Leaderboard

I just got off the phone with a friend. In our talks, he asked me if I'd gotten this postcard from twi. He and another corps grad in my city received this postcard a few weeks back. Apparently, twi is targeting those who they think might be susceptible to nostalgic messaging to return to twi. For the record, I never received this postcard. Could it be that twi monitors GSC to see who the outspoken critics are.... and then, (obviously) does NOT send them this postcard knowing that it's not possible to seduce and deceive you or me, AGAIN? In my opinion, yes... that's their deceptive marketing strategy. Those who have not done their due diligence in dismantling twi's deception and web of lies is STILL vulnerable to the cult's trappings. Everything that upholds common sense, tells us that twi operates as a cult to instigate total thought reform of the individual. Study Scientology and you'll see the same "steps to enlightenment," loaded language, isolation, destruction of the authentic-self, dependency, groupthink, totalitarian tactics, etc. Seemingly, at this time twi has settled on using nostalgia as a weapon to entice. What is left at The Way International that could possibly lure someone to "come back?" The people, so-called leaders, "friends" and acquaintances have scattered to the winds. Campuses sold off. Programs altered. An auditorium that can seat 1,440 has generally the first 5-6 rows on the main level occupied on any given regular STS. Staff members who do their duties and quickly head back to their trailers after the meeting. Everything reeks of a dying organization. I am sometimes reminded of one of the final lines in the movie, The Devil's Advocate.... where the sleazy reporter says to Keanu Reeves, "Vanity.....gets them every time." Could it be that vanity is used as a form of ju-jitsu to leverage one's past experiences with present common sense reality? I mean, it's just nuts to even consider returning to the trappings of a cult.

Yes when “hunches” bypass clear facts and logic like I posted. Your “hunch” comes from the same place as your labeling of all our activity here “hate”. Simple censorship. No your cult more resembles the KKK than it does Jesus followers. I along with several other clear posters label Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The cult you follow is involved with making brass images of VPW and placing them in prominent places in life. And then denying the idolatry by inventing “anti idol”. Oh the lengths that your brain jumps to when justifying yourself is hilarious. Irrational. And comical. Unintentionally.

Al Capone ran soup kitchens. I guess he was a swell guy, after all.

I tend to imitate your toddler and have regressed in calculus to the point of saying the area under the curve can find it’s own d@mn self.

You mean like teaching your toddler how to do calculus?

I took that class in 1974 or '75. My collateral study was 1998-2018. Lots of new projects going on in the past 5 years.

The road to TWI is paved with lots of intentions…your abundant sharing at work.

I’m going to stick my neck out and say I liked your post; it reminded me of a drive through zoo we did a couple of years ago - I had the moonroof open and a giraffe had its snout poking in! We didn’t have any stretched coffee to offer…oh well… the visit was awesome!

Are there upper and lower case grammar rules in Greek or Aramaic languages? Otherwise, if it's just English, it would seem to be arbitrary.

The postcard is a hoovering tactic.

Hoovering Just to suck you back into the thread, a link to elaborate even further the many ways a person can suck.

Mike has too much “sunk cost” or “invested interest” spent in TWI to ever get honest about it. 25 plus years of grooving that same mental rut. It’s kind of like if JR or Vern came on here to discuss. They have the entire life of sunk cost involved with their positions and structure. There is no way they could be even close to objective. That is why the knee jerk response to suggested change is excommunication. That is why that is exactly what they did in response to RnR. There are many things they could do. But the fruit of their lives as leaders is what they choose TO do. No it wasn’t TWI 3 or whatever that is the problem. It is the entire enchilada. Many others have proposed equitable changes. But the pattern seen is to excommunicate all suggesting them. And to ignore them first. For example can you do their programs and classes unrestricted with a mortgage? Why not? There has been more than ample scriptural research presented why saying a rental lease is not debt but a mortgage is debt is twisted logic. And they have backed off to I think allowing AC class participation with a mortgage. But not programs like Corps or Ambassador. They change minimally just barely ahead of legal trends. Just like the Mormons. And that is why Jesus taught the Pharisees children are 3 fold the children of hell that they were. Sunk cost produces egotistical entitled monsters.

Is it, though? Back in the day, if things weren't going well, we used to say, "We must be doing something right for the devil to be attacking us." Same difference, no?

NO (yes it is funny) YOU made comments about human dynamics and proceeded to generalizations between good and bad cults. You made no indication of where lines are crossed, and where they are not. The dihydrogen monoxide reference is about YOU, Mike.

Dude... YOu involve yourself with various discussions and come up with the craziest ideas and when we disagree you act like you've been attacked...trollshonta malakas laseetay.

You can't describe the difference between good and bad, either.

