taxicab

Where can I hide my teaching so the devil can't get it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G7bGBUlx2M

Anyone remember any teachings concerning Mahatma Gandhi? VP liked the Indian people, didn't he?

That is cool to me Taxicab.

I don't imagine anyone who fell into a pile of manure thinks looking back at it that they were in it just about the right amount of time either.

Wow, I love the analogy. Perhaps in my case it was more like Quick Sand because I kept getting in deeper and deeper but really wanted to crawl my way out.

Taxi... you never believed it but you stuck around anyway?????

Do you mean you didn't believe any of it;

or just that you didn't swallow the lot - but still managed to maintain some cynicism about some of the dogma?

Sorry for the confusion. To explain a little bit more; I believed in the beginning but while in the Way Corps there was so much that I didn't agree with and as the years went on I realized I believed less and less. It wasn't overnight but more gradual. For example, Craig waking us up in the middle of the night to teach us about devil spirits. I wasn't thinking to myself, "wow, this is really important stuff and that's why he thought it important enough to wake us up". I was thinking "this REALLY could have waited til tomorrow". As for what I believe now concerning devil spirits............. I believe that good things happen to good and bad people and that bad things happen to good and bad people. I don't believe in "devil spirits". Twinky, I hope that's a little clearer for you. But yes, I feel that I stuck around WAY TOO LONG!!!

No, my answer to the question is a Big Fat NO! This is the thing about me. I never really believed that bull crap and yet I stuck around for 18 years so how embarrassing is that?

How come I didn't get that piccy? Oh, I know, I was "serving" (on Beverage Crew again) not actually "attending" the class, probably. I think whilst in rez we suffered a "trial run" though.

In the middle of the night? Well doncha know, all those DSs are much more active after midnight! That's why all WoWs had to be in bed by that time.

Yeah, like DSs wear wrist watches...

So he got you up at that time...so that, what, you could discern them better?"

I seem to remember he said something like, "It's heavy on my heart so I want to share it with you now".

He was real hepped up, like he just drank 4 cups of coffee. Didn't he know that nothing good happens after midnight.

Does anyone remember taking that off-beat class LCM taught live about devil spirits and being born again of the wrong seed? I think it was in 1992.

Truly a strange class. I remember very little about it except him ranting about staying away from his desk during breaks and not peeking into his files.

"Well," I thought, "why don't you just lock the damn drawer?"

I guess that was too logical.

WG

We left the summer of 1993 so I wasn't going out of my way to take any classes in 1992 but when I was in-residence Craig had everyone come to one of those rooms (fireside room or something) in the middle of the night. He proceeded to teach on devil spirits for an hour or so. Ranting and Raving!!! to quote you, "Well," I thought, "couldn't this wait until the morning?"

Actually yes - and it was when you were in rez.

Thanks for letting me know, I thought I remembered hearing it.

Yes, I remember wierwille stating that we fought on the wrong side in WWII.

As one GS-poster, Sunesis detailed wierwille's association with Liberty Lobby/the Spotlight to chronicle this agenda in twi......the pieces of the puzzle came together.

Liberty Lobby

"In 1975, the Liberty Lobby began publishing a weekly newspaper called The Spotlight, which ran news and opinion articles with a very populist and anti-establishment slant on a variety of subjects, but gave little indication of being extreme-right or neo-Nazi. However, The Spotlight, critics charged, was intended as a subtle recruiting tool for the extreme right, using populist-sounding articles to attract people from all points on the political spectrum including liberals, moderates, and conservatives, and special-interest articles to attract people interested in such subjects as alternative medicine. Critics also charged the newspaper with subtly incorporating antisemitic and white racialist undertones in its articles, and with carrying advertisements in the classified section for openly neo-Nazi groups and books. The Spotlight's circulation peaked around 200,000 in the early 1980s,..."

Thanks for the info. I'll check out Sunesis.

According to TWI thinking, anyone who publicly advocated peace and harmony had to be a "seed boy".

Oh, the horrors of it all! :P

You're right, for a Christian Ministry, there was absolutely no "Compassion" of any kind. Here's another question. I heard the whole Myth of the Six Million Rant more than once, but does anyone remember Wierwille saying that we fought on the wrong side in WWII?

