jkboehme

Per HCW: HCW, to me this is an excellent example of what I have been referring to as the difference between one’s true historical self within the context of one’s general reality orientation as opposed to TWI-induced cultic, synthetic pseudo-self & pseudo-identity. This is obviously not the same as multiple personality disorder. Before leaving the cult, it seems to me that all of we ex-twi have wavered back & forth with an internal mental battle between extant reality and illusory wayworld. As long as the TWI-induced pseudo-self dominated, 'we' remained in TWI. But typically some event occurs that is sufficient enough to awaken us from our reverie of TWI- induced bedazzlement and transfixion. It is then that our true self begins to once again dominate, & we can begin the long process of somewhat ridding our true selves of the major vestiges of TWI-induced thought reform.

OM: In my opinion, since Herr Vierville stole his material, both proximately & remotely from the arcana of hermetically oriented sources, I personally doubt there were any ‘pure’ Biblical ‘truths’ in TWI to be discarded. Essentially everything TWI taught as supposedly Biblical was intermixed with the hermetic genre. And someway, somehow, if something theoretically 'pure' did escape Herr Hierophant Vierville’s depraved eye, the pall of TWI’s loathsome practices would have corrupted what could have been an altruistic action. Could it be that veepee was blind in one ‘eye’ & couldn’t see out of the other one, ‘spiritually?’ Could it be that his one functioning ‘eye’ was filled to overflowing with unbridled iniquity, and if full of such poison, then how great was that destructive darkness that he spewed forth? Speaking of hermetic emanations, let’s not forget TWI’s take on its teaching of supposed spiritual emanations: All Biblical ‘truths’ must fit within the framework of the 9 ‘manifestations’ [emanations]; and, likewise, all of the 9 manifestations [emanations] must fit within the framework of the [TWI-defined] written Word. This is circular pseudo-logic. It is a logical fallacy. Could it possibly be that which is of the flesh is flesh; that which is of the spirit is spirit? Could it be that which is of the Bible is biblical, and that which is of the Hermetic Arcane simply is the perennial philosophy, no matter how disguised? Hermeticism: Coherent systems of belief characterized by a concern that it is not philosophical reasoning but divine revelation leads to truth. The philosophical Hermetica teach THE WAY by which the soul can ascend to the divine realm above the realm of the fixed stars from which it has come down. There the soul mingles with the divine powers, comes to ‘see,’ that is, to know God (enlightened understanding or ‘gnosis’), and to essentially attains ‘salvation,’ becoming a god-man (cp. Teutonic Nietzsche’s ‘superman’). This deification involves a tiered process (cp. foundational, intermediate, & advanced ‘classes’) of Hermetic instruction culminating in the inner experience of mystical initiation and enlightenment or ‘gnosis,’ termed being ‘born again.’ The salvation of the soul consists in its deliverance from the bonds of the body and its return to divine origin. The indispensable prerequisite for this return is an ultimate spiritual understanding (gnosis) of the real nature of mankind, of the cosmos, and of the divine world. Hermeticism places much more emphasis (than Gnosticism) on a systematic instruction in ‘the way’ of Hermes, leading up to a final initiation into the Hermetic mysteries culminating in mystical experience. In Hermeticism, while God is unknowable is His essence, he nevertheless can be comprehended or at least apprehended by the human mind. In Gnosticism there is less interest in the intellectual aspects of the way to gnosis, emphasis being placed on the gift of gnosis as the direct experience of salvation and enlightenment. To the Gnostics, the supreme God was inaccessible to the human mind. In both Hermeticism and Gnosticism the basic ideas are: the fundamental identity between the soul and the divine & the final goal of the return of the soul to its origin, its reunion with God. Although there are some similarities between Hermeticism and Gnosticism, there are many differences as regards theology, cosmology, and anthropology. TWI contains elements of both Hermeticism and Gnosticism, but a much larger proportion of Hermeticism. Gnosticism: Coherent systems of belief that are characterized by an absolutely negative view of the visible world and its creator (the ‘demiurge’) and the assumption of a divine spark in mankind, his inner self, which has become entrapped within the material body as the result of tragic events in the pre-cosmic world, from which it can only escape to its original, divine origin by means of the enlightened understanding (‘gnosis’), which confers salvation. It speaks of God as ineffable, immutable, invisible, & unbegotten. Gnosticism could be classified as ‘negative theology’ or nihilistic universe maintenance. Arise & go forth, OM, & separate 'Truth' from 'error!' :blink:

