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One of the reasons that cult was so treacherous was that there was plenty of truth entwined with the non-truth and evil stuff woven in. Most people could see the truth, but the cult was so sly, that you were lapping up the junk with the good stuff and didn't know the difference. Once you lived enough years in the world you developed some thinking skills regardless of what the cult tried to instill in you. That's why it was so hard for most folks to leave...and why those who left were stunned at first. It took time to unravel all the threads and decide which, if any, were worth keeping. The cult was so good at it; they could keep you believing all the lies they told while still keeping you believing that you knew the word of God. They were particularly adept at this deception. Sometimes I'm embarrassed about the deception I swallowed. But, I'm thankful for the truth I learned. Some of it must have come from them, some I learned myself along the way, and I'm still learning now some 21 or 22 years out. It was't easy. But - it was worth it to have the truth I now have.

Not sure why I am commenting, as I have nothing new, but over the years since being out, I get moments of clarity on things that I always knew. All of these classes laid a groundwork for what we were supposed to believe and how we were to act. Any hint of thought or behavior that didn't jibe with those primers were alarm signals and justification to reprimand, yell at, devalue, criticize and find some existing 'fault' that needed to be corrected , until you were back to parroting the 'word' taught in the classes at all times. After several years of reproof sessions for various crimes, it dawned on me that I could avoid much of it be keeping my mouth shut, cleaning my room, and appearing to be onboard with any and every thing the way did. At one point, I was coordinating a twig, running a way home, class 'instructor', and bookstore manager for the state all at the same time. Thankfully I resisted going into the corps, largely because deep down I knew I would never live up to that standard 24 hours a day, and had no desire to live in a compound. All those classes created a core group of otherwise 'regular' people who had been indoctrinated with just enough way think to make independent goals and actions extremely difficult.

I find it hard to believe that its been 20 years since I finished my final task............then............TOOK THE EXIT RAMP TO REALITY. Even though it was gut-wrenching to stay those last two months.......it was something that I felt I needed to do. In all good conscience, I just couldn't walk away and leave the whole state of Oklahoma in a mess. The advanced class grads had been preparing for these 4 weekends for nearly a year...........and were deeply committed to finishing the Way of Abundance and Power series by attending this final August weekend. [ I stayed for the advanced class grads of Oklahoma........no one else. ] As I have documented here at GSC the growing chasm of distrust and disdain for trustees, most especially beginning in August 1995 (when martindale assigned corps to be on twi's payroll full-time).........what a fast 3-year roller coaster ride! Once we signed on the line (full-time employees).......they treated us like slaves/property. I am not sure that I've ever adequately expressed the box and conundrum of those three years. Martindale claimed that he'd received prophesy from the Lord for all corps to be full-time......and that with this commitment, the spiritual growth in twi was going to be exponentially prevailing. Expect it. Believe it. We labored for 3 years like it was wheat harvesting time EVERY DAY.........14, 16, 18 hours a day. At the Limb level, it was totally crazy the amount of hours we spent each week to keep up with all the faxes and corps assignments from the trunk. Heck, we were crossing over the bridge into the "Promised Land of the Prevailing Word"......and everyone needed to be sanctified and pure from any scintilla of doubt, fear or evil. Not only were we to keep up with all the new information from the newly-embraced wap classes, but martindale would ramble on for 2 1/2 hours every corps meeting, each week. I doubt that I've ever been so busy in my life.....in getting nothing done. What a circus........with elephant man, bearded-lady, dancing bears, and six-legged goats. I have lived to tell my story.......and what a damn scam I found myself in. When I found Waydale two years later.......a new day dawned. Thank you Paul Allen and Pawtucket.........you two are saints !!

WOW - taking the place of the absent Christ!!! Makes me think of the original lie -- Ye shall be as gods. Thank God I don't have to take his place. What a burden. We can't do that! Ridiculous. Haven't thought that way in so long it's hard to believe I ever did.

Hiway29, Excellent post - spot on - and I can so relate to all you’ve said; I’m sort of the Rob Petrie type (main character on the Dick Van Dyke show) - in other words I was a pushover and would never assert myself - and I SHOULD HAVE resisted all the sales gimmicks that they used to entice people to go in the corps...I pretty much went with the flow of things and did what I was told to think & do...thank god for Chris Ge3r’s passing of a turd paper. That was a great slap in the face to wake me up and start asking what the he11 is going on.

Wow, Mark, this is such a subtle deception that I succumbed to. I didn't even ponder it until this very moment. Nowhere in the bible does it say we take his place - I just checked - but I went along with this because of this verse: Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. What a stretch from praying on behalf of Christ to taking his place! None of us could do that, even if we are doing those greater works than he did. The most we can be is part of the body. WOW!!! Thank you so, so much.

Make indoctrination great again ! Indoctrination tip of the week: If the cult-leader says it, that settles it. mmmmmm great Kool-Aid !!!

20 years is a lifetime ago...... But then, there were those who left the cult in the early 70s.......45 years ago. And, those who left in the mass exodus around 1987.......30 years ago. Yeah, of course.......I wish that I would have left years earlier. But then, I wouldn't have seen firsthand how decrepit and demented wierwille's organization/doctrine would falter. With martindale at the helm, we were oblivious of what would lie beyond the fog. Yet, even after all of this......rivenbark had NO ANSWERS either. The blind were (and are) leading the blind. And, STILL it got worse. The R&R group of corps exited LAST YEAR. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Greasespot Café stands as a living, breathing testament of personal stories withstanding, enduring and escaping cult indoctrination. How long will people keep coming forward to tell their stories? How long will there be a need for this site?

All I ever wanted was to get to know God and become a better man. Little did I know about the depth and depravity of vpw and his henchmen. Great post skyrider.

Hey, Rocky...........imho, neither of the two. Wierwille relished in his arrogance of power and control. Embodying an array of narcissistic pathologies, he envisioned his cult organization as the exclamation point in this contorted dispensational-theology, a perverted version of lustful "grace." And, by bringing "his keedz" to the wierwille farmstead, whatever mixture of childhood demons that haunted him........were foisted upon the rest of us in this hall-of-mirrors of his paternal german wierwille lineage. I seriously doubt that few will ever uncover the reasons why wierwille roamed the grounds at night...... That's my $.02