Jump to content
GreaseSpot Cafe

Corps Training: A Peek Behind the Curtain


skyrider
 Share

Recommended Posts

Wierwille's corps training was a peek behind the curtain.

* The corps training was straight-up indoctrination.

* The "spiritual maturity" rap is unbiblical and manufactured manipulation.

* The corps program ushered in a permanent caste system in twi and dependency.

* It had NOTHING to do with leadership. It was a get-in-line, followship program.

* Wierwille was a cult-organizer.....nothing more. He was twi's deceiver-in-chief.

Not once did I see any decision or action by wierwille that was revelation from God. Not one.

Every meeting, every Sunday teaching was meticulously scripted to convey a certain outcome.

Corps Week and Rock of Ages events became a two weeks of work and guilt manipulation.

So, where are all the 3,500 corps grads today?

What is the result of wierwille's spiritual "elite" corps grads?

Scattered to the four winds.

What happened? It was based on a faulty foundation.

Not grounded in truth, love, family, reality, personal goals, direction, etc.

A peek behind the curtain. What a seductive mind-trip twi was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, where are all the 3,500 corps grads today?

What is the result of wierwille's spiritual "elite" corps grads?

Scattered to the four winds.

Some decided to actually have a life of their own choosing.

The doulos "teaching" wasn't even subtle in its manipulation/indoctrination.

Become slaves to TWI as a surrogate for God.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The doulos "teaching" wasn't even subtle in its manipulation/indoctrination.

Become slaves to TWI as a surrogate for God.

Yeah.....a PERMANENT group of servants, intended to last indefinitely without change.

That's a counterfeit, false teaching.....manufactured by a false teacher.

And.....how often do those newly corps grads get assigned to work on staff?

Yep, all that "training" to move to a dorm room and do grunt work.

The dependency and indoctrination resides at twi's hq in a systematized pecking order.

"Spiritual protocol" is the buzzword for selective seniority service.

Ever notice.....it's the FIELD CORPS who are always the first to exit?

Why is that? Well, for one....the chains of bondage are broken by reality.

The field corps SEE all kinds of avenues for advancement and UPWARD MOBILITY.

The outside information helps to strip away the indoctrination day by day.

THAT is one reason why wierwille called the corps grads back for "re-education camp" years ago.

After about three to four years, vpw wanted to subject corps grads to more indoctrination....

all in the guise of learning from the teacher. What a bunch of bs.

Corps grads have been exiting the program since the ZERO CORPS.

Why? It's a zero-sum-game for the one caught in the snare.

Every road leads to twi-dependency....just like they devise.

Dependency leads to manipulation and guilt and twi-servitude.

And, the modern-day Pharisees grease the wheels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, the guilt. Never living up to the 5 Way Corps Principles. Never pleasing those above you. Being subjected to being blamed for every bad thing that happens because "You're Corps." Getting yelled at because "You're Corps" and you should be spiritually able to take it.

Good times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The field corps SEE all kinds of avenues for advancement and UPWARD MOBILITY.

The outside information helps to strip away the indoctrination day by day.

Not "upward mobility," Skyrider. OUTWARD mobility. Out from TWI.

With God there is no "upward" - just more of what He wants us to do and to become.

Perhaps, on the field, there is also more time (not much more time, granted) to think, to ponder, to consider and to hear from hurt people than there is in all the busy-work at HQ.

Plus there isn't the Big Brother atmosphere of always being watched by a zillion pairs of eyes, looking out for signs of not toeing the line / having doubts / lacking in "meekness."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not "upward mobility," Skyrider. OUTWARD mobility. Out from TWI.

With God there is no "upward" - just more of what He wants us to do and to become.

Well, now....I would merely point to just a couple of examples in Scripture.

Gen 39:2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

Gen 39:3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

Gen 39:4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

Joseph, indeed, was given UPWARD MOBILITY and honored God in this new position of authority.

Another example: Ruth [read the book of Ruth].