TheEvan: I wonder why it took several years for corporate TWI to endeavor to dump some probably innocent DFAC names to the IRS? Backstabbers they are!! There still seems to be an element of 'disconnect' here. Have you ever heard if anyone requested and received FOIA {Freedom of Information Act} materials from the IRS outlining exactly what the IRS' findings were & the 'logic' of settling for a jumble of mere DFAC names?

OM: I'm reasonably sure that such teaching by Herr Vierville, if believed, would be a welcome relief to a suffering, guilt-ridden former RC. Sorry OM, but since I found out about TWI's decades of criminal duplicity, with the resultant unimaginable hurt that this eggregious betrayal has both caused & continues to cause me , I have not as yet found it in myself to trust any supposed 'spiritual' source, its exposition of supposed 'spiritual' material, no matter who or what it is. I'm glad you that you appear to be so reassured. Apparently we will, for the moment, have to agree to disagree. ;)

QUOTE(TheInvisibleDan @ Nov 30 2005, 01:09 AM) ... The essential elements providing the potential for the mind-control stuff you described is already present in the Bible, as well as throughout other religions. There's seemingly little "new" about the brain-washing techniques you described. Religions -both true and false alike -have been employing these for centuries. Danny_____________________ Per OM: I agree...good points. I bet Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus, among many other examples, generated some pretty remarkable neuron changes in Paul's brain. Golly, I wonder if Jesus was even concerned imperiling Paul's Constitutional First Amendment rights when he assaulted Paul with non-consensual thought reform packaged persuasion? _______________ Paul's conversion: This is the very example VPW used at a lunch-time sharing @ Emporia in 1978 when he was bashing the book by Conway & Siegelman, SNAPPING. VPW couldn't very well let a little validated neuroscience get in the way of his cult-dom, now could he? You & your Vader Herr Vierville make such a nice epistemological pair! Paul's rights as a Roman citizen: Even though much of Roman law is the precursor to English law & subsequently USA law, unfortunately, as far as I know, the Romans had not yet elaborated the equivalents of our First Amendment rights. We will need to keep in mind, however, that perhaps, just perhaps the intercessor, mediator, & defense attorney might have 'mosseyed' up to the Bench for a brief conference that would forever foreshadow that ultimate eventuation whereof you speak? After all, who has known the mind of God that he might instruct Him? Only you, Job, VPW, & LCM? :D

Hi OM: Whatever the ‘true doctrines’ of Christianity are, I will leave both that discussion & parsing up to you & those folks who possess a proclivity for the doctrinal forums. Other than as stated above, I have NO interest in it. Nevertheless, since I have pointed out the proximate & remote sources of much of TWI doctrine to be of hermetic arcane origin, I will then ask of you to please elucidate the non-hermetic ‘true doctrines’ of TWI? I'm listening..............Will Mithra call your name? Not that this TWI doctrinal banter is of any enduring or substantive significance for me. My concerns continue to be the unethical (&? illegal) CONDUCT of TWI.

Per Belle: *************************************************************** Belle, one technique in the induction of an altered state of consciousness is the induction of a mild ‘daze.’ This is somewhat comparable to the transfixion we experience when driving an auto for long distances & then being ‘unable’ to recall a significant amount of the trip. Some academics term this as a somnambulistic tendency as ‘eyes wide open’ trance induction with heightened susceptibility to ‘suggestions.’ One manner in which a cultic exploiter might induce this daze of reverie and transfixion is via what is termed naturalistic, conversational trance induction, which utilizes certain styles of speech to pace and lead the victim, with indirection, implication, and anchoring. Within the context of this pacing & leading method of induction is the presentation of information as though it were logical when it obviously is not logical. This generates a mental conflict in the victim leading to a mildly bedazzled alteration of consciousness as noted above, once again with heightened suggestibility. This mental conflict also induces an anxiety state such that the victim feels compelled to seek a rapid resolution, even if the resolution is not in the victim’s best interest, which typically it is not, because the exploiter’s purpose to get 'you' to act rashly & in the implied manner that the cultic exploiter has designed just for you. :o

