What About It

"When the pressure is on, just GIVE." (So how does that help to address my problem?) "Do you have a minute?" (OMG, WTF did I do now?)

Hey Shortfuse, I think of it in terms of "jargon." My last few years in TWI I became increasingly aware of jargon and tried to eliminate it in my language. Maybe it was because of my years in Way Pub and seeing people write the same $h1t over and over. Like "wonderful." It was OK to say "wonderful" but "fantastic" was not because it had its roots in "fantasy." [cough, cough] Sticking with the approved language makes the person look good in front of other people. I became very aware of this when we did a fellowship for the younger adults. I saw that they would speak a certain way around us "adults" but act differently with their friends. They were trying to "talk the talk" to BS us. And the funny thing is, most of the other adults bought it. They thought these people were so great because they had "the Word" at such a young age. To this day, my husband and I laugh and joke over jargon terms like "available," and "it would be great if..." and "that doesn't bless me." I want to shout, "For the love of God, just be a real person! Be YOU!" As for rosie and the BOD, yes, they are manipulated and controlled by her, and if she can't subdue them to her liking, they're gone. Why do you think she's blazed through more directors in the past 10 years than TWI has even had (outside of them) in the past 60 years?

I think the only people they might have a chance at success with are those without an internet connection. Go GSC!

Rosie's so-called teaching is still the same as it was then: it's a one-way street (she talks & you listen), a lecture from the pulpit, and just as you said, lots of rules. She says that she always asks for input. My question would be: whose input does she ask? She never asked me or any of my co-workers in Way Pub when she'd come lecture us about how badly we screwed up Bernita's WM articles. Sorry, but Bernita is getting to be an old lady whose train of thought isn't quite magazine-ready. But there's no pleasing Rosie. First, we did too much revising to BJ's article, so then we went very light on her articles. No more than a couple years later, Rosie was meeting with us again, because BJ's articles were too choppy--they needed more editing. Can you believe that? We effin' did what she said to do, and she still didn't like it. I think if she'd have left us alone to begin with, we'd have done the work right. But she speaks "from the chair," so there's no discourse when she meets with you. She talks and you listen. And you'd better agree with every word, too...

Or is it this man? http://www.faith2share.net/AboutUs/FAQs/WhoareF2SMembers/TheodoreWilliams/tabid/225/Default.aspx

I'm wondering now just how prominent Dr. Williams in India really was. Seems his family lives in New Bremen, Ohio. I know his granddaughter personally, and she has plenty of family--including Dr. Williams's wife (if she's still alive)--in the big city of New Bremen also. Perhaps Williams was living in New Bremen and that's how VP knew him? Don't know, just asking. But I'm tempted to call Williams's granddaughter and ask her for some info.

Still looking for that thread or threads on this topic. Anyone have any clues?

Yes, quite true. To be "accepted" to take the advanced class, they have to faithfully attend fellowship, faithfully tithe, at the absolute minimum--emphasized on the application, be debt-free, subscribe to the Way Mag and to the STS tapes. Great emphasis on obeying the letter of the law, huh? Where's the emphasis on heart and love? Well, I guess you can't expect them to have actually helped other people yet because they haven't taught them how to operate those "giving" manifestations yet--those are handled in the Advanced Class. Only problem is, they still aren't taught how to "operate" those manifestations--only how to live so legalistically that God's love is taken right out of the picture anyway.

In the 90s when Craig started "requiring" that lowly followers fully share with their leadership on most everything, people started asking exactly what needs to be tithed on and what doesn't, and do you tithe on your net or your gross income. They said that your "increase" should be tithed on, so if you tithed on your gross income and then received a tax refund, you didn't need to tithe on that because you already had--it's not your increase but was actually yours to begin with. I can't think of any other examples of receiving money that would not be your increase: gifts, winnings (which you shouldn't enter into lotteries anyway because they're evil), inheritances, etc. They had to clarify "plurality giving" a bit for the legalists, who were stressing that they needed to give every last little thing to the ministry. They said that you need to plan for yourself in terms of retirement, savings, hobbies, family, etc., before you give the rest--"that the ministry be not blamed." That was their biggest concern--that someone would actually do what they said and then be regretful of it and blame the ministry. Craig beat the money/giving topic into the ground so hard that it isn't taught on too much anymore, at least not when I was there 2 years ago, but you know the fear and guilt tactics still abound.

Welcome to the Cafe, Cal! Hope you pull up a chair and stay awhile! Kind of a ballsy assumption on their part, doncha think? The more you stick around in the way, the more is assumed. Later on, their arguments go like this: "Well why wouldn't you want to ___________" (attend every class you can, attend the STS live in the auditorium week after boring week, drive 5 hours each way once a month so you can attend a boring STS, or increase your ABS at least 3% to 5% each friggin year). My answer: Nunyadambiz, that's why.