By his divine power, we are given ALL THINGS that pertain to life and godliness [iI Peter 1:3] and its all that garbage "spiritualizing" in twi that continues to pervert the true essence of the Lord's goodness. See, I believe that we are to be LIVING EPISTLES IN ALL OF LIFE.....words, actions, family values, work ethic, honesty, raising children, stewardship, etc. In twi, we were taught to compartmentalize EVERYTHING.....and leadership would critique our lives thru their filter of "spirituality" which was skewed by twi.

Yes.....UPWARD MOBILITY.

I have no desire to be positioned into a caste system of servitude. Why can't the Lord bring us before *great men*? See, it's another one of those twi-perversion teachings that keeps us in a state of dependency, of servitude.

I love Greasespot. It helps all of us to chuck twi's stinking indoctrination into the garbage bin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, Sky - you mean it one way, I mean it another.

I don't agree that there is "upward mobility" spiritually - in a caste system. That's pharisaical. And proper training for Christian ministry does its best to weed out those who are in it for themselves, who seek glorification through position.

Downward mobility, perhaps - as one learns to serve God and fellow man better.

Your OT examples are fine; but they aren't the norm. They are part of a long-term plan, God's plan, to bring protection to the Christline.

A quietly overlooked OT example is the servant girl who told Naaman to listen to the prophet. No idea whether she got anything other than more servant-work to do.

But don't forget that that the apostles gave up their day jobs to become ... what? And Paul became an itinerant preacher and itinerant day-jobber at saddle (or tent) making.

Many in the NT died for their beliefs.

So did many in the OT; we have read of persecutions, taking into exile, etc. Not to mention wars. And Bathsheba's husband's loyalty to God and man got him the reward of becoming a cuckold and then losing his life to try to hide the fact.

That's hardly "upward" mobility.

Forget the "American dream." It's absolutely not about how much you think God rewards you with in the here and now. Get rid of the "prosperity gospel" that so mars the American church. That Weirwille preached.

There are many people who have given up potentially lucrative careers to serve as ministers within established churches, missionaries, other servant-roles for God.

And there are thousands, millions, of wonderful Christian people in impoverished countries who depend day to day on God, via Christian brethren, to meet their daily needs - down to the bowlful of rice that they need to keep living. Some face execution for their beliefs; there are cases in the news right now about that.

If you do achieve physical abundance and position in this life, don't be seduced by the comfort that can buy. There's nothing wrong with it - but be Godly about it. Steward your money and influence carefully and share, really share, with those brethren who are in need elsewhere.

Edited by Twinky
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, Sky - you mean it one way, I mean it another.

I don't agree that there is "upward mobility" spiritually - in a caste system. That's pharisaical. And proper training for Christian ministry does its best to weed out those who are in it for themselves, who seek glorification through position.

Downward mobility, perhaps - as one learns to serve God and fellow man better.

Your OT examples are fine; but they aren't the norm. They are part of a long-term plan, God's plan, to bring protection to the Christline.

A quietly overlooked OT example is the servant girl who told Naaman to listen to the prophet. No idea whether she got anything other than more servant-work to do.

But don't forget that that the apostles gave up their day jobs to become ... what? And Paul became an itinerant preacher and itinerant day-jobber at saddle (or tent) making.

Many in the NT died for their beliefs.

So did many in the OT; we have read of persecutions, taking into exile, etc. Not to mention wars. And Bathsheba's husband's loyalty to God and man got him the reward of becoming a cuckold and then losing his life to try to hide the fact.

That's hardly "upward" mobility.

Forget the "American dream." It's absolutely not about how much you think God rewards you with in the here and now. Get rid of the "prosperity gospel" that so mars the American church. That Weirwille preached.

There are many people who have given up potentially lucrative careers to serve as ministers within established churches, missionaries, other servant-roles for God.

And there are thousands, millions, of wonderful Christian people in impoverished countries who depend day to day on God, via Christian brethren, to meet their daily needs - down to the bowlful of rice that they need to keep living. Some face execution for their beliefs; there are cases in the news right now about that.