If I am recalling correctly, it seems as though, at various times, both TJ & Hayes Gahaygan taught the Blessings of Liberty Class at annual WIBP events. It also seems that either TJ &/or L***y Pan****lo taught about the ‘red thread’ of underground ‘christian’ movments going back to the early Gnostics, Paulicans, Bogomils, Cathari, Erasmus, John Calvin, Heinrich Bullinger (ancestor of E.W. Bullinger), Martin Luther, John Wesly, Jonathan Edwards, etc. The Blessings of Liberty Class was taught by Rep. Hayes Gahaygan at the Emporia Campus in 1978-79 with the 7th & 9th WCs being in-residence. He also presented material regarding the CPA {Christian Political Alliance}, a cover organization for TWI political support for various candidates, such as Gahaygan’s running as the federal Senator from Maine........ _______________________________________________________ From the Portland Phoenix {Portland, ME} BY AL DIAMON Issue Date: November 5 - 11, 2004 Forget the doofusses who prevailed at the ballot box on Nov. 2. It’s time to honor the real winners of the 2004 election with the most coveted of political trophies: The Gaggie. The Gaggie is named for Hayes Gahagan, whose independent US Senate candidacy in 1978 is best remembered for his claim that persons unknown had altered his advertising to insert subliminal pictures of genitalia in his hair. These awards are presented to those who embody the Gahagan tradition of being a couple of lawn signs shy of a campaign. _______________________________________ I think VPW placed Jimmy Doop to head the Gahaygan campaign for TWI: money, support, people, etc. As ToadFriend noted, this incident induced the IRS to set up camp on TWI HQ for several years to audit TWI’s books. It seems odd to me that intensive IRS investigation was somehow just dropped; I smell a plea bargain or possible bribe somewhere in the mix. :unsure:

Per Danny: I do think he was intelligent enough to do so. His education exceed that of Sun Young Moon (?sp), L. Ron Hubbard, Elizabeth Claire Prophet, & most cult leaders. I could not honestly equate dispensing with one’s true historical self with the same as TWI-styled ‘renewed mind’ thought reform & covert packaged persuasion. In the typical protestant main-line denominational churches of our era, no pressure in placed on individuals to perform in certain way, nor is there the strong emphasis on leaderships’ unquestioned ‘authority’ with corresponding ‘balls to the wall obedience’ (the latter a favorite phrase of lcm). However, numerous cults, such as TWI, do ‘demand’ this level of performance ‘churchianity.’ I would disagree. In a healthy-minded denominational church, there appears to be no pressure to mentally or physically alienate oneself and family from the ‘world.’ These more so balanced folks appear to realize that they are in the world, but not of it. I strongly disagree. Thought reform, covert packaged persuasion, coordinated programs of psycho-social coercive persuasion, etc. are NOT taught in the Bible. Certain religious bodies of course operate in this fashion, but they have crossed the line & imperiled their Constitutional First Amendments protections, having transgressed the intrinsic ‘no harm’ rule of jurisprudence in these matters. What appears to be taught in typical denominational main-line churhes is a manner of non-coerced, gentle, gradual, elevation of disposition, the ethical high road, as it were. I disagree. Unethical cults have been practicing some form of thought reform techniques for centuries. As state above, these have been refined since the 1960’s with an emphasis on attacking one’s self & destabilizing one’s general reality orientation. Also, the Roman Catholic hierarchy, especially in its Jesuit arm, have often times crossed the line from consented elevation of disposition, to coerced thought reform, most notably via the ‘spiritual exercises’ of St. Ignatius of Loyola. More recently, there is some concern with the extreme practices of Opus Dei. Why would people injured by the Jesuits and Opus Dei not resort to legal remedies? The fate of predatory priests yields a reasonable legal template to follow. There would appear to be an unmistakable charitable chasm between healthy ‘spirituality’ and sick (pathological) cultic religion. ;)

