penworks

If anyone wants to read my first-hand account of being on staff at HQ and talking with John right after he was fired, it's in Undertow, Chapter 54: Clampdown. I got his permission to use his real name in my book.

Do you want to read what I think about this topic of cults? Here are three of my blog posts I feel are especially helpful: Cults & Identity Theft | Charlene L. Edge The 3-D Cult Experience | Charlene L. Edge The Camouflage of Cults | Charlene L. Edge

Some of you might know about The International Cultic Studies Association, which is very helpful to people trapped in cults but want to get out, to those who've left cults, to those born into cults but got out, and families and friends concerned about "innies" they love. I've spoken at a couple of ICSA conferences and got to know one of the organization's executives, Michael Langone, PhD. He promoted Undertow for me and it's sold in the ICSA bookstore. Michael has his own website, too, that offers great info, like powerpoints which succinctly capture main issues with this complex thing we call a "cult." He knows what he's talking about, having spent many years counseling and teaching and working in this field. Here's the link: Michael D. Langone, PhD - PowerPoints, Selected Enjoy! Charlene Edge a.k.a. Penworks

If you've read Undertow, you know I was involved with TWI from 1970-1987 and knew those folks back then. Yes, they were good hearted. I worked with Bernita Jess, who was kind to me, for many years. I agree they were enablers, maybe some more than others, depending on how close they were to VWP. Intersting that Donna Rand*ll is not on this list! She was VPW's personal research secretary from the early days, helped when they filmed PFAL, and worked at HQ when I was in the Corps 1971-1973, and at PFAL '77 for the filming of that class, I was assigned to be her assistant, although I didn't do very much. So she was loyal from the beginning of the organization. She and her husband, Gene, lived in a trailer on HQ grounds for years. One of her daughters married VPW's nephew. She broke away from TWI around the time I did, in 1987 ish. She had been very close to VPW and I'll bet she knew a lot of dirt.

There's 4 more days to get these letters. After that, I'm retired. I've got 8 PDF files of letters Wierwille wrote to The Way Corps (1977 - 1981). They reveal the manipulative man he was behind-the-scenes, seeking adoration, using intimidation to get loyalty, and seeking sympathy over his imagined persecution by anyone he considered an enemy. I'll send the letters until April 30, 2025 at 5 pm. How to get them? Send me a message either here on GSC or at https://charleneedge.com

You can still get the 8 PDF files of letters Wierwille wrote to The Way Corps (1977 - 1981). They reveal the manipulative man he was behind-the-scenes, seeking adoration, using intimidation to get loyalty, and seeking sympathy over his imagined persecution by anyone he considered an enemy. I'll send the letters until April 30, 2025 at 5 pm. How to get them? Send me a message either here on GSC or at https://charleneedge.com If you haven't connected the dots about who I am, I graduated from the 2nd Way Corps (1971-1973), then I was an area, limb, branch, twig leader over the years, married to Tim Bis*op, originally from the Rye, NY fellowship, also in the 2nd Corps, who VPW ordained. I was a member of the Way's biblical research team who worked on the Aramaic projects. 1984 - 1986 until I resigned in protest. That story and more is in my memoir. Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. (2017). It's for sale online in paperback and ebook. The VPW letters to the Way Corps are from my own personal files. I saved a whole lot of material from my time in VPW's cult. Have a great day! Charlene Edge

You are most welcome. I'm overjoyed at the response to this offer. So many folks want to know what VPW was up to back then. The letters are evidence of his warped (understatement) so-called leadership. He was a needy, little man who craved adoration and loyalty. Seems as if today's TWI leadership still give him that and keep promoting him as some great man of God so as to keep followers involved. Oh, if they only knew the dark side of that man, maybe they'd think twice before giving TWI another cent of their money or another minute of their time.

Just FYI: For subscribers to my blog, in the Subscribe box, I promise I will never give away, trade or sell your email address. The same promise applies to the email address you provide when you request these PDFs. Charlene L. Edge https://charleneedge.com I will never give away, trade or sell your email address. You can unsubscribe at any time.

