Belle

Has anyone seen this movie or heard anything about it?

What the Bleep Do We Know

I agree outandabout. They should look at those full time salaried RCs too. How much are they getting paid and where are they spending it? What other "benefits" are they receiving that the IRS doesn't know about??

I think the difference is that Oldies takes everything TWI says at face value and actually believes them, whereas, most of us are trained on the fine art of reading between the lines and recognizing which 99% of what comes out of their mouths is a lie. ;)-->

Song, I'm so sorry for what you went through. I think, though, that being face to face with the lying and deception of the leaders that it must have been much easier to recover from the bondage of TWI. Thankfully, too, you were able to get your family out in one piece.

Did you see it for what it was at the time, or did it take a while for you to realize that we were all being scr*wed?

Okay, I reserved a room and am on the cabin list.

WWJLA, It's not a cabin, but the room has 2 beds if you would like to share. Just PT me and I'll give you my e-mail address and phone number.

I dunno what kind of activities you're looking for, but one of my most favoritest ( :D--> )activities in VBS growing up was laying down on butcher paper and having the teacher completely outline my body with a crayon and then I colored Joseph's coat of many colors onto my very own body. (all of us kids did this - not to make me sound like I was the only one who got to do it.)

I'm older than I'd like to admit, but I can still remember the teaching and feeling extra special that day.

Thanks, Pat.

Can newcomers come to this thing?

I can't carry a tune in a bucket or play an egg, but I can cook one! ;)-->

WWJLA, check your PTs.

This all went down YEARS ago. As my momma always says, "**** or get off the pot." LCM need to either get back together under the same roof (preferably NOT the corps chalet) or divorce already. They are NOT divorced and this living arrangement it totally contrary to eveyrthing TWI teaches about Godly marriage.

DM is RRs personal assistant and she does receive special treatment. She does teach on the STS and she does write articles in the magazine.

LCM did lose his corps status, he did lose his Rev status and he is considered a cop out according to the WC I've spoken with.

99.9% of the WC couples who had one person booted were forced to lose their status, very few were granted exceptions to that rule. My guess is they had power, secrets or brought too much abs to the table to be forced to follow the same rules.

Maybe if the kids had to go through the same things their parents forced other families and kids to go through they wouldn't be such pansies for TWI. LM is on staff at hq and actively involved in the music department. She's and excellent student of her monther's on how to keep sucking on that TWIt T!t. (sorry if that sounds harsh, but that's how I feel)

I think the depth of treachery and deception and devilishness at the top levels of TWI is beyond even our comprehension.

Oldies, I'm sure TWI would be willing to relocate some people to your area and send some WC or WD your way if you're interested. How much did you say you'd be ABS'ing? ;)-->

When you left maybe the people were still exciting and fun, but now all that's left are kool-aid drinking zombies. They aren't much to fellowship with anymore and TWI is all you're allowed to talk about.

We have toll roads where I live and when I'm having a bad day or bad week I give the toll attendant $5 or $10 and tell them to keep $3-$5 for themselves and pay for x number of cars behind me.

Usually they say, "really?" very surprised and I just smile and say, "Yes, really. have a great day!" The regular toll boot attendants I see daily know me and always smile when I come through even if I don't give out extra money. It's such a good feeling to help someone even in the smallest way.

Shelly, this is an excellent post! And good to read you again.

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Remember when you had seen something in the Bible that just blew you away, only to have the joy ripped from your heart as you shared it with someone you respected?

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I SOOOOO relate to this! I would see something (usually not lined up with the teaching) and get in trouble for not staying on topic or they would go into some long-winded bombastic explanation of all the things I didn't see in the section. If it didn't match TWI doctrine they would just look at me funny and change the subject.

How rude and disheartening. Thank God I don't have to go through that anymore. It makes learning so much more exciting.

Wow! That's going for some big bucks. Very old tapes. I wonder what all my LCM tapes would go for.....

All that's been said and, when I was single and encouraged to move in with several other believers I refused. The main reason none of us wanted to live together was TWI was the only thing we had in common and we didn't trust each other. We all knew deep down that Big Brother was alive and well in TWI and you never knew who was going to turn you in for the smallest infraction.

I was in no way going to allow people to scrutinize my life any more than already was going on. It's just a shame I didn't recognize it for what it was at that time.

Oak, I'm so glad you've always been there for ME! I'm sorry you had to go through what you did, but glad that I had someone going through the same things to talk about it with over warm brats and cold beer.

((((((OAKSPEAR))))))

Didn't LCM own a few pairs of those extremely expensive shoes OJ is now famous for?

He also spent a bundle on the art for his now famous class sets.

I'll wager those hotel stays weren't paid for out of his "need basis" budget either.

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Did anybody ever hear anything that they could use or apply at a Way meeting?

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With all honesty I did learn a great method for budgeting, but it wasn't at a TWI-t meeting. It was a mandatory "class" on how to get out of debt and budget so that we could give more money to the TWI-ts. I probably would have ended up using Quicken or something along those lines eventually, but this was a practical start for me and I appreciated the knowledge in this category even though it was not "word" related.

I also learned that it was my job to keep my husband happy, if you know what I mean. ;)--> He thought this was great practical learning to be applied often. I didn't really mind, but again, I didn't really need to be taught that by TWI-ts.

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How about those times during classes when we had to "share what blessed us" about a teaching? I never did have the guts to say "Nope, nothing blessed me, not a thing, wished I'd stayed home"

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Would that we all had the guts to say that so many times, Oakspear! :D--> I'm laughing out loud and the thought of the whole room echoing the same sentiments every time we were forced to share those "blessings" of the teaching or the class. Can you imagine those mandatory letters we were forced to write?

Dear Reverend Martinpuke,

Greetings to you in the power-filled name of our living lord and savior Jesus Christ who made salvation available for all us greasespots who chose to believe the wonderful, matchless Word of God which only we know truly since the first century church. God must want to spit on us all the time!

I was so amazed at your complete lack of knowledge in the Word of God and how utterly boring such bombastic drivel could be. I had a hard time staying awake during the first hour of the class, but when you started screaming and yelling about how much you and God hate homos and how they should be killed I really woke up and started paying attention. Did you know that your veins on your forehead start poking out and making you look something like a Frankensaint when that happens? Now that I know about you and your extra-curricular activities and your wife's indulgences with other women, it makes perfect sense that things like this would get your blood boiling.

Thank you for giving us the perfect example of a seed BOY and clues to recognizing a wolf in sheep's clothing. You are a true example to the flock.

Very sincerely,

a Kool-Aid Spitter

It sounds pretty utopian to me, Galen. (And I do mean that in a very kind way.) TWI would be a different place if we all had the experiences that you did.

It seems as though you were able to use the resources of TWI without all the baggage and strings that were attached to it because you weren't in the direct line of fire from the corpse who weilded the iron fist. I admire your courage in the face of the unscrupulous leaders you did encounter. Since y'all weren't bombarded by the doctrines from hq through the tapes and magazines and forced to regurgitate them over and over again, you were pretty protected from the destructive doctrines.

Your story explains a lot about how you were able to escape TWI with mostly good experiences and no first hand knowledge of the true depth of treachery that most of us experienced. That's a good thing! Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.

My ex has not spoken to his family in years all because of a suggestion from leadership (and we know what that means, don't we?). It breaks my heart to think about his cousins, neices, nephews and such growing up without even knowing him. He doesn't even know if some of his older relatives are alive.

He was the one who broke off communication, but he was the sheep doing the bidding of the wolves who encouraged him to do it.

Galen, it seems as though you were pretty much in a utopian TWIt environment. I've read several times at your shock and awe of the horrendous treatment, lies and doctrines taught. Maybe you just weren't around enough to have been affected by it or you were perceived as being too strong to bully, but the doctrines were taught from HQ in the STS tapes, the Way Mag and by all the WC, so I don't know how you missed so much of it.

I didn't get in until the late 80's, but it was certainly standard good practice to limit all communication with family who "refused the Word", it was better practice to cut off all communication with those body & soul empties.

Raf, That's the kind of learning one gets when they use a crow bar to pry it into a person's thick skull.

excathedra, it's a good book if I even got the durn title right albeit mis-spelled. :P-->

excathedra, I posted earlier....

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I'm reading a really good book you might be interested in....The Self-Revealed Knoweldge that Liberates the Spirit: A nadbook of essential information for experiencing a conscious relathionship with the infinite and restoring soul awareness to wholeness by Roy Eugene Davis.

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Apparently I should refrain from posting when I've been sipping the mint juleps. My fingers were too liberated, but not knowledgeable enough to spell handbook correctly and started lithping over relationships.

Raf, I agree with you wholeheartedly. If it didn't come across that way, I'm sorry.

This is all quite fascinating.

I was beginning to wonder what John Schoenheit would say about the situation, so thanks, Oldies for posting what you ahve. Regardless of the circumstances, imo, he did a bold and helpful thing when he presented the paper and circulated despite the wishes of the leadership. Yes, common sense would tell someone that adultery is wrong, but we weren't always using our common sense in TWI or we wouldn't have been suckered and stuck there for so long. At least I know I wasn't.

Whether Steve is right or wrong I'm not one to say, but I can't say I'm surprised by John Lynn's response. It sounds like the standard crap dished out by TWI leadership for years. He sounds just like the WC I'm familiar with and I haven't been out very long. I guess that's why I've never been interested in any of the off-shoots even though I highly respect some of the leaders and people involved, they just remind me of TWI too much.

Rule 1: never admit error or take the blame for anything

Rule 2: Turn the focus to the initiator

Rule 3: Belittle the initiator as much as possible, condescension being the best method

Rule 4: Never directly answer any question

Rule 5: Always end with some syrupy sweet fake Christian jabber

He appears to have learned well and continued practicing what he learned in TWI, imo.

The hit and run post by Jeff is rather curious, too. I wonder if it's a good intention gone wrong or if there is something amiss and that's why Jeff nor John has responded with a simple answer to the question of the origins of the post.

A lot of what has been mentioned here. I wanted friends, unconditional love, the spiritual knowledge and power that was advertised.

I did find a great husband, but he was lied to and tricked into thinking I was an ungodly, contentious woman and that he should divorce me. I could tell it broke his heart to be following the orders of the leadership, but he felt he had no other choice.

I found power, but not Godly, spiritual power. Just obnoxious, controlling, OCD power over people under me and how to be submissive and roll over on my back like a dog to the big bad wolves in positions of authority.

Spiritual knowledge, I got plenty of, but it was really only labels and characteristics of the bad side that I was taught. Now that I'm out, I'm in a position to learn more of the good, right, honest, Godly aspects of spiritual living and growth.

I do miss my ex-husband a lot, every day even. It's sad to think he feels the same way, but just isn't strong enough to stand up to them.

Learning, I've heard it taught. The reasoning was that you didn't want to risk hurting the heart of another believer if the relationship didn't work out. This was taught to the in-residence WC for sure.

nadbooks are great because you can read them on your own time and they don't cost anything if you can borrow them from people... ;)-->

Wish I had known about nadbooks before I met people running classes. :D-->