shortfuse

But that doesn't mean you won't find ANY. The key isn't the level of maturity,

it's the level of interest. There's scholastic analyses of Harry Potter and

Twilight based on the interest of the public.

Anything CAN be studied. The twi phenomena can be studied from perspectives of

Psychology, Sociology, cultural Anthropology, Advertising, and so on. Each can add something

to the discussion-or all can be used in the analysis.

This is for a class on American religious history, so I would put this study more in the cultural Anthropology, history of religion vein. I'm interested in resources that may have looked at The Way from this vantage point.

Duh, wordwolf. Now I see that.

The only one I've ever found was Walter Martin's Kingdom of the Cults (or something like that). Pretty stock stuff and fairly mean spirited. Not "scholarly". I would not imagine that you can get a scholarly take on TWI in particular.

You want to see how it compares to orthodox Christianity?

Not exactly comparing it to orthodoxy, this is more of a historical study, and I'm looking to place TWI within the broader context of religious movements in America.

Make friends with a good reference librarian. Have them help you look for information about TWI in the databases of peer reviewed journal articles...

That's the best thing I can think of. It would be the most most thorough and up to date... far better than a Google search!

Love,

Steve

Thanks, Steve. I'm specifically looking for those peer-reviewed journal type sources. Haven't put much effort into it yet - will buddy up with the librarian.

Cheers, everyone.

I know that some of you have pursued advanced degrees following your experiences in The Way International, delving into subjects that help sort it all. I've started wading into these waters myself recently, and wonder if any of you with a head start can offer me some pointers.

Specifically, I'm looking for any scholarly works that examine TWI, as well as any related movements.

Thanks in advance for your recommendations.

Was just registering over the weekend more of the linger baggage I have from the way. The compulsion to make the stupidest jokes.

I can say that I was a department coordinator, and on the presidents cabinet and did not fall for all the lying and politicking. I did what I could to treat people fair and with love and respect. What's funny was I found myself a buffer between the veiled viscousness of Rosie/BOD and people in my area. My biggest regret is in doing my job with honesty I became a liar because I had to keep confidential what these people were really like.

This sums up very well how I felt on the field and why I ultimately left too.

awwww, will you marry me shortfuse?

Only if I can persuade my current wife into going Fundamentalist Mormon. Besides, I'm way worse than Jesus when I get cranky.

i don't know. i'm just screwed up plain and simple

first wayfer marriage just turned 25

second marriage nonwayfer just turned 37

i just don't believe in marriage or soulmates or any of that crap

maybe i should become a nun and marry jesus

Ah, you're fine. Marriage is hard and they often don't workout. Doesn't mean you're screwed up.

Don't marry Jesus. I hear he can be a real a-hole sometimes.

Yeah, I agree with this. When I was in the Way Corps, we were all encouraged to seek a mate from the Way Corps, because it was unlikely we would "stand" on our own. We had been discouraged from relationships with the opposite sex up to a certain point and then right before graduation everyone started rushing into relationships from encouragement from Craig and the Corps leadership.

I think it was definitely thought more noble to wed based on shared "spiritual goals" rather than mutual attraction or other types of compatibility.

The more I think about this, the more I think it was a pretty good way to keep people more committed to twi than each other or their family. If there was no love there to begin with and the relationship was based on furtherance if The Word ™ then if one person wanted to leave it was a lot easier for the other to stay. No love there to get in the way (no pun intended.).

When we were in marriage counselling, we were told to talk with each other about what we would consider grounds for divorce. Our minister suggested as an example that he and his wife had decided the only reason they would divorce is if one of them decided to leave the ministry. I told him that would not be the case for me because I had already left my family for the ministry and now knew from experience the pain of that loss - what I had done was wrong. I would leave in case of abuse of me or my children.

By the look on his face he wasn't thrilled with my answer.

I've been reading a few different examples lately of ministers who are serving in their churches in spite of the fact that they no longer have faith in their original beliefs. I went through a lot of mental anguish in deciding to leave the Way Corps, and realistically had left in heart years before I actually left. It felt like a pretty lonely struggle, but it turns out it is fairly common and not limited to more obscure religious groups like The Way. The link below is a support site for people navigating through this. I thought it was interesting and perhaps relevant here.

http://clergyproject.org/

He won't. RosaLIE shipped him off to Dayton, OH. (Which is poetic justice.) He is still on the board of directors but is not an officer. He will probably drop off the board shortly.

Oh SNAP! That is poetic justice.

My very first day in-residence. My Candidate and Apprentice years were spent in blissful ignorance.

I didn't have regrets until about 4 or 5 years after graduation. I was gung-ho in-residence and felt good about surviving all the attrition. It was hard and I thought about quitting but I always attributed that to my own weakness and not the program itself. I felt I was some sort of Marine having made it through the training. It was later on that I felt self confident enough to be critical of the ministry. Craig Martindale helped me with this by removing himself from the pedestal I had him on. After 5 more years I had a whole list of deficiencies in the program and I felt compelled to fix it. I tried that for a couple more years until I realized it was impossible.

The Way Corps training is not at all about preparing people for ministry. If it was they would teach way more about the duties of a minister. I didn't learn until after the training how to comfort the bereaved, conduct a funeral, visit the sick, offer counsel and so on. The Way Corps are for the most part bi-vocational, and as such support themselves with secular work and volunteer their service to the ministry. The never taught the time management this requires, how to balance work, ministry, and family; how to serve and not burn out. They just heap it on and keep you going by goading you with guilt and obligation.