I also am a professional editor/proofreader, and in proofreading sometimes publishers will send me the author's hard-copy manuscript along with the proofs, especially if the copy editor made a lot of changes or for ESL authors. I've proofed books before that I've needed to refer to the author's ms just to see what the au's original wording, meaning, or spelling was. So these are sometimes still used for reference, but not for actual editing. And yes, when multiple editors work on a document, they need to use different colors--but not pencils. Different colors on screen, yes; on paper, no. TWI is so afraid that changing their technology might cause them to lose followers in developing countries that their lack of updating technology is causing them to lose followers in the developed countries. At least they say they don't want to leave people behind. I still think it comes down to money. Newer technology = more money.

It's not about wishing there were no storms but about how you get through the storms.

Stop it? Oh, yes maam. What? Do it more now? Yes maam. Sorry for derailing your thread, Ham.

I'll start with the process of elimination. Here's who won't be the next prez (IMO): Reynolds, Platig, McFadden, and Mittler: four directors she blazed through when they disagreed with her. All were given her "go to the office" punishment assignments when she'd had enough of their honest input. Can't have any of that, you know. Poor Mittler even got sent to share an office with a regular Way Corpse peon in the warehouse of all places. How humiliating--as if he even cared what she thought to begin with. Platig--given the boot by Rosie not just once but twice now. She must be a monster to not get along with a person as gentle and respectful as him. Linder: Sorry, John. Not much more to say there. Anderson: Two years with him was all she could take. Magnelli: IMO, I don't think she likes him too much. Not sure why, but she was always getting on him and he was always sucking up to her. Maybe it's his brown-nosing that she doesn't like. Well, on second thought, I doubt that. Moneyhands: He's too young and too much of a rebel. Loy was criticized for being too young when he took office, and I think the elders now would agree that, considering all the sex and power and all. He wants to change too much. He's out until he grows old and wants to change things slowly--and there's enough others to stop him from changing anything. Mullins: too fat. She hates fat people. Hates. Lomax, Bolchalk: She's happy with them as long as they do whatever she wants, but they won't be prez. DeLisle: Wussy. That's it. Just a wussy. McCulloch: too old. He just wants to retire anyway. Why is he on the Board? Donna: Sorry, Ham, gotta disagree with you on this. I don't think she wants to be the prez. Why be the president and take all the heat when you can control the president and stay behind the scenes? As long as she can sleep with the president, I think she's perfectly happy. Yes, I do think she wants more control and more power, but no, I don't think she wants any more responsibility or accountability. Plus, now that her oldest is married and has a family of her own and comes around only when she has to, and T!m (do you think he's off the coke now? perhaps, but def. not off the liquid spirits) can't stand her but is good at sucking up when he needs to, and DG is off to college where she's in for a rude awakening ... nope, Donna needs to have a president, not be the president. She needs someone who will her ... female, male, Sam, whatever (OK, maybe even she didn't deserve that last comment). So who's left: Rupp: Perfect! He's the perfect age, has a perfect wife and family (that is, if Ph!ll!p hopefully mellows a bit with age), and the perfect pedigree. His dad is a doctor, you know. (A real doctor, not like VP.) Family money. He has perfected the art of sucking up. His two favorite words are Yes, maam. Doubt he's ever had an original thought, at least since he came to TWI and learned from God's best. Yep, my money's on Rupp.

I think if Rosie lived in the stone ages, she would have outlawed the use of pencils and insisted that it really wasn't "the best" if it wasn't carved in stone by your very own chisel. There's just something that the chisel provides that isn't there with the pen...

OldSkool, I think you mean "illogic," but to answer your question, yes, she does. When the publications department coordinators (which also included the Way Mag dept.) were asked by Rosie to teach the Solution Seminar (which was a short taped class produced to teach the Way Corpse how to write a magazine article, and it morphed into a syllabus that they give to STS teachers as well), they taught to write your article with pen/pencil and paper. Why? Very vague, but it just does something, there's just something more there in it than if you're using a computer. (And the Pres. Pub. dept. coord (P0lly R0tund@) actually went online to find studies to back that up! I'd like to see her use pencil and paper to find studies to back that up. Too bad she didn't look for studies that show the savings in time and money by writing/editing on electronic files rather than hard copies. That could have actually benefited them.) And their dishonest, one-way, twisted feedback system fed right into this also: We were asked to report on the seminar after we wrote our way mag articles. The question was worded just like this: "What did you like about writing with pen/pencil and paper?" It was all so they could give Rosie just the good, not the bad and the ugly. Not "what didn't you like." I wrote that I actually enjoyed it for the first paragraph, but then after that I just couldn't take it anymore and typed the rest of it on the computer. I emphasized that I found that much easier, faster, and more efficient for me, and that the pen and paper, which got me going in the initial writing process, actually held me back once I got going. But you know, they don't want to hear that because it doesn't agree with the headmistress.

Oh yes, it's so! Colored pencils: red, green, and purple for the 1st three editors; then blue; after that, when their outdated system hasn't been efficient enough, they move on to brown and orange, maybe light blue or yellow, but these are a bit hard to read. Those manuscripts are less intelligible than the ugliest roadmaps you've ever seen. Computers just do things too fast, you know. Their perfect publications wouldn't be as accurate if they pumped them out faster and at much lower cost by using computers and eliminating an entire department (word processing). That's your abundant sharing at work, folks. All in outdated, inefