetterYoungLife. I'd check that out.
I was involved with Young Life in the 90s, from middle school through college. Setting aside the fact that my leader was molesting boys and the "leadership" (a volunteer board of parents) did nothing but move him to another school, it was problematic for its black/white thinking (anyone who is not a Biblical literalist/evangelical/fundamentalist is not a "real" Christian). My father, a church-going expert on ethics, told me later that he was worried about the cult-like aspects of it, and he just had to trust that I was smart and would figure it out some day. Well, I did, but it wasn't fun to then be shunned by my friends for "backsliding" when all I did was decide to see nuance in the world.
I cannot imagine allowing my children to participate in any type of activity that discriminates openly against LGBTQ folks. In the 90s, we were less aware, and it was easier to expect those folks to remain in the closet and conform.
When I was a leader there was a training where they drew a ladder of high school kids from the most popular to the least, and then they circled the second rung of the ladder and told us to focus on those kids as our hook because if we only had the most popular kids, we'd scare off the others, but we didn't want to focus on the outcasts, because then no one else would come (I mean, thinking about this in terms of the attitude of Jesus towards outcasts is just sickening).
So no, I would not let my kids do Young Life. There isn't enough oversight to make sure that the leaders aren't idiots or pedophiles or failure-to-launch cases trying to redeem their high school years by befriending your high schooler. They are causing real, serious harm to LGBTQ kids. They drive a wedge between kids and parents if they aren't already evangelical Christians (Catholics, mainline "liberal" protestants, and all other religions are going to hell). They have an actual formula for building emotional tension during their camps so that kids will be overwhelmed when it comes to receiving the Young Life version of Jesus as their lord and savior.
If you are a character in the movie Pleasantville, sure, join Young Life. Everyone else, beware.
I attended Young life with my Catholic friends and we certainly never heard any messages that Catholics or mainline Protestants we’re going to hell.
The black/white thinking and LBGT stuff is basically the same as what you see in most churches that are not “affirming” like UU and maybe the Episcopalians and some others.
But yeah some kids do get caught up and take it to extremes (these kids were called “straight edge” back in the day lol). Me and my friends went but never took it too seriously. I see it like any other church group, which I no longer attend. I’m agnostic and always have been even in the YL days.
Anonymous
06/27/2022 20:15
Subject: Tell me about Young Life
Anonymous wrote:As a Fairfax County kid growing up in the 1980s, my ultra strict Catholic, Jesuit-educated father would not allow me to attend YL, although I was often invited. He knew of the organization as “anti Catholic” and evangelical.
He was right.
Anonymous
06/27/2022 20:14
Subject: Re:Tell me about Young Life
There's a hashtag and profile on IG called #DoBetterYoungLife. I'd check that out.
I was involved with Young Life in the 90s, from middle school through college. Setting aside the fact that my leader was molesting boys and the "leadership" (a volunteer board of parents) did nothing but move him to another school, it was problematic for its black/white thinking (anyone who is not a Biblical literalist/evangelical/fundamentalist is not a "real" Christian). My father, a church-going expert on ethics, told me later that he was worried about the cult-like aspects of it, and he just had to trust that I was smart and would figure it out some day. Well, I did, but it wasn't fun to then be shunned by my friends for "backsliding" when all I did was decide to see nuance in the world.
I cannot imagine allowing my children to participate in any type of activity that discriminates openly against LGBTQ folks. In the 90s, we were less aware, and it was easier to expect those folks to remain in the closet and conform.
When I was a leader there was a training where they drew a ladder of high school kids from the most popular to the least, and then they circled the second rung of the ladder and told us to focus on those kids as our hook because if we only had the most popular kids, we'd scare off the others, but we didn't want to focus on the outcasts, because then no one else would come (I mean, thinking about this in terms of the attitude of Jesus towards outcasts is just sickening).
So no, I would not let my kids do Young Life. There isn't enough oversight to make sure that the leaders aren't idiots or pedophiles or failure-to-launch cases trying to redeem their high school years by befriending your high schooler. They are causing real, serious harm to LGBTQ kids. They drive a wedge between kids and parents if they aren't already evangelical Christians (Catholics, mainline "liberal" protestants, and all other religions are going to hell). They have an actual formula for building emotional tension during their camps so that kids will be overwhelmed when it comes to receiving the Young Life version of Jesus as their lord and savior.
If you are a character in the movie Pleasantville, sure, join Young Life. Everyone else, beware.
I was involved with Young Life in the 90s, from middle school through college. Setting aside the fact that my leader was molesting boys and the "leadership" (a volunteer board of parents) did nothing but move him to another school, it was problematic for its black/white thinking (anyone who is not a Biblical literalist/evangelical/fundamentalist is not a "real" Christian). My father, a church-going expert on ethics, told me later that he was worried about the cult-like aspects of it, and he just had to trust that I was smart and would figure it out some day. Well, I did, but it wasn't fun to then be shunned by my friends for "backsliding" when all I did was decide to see nuance in the world.
