Last week, a few miles from me, one Terry Ratzmann opened fire at his church meeting, killing seven people, and leaving many questions.
Upon investigating this sect, I found striking similarities between this movement, "The Living Church of God", and the Witnesses. I have linked to a story in the Milwaukee Journal/Sentilal outlining their creed.
-the group's rules and practices discourage dating and marriage with non-members
-prefer women wear modest attire and be subservient to their husbands
-urges members to rely on God instead of medical professionals for healing Members are to shun birthdays, and the church considers Christmas, Easter and other traditional Christian holidays as pagan
-considers crosses pagan symbols rather than religious icons
-always preached that the end of time was near, to be followed by the second coming of Christ. But they drew major attention with an unusually specific prediction that the end-time was coming in 1975.
-members say they are a peace-loving church, one that discourages military service by its members.
-they are not supposed to vote in elections or serve on juries
-"In a sense, we are aliens residing in this country. We answer to our home government, God's government."
-women do not have leadership roles in the services
I can't help to think that this group has strong ties to the Witnesses, considering their similar beliefs. Too bad Terry Ratzmann didn't get the psychological couseling he needed. It may have prevented this tradgedy.