If you do achieve physical abundance and position in this life, don't be seduced by the comfort that can buy. There's nothing wrong with it - but be Godly about it. Steward your money and influence carefully and share, really share, with those brethren who are in need elsewhere.

Gee, Twinky......you might want to re-check wierwille's "prosperity gospel" a little more.

Interim corps at hq worked for $75 a month.

Corps don't need to be "worldly" and own possessions.

Just get out there and move the word, move the word.

Everyone aboard the "mystery train."

Get your clothes from plurality palace.

Broken cars, no cars, hitchhiking etc.

No retirement....work till you drop dead.

And....THE HYPOCRISY STUNK UP THE JOINT.

No pets, no extras, no cable tv, no pregnancies unless authorized [lcm-era].

Yeah.....preach it sister.

Everyone should be as spiritual as you.

24-years in twi....been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

The corps were the indentured servants for twi hierarchy....for life.

Corps and staff were subjected to a life of dependency and "stuck nowhere."

Leaders forced unwanted sexual advances, abortions, strife, death by guilt.

You can keep this "prosperity gospel" if you like.

And, yeah....I get that One Body, members in particular stuff.

In a solid, wholesome, Christian environment it SHOULD be God-service to all.

BUT.......in twi, at least for the corps....it was exploitation in the highest order.

C'mon Twinky......life in moderation, ever hear of it?

.

Edited by skyrider
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually,

vpw DID teach a Prosperity Gospel-

but he taught the corps a Poverty Gospel.

It should surprise nobody that vpw pulled yet another bait-and-switch.

In Session 1 of pfal, we heard quite a bit that translates into a Prosperity Gospel-

all of it centering about his false "Law" of Believing.

With enough believing, mean men got rich, normal men avoided statistical crashes,

children were killed, drapes were obtained, etc. But if you wanted to be rich,

you Believed a lot....and don't forget you needed to Tithe as well,

"Christians Should Be Prosperous" (the why-you-should-tithe manual) was usually

required reading after Session 1.

So, when apart from vpw, you were supposed to be prosperous.

When vpw had to deliver, you were supposed to expect poverty- learn to live on little

and expect little, eat disgusting food and not enough of it, wear hand-me-down clothes,

etc.

So, here's how it went.

Tier 1.

"Welcome to twi! With our teachings, you will learn to be Prosperous and Successful!"

Tier 2.

"Welcome to the corps! Learn to sacrifice to be best for God! Always do what we say and

learn to do more with less!"

Tier 3.

"Welcome to the inner circle of twi! Here we lack for nothing material!"

People were LURED IN with promises of prosperity and required to tithe and give more than

that. twi had terms for 2 more levels of handing over money-

-abundant sharing

-plurality giving

and if they could talk you into handing over ALL your money and never saving for the future,

that's what they did- they certainly TRIED to.

Those tricked into becoming drones for twi worked hard and got little for their efforts,

less than out in the world where they actually aren't supposed to care about you.

But for the handful at the top,

all the money from the many at the bottom was at their disposal.

vpw considered twi to be his personal piggy-bank-

just as rosa-lie and donna do now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I knew that'd get you going, Sky.

Don't forget - I've been there too - got the T-shirt(s), the nametags, the supposed Corps status - and the scars.

I could have been earning biiiiiig money if I hadn't got sidetracked by TWI.

So could many others. You yourself, too, perhaps.

Instead, worldly careers were brushed off, dissed, "You're leaning to your five senses" etc.

WW says it right:

Actually, vpw DID teach a Prosperity Gospel -

but he taught the corps a Poverty Gospel

- Not just the Corps, though.

Despite what that prat VPW taught, I'd rather look at the examples within the Bible, both OT and NT, to see what their lifestyle really was. I see that some of them shared generously. They helped one another. They lived in fearless hope and joyful expectation - despite actual real risk to life. Others were bitchy and backbiting and selfish (nothing new there, then).