25 more days until April 30, 2025 at 5 pm to get your copies of VPW letters to the Way Corps from my own personal files. These letters are an eductation in how VPW manipulated the Corps behind-the-scenes. They also preserve TWI history which is being lost or changed. Send me a message either here on GSC or at https://charleneedge.com

I like Waysider's comment about recovery being an on-going process. I has been for me. While I was writing Undertow, soooo many years after my direct expereinces in TWI, I was still coming to realizations. While the Way organization may be a shadow of its former self, as Wordwolf described it, I think it appears that way because the number of active followers is lower than in its heyday of the 1980s, for instance. Since Undertow came out, I've gotten numerous emails from children and grandchildren of my former Way peers. These descendents read Undertow and are surprised to see how abuse they suffered actually began with VPW himself. Many of my former peers won't admit that, since they still believe he was the man of God. It's sick. So abuse in one form or another has filtered down in their lives from their parents giving them warped doctrines and confusing messages, such as "you're sick because you don't believe strongly enough." The fallout from the "early days in TWI" has domino effects that take time and education to rectify. The thousands of posts here on GSC are evidence of that.

The following is a flyer I created and have distributed to students and folks who've attended my presentations. Help yourself. What Do You Know About Cults? What is a cult? “An ideological organization held together by charismatic relationships and demanding total commitment.” ~ Benjamin Zablocki, PhD, “Cults: Theory and Treatment Issues.” http://www.icsahome.com/articles/cultspsymanipsociety-langone How do cults recruit? Promises and pressure What are some warning signs? Charismatic, authoritarian, self-proclaimed leader with no check on power Deceptive recruiting (often sincere) Critical inquiry viewed as “persecution” Organized psychological manipulation Emotional, sexual, and financial exploitation Inner circle of loyal followers with secret beliefs/behavior No meaningful economic transparency How do cults undermine freedom? Demand loyalty to cult leader/ideology Disallow freedom of religion (theirs is the only right one) Intimidate to prevent free thought Control personal goals Destabilize freedom of association How can we respond to recruiters? ABCD A - Always research group B - Be firm when refusing recruitment C - Challenge appealing promises D - Don’t tolerate deception, even from a friend Warning: An imbalance of power is an opportunity for abuse. Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International By Charlene L. Edge. Memoir. Paperback and eBook at major booksellers & indie bookstores “… A frank, in-depth account of one woman’s struggles in a controlling organization.” — Kirkus Reviews Gold medal winner - Florida Authors and Publishers Association, 2017 On Book Riot’s list of “100 Must-Read Books About Life in Cults and Oppressive Religious Sects” What it’s about: After a family tragedy struck, teenaged Charlene rejected Catholicism, family, and friends to join what became one of the largest fundamentalist cults in America: The Way International led by Victor Paul Wierwille. After promotion to the inner circle of biblical researchers, Charlene discovered secrets: Wierwille’s plagiarism, misuse of Scripture, and sex abuse. Amid chaos at The Way’s headquarters, Charlene escaped. Why Undertow matters: Each year about 50,000 to 100,000 people enter or leave high-control groups called “cults” (data: The International Cultic Studies Association). Movies like Going Clear and The Path have captured the nation’s attention. Undertow is a personal story about cult recruitment and fear-based manipulation by an authoritarian, charismatic leader. The fundamentalist mindset, espousing certainty about God and the meaning of the Bible, causes untold divisions in families and communities. Undertow shows this pain from an insider’s perspective and that healing is possible. A taste of Undertow: “I gulped down Doug’s words without doing any critical thinking, not pressing him to prove what he said. He was so sincere that I clung to his assertions, like ‘believing equals receiving,’ as if they were heaven-sent.” CHARLENE L. EDGE spent 17 years in The Way (1970–1987). Later she earned a B.A. in English from Rollins College and worked for more than a decade as writer in the software industry. She is a published poet and essayist and a member of the Florida Writers Association, the Authors Guild, and the International Cultic Studies Association. She lives in Florida with her husband, Dr. Hoyt L. Edge. She blogs at: http://charleneedge.com

