Nottawayfer

ROFLMAO!!! That is the epitomy of stupid, and I can't believe I did it: Standing and applauding at a frikkin phone hookup! I left because of the humdrum boredom and residual LCM wannabe. That was back in 2002, and I haven't looked back since. I'm better for it.

I don't know what's cool about it. It's a shame that man's trash caused this. Who knows what internal organs are compromised because of this. Quite honestly it's MAJORLY effed up IMHO. These kinds of things SHOULD NOT HAPPEN!!

I was horrified to see the Oprah show which targeted the Pacific Garbage Patch. It was sad to know that the particles of plastic in the plastic soup water is greater than the plankton, and fish are eating it. I love ocean fish, so it's in MY food chain, and it's darn scarey to me! The other sad picture was of a turtle who got caught in a plastic ring and his shell grew around it. There's no reason for this to happen, and our use of plastics could be brought down to a minimum. I'm sure the plastics manufacturers pay lobbyists TONS of money, so they will never go away. We can make them hurt if we consider what plastic we can live without and make sure we recycle our plastics, paper stryofoam, and aluminum. I see it as investing in the future. We can't leave a trash heap. I don't care what the Bible says. Nobody can convince me it's a reason to to trash this beautiful earth. I shudder to think of the amount of styrofoam containers trashed at TWI HQ. Convenience to move the Word is a cop-out excuse.

Your words really struck me because I saw the face meltings so many time while on Staff at HQ. It's amazing we humiliated ourselves so much to put up with that crap and think it was godly and even OK! In reality, we were led by a mentally unstable jacka$$ (LCM) who didn't even know his own arse from a hole in the ground. We thought God was speaking to and leading him, yet he was winging it and calling it spiritual. And don't get me started on the alcoholic sexual abuser before the mentally unstable jacka$$. GAK!!! I shudder thinking about following men like that.

I have thought about this a lot too, and I am no longer strained by doctrine. I think there are people (like current wayfers and other Christian types) who care more about doctrine than God does Himself. I think the "we have to be right" attitude is the thing that screws people up the most. It causes judgment on others. It didn't seem genuine to me, and fights over doctrine is what religious wars of the world have been about for centuries. You'd think mankind would learn from the lessons. Instead they keep repeating them.

FMLA gives you time off without risk of losing your job. It does not require your employer to pay you. If you have vacation time or sick time, you can use it to get a pay check, but most people don't have enough time to pay for the whole FMLA time (12 weeks).

I was in Portland, Oregon, during Christmas 2006, and he was still in and running a Branch there.

I remember volunteering to work in the finishing section of Printing Services several times while on Staff. When I first went on Staff, there were many hours of work because they were releasing Mrs. W's book, which they wanted to be available in the Bookstore by the next anniversary. It was tedious work. They go page-by-page making sure things were "perfect". Often we would hear the past section coordinator say things to the group, "Ladies, don't forget to do your kegels." And that was mild compared to some of the filth that came out of this guy's mouth. He was an obnoxious Masshole. That's not meant to offend anyone from Massachusetts. He just fit the description.

Come on Ham! Spit it out! Tell them how you really feel. I think one more post will get it out there.

I'd be interested to know. The LC of California is a die-hard ministry supporter. I left the ministry while in SoCal back in 2002. I never gave up on God; I gave up on an organization.

It sounds exactly the say it was when I left after the 2002 ACS in Dallas. It was watered-down, boring, time and money consuming. It just wasn't worth it. I'm sure there are many more people who went who feel the same way. We may not hear from theme here, but I'm sure they are sick of the hypocrisy and boredom. To all Wayfers reading this: It's OK to leave. God doesn't rebuke you for leaving. He can work even better in you without your mind and judgment being clouded by the crap you've been taught. Life IS great outside TWI. I've never regretted my decision, and I'm goin on 7 years out. Life has been fuller since leaving. Quit limiting yourself. Quit limiting God to the confines of the The Way. Freedom is a step away.

I have some wayfers as friends on my facebook account. Some comments I saw were "I don't have superlatives to explain it" and "We are members in particular". That was sooooo inciteful.....NOT! It sounds to me as if these people are still wasting money and time on stupid classes, and they still don't have the gumption to call something like it is BULLSHIRT!!! They grin and act like they are enjoying their lives. I hope they wake up some day. It was a crappy ACS that helped me make the decision to get the H out.

