waysider

Do you mean "the revelation manifestations" as presented in Wierwille's Advanced Class on Power For Abundant Living?

-----and Sandra Ann Sullivan, who, because of the profound effect it had on her, is no longer able to offer personal testimony.

Hang in there, Doc. It really doesn't mean anything of any consequence. Speaking for myself, I hope you continue to post. I promise to read them all.

Shouldn't that be the ideal score for the "Cult of Zero" thread?

Ladies and gentlemen, it's been a DISGRACE for me to have perused those videos. Why, I know more about cheesy performances than he'll EVER know. I wouldn't go to Momentus, prophesy, research, leadership, CES, Stiffy, campfire sing-along with the Bible thing-a-ma-bobby church stuff with him either.

Carnival Prize

"A pony keg ought to do it.", said the horse.

----so the bartender says, "Sure thing, Pal. Should I make it a draught?"

I don't pay any attention to those button/ratings things. I think I'm a big enough boy now to make up my OWN mind how I feel about someone's posts. Anyhow, I believe they might have come as part of the package with the site. You know, like those extra screws you get every time you buy curtain rods.

Who was it that said, "The Way is like a bunch of kids playing church."?

What exactly is the quota for reality, anyway? It doesn't become "real" until 17 people say it? How about 37 or 53? So, what's the difference whether there are 3 first hand accounts or 3,000? This crap happened. Playing smiley face and saying "bless you, we sure love you." doesn't erase the past. It's just another way of "keeping it our little secret." Guess what, TWI! Your secret's NOT safe with me.

Now remember. This has to stay "our little secret". People might get upset and feel bad if you told them about it. You don't want to make people feel bad, now, do you?

Well, they were never quite as subtle as you.

"ugh" is right.

The turkeys. Had a big hen scurry across the road, in front of my work truck, early Saturday morning.

Yes, that is what I meant by the "pantomime". Thank you, excie, for having the courage to "out" the dirty old bastage.

I'm not very skilled at doing searches but there are references to these occasions on various threads discussing the CF&S class. There are at least two posters here who have posted about being personally present at one or two of these events. These are first-hand accounts. I think mid 1970s is the approximate time frame. Now, my memory is a bit fuzzy on this one, so I can't really say where or when, but I, myself, recall VPW describing this scenario and doing a bit of a "pantomime" of it. He said something about how there are people in remote societies who do this sort of thing to teach their children about "life". I think this is where he talked about how there is no better place than the family/household to teach these things. Maybe it was in an early version of CF&S or an AC. I don't really remember. I can still picture the little "pantomime", though. edit Sorry, excie----I didn't see you post before me.

My wake-up call came when I realized that all the nonsense Wierwille taught in the Advanced Class was coming back to bite his arse. He taught that alcoholism was caused by devil spirits yet he lived the life of an insatiable sot. He taught that addiction was caused by devil spirits yet he chain smoked like the tobacco growers' livelihoods depended on him. He taught that sexual predation was caused by devil spirits yet he gave date rape drugs to countless, unsuspecting, young women and then raped them in their semi-conscious states. He taught that cancer is caused by devil spirits yet he, himself, was felled by this very illness. Should I go on? The basic premise is on page 13 of the AC syllabus for those who are interested. So, this whole dichotomy of reality vs. spirituality presents itself as a bit of a dilemma. Either we were following a man who was virtually infested to overflowing with devil spirits or there really was no credibility to his teachings on these matters. And, if he had no credibility on the issues with which he considered himself to be an expert, did he really have any credibility on anything at all? That was a wake-up call of sorts for me. It happened here on GSC.

Well, here we are 35 years later, and some people are STILL shocked by this revelation. There is even one, that I know of, who still believes that the PFAL class was Theopneustos. :o

Things They Don't Teach You in School

I saw kids as young as 12 and 13 sit through CF&S. I did, in fact, question this practice. The answer I got back (per VPW) was, "What better place is there to learn about this stuff than surrounded by family that cares?" How I ever let my mind accept that rationalization, I'll never understand. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone who was a young person at the time I ran those classes.

The advertising slogan for ROA, one year (1973?), was "The greatest gathering together this side of THE Gathering Together" The other quote, "if we found out that there was no heaven, we would have had the greatest time going.", is from PLAF (The Wonder Class), the vehicle that enabled Wierwille's rise to Glowwwwry!

"Any two believers can make a marriage work." (I guess VP and Mrs. were the exception. <_< ) It desensitizes you to blindly accept situations that would otherwise send up blazing flares.

"Renew your mind!" (TWI style) = self induced desensitization

How about the times (there was more than one) that Wierwille stood before a small group and described how he fondled his own teenage daughter to teach her about sexual arousal. There are posters who were present in those groups so this is NOT "hearsay". edit: Maybe that would qualify as obviation, as well.