It Wasn’t Totally Truthful, but I Got Him In!

Tape: Radical Freedom

Speakers: Doug & Amie Weir

Stock Number: JM42 (2 message CD)

Recording Type: ‘Basic Mix’

Brief Review:

This message was recorded at ‘Family Reunion’, now billed as Summer Conference. Doug fires up the crowd with stories of freedoms and how our freedoms are being taken away as we have our nose to the grindstone at a job, but first, Amie gives us a parallel between going Diamond and the Israelites fleeing from Egypt.

Motivational Aspects:

“One of the things I am most excited about being diamonds is that we’re able every single day and do what we want to do.”

Both started single and worked in corporate America, met in the business, and are diamonds now.

“Diamond is our promised land”

Cult-like aspects:

Doug talks about the name for the conference being family reunion and tells about how he was adopted by his family. He uses this to explain that the people at the ‘front tables’ (higher pins) want to see everyone succeed even if they are not related. [Shows that you ‘belong’ to this family of people; targets those that are seeking belonging to a group.]

“God heard your cry because you are here this weekend” [The best thing the people can do is get involved in the system and attend the meetings.]

Amie gives a list of things that were better when they had a job, but assures the audience that it is all worth it. She lists things that they did (or the average IBO will do) to get to Diamond. Among the list of things mentioned: Doing the business instead of other sociable things, the protein bars every day, get less sleep. “If you just do these [9 core steps], you will be blessed, it will work for you” She also mentions that if you do the 9 core steps on commitment to the next function, that will keep you going until you make it. [Classifies as Behavior Control on Steven Hassans model].

“If you ever wondered why some people grow faster than others, that’s probably it right there: they are actually listening to their upline and are doing the things that they recommend.” [Behavior control]

“What separates the people that are brand new from the veterans who have moved on to Emerald and Diamond is just the way that they think. That was the think that I had to change.” [Though Control; what you grew up believing is not accurate, you need to change your thoughts through our program.]

“If you build this business, you will earn the respect of the leaders, period.”

“I found my first platinum leg as a co-worker at IBM. He went to a plan and said ‘Doug, I can’t get started, I’m getting married, I have a lot of things going on in my life, I can’t get started’, so I said ‘I’ll tell you what, I’m going to sponsor a bunch of other people and I might not be able to sponsor you if you don’t get in now.’, and he did. It wasn’t totally truthful, but I got him in.” [Correct me if I am wrong, but he lied to his friend to get him in, and then admitted he lied to get him in.]

“One of my college buddies, I asked him to go to a plan and he checked with his parents and they said ‘no.’ I finally put him on a line and said, ‘Hey, are we best friends or what?’ He said ‘We’re best friends’, and I said ‘Well, then, you need to go to a meeting with me or else I will be insulted as your friend.’”

Catalog of covetousness for those materialistic people:

Decorate nursery anyway they want to without regard to price.

Custom made all the nursery furnishing.

Property on the lake

Planning on a 7,000 sq ft house

Wonderful Faulty Theology:

Amie gives a story about Moses and the Israelites leaving Egypt and contrasts this with people on a trip to Diamond. She talks about securities that they had in Egypt and the job, the Manna given to the Israelites vs. the protein bars that people eat while on the way to STP. She also uses this time to tell how the ‘oppressive’ corporate America does not want people to succeed. [The contrast here is that God called the nation of Israel as a chosen people to fulfill a promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This story teaches of the fulfillment of a promise of God. Here, Amie uses it to tell the people that they need to build the business and get wealthy. Read 1 John 2:15 to see that this is hardly the plan that God has in mind for believers.]

Amie tells that if you just follow the steps, you will be blessed just like the Israelites were blessed. [This is rooted in Word-Faith movement which I covered in a previous post. My answer there was:

[This is another common verse for Word-Faith proponents. This is an Old Testament covenant between God and the nation of Israel. In that day, a blessing from God was viewed as a prosperous nation as a whole, in no way did it apply to the individual. The obedience spoken of here was to hold the entirety of the law as defined in the book of Deuteronomy. The nation did eventually turn away and the curse happened in the form of the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles.]]

Doug goes into detail about rebelling against the society norms and laws. He seems to be against rules and regulations that the authority over the land places on him. He even says here “If you tell me I can’t do it, I’m going to go do it now.” [This seems to be common in this business and other cults as people believe they have an edge on knowledge over other people. The bible says that we are to obey those in authority over us as far as those laws do not violate God (1 Peter 2:13-15). Remember that disobedience to the Word of God is the essence of sin. We have rules so we do not hurt ourselves or others. With regard to Doug’s quote: Read Genesis Chapter 3. It was doing what the authority said not to do that lead the race to trouble. The example Doug gave is not against the law of God, but it overshadows the mindset and the attitude.]

“I just love going to a restaurant and [praying] real loud, and being really bold.” [Please read the parable about the Pharisee and the Tax collector (Luke 18:9-14).