waysider

Thanks, Raf!

Dang! I'm at the computer that won't let me listen to this. Gonna have a listen first chance I get!

Is it possible that he was so entrenched in his "culture" that he simply did not realize it is illegal? Personally, I don't think so!!! Ignorance of the law is no excuse. I did not see the show mentioned. I think Whoopie needs to make it clear, though, whether she was "defending" or just offering an "explanation" of this culture.

Hi there, Bolski. Nothin' new to add, really. Just wanted to pop in and say-----

Hi, Roses There are a number of reasons, actually. One of the reasons is because Google is such a powerful tool and easily accessible. Let's say, for example, that you used your actual name here. Through the power of Google, someone may find your posts here and deduce that you were involved with a cult in the past. For some people, that could be problematic if they were , let's say, being scrutinized for employment purposes. Also, if your post revealed that you were privy to information that was relevant to an ongoing lawsuit, you might be called on to appear in court. These are just a couple examples. There are many variations of the above. It gets even trickier when the person's identity being revealed is someone other than yourself who would prefer to remain anonymous. Anyhow, if you use symbols like @ instead of a, people will be able to figure out your intended word or name. Hope that sheds some light on it.

Hi, busyMomma I doubt you are the only one, but there are lots of people who don't know about GSC or don't have access to a computer. I'm a good 2 1/2 hrs. to your N.E. Shoot me a PM if you are ever headed for CapCity.

Yeah. Me Too. Now that I have XM, though, I'm catching up fast.

Hmmmm. Oh, almost forgot, I thought it was really good stuff, too.

Well now, I suppose that would depend on where in the context you intend to place it. Just kiddin'. It's "wear". Everybody's heard About the bird The bbbird bird bird The bird is the word---------------

Don't be a stranger, John. Come back and visit sometime. And bring some more of your wife's sweet music with you if you do come back. (Pretty please?)

It's always been my personal theory that "working hands" may have contributed to rise in popularity with slide and bottleneck playing, as well as open tunings. My problem, though, is that it's the fingers on my picking hand that go numb and since I use a finger rocking style, it's a bummer. Maybe I could learn to use a pick but I really don't like the thin tone it produces. I think maybe I'll try some of that Glucowhatzit, too.

That Marc Cohn tune is a great song. I looked for it on youtube but the only place I could find it, it was being used as background music for someones personal montage. I didn't think it would be appropriate to bring something that was meant for a limited audience to GS. Still, if someone wanted to check out the song, it's there on youtube.

Forget about the "black fly in your Chardonnay", That's ironic!!

I appreciate the compliment, AnotherDan, though I don't see myself as being any smarter or wiser than anyone else here. (I just happen to save old books and notes that come in handy for reference.) Thanks for the dinner invitation but I'm sure it would be very, very cold by the time I got there.

No, John, I don't believe I have the "spirit of error". As a matter of clarification, might I point out this post was directed toward me? I deduced that because the first sentence in the post contains a quote of something I said in an earlier post. According to page 20 in the 1971 AC syllabus, the "spirit of error" is a spirit that causes one to be accident prone, facilitates deception, and causes one to be wrong in their "believing". Some of the scripture references given were: I John 4:6/ Revelation 12:9/ Matthew 24:24/ II John 7. What I find curiously interesting is that on this very same page is a description and scripture references for a spirit called "spirit of leviathan" which supposedly is responsible for alcoholism. How does one manage to find "spirit of error" on this page and completely miss "spirit of leviathan"? Does one simply "cherry pick" the sections that they like and ignore the rest? That, in itself, would seem a bit deceptive to me. edited to change "a" spirit of error to "the" spirit of error in an effort maintain the integrity of the post I quoted.

I walked past an oldfashioned hardware store the other day and there was a sign in the window that said, "Cast iron sinks" Well shoot!! Who didn't already know THAT?

Larry I'm just curious why, if you, yourself, are *over it* and *healed*, you feel so compelled to stick around and continue to post the kinds of things you post. I don't think the Welcome greeting is a bunch of BS. The rules seem quite reasonable to me. Of course, that's just my opinion. I also don't believe this thread was started as an effort to insult newbies. Many newbies take some time and review the editorials and other documents that are here before they start participating in discussions. I could be mistaken, but when I initially suggested that you consider doing that, you scoffed at the idea. I'm not angry with you, brother, just puzzled why anyone would keep coming back to a place they find objectionable.

I physically left in about 1990. I did not get involved with any offshoot or splinter group. Actually, I lost track of what was going on inside the organization so I had no idea about the lawsuits, etc. But, still, some place in my mind I still felt like I was part of TWI in some abstract sense. I found this place by chance and it really opened my eyes to a lot of things I had suspected over the years but never really had any proof. I realized I no longer had to feel guilty that I had somehow copped out on the household or on God. In fact, when I realized I had been the victim of large scale scam(IMO), I felt a sense of relief that I had not failed God, I had simply left a cult. In my opinion, until one can accept that The Way was/is a cult, they can never be free from the strangle hold it puts on one's individuality and ability to think for one's self. The very fact that some people refuse to even consider they were conned is evidence in itself how effective the lesson in session #7 really was. That's the session where we are conditioned to believe that Eve's downfall was a direct result of her considering what the serpent had to say. The lesson went on to warn us that we must never "consider" either, lest the same thing happen to us. We were under mind control,(not the Hollywood movie kind where people walk around like zombies but the kind that prevents a person from exercising their sense of logic and reason.) Some still have not been able to recognize that in themselves. I think that, at least for myself, being away from TWi doctrine and its derivatives helped me to be able to think for myself without fear of being "off The Word".

Me too.

Surfin' Bird!!!!-------The Trashmen

:dance: :)

Rosestoyou I find I must agree with you on your comments regarding communes and socialism. A month or two ago, I started a thread on the Fellowlaborer program, which was a commune in the true academic sense. It didn't get much response, perhaps because the program was nowhere near as far reaching as some of the others. The aspect of communal living had a far greater and long lasting effect on me than any of the doctrinal material (such as *4 crucified* or *6 denials*) Sometimes people will mistakenly think that living together as a group is the same thing as a commune. It may well include that but it is larger in scope than that. I think for some WOWs(I was not one), the experience might have been like a group of people living together while for others, it might have been a form of communal living. This might explain why there is a diversity of opinions on the effects of the WOW program.

Johniam Here's a little suggestion for you, that might make your posts easier to read. When you see a post you want to quote, click on the quote/reply boxes at the bottom of that post. That will insert that post into yours. If you don't want the whole post, delete the sections you don't want and put *snip* on both sides of the section you have saved. That will put it into a "quote bubble" and the *snips* will show that you are *dividing* it out of the larger context. And yes, John, you are correct, there is a difference between having a *nature* and having a *lifestyle*. A person can, by nature, be an alcoholic but live a lifestyle free of alcohol. However, one does not live a lifestyle of alcoholism without being alcoholic by nature. In other words, a lifestyle is like a nature brought into manifestation. Wierwille manifested a lifestyle of alcoholism that was in his nature.

I wasn't led into it either. I wasn't even with anyone when I did it. In fact, I had only just heard about TWI and the PFAL class days before I spoke in tongues, Someone had said it was a way to express thankfulness to God and that was a big priority to me at that moment. Then, the next day or two I gave tongues with interpretation in a believers meeting( because the leader said, "Will someone----?") and drew some wild looks from the people present. It was a real *Kodak Moment*.

I just come here for the refreshments. (Keep that under your hat!!)