Kevlar2000

Taxicab, believe me; it's a good thing they don't.

LCM's ministry? King Spit of Wurd Mountain!

My dad, being part of the Orange County law enforcement south of the area, had heard about all the hippies and drugs that would be in attendance. He told me no way in h e l l was he going to allow me to go. Wah! :( But I showed him, 'cause a couple of years later, I joined a cult!

Yeah, sorta like Petrificus Totalus.

I haven't seen a Way bumper sticker in almost 20 years. Do they still make them? Do they require their people to put them on their cars? Do they still mainly serve to hold their cars together?

I'm always curious as to why any poster would want the owners of a discussion forum site to "delete their account". If visiting the site is a problem (causing mental tension, confusion, anger, etc.) - just don't go to the site anymore! There are plenty of other sites to visit on the world-wide spiderweb of information, and, unless I miss my guess, no one is forcing anyone to visit a discussion forum site. Just let your account go inactive. If it's a problem of having posted too much personal information, I'm sure the moderators would help to delete it from the site. If you wish to erase all memory of your existence on this site and in our minds because of whatever, well... "The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it" - Omar Khayyam

Hello S.O.W.E.R.S Grad 09, Well, quite an introduction. From some of the things you've written, I gather you've read through some of the posts on this site prior to your first post. You would be aware that most of the participants are not here to paint a rosy picture of the Way International. Many were severely abused as direct or indirect result of Victor Wierwille (the first one) and his Way Corps program (which, IMHO, was and is a complete epic failure). Then comes along the S.O.W.E.R.S. program, which on the surface looks and feels a lot like the Way Corps program, right down to its statement of principles and its motto ("It is written"), located on isolated farmland, etc. What do you think people's initial reaction is going to be? Would you like to discuss your experiences with us?

Way to go, Raf, Kimberly and all who decide to end their slavery to cigarettes!

My experience in this mirrors Waysider's; it was "just" this and "just" that as far back as my first fellowship (1971?). It also started creeping into interpretation and prophesy. But I have also heard this in the prayers of never-been-way folks as well; not in regular church services, but more so in prayers from evangelical folks. I had to conclude that the sun shines and the rain falls on the "just" and the un-"just" alike. :blink: :)

LOL Socks, If I lived in a vacuum, my house would be a lot cleaner.

I'm not sure why Mr. Wierwille declined to tackle Revelation; "academic challenge" or the prospect of having his work stand up to rigorous academic scrutiny never seemed to perturb him much. I don't think he worried too much about his "college boys" contradicting him. He seemed to have a pretty firm leash on that operation. After all, regardless of anything else he might say, it was implicitly understood The Way International, Incorporated belonged to him and, as the MOGFODAT (gosh, that's a funny acronym to say out loud!), he called the shots. I mean, this is the guy that taught the original sin was masturbation, and admitted in his Christian Family and Sex class he couldn't prove it from bible. So he went ahead and taught it anyway. The end of days as described in Revelation is at least grazed over if not lovingly pored over by most christian denominations. For many Christians, the triumphant return of Jesus Christ to defeat Satan and destroy his evil forever, to establish His kingdom for ever and ever is the whole point of everything they endure. It is the "hope of glory". And yet in the Way, which considered itself as the foremost biblical research and teaching (yeah, and fellowship) ministry in the world, the subject was virtually untouched.

While reading Imagine's thread about the Corps Principles (thank you, Imagine!), I had this random question: How much training or teaching did you receive concerning the book of Revelation? Some? Any? None? Was it sloughed off with the excuse, "It's for our learning"? If so, did you learn anything about it? While my question is primarily addressed to Way Corps survivo... uh, grads, I would like to hear from anyone that received more than a cursory thought or two from Way teachers while in the Way. Thanks.

What a mind-picture that is! Yeeeeesh! :blink: :lol:

