Message to Charlotte - imagine all those $$$ from complete strangers are hugs & thumbs ups!!! And smiles & offers of coffees and the loan of a beautiful bach for a quiet getaway ... Imagine it is a stadium full of people rising to their feet & applauding you ...
We gave $$ but it was really messages of warm support & appreciation for a) you having done a great job under difficult circumstances and b) having been forced to give up your privacy because of the actions of bad faith so called "Christians" and c) having your character impugned just for doing your job
I’m sitting here feeling nauseous and your comment gave me a sudden clarity - reading yet more about these people, their lies, their cruelty makes me feel ill.
The whole thing is reprehensible so I don’t know why the blatant lie that they reached out to Charlotte to offer assistance particularly irked me. But seriously what the fucking fuck
I really have to stop reading the Arise content. The abject cruelty they show both as an organisation and as individuals (as shown by that comment) boils my blood. They’re bullies with far too much money
I’m going to start a religion called WebWormianism. We worship a giant stubbly worm with glasses who lives in The Cloud and delivers sermons to us by our inboxes on a semi-regular basis. Using the tax-exempt status of a religion we shall do good works, like buy our apostles — David, Hayden, and Tony — cat print clothes, Baileys Irish Cream, and houses on Waiheke Island and other good works like buying Bird Hat Grift Club NFTs.
the tax exemptions are the most riling of all when it comes to these institutions aren't they? Why the fuck do they get to keep all their tax dollars because they put on pretty shows in worship to an imaginary friend in the sky when the rest of us sensible decent people pay the government to keep the roads outside their churches smooth and their sewage to continue to pump? I wish the cost of tax exemption status was that churches don't get to use the national infrastructure and they have to sort their own systems to pump away their shit (literal and metaphorical). It's not like they haven't got the money to build their own treatment plant onsite.
Agree riles me up!! Sanitarium e.g. Charitable my arse.
Wouldn't it be good to just tax any income from any source? Church, Assets etc. We still live within these archaic systems NOT fit for the 21st century.
Yeah people are easily drawn into the debates around social issues (e.g. conversion therapy ban was a very hot topic, rightly so) but, and I know you can't measure psychological harm in numbers, but no one is really critiquing the economic impact of these institutions much. . . Where are the stats on the lost tax dollars and the tithes and the analyses of those wrt societal markers like poverty and property ownership etc?
But please take the support from all of us and the wider community as the true reflection of reality in terms of your standing and respect within he community.
David they may as well be QAnon. Gross gross gross.
The fact you have continued to push and challenge and expose this is so valuable. As at least it's not happening behind an artifical smoke screen anymore with victims feeling helpless and voiceless.
But its actual lunacy. Even if you take the cynical view its a money making business this shit still makes no fucking sense from a common sense, PR perspective
Charlotte must feel emotionally exhausted, I would imagine you do too David. They’re the abusive narcissist that always needs the last toxic word. I really hope now that these fees have been settled and the dust settles, once the media stop asking for comment, that you and Charlotte can put some distance between you and this terribly upsetting set of events. Just awful deceptive dishonest people behaving appallingly in the name of God.
I'm sure it is tiresome, but thank you for sharing this information with us. I just illustrates how these churches can exhaust us with so many empty words in the hopes that eventually it all fades into white noise. We need someone to cut through the BS even if is a never-ending battle. We need to hold these monsters accountable!! I feel as fired up about Arise as I did when I read your first Webworm about them. Just gross.
How can they possibly claim to be a church? I don’t know if they didn’t hear, but Jesus makes it very clear ya ain’t takin’ it with you to the pearly gates. The way I view arise is as a “Christian” (evangelical) business venture, a corporation hocking books of guest speakers and conferences and seminars and studies. There are so many in a single year, seriously IT IS A BUSINESS MODEL. It is an EVENT company. Jesus left the building quite some time ago
Arise’s statement is an example of extreme gaslighting in its most putrid and disgusting form. My heart breaks for Charlotte; I can’t image the living nightmare she’s going through. She was hired to do a job for these grifters, and this is how she’s treated? The fact that they had the gall to mention Jesus at the end of their gross statement gives away their ignorance of what Christianity is supposed to be: treating others with love, empathy, and compassion.
I had some email exchanges with them over this this week - and the second they opened by calling me "Dave" I knew I was in for a really fucking annoying time.
Theres so many condlicting emotions in response to this. On the one hand, the way Charlotte has been treated by Arise is absolutely appalling and disgusting. I hope she finds some peace in all this soon 😭😭. And on the other hand, the response from this community as a whole has been completely wholesome, encouraging, and pure love.
