I am always surprised at how many former ex-JWs end up in evangelical community churches. Some of them even support and practice "shunning" of dissident members. This totally amazes me.
It's like trading white wine for red. It may look different and even taste different, but it will still make you drunk and kill you if you drink too much of it.
BRCI, and some other more prominent ex-JW groups, seem to push a more liberal Southern Baptist teaching and ethic, like Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church in Southern California. I've been to that church and I've read Warren's book, but it's still the same message that all evangelical churches push. While they really don't push their theology on stage, deferring to "feel good" music and "love your neighbor and be a good family member" sermons, when you go in for their "Bible studies," it's the same Trinitarian, Hellfire and brimstone, born-again theology most of us have realized to be the same warmed over Calvinistic crap we all tried to escape when we joined the Borg. An overweight, goateed, Hawaiian shirt wearing Bible thumper may be a more relaxed and entertaining religious leader, but he's still spouting the same fairy tales that conservative religous groups have taught for 600 years.
Is following Warren, Pat Robertson, Joel Osteen, Bob Schuller, Paul Crouch, and Benny Hinn the way to escape a religious cult. And the Mormons - I've known some very well - and they are for the most part good people, but they believe bigger fairy tales than the JWs could ever preach and their corporate structure is even more corrupt than that of the Watchtower.
When you finally escape from the cult, why in the world would you want to dive right back into another similar situation. Remember, William Miller (of the "Great Dissapointment"), the great-great grandfather of Jehovah's Witnesses - was a Baptist preacher.
JV