There is a lot about how they lived. There is not so much about how they sustained physical life - their earning potential. God's not interested in that. He's interested in the inside...the place where real riches of love, joy, peace, faithfulness, patience, kindness, etc truly reside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WW-----wow, you are correct....they taught one thing for a certain group, another for another group....Sometimes I have to wonder why I never saw this kind of thing....and it took coming here to really wake up and go, OH My gosh!!!

Twinky, I get what you are saying.....

I never did like the prosperity gospel.....it made the whole world revolve around me and what I wanted and how to get it. I'm so glad I don't operate that any more.

And I think it takes a long time to get rid of some of these beliefs and try to sort through all this stuff. So thankful for all of you who have been here and you keep opening my eyes to a new way. I never knew what signing the green card meant when I signed it, if I had, I would of run the opposite way.

You all are wonderful and my life has gotten better because of you.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I knew that'd get you going, Sky.

Don't forget - I've been there too - got the T-shirt(s), the nametags, the supposed Corps status - and the scars.

I could have been earning biiiiiig money if I hadn't got sidetracked by TWI.

So could many others. You yourself, too, perhaps.

Instead, worldly careers were brushed off, dissed, "You're leaning to your five senses" etc.

"Get me going"..... :biglaugh:

Naw, you input was just off-topic, that's all.

The title of this thread is Corps Training: A Peek Behind the Curtain

And....that's why I brought it up. Some STILL don't realize the caste system in twi

wherein the corps were the slaves, indentured servants, so others could go out and live

that *pfal stuff.*

I've been citing this corps-perversion for about 15 years.....putrid stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually,

vpw DID teach a Prosperity Gospel-

but he taught the corps a Poverty Gospel.

Yep.

If wierwille/twi were honest.....that vow of poverty would be on the application form.

Corps are to live a life of twi-servitude ---- check.

Corps are to serve until death and move every 3-5 years --- check.

Corps are not allowed to own a home --- check.

Corps are forbidden to own land --- check.

See.....THAT would be honest.

But for the handful at the top,

all the money from the many at the bottom was at their disposal.

vpw considered twi to be his personal piggy-bank-

just as rosa-lie and donna do now.

And.....not just the money, but SERVANTS at their beckon call.

Fix their meals, clean their homes and offices, do the laundry.

Wash and wax and detail the car for traveling.

Bodyguards at their disposal.

Maintenance guys and tree/lawn care for Rosalie's property.

Oh, it's good to be queen of the cult.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Many good posts here...I especially enjoyed Word Wolfs...

As someone who endured the corps training, I would make the following observations:

1- I learned almost immediately that they really didn't give a rat's foot about any of us. There was no Christian love...only attempts at manipulation and control.

2-Even as twi failed in so many of their programs, the corps training was probably their biggest failure. They failed to deliver legitimate biblical classes, they failed to provide an environment for Christian growth and they failed in their examples of Christian leadership...the whole thing was a waste of time

3-The level of dishonesty at both Emporia and Rome City was almost palatable. They continually lied and deceived people. The entire program was sociopathic in nature. They had no conscience. Whether it was sexually abusing you, throwing you (under a bus) out on your ear or relegating you to a life of humiliating mediocrity...their only concern was their own egos and their own bellies...If a young corps person were to hold a pistol to his head out of pure despair, the only concern that the twi leadership had was that the blood didn't splatter on to their shoes...

Scum...the whole lot of them

Link to comment
Share on other sites

when the advanced class failed me from healing people, i pinned my hopes on the way corps training ( thinking did i not get it ? )

i also think i was influenced that it was the only way to be really spiritual and help to the greatest degree

