waysider

Yep, it all sounds eerily familiar. The first two years I was in FellowLaborers of Ohio, we had no T.V., house phone, newspaper, etc. I guess it wouldn't have mattered, though, as they controlled everything we did from 5 AM until midnight. Then, it was *lights out* and *no talking*. Fifty grown-up people in a commune, living like a bunch of fifth graders, all eating the exact same meals and singing campfire songs at every chance we could. We were required to hold secular jobs through the day and were supposed to use that as a springboard to witness. Leads were turned over to local leadership for followup. Anyhow, at my secular job, there was a lot of buzz on Monday mornings about a new T.V. show called Saturday Night Live. (I think the actual name may have been slightly different at first.) I felt like some kind of social outcast and was ashamed to admit we didn't have a T.V. or that it came on after my curfew. It was bad enough trying to explain why I lived in a townhouse with five other people and all my neighbors lived that way as well. There was a pay phone at the local truck stop (The Wayside Truck Stop....see the connection to my GSC name?) if you could ever find time to get there and didn't mind having your conversations out in the open for everyone to hear. Oh, there were so many things. Shopping for a used car, I had to make sure the trunk could hold all the PFAL equipment. (Never mind if I actually liked the car or if it was green, blue or chartreuse.) Looking for a new apartment? Well, it must have ample parking for maximum fellowship attendees and be tolerant of Sing-Along-The Way clatter and cacophony. Interviewing for a job? The schedule had to be such that it would never, ever interfere with Way functions. On and on and on and on. I think the most insane restrictions were those that involved who we were allowed to date or marry. No, there was no written edict mandating the rules but they were clearly understood. (Two believers come together in marriage for the purpose of jointly promoting PFAL and The Way) It doesn't matter who you marry because, don't cha know?, "any two believers can make a marriage work". Ugh. So, then you leave it all behind and you wonder where you will go to fellowship, how you will Abundantly Share (tithe). You absolutely must find a place to give all your money or God will cut you off like a gangrenous big toe. Lots of culture shock. Yes, indeed. Too much to ask an outsider to understand though deep inside you wish they could.

"You're always welcome at The Way." :o

"It's not that they're intentionally chased off, it's that they get tired of being ignored and under-rewarded, so they find a better job with more respect elsewhere." Sometimes they do get chased off, intentionally set up and fired. The only explanation I can think of is that the incompetent bullies are afraid their deficiencies will be exposed so they eliminate anyone who can potentially expose them. .

I've never fully understood this concept but I know it's very real. We see it frequently in the corporate world, as well. Oftentimes, the most competent people are the very ones who are subjected to bully tactics and forced to move on. Meanwhile, the narcissists and psychopaths seem to find their way to the top and are rewarded for bad behavior.

Yeah.....but ours were THE BEST!

"Students told investigators earlier this year that their classes were a sham, they lived in substandard conditions and Miller forced them to work at the college or his home for little pay, according to court documents. If they refused to work, the students said, Miller threatened to deport them." "A criminal complaint filed earlier this year states Miller forced students to work at the college and his home sometimes for more than 40 hours a week and for as little as $25 per week." Read more HERE.

If it's a "closed group", only members of the group can see it.

Hmmmmm.....Maybe

Oops! I thought I read 6 months. My mistake. This is serious. Seek help immediately. Don't even stop to shower or brush your teeth. Try to stay calm and, most importantly, avoid all air travel.

I wouldn't call that obsession. I would call it a heightened interest. Lots of people do it. Six pocket knives in a six month stretch is far from an obsession, it's just a collection. It all sounds pretty normal to me. I mean, that's how everyone is, back on my home planet, Mars.

Hmmmm I do enjoy watching stuff get "blowed up". Bwaaahaha!

What does that mean? (Within the context of this thread)

I suppose, if she had thought deeply enough, Dorothy might have identified some good times she and Toto had while in OZ. There were some good times in The Way, too. That doesn't negate the fact that the whole thing was a sham. Wierwille was the man behind the curtain. He had no special powers aside from his abilities as a con artist. We were living inside a mythical kingdom. The kingdom fragmented and it's subjects continue to hobble onward in places like Mississippi. Life would be so much easier if we could just click our heels 3 times and be done with it. Instead, we click the send key and continue to solve the puzzle and offer support to each other.

edit: Too far off-topic.

Is there a teenage boy in this world who would deny their existence?

Sometimes these verbal gymnastics remind me of that old kids' game, "Mother, may I?" "Take two steps forward." (takes two steps forward.) "Ha!... you didn't say "Mother, may I?". edit: "Yeah, but permission was implied." re-edit: or was it? :biglaugh:/>

John, you're playing a silly semantics game with this one. And you're not very good at it. You don't have to declare that something is your opinion every time that is the case, especially on a discussion forum that specializes in opinion.. It's implied. Nor do you have to preface every belief with an "I believe" disclaimer. If you state it, it's implied you believe it. That has nothing to do with faith. Faith, as the word is being used here, connotes a belief in something for which no logical proof exists. It's not "not believing" in something for which no logical proof exists. If you're really concerned with the rules of the English language, take a few moments and learn about logical fallacies (begging the question) and double negatives.

As a youngster on a weekend camp-out, I once took the "warm pan of water" challenge. The results were somewhat less than charitable.

The posters I referred to were members of RRF, had first hand exposure to Barnard and offered opposition at RRF as well as on GSC..

It seemed like almost everything was caused by devil spirits, in The Way. The Advanced Class syllabus even devoted several pages to identifying and classifying them. Got a drinking problem?...devil spirits. got cancer?...devil spirits. Suffering from mental illness?... devil spirits. (*Lying spirit*, by the way, is item #21 on page 11 of the syllabus.) "Are we even allowed to quote from the bible at all on this site anymore?" Of course you are. Did someone say you're not? "However, the person is using the bible and religious authority to be able to have sex with under age girls. I am giving my view that the bible opposes this" I don't think you'll find many who disagree with that. In addition to being contrary to scripture, it's illegal to use one's authority in such a manner. It's rape. "I am amazed that people around this person did not see this and oppose this person at all." People, in fact, did see through him and voiced a good deal of opposition right here on GreaseSpot Cafe. (JeffSjo and Granddaughter, for example) If you look back a few years, you'll discover it occupied quite a bit of bandwidth here.

Really? Devil spirits are the source of lies? That sounds like something straight out of PLAF (The Advanced Wonder Class) Everyone lies, to one degree or another. So, draw the conclusion, if you must. I, too, hope they catch him and bring him to justice. My sentiment on this, however, is driven by more "old school" reasoning.

" ....there are few things that drive people away from Christianity as much as the approach taken by johniam..." I'll second that sentiment. Please note: I'm not attacking johniam, I'm criticizing the approach.

I think whoever decided to call the disease "depression" did a poor job naming it. It's much more than just feeling depressed or blue. We all feel that from time to time but we don't all suffer from depression. And sometimes people who have the disease don't feel blue. Adolescent boys, for example, often feel intense anger, rather than an emotional low. It's a complicated illness. It can be very difficult to successfully treat it.

It was meant to be "tongue in cheek" JAL released a youtube, a couple years ago, denouncing "the law of believing". How does one NOT sound like an idiot when denouncing a concept they spent decades promoting? LINK