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Your entire post/comment resonates with me. I believe I've said the same thing about the authoritarian structure in different words, a number of times over the last twenty years. I saw it as the accountability in the social structure was bass-ackward in twi. In Acts, the elders held themselves accountable to the people who supported them. IMO, the entire Christian church, at least in the Western world, looks at authority in such a way that the elders were considered "leaders" who must be followed. That's dangerous stuff all around. And I believe that's why sexual abuse is pervasive regardless of denomination.

Yes !!!! A case in point is the riveting film Spotlight - IMDB's brief description of it - "The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core."

Rocky, that is such a heart-wrenching article – and after reading it, I thought of a whole other aspect on the sexual culture and abuse in The Way. I realized my previous post over double standards and hypocrisy just scratched the surface. While reading that article – a thought occurred to me a couple of times. How could some TWI-leaders get that fvcked up? I think it comes down to systemic problems inherent in TWI. I believe one of the biggest systemic problems is the consequence of having an authoritarian pyramid structure with absolute power and influence being at the top – a position occupied by a sexual predator. The next step down the pyramid hierarchy of status and authority is comprised of the way corps. Now the way corps program was wierwille’s baby – he created it and was responsible for it. And one of the most subliminal methods of “teaching” the way corps was in the way he modeled what the ideal spiritual man or woman should be like in attitudes, behavior, etc. I’ve mentioned the pajama party my first year of in-residence way corps training several times on Grease Spot – so I won’t reiterate all the disgusting and offensive details again (I’ve left a few links below of a thread where I’ve discussed it at length). One detail has always stuck with me - the far-reaching ramifications of some of the crazy things wierwille said in trying to alleviate the shock and horror that was palpable in the room after he showed the porn video: “I’ve so renewed my mind that stuff like this doesn’t bother me…Unto the pure all things are pure…Anything done in the love of God is okay…If you’re going to help people in counseling and to get healed you can’t be shocked by anything.” For me, being raised a good Catholic boy with a sensitive conscience – I simply repressed the memory of that night – maybe figuring that it all was way beyond my current level of spiritual growth – I don’t know. Anyway, I wasn’t that impressed or concerned with how wierwille suggested we handle counseling situations. Even before I went in the corps, a TWI-clergy guy introduced me to the work of a Christian counselor Jay Adams and I got into some other non-Way counselors like Larry Crabb. These authors seemed to know what they were talking about and it was straight-forward stuff right out of the Bible without twisting words, concepts and no salacious applications - stuff I could wrap my mind around - not like wierwille's approach - his was too...too...too...out there ...after we were out of in-residence training – I’d occasionally have some vague dissenting thought like “maybe wierwille had no business teaching about counseling”. Later that same year, still brooding over “passing of the patriarch” – I was having even more unsettling thoughts – like "maybe we were all just playing church." Our moral conscience is such a valuable and sometimes precarious thing. I think of I Corinthians 15: 33 Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character. I’m glad I left when I did – I probably dodged a huge bullet by getting out of The Way. Circling back to a question I asked earlier - how could some TWI-leaders get that fvcked up? Maybe some guys were already predisposed toward licentiousness. And being in the way corps – wierwille’s baby - was that a way to validate throwing off sexual restraints? Don't know...just wondering. I’m not saying all TWI-leaders are fvcked up in that way. But on the other hand, if way corps have stuck around for a really long time and are well aware of the bad $hi+ perpetrated by the dark underbelly of the beast (TWI) and they still just look the other way, while they put together another teaching on Christians should be prosperous – that’s also kinda fvcked up in my book too. == == == == = Family Corps in my early 30s the conscience can be cauterized Hoe TWI-leaders model "The Word"

My community believes Phil, and other men trained as ministers in The Way International, are righteous, knowledgeable authorities and that the beautiful women they surrounded themselves with are lucky to be in their presence. This organization, a recognized cult, has significant claims of sexual and spiritual abuse, dating back to the 1970s. In this community, these are swept under the rug and brushed aside as “how men behave.” Is that how your community behaves? Where a man “teaches” sexually starved young women, who believe him to be a friend and mentor, by forcing his fingers inside their vaginas while asking, “Do you like it?” “Let me show you something,” he commanded right before the second assault, as he bent me over his desk and shoved his hand up my skirt. I had arrived intending to rebuild the church database; this was not the way I wanted to volunteer. (excerpted from MyRapistLivesHere.com, posted 3/21/2021)

Hoping for a good outcome for you.