waysider

Amen, Sistah!

Looking at their web site, I see they have Family Camps, Devotion With Motion, Campfires, and Advances. Nope. No similarities there. :blink:

Me too, Twinky. My comments weren't aimed at you in any way, shape or form. Sorry.

Here's to hoping it's a great one.

Here Come Da Judge!

Hey, TZ Maybe you could hit some of the local jams and do some 145 stuff, ya know? The old 12 bar blues. That's usually good for meeting local musicians. If nothing else, they're usually a lot of fun.

Read the context, WD. It's talking about living, breathing people, not dead cult leaders.

Unless I'm mistaken, no one really seems to be talking about disposing of bodies, necrophilia or the harvesting of sperm. Wierwille croaked a long time ago. People are now free to expose him for the drunken, sexually deviant, con man that he was.

Anybody ever hear BB King play rhythm? A lot of people have speculated that he can't play chords. Here is a rare clip that dispels that myth.

Like Wierwille once said, "If a man wants to be stupid, let him be stupid."

Exactly. That's why some of them become masters of ambiguity. That requires deliberate effort, demonstrating their cognizance of the fraud.

Sorry, Twinky I just meant an apparent desire to return to the "warm fuzzies" that some people have related to me. Like trying to believe in Father Christmas again, ya know? I'll stay out of here now.

Personal opinion disclaimer I think they know. They are con men at heart. Just like that guy who tries to sell you a car he knows was in Hurricane Katrina but conveniently neglects to mention it to you.

I have to be somewhat vague in my response because some of the specific decisions are just too embarrassing. I'll probably never share them here on GSC for that reason. But I can say this, some of the biggest ones ended in betrayal. Most of those betrayals were by people I should have been able to trust the most, people who claimed to represent God. I'm way past the angry phase. I just hope now that I can help to keep other people, especially my son, from being duped like I was. But, yeah. Lot's of it is about stuff I DIDN'T do more than things I did.

Maybe I'm a party crasher here because I was never in the WC. I was in FLO, though, so I have at least a vague concept of the program. HERE is the impression I have gotten from people who have described the site to me.

Yes, my feelings are linked to regret about poor decisions. The thing is, though, those poor decisions stem from me being too trusting. I thought I was a pretty savvy guy when I got into the Word. I was already an adult. But when I got in The Word, for some reason I reverted to an unexplainable state of naivete. Suddenly I found myself completely trusting people who I would have run screaming from in my pre-TWI days. My street smarts were telling me to wake up but the leadership tricked me into thinking I was the one who was wrong for all the "natural man" thoughts. I am much wiser now but almost 40 years has gone down the drain. Misplaced trust played a very big role. Is that kind of how you feel, too?

I'm not sure shame is the correct terminology. I, too, though, have experienced similar feelings. In early 1975, I moved out of my hometown as a direct result of a Way related decision. Due to a series of other poor decisions, directly related to my involvement with The Way, I never returned. I can't say my life is miserable. it's actually pretty good. Still, there is a certain sadness that comes with realizing I can never get back all those missed high school graduations, marriages, funerals, new births, watching the nieces and nephews grow up, helping my parents in their old age, etc. I guess melancholy would better describe it than shame.

Wierwille himself admitted to a crime when he spoke of the incident involving improper sexual conduct with a minor, though I suppose, in his opinion, it wasn't criminal. No matter, ignorance of the law is no excuse. There were several witnesses to his admission, by the way.

Hey, WD Do you have any business interests tied to all this controversy?

Cool stuff, spec! Sounds like a well balanced approach.

You don't ever have to be ashamed, Dot. Disappointed, perhaps, but never ashamed.

It's all rather transparent looking at it from so far away, isn't it?

Yes, he said it was the only thing he was absolutely sure was "taboo".

Yeah, you're right, Steve! It was anal sex. I guess I should have been paying closer attention.