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OK... Time for another round of processing after more general cult researching, and reading all of these latest great posts. Thank you all. Crying, journaling, feeling almost unbearable pain, then collecting myself, using my developing critical thinking, then giving voice to the me who wants to come out swinging!!! Onward!! (Comparing twi to Christianity Today's "The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill", 25 hours of interviews, the last one of which was 2020 I think... Soooo helpful) Such a better job by some re: some repentance, some restoration, some closure, some genine following of Biblical guidelines!!!) Thank you again!!!!!!!!!!

And.....MLM pyramid schemes are similar to a ponzi scheme. Notice the pyramid picture.... where I would identify the bottom "investors" being at the twig level. They promo the early "investment" of the faithful tithe. The next level would be way corps who promote all the *return on investment* for those who remain faithful a lifetime (rewards at the bema, crowns... a rich and fulfilling return for all those years slaving away in twi-servitude). Wierwille and trustees are at the top of the pyramid.... raking in lives of privilege, perks, adulation, lording over others. What Is a Ponzi Scheme? A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investing scam promising high rates of return with little risk to investors. A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investing scam which generates returns for earlier investors with money taken from later investors. This is similar to a pyramid scheme in that both are based on using new investors' funds to pay the earlier backers. .

Yes! He was supposed to teach the sunday teaching service and arrived at HQ from Florida Thursday as usual for out of town teachers. Friday, he met with Rosalie and told her that God had told him she needed to turn over the way international to him because God wanted him to lead the way international. Bum's rush ensued. He wasnt around long enough to teach on Sunday.

Appearantly, those concerns were well founded in reality. They didn't stop using donations for personal reasons until 2003 or so. Then it only occured under threat of legal action. Meaning, if you guys keep doing this stuff your gonna get sued...says their lawyers... Even then the cessation was somewhat questionable and obviously a dog and pony show. I used to have to bill Rosalie for work the ground department did at Foxhaven, her off-grounds home with the generator and swimming pool. I was told what to charge and it was pennies on the actual dollar compared to the work that was completed. It was just to say that there were no private innurements currently happening....(It was common knowledge and very well known that wierwille and the trustees lived lavishly on donations including their spouses.) Yet, I know full well that department and cabinet guys were putting personal items on petty cash accounts and pretending the item(s) were related to their job somehow. Anywho, they operate all legal like, even if how they operated has two faces..the public and private...but thats not exactly new either.

I had this cucumber fermenting, I think there's a message on it now.

I remember watching "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" and "The Magician," but i didn't remember the names of Bixby's characters. But "My Favorite Martian"'s Tim O'Hara still stuck. George

2003???? VPW died long before that!! Everyone can go home!!! . . . if we're doing this . . ugh

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. .

