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One of the great things about Grease Spot Cafe is all the eye-opening anecdotes, personal experiences, interesting books and hyperlinks that Grease Spotters share here. It's helpful in so many ways and it often whets folks' appetite to explore these things for themselves. Escaping the harmful and controlling mind games of The Way International should be driven by something from within you. And probably the first of hurdles to overcome is to work on self-respect – a healthy pride and confidence in oneself – which has been deliberately whittled down by The Way International through various means with the end goal of you trusting what the ministry says over anything else – even your own cognitive skills and intuition… ...In the wake of the ministry-wide meltdown after the Patriarch Paper, all kinds of red flags, questions, and doubts popped up in my head! That propelled me to investigate and reevaluate just about everything I learned from the ministry… It's probably the most difficult part of the journey – the beginning. Because YOU have to THINK – not just absorb what someone at Grease Spot Café said. YOU have to mull it over – examine the matter, analyze it and meditate on the possible actions as well as their outcomes – and then at some point YOU will have to CHOOSE what action to take – and of course deciding NOT to think about this stuff anymore but remain comfortable in your little TWI-world is YOUR CHOICE also. In the 1999 movie The Matrix the main character Neo is offered the choice between a red pill and a blue pill by rebel leader Morpheus. There’s only two options and Morpheus explains the stark difference between the effects of each pill. The red pill will enable Neo to learn a potentially unsettling life-changing truth. The blue pill will permit Neo to remain in contented ignorance. The red pill represents an uncertain future…it would free Neo from an enslaving dreamlike control system and allow him to escape into the real world…Grease Spot Cafe is like the red pill

Yeah, it's like being disarmed and left vulnerable.

Indeed. Fear is a natural human reaction at times. It can be lifesaving. That in PFLAP Wierwille dismisses it seems to be just one more way he set the stage for capturing brains for washing. "Don't be afraid of my efforts to indoctrinate you."

When I went on hq-staff in August 1979 (interim year) and 1981-1984 (after corps graduation)..... I started to see a disconnect in wierwille's mandates of putting staffers on salary and paying them "according to their need." Supposedly, this policy had been instigated since the days Rhoda Becker Wierwille was hired. None of us knew what one another's salary was (accept the Finance Department).... but there always seemed to be this small talk of purchases made that didn't fit into the category of "need." For example, my wife and I were invited to a corps grad couple's apartment for a nice, home-cooked dinner. And, it was lovely. But while we were enjoying this nice dinner.... the husband casually drew our attention to their newly-purchased dining room buffet. He was brimming with pride when he added, "And, we are waiting on our new matching dining room table soon." I held my thoughts and composure, but underneath it all... I remember thinking, "...how does that qualify for need? Wouldn't everyone on staff like to furnish their apartments and homes with two or three nice pieces of furniture each year?" Seemed like my wife and I had much lower "need levels" that what others were getting from their paychecks. One of the unjust realities of living by this "needs basis" policy is the manipulation of guilt. Obviously, we had NOT padded our level of need, because we were trying to emulate Rhoda's example of simplicity. I remember when our interim corps group (9th corps, Family Corps 5) were invited to have a night with Ermal and Dorothy Owens. As Dorothy remembered the early days of twi where staff were compelled to live frugally, she relayed the story that when they invited couples over for cards and/or social evenings.... they served cinnamon and sugar toast cut in triangles. But then.... (thinking back on it all) she never mentioned that twi provided them a nice double-wide unit for the rest of their lives next to the brc. Were the auto mechanics to be paid at the same "need level" as the janitor who waxed the floors? Or the person in the kitchen who did prep work for each meal? What about the heavy-equipment operators.... was their skill level the same as the newly-hired bookstore employee who stocked the shelves? Were the guys who cut the grass at the same caliber of skill as seasoned electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and cabinet-makers? And, why.... after just a few short years did these skilled tradesmen leave twi for higher pay and a better living elsewhere? Whereas the lawn mowing crew remained relatively the same? Wierwille's policy was determined illegal by lawyers around 2000... just after the out-of-court settlement with the Allens and January Barn*s Park*r. So, it took LAWYERS to get twi to change wierwille's mandate that was in effect from 1957-2000. For 43 years, twi was doing illegal practices. What kind of reparations are we going to see from THAT??? LOL And further, twi had us sign those waivers that gave them leeway to not pay withholding taxes... so I have zeroes on my annual statement which reduced social security payouts. Just more cheap tricks by wierwille and twi to ensure power and finances over others. So yeah.... it's good to come here and remind others of twi's shady past. That way, at least, they cannot say that they were not warned. .