Good point, OM. I should clarify & qualify that I have no enduring or substantive interests in the sources of TWI doctrinal theory, other than to determine VPW's who/what/where/why methods. For whatever reasons, this assists me in my ongoing personal recovery. Therefore, I am not interested in TWI theory, except as it pertains to: Noting in detail the sources from which vpw stole the material; Why he chose to plagiarize a certain aspect of a given author, or particular elements of the hermetic arcana; How he hybridized the stolen material with his own private interpretations; Then, the internal consistency of VPW's syncretic system, a hodgepodge of hermetic arcana, fundamentalism, pentecostalism, revivalism, & others not coming to mind right now. Also of non-enduring interest is that VPW chose the structure for his 'ministry' as along the lines of an English sect, the Plymouth Brethren, known among other things for its fundamentalistic home-based meetings, & a sect well known to both E.W. Bullinger & George Mueller. My abiding, primary concern is with TWI's unethical & probably illegal activities that casued harm, injury, & detriment to its members. That is, my focus is TWI's CONDUCT, PRACTICES, ACTIONS, BEHAVIORS, DEEDS, etc. That my primary interest has to do with TWI's misconduct does not negate my passing curiosity as to the sources of its misrepresentations. Thanks for highlighting this point of order that I should have already clarifed and qualified for our readers.

Per rascal, re information on TWI’s thought reform programs, In my opinion & in all likelihood, rascal, you were neither naïve or foolish, but just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time with a transient vulnerability. When we hear of cults, scams, and individuals’ being controlled and influenced by others, we instinctively try to separate ourselves from these persons. It seems a point of valor and self-esteem to insist that “no one could get me to do such things” when hearing about situations of intense influence. Just as most soldiers believe bullets will hit only others, most people tend to believe that their own minds and thought processes are invulnerable, contributing to the ‘Not me” myth. People like to think that their opinions, values, and ideas are inviolate and totally self-regulated. They may grudgingly admit that they’re influenced by advertising. Beyond that, however, people want to preserve the comfortable myth that only other people are weak-minded and easily influenced while they are strong-minded. Even though we all now know that human minds are open to influence – whether or not that is a comfortable consideration – most of us defensively feel that we could never be scammed, even by master exploitative manipulators such as vpw & lcm. There is an almost universal aversion to accepting the idea that we ourselves are vulnerable to covert coercive packaged persuasion. So rascal, my opinion is that we were all scammed by the new age cultic manipulative influence techniques of TWI’s unethical compliance professionals, vpw & lcm. Hopefully you will no longer blame yourself and feel foolish or naive.

