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Matthew 7:16 Jerks are among the fruits produced from being taught up by and conforming to the dogmatic doctrines of VPW and TWI. Those here who are no longer jerks are proof that you can, indeed, go beyond what you were taught.

Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents on the “power corrupts” idea…power from internet definitions: the ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality; the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events; physical strength and force exerted by something or someone. Relating to this thread – the power of a harmful and controlling cult like TWI was their ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. It was an abuse of power…In the leadership…in the military style hierarchy power structure…and even in just the culture of TWI there was both overt and covert “channels” of control that facilitated me becoming the "best jerk" I could be…sometimes I was aware of how obvious it was…but not usually…like how the Moon has influence on our tides. I can look up to acknowledge the Moon is there – but whether or not I do – its influence on the tides is not diminished by me being unaware of its power. it’s been said knowledge is power (see Wikipedia: knowledge is power ) and among other things, that made me think of the internet. And that got me thinking of websites like TransChat, Waydale and Grease Spot Café – having information that empowered people to achieve something many cult-leaders may have thought impossible - – escape the clutches of a harmful and controlling cult. But knowledge as power can be a double-edged sword, in that it can be abused – the glut of disinformation – (a subset of propaganda…which is intended to cause harm) and misinformation which falls under the classification of free speech (no harm was intended) on the internet and social media. Below is something I found on “power corrupts”: What's the meaning of the phrase 'Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely'? The proverbial saying 'power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely' conveys the opinion that, as a person's power increases, their moral sense diminishes. Origin - the short version: "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" is the best known quotation of the 19th century British politician Lord Acton. He borrowed the idea from several other writers who had previously expressed the same thought in different words. Origin – the full story: Absolute monarchies are those in which all power is given to or, as is more often the case, taken by, the monarch. Examples of absolute power having a corrupting influence are Roman emperors (who declared themselves gods) and Napoleon Bonaparte (who declared himself an emperor)… …"Absolute power corrupts absolutely" arose as part of a quotation by the expansively named and impressively hirsute John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834–1902). The historian and moralist, who was otherwise known simply as Lord Acton, expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." The text is a favourite of collectors of quotations and is always included in anthologies. If you are looking for the exact "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" wording, then Acton is your man. He coined the phrase but he didn't invent the idea; quotations very like it had been uttered by several authors well before 1887. Primary amongst them was another English politician with no shortage of names - William Pitt the Elder, Earl of Chatham and British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1778. Pitt said something similar in a speech to the UK House of Lords in 1770: "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it" …Acton is likely to have taken his lead from the writings of the French republican poet and politician, again a generously titled individual - Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine. An English translation of Lamartine's essay France and England: a Vision of the Future was published in London in 1848 and included this text. It is not only the slave or serf who is ameliorated in becoming free. The master himself did not gain less in every point of view, for absolute power corrupts the best natures. Whether it is Lamartine or his anonymous English translator who can claim to have coined 'absolute power corrupts' we can't be sure. What we can be sure about is that it came before Lord Acton's more famous version. Whether Acton was aware of Lamartine's essay we can't now tell. Conclusion: "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" is one of the proverbial sayings that seems to be proved correct by experience of people's actual behaviour. From: Phrases.org.uk: absolute power corrupts absolutely ~ ~ ~ ~ To repeat a key phrase from the above excerpt “The proverbial saying 'power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely' conveys the opinion that, as a person's power increases, their moral sense diminishes” got me thinking - not just about cult-leaders but also cult-followers and the mix of the human condition and the influence of a cult. Yes, in TWI we were taught to be jerks…but to what degree we each individually became a jerk probably depended on a number of things – one’s individual psychological make up, social needs, ambitions, etc.…as I expressed in an earlier post, I tended to be a real jerk to anyone who wasn’t interested in PFAL or wasn’t keen on TWI’s current agenda – which on the TWI- values scale is small potatoes – even though it violates the two great commandments big time (God's values scale) …but for someone who is very ambitious and really likes to bully and control others, hooking up with TWI was like a marriage made in heaven.

It was drilled into me, too, by my professors and Strunk and White. But I think passive voice is tolerated in scientific and philosophical writing. You've read this little book, or long essay, or pamphlet, right? I thought you recommended it here last year or earlier. It's all about why and how we BELEEEVE and why and how belief can be so dangerous.

A necessary one... a$$hole is censored here. Somehow this is connected to "I have no friends when it comes to the word." (Please correct me, if that quote is inaccurate.) That was one of many, many strange or deceptive phrases vic held forth with in "the class" that jerked me out of the trance. At the time, I wondered: What in TAF does THAT mean? Or when my Corps grad twig leader held forth on his WOW year in Rhode Island (c.1980). He and his wife sold exactly ZERO classes.... because everyone in their town was a jerk. Only a jerk, an immature a$$hole, would say or think these things.