Ham

Wouldn't it be nice.. To enroll your child in a karate, or dance class, or music lessons.. To be able to disagree with your employer, about ANYTHING. To be able to study the Bible, on your own. To be able to spend what little money you have, as YOU see fit. To be able to spend Thanksgiving, with your own family. Just to be able to take your family, put them in YOUR car, and take them out for a nice, unscheduled ride in the country on a nice, Sunday afternoon..

Cripe, these aren't even HALF of the freedoms outside of the Gulag called The Way International. Not even half.

To live in a REAL house. Not the paper thin walls of founders hall, or in a defunct trailer.. To go on a honest to goodness, real, old fashioned VACATION. Even for just a whole week. No strings, no obligations, maybe even just BY YOURSELF. No reporting to superiors where you're going, who's going with you, who you are going to talk to, what you are going to talk about, just telling them when you are leaving, and when you are coming back. To have no extra demands on your time and talents, past a normal forty hour work week. To be able to have kids, without a committee deciding when and if you can. To have a few stinking pets. Maybe just a dog, or a cat.. To be able to spend a decent amount of time with relatives, who are not involved in da Vey, without close scrutiny from your superiors. To be able to just go to the bathroom without signing out on some dreaded form. To have sex with your spouse, when and if you and he/she sees fit. To have cable or satellite TV. To have just a FEW guarantees in life.

Nice how the "pick and choose" what they want. What about "the laborer is worthy of his hire" and "thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn"? They have violated the mandate of love, even in the law, for so many years, I would say enough is enough. Let the "unbelievers" court system have em. What can they do? Fire every stinking staffer and start over? Have Li**er run every one of them out on a rail? I think not. It would be a public relations nightmare and black eye worse than anything else they have endured in the past. Staffers have more power over them than they could possibly imagine. Perhaps they just don't know it..

A lot of the children's activities were kind of nice. The train, the ride on the (1929?) red fire engine, even a petting zoo one time I remember. All kinds of stuff beyond the children's fellowship. I remember when they blocked off a parking lot and filled it with water, even older folks enjoyed it to get out of the heat. I kind of thought it was neat, that the ministry was actually growing up in a sense, and trying to do something to bless families- i.e., those with younger kids. Sure didn't last long.. With current conditions, I bet there are not very many young kids there, for anything. Kind of sad in a way.

Nah, can't be. Satori does not have fleas..

A visit from an OSHA representative would be interesting, likewise. From what I understand, all they need is ONE phone call from a distraught "member" or "non-menber" for that matter. Since TWI is an employer, they MUST comply and allow said inspection. The employee does not even have to leave a name on the answering machine. Unless there has been significant changes in that place during the last 7 years, there is a readily apparent lack of any kind of handicap entrances and the such. Could be a pretty big mess.

But you have to admit, they are slowly extracting themselves from the web of deceit. Why, just last year they finally figured out that sleeping with various pets and farm animals was not all it was cracked up to be. I could almost hear all of the wailing from followers, forced to abandon a one time honored practice.. Well, they ought to get used to it. Takes a LOT of sacrifice to be a disciple of da vey..

Plus, the "workers" have a vote to bring in the union. And it is supposed to be confidential. Wouldn't that drive Rosie and gang nuts? They would have no way of knowing who voted in which manner..

Interesting. Seems that the major objection to one attempt was that the professors were too involved in a managerial position. You could hardly say that for staffers in TWI. Seems there are only five real managerial positions in that whole outfit. But it would be fun to watch. All the staffers would have to do would be to go to UAW or something, I would imagine. No lawyer fees, no nonsense.. and I bet the union would LOVE to work the SOB management over, just for the fun of it. Can you imagine their response? "Well, they are our slaves, biblically speaking. We have the right to do with them as we see fit..." Things would get straightened out, one way or another.

Maybe the staffers could clean it up another way.. The Vey's second greatest fear, UNION. The Vey would have to do some REAL creative legal wrangling to try to "fix" that.. can't just fire them for asking for union representation. At least legally..

Nope. I think we were instructed (coerced to believe) that something like that would just not be the loving thing to do, to say the least. Seems they hated the government. Any kind of governmental involvement- that it was downright evil or something. The poor staffers probably could really put the screws to them, if they had a mind to.

I still say he was on something stronger than Drambuie.

That's an understatement, Belle. The "lost" thread comprised of Satori in his finest hour.. Its around here somewhere.. maybe JL has a copy of it he can share with us. Oh, welcome back! Hope you enjoyed yourself.

OK.. a little more specific. "If I left the ministry, I would be better off dead" was spoken during an "inspirational" weekly teaching. And the crowd just sat there and agreed.. ptooie. Another specific: "If you leave, you will go back to what you came from like a dog returning to its vomit"- it may be debatable whether said person would return to a worse condition- but that's not the point here. Exact quote. I think it was a fairly common belief that before involvement with Der Vey, our lives were going to hell in a handbasket. Even if the reality of the situation was very different.

Actually they did not have any real specifics, or a revelation coming from their pipeline to hell, as to what "da master" (theirs) had in store for me. But they sure did for others. And usually it was an afterthought. "See? That's why they got so sick, they forsook da truth, and Satan had at them coming and going". Case in point: Loy's vile defamation of two loyal followers: Unbelievable Stupidity Can't leave good ole "Mrs" Loy out of this either. She castigated the Po**ings for the death of their daughter. The point? For me, the fear of da debil was left as bland and as generic as possible, but assurances that SOMETHING would happen if I turned the wrong way on the path was made and implied in some pretty certain terms.

I feel the same way about what was said about other folks that were really, really nice- at least when I knew them. But some of the nicest people were mutated into monsters.

I dunno. I saw some guys riding that thing down W. Road like it was some kind of amusement ride or something. Yep.. once things became "mandatory" it lost a lot of appeal. Overall, I have some good memories, but it really was over-priced camping. I remember one year, I think 93, there was a complete lunar eclipse. Only myself and another couple other guys that I could see stood around watching it- yet it was more interesting than the prior evening teaching.

Car*l*n Mo*ica was also ordained.. don't remember which corps she was from though. Well, Tick was a german shorthair, not a german shepherd. Might be tough to make the accusation stick. But considering what was going on in that joint, I guess that almost anything could go..

I wonder if their eyes glow in the dark, like in one of those old horror films, I think it was called "Satans Lot" or something like that.. But it is obvious that they have some kind of power over people. How else can they get a group of otherwise kind, intelligent folks to circle their wagons around a really oppressive bottom line, doctrinally speaking. And to get otherwise kind, intelligent folks to ignore the "indiscretions" of the past prez, along with the reputation and conduct of those in charge now. They have to be friggin blind. I was at one time too. Just couldn't even think they could do any wrong. I think the bastards know full well what kind of manipulation and deceit they are embracing. The Way Ministry sleeps with Satan? Well, if the shoe fits, perhaps they should wear it.

Oh well, fun while it lasted. Such a thread makes such great fodder for an over-active imagination.

OK, "Mr." Lin**r, since we know that we have your attention from the developments from the deleted thread, please pass Belle's REASONABLE request along to "Mr." Moneyhands.

But how often we (at least I did..) INSISTED on having one, for our very own..

Well, I met quite a few that actually did take that position. But it cost them. Either quit, or forced out, or thrown out, or etc. etc.. I think it would have cost them a heck of a lot more to stay in.

Yep. And then I figure they've got to do what they've got to do. Probably a lot of what they do is written in a standard operating procedure somewhere too. Just personally, I think a little more stealth would go a long way. But who knows- maybe the criminals would cry foul because the cops wouldn't be playing fair..