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Excellent responese T-Bone. Mike - so you are saying it's ok for people to steal because everything belongs to God. That logic could hold true over anything then if it were to hold true over intellectual property. Why not go steal your neighbor's chainsaw? I mean God created all the raw material to make it. But lemme ask you this - The way international holds the copyrights for VPW's stolen materials including, but not limited to, PFAL - classes and books. Why do they so aggressively defend their copyrights in court if none of it matters? And to be clear, I'm don't even care about copyright matters in this case. Im concerened with the complete lack of godly ethics from the supposed man of God. Stealing is stealing and God condemns it whenever and wherever it occurs. Just because wierwille stole intellectual works it's still stealing. But you wierwille fan boys have to move heaven and earth aside to rationalize the lies your idol told of himself. My advice, toss Wierwille out the picture and dedicate your life to following Christ and his teachings.

Desperation has set in. More and more people are going to the internet and seeing twi's ruse.....and leaving this cult. The corps program is dismal. Hundreds of corps and advanced class grads have abandoned them in the past ten years. Very few want to be worker bees at twi's compound. As twi's relevance fades into obscurity, the ONLY THING THAT THEY CAN CONROL IS THE MYTH OF WIERWILLE AND PFAL. Controlling this "information" is the key to their survival. Nothing else would hasten their collapse faster than losing "the high ground of this narrative." Yes, pfal was a stolen class from Leonard. They don't care. Yes, there are flaws throughout pfal. They don't care. Yes, wierwille was a liar and a thief. They don't care, GSC has exposed twi in every possible way, from soup to nuts. They cannot shut down this information. They cannot silence their critics. The only thing twi can do is to command (threaten) their followers NOT TO GO ON THE INTERNET. Yeah, that works...LOL. For many, it only heightens they sense of suspicion and concern that twi is hiding something. Yes, they are hiding information. Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism In the book, Lifton outlines the "Eight Criteria for Thought Reform": Milieu Control. This involves the control of information and communication both within the environment and, ultimately, within the individual, resulting in a significant degree of isolation from society at large. Mystical Manipulation. The manipulation of experiences that appears spontaneous but is, in fact, planned and orchestrated by the group or its leaders to demonstrate divine authority, spiritual advancement, or some exceptional talent or insight that sets the leader and/or group apart from humanity, and that allows a reinterpretation of historical events, scripture, and other experiences. Coincidences and happenstance oddities are interpreted as omens or prophecies. Demand for Purity. The world is viewed as black and white and the members are constantly exhorted to conform to the ideology of the group and strive for perfection. The induction of guilt and/or shame is a powerful control device used here. Confession. Sins, as defined by the group, are to be confessed either to a personal monitor or publicly to the group. There is no confidentiality; members' "sins," "attitudes," and "faults" are discussed and exploited by the leaders. Sacred Science. The group's doctrine [PFAL] or ideology is considered to be the ultimate Truth, beyond all questioning or dispute. Truth is not to be found outside the group. The leader, as the spokesperson for God or all humanity, is likewise above criticism. Loading the Language. The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand. This jargon consists of thought-terminating clichés, which serve to alter members' thought processes to conform to the group's way of thinking. Doctrine over person. Members' personal experiences are subordinated to the sacred science and any contrary experiences must be denied or reinterpreted to fit the ideology of the group. Dispensing of existence. The group has the prerogative to decide who has the right to exist and who does not. This is usually not literal but means that those in the outside world are not saved, unenlightened, unconscious, and must be converted to the group's ideology. If they do not join the group or are critical of the group, then they must be rejected by the members. Thus, the outside world loses all credibility. In conjunction, should any member leave the group, he or she must be rejected also.[3]