i want to apologize to my sponsors i really do

i'm sorry

i hope i didn't change in the sense of acting elite

but i know for sure i didn't come through in helping people more

Link to comment
Share on other sites

but i know for sure i didn't come through in helping people more

One particular year, at the conclusion of the Rock of Ages (I think it was 1973.), Wierwille had a huge healing service, which he directed from the main stage. Over the microphone, he announced that anyone needing healing should come to the front of the stage. Then he told all Advanced Class grads to come to the front, also, and pair up with a person needing ministering. I found myself feeling like something was very wrong. Why hadn't God told me Himself to go to the front of the stage? I lingered in the back and felt extremely uncomfortable because those around me knew I was an AC grad. Wierwille, himself, did nothing special other than yammer endlessly through the microphone. My spectator positioning allowed me to view the whole event as if I were looking at it from an outside vantage point. Whispers began to circulate through the crowd about this healing and that. I, on the other hand, saw nothing taking place aside from the usual ministering situation we had all become accustomed to. There were no *blind gaining sight*, no *lame being made to walk*. Immediately following, a "love offering" was taken up. Money was flowing into the horns of plenty like water from a winter thaw. What a surprise, huh?

When it was over, the guilt began to set in, though. What if God had told me and I wasn't "listening"? What if someone's life had depended on my compliance? It was a gnawing feeling that stuck with me for a long, long time...years.

Looking back, I now find myself feeling like the whole thing was a big theatrical event, staged to bolster the proverbial bottom line. And, oh yeah, I no longer feel any guilt associated with the event.

Edited by waysider
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually,

vpw DID teach a Prosperity Gospel-

but he taught the corps a Poverty Gospel.

And....here's another thing.

The loyalty purge.....was directed to corps and staff.

The debt purge........was directed to corps and staff.

The homo purge........was directed to corps and staff.

Then, LATER......debt directives permeated the whole of twi.

Then, LATER......homo suspicion consumed the whole of twi.

THEREFORE....is twi, now, more fixated on a "poverty paradigm?"

Is the whole of twi consumed by this corps sanctity to poverty?

The corps leaven has leavened the lump. :biglaugh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

when the advanced class failed me from healing people, i pinned my hopes on the way corps training ( thinking did i not get it ? )

i also think i was influenced that it was the only way to be really spiritual and help to the greatest degree

i want to apologize to my sponsors i really do

i'm sorry

i hope i didn't change in the sense of acting elite

but i know for sure i didn't come through in helping people more

There was a LOT of that... you are definitely not alone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There were some Corps I knew who were snobbish. Most, though, seemed genuinely desirous of helping people. I could see real cognitive dissonance in some of them, because they were told from on high to be hard-a-s-s-es, when they really wanted to be tender with people.

George

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even as twi failed in so many of their programs, the corps training was probably their biggest failure.

Yep......the corps indoctrination set in motion all the other twisting and turning

of perversions in twi-cult world.

Was wierwille THAT incompetent.....or did he scheme this isolation dominance for his sexual pleasures

and conquests? Having a corps campus FAR from the mrs. and a motorcoach and bodyguard to watch the door

.....ensured to safeguard from unwanted intrusions.

And, further......wierwille craved the obsessive adulation of followers.

Yep......the corps program was prepackaged for the ZERO TEACHER.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep......the corps indoctrination set in motion all the other twisting and turning

of perversions in twi-cult world.

Was wierwille THAT incompetent.....or did he scheme this isolation dominance for his sexual pleasures

and conquests? Having a corps campus FAR from the mrs. and a motorcoach and bodyguard to watch the door

.....ensured to safeguard from unwanted intrusions.

And, further......wierwille craved the obsessive adulation of followers.

Yep......the corps program was prepackaged for the ZERO TEACHER.

BOTH.

Yes,

he schemed to arrange people to abuse and use as sextoys.

In that respect, he planned carefully, and detailed things carefully,

and succeeded.

As for the entire corps program,

that was the bait for the trap, and vpw was incompetent to actually

do a real Christian leadership training program.

That's why it was all so slapdash and changed a lot from year to year.

vpw was never in any kind of training program, and his time in school

was looking for "soft options"- homiletics rather than church history

or BIBLE LANGUAGES, supposedly a subject he knew about but was pretty

clueless. So, he had no actual experience to draw on- nothing from a

leadership program, and nothing from the actual military he CLAIMED to

draw from with the program. That's why it all seems based on

A) movie cliches

B) passing whims

C) things added on in passing

Movie cliches include the "don't think-just follow orders" mentality

that the real military doesn't have- ex-military ex-twi have made that

very clear, from different branches. He didn't borrow from actual

religious training- except to say they were inadequate while he pushed

inadequate training on people.