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

Thanks chockfull! Steven Hassan developed the BITE Model to describe the specific methods that cults use to recruit and maintain control over people. “BITE” stands for Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotional control. Behavior Control Regulate individual’s physical reality Dictate where, how, and with whom the member lives and associates or isolates When, how and with whom the member has sex Control types of clothing and hairstyles Regulate diet – food and drink, hunger and/or fasting Manipulation and deprivation of sleep Financial exploitation, manipulation or dependence Restrict leisure, entertainment, vacation time Major time spent with group indoctrination and rituals and/or self indoctrination including the Internet Permission required for major decisions Rewards and punishments used to modify behaviors, both positive and negative Discourage individualism, encourage group-think Impose rigid rules and regulations Punish disobedience by beating, torture, burning, cutting, rape, or tattooing/branding Threaten harm to family and friends Force individual to rape or be raped Encourage and engage in corporal punishment Instill dependency and obedience Kidnapping Beating Torture Rape Separation of Families Imprisonment Murder Information Control Deception: a. Deliberately withhold information b. Distort information to make it more acceptable c. Systematically lie to the cult member Minimize or discourage access to non-cult sources of information, including: a. Internet, TV, radio, books, articles, newspapers, magazines, media b. Critical information c. Former members d. Keep members busy so they don’t have time to think and investigate e. Control through cell phone with texting, calls, internet tracking Compartmentalize information into Outsider vs. Insider doctrines a. Ensure that information is not freely accessible b. Control information at different levels and missions within group c. Allow only leadership to decide who needs to know what and when Encourage spying on other members a. Impose a buddy system to monitor and control member b. Report deviant thoughts, feelings and actions to leadership c. Ensure that individual behavior is monitored by group Extensive use of cult-generated information and propaganda, including: a. Newsletters, magazines, journals, audiotapes, videotapes, YouTube, movies and other media b. Misquoting statements or using them out of context from non-cult sources Unethical use of confession a. Information about sins used to disrupt and/or dissolve identity boundaries b. Withholding forgiveness or absolution c. Manipulation of memory, possible false memories Thought Control Require members to internalize the group’s doctrine as truth a. Adopting the group’s ‘map of reality’ as reality b. Instill black and white thinking c. Decide between good vs. evil d. Organize people into us vs. them (insiders vs. outsiders) Change person’s name and identity Use of loaded language and clichés which constrict knowledge, stop critical thoughts and reduce complexities into platitudinous buzz words Encourage only ‘good and proper’ thoughts Hypnotic techniques are used to alter mental states, undermine critical thinking and even to age regress the member Memories are manipulated and false memories are created Teaching thought-stopping techniques which shut down reality testing by stopping negative thoughts and allowing only positive thoughts, including: a. Denial, rationalization, justification, wishful thinking b. Chanting c. Meditating d. Praying e. Speaking in tongues f. Singing or humming Rejection of rational analysis, critical thinking, constructive criticism Forbid critical questions about leader, doctrine, or policy allowed Labeling alternative belief systems as illegitimate, evil, or not useful Instill new “map of reality” Emotional Control Manipulate and narrow the range of feelings – some emotions and/or needs are deemed as evil, wrong or selfish Teach emotion-stopping techniques to block feelings of homesickness, anger, doubt Make the person feel that problems are always their own fault, never the leader’s or the group’s fault Promote feelings of guilt or unworthiness, such as: a. Identity guilt b. You are not living up to your potential c. Your family is deficient d. Your past is suspect e. Your affiliations are unwise f. Your thoughts, feelings, actions are irrelevant or selfish g. Social guilt f. Historical guilt Instill fear, such as fear of: a. Thinking independently b. The outside world c. Enemies d. Losing one’s salvation e. Leaving or being shunned by the group f. Other’s disapproval f. Historical guilt Extremes of emotional highs and lows – love bombing and praise one moment and then declaring you are horrible sinner Ritualistic and sometimes public confession of sins Phobia indoctrination: inculcating irrational fears about leaving the group or questioning the leader’s authority a. No happiness or fulfillment possible outside of the group b. Terrible consequences if you leave: hell, demon possession, incurable diseases, accidents, suicide, insanity, 10,000 reincarnations, etc. c. Shunning of those who leave; fear of being rejected by friends and family d. Never a legitimate reason to leave; those who leave are weak, undisciplined, unspiritual, worldly, brainwashed by family or counselor, or seduced by money, sex, or rock and roll e. Threats of harm to ex-member and family Destructive mind control can be determined when the overall effect of these four components promotes dependency and obedience to some leader or cause; it is not necessary for every single item on the list to be present. Like many techniques, it is not inherently good or evil. If mind control techniques are used to empower an individual to have more choice, and authority for their life remains within themselves, the effects can be beneficial. For example, benevolent mind control can be used to help people quit smoking without affecting any other behavior. Mind control becomes destructive when it undermines a person’s ability to think and act independently.

It seems other groups also make lists…. How many of these also would apply to the Way?

Mid report. So far I am enjoying this cult class from the city on a hill church. I always wondered when in the Way why it got lumped together with other groups like JWs, Mormons. In this class The Way was first. And delved into logically then other groups. It is a feel thing. The tactics and methods of operation are uncannily similar between these cultish groups, regardless of what it is they are teaching, a fundamentalist Bible, an angel delivered golden template, or a method where the mind heals itself and people ascend. They all abuse underlings similarly. They all set up hierarchies of Pharisees who only deal with other Pharisees and insulate themselves from contact with lay followers. They all lie. They all excommunicate and shun others. They all subject followers to menial tasks to show them their place in the hierarchy. They all control the money. They all set up free proselytizing programs that they don’t participate in. From what I am learning in this series I think this is what Jesus meant when he said you know people by their fruit, not their words.