In my opinion, your true historical self, in the personal context of your own general reality orientation, was purposefully destabilized by TWI in order to soften you up mentally for the non-consented covert packaged persuasion that VPW dumped on you at a time when you were temporarily vulnerable and therefore much more susceptible to conversational daze induction. There is an important distinction to be made between the political thought reform of the 40’s & 50’s as opposed to the newer techniques utilized by TWI. The newer versions have been built on the edifice of age-old, subtle influence techniques to all but perfect amazingly successful coordinated programs of non-consented persuasion and change. What’s new and crucial is that these strategically coordinated programs change attitudes by attacking essential aspects of a your sense of true historical self, unlike the older thought reform programs that primarily confronted someone’s political beliefs. TWI’s strategically coordinated programs were purposefully designed to destabilize your sense of self by undermining your basic consciousness, reality awareness, beliefs and worldview, emotional control, and healthy mental defense mechanisms. This attack on your central stability, or concept of your true historical self, & on your personal capacity for self-evaluation is a major technique utilized by TWI. Moreover, this attack was carried out under a variety of TWI-designed guises and conditions – which probably did not involve forced confinement or direct physical coercion - but rather TWI utilized a covert, subtle and powerful psychological process of destabilization and induced dependency. Thought reform is not experienced as a fever or pain might be; it is an invisible social adaptation. When you are the subject of it, you are not aware of the intent of the influence processes that are going on, and especially, you are not aware of the non-consented changes taking place within you. A coordinated program of TWI coercive packaged persuasion is not a one shot event but a gradual process of breaking down and transformation to the point that ‘you’ develop a new mental outlook and a new psychic attitude, the TWI cultic ‘new man’ in its hermetic ‘christ,’ enamored of its bogus ‘mystery,’ & inspired by the counterfeit knowledge of ‘the law of believing’ & ‘manifestations’ of the ‘spirtual realm.’ These systematic manipulations by TWI of social and psychological influences under particular conditions are termed programs because the means by which change is brought about is coordinated. And it is because the changes cause the learning & adoption of a certain set of attitudes, usually accompanied by a certain set of behaviors, that the effort and the result are termed thought reform or packaged persuasion. The tactics of TWI’s thought reform program are purposefully designed to: Destabilize your sense of true historical self; Get you to drastically reinterpret your life’s history and radically alter your worldview in order to accept the cult’s version of reality and causality; &, Develop in you a dependence on the cultic organization, and thereby become ‘transformed’ into a deployable agent of TWI. Rascal, we’re so thrilled that you snapped out of it & returned to your true historical self!!!

I did not hear the ‘depth’ of TWI-promoted (spiritual-political) conspiracy theories until I took the AC pfal in summer `75 in Emporia. Such conspiracy theories as the Illuminati, Communist take-over of the USA, etc. were mentioned continually by VPW at this AC. The book, None Dare Call It Conspiracy,by Gary Allen was promoted. The book, Marxist Minstrels, by David Nobel was promoted. Tapes by certain speakers (?names) were played at this AC supporting the info in these books. The Birch society was mentioned favorably. Also, nailed to a tree just outside of the cafeteria bldg, was a supposed listing (~? 15 items) of the itemized strategies for communist take-over of the USA. In order to promote WOW, VPW endeavored to scare us into going WOW, stating that if we didn’t go WOW at that time, we would probably loose the USA to communist take-over. {This blends into the 1976 witnessing push with America Awakes, etc. It also blends into TWI posting in 1978 in the Carnegie Library @ Emporia of the supposed newly drafted USA ‘constitution’ with communist leanings. It also blends into the Dr. Peter Beter tapes (regarding the supposed communist covert operations which had transpired in Guyana) played for the in-residence folks at Emporia in Nov-Dec 1978 (7th & 9th WCs)}.

Sure wish I had known all the info in HCW's & GMJ's posts in 1986. So many of us didn't know where to turn to obtain reliable answers, therefore we felt confused & somehow guilty. The BOTs were painfully quiet on SNS tapes about POP, Schoenheit, etc. This silence was criminal in my opinion.

It just occurred to me that the homeopathic or osteopathic female physician to whom veepeeweewee referred was Dr. E.E. Higgins. From Dr. John Juedes website:

I couln't resist copying HCW's excellent post from the Geer thread because it seems pertinent in this thread as well. TWI tried to cover up what POP did shake out of the bushes. But the problem at the time was, what info from POP was accurate? The TWI BOT would not come clean in order to clarify, qualify, or apologize. Later martinpuke taught the Galatians Leadership tapes, blaming the 'd.s.' in Geer as the cause of the upheaval. King Oakie Martinpuke never publically took responsibility for any of his multiple, profound failures Per HCW:

Per OM: “So then may we assume that you are a trinitarian, Jkboehme?” ______________________________ OM, my primary concern is with TWI's profoundly unethical CONDUCT. I really have no interest in TWI doctrine, except for determining the proximate & remote sources of Wierwille's lying (plagiarism). I am neither pro- or anti- trinitarian.