Does anyone remember hearing any teachings concerning Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?

When I was in the 8th. Corps I remember some clown coming to Emporia and teaching us about the "real" Dr. King.

He called him Martin Lucifer King, believed he was a "seed boy", and employed by the Russian Communist Party to bring down the USA. Of course he was in good company because we also listened to some moron expound on The Beatles "The Marxist Minstrels".

You know things are screwed up when you're on a Corps Night Hook-up and hear Craig "destroy" a man by explaining all the things he did wrong and that's why his wife died giving birth to their child. (that was the last time I participated in Corps Night Hook-ups). I actually knew things were WAY screwed up WAY before this.

I disagree. Here's why.

I understand how some people may think The Way was good “in the old days” and somehow “got off track” in later years. But I take issue with this line of thinking. I call it deluded nostalgia: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition. What exactly is that condition people are craving? I was involved from 1971-1987 and I don’t crave any of it. But I figure I’d pitch in my two cents here.

Frankly, I think it appears to be nostalgia for small fellowships with rock music or old hymns “corrected to be accurate” with Way doctrine, simple teachings (I guess), and camaraderie with others who thought like we did, and learning “what the Bible says.” On the surface, these things seem fairly harmless. But when I really think about the “old TWI days,” and these activities, I come up with some concerns:

1. The simplistic idealism that we could save the world with cut and dry Bible answers

2. The lack of mature dealings in the world. I was addressed as a child and kept from growing up while in the Corps and afterwards,

3. The gross neglect of my critical thinking faculty

4. The fact we were supposed to sell the PFAL class to people in order for VP to approve of our lives

5. The issue of whether we were “helping people” by using tools belonging to VP’s brand of fundamentalism

6. As far as I know, some still think they helped people with “the Word.” But what exactly is “The Word?” It’s very vague to me. My understanding is that when a phrase is used, there’s a definition for it somewhere. I don’t know of one for “The Word.” It is a phrase thrown around as if we all know what it means. This reminds me of the fairytale about the Emperor’s new clothes. The fact was: Emperor was not wearing any clothes. I don’t think anyone knows what The Word is.

7. Suffice it to say here, the usual explanation by TWI people and former TWI people for what “The Word” is goes something like this: you have to “use certain keys to research to discover what the original Word was.” Whose keys to research? How come we so readily accepted VP’s which he took from various other people who were fundamentalists? If it were so simple to know “The Word,” how come so many diverse interpretations persist?

But back to the good old days. Let’s say the “good old Way days” were good after all, although this is hard for me to fathom. What exactly is being referred to by this claim? IMO, VP created some sense of community with some people for awhile, but what was that based upon? The way I see it, it was based on an agreement that VP’s teachings were God’s Word, on the commitment to the common cause of VP’s delusion of “moving The Word over the World,” and on a simple love for other people - as long as they obeyed what VP said was The Word. If they didn’t, at the very least they were not as spiritual as we were; at the very worst they were “born of the seed of the devil.”

Let’s not forget, however, that this conditional camaraderie came at a price: It was held together by a patriarchal system fraught with deception and power struggles, not to mention rampant sexual, fiscal, and emotional abuse.

In my view, wishing for “the good old days of The Way” denies the nature of the group itself – a fundamentalist, narrow-minded, anti-Christian movement. Why do I say it is anti-Christian? Because people were used as a means to an end. What was the end? Believe that what VP taught was the truth. Evangelize. Sell PFAL classes. Behave according to what The Way leadership dictated.

Nostalgia for the old days also seems to deny the fact that from its inception, the cult was engineered by V.P. Wierwille, who claimed, like Paul in the New Testament, that he heard an audible voice from a monotheistic God adopted from another culture from thousands of years ago (or the voice of Jesus, as in Paul’s case) that no one else heard. This raises all sorts of issues too complex to get into here I think.

While I met many good people whose kindness made me feel loved, during my TWI years, VP’s teachings, such as telling me I was “more than a conqueror” did not help me resolve problems I brought into The Way with me. For awhile, it engendered a positive attitude in me but it did not produce a healthy self image or tolerance, understanding and compassion for others who might not agree with what I believed. I think the doctrines in many instances only instilled a good deal of denial about myself, the good in the world, other cultures, and denial about what it means to be human.

