Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 12:50     Subject: YoungLife
Anonymous wrote:Aren’t all religions cults? Young Life is problematic but sending Jewish kids from Bethesda off on Birthright Israel trips is just fine?


Here's the difference: The kids are actually Jewish. It isn't predatory- they either want to go or not. Yes, I also think it's a propaganda trip about Israel, agree, but it’s really just that- a few weeks living in Israel. There's no trying to raise the level of religious orthodoxy, it's more about ensuring Jewish culture and the Israeli connection.

This group isn't looking for kids, courting kids, or ever recruiting non Jews.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 12:42     Subject: YoungLife
Anonymous wrote:It is obviously a Christian organization, so don’t send your kids there if you don’t want them learning about Christian faith and Jesus. But otherwise, they are not a religion and don’t stick to any of the specific dogmatic teachings. Just general Christianity, so I don’t understand when people say they will try to convert your child. Convert to what? Most of the kids there belong to different Christian denominations and nobody is trying to change that and convert them from one denomination to another. But if your family and your kids are not Christian, then I don’t know why you would want to send them to YL unless they were interested in Christian teachings and you don’t mind that.

They convert the mainstream Christian into evangelical community- it's quite an operation and relies on a lot of funding. They also target non Christians, and that's a problem. And, it's not really the kids, there's adults behind this. They actually have access to high schools.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 11:49     Subject: YoungLife
Young Life is a full on predatory evangelical group that, for whatever reason, is allowed to infiltrate high schools. Love bombing, all kinds of group think and pressure to be born again.

I was literally hounded for years in high school and then by Navigators in college. There was a parent group that had to take out a court order in one high school to keep them away from their kid a while ago. It's a no.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 11:11     Subject: YoungLife
I joined a few YoungLife meetings when I was a teen. It was fun but, meh, I got into other things.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 11:07     Subject: YoungLife
DH did it. He went to youth events. Had fun. Wasnt invited to join any cult, nothing political, no idea what anyone here is talking about.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 11:00     Subject: YoungLife
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Aren’t all religions cults? Young Life is problematic but sending Jewish kids from Bethesda off on Birthright Israel trips is just fine?


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?


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.



Huh?

Birthright is paid for by rich Zionist American Jews who want Jews to make Zionist Jewish babies.

You can agree or disagree with that, but it's not a moneymaking scheme.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 10:53     Subject: YoungLife
It is obviously a Christian organization, so don’t send your kids there if you don’t want them learning about Christian faith and Jesus. But otherwise, they are not a religion and don’t stick to any of the specific dogmatic teachings. Just general Christianity, so I don’t understand when people say they will try to convert your child. Convert to what? Most of the kids there belong to different Christian denominations and nobody is trying to change that and convert them from one denomination to another. But if your family and your kids are not Christian, then I don’t know why you would want to send them to YL unless they were interested in Christian teachings and you don’t mind that.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 07:18     Subject: YoungLife
Anonymous wrote:Weird comments. My kid absolutely loves YL we are in MoCo it's harmless fun, singing and game nights and talk about Jesus. Parents can be as involved as they want to, and I see absolutely 0 signs of the cult. Perhaps it's different from group to group, but our experience is great.


Good to hear. and it sounds like you're very involved parents. Also good to hear.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 00:13     Subject: YoungLife
Weird comments. My kid absolutely loves YL we are in MoCo it's harmless fun, singing and game nights and talk about Jesus. Parents can be as involved as they want to, and I see absolutely 0 signs of the cult. Perhaps it's different from group to group, but our experience is great.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2025 13:32     Subject: YoungLife
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I had friends who did this in college and it was horribly misogynistic with a lot of weird sexual tension - they all hooked up with each other a lot and not a single one of them turned out to be a particularly successful adult..


Sorry not college, I meant high school. There was a different but similar organization in college. I honestly had no idea Young Life was still around.


The college version is Campus Crusades for Christ.

This thread is super interesting because I have never heard Young Life referred to as a cult at all.
I had friends who attended YL in high school and liked it but my parents didnt want me to because it wasn’t connected with any church at all and they preferred that we just did youth group at our own church. I didn’t find that my friends who did it turned out cult-y or particularly off the deep end fanatics or anything. They definitely taught following Jesus and love one another with a side of “don’t engage in activity that tempts your brother or sister” and I guess that could come off judgy or misogynistic if you didn’t already think that way, but you’d kind of have to work hard to interpret that as a cult.


The college version was actually called Navigators. I think it's still around. They thrive on proselytizing non stop and because kids are in college, alone and vulnerable, they have amazing success in recruitment.


sgsin, different outfit.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2025 13:31     Subject: YoungLife
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I had friends who did this in college and it was horribly misogynistic with a lot of weird sexual tension - they all hooked up with each other a lot and not a single one of them turned out to be a particularly successful adult..


Sorry not college, I meant high school. There was a different but similar organization in college. I honestly had no idea Young Life was still around.


The college version is Campus Crusades for Christ.

This thread is super interesting because I have never heard Young Life referred to as a cult at all.
I had friends who attended YL in high school and liked it but my parents didnt want me to because it wasn’t connected with any church at all and they preferred that we just did youth group at our own church. I didn’t find that my friends who did it turned out cult-y or particularly off the deep end fanatics or anything. They definitely taught following Jesus and love one another with a side of “don’t engage in activity that tempts your brother or sister” and I guess that could come off judgy or misogynistic if you didn’t already think that way, but you’d kind of have to work hard to interpret that as a cult.


different outfit altogether.

young life in college mostly consists of a group of leaders that staff the high school youg life clubs. they do also now have young life college that is similar to high school young life, but idk how widespread it is.