waysider

I'm sure it must be painful to see a family member exposed for their nefarious deeds. But what are we supposed to do, change history and pretend it didn't happen? Wierwille was a public figure. He hurt many, many people. It's tragic he didn't consider that his behavior would have a negative impact on his family as well as the many people he exploited. That's his fault, not ours.

This is only second hand, so take it as you will. When the aforementioned Corps incident took place, someone else , who was there, told me the exact same details. But, this particular person used it as an example of how unlimited we are in our ability to renew our minds. I thought it was pretty creepy, too, that he would do this an then talk publicly about it. Maybe that's why I remember it

My apologies, Abi I did not mean to imply that I care to dictate what Oldies (or anyone) believes. I was merely using this to show that words can be cleverly crafted to say one thing and mean quite another.

And yet there is often a veiled rhetoric to his statements. For example, on another thread he stated that he now believes drugging someone to have sex is rape. Sounds pretty noble. What he did not say, however, is whether he believes it happened in The Way. It reminds me too much of the silly word games we used to play when Trinitarians asked us if we believed in The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost.

Sounds like it could be something from Jethro Tull. Not sure.

OK--First of all, I realize you were asking Sunesis, not me. Secondly, I'm not sure if you genuinely want to know the answer to that question or I'm misinterpreting your meaning. You can find some information on "4 crucified" on this link: http://gbarraxjr.home.insightbb.com/ You can also find info in some of Raf's work, as well. Oh yeah, VP definitely "lifted" the "4 crucified" stuff, photos and all.

Great post, Tzaia!

OM said: Here's a current problem as I see it: What happens when someone shares a personal experience that VP had sex with them. Ok that is a fact and should be believed. Then someone else posts that vp is an s.o.b. a con artist and a rapist. Then I post "my opinion based on the facts of this experience is that a rape was not committed." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In such a situation, politely state your opinion and step aside. There is no need to belabor the point. Belaboring the point is tantamount to calling the person a liar. It is very hurtful. Stop and ask yourself, "Is this how I would want someone to treat ME?"

Geeze! Weren't youze guys payin' attention in session #7? Eve stopped to "consider" and the whole World went down the crapper!

Ditto

I found a typo in my Cambridge once. Does that count?

Hmmmm! That's not exactly the one I had in mind. BTW---How much gold are we talking about here?

On one hand, I don't think we need any more rules. But, on the other hand, I have a friend who could have benefited greatly from GSC but only posted briefly before being "chased off" by this type of activity. How about this? With some of these more sensitive and personal concerns, such as the thread on Losing The Way, we set a one post limit. Say what you have to say(pro or con) and then quit yer yappin'. Or, as my Dad is fond of saying, "Poop or get off the pot!" I also like the way that Roy and several others tend to moderate (or host) the threads they start. So, the "host" of the thread could politely remind folks they have already taken their turn. I still think The Golden Rule should be the standard, but, in lieu of that, those are my suggestions.

How about The Golden Rule? That one covers a lot of territory.

The rules here are fine the way they are. IMO

Bucks4now It's not a church in the typical sense. It's a cult. New Knoxville is where the corporate offices are located. (I left almost 20 years ago so my information may be outdated.) For the most part, they meet in small groups(once called "twigs", now called "household fellowships") in private homes scattered hither and yon around the globe.(But the money still goes to HQ in New Knoxviille) If you are serious about attending a fellowship meeting, you can probably call or email them and request that information. Just remember, it's an MLM organization so they are not likely to let a sales prospect simply slip away. So, to answer your question about percentages, most active members are likely to live somewhere OTHER than New Knoxville.

Is it just me or did anyone else see some irony in the station's call letters?

I don't know alot about it but, from what I have seen, The original resembled the same format as a video game.(Except it's played with a rather large deck of specialty cards.) Certain characters have more power than other or special powers unique to them. You play them against each other much like a low tech version of a video game. I could be wrong about that but that was the impression my not so inquiring mind arrived at when it first hit the market. I can't for the life of me understand why kids would want something that is less high tech than what is already available. Is the hand held version more similar to the card game or does it more resemble the action packed video stuff?

Once again, you have distorted the essence of my post. I myself have made positive statements about my experiences in The Way. However, in doing so, I did not discount or deny the "less than positive" experiences that others have had. I have, however, stated that it is my opinion that the cost of those experiences was far too high. If you will get honest with yourself, you will see that this discounting type of attitude is what some find objectionable, more so than recounting a positive event. And since you skirted the issue regarding the difference between public and private, allow me to restate the obvious. This is a public place (to visit) but participation is privately controlled.

What did the Sadist say when the Masochist said "Hit Me!"? NO!

Wow! You've stumped me on this one. It doesn't sound even vaguely familiar.

Yes, I agree that people should be "held accountable for things they do and say on the internet" GSC is, indeed, a public place in that virtually anyone with a computer can access these pages for perusal. Participation here, however, requires that one subscribe and follow the rules, both in letter and in spirit. That means that, even though GSC is "public" in terms of visibility, activity here can be controlled "privately" by the operators of the site. It also means they can "hold people accountable for things they do and say" as participants. As the proprietors, they are within their rights and they have the power to do so, much as the proprietor of a privately owned theater has the right to insist that disruptive speech, such as calling, "FIRE!" or open solicitation be prohibited. IMO

A large part of TWI's activity was based on recruitment through door-to-door witnessing, mall witnessing, public recruitment meetings (called Public EX.'s) etc. For that reason, there was a sense of animosity (for lack of a better word) by the locals toward TWI. Add to that the fact that TWI "members" had a tendency to be condescending toward locals because, as far as they were concerned, the locals were not part of "the one true household". There are local churches in the area but, again, the coexistence is/was a strained relationship. TWI claims that one can not become a "member" because you are supposedly free to come and go. Thus, they supposedly keep no membership files. That whole line of reason is a twisted sense of nonsense as they closely monitor attendance and financial offerings. The whole object is to bring more and more recruits into the fold who will thus bring more income to the organization. It's "required" that you give at least 15 to 20% of your gross income(last estimate I heard) to be considered in good standing. So, It's hard to hide your involvement and actively sell the "product" at the same time. Members will sometimes resort to what I consider a form of deception to lure in recruits. Young, single members will feign romantic interest in a recruit to lure them to fellowships where they will be "love bombed" and made to feel special. Then the indoctrination begins

You are not using the wrong phrases. The thing you have to understand about a cult is, that, unlike a conventional church, it's not a "worship on Sunday" kind of thing. It consumes your every minute, 24/7---365. It is at the center of everything you decide, such as what kind of car to buy (can I fit all the A/V eqt. in the trunk?) to the apartment you rent.(Will there be enough off-street parking for fellowship attendees?) to the job offers you consider.(Will I be required to work hours that conflict with ministry functions?) And yes, a "splinter group" is one that has spun off of TWI but has maintained the same essential tenets and practices. There was a "splinter" group in Central Ohio that split off as early as the early 1970's .On his web site(The Writing Machine) Christian Cloud Abraham talks about what it was like to have to move from city to city as his mother was reassigned every year or so.