Grateful to you, David, for helping expose all this ❤️! Continuing to put the pressure on them must be so tiring and I wish there was more ways we could help (even here in the states!)
I’ve always wondered if these types of religious leaders are self aware enough to realize the scam they’re pulling? Or are they so deluded to truly believe that they’re in the right? I just can’t wrap my head around someone being that dense; they *have* to be in on the scam, right?
Yes, it's a fascinating question. There is so much deception of others intermixed with self-deception and denial of reality in guru figures and the groups they form.
Anthony Storr's book 'Feet of Clay' is a fascinating study of a number of guru's and details the 'paranoid enclosures' they build around themselves psychologically which the high control groups they lead then proceed to replicate socially which infects everything they do.
Me too! This is exactly what I wonder - what is each individual thinking about their part in it? They cannot believe this is how Jesus would have handled ANY of the MANY vile situations, or would want them to handle it. Every day humans everywhere - including us - do many stupid or cruel things, most of the time unintentionally. Imagine actively monetising that cruelty. My 9 year old gets more money for garden work than those interns did. Jesus wept; probably.
Poor Charlotte. Arise is just fucking despicable. I just can’t get my head around how anyone calling themselves a Christian would consider this the right way to treat a person! Fucking hell. Thank you David for everything you’ve been doing, even though it’s been hideous
Message to Charlotte - imagine all those $$$ from complete strangers are hugs & thumbs ups!!! And smiles & offers of coffees and the loan of a beautiful bach for a quiet getaway ... Imagine it is a stadium full of people rising to their feet & applauding you ...
We gave $$ but it was really messages of warm support & appreciation for a) you having done a great job under difficult circumstances and b) having been forced to give up your privacy because of the actions of bad faith so called "Christians" and c) having your character impugned just for doing your job
Amen.
I am literally vomiting in my mouth reading this 🤮
🤯🤯🤯It is a total anathema to me that this is branded Christianity
What does this teach the world about institutions like Arise or any other Mega Church They are a pile of💩and to never ever walk through their doors
I feel absolutely gutted for Charlotte that she is caught up in a waking nightmare 💔
She's having a rough time. Early on, she wanted to believe they were acting in good faith I imagine.
Those days are long, long gone.
Arise operating without John Cameron is just as bad, if not worse. No words.
They never acted in good faith., never.
I’m sitting here feeling nauseous and your comment gave me a sudden clarity - reading yet more about these people, their lies, their cruelty makes me feel ill.
The whole thing is reprehensible so I don’t know why the blatant lie that they reached out to Charlotte to offer assistance particularly irked me. But seriously what the fucking fuck
It's insane. They dig themselves bigger and bigger holes, as this is them WITHOUT John and Brent and all those dimwits.
Rotten to the core.
I was curious as to whether they were referring to John and Brent as former Arise members being litigious too
I really have to stop reading the Arise content. The abject cruelty they show both as an organisation and as individuals (as shown by that comment) boils my blood. They’re bullies with far too much money
I want to stop writing about them, but then I don't want them to keep just doing this. It's tricky.
My aim is to balance it out with lighter stuff - and other writing - as I have been doing
(I'm sorry, and I get it!)
I’m going to start a religion called WebWormianism. We worship a giant stubbly worm with glasses who lives in The Cloud and delivers sermons to us by our inboxes on a semi-regular basis. Using the tax-exempt status of a religion we shall do good works, like buy our apostles — David, Hayden, and Tony — cat print clothes, Baileys Irish Cream, and houses on Waiheke Island and other good works like buying Bird Hat Grift Club NFTs.
the tax exemptions are the most riling of all when it comes to these institutions aren't they? Why the fuck do they get to keep all their tax dollars because they put on pretty shows in worship to an imaginary friend in the sky when the rest of us sensible decent people pay the government to keep the roads outside their churches smooth and their sewage to continue to pump? I wish the cost of tax exemption status was that churches don't get to use the national infrastructure and they have to sort their own systems to pump away their shit (literal and metaphorical). It's not like they haven't got the money to build their own treatment plant onsite.
Agree riles me up!! Sanitarium e.g. Charitable my arse.
Wouldn't it be good to just tax any income from any source? Church, Assets etc. We still live within these archaic systems NOT fit for the 21st century.
Yeah people are easily drawn into the debates around social issues (e.g. conversion therapy ban was a very hot topic, rightly so) but, and I know you can't measure psychological harm in numbers, but no one is really critiquing the economic impact of these institutions much. . . Where are the stats on the lost tax dollars and the tithes and the analyses of those wrt societal markers like poverty and property ownership etc?