I cannot imagine allowing my children to participate in any type of activity that discriminates openly against LGBTQ folks. In the 90s, we were less aware, and it was easier to expect those folks to remain in the closet and conform.
When I was a leader there was a training where they drew a ladder of high school kids from the most popular to the least, and then they circled the second rung of the ladder and told us to focus on those kids as our hook because if we only had the most popular kids, we'd scare off the others, but we didn't want to focus on the outcasts, because then no one else would come (I mean, thinking about this in terms of the attitude of Jesus towards outcasts is just sickening).
So no, I would not let my kids do Young Life. There isn't enough oversight to make sure that the leaders aren't idiots or pedophiles or failure-to-launch cases trying to redeem their high school years by befriending your high schooler. They are causing real, serious harm to LGBTQ kids. They drive a wedge between kids and parents if they aren't already evangelical Christians (Catholics, mainline "liberal" protestants, and all other religions are going to hell). They have an actual formula for building emotional tension during their camps so that kids will be overwhelmed when it comes to receiving the Young Life version of Jesus as their lord and savior.
If you are a character in the movie Pleasantville, sure, join Young Life. Everyone else, beware.
Anonymous
06/27/2022 20:06
Subject: Tell me about Young Life
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:YL is a way to bring Jesus to kids who may not have the opportunity in their family. yes, it is a conservative christian group. yes, a lot of the "cool kids" go to young life. yes, lots of the cool kids party. many yl kids will accept christ during their time in YL. many won't.
YL kids have FUN. there are worse groups you can get involved with in high school.
The thing is that a lot of these people were using Christianity as a popularity contest and in a bad way. Using people. Glorifying alcoholism. Etc. And they weren't very religious on their own. Religion is just as much individual as community. It's an ok group if you are using it as an outdoor adventure group. Problematic if you actually think all the people there are good Christians.
not true, in my experience.
not all people involved in young life are christians at all. the leaders are. some kids are. some kids aren't. christians aren't perfect. neither is anyone on this board, christian or not.
Anonymous
06/27/2022 19:39
Subject: Tell me about Young Life
Big shiny smiles, vacant eyes, yuck no thanks.
Anonymous
06/14/2022 14:18
Subject: Tell me about Young Life
Anonymous wrote:YL is a way to bring Jesus to kids who may not have the opportunity in their family. yes, it is a conservative christian group. yes, a lot of the "cool kids" go to young life. yes, lots of the cool kids party. many yl kids will accept christ during their time in YL. many won't.
YL kids have FUN. there are worse groups you can get involved with in high school.
The thing is that a lot of these people were using Christianity as a popularity contest and in a bad way. Using people. Glorifying alcoholism. Etc. And they weren't very religious on their own. Religion is just as much individual as community. It's an ok group if you are using it as an outdoor adventure group. Problematic if you actually think all the people there are good Christians.
Anonymous
06/14/2022 10:55
Subject: Re:Tell me about Young Life
Young Life is fairly harmless but was also a gateway to Campus Crusades for Christ in college, which I think is VERY cult-like, much more so than Young Life. I'm not Christian though. But I was raised Christian and had friends and siblings who got really into both YL and CCC when I was growing up so have a lot of exposure to both and have been to some meetings and events (and went to a YL camp for a week once in high school).
YL is mostly just community and outdoor activities with some bible study thrown in, but IME they don't even talk that much about religion (still quite Jesus-focused, but not so much that it would be a huge turn off for a kid who just like the social aspects but was lukewarm on the religion). Campus Crusades (oof, that name even) is much bigger on the religion part and I think exploits the fact that college kids are looking for some kind of community or direction. They suck up a decent number of people into their employment via these "summer projects" that are often somewhat dubious (seem to mostly be about using cheap young labor to help proselytize Campus Crusades, more than Christianity itself).
If my kid wanted to do some YL stuff I'd let them as long as I met the local leaders and knew it was a safe environment, but I'd discourage Campus Crusades as being cult-like and weird.
High school kids often just want to do what their friends are doing, and at least a lot of YL stuff is outdoorsy.
YL is mostly just community and outdoor activities with some bible study thrown in, but IME they don't even talk that much about religion (still quite Jesus-focused, but not so much that it would be a huge turn off for a kid who just like the social aspects but was lukewarm on the religion). Campus Crusades (oof, that name even) is much bigger on the religion part and I think exploits the fact that college kids are looking for some kind of community or direction. They suck up a decent number of people into their employment via these "summer projects" that are often somewhat dubious (seem to mostly be about using cheap young labor to help proselytize Campus Crusades, more than Christianity itself).
If my kid wanted to do some YL stuff I'd let them as long as I met the local leaders and knew it was a safe environment, but I'd discourage Campus Crusades as being cult-like and weird.
High school kids often just want to do what their friends are doing, and at least a lot of YL stuff is outdoorsy.