Duff-admissions Sadomasochist’s role reversal: You know I am but what are you? Constipation bias: preference for internalizing bull-$hit. Circumvental reasoning: the rationale for getting around an argument.

"It's like you're always stuck in second gear." So much of that describes my own experience, it's uncanny. No phone, no TV, no newspaper, no internet and on and on and on. I remember when everyone at my outside job was buzzing about some new TV show called Saturday Night Live. How do you tell people you don't even have a TV and then turn around to pitch them on Power For Abundant Living? Those were the days, though, weren't they, Edith? edit: After one of those grueling 5AM to midnight days, the only thing on your mind was the chance of getting another 5 hrs. sleep.

Harmful and controlling cults isolate followers from society…physically or at least psychologically. I grew up in NY and when I go t involved with TWI, I signed up for their missionary program, WOW, soon after I graduated from PFAL…I was assigned to Washington DC along with 27 other adventurous souls. Moving to a new location with a bunch of strangers might sound crazy to older folks, but I was 22 sort of a free-spirited type with some wanderlust to boot…but still that separation from friends and family can have an impact on one’s well-being. When experts study isolation’s causes and impacts, they distinguish between social isolation and loneliness. Social isolation is an objective lack of social relationships or infrequency of social contact. Loneliness is a subjective feeling of isolation. A person can be socially isolated but not feel lonely. A person can also feel lonely when they are surrounded by people. Nonetheless, isolation and loneliness are very much linked. Studies of loneliness’s causes, symptoms, and impacts shed light on the potential negative effects of social isolation. Mental and physical health are interconnected. Social isolation’s adverse health consequences range from sleeplessness to reduced immune function. Loneliness is associated with higher anxiety, depression, and suicide rates. Isolation and loneliness are also linked to poor cardiovascular health and cognitive function, confused thinking, delusions or hallucinations, excessive feelings of anger or fear, extreme swings in emotion, inability to cope with daily problems, major changes in eating or sleeping patterns. From: Understanding the Effects of Social Isolation on Mental Health (tulane.edu) ~ ~ ~ ~ After I went WOW, I got married, and eventually we decided to go into the way corps program…The isolation process is amped up! We never got to watch TV or keep up on what’s happening in the news and had one “self-structure day” a week to leave the campus and run errands, etc.…. There was a demand for ‘spiritual purity’; when I first arrived for in-residence training there were posters plastered all over the place that read, “the world out…The Word in”… The purpose is manipulative - those who control the information control the person. Isolation tends to foster an “us versus them” mentality – we who are in isolation versus the outside world. I believe I subconsciously used this thought pattern to feel more at ease. But reflecting on that now – I believe it often caused me to make decisions based on subconscious discrimination instead of leaving room for understanding and growth. It allowed me to make quick mental shortcuts. It is easier to make snap decisions based on what I already assume about “them” (anyone outside the way corps) rather than spending time to know one of “them”…the seclusion of the way corps training program was designed to instill in us a rapid litmus test procedure – depending on how quickly one could assess someone or some group lining up with TWI’s ideology would result in either favoritism or ostracism. Information from outside TWI is considered worldly or evil, especially if it opposes TWI’s ideology. Members are told not to read it or believe it. Only the information supplied by TWI is true. TWI usually labeled any information against it as “persecution”, “lies” or “fiery darts of the wicked” … and we were taught to not even entertain the thought that the information could be true – or we could be deceived – tricked by the Devil! Yikes! Common sense will tell you if you do not consider all the available information, you're more likely to make an unbalanced or uninformed decision. However, TWI filtered information - or tried to discredit it- not on the basis of how true it is, but rather on the basis of how it supports or detracts from their ideology. From my own experience, I’ve come to learn that TWI-followers tend to hide their true thoughts and feelings, and instead wear a mask which presents them as a good TWI-follower. This too is a kind of further isolation – a separation of your authentic-self from your adaptive-self. Others in the group only get to interact with your adaptive-self - - and you are interacting with their adaptive-selves. One tends to discredit their own thoughts and feelings as something unimportant, five senses oriented, worldly, etc. This “TWI-mask” is a defense against being reported to leadership and being punished for not measuring up to TWI-standards…This becomes a false-front - a façade that gives the appearance of a more positive picture. We were trained not only to deceive outsiders, but also our own followers...and of course ourselves. Rarely did close friendships form…and if they did, TWI-leadership usually saw them as a threat and would separate those people away from each other by different corps assignments. Any type of relationship – friend…spouse…family…social that had the potential to be more powerful and influential in terms of weakening one’s allegiance to the group and its leaders tends to be viewed as a potential threat. I believe that was one of the reasons for isolation in the way corps program. We were physically isolated from friends and family who might otherwise provide a reality check – besides being cut off from outside information, newspapers, books, TV (when I was in there was no internet ) – all this ensured that the only reality the way corps gets to experience is the one presented by the way corps program…The isolation process made us dependent and obedient… Even after the in-residence training is over, upper TWI-leadership continues to intrude…micromanage…meddle…with one’s relationships with friends and family. If top leadership doesn’t sense adequate zeal and loyalty on your part – you could be at risk of verbal attacks, public face-melting, face a strenuous private interrogation – or even the threat of expulsion. Unless you’ve been through the way corps program – you have no idea of what utter despair, hopelessness and fear of expulsion can do to your psyche – even willing to compromise convictions and give up any freedoms in order to stay in good graces with top leadership and enjoy the comfort of the elite social system of the way corps. ...I found that even after finishing the in-residence part of the program many of those “insulating” attitudes persisted. I felt a sentiment in myself and other way corps that we were the spiritually elite, serving on the front lines – and with that there were also a lot of negative stereotyping of outsiders and people who disagreed with TWI-leadership. I had such a cavalier attitude about keeping up with current events or anything happening in the world – figuring I would always be ahead of the game by relying on what TWI-leadership had to say about something or maybe in a worst-case scenario even God himself would have to show me what’s going on. ~ ~ ~ ~ Enough about separation, groupthink, isolation, us-versus-them, and being expected to cut ties to old friends because of religious dogma…it’s silly to sacrifice real relationships for contrived interactions… …why not reach out to old friends today! just wanted to end on a light note with that picture - - seriously though call an old friend...reconnect