What Do You Know About Cults? What is a cult? “An ideological organization held together by charismatic relationships and demanding total commitment.” ~ Benjamin Zablocki, PhD, “Cults: Theory and Treatment Issues.” http://www.icsahome.com/articles/cultspsymanipsociety-langone How do cults recruit? Promises and pressure What are some warning signs? Charismatic, authoritarian, self-proclaimed leader with no check on power Deceptive recruiting (often sincere) Critical inquiry viewed as “persecution” Organized psychological manipulation Emotional, sexual, and financial exploitation Inner circle of loyal followers with secret beliefs/behavior No meaningful economic transparency How do cults undermine freedom? Demand loyalty to cult leader/ideology Disallow freedom of religion (theirs is the only right one) Intimidate to prevent free thought Control personal goals Destabilize freedom of association How can we respond to recruiters? ABCD A - Always research group B - Be firm when refusing recruitment C - Challenge appealing promises D - Don’t tolerate deception, even from a friend Warning: An imbalance of power is an opportunity for abuse. Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International By Charlene L. Edge. Memoir. Paperback and eBook at major booksellers & indie bookstores “… A frank, in-depth account of one woman’s struggles in a controlling organization.” — Kirkus Reviews Gold medal winner - Florida Authors and Publishers Association, 2017 On Book Riot’s list of “100 Must-Read Books About Life in Cults and Oppressive Religious Sects” What it’s about: After a family tragedy struck, teenaged Charlene rejected Catholicism, family, and friends to join what became one of the largest fundamentalist cults in America: The Way International led by Victor Paul Wierwille. After promotion to the inner circle of biblical researchers, Charlene discovered secrets: Wierwille’s plagiarism, misuse of Scripture, and sex abuse. Amid chaos at The Way’s headquarters, Charlene escaped. Why Undertow matters: Each year about 50,000 to 100,000 people enter or leave high-control groups called “cults” (data: The International Cultic Studies Association). Movies like Going Clear and The Path have captured the nation’s attention. Undertow is a personal story about cult recruitment and fear-based manipulation by an authoritarian, charismatic leader. The fundamentalist mindset, espousing certainty about God and the meaning of the Bible, causes untold divisions in families and communities. Undertow shows this pain from an insider’s perspective and that healing is possible. A taste of Undertow: “I gulped down Doug’s words without doing any critical thinking, not pressing him to prove what he said. He was so sincere that I clung to his assertions, like ‘believing equals receiving,’ as if they were heaven-sent.” CHARLENE L. EDGE spent 17 years in The Way (1970–1987). Later she earned a B.A. in English from Rollins College and worked for more than a decade as writer in the software industry. She is a published poet and essayist and a member of the Florida Writers Association, the Authors Guild, and the International Cultic Studies Association. She lives in Florida with her husband, Dr. Hoyt L. Edge. She blogs at: http://charleneedge.com

Part of TWI's history is how a wide-spread American belief helped shape VPW's teachings: that America was founded to be a Christian nation. VPW used non-biblical sources (of course) to back up his belief in this. The belief today is held by most Christian Nationalists in America. Many ago, I examined this belief in a paper I wrote for a creative writing class at what was then called Valencia Community College in Orlando, FL. I've attached my paper here for anyone interested in the fundamentalist aspect of TWI. It's the fundamentalism aspect of Wierwille's teachings that you see when he calls Scripture "inerrant" and that is "fits like a hand in a glove." He made it LOOK that way using fundamentalist methods of interpretation that he took from other mens' work. Note - my name at the time I wrote the attached paper was Charlene Bishop. I was still married to my first husband, T*m Bish*p, from the Rye, NY fellowship. We married the day after we graduated from the Second Corps in 1973. In Undertow, I gave Tim the alias of Ed. We divorced in 1991. Cheers! Fund to Freedom_C_Edge.pdf