I have mine too. I keep it in my jewelery box. I never wore even though I was in TWI for almost 19 years after I went WOW. Particularly after LCM booted the program, there was no significance to it anymore. Anybody could have gone WOW once they took PFAL. You have to be an ADV class grad to be a WD. It's all drippy and boring. I keep it in memory of that year, and the fact that I think I really earned it.

It's funny how things were so different from place to place and person to person when TWI boasted of it's like-mindedness and "speaking the same thing" no matter where you go. In the late 80s, I was engaged to my first husband. We did the deed in my house when nobody was home. Twig was held at my house, and my arse was reamed for having premarital sex in a Twig home. Yet the Corps girl I lived with went to another guy's house to boink him without any commitments. He had Twig at his house too, but that was OK.

Thank you for that article. It really helps to have someone's encounter put in perspective to see how this deception took place. It's eye opening to me even today that The Way International was dirty and not godly from the very get-go. It's too bad that many people who were searching for God got deceived. I sat through The Christian Family and Sex Class many times. I remember thinking something wasn't right, but I couldn't put my finder on it. I was 19 years old, and I was already indoctrinated enough that I didn't dare question what I was taught.

I think breaking the cycle of pain related to experiences in TWI is an individual thing. There's no prescribed amount of time to heal. Some will just take longer than others. My own personal experience required me to realize that I could forgive wrongs even though the perpetrator never will apologize. It didn't mean that my forgiveness released them from their wrongs, but it freed me from so much toxic mental crap. It took a few years, but I'm over it for the most part. I don't even wish any evil on TWI leaders. They will reap the rewards of their own actions, good or not.

Mr. Linder is the man who has headed security at TWI for many, many years now. He was also a personal bodyguard to LCM. He was known to tote a Glock while guarding the doors of a certain meeting which exposed LCM's activities. Mr. Linder surely knew about LCM's sexcapades, yet he still adorned him. Mr. Linder has been on GSC, and we've welcomed his comments many times, yet he only lurks. The lurkings are part of his job at TWI. He has to make the big turds aware of what the copouts are saying about them. When will we find out if RFR and DM are lesbian lovers, huh Mr. Linder?

Some of the Wierwille family are affiliated with CFF, so I think so.

The Corps got a handout showing how many sphincter muscles are in the body. I'm still wondering how that lead to spiritual enlightenment.

Sure you're a survivor. You had a serious cancer, and thank God your outcome was better than most who are diagnosed with melanoma. There are women who are lucky enough to get breast cancer treated with just a lumpectomy. They are survivors too. God bless anyone who has to deal with that diagnosis. It takes a survivor to get through any part of treatment.

We had chocolate cake in honor of Abraham Lincoln's birth date today.

That's why we were koolaid drinkers. If you repeat something over and over in your life even if you haven't experienced it, you don't want to appear to be a hypocrite. So you go along with it all. Remember what was said if you didn't understand something? We were told to hold it in abeyance. TWI was it's own culture, and most wanted to fit in and become spiritual powermen or women. It's only those of us here who got real and saw how fake the promotion of TWI and it's classes were. It wasn't just about leaving a cult, it was about reviewing what you believe and looking at it for what it really was. Like being on Staff, which was supposed to be a privilege. I'm thinking why was it a privilege to have your life taken over and to live sub par and work like a dog for so little money? We were told it was for God, and He would bless us above and beyond for our service. We believed it at some point. I now think it was them dangling a carrot. We weren't lying about the benefits to our lives. I know I was truly convinced that those in TWI were truly blessed and would receive more than any other Christian group because we were God's elite. We believed that because we heard it over and over and over and over. It's called brainwashing. When I got out, I questioned a lot. But I didn't turn over everything I believed in one day after I left. It was a process.

You and the Mrs. made a BEAUTIFUL baby! Congratulations Pop!!! You will make a wonderful father!

I was in the SF Bay Area from 1990 to 1993. I fellowshipped withe offshoot peeps. They were not part of TWI because of LCM's loyalty letter. Of course nobody confronted the adultery or plagerism. Most of them are still staunch VPW supporters, particularly D*ug S*ed. I saw him at a fellowship in San Diego after I left TWI for the 2nd time. This was early 2003. He was still singing the glory of the original BOT. It made me sick, but it also made me realize I no longer wanted anything remotely close to TWI.