ARTHUR: Each evening, from December to December, Before you drift to sleep upon your cot, Think back on all the tales that you remember Of Camelot. Ask ev'ry person if he's heard the story, And tell it strong and clear if he has not, That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory Called Camelot. Camelot! Camelot! Now say it out with pride and joy! TOM: Camelot! Camelot! ARTHUR: Yes, Camelot, my boy! Where once it never rained till after sundown, (except at the Rock of Ages K2K) By eight a.m. the morning fog had flown... Don't let it be forgot That once there was a spot For one brief shining moment that was known As Camelot. (From Lerner and Loewe's musical, Camelot) At least in some people's minds, it was Camelot. It was a time of their lives in which they considered themselves to be at their "personal best". I myself have many good memories of my time in the Way; mostly because the vast majority of folks with whom I fellowshipped and hung out were nice, genuine people. But as I look back, I can see the seeds and germination of control and domination going back to my earliest involvement. When I finally left TWI, my compliance with TWI policies and procedures was not only expected, it was demanded. Nevermind that I was neither a paid employee nor a participant in one of their "programs". And that's why I won't ever consider hooking up or aligning with "splinter" groups. Instead of creating organizations that mirror or replicate the Way, the heads of these organizations should spend the rest of their lives examining how their participation in the Way enabled slavish groupthink devotion to an abusive, destructive con man, erasure of personal boundaries and good morals, diversion of freely-given moneys shared for the "movement of God's Word over the World" to the pursuit of perversion, and the psychological torture of falsely accusing someone of being in God's extreme disfavor. Then practicing not doing it ever again.

Eva Cassidy - gone from us much too soon. Thanks, Waysider. --------------------------------------------- Excie, that is my hope as well. And I hope there's a lot of singing as well. I love to sing.

I gotta tell ya, TOMMYZ, I read that opening sentence and thought you were going to go a whole different route with that analogy. I thought you were going say the technicians told you, "We saw a whole lot of splinter leadership up there." (sorry, but that's just the way my mind works.)

The more I hear about the inner workings of TWI, the more I'm convinced the current and former TWI presidents couldn't find their own "cookie jar" with both hands and a flashlight.

I vaguely remember hearing a special tape geared towards musicians in the Way ministry; Wierwille was having an informal discussion with some people (don't know who) and discussing how music had to be sublimated to the Word. If it wasn't promoting "the Word", it was essentially bogus. Somehow the discussion turned toward guitarists; he was irritated about how much time they took tuning and retuning their guitars, and he said something to the effect that they could take their guitars and shove them where the sun didn't shine. I thought, how foolish; any instrument that is plucked, bowed or hammered needs to be retuned during the course of a performance. Depending on temperature and humidity, perhaps a lot more. But the tone of the discussion seemed (to me) to be dismissive of the people who wanted to play and bless others, regardless of their proficiency. That tape was just another "red flag" in the series of red flags I was accumulating over the years. I came to the conclusion Mr. Wierwille may have known what he was talking about when it came to the bible, but he wasn't anything like an expert when it came to music and performance. Of course, I have since revised my beliefs concerning his biblical expertise.

hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa(ad infinitum et nauseam)! I can't remember the last time something made me laugh that hard! Thanks Shellon! OMG, 20 minutes later and I'm still laughing. hahahahahahahahahahaha!

"I hope life isn't a big joke, because I don't get it." Jack Handey

This is one of the big reasons I never went into the Way Corps, and I had been getting "encouragement" to do so for a while. People I had known since I first was involved changed from being caring and happy-go-lucky regular folks into hardcases; cold and unfriendly, with the spiritual "thousand-yard-stare" and the weight of the battle/contest for the souls of men laying squarely on their shoulders. That coupled with some of the stuff I was starting to hear about the Way Corps (attention to detail bordering on obsessive-compulsive behavior, sleep depravation, lousy food [my experience at the 1978 Advanced Class notwithstanding], expelling Corps participants for "unauthorized research", limiting the number of squares with which you could wipe your bum, etc.) made me realize the Way Corps was not for me. Why this all didn't make me leave sooner, I'll never know. Well, I do, kinda; I wasn't surrounded by Way Corps on a regular basis. Just regular people who loved God and wanted to know His will in their life. I guess I just sloughed off the crap in favor of good friends and fellowship.

I think it's attributed to Albert Einstein - "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." If I were to give these "splinter" groups any advice (which I don't usually care to do) it would be - Do something else. Like service ministries. What a novel concept. Not.

In light of our TWI and life experiences, perhaps that statement could be amended to read, "If you believe you can't go any further than what you are taught, then you won't go any further than what you are taught." (Thanks Tzaia for reminding us of that subtle untruth.)

Discretionary income? Is that where I decide which creditors get paid this month and which don't? ;) Ah well, the downward slide began for me a number of years ago, but I'm still vertical and breathing, so I'm doin' allright, gettin' good grades, the future's so bright...I gotta wear shades. *grin* Thanks for your good wishes (and yes, I said wishes!)