It’s all part of a new theory I have called “absence theory”. You see the absence of rent money caused a couple theologian roommates to start a mail order Bible College. Then the absence of a curriculum and the absence of grades caused the absence of accreditation. This caused the absence of scholarship which left a void. Homiletics as “The Doctor” majored in when he wrote essays plus a void causes plagiarism and the absence of morals. All of this eventually winds up with an absent Christ and a statue and some self published works in place of him.

No Mike, they are not pretty much the same - they have different meanings. Fellowship is to share fully and relationship is how two people are connected. All fellowships require a relationship (husband/wife; parent/child) but not all relationships require fellowship (an estranged brother; tenant-landlord; employer/employee). Our relationship with Jesus is that he is forever our Lord, our Savior, our brother, our advocate, our teacher, etc. Our fellowship with him is 24/7, loving, private, trusting, involves sharing and communicating, etc. When I talk about having a personal relationship or personal fellowship with Jesus, I mean it's just between the two of us and includes the above connections and qualities.

tsk tsk - referencing Shakespeare is one of the world’s most common traditions. It’s amazing how much of Shakespeare’s work speaks to the human condition…even Paul was no slouch when it came to being culturally literate - evidenced in some non-biblical references he made as mentioned in Acts and his letters - it was a good way to connect with his audience what is cultural literacy and why is it important? Cultural literacy is the ability to understand the traditions, norms, activities and historical background of a given culture. Cultural literacy also involves the ability to participate fluently in formal and informal traditions, norms and activities. Cross-cultural communication problems and gaps in cultural literacy may cause or exacerbate health inequity. From : National council org I find nothing in the Bible to indicate that only Scripture is God-breathed …yeah break that down - God-breathed = God inspired….so, Mike who appears to be incapable of separating truth from lies - exemplified by his continued defense of a known plagiarist and sexual predator , has the audacity to declare Shakespeare never had divine inspiration. Man oh man, he is missing out on a lot great stuff in not only written form but in the arts, music, film, performing arts, etc.. God created us in His image and likeness. So who says we can’t be creative like Him? Seems awfully narrow minded to say that. That reminds me - check out the thread 10 traits of narrow minded people

Boy, oh, boy did victor ever love his "academic credential." That phony mail order doctorate was everything to him. Thousands of pieces of evidence, "spiritual" and physical, point to the indisputable fact that victor was not, in spite of his bracelet, a "THE man of God." But his lust for that phony "doctorate" is all one should need to show this.

So which portion of the devil controlled kingdom was it that awarded The Doctor a degree based upon seeing him once and reading a number of essays? Was it the non-curriculum kingdom? Which one of the dancer group was that in the athletes men in tights production?

Sure Mike. Just a Quixotic rationalization to apply a salve to your mind, since you apparently can't otherwise cope when you're caught with holes in your narrative. Am I right, or am I right?

Oh, when I was in-res wierwille was pretty much deified. We were constantly told of his exploits and hardships and all he did for us.....ya....so it still is his and in his honor and memory. The mindless borg that the way corps produces would make vic proud I believe.