I remember all of these books being sold in The Way Bookstore while I was involved during the 70s and 80s. Here's something I wrote about The Myth of the Six Million. I didn't include the following in its entirety, but did put parts of it in my memoir, Undertow. Worldly news On staff it was easy to pay no attention to news from the outside world. We lived in what has been termed by former followers as, “Way world.” All that mattered was what the ministry did. On the larger stage of the world in the spring of 1986 just before my co-worker, Joe, was fired and about a month before Geer read his PoP letter that shattered Way world into a million mini-way worlds, on March 4, 1986, the New York Times reporter John Tagliabue published a report revealing that Austrian president Kurt Waldheim he had been a Nazi army officer. Note: That issue of the NYT is unavailable to me now, but there is mention of his German army ties in this Britannica entry: Kurt Waldheim | Biography, Achievements, & Facts | Britannica In The Way, such a news item, if known by ministry leadership, would have been hushed up. At the time, the Way fellowships in Europe were growing fast with a Way Corps training site in Gartmore, Scotland, which to us proved we were serious about getting the Word over the World (The goal Wierwille aimed for, describing it as making his bible classes available to everyone in every community in the world). To most people it would matter that the president of a European country had had Nazi ties, but not to Way leaders. Why? Wierwille was a Nazi sympathizer. He’d said to some Way Corps members that Hitler just “had a PR problem.” (a reliable source who heard him say this told me.) Victor Paul Wierwille denied the holocaust, claimed reports of Jews being killed were exaggerated. Although he did not publically make statements that could get him in hot water, he did on occasion make them to Way Corps graduates. Once at a summer biblical research meeting I attended in the Outreach Services Center at Way headquarters in Ohio, somehow he got on the topic of the Jews. He said he knew some Jews were out to kill him but he was not scared of them. They had been the killers of Jesus Christ, and would have to answer to God for their rejection and murder of Jesus Christ. The Word of God had already judged them. At the time, I felt scared for Wierwille, since I still revered him as my “father in The Word.” I failed to understand he was antisemitic. It took me some more years before I could face that fact. I did see that Wierwille avoided teaching the Scriptural evidence that the Romans allowed Jesus to be put to death [The gospel of Matthew, chapter 27, for instance]. According to archaeological finds, textual research, etc. a PBS special, “From Jesus to Christ,” unveils this: "Jesus was most likely arrested and executed by Roman authorities whose principal concern was to keep the peace. The Romans had little tolerance for those it judged disruptive of the Pax Romana, punishing them in many ways, including crucifixion. The death of Jesus was a Roman act; there was little if any notice taken by Jewish people. Jesus was another victim of the Pax Romana... Jesus was born before 4 B.C.E. and died around 30 C. E (C.E. means "of the common era," the equivalent of A.D)." http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/view/#ixzz1aOsuV29F Wierwille, however, did not exactly keep his views about the Jews a secret from the thousands of Way followers. Anyone could have seen he denied the Holocaust if they looked in The Way bookstore. At the time I was involved with The Way during the 1970s and 1980s, he sold books such as, The Myth of the Six Million. I bought a copy and kept it until I left The Way in 1987, ashamed that I had ever been involved with Wierwille’s organization. The following is some background information about that book from the website linked at the end of the quote. "The Mazal Holocaust Collection includes a large number of books and pamphlets by authors denying the Holocaust. One of the first such books written in English was The Myth of the Six Million, first published anonymously in 1969 by Noontide Press (the Mazal copy is a 1974 edition), founded by the right-wing conspiracy theorist and Holocaust denier Willis Carto. The book has been attributed to David Hoggan, a Harvard-trained historian and writer who died in 1988. The Myth of the Six Million, Anonymous (1974 printing) | Innovations in Jewish Life Collections | University of Colorado Boulder "

If you haven't connected the dots about who I am, I graduated from the 2nd Way Corps (1971-1973), then I was an area, limb, branch, twig leader over the years, married to Tim Bis*op, originally from the Rye, NY fellowship, also in the 2nd Corps, who VPW ordained. I was also a member of the Way's biblical research team who worked on the Aramaic projects. My story is in my memoir. Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. (2007). It's for sale online in paperback and ebook. The VPW letters to the Way Corps are from my own personal files. I saved a whole lot of material from my time in VPW's cult, much of which I used to write my memoir. I'm just sharing the letters with anyone interested. You can contact me until April 30, 2025 at 5 pm and give me an email address to send them to you. Send me a message either here on GSC or at https://charleneedge.com