Charlotte im so sorry.
They are disgusting.
But please take the support from all of us and the wider community as the true reflection of reality in terms of your standing and respect within he community.
David they may as well be QAnon. Gross gross gross.
Yeah, it's that level. Same insanity, same bad ideas.
It's pushed me so far beyond this type of religion I can't even.
The fact you have continued to push and challenge and expose this is so valuable. As at least it's not happening behind an artifical smoke screen anymore with victims feeling helpless and voiceless.
But its actual lunacy. Even if you take the cynical view its a money making business this shit still makes no fucking sense from a common sense, PR perspective
Charlotte must feel emotionally exhausted, I would imagine you do too David. They’re the abusive narcissist that always needs the last toxic word. I really hope now that these fees have been settled and the dust settles, once the media stop asking for comment, that you and Charlotte can put some distance between you and this terribly upsetting set of events. Just awful deceptive dishonest people behaving appallingly in the name of God.
I'm sure it is tiresome, but thank you for sharing this information with us. I just illustrates how these churches can exhaust us with so many empty words in the hopes that eventually it all fades into white noise. We need someone to cut through the BS even if is a never-ending battle. We need to hold these monsters accountable!! I feel as fired up about Arise as I did when I read your first Webworm about them. Just gross.
How can they possibly claim to be a church? I don’t know if they didn’t hear, but Jesus makes it very clear ya ain’t takin’ it with you to the pearly gates. The way I view arise is as a “Christian” (evangelical) business venture, a corporation hocking books of guest speakers and conferences and seminars and studies. There are so many in a single year, seriously IT IS A BUSINESS MODEL. It is an EVENT company. Jesus left the building quite some time ago
The only things these new wave churches save ( actually most, if not all churches) is 10c a litre off with a fuel voucher.
Absolute scam artists.
The thing that confuses me is how do they think that the truth won't come out?
Are they so blind to their own bullshit that they think that everyone else will just eat it up as well?
Arise’s statement is an example of extreme gaslighting in its most putrid and disgusting form. My heart breaks for Charlotte; I can’t image the living nightmare she’s going through. She was hired to do a job for these grifters, and this is how she’s treated? The fact that they had the gall to mention Jesus at the end of their gross statement gives away their ignorance of what Christianity is supposed to be: treating others with love, empathy, and compassion.
I had some email exchanges with them over this this week - and the second they opened by calling me "Dave" I knew I was in for a really fucking annoying time.
I was right.
I didn't send this out as a mail-out as it's not worth it - but I did want to document it on the site: https://www.webworm.co/p/lowerdepthsofhell
Theres so many condlicting emotions in response to this. On the one hand, the way Charlotte has been treated by Arise is absolutely appalling and disgusting. I hope she finds some peace in all this soon 😭😭. And on the other hand, the response from this community as a whole has been completely wholesome, encouraging, and pure love.
Grateful to you, David, for helping expose all this ❤️! Continuing to put the pressure on them must be so tiring and I wish there was more ways we could help (even here in the states!)
I’ve always wondered if these types of religious leaders are self aware enough to realize the scam they’re pulling? Or are they so deluded to truly believe that they’re in the right? I just can’t wrap my head around someone being that dense; they *have* to be in on the scam, right?
They know, and they don't give a fuck.
Yes, it's a fascinating question. There is so much deception of others intermixed with self-deception and denial of reality in guru figures and the groups they form.
Anthony Storr's book 'Feet of Clay' is a fascinating study of a number of guru's and details the 'paranoid enclosures' they build around themselves psychologically which the high control groups they lead then proceed to replicate socially which infects everything they do.
https://www.amazon.com/Feet-Clay-Study-Anthony-Storr-ebook/dp/B00FAI4A08/
David is quite right when he says Arise is rotten to the core as this paranoia, deceit and denial appears built into their cultural DNA now.
Me too! This is exactly what I wonder - what is each individual thinking about their part in it? They cannot believe this is how Jesus would have handled ANY of the MANY vile situations, or would want them to handle it. Every day humans everywhere - including us - do many stupid or cruel things, most of the time unintentionally. Imagine actively monetising that cruelty. My 9 year old gets more money for garden work than those interns did. Jesus wept; probably.
Poor Charlotte. Arise is just fucking despicable. I just can’t get my head around how anyone calling themselves a Christian would consider this the right way to treat a person! Fucking hell. Thank you David for everything you’ve been doing, even though it’s been hideous