waysider

I don't recall anyone asking you to.

I think if you spend some time in the link I provided it will become more obvious to you.

This is one of the dangers of not understanding something within the context of its presentation. When we discussed the subject of faking SIT, we weren't implying that anyone did so intentionally. (Some may have deceitfully faked it, of course. Wierwille, himself, stated that he once intentionally faked SIT by reciting Greek or something to that effect.) We thought it was real but it wasn't. That's what was meant by fake. HERE is a good thread that covers quite a bit of ground on the subject.

You answered my question by intentionally misrepresenting a section of scripture . That in itself is extremely relevant and telling.

Here's what it says in verse 19: "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." It says nothing about being "the biggest suckers on the planet". Yeah, I know, you're paraphrasing. The thing is, when you paraphrase something, you are obligated to retain the intended essence. Otherwise, you're not paraphrasing, you're simply giving an opinion.

LINK

Soooo........If the books were so great, why weren't people encouraged to or even allowed to purchase them without the formality of a prescribed dosage plan? (I love the smell of rhetoric in the morning.)

The books were only one part of a complex indoctrination process. You can't just read the collateral books from PFAL and think you'll understand what it was like to be in The Way. Personally, I think much of the content is quite sophomoric in the way it's presented, especially "the blue book" (The Bible Tells Me So). LINK

Your latest posts are too cryptic for me. Can you please explain, in simple terms, what you are trying to say?

What does that mean?

Greetings, timlee. It's always nice to welcome newcomers to GSC. Were you personally involved with The Way at some point in your life? I'm not going to "rant, cry, call you a liar or claim to have all the truth". I am, however, going to present some points that may appear to disagree with your position. First, VPW wasn't really a "Dr.". He grossly misrepresented his credentials to give himself an appearance of authority and credibility. You can find quite a bit of cold hard factual information on this site that addresses this subject. Second, he didn't merely "organize and present" what others had found. The truth is, he flat out plagiarized much of the material he presented, sometimes entire paragraphs, chapters, even whole books. Remember when he said God told him He would teach him the word like it hadn't been known for 2,000 years? Well, that simply can't be true if the information was already in published form, attributed to other authors. You mentioned you have a college degree. Surely, then, you must understand the importance of documenting sources. Third, if you think people didn't "stand up for themselves" and protest misdeeds that were taking place, you have a very limited understanding of what actually took place. There's more, of course, much more. If you feel compelled to learn a bit more about the issues I raised, we would be more than glad to engage in a civil discussion with you and direct you to any type of information you feel might help expand your understanding of what took place and the purpose of this site. I bid you peace waysider

I know it's sad but it made me chuckle because, as I've said before, I'm not sure they even realize I'm gone. So much for ...."We sure do love you!" Anyway, I'm glad you've found GSC, a place where you can feel free to speak what's on your mind. Have a cup-o-joe .........(It hasn't been "stretched".) .

Briefly: Eternal life/afterlife/hereafter (phrase it as you wish.) is considered a key element of Christianity. Other religions have similar concepts, too, but we are limiting this discussion to Christianity because The Way is associated with Christianity, in particular. If this component of Christianity were somehow removed, how would that affect you in a day-to-day sense? Would you still feel compelled to follow The Golden Rule, for example, simply because you deem it the right thing to do?

Within the context and relevance of this thread, that would be the assumption. I might add, though, that I've been using "afterlife" in a rather generic sense, meaning a life of some sort that follows the life we currently experience as humans. In that sense, the broader concept is certainly worthy of discussion, though perhaps not in this thread.

The greatest WMD of all time is...famine. Famines don't coincidentally happen because there is a shortage of food. They are executed in calculated fashion. They're not destined to go out of style in any of the foreseeable future. That is why the way we live and cooperate in the immediate present is vital to the survival of mankind. The afterlife takes a back seat when your belly is empty.

Isn't it curious how two people can read something and come away with a different interpretation? If I understand your interpretation correctly, you are implying that what T-Bone is suggesting is to consider something infinite from every possible angle, which would, as you say, be oxymoronic. My interpretation, on the other hand, would be that what T-Bone is suggesting is to simply consider it from a variety of diverse angles. There's quite a difference between all and many.

T-Bone said: "I wonder how many folks would be interested in Christianity if all it provided was Jesus Christ." We had a discussion here that revolved around some similar thoughts. It was quite animated, to say the least. LINK

I have no desire to watch it, but for those who do, here's the LINK.

It sounds like you have a healthy attitude toward the law of believing.

I used to think there was comfort in "knowing that I know that I know, ad infinitum". I now realize there is a sense of relief in accepting I'm not as smart as I once thought. It gives me the freedom to explore, to change, to learn in ways that I may have avoided in the past. It was a bit scary, at first, learning my foundation was built on something defective. Wierwille used to say "You can't go beyond what you're taught." My wish for you is that you discover how very wrong he was about that.

Or moving from one "house" to another on a moment's notice with no advance warning. Because, ya know, who knows when the Illuminati might sweep in and try to grab us all. We have to maintain a state of preparedness.

Yeah, I remember that crazy stuff. People thrown out in the middle of the night, being told they had to clear the state lines before the sun came up. What a joke. Too bad there's no funny punchline.

Maybe he should have phrased it, "Why are we still here?".

ABS=All B.S.