When I first took PFAL, at 18 years old, I certainly was gullible to The Way’s “answers” but the human brain is not even fully developed until 23 or 24 years old so that’s part of this scenario, too. But I also readily admit that I consciously turned a deaf ear to people who warned me not to get involved.

Not only did I make grave errors in judgment when getting involved with TWI, but I was seduced by big fat claims about the nature of the system I was in. It claimed to be a biblical research ministry but it is extreme fundamentalism. I suggest more of us get informed not only about how cults function but what fundamentalism is and the history of its development. It’s not only a way of interpreting the bible but a way of existing in the world.

Not only did I make grave errors in judgment when getting involved with TWI, but I was seduced by big fat claims about the nature of the system I was in. It claimed to be a biblical research ministry but it is extreme fundamentalism. I suggest more of us get informed not only about how cults function but what fundamentalism is and the history of its development. It’s not only a way of interpreting the bible but a way of existing in the world.

I thought this was a good video dealing with fundamentalism in support of your statement that "it is a way of existing in the world".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsAbgfAGzlE

The claim was made by VP "The ministry desperately needs the Word Over the World Auditorium".

I beg to differ on that point. They could not fill it up for Sunday services and it was embarrasing. It became mandatory that if you lived within a certain radius (2 hour radius?) then you were expected to attend atleast one service a month. This was for Corps, but we were supposed to encourage whole branches to attend together. Of course it's not possible to force "dead wood" to attend, (oh, if only I had been dead wood) but twig coordinators, twig coordinator assistants, corps, etc. we all made the treck or as I like to call it "The Death March".

Think of all the ramifications if the auditorium wouldn't have been built. We would never have had the joy of watching Craig dance around in tights

I have notes on HOW TO PUT A PFAL CLASS TOGETHER IN 2 1/2 DAYS

We had 5 categories of people/candidates

1. Sure thing-paid in full

2. Strong possibility

3. Interested party

4. Mild possibility

5. Goat

I shudder to think that I referred to people as "goats" simply because they didn't want to shell out $200.00 to sit through a class they knew nothing about. I had forgotten that we also used the expression "dead wood" for people who wanted to lead normal lives. Very cruel words.

I have a letter that VP sent out concerning the Auditorium. Unfortunately it's not dated.

To You My Power for Abundant Living Grad:

My blessing and greetings to you in the wonderful name of our living lord and savior, Jesus Christ, who always causes us to triumph when we do God's will according to God's Word.

Many of our people whose lives were blessed and so wonderfully changed in my class on Power for Abundant Living have become successful and blessed in many different ways. But, in the dollars and cents category and in other material things, even including health, the Adversary has continued stealing from our people.

Apparently the people God has given me believe most things I teach them from the Word; but they do not really believe the truth regarding their money, their dollar and cents incomes, and tithing. I know the major reason WHY Way believers have financial difficulties and can tell you that they have neglected to put into practice the basic principle starting towards abundance, and that is tithing.

At the Word in Business and Profession Conference I taught that the only way whereby a believer can continuously manifest a more than abundant life is by believing God, His Word, and by practicing more than tithing.

etc.........................

The enclosure with this letter is a short work on the integrity and accuracy of God's Word that will dispel any believer's ignorance or wrong teaching and open God's floodgates of heaven, if practiced. Every believer is responsible to decide for himself whether to live his life in accordance with God's Word or not. Why don't you just try it? Give God an opportunity to prove it to you. Keep good financial records and you'll see. etc....................................... Bless you real good.

Faithfully,

In His service,

Victor Paul Wierwille

P.S. The ministry desperately needs the Word Over the World Auditorium. As every believer is instructed in God's Word to speak much in tongues in order to remain spiritually sharp, so the abundant sharing, beyond the tithe, will take care of a lot of financial, material, and physical opportunities. If you are parcticing abundant sharing, which begins beyond the tithe, I want to encourage you to continue to make that abundant sharing available to the Word Over the World Auditorium.

As of this week, the Board of Trustees has decided to take 15 percent (a tithe would be 10 percent) of all monies that are shared in the horns of plenty around the country weekly and transfer that 15 percent to the Word Over the World Auditorium fund.

Please pardon any spelling errors. I can post the teaching at a later date if there's an interest.