Yeah, we all know this phrase. I really don't remember it from PFAL and if it was said there, it was something that slid past me. In any event, THAT'S IRRELEVANT to what I want to say here. Rather more fitting than looking at supposed kings' rights, who remembers this, from 1 Samuel 2, which deals specifically with abuse of various types, including sexual abuse, by the priestly class: Eli’s Wicked Sons 12-15 Eli’s sons [Hophni and Phinehas] were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord. Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw. Eli's sons. Priest and Levites. Those in authority in the church of the time. What did they do? (1) They not only took the legitimate portion before it was quite due, but also took what was not their share. They were entitled to the shoulder, cheeks and stomach of the sacrificed animal (Deut 18:3) and it had to be roasted (not boiled or stewed) (Lev 7:29-35) - specifically had to be cooked by fire. They were not entitled to rummage around in stewpots, not allowed other cuts of meat, etc. But they just grabbed whatever they wanted. And further, it seems that they demanded uncooked meat as well. As well, no doubt, as taking what they were entitled to - the shoulder (a lovely part of roast lamb) and other parts. In fact, they were not just double-dipping, they were triple-dipping. What did Eli do? Beggar all. We all know a "priestly" fraternity that helps itself not only to what is due, but demands extra, time and time and time again. And not the portion given willingly or even according to law, but taken, forcibly, coercively, greedily. 22-25Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord’s people is not good. If one person sins against another, God may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death. What did Eli do? Beggar all. (2) Hophni and Phinehas slept with the women who served there. And not just any women: specifically, those who served in the tabernacle. The church. The holy place. Just took these women for sexual servants. Who knows what these women were told? That they were serving the special needs of the "men of God"? It was some special blessing? They'd be specially favoured by God if they gave in to these priests' demands? We don't know - the story isn't about the women. But I doubt they felt good about this - basically - prostitution. This temple prostitution was practised by some of the heathens around and was banned amongst the Hebrews. God didn't like it then-a-days, either: Deut 23:17-18. No Israelite woman is to be a cult prostitute, and no Israelite man is to be a cult prostitute. But this is exactly what Hophni and Phinehas were doing. Treating the women as their right, as their personal cult prostitutes. Probably they encouraged, or at least ignored, similar behaviour by fellow priests. (Lead us not into temptation, Lord!!!) Sound familiar? What did some of TWI's women become? Cult prostitutes - some of them seem to have been passed around senior "clergy" and some were just abused by one or two clergy males. What did Eli do, then? He rather weakly told his sons not to be naughty boys. Eli was an old, old man; he was 98 when he died and had been the top priest for over 40 years (Deut 4: 15-18). Likely his sons would have been pretty old, too. Not young men, or even near in age to the abused women, but tacky lecherous old guys assaulting women young enough to be their daughters. One of them, at least, had a still-fecund wife. Probably both were married and had many children. It would be the norm. God wasn't thrilled by any of these men. Deut 3 records God's disgust and his telling the young Samuel what would be going to happen. Samuel told Eli, who - did sweet FA. Again. Did nothing. Didn't repent, change his heart, get onto his sons any more, just rather passively said, "let the lord do what he wants. Just let him get on with it. I don't care." Meantime, the youth Samuel continued growing with the Lord and following his ways. Some time after the recorded abuse (and no doubt it continued for some time), war with the Philistines broke out (again). Hophni and Phinehas were killed, and Eli dropped dead on hearing the news. I wonder why God allowed these foul actions to continue. Perhaps it was because Samuel was too young to take on the responsibility. Maybe Israel had become so degraded that Eli and his sons were the best that were available (eek!). What is true is that God raised up a real man, Samuel, obedient, faithful, bold, and unafraid to confront evil, whether in Eli or later in King David. And the wheels of God's justice came around and crushed the evil ones. I find that encouraging. While I don't want the head honchos at TWI to drop down dead (I'd rather they repented the error of their ways and made amends), I do earnestly want to see justice. They have had so many warnings. I want these debauched, fake, leaders out of the way, gone forever, so that others can't be harmed. It's time they too got their come-uppance. Meantime, let's seek out real men and women of God, whose words are trustworthy and whose actions and lifestyles line up genuinely with what God wants.

