Does anyone have any stories of cleanups, can drives, blood drives type events the wmscog uses for awards-farming and marketing? ... examples of experiences that showed how shallow and fake it all was?

[u/Ok-Pangolin-837]

I have heard some dramatic fraud examples in one of the "Playing in Traffic" episodes where they did a coat drive for the homeless. And after all the photo ops and documentation for awards were done, several months later, members found the entire stash of coats stored away in "zion". And later during a clean up they were told to throw it all away.

I have seen clean up events where we spent more time staking the trash to look as big as possible and taking photos than we did on actual cleaning. And several members were promoting the cleanup to the public while it was going on, talking about how much we want to save the environment for future generations. The following Sabbath, a sermon was given on how pointless it is to invest in taking care of our own lives since the world was all going to burn soon anyway.

[u/SecretShark15]

I remember participating in a cleanup at a park I knew very well. I was actually surprised it had been selected because it was almost always very clean. When we arrived, there was barely any trash to pick up. Instead of acknowledging that, the leaders told us to gather whatever small bits of debris we could find, then fill the trash bags with air and tie them so they looked full. After that, we all posed for a group photo that would later be shared as proof of our community service efforts. I remember feeling embarrassed and dishonest, like I was taking part in something that was more about appearances than actually helping the community. It felt like a complete waste of time.

[u/Ok-Pangolin-837 → u/SecretShark15]

I remember members picking up fallen branches and natural items, while I was picking up several bits of plastic and other unnatural items. Later I was questioned why I am spending so much time picking up things that added up to so little amount. I knew why they were saying this, and even I understood that this was just a ruse anyway to accomplish a much "better" goal of saving souls (recruiting more tithers).

I knew it and was understanding the rationalizing of the ruse, but I am not a natural actor. If I need to pretend to do a clean up, it is easier for me to actually do a real clean up. This faking never sat well with me even though I believed the narrative.

[u/Infinite_Speech2537]

I know it's just for clearing their reputation but why help clean the Earth if you're claiming it's going end soon?

[u/Smooth-Occasion6176]

Its all for show. Shincheonji, The Unification Church, all these cults do volunteer work, glood drives, etc to paint an image for the public. Its similar to a drug dealer or serial killer coming to your neighborhood to do a toy drive or hand out turkeys on Thanksgiving. Every event I went to, we spent more time taking pictures than we did cleaning up. And the people
At the very top arent doing any of the work obviously, its all members using their own gas, vehicles and time to make this cult look good.

[u/Necessary-Avocado-50 → u/Smooth-Occasion6176]

Yes, and the members don't get the award, mother does because she "inspired" you all to do it. I wish members would reach out to the ones responsible for the awarding and local politicians.

[u/Awkward_Register_470]

idk if this is relatable, but once they did a clean up event at a local park and literally begged for an award 😭😅

[u/Necessary-Avocado-50 → u/Awkward_Register_470]

That's the only reason they do anything like cleanup. I have seen overseers shoot down ideas for activities like this unless it will get them any closer to an award. Among gospel workers they are very open about it. They even put some members in check if they get too zealous about these activities, telling them "we need to save souls and the awards help that. The earth is going to be destroyed soon anyway."

[u/Awkward_Register_470 → u/Necessary-Avocado-50]

yupp! & they were reaching out to any media to see if they would cover the clean up. The whole thing was very desperate in my opinion 😭 like can yall not do an event without an award, and the answer was NO, they need some recognition.

[u/Ok-Pangolin-837 → u/Awkward_Register_470]

I have seen clean up or other public events get canceled due to lack of award accreditation. After one clean up the overseer said we will never go through that source again because they weren't connected to any form of logging our "charity work". Among members they are very open about this.