Leaderboard

I can only say that I led a WOW team, we set goals at the beginning (I had to scale back on what some of my team wanted, they were so enthusiastic) we worked really hard and in fact I drove the team hard. Because in Corps training I had myself been driven really hard and had somehow lost my kindness and compassion. We had some good times, very good times, during the WoW year; we ran a couple of classes, and a couple of lads to whom we'd witnessed went out WOW the following year. Some amazing things, miraculous things, happened at various times. As a WoW family, we were successful. The other family in the team, led by my Corps bro, totally unsuccessful. But I made it unnecessarily hard for some in particular of my family, despite that I dearly loved them. I knowingly set a wrong example on many occasions (even a couple of times is too many). I wasn't the example of Jesus Christ that I should have been; I was the example of VPW and LCM and their thuggishness. Yes, I was the Corps Nazi that you all hated. Confession time: I made it hard for my WOW family and for my team (we were two families). If I could find any of them, I would most abjectly and humbly beg their forgiveness for giving them such a hard time. I am very sorry. I pray their hurt has healed.

I really love the direction this thread went in. I remember talking about how non-Trinitarians could learn from Trinitarians about the reverence that is Biblically due to Jesus Christ, while Trinitarians could learn from non-Trinitarians about Christ's obedience, commitment and sacrifice. Each side holds a position that can enhance the other side's appreciation for the truth! I thought about that reading T-Bone's post, and I am so glad that my perspective (not taking credit for it, just that I agree with it) can help you appreciate the quality and value of life in the now, or as you called it, the urgency to appreciate life right now. I guess on the flip side of that, while I can't say to my kid "in heaven you won't have autism," I can "think big" in terms of finding something, some hope beyond hope that there's a solution that we can have here and now. The analogy doesn't quite hold up, but the heart does. Believers see a future free of heartache and pain. I see the urgency of bringing it to pass sooner rather than later. Love it. And sometimes that desire to see things from a perspective you do not share is the first step to changing your mind, your mindset, your worldview... your thought.

I don't think I did much of what was expected on the WOW field...I remember a whole lot of hype about it and I had great expectations about it...The way your year panned out pretty much sounds like mine. Come into your assigned town like gangbusters – maybe half or three quarters of the way through the year everyone ran out of steam and just try to maintain a positive attitude about everything after meager results from witnessing...usually witnessed about 4 hours a day...worked part time jobs...had little money...scraping to get by... If I remember accurately we were a WOW branch of 7 WOW families sent to DC in 1975-1976, bicentennial year. Our WOW family barely got one class together – can't remember how many in the class – but it was under 7. Our landlord's girlfriend was in it but dropped out part of the way through. The only other student I still remember was a sweet young black lady named Alice who we met going door-to-door – she lived down the block from us; she invited us in and played some gospel records for us – one was about the troubling of the waters miracle in the gospels...anyway she was poor – my WOW brother got us all (our WOW family + Alice) a weekend house painting job – that helped Alice pay for the class...other classes were run – mostly Branch classes - comprised of new students from the various WOW families... A guy in another WOW family had committed suicide – which none of the other WOW families found out about until after an emergency WOW Branch meeting was called for...I just remember reeling from the shock – I was troubled and depressed for a while – I think that was the first time I ever heard of someone in The Way committing suicide and it did not compute with my romanticized concept of what life as a Way-believer should be like... ...at the end of the WOW year we were told that our prayers, witnessing and just standing on “The Word” kept our country from being taken over by the communists...Illuminati...wrong-seed boys...or some such bull$hit...I guess they were giving us some kind of a mental consolation prize for failing to make wierwille's delusions of grandeur a reality – translation = a poor turn out of new recruits...They even made a WOW promo video with a lot of pictures from our WOW Branch – just a lot of hype and propaganda – but we always enjoyed seeing it because it was like a family photo album to us. Like you said “When August and the ROA arrived we felt like we had endured, not served. We were relieved that it was all over. “ The best thing out of my WOW year was getting to meet my future wife, Tonto...we're still together and have returned to DC a few times...not to witness but to sight-see, have fun and enjoy our freedom from a controlling cult.

Bolshevik mentioned something about how atheists value life. I try not to quantify such things, but economics 101 tells you scarcity increases value. No atheist ever flew a plane into a building with the expectation of a reward in paradise. But that works both ways. The flip side is, unless an atheist has an independent reason to believe a "sin" is wrong, there's nothing to stop him from committing it. Good news, in most cases there are plenty of independent reasons to believe a sin is wrong. Like murder. Rape. Stealing. Slavery. Executing people for shtupping the wrong person with consent. You know, things we can all agree is wrong. You know what sins are stupid? Sabbath breaking. TF? Shellfish. Bacon. Turning around because the city you've called home is being consumed by literal fire and brimstone and, I don't know, you're maybe worried about your house or your pets or an actual friend. Cooking a baby goat in its mother's milk. Not saying Yahweh unless you mean it. Those are stupid sins. My point? I'm sure it's around here somewhere. Oh, yeah: I think "who values life more?" would be an interesting thread. But even if I have made statements to the contrary, I can honestly say they are presumptuous. I do not believe there is a simple answer to that question. Mourning is different when you're an atheist. Goodbye really is goodbye. I think I mourn the deaths of children more painfully than believers do. You believe they'll get the fulness of life they deserved. I don't. You think they'll awaken in perfect bodies that will never know pain. I don't. Does that mean I place a greater value on their lives? No. But I put a greater price tag on their deaths.