GIVING AND RECEIVING

(Not Law-But Grace)

To make a long story short............. "Any born-again believer who does not operate the principle of abundant sharing keeps God from blessing him to the fullest extent and allows the Adversary to steal more and more".

Some people who were in "The Way" deny that it was/is a cult.

CULT CHARACTERISTICS & TECHNIQUES USED TO GAIN MIND CONTROL

ISOLATION: Loss of reality induced by physical separation from society & rational references.

HYPNOSIS: State of high suggestibility induced by hypnosis, often thinly disguised as meditation.

PEER GROUP PRESSURE: Suppression of doubt and resistance to new ideas, achieved by exploiting the natural need to belong.

LOVE BOMBING: Sense of family and belonging contrived through hugging, kissing, touching and flattery.

REMOVAL OF PRIVACY: Loss of ability to evaluate logically achieved by preventing private contemplation.

CHANGE OF DIET/SLEEP DEPRIVATION and FATIGUE: Withholding adequate rest, sleep and necessary nutrients (food) leads to disorientation and vulnerability created by prolonged mental and physical activity.

METACOMMUNICATION/CONFUSING DOCTRINE: Subliminal messages implanted by stressing certain key words or phrases in long, confusing lectures. Encourages rejection of logic and blind acceptance.

NO QUESTIONS: Automatic acceptance of beliefs accomplished by discouraging questions.

DRESS: Individuality removed by demanding conformity to the group dress code.

REPLACEMENT OF RELATIONSHIPS: Pre-cult families destroyed by arranging cult marriages and "families".

GUILT: Teachings of eternal salvation reinforced by exaggerating sins of the former lifestyle.

REJECTION OF OLD VALUES: Acceptance of new lifestyle accelerated by constantly denouncing former values and beliefs.

CONFESSION: Destruction of personal egos, increased vulnerability to new teachings and recruits weaknesses revealed, through sharing innermost secrets.

FEAR: Loyalty and obedience to group maintained by threatening soul, life or limb for the slightest "negative" thought, word or deed.

CHANTING AND SINGING: Repetition of mind-narrowing chants or phrases eliminates non-cult ideas.

DISINHIBITION: Child-like obedience encouraged by orchestrating child-like behaviour.

CONTROLLED APPROVAL: Vulnerability and confusion maintained by alternately rewarding and punishing similar actions.

FLAUNTING HIERARCHY: Acceptance of cult authority produced by promising advancement, power and salvation.

FINGER POINTING: False sense of righteousness created by pointing to the shortcomings of the outside world and other cults.

FINANCIAL COMMITMENT: Increased dependence on the group achieved by "burning bridges" to past, through the donation of all assets.

Thanks everyone for putting up with my crys for "help"!!! For whatever reason I couldn't see any of the additional threads, but after playing around with some settings,signing out, signing back in,; deleting cookies (eating cookies) everything seems to be working correctly. Thanks

I disagree. Here's why.

I understand how some people may think The Way was good “in the old days” and somehow “got off track” in later years. But I take issue with this line of thinking. I call it deluded nostalgia: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition. What exactly is that condition people are craving? I was involved from 1971-1987 and I don’t crave any of it. But I figure I’d pitch in my two cents here.

Frankly, I think it appears to be nostalgia for small fellowships with rock music or old hymns “corrected to be accurate” with Way doctrine, simple teachings (I guess), and camaraderie with others who thought like we did, and learning “what the Bible says.” On the surface, these things seem fairly harmless. But when I really think about the “old TWI days,” and these activities, I come up with some concerns:

1. The simplistic idealism that we could save the world with cut and dry Bible answers

2. The lack of mature dealings in the world. I was addressed as a child and kept from growing up while in the Corps and afterwards,

3. The gross neglect of my critical thinking faculty

4. The fact we were supposed to sell the PFAL class to people in order for VP to approve of our lives

5. The issue of whether we were “helping people” by using tools belonging to VP’s brand of fundamentalism

6. As far as I know, some still think they helped people with “the Word.” But what exactly is “The Word?” It’s very vague to me. My understanding is that when a phrase is used, there’s a definition for it somewhere. I don’t know of one for “The Word.” It is a phrase thrown around as if we all know what it means. This reminds me of the fairytale about the Emperor’s new clothes. The fact was: Emperor was not wearing any clothes. I don’t think anyone knows what The Word is.