TWI’s scams are actually too numerous to mention because corporate TWI is essentially one BIG scam with multiple mini-scams of which there are mini-mini-scams, etc. TWI’s modus operandi consists of: fraud, misrepresentation, negligence, breach of fiduciary duties, strategically coordinated programs of covert coercive packaged persuasion, among others. I would consider it a form of ‘rape’ of the mind. TWI is not a ‘ministry’ but is simply a corporate con for generating cash. It considers human casualties as the cost of doing cultic cornfield business. One could go down WordWolf’s timeline in the TWLIW thread & almost every entry has a scam associated with it. Several of my personal raw nerve scams are the cover-ups of 1986 & 1999. In 1986, after the general distribution of POP & Schoenheit’s discourse on TWI’s institutionalized debauchery, corporate TWI made every attempt to conceal the numerous major problems it was having, most if not all originating in the first 4 items I just noted above. TWI made no attempts to ‘come clean’ with all that had been exposed. In 1999, with the Allen & Parker lawsuits, it was gut-wrenching déjà vu. Corporate TWI made every effort to conceal the pertinent issues while practicing corporate-image damage control. No serious consideration of ‘coming clean’ or apologies was ever given by corporate TWI / Board of Directors to the rank & file member believers. The WAY “MINISTRY” in actuality is nothing more than a cultic, racketeering scam with a thin veneer of Hermitically oriented, ‘ white-washed’ & ‘ redefined’ biblical terms. Quite probably The Way International has been involved with criminal activities as well. I have concluded that NO genuine, lasting virtue has come about due to the existence of TWI. It did in fact between ~1967 to ~1972 attract some people who had a desire to serve God, but a critical mass of these people had been witnessed to by non-TWI people such as Jimmy Doop, Steve Heefner, Tim Wise, & Lonnie Frisbee. These movements were later invaded by narcissistic, megalomaniacal Wierwille. Then Wierwille-TWI essentially stole these people from those simple, grassroots ministries. In significant part due to the presence of Doop, Heefner, their followers, & the exuberance of their unmistakable presence, many of the PFAL classes of this time period generated a great excitement, much more so in spite of Wierwille rather than due to him & to his supposed original “research” (which was largely plagiarized). Certain honest individuals, comprised of the Doop & Heefner derivatives as well as many who became involved via Wierwille’s PFAL series, were the pure-hearted people in our local areas that created the positive environment that appealed to the transient vulnerabilities of so many of us. Then TWI, primarily via Wierwille & later Martindale, those despicable wolves in sheep’s clothing, surreptitiously ‘ taught & trained’ us by way of various exploitative, strategic programs, { via the PFAL series, the WOW program, the Fellowlaborers’ program, the in-residence College Division & Way Corps programs, & the WAP series, TWI-II, & many other scenarios} which were nothing more than strategically coordinated programs of covert packaged persuasion. These programs did not grant us release from our prisons for the most part in a permanent fashion, but rather corporate TWI’s coercive programs led us into mental enslavement. The proceeds & benefits of these clandestine programs went not to the TWI-claimed beneficiaries, the rank-and-file members of TWI, but rather went to the TWI Board of Trustees & other high level TWI leadership for their own selfish interests. TWI ‘redefined’ & hence contaminated the supposed grace of God as a hook of vulnerability on the front side, only to later bait & switch it to oppressive hyper-legalism replete with TWI-exit phobia on the far side of the victimization. This oppressive legalism (the supposed ‘teeth’ Wierwille began speaking of around 1967 to 1972) was originally most visible in the Way Corps in the 1970’s & early 1980’s, but in/after the Fall of 1995 with the advent of 'TWI-II,' when L. Craig Martindale began his ‘mark & avoid’- enforced extreme obedience & loyalty demands (among many other abusive & harmful tactics), the end result for those of us who in good faith held out to the bitter end, is that we have essentially nothing of enduring significance to show for our TWI servitude except for the psychological & emotional wounds (damages) with which TWI has so disgracefully left us. This does not even begin to account for all of our good-faith financial contributions (tithing & abundant sharing) & our irreversibly lost time (both economic & emotional equivalents implied) stolen from us during our affiliation with TWI. :unsure: :blink:

Per Belle: _____________________________________ An aspect of TWI's coercive packaged persuasion was to get us to ignore our own internal dialogue, the packaged persuasion being aided by mind-numbing TWI styled glossolalia and renewed mind. If we tried to act in concert with our true historical self, then we would experience cognitive dissonance because these true-self actions were probably not consistent with TWI's thought reform indoctrination. If we tried to act in concert with TWI's heartless directives, then we would experience cognitive dissonance due to the actions of our TWI-induced synthetic pseudo-self were probably not consistent with the values of our true historical self. Catch 22. Hotel California. It's a wonder we are not all totally bonkers.

