Leaderboard

So glad for all of the previous insights!!! Was thinking this a.m. that in '74 I took PFull-of- class at a family camp in NY, then Renewed mind class camp, and a week later took CF&S at an Ohio camp. (The Wow's in southern VA had not signed up anyone else but myself and a co-worker who I talked in to accompanying me to the P-fil camp that year.) Thus, I was hood-winked into plenty of error and idolizings, along with some good Bible, sure. But being clobbered over the head and fire-hosed with vpw's doctrinal slants, and being introduced to such nit-pickings as how many crosses or cock crows there were (2 Timothy 2:16- avoid pointless discussions)... This was soon followed with more grooming in CF&S and as I wrote in a personal journal- "SO, there i was hooked in... and two weeks later, i was being further groomed as one of the young women who would be privileged to be raped by your young bucks." Am still in therapy and several support groups for various life traumas, and I WILL heal from this!! (Just decided to join a local church which is sooooo much safer, respectful, doctrinally diverse, truly loving, etc etc etc. Onward! And thank you again GSC-ers for the support, insights, and Truth!!!

Kudos to you Annio for being courageous to share your experiences and views of those predatory pigs...it raises awareness and concern...voices like yours are a secret weapon that those creeps never anticipated...makes me think of a bunker-buster bomb - - speaking out penetrates the hypocrisy and blasts open their depraved subculture...I wish you good health, happiness and recovery.

Good morning, GreaseSpotters! This is Charlene chiming in thank Rocky for posting this link to what is in fact my FINAL public talk. For what I say about that: Visit: Charlene's Last Public Cult Talk | Charlene L. Edge (charleneedge.com) I'm here also to thank Pawtucket for risking so much, giving so much, putting up with so much as he's hosted this venue for so many years. Aren't we lucky we can meet here to share our stories, get info, and offer each other support! Cheers to you, brave ones!

Grace – I know what you mean – I have thought the same thing myself many times…but the thing is, we are not all-knowing beings – so we are bound to make lots of mistakes. Actress Helen Mirren said something I thought was profound after winning an award (she’s won a lot of awards : Academy, BAFTA, Golden Globe, Emmy, Tony – so I don’t recall the occasion - but anyway she said) “If it were all truly known and planned and determined, life wouldn’t be worth living, just a giant to-do list waiting to be crossed off…” Something I wrote on another thread( see here ) got into “counterfactual thinking” which is basically how we learn from our mistakes (there’s also some links in that post of mine you might enjoy reading)…This goes hand in hand with what Helen Mirren said… so imagine if you were like an omniscient God. Nothing would take you by surprise. You are fully aware of the past, present and future. But also imagine that is you’re only superpower. You are not all powerful – you cannot perform miracles. You are not sovereign – you have no legions of angels at your command – you do not rule over anything – you cannot even control the weather - but you would be the perfect weather forecaster …and honestly you have no need for God because you are like your own God…Sound like fun? How exciting or how adventurous of a life would that be? If I were in omniscient shoes I’d probably want to help others – mostly telling them stuff like “I wouldn’t do that if I were you”…And if word got out about me being mister-know-it-all just imagine the long lines of people waiting to have an audience with me so I can advise them on what job to take, where to live, who to marry, what diseases, accidents, tragedies, and deaths to prepare for, etc…I could make lots of money in the stock market and always win big in Vegas. Since I'm not invulnerable I’d have to check my future calendar to make sure I’m never anywhere in the wrong place at the wrong time…oh and once again check my future calendar for who I’m supposed to help advise today - so big deal I'm omniscient - doesn't mean I'm not easily distracted. …hmmmm my future calendar is sort of like a giant to-do list to be crossed off as I accomplish each item…yikes – Helen Mirren was right!!!! Now how did she know all that?

Unruhka, I dont get into these forums much, as I did years ago. I still can't believe you made this post almost a year ago before I noticed it. I know about flashbacks. Not just my own but from several survivor friends. My best survivor friend, the one who helped me break my silence in 2017 (about my 1979 assault). was raped repeatedly by her older brother, also decades ago. In the long process of her recovery, she eventually co-founded a national child abuse fighting organization, and knows a lot. She knew, for exakmple, that despite my assault taking place at age 29, the effects of this cult, even though she has no cult background, were as if it had been child abuse, and she correctly recommended a book accordingly. She also has great knowledge about special problems faced by male survivors. And there are LOTS of people in the group she helped start also fighting child abuse. Then in addition to her personal kelp, she also gives me lots of the most critical medicine...laughs and smiles, for she is also my favorite entertainer. IShe can give me that gift in the present...I just watched her entertain a couple hours ago...or from the past, in a role she is very well known for that she had...well, bck in the 70s when she ws being abuse. And I have some other wonderful survivor friends who suffered their hurts as children.Geez, it has been almost a year since you made this post. I hope you are doing well.

I don't know a lot about the Way International as far as inner workings. I know what I've read and what I experienced as a child. I've lived with what happened since the early 80's. It happened between the ages of 7-10. I came here several years ago to tell my story and was immediately called a liar. Some did support me, but the experience traumatized me and I left the forums. I'm back because I can't believe more information does not exist. I know that at least one incident happened at Camp Gunnison, in one of the rooms with bunk beds. When I found the group on Facebook, I recognized one of the rooms and was especially triggered by a room with bunk beds. I remembered that room, and I remembered a hallway with a yellow light. I remember much more, of course, but I will not go into details. Suffice it to say that I believe I was sexually abused while there. I've been in counseling on and off for over twenty years. I started having flashbacks long before I ever got into counseling. The things that I remember are horrific, but I know there's much more below the surface. I'm not saying everything that happened to me happened there. In fact, I'm pretty sure quite a lot happened off site. My father was also a pedophile. Everything that happened could very well have happened independent of the group, after all, pedophiles are always looking for places that they can get access to children. I wouldn't have even written this if Lifted Up had not mentioned sexual abuse as children. It's been frustrating to not find other stories like mine, because I know they are out there. Other than the guy who kept "maidens" for himself rather recently (and this came out a few years after my first attempt to reach out here), I haven't seen anything, even though a research book contains a passage about the Way and allegations of child sexual abuse. So I'm rather at a loss. But thank you, Lifted Up, for speaking out. God bless.