7. Suffice it to say here, the usual explanation by TWI people and former TWI people for what “The Word” is goes something like this: you have to “use certain keys to research to discover what the original Word was.” Whose keys to research? How come we so readily accepted VP’s which he took from various other people who were fundamentalists? If it were so simple to know “The Word,” how come so many diverse interpretations persist?

But back to the good old days. Let’s say the “good old Way days” were good after all, although this is hard for me to fathom. What exactly is being referred to by this claim? IMO, VP created some sense of community with some people for awhile, but what was that based upon? The way I see it, it was based on an agreement that VP’s teachings were God’s Word, on the commitment to the common cause of VP’s delusion of “moving The Word over the World,” and on a simple love for other people - as long as they obeyed what VP said was The Word. If they didn’t, at the very least they were not as spiritual as we were; at the very worst they were “born of the seed of the devil.”

Let’s not forget, however, that this conditional camaraderie came at a price: It was held together by a patriarchal system fraught with deception and power struggles, not to mention rampant sexual, fiscal, and emotional abuse.

In my view, wishing for “the good old days of The Way” denies the nature of the group itself – a fundamentalist, narrow-minded, anti-Christian movement. Why do I say it is anti-Christian? Because people were used as a means to an end. What was the end? Believe that what VP taught was the truth. Evangelize. Sell PFAL classes. Behave according to what The Way leadership dictated.

Nostalgia for the old days also seems to deny the fact that from its inception, the cult was engineered by V.P. Wierwille, who claimed, like Paul in the New Testament, that he heard an audible voice from a monotheistic God adopted from another culture from thousands of years ago (or the voice of Jesus, as in Paul’s case) that no one else heard. This raises all sorts of issues too complex to get into here I think.

While I met many good people whose kindness made me feel loved, during my TWI years, VP’s teachings, such as telling me I was “more than a conqueror” did not help me resolve problems I brought into The Way with me. For awhile, it engendered a positive attitude in me but it did not produce a healthy self image or tolerance, understanding and compassion for others who might not agree with what I believed. I think the doctrines in many instances only instilled a good deal of denial about myself, the good in the world, other cultures, and denial about what it means to be human.

When I first took PFAL, at 18 years old, I certainly was gullible to The Way’s “answers” but the human brain is not even fully developed until 23 or 24 years old so that’s part of this scenario, too. But I also readily admit that I consciously turned a deaf ear to people who warned me not to get involved.

Not only did I make grave errors in judgment when getting involved with TWI, but I was seduced by big fat claims about the nature of the system I was in. It claimed to be a biblical research ministry but it is extreme fundamentalism. I suggest more of us get informed not only about how cults function but what fundamentalism is and the history of its development. It’s not only a way of interpreting the bible but a way of existing in the world.

why can't I see my posts or anyone else's? Help!

I disagree. Here's why.

I understand how some people may think The Way was good “in the old days” and somehow “got off track” in later years. But I take issue with this line of thinking. I call it deluded nostalgia: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition. What exactly is that condition people are craving? I was involved from 1971-1987 and I don’t crave any of it. But I figure I’d pitch in my two cents here.

Frankly, I think it appears to be nostalgia for small fellowships with rock music or old hymns “corrected to be accurate” with Way doctrine, simple teachings (I guess), and camaraderie with others who thought like we did, and learning “what the Bible says.” On the surface, these things seem fairly harmless. But when I really think about the “old TWI days,” and these activities, I come up with some concerns:

1. The simplistic idealism that we could save the world with cut and dry Bible answers

2. The lack of mature dealings in the world. I was addressed as a child and kept from growing up while in the Corps and afterwards,

3. The gross neglect of my critical thinking faculty

4. The fact we were supposed to sell the PFAL class to people in order for VP to approve of our lives

5. The issue of whether we were “helping people” by using tools belonging to VP’s brand of fundamentalism

6. As far as I know, some still think they helped people with “the Word.” But what exactly is “The Word?” It’s very vague to me. My understanding is that when a phrase is used, there’s a definition for it somewhere. I don’t know of one for “The Word.” It is a phrase thrown around as if we all know what it means. This reminds me of the fairytale about the Emperor’s new clothes. The fact was: Emperor was not wearing any clothes. I don’t think anyone knows what The Word is.