It is very interesting to note several of the newer topics & how they fit 'like a hand in a glove' with the techniques of packaged persuasion that TWI routinely utilized: The Advanced Class The Man of God Sickness is death in part Is it possible to fix the way corps going L.E.A.D. just what did ole vic die from Returning to your true self Hank, there's a snake in my boots!

Ever wonder why VPW would often open the Advanced Class teaching of the ‘revelation manifestations,’ especially ‘word of knowledge’ & ‘word of wisdom,’ with the account in Numbers of the ‘copped out’ Prophet, Baalam? Ever wonder why VPW opened PFAL with “…the thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…?” I think these would be examples of unconscious projections, in the sense of VPW’s guilty conscience breaking through the bogus teaching to proclaim, “I, V. P. Wierwille, am not only a copped out hierophant / man of god / apostle in our day, time, & hour, but furthermore I am the embodiment of the hermetic (friendly, mischievious) thief, with the aim of selfishly pleasing myself, even if it means that I steal from you, that I might even have to kill you, or that I may in fact permanently destroy your ability to know God, trust God, love God, or have a personal relationship with Him." To VPW, it was just an expendable human cost of doing cult business in the cornfield.

Seems to me that vpw's sources for MOGFOT were both OT (especially Moses & Joshua) and hermetic, as in the Hierophant of the Mysteries, the hierophant being essentially a 'high priest' of sorts. Given vpw's proclivity for placing a thin veneer of biblical info over a deep core of hermetic teachings, I would lean towards the hierophant being the prototype for the ineffable Corn Wizard, V.P. Wierwille

vpw's statement that "...sickness is death in part or in whole..." is consistent with homeopathic thinking, which is based on hermeticism. WW, who was that homeopathic physician that gave vpw "..a great understanding & appreciation of the human body...?" Homeopathy: An Introduction for Skeptics and Beginners Richard Grossinger North Atlantic Books, 212 pages, $ 12.95 Richard Grossinger's Homeopathy: An Introduction for Skeptics and Beginner's was originally published in a shorter and less detailed version in Planet Medicine: From Stone Age Shaminism to Post-Industrial Healing. In 1994, rewriting Planet Medicine, Grossinger decided to remove the homeopathic material from that book and publish it as a separate small volume. Grossinger locates homeopathy as a healing system historically and ideologically, pointing out that in Hahnemann's turn of the nineteenth century era, vitalism, hermeticism and pharmacology were closely united and there was no such thing as mainstream practice and alternative medical systems.

Per rascal: _______________________________ rascal, i would say that it is not only cruel irony, but disgusting victimization via exploitative packaged persuasion. _______________________________ toadfriend, i would say the 'good times' that you remember were not due to twi's BOTs/BODs & top leadership {due to corporate twi's bait and switch strategy}, but rather were in spite of them. I think the good times some people remember were due to the presence of genuine pure hearted people amongst the rank and file, with an occasional WC grad willing to buffer the bs for the mere underlings. Per Oakspear: ____________________________________ My opinion is that this was standard operating procedure with TWI. When something is presented as though it were logical, when in fact it is not, this is a technique of thought reform designed to produce a daze of reverie and transfixion in order to enhance suggestibility.

Welcome Free Soul! I think Belle, rascal, & diazbro have offered you some excellent food for thought. By the way, one of the most common psychological damages experienced by an ex-cult individual is the loss of the capacity & ability to have a personal relationship with their perceived 'Creator.' For some folks this is only temporary, but for others it is painfully permanent. Keep reading: there is no such thing as 'fallacious devil spirits' or ghosts!!! jkb