In April 1999..... Paul All*n started up Waydale and presented us with a choice. With open forums, lively discussion and an ongoing document section.... we were offered an insider look at twi's underbelly of lies and deception. Paul was truly a rebel leader for our generation. Thank you Paul. Hopefully, you and yours are truly enjoying a fulfilled life.

“An enslaving dreamlike (sleep-walking thru life) CONTROL SYSTEM…. sounds about right for twi. Where they encroach upon one’s own 1) Behavior, 2) Information, 3) Thoughts and 4) Emotions…. attempting to micro-manage the clones “to do the work of the ministry.” Choosing the “red pill” opens the pathway to independent thoughts and actions. Some might even call this red pill choice “Release from your prisons” found in twi’s Blue Book…. the fundamental guide and guardrails that keep you from straying from the cult. And, even though twi has all sorts of ways to manipulate control…. why is it that very few, having escaped, come crawling back to twi’s “sanctuary” love nest?” In fact, testimony after testimony here at GSC gives birth to newfound freedoms. Some might refer to leaving the walls of twi as “an uncertain future”…. but in actuality, STAYING THERE brings uncertainty on multiple fronts. In my experience, the worst possible situation is being field way corps who daily scramble to appease twi- leadership, working for free AND constantly confronted to keep their abs-levels up, with no deep consideration about their future or anemic retirement funds. Pick the red pill to enjoy the thrill of LIFE.

Believing isn't a law either. I'm happy to see that fear not being a law is listed.

This is silly, Rocky. You are mistaken. Honest mistake, I'm sure. Merriam-Webster attribute (something) to (someone or something) idiom 1 : to say that (something) is because of (someone or something) He attributes his success to his coach. His doctor attributes his health problems to a poor diet and a lack of exercise. 2 : to think of (something) as being a quality of (someone or something) The study suggests that it is a mistake to attribute adult reasoning to children. Is it right to attribute complex emotions toanimals? She attributed some importance to the research. 3 : to think of (something) as being made or created by (someone) The poem is usually attributed to Shakespeare, but some scholars doubt that he wrote it.

"Corrupt religion" is not separate from "religion"- it is a subset of religion where it is misapplied. So, if you've seen "corrupt religion", you've seen "religion"- and that's just following the rules of the English language. For that matter, "true Christianity" and "religion" are not exclusive categories, either. James 1:26-27 (KJV) 26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. Here, James was making "religion" sound like a POSITIVE thing, something done by "true Christians." In fact, he gave guildelines for how to properly conduct one's "religion." Yes, the word "religion" in the Greek is "threskeia", which refers to actions, but Bullinger seemed to be obsessed with considering it a diametrically-opposed OPPOSITE to godliness. If James 1 is correct, then Bullinger was wrong, plain and simple. (Go ahead, check his Greek lexicon. I once used the definitions for "eusebia/ godliness" and "threskeia/religion" and how they contrasted, according to Bullinger, and wrote a whole teaching around that, a long time ago. So, that's going to stay with me.) James wrote about right actions. He concluded James 1 with that comment, and all of chapter 2 seems to be about how important it is to ACT rightly, to DO rightly, to PERFORM rightly. He talks about the importance of "works"- of acting rightly. If one is determined to ONLY see "works" as "the opposite of grace and unnecessary for Christians"- which WAS pushed by vpw- then one's understanding will be stunted, as will one's spiritual growth. In the Bible, neither "works" nor "religion" are dirty words.... no matter who taught you otherwise.

The more I know, the more I know I don’t know.

Broke... every... law... wut?