ToadFriend

QUOTE: i would say the 'good times' that you remember were not due to twi's BOTs/BODs & top leadership {due to corporate twi's bait and switch strategy}, but rather were in spite of them. I think the good times some people remember were due to the presence of genuine pure hearted people amongst the rank and file, with an occasional WC grad willing to buffer the bs for the mere underlings. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh, I agree totally ... I never meant to indicate otherwise. TF

Quote from Rascal: It is because most came to a point where their personal integrity would no longer allow them to be a cover for the evil being practiced.... Very well put, Rascal ... that's exactly what did it for me ... I remember standing at the top of the steps in my home, crying and saying to God, "I'm sorry ... I just can't do this any more." All it took was a talk with a noble and Godly man, yes, a former Way minister, to explain to me that I had no need to be sorry ... that it was "the spirit of God crying out within me" to leave....and I think that's what it was for all of us who left on our own ... God told us it was time to go, yet we perhaps didn't want to because we DID remember the good times and we also had been told the big LIE that there was nothing else out there .. and there is. If you are still in, think about what has been said about how the ones that are in simply stole the name and the organization -- get out, think for yourself, and realize how wonderful it is to have God as your Father and not have to live by the rules of an unGodly and legalistic organization that spends your money and then spits in your face. TF

It was ... I first took the Advanced Class at HQ in 1973, and it was a part of the syllabus and the teaching then, too ... TF

I got involved with the Way in North Carolina in April 1972 ... 'twas real weird here in 1974-75 ... Limb Coordinator came back from a year in the Special Corps (which later became the Family Corps) ... was caught in bed with a sweet young thing who later married ANOTHER Limb Coordinator ... story goes it was at a weekend camp at Betsy-Jeff Penn 4H Camp in Reidsville, NC ... I was there ... but the story goes that his young daughter (who's married and still in the Way today) asked her mom, "Mommy, why is Daddy taking a nap with K.....?" Needless to say, things were harsh and tense between the two of them, and you just couldn't put your finger on why ... later, we got a letter from Dr. Wierwille that the two of them had decided to divorce ... I still have the letter. That was one weird time here ... but later years and other folks told me that lots of wife swapping and adultery was going on with some of the Special Corps/regular Corps who were in residence in 1974-1975 at HQ. I also remember being very "into" witnessing to help the Word go over the USA in 1975-76 so that it would not be taken over by the Illuminati. When July 4, 1976 came and went peacefully, no one ever said anything to us at the Limb picnic ... no mention of it ... made me wonder, "Did we do it? Is the Word over the USA?" even though I knew it wasn't, I so wanted to believe it was. Still have one of the notebooks they sold during the time preceding that .. white with a "Lighting the Way for the USA"/"America Awakes" logo. That whole conspiracy theory of history was very big from 1974-76 in the Way ... probably lifted from secular magazines who also believed it, but it was presented to us as if were via revelation ... we were young and foolish, and knew no better. I still have that book, "None Dare Call It Conspiracy" somewhere. TF

I think the reason TJ rose as quickly as he did in the ranks of TWI is that he had the worldly credentials VPW and others so craved to represent TWI ... he had been a teacher (high school, I think) teacher of Social Studies (history, government, and the like) and taught the folks in the ministry things about the Godly nature of the founding fathers, the Declaration of Independence, etc. and particularly the concept of unalienable rights (around the time the Way was trying to get folks to support Hayes Gahagan for the Maine Senate, which later almost cost them their tax-exempt status) ... I took his class called Blessings of Liberty many years before I was in the Corps, and it was good ... but then again, I didn't have to live with the man. TomTuttle, perhaps you will remember with fondness TJ's utter inability to correctly pronounce the word "bulldozer." Macmarine still laughs about "buhdozer." TF

Your opening post, Rascal ... well put, well put! TF

"...I think that a lot of these people were "disturbed" to start with...Wierwille just exploited that meanness that was already in them...gave them a reason to legitimitize their abuse towards others...they "dug it"" Amen to that! I remember one of TJ's most disturbing invited teachers ... Randy F**se, the Region Coordinator ... he talked about how a "young man" could work his way up through the ranks of TWI and make a career of it ... most of us were pretty horrified about the implicit message of making merchandise of God's people ... RF was cheered on afterward by TJ, who remembers the "excitement I felt as a young man when I first heard this." The ONLY person I remember being excited about it that night was, interestingly, J*ff K**foot ... yes, I know I added an extra "s" to his name, but consider it added for emphasis, as he was and is an a** .... these men saw TWI leadership NOT as a service to God, but as a career choice, where they could be lords over God's heritage ... as they were surely NOT "examples to the flock." They were interested in fleecing the flock and making themselves a nice sweater out of the fleece. TF, Friend of the Toad, but not of the Fleece-Flocker