Sometimes it's hard to tell which things were slapped on in passing

and which were whims. The whole "you will hitchhike then risk

life-and-limb rock-climbing" thing was a little of both. It was obvious

people were permanently injured with the climbing, and the hitchhiking

was illegal and dangerous, and resulted in rapes and deaths-

but vpw INSISTED it continue. Then there was someone who suggested they

air everything during Spring cleaning and suddenly it became a doctrine.

The only thing that seemed to be added carefully across the program was

the SALES TRAINING- which was Dale Carnegie training taught without

paying them their licensing fee, of course.

Why a 4-year "leadership training program for Christian leaders"

lacked anything professional except for how to become SALESMEN

shows the priorities of those running the show.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only thing that seemed to be added carefully across the program was

the SALES TRAINING- which was Dale Carnegie training taught without

paying them their licensing fee, of course.

Why a 4-year "leadership training program for Christian leaders"

lacked anything professional except for how to become SALESMEN

shows the priorities of those running the show.

Yeah......and even the sales training seemed lacking on so many levels.

In reality, wierwille and co. put together a patchwork recruitment program together

that simply inferred to bring your friends, family, co-workers, whoever to twig or

the next public x [ie pfal class explanation] and twi leaders WILL BE THERE TO SIGN

'EM UP.

In my opinion, the wheels came off wierwille's wagon in 1977.

PFAL '77......wierwille was coaxed into re-filming pfal, and it was NOT used.

Fall of 77....vpw's brother, harry, died. This man was an anchor for vic.

Martindale and Geer were in hyper-allegiance mode to win vp's favor.

An inner circle of yes-men completed the circle of loyalty.

The last eight years of wierwille's life [1977-1985] were to fulfill his legacy.

At the advanced class of 1978, vpw was extremely ....ed at three 8th corps and their research paper.

IMO, wierwille deep-down loathed the corps....only attempting to use them for recruiting purposes.

Definitely, even in closed-meetings it was stated that corps didn't know how to research the verd.

Only the research dept was authorized to do "new" research......what a crock.

The corps program was simply a brown-shirt....er, green-shirt, follow-your-leader program.

Obedience was first, foremost, and the ONLY priority. If you step out of line, they'll tell you.

All that walk by the spirit bible-talk was put on the back-burner.....this was corps indoctrination.

Teachings on doulos/slave, dog-soldiers, staked to the truth, red dawn, mal-packs, deprogrammers, etc.

Recently, I read a thread about Chris Geer's deep paranoia and influence on wierwille.

Together, they fed off each other's allegiance and narcissistic ways.

Books, guns, dog training, illuminati, conspiracy theories, liberty lobby, etc.

The corps were used and abused.....a means to an end.....to build the legacy of the mog.

All those corps grads who STILL believe that wierwille loved them....... :rolleyes:

If vpw's two "achievements in life were....1) pfal and 2) the corps program

then, number one....he STOLE the foundational class

and number two......he failed miserably in establishing a "training" program

I've said REPEATEDLY.....going into the corps program was THE WORSE DECISION I EVER MADE.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"I've said REPEATEDLY.....going into the corps program was THE WORSE DECISION I EVER MADE."

I'll second that sentiment...

I believe that Wierwille stole the idea of way corps training from a program that was run by E. Stanley Jones...it was called the Ashram program, where students lived, ate and worked with their teachers...The idea came from Hindus in India and then adapted to Christianity by Jones. Of course when Jones ran it, it was a loving atmosphere of learning by example versus Wierwille's perverted version of indoctrination and abuse.

Wierwille mentions Jones as one of the Christian leaders who influenced him...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Stanley_Jones

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...