Acts 17: 16-23 (NASB) 16 Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he observed that the city was full of idols. 17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be present. 18 And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers as well were [o]conversing with him. Some were saying, “What could this [p]scavenger of tidbits want to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him [q]to the [r]Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is [s]which you are proclaiming? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.” 21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.) 22 So Paul stood in the midst of the [t]Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects. 23 For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 2 ====================================================================== [When I was in twi, I was taught something specific about this incident. I was taught that Athens had SO many gods that they set up an altar to cover whoever was left out, a miscellaneous altar, and labelled that "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD." Furthermore, I was taught that after this, it was illegal, under pain of death, to bring any more gods into Athens. No citation for any of this was given. I'm now of the belief that no citation was given because there was none- somebody made up that entire explanation out of whole cloth. Apparently, historical sources agree on a completely different story. The short of it was that they wanted to stop a plague. They offered on altars for every god they knew. No improvement. So, they offered up offerings to a god they didn't know, and the plague stopped. They concluded (post hoc, ergo propter hoc, after this, therefore because of this) that "the unknown god" accepted their sacrifice and stopped the plague. So, there were some altars made up to that "unknown god." THAT's what Paul saw and commented on. So, Paul used the monument as his "conversation starter" on Mars' Hill, a point to begin his exposition and explanation. Biblical Archaeology "To the Unknown God" https://odb.org/AR/1994/03/11/to-the-unknown-god https://www.biblehistory.net/newsletter/the_unknown_God.htm I don't know what prompted people in twi to make up explanations out of whole cloth and pretend they had researched something and found that as the answer, but I've never liked that. Allegedly, in pfal, it was stressed not to say you knew if you did not, or to guess. It would have been nice if that really was the practice of twi and not just the profession of twi.

MAybe I'm going out on a limb of common sense here, but why didn't God just give the error free revelation to wierwille in the first place? Why would he need wierwille to collect all these materials and make them error free. Another question: If wierwille made them error free then why has the way international been revising and editing his materials for 37 years now specifically to remove errors and make his materials agree with each other? My former wife was very involved in that process as one of the lead copy editors and I know dang good and well wierwille's works were full of errors and I'm not talking punctuation here. Im talking doctrinal content that had to be queried from way publications to presidents publications to the then research department coordinator D@vid Ch@vousti3. What would all of that be necessary if wierwille made anything error free?

Plagiarism is: a.) Against the law b.) unethical You can rationalize it 6 ways to Sunday if it makes you feel good. That won't change reality. "VPW's job was to collect these revelations God had given to Leonard and to many others and "put it all together." That's not what Wierwille told us... Something, something, snow on the gas pumps, something, not since the first century, something, etc. "There were items in VPW's teachings that were not in Leonard's teachings. There were items in Leonard's teachings that were NOT in VPW's teachings." This is completely irrelevant. (I'm just sayin'.) "He filtered out Leonard's errors for us." That filter must have been broken. There are lots of documented errors scattered through PFAL. One would think God would be a little more careful to fact check His revelations before He gave them. "Ten years later he finally sees the whole 1968 class." So, you're telling me that in the years between 1967 and 1977 he never bothered to look at the original taping? Not even to approve the final edit? Know anybody that has a bridge for sale? You know what killed that little boy? His head exploded from trying to squeeze all this irrational nonsense into it. He scrapped the remake because he realized he couldn't replicate the theatrics of the original.

Moon Pies are a staff of life...without Moonpies there would be no happiness and wihthout happiness there would be no Moonpies.

I would have to say - Do Not Do this Essay! This is a corrupt organization that will use your own words against you to trap, intimidate, and coerce you into following their lead. It's just one more thing for them to sink their hooks in to you.