Here's another TJ story from a friend of mine, who some of you know of the 9th Corps know as macmarine. Mac, a former Marine and about as much of a target of TJ's as I was while at Gunnison years later, had just taken his first trail ride ...a long one...he had not been sitting in the saddle correctly and it rubbed the lower part of his back raw ... he told me his jeans had been bloody when he took them off. He was lying on his stomach at Gunnison, not even able to stand the sheet on his lower back/rump during the "Holiday" party the Corps was having. TJ came up the stairs to see him ... Mac thought, "Well, maybe this guy is not so bad. He came to see me during the party." Those of you who have seen the true hatred TJ seemed to have for people can guess what comes next: Tom proceded to rail upon Mac for every wrong thing Mac had done while there ... concluding with the "sentence" that he was going to KEEP him there at Gunnison another block to try to whip him into shape. Great compassion, huh? The man had none, and nothing that I have heard about him since makes me think he is any different. A good friend of mine, a Godly man who does not care for his name to be on the internet, once told me that he felt like the reason TJ was the way he was was because he was so emasculated by Arlene...I could certainly believe that! TJ, the devilish imp, sure had a Napoleon complex. TF

I took the PFAL Class in June 1972, and it cost $65 ... the Intermediate Class was then taught as a seminar ($20) called Tongues, Interpretation, and Prophecy ... I took it in July 1972. A friend of mine who had taken the PFAL Class in 1971 paid only $45 ... During the 23.5 years I was in TWI, I saw the class move from $65 to $85 to $100 to $200 and then back to $100 or less ... each change in price had some "spiritual" reason behind it, as I recall. Interestingly, the Advanced Class was $250 when I took it and stayed that way for many, many years ... what changed was the amount of money you paid to stay at either HQ or the Root locale at which it was held.

Just an onion clarification .. the Texas sweet onions are not the same as Vidalia onions ... to legally (yes, legally) be called Vidalia onions, they have to be grown within a certain radius of Vidalia, Georgia ... Friend of the Toad AND Vidalia Onions

He has HAD the chance to apologize and be nice to me, and refused ... I fully agree with the following assessment: He wanted to be a harda$$. He so wanted to be that slick leader that LCM was promoting. And he was ruthless in his ways. He seemed to think the way to 'train' corps was to annihilate them. I know several people that he systematically destroyed from the day they got to Gunnison. He wiped away their very dignity. He was just a nasty little man. TF Friend of the Toad, But Not of The Jerk (Interesting how his initials happen to be the same ... T J)

I did not go LEAD because of physical difficulties until the last six weeks of my final year in-residence after a particularly awful block at Gunnison with TJ (not the dog, the man). Let me just suffice it to say that, upon my return and after Dr. Wierwille's death, JAL returned from the placement meetings at HQ and told me kindly (yes, kindly) that he had seen THOUSANDS of LEAD appraisals and mine was the worst ... I went Leave-of-Absence from the Corps and never went back ... Despite such a dismal appraisal, I have thought many times during my life since then when bad stuff came up to endure that, "I survived LEAD ... I can survive this." I have nothing nice to say about any of the staff except Donnie Smith ... he was kind and Godly. The others seemed to me to be arrogant arseholes.

I have the book now ... a kind Greasespotter was willing to part with it for a mutually-agreed-upon price. TF

Southern Gentleman: I was in the 13th Corps ... e-mail me at poohpal525@hotmail.com and let's get reacquainted. ToadFriend

Called Out was a great group of musicians from the 11th Corps who got together at Emporia. Pressed Down, Shaken Together, and Running Over consisted of Joe Fair, Paul Cuoco (cutie), and Ralph Graham ... they were awesome, too! I know the others, too, but I'm sleepy and I must nap before suppertime! Sleepy TF

Don Lomax was such a nice guy in the 13th Corps ... I'm sad for him that he's still involved ... and evidently involved at quite a high level to be invited to teach ... SIGH. TF

Once in the late 1990s (I left TWI in 1996), I was in Eckerd Drug and saw and said "hi" to the middle-school aged daughter of a still-innie (who was very weird even while in) ... she saw me, made some exclamation of surprise and horror, grabbed her daughter, Alyssa's, hand and ran out the door. Oddly, she waited on me about three years ago at a local fast food restaurant and didn't even recognize me. TF

Mickey Mahaffey is NOT the mayor of Asheville ... he IS an activist for the city's homeless, public transportation, and pollution issues. I googled him and checked out a few of the links to make sure it was him, and it was. One of the articles indicates that he ran for mayor in a grassroots campaign a couple of years ago, and got 1,000 votes. If you are interested in reading about him, google him. TLB, try to make sure your information is accurate before you post it. It only took me about 30 seconds to find out that he is not the mayor of Asheville. TF

It IS a nice memorial on your site ... but I don't remember anyone ever calling her "Dottie." Dr. Wierwille called her "Dotsie." Are you sure people called her "Dottie?" In the 23.5 years I was in TWI, "Dotsie" was the only nickname I ever heard Mrs. Wierwille called. TF

Just some faithful former Way believers who wanted to set up fellowships in their homes and set up a site on the internet where folks could get in touch ... don't know them personally, but their website has been a great blessing to me over the years ... TF

I also received notice, as I am sure many of you did, that Mrs. Wierwille would be buried "next to dad on the grounds of The Way International." Hopefully, the family will be allowed to visit there. She was a gracious lady and her life was precious to God. TF

Try the Friend Tracker on the main menu. TF

How about Mbangusulu Nsakulu (aka Nestor) who was in the 13th Corps with me? Does anyone know of his whereabouts, is he well, etc? TF

I know this won't be a popular post in this thread, but I believe that God made it snow for Victor Paul Wierwille ... just as I believe God could make it snow for any of us, if the need was there. TF

I'm sorry to hear she is not doing well. She was a wonderful woman in many ways ... very caring, very loving. TF