7. Suffice it to say here, the usual explanation by TWI people and former TWI people for what “The Word” is goes something like this: you have to “use certain keys to research to discover what the original Word was.” Whose keys to research? How come we so readily accepted VP’s which he took from various other people who were fundamentalists? If it were so simple to know “The Word,” how come so many diverse interpretations persist?

But back to the good old days. Let’s say the “good old Way days” were good after all, although this is hard for me to fathom. What exactly is being referred to by this claim? IMO, VP created some sense of community with some people for awhile, but what was that based upon? The way I see it, it was based on an agreement that VP’s teachings were God’s Word, on the commitment to the common cause of VP’s delusion of “moving The Word over the World,” and on a simple love for other people - as long as they obeyed what VP said was The Word. If they didn’t, at the very least they were not as spiritual as we were; at the very worst they were “born of the seed of the devil.”

Let’s not forget, however, that this conditional camaraderie came at a price: It was held together by a patriarchal system fraught with deception and power struggles, not to mention rampant sexual, fiscal, and emotional abuse.

In my view, wishing for “the good old days of The Way” denies the nature of the group itself – a fundamentalist, narrow-minded, anti-Christian movement. Why do I say it is anti-Christian? Because people were used as a means to an end. What was the end? Believe that what VP taught was the truth. Evangelize. Sell PFAL classes. Behave according to what The Way leadership dictated.

Nostalgia for the old days also seems to deny the fact that from its inception, the cult was engineered by V.P. Wierwille, who claimed, like Paul in the New Testament, that he heard an audible voice from a monotheistic God adopted from another culture from thousands of years ago (or the voice of Jesus, as in Paul’s case) that no one else heard. This raises all sorts of issues too complex to get into here I think.

While I met many good people whose kindness made me feel loved, during my TWI years, VP’s teachings, such as telling me I was “more than a conqueror” did not help me resolve problems I brought into The Way with me. For awhile, it engendered a positive attitude in me but it did not produce a healthy self image or tolerance, understanding and compassion for others who might not agree with what I believed. I think the doctrines in many instances only instilled a good deal of denial about myself, the good in the world, other cultures, and denial about what it means to be human.

When I first took PFAL, at 18 years old, I certainly was gullible to The Way’s “answers” but the human brain is not even fully developed until 23 or 24 years old so that’s part of this scenario, too. But I also readily admit that I consciously turned a deaf ear to people who warned me not to get involved.

Not only did I make grave errors in judgment when getting involved with TWI, but I was seduced by big fat claims about the nature of the system I was in. It claimed to be a biblical research ministry but it is extreme fundamentalism. I suggest more of us get informed not only about how cults function but what fundamentalism is and the history of its development. It’s not only a way of interpreting the bible but a way of existing in the world.

I'm not sure people's comments are showing up on the blog.

But I also readily admit that I consciously turned a deaf ear to people who warned me not to get involved.

That is so true. In the 70's my parents were very concerned with my involvement in TWI. They told me things and showed me things that I just refused to believe, didn't want to believe, including sexual escapades by the leadership. Eighteen years later I finally admitted that they were right.

While I was in-residence in the 8th. Corps my father wrote Craig a letter. Craig had me write the response and he read and approved it and signed his name to it. Perhaps he wanted to see my response. I wish I still had my dad's letter but I would be embarrased now to read my response.

I disagree. Here's why.

I understand how some people may think The Way was good “in the old days” and somehow “got off track” in later years. But I take issue with this line of thinking. I call it deluded nostalgia: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition. What exactly is that condition people are craving? I was involved from 1971-1987 and I don’t crave any of it. But I figure I’d pitch in my two cents here.