The Way Corps has one purpose and one purpose only - to produce men and women absolutely loyal to the Way International. Self motivation, critical thinking, ingenuity, creativity, compassion - things that will never be rewarded in the Way Corps. They want people willing to "change anything and everything about themselves for the privilege to serve." People who always choose the will of the ministry over their own will, even to their detriment. This is the Way Corps and this is one reason why the best people make the worst Way Corps and will eventually find their way out.

There's a certain irony in twi telling people to ONLY go to them and to RUN from anything

else on the internet- then having twi admit that the credible way to publish their response

to something was to use an external site, especially one that was most famous for being

their loudest critic.

This was ironic indeed. It was clearly a face saving response aimed at "innie" Wayfers, yet it was never once mentioned in any other context because no one would openly admit they were out here with the "cop-outs".

I agree with Paw that this must have factored into Harve losing his spot on the B.O.D.

Interesting side note, I found GSC and gave the forums my first serious look at the unwitting prompt of my Limb Coordinator. Mrs. Wierwille had just died and we needed to inform people with a phone call. It had just happened, and I was told I needed to get the word out quickly because, "the cop outs already have it all over the internet." I was surprised at this description and did a bit of googling. Far from "all over the internet", it was being discussed in a thread on the GreaseSpot Cafe forums. Shortly after that, I found my brother out here and learned why he really left The Way. I started to face things I had not given an honest hearing previously. Over the next couple years my TWI relationship completely unraveled. Funny how it was my Limb Coordinator who accidentally lead me here. Thanks, man.

I picked up smoking cigarettes (tobacco) for a little while as a teenager . . . my father brought me before the twig coordinator . . . insisted I had the spirit of leviathan . . . the coordinator corrected him . . . the fact we heated the home with a wood stove might be the cause . . .

Damn, dude. Your dad accused of the Leviathan over smoking? That's hardcore in Wayfer devil spirit accusations. Still, I thought Leviathan was supposed to be the alcoholism spirit.

Is this a topic about reincarnation or re-wayferization?

You know, it just occurred to me that Wierwille might have been subconsciously using this to rationalize the time he sexually abused his own daughter. (Or, at least, claimed that he did.)

Um, I must've missed this one. Wierwille claimed ot have sexually abused his own daughter? Please refresh me.

Just saw you down at the bottom of the page with an empty profile. :ph34r: If you are in the ministry and about ready to explode, take your time and look around and have a cuppa Joe on me. B)

Nothing could be finer than just sitting in a diner

drinkin' Joe with no designer java jive.

Well, it appears my hands were not on my computer correctly the title should be "Welcome shortfuse."

Anyone know how to edit your thread title?

Did you know this was me wrote this or were you just being warm to some random poster? It seemed a little uncanny at the time that you would catch it so quickly.

I don't know if quota is the right word. I was at a twig coordinators meeting where my last 2 months of 'blue forms' were read to the group by an ordained clod, and demanded I explain 'how come Jack gave this much this week, and not the same amount the next week'. I later told the twig to never have me put their name on that form again, unless they were certain to use the tax write off. I knew that would be no one,as nobody made enough money to write off anyway.

Wow. Talk about crossing the line. I shouldn't be surprised, but that's striking.

The only thing I recall was reading the Vision and Direction document and it containing quotas referring to outreach and growth within the areas as far as # of people..

I believe there is a copy of the Vision and Direction document on here you could look at.. But it doesn't have $ in it.. But then again, increase of people usually tends to bring in more $, and it is possible it could have been part of their intent..

No specific monetary quotas, but V&D did specifically talk about growing ABS by 15% each year. It was a pipe dream of course because of attrition, but that was the "goal". Almost no one hit these goals, and they were not used as any kind of measuring stick anyways. At least not as of a couple years ago.

I believe it's "in token and in pledge of my heart of believing and abiding love for you"

It used to say "of my Christian faith and abiding love for you". I think "Christian faith" came out of the liturgy around the time LCM was all anti-Christian - "we're not 'Christians' , we're 'Disciples'!" that and of course "Faith" is a bad word in Way speak. "Heart of believing" is way more present truth if you know what I mean.

I never thought I'd ever see the day when the likes of myself would be welcome and invited to be anywhere near the Founder's room on the grounds of The Way International.

I've already made up my mind what I intend to do, but I'm interested in your.02. What do you think I should do?

If the thought of going makes you throw up in your mouth just a little, stay home - you've got no obligation.

Anybody know how the Way CU makes money? They don't give loans to members (at least not openly).

Censoring = dishonesty.

People hide things that are inappropriate, not things that are appropriate. People hide evil works, not good. Good works aren't any thing you have to hide.

I can see why you would say that, but it wasn't consciously deceitful. More like trying to "stay positive". So rather than writing about how discouraged I am after being singled out and humiliated in front of my peers, I write about how I am learning humility and godly obedience. I used to write in code in my journal sometimes so only I would understand it. So I could be honest.

There's an intense loneliness in engaging in such inner conflict. The feeling is that there is no one you can truly be open and honest with. Then you can't even be honest with your own journal. It was so intensely discouraging and depressing at times.

I find that I still censor myself to a great degree, that is, withholding the raw honesty of what I really think for fear of offending others or thinking they wouldn't hear anyways. It has been a couple year since leaving the way. This is something I try to break myself of when I see it. But it's a deeply ingrained behavior.

IMO the jargon and cliches are used by the ruling class absolutely as tools of control, and perpetrated by the masses as the language of non-thinking tools. For the masses, it's a new sense of belonging to have a completely new sanitized language. It makes them feel safe, feel part of something.

And yes, absolutely the Corps mock it in private, as it is completely stupid. However, these are the same Corps that can spit out some of the most fascinatingly regurgitating Wayspeak greetings that have ever been read by mankind. They play the game to get by.

Yup and yup