First aid: praying to God about it Second aid: praying with another believer about it Third aid: getting what most of us call "first aid" ie medical attention

He´d been referring to himself as "The Teacher" for something like a decade before pfal, with that first series he'd filmed. He pushed it enough, here and there, that at least some people referred to him primarily as "The Teacher." I'd heard from NY'ers about a visit from him. There was a crowd greeting him. "The Teacher! The Teacher!" I was told "We always called him 'The Teacher'". If you think that wasn't entirely due to the hard work of vpw promoting himself to being called "The Teacher"..... well, I don't know what to tell you.

vpw's bait-and-switch was sometimes used right in pfal, but other times it was not. If 100% of all you knew about vpw came straight from pfal tapes/films and the books of that class, you'd be surprised to hear that vpw claimed to have been appointed by God. In pfal, vpw was specific about the holy spirit field being a field to which he had dedicated his life. Period. It was a few years after the filmed pfal class that the 1942 Promise was ever spoken to anyone, whether spoken to the early corps or put in print in "the Way-Living in Love." If you focused exclusively on the class, you might be surprised when someone said that vpw made such a claim. (I know because I was surprised, and I felt uncomfortable about it, for reasons that went right back to what vpw taught about revelation.) But lots of people were taught this- AFTER being taught pfal, and after buying into it. Second, yes, pfal ended with references to the church epistles- in the actual film. When you sat a class, the staff would advertise reading pfal materials for 3 months or more. Why was there no such advertisement in the pfal film? One, there WERE no pfal materials to study way back when the film was made. There were a few pamphlets, and that was it. LATER, we got "Christians Should Be Prosperous" - and all class coordinators were instructed- by vpw- to make sure that was read early in the class. So, I'm sure someone will insist that this was NOT something vpw pushed. I'm sure someone will suggest that- since it wasn't in the filmed class, that vpw had nothing to do with it. So, it's important to remember what he DID say on the subject. Over the years, people complained about his practice of "put aside all reading external to pfal for 3 months" thing. Did he take this moment to correct people, and redirect them to read THE EPISTLES for 3 months and chide them for switching to vpw books for 3 months instead? NO. He did take the time to address complaints. He didn't say "My detractors confuse the Church Epistles with twi materials." He talked about the complaint of 3 months of only twi materials. He DOUBLED DOWN on it. Rather thah say "It's 3 months of the Church Epistles, read your Bible!", he emphasized that people should do it. Then he got cutesy, "I'll make you a bet. If you put aside all newspapers and magazines for 6 months, when you pick them up again, they'll be just as negative as they were 6 months ago. I will add, however, that they may be MORE negative." So, once there WERE pfal books, vpw instituted the practice of having the students told to focus on THOSE for 3 months, even if the films/tapes said to focus on the church epistles. Thirdly, the final segment of pfal had a bait-and-switch built right into it. Even though vpw liked to read Ephesians 6:10 to crowds and make like he didn't want people to follow him, but rather The Lord, in pfal he did a bait-and-switch. "Finally, my brethren, I want you to be strong in the Lord.' Strong in the Lord, not strong in what a theologian might say. Not strong in what a Bible teacher may say. But if that theologian says what the Word says, if that Bible teacher says what the Word says, then you've got to be strong in what they say. " This came at the end of 12 sessions where we are all aware he'd been badmouthing all other teachers and theologians as useless for learning the Word, and putting himself forth as some great one, indeed, as the sole Bible teacher who understood what we needed, who didn't actually plagiarize others, but was the SOLE source of sound teaching. So, after 12 sessions of selling himself as the SOLE Bible teacher saying what the Word says, he said that- if you find a Bible teacher who says what the Word says- then you've got to be strong in what they say. What does all of that say, once stripped of the jargon? "God is telling you to be strong in what vpw is teaching." It's that simple, that's what he was dancing around, INSINUATING, IMPLYING, SUGGESTING, but never having the guts to say directly, leaving that for other people, all so he could say "I never said that" if asked. All of that is as elaborate a set of THEATRICS as I've ever experienced.