Frankly, I think it appears to be nostalgia for small fellowships with rock music or old hymns “corrected to be accurate” with Way doctrine, simple teachings (I guess), and camaraderie with others who thought like we did, and learning “what the Bible says.” On the surface, these things seem fairly harmless. But when I really think about the “old TWI days,” and these activities, I come up with some concerns:

1. The simplistic idealism that we could save the world with cut and dry Bible answers

2. The lack of mature dealings in the world. I was addressed as a child and kept from growing up while in the Corps and afterwards,

3. The gross neglect of my critical thinking faculty

4. The fact we were supposed to sell the PFAL class to people in order for VP to approve of our lives

5. The issue of whether we were “helping people” by using tools belonging to VP’s brand of fundamentalism

6. As far as I know, some still think they helped people with “the Word.” But what exactly is “The Word?” It’s very vague to me. My understanding is that when a phrase is used, there’s a definition for it somewhere. I don’t know of one for “The Word.” It is a phrase thrown around as if we all know what it means. This reminds me of the fairytale about the Emperor’s new clothes. The fact was: Emperor was not wearing any clothes. I don’t think anyone knows what The Word is.

7. Suffice it to say here, the usual explanation by TWI people and former TWI people for what “The Word” is goes something like this: you have to “use certain keys to research to discover what the original Word was.” Whose keys to research? How come we so readily accepted VP’s which he took from various other people who were fundamentalists? If it were so simple to know “The Word,” how come so many diverse interpretations persist?

But back to the good old days. Let’s say the “good old Way days” were good after all, although this is hard for me to fathom. What exactly is being referred to by this claim? IMO, VP created some sense of community with some people for awhile, but what was that based upon? The way I see it, it was based on an agreement that VP’s teachings were God’s Word, on the commitment to the common cause of VP’s delusion of “moving The Word over the World,” and on a simple love for other people - as long as they obeyed what VP said was The Word. If they didn’t, at the very least they were not as spiritual as we were; at the very worst they were “born of the seed of the devil.”

Let’s not forget, however, that this conditional camaraderie came at a price: It was held together by a patriarchal system fraught with deception and power struggles, not to mention rampant sexual, fiscal, and emotional abuse.

In my view, wishing for “the good old days of The Way” denies the nature of the group itself – a fundamentalist, narrow-minded, anti-Christian movement. Why do I say it is anti-Christian? Because people were used as a means to an end. What was the end? Believe that what VP taught was the truth. Evangelize. Sell PFAL classes. Behave according to what The Way leadership dictated.

Nostalgia for the old days also seems to deny the fact that from its inception, the cult was engineered by V.P. Wierwille, who claimed, like Paul in the New Testament, that he heard an audible voice from a monotheistic God adopted from another culture from thousands of years ago (or the voice of Jesus, as in Paul’s case) that no one else heard. This raises all sorts of issues too complex to get into here I think.

While I met many good people whose kindness made me feel loved, during my TWI years, VP’s teachings, such as telling me I was “more than a conqueror” did not help me resolve problems I brought into The Way with me. For awhile, it engendered a positive attitude in me but it did not produce a healthy self image or tolerance, understanding and compassion for others who might not agree with what I believed. I think the doctrines in many instances only instilled a good deal of denial about myself, the good in the world, other cultures, and denial about what it means to be human.

When I first took PFAL, at 18 years old, I certainly was gullible to The Way’s “answers” but the human brain is not even fully developed until 23 or 24 years old so that’s part of this scenario, too. But I also readily admit that I consciously turned a deaf ear to people who warned me not to get involved.

Not only did I make grave errors in judgment when getting involved with TWI, but I was seduced by big fat claims about the nature of the system I was in. It claimed to be a biblical research ministry but it is extreme fundamentalism. I suggest more of us get informed not only about how cults function but what fundamentalism is and the history of its development. It’s not only a way of interpreting the bible but a way of existing in the world.

Penworks, Thanks so much for posting this. I read it on another web site as well. I would like to copy and paste this if it's okay with you. I know a young 26 year old man who seems to think the adversary has just recently infiltrated TWI (his words not mine) and he's involved with a splinter group that celebrates Wierwille's life, teachings, message.

So do you think those teens were forced to go by their parents? "If you don't go to that Advance Class you're never getting the car keys"!!!

uh, sounds like a typical modern twi "campus fellowship" . . . just sayin' . . .

I love college campuses.

Who brought the keg, man?

Don't worry if you can't find your retemory cards, just STAY YOUR MIND!

I think Craig's favorite Beatles tune was "Octopus's Garden" so many arms. Yes, it's a Ringo tune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os4rKtzB4js