Dear Members of the People of Praise,
I want to start off this letter by complementing you on the way that I have seen you help many people in their lives. I can tell that many of the members of your group are happy with their lives, and that this happiness would probably not have been entirely possible if it was not for your community. I think this is something you should be commended on.
For awhile now I have been an observer of your community, and have seen the effects of your organization on many different people. It has been interesting over the years to watch these changes and developments amongst people. However, I can not help but say that not all of these observations of mine are positive. Again, for many years now I have watched the workings of your organization. Throughout this time I have been pressured on many different occasions to join your community. This leads me to the purpose of this letter: to point out to you some of the alternative viewpoints and observations about your organization from the perspective of other individuals. I believe you will find this interesting due to the fact that myself and many other people have often been asked why exactly we do not wish to join your community. By this, maybe you will rethink some of your recruitment strategies and better understand the hesitations of many people regarding your community.
Over the years I have realized that your organization seems to believe that your way is the only way. The members of your organization seem to believe that one can only be truly happy and satisfied in life if they live their lives the way that you do. In other words, one can only be truly happy and satisfied if they live a Christian life in which they worship and give over their lives to God. I would like for you to consider the possibility that one does not have to be a Christian in order to be happy. I would like for you to consider the possibility that one can lead a happy and fulfilling life through friendship, love and knowledge, and that a supernatural deity does not have to be involved in order to accomplish these things. If you can realize and accept this fact, then maybe you can begin to understand the people outside of your community.
My next point involves my own personal experience with your community. By growing up in your organization, I believe I have been able to observe the inner workings of your system of belief. Ever since I was a child, I have been told by your community in one way or another how I should think, and how I should act. It caused much turmoil and confusion in my mind as I was growing up, since I found that most of these methods of thinking were against my natural instinct. Often times when I expressed resistance to these methods or ways of life, I was told that this was the influence of the devil. I am here to tell you that I and many others in this world our proud of our own personal intelligence and our ability to think clearly and freely, and that this is not a negative influence of the devil, but gifts that should be cultivated and appreciated.
My final point can be seen as a bit of advice I have for your community. I have often been asked by members of your organization why I do not wish to join. I know others have also been asked this question. My answer involves the fact that myself and others are happy with who we are, and know who we want to be. I have in the past watched many friends of mine enter into your community, and have observed the significant change in character they experienced. They went from humorous, unique, and free spirited individuals to straight edge, obedient, and all too familiar breeds of Christians. By entering into your organization I believe they lost some of the special and important aspects of themselves, and myself and others do not wish to undergo the same confining transformation.
In conclusion, I do not want this letter to seem like a rant against your organization. As I stated previously, there are many beneficial aspects to your community. But I feel that by this letter I can inform you of the differences amongst people in the world today, and help raise awareness to the fact that religion is simply not fit for everyone, and more importantly, not necessary for everyone.
Sincerely,
An anonymous observer