Broken Arrow

The squirrel said: "I would like to see one honest report of where the "battery poser" has done something really useful.. other than to try to desperately attract attention and admiration to itself..

generally. I know, perhaps there are a couple specific cases.."

More than just a couple my squirrely friend.

We come from the unknown, we go to the unknown, the only thing we really know is now.

SoCrates

Speak for yourself. Personally, I have no idea what's going on.

Well, by cracky, I think there was!!

Stop with the wise cracks, okay?

I vaguely recall that TWI came under sharp criticism for being involved in politics so their tax exempt status came under scrutiny. I might be wrong about that.

At the time, I do remember being shocked at how disappointed some people were at Gehagan's loss. I was at a meeting where the esteemed Gehagan said that running for Senate was, "an opportunity to take a stand." I never thought for a moment that he would win and I didn't think anyone else did either. I mean, when was the last time an independent won a Senatorial election? This was prior to Lieberman who did it just a few years ago. Anyway, it's not very common and the only time it's ever worked is when the candidate is well known having been a former member of a particular major party. Really, I thought the whole purpose was to inspire other believers to get involved in the political process. Silly naive me.

Do you remember who he was up against? It was Edmund Muskie, former Vice-Presidential candidate with Hubert Humphrey and very popular in Maine. He was nationally known for crying out loud. Gahagan actually thought he was going to beat him? I don't think so. Even TWI with its millions was no match for the coffers Muskie had at his disposal.

I'll admit the picture is pretty funny...but no, this is not the housing for Corps leadership in the 80's. I can't remember where I've seen that picture before. If by Corp leadership you mean the people that ran the Corp like JAL etc., I think they stayed in the Corps Chalet if I'm not mistaken.

Someone once told me that this "spiritually angry" persona LCM developed was nothing more than a front. They told me in actuality he was a coward (he used a different expression that starts with "chicken" and ends in a word that rhymes with "hit"). He said if confronted he would just avoid the person...maybe not on the phone, but face to face. I dunno, my acquaintance was kind of PO'd about a few things regarding LCM. He's also a pretty big guy.

I have to disagree. Well, I dont have to I suppose, but I do. "Mission Creep", if I'm understanding things correctly, implies that at one time there was a well-defined, needfull, and well carried out mission. I don't think such a thing existed in TWI.

luckily i missed most of martindale's insane years

but he was starting to lean that way when i knew him and so was tom jenkinson and chris geer (well he had already gone off the edge in my opinion) and some others

TJ already had his leanings prior to the Corps.

loyboy was a dufus...a loud mouthed arrogant dufus...he wasn't only a cheapshot buyy, he also believed that every random thought that came into his meaty head was God speaking to him...and folks, that makes him mentally ill in my book. He's damn lucky he didn't end up in a sraight jacket doing the thorazine shuffle

Hmm, has anyone seen him for awhile? Maybe he's...over nevermind.

Hello everybody - glad we're all still here. I was never in the Corps but have a question to do with the shouting/facemelting - was it taught that shouting would scare anything devilish away? I think I later heard something like that somewhere. And I remember people in the corps that I liked and admired and who I normally found warm and funny, that some of them could do the shouting bit also, and I wonder if they felt they had to do it.

Yelling and face melting...it was a way for insecure people (such as myself) to feel like they were in charge.

interestingly Kansas State University/ Emporia Campus now owns College of Emporia. Associate degrees are offered by 2 year community colleges, not 4 year institutions.

Are you sure? I thought the place was turned into a strip mall, and something honoring teachers in what we used to call the "Campus Center."

I just can't believe they call him "Uncle Howard".

The covenant of salt has its foundation in ancient history. Its a long standing custom of man, for the most part. But, is it dictated by scripture? Here are the only three occasions I know of that it is mentioned in the Bible:

II Chronicles 13:5 (NIV)

Don’t you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?

Numbers 18:19 (NIV)

19 Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD for both you and your offspring."

Leviticus 2:13 (NIV)

Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offering

-------------

These scriptures are directed at specific individuals and specific groups.

There is nothing in the scriptures that indicate it is to be practiced in a wide spread sense. In fact, there is nothing to indicate the specifics of how it should be performed. It's simply a tradition of man... ageless, widespread, and documented in the Bible, perhaps, but not a ritual prescribed by scripture.

Then of course, there's the verse somewhere where Moses says to Aaron, "Would you please pass the salt?"

Actually, I memorized the Jet Style packing notes and tossed those! I think that's the only thing I still use from my "training."

Wow! :o

One of the things that's recently crossed my mind is: did the MOG do something to make the people turn their collective backs on him? Seems to me we were getting only one side of the story.

And with Saint Vic, Craigmeister, and Rip-N-Bark to fill in the blanks on the other side...

SoCrates

I think the answer is obvious with LCM. VP is a different story. There are still people in and out of TWI who still worship him. But you're right, many have disavowed their association with him.

One of the things about brainwashing, or so I've been told, is that for the brainwashing to continue, the victim needs to contiually be reinforced by the group. As people have left and begin to live life and get older, many see what a ruse VP really was. We're no longer ga ga-ed 21-year-olds searching for an identity and approval of a group.

I know it was gradual for me. I thought he was the man for a good 10 years after I left. A natural disaster would occur, like the Oklahoma City Bombing. I said, "It's because we no longer have the believing of 'Dr. Wierwille' present so the door is open for devil spirit activity." I'm embarrassed I ever thought that way. I wasn't the only one.

But as time went on and my thinking faculties started to kick in, I began to see things in a true light.

....."never forget WHO taught him"...

WHO?.....WIERWILLE

Always about wierwille

That's riiiiight!

and yeah, twi, like a lot of secular leadership in our society today, puts the least developed (morally and otherwise) in charge of the more developed (aka more "mature" or more "wise"), and even rewards lack of development.

Such as how egocentric people will do things other more developed folks will not do to get into positions of power over others.

That's true. I used to marvel at some of the people that would be put in leadership. Many, and I mean many, had a distaste for such things as ethics and even having an education. There were a few times people were mocked for possessing such attributes. The narrow-mindedness of some was astounding.

he probably did have a problem with his own father

what was all that bs about him turning to the wall or some such crap

i mean, who in the heck studies the position a person dies in

i don't know maybe it means something to someone

but if you're dead, that's it

Supposed to be an "orientalism" that he learned from K.C. Pillai.

Yes Excie, its getting time for me to go through my stuff, some still boxed, and let it go.

Even your notes on jet style packing and how to properly accesorize, and tie a tie?

Mantindale stated publicly that he got the presidential mantle from wierwille because he OBEYED IMPLICITLY. No questions asked. He jumped when wierwille commanded him to jump. Yes, twi became that insane! Think how deeply whacked that is?!?

LCM claimed that VP said to someone he was counseling that the reason LCM was named president is because, "He never forgot who taught him the Word."

So, the way ministry is higher than OBEYING GOD AND ESCHEWING EVIL? Riiight....

Reminds one of Adolf Hitler. He was requiring officers, and I think even soldiers and a host to others to pledge a loyalty to him, not Germany, him. We had to pledge loyalty to TWI, not God, TWI.

She was wrong--if he tore you to shreds over some little thing, the correct term, rightly divided and all is he is an a-hole

As well as insecure.

What was Wierwille's "Rosebud?"

I'm thinking, maybe that tractor of his neighbor's that he sank to the bottom of the pond?

At Emporia, the inresidence groups were hitting the 325-student range. The Emporia campus was so crowded that TWO married couples were sharing ONE room.

Karma? Are you LeBron James? Seriously, I think with staff and corps there were about 800 total on campus.

Yeah....the salt commitment.

Stay salted to twi....NO MATTER WHAT.

Just like the closing of pfal class "stand on 'the word'" only notched higher!

Stand as 'corps' for the rest of your life.

Sexual abuse in twi?..........keep standing.

Lies and exploitation.........keep standing.

Hypocrisy rampant.............keep standing.

Seducers and being seduced....keep standing.

Yet, the scriptures say to REFRAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL.

TWI is a conduit for EVIL.

How many times did we see VP weep openly over his "broken heart" regarding a corps person who took the covenant of salt and didn't "stand"? "Oh kids, you break my heart!"

Okay, I can see the concern the first century church tanked because people turned against the man of God. But did anybody bother to think: so if this trolley goes off the tracks, how are we supposed to be able to tell someone?

Which of course brings me to:

I don't run the trolley

I don't ring the bell

But let the d--n thing jump the tracks

And see who catches h--l

SoCrates

Some people did and they were ostracized. Speaking for myself, no. It never crossed my mind that TWI would ever "go off the tracks." It was the perfect ministry run by leaders who were above reproach. They were trained by the MOG himself. He hand-picked LCM as his successor and he had a direct connection with God, don't you know.

The first thing that would have crossed my mind was: why am I patroling these grounds? Is somebody's believing askew?

SoCrates

I can see having some sort of security at night. Whether that should have been the students is another question. Also, was it really necessary, if someone was assigned "bless patrol", to require them to be at breakfast at 7-am and do their regular work assignment the next day? Guess that was supposed to make us tough, but it was another control thing. That and they didn't want to pay people to work security. I know one poor guy, or was it a woman, that worked bp and the next night was Corps night with VP live. They got basically screamed at for falling asleep during the teaching. Sheesh, they had only had about 3 hours of sleep.

Its odd that they give a degree in theology when they dont even touch the subject--Of course they were never accredited by anyone either so i suppose they could have granted degrees in enlightened understanding or anything that tickled their fancy and gotten away with it since they had no oversight.

After seeing this thread I called a friend with a M.Div. degree from Andover Newton.

Yeah, that M.Div. curriculum is tough. I have a friend going through it right now. They don't mess around.

i love you jim

i remember one of my really great friends (AND SPONSOR) -- even more than one now that i think about -- were so sad that when i came to visit i wasn't the same person they knew before i went in

it was not because i was so religious or strict or snooty -- it was because i had no joy

If you don't mind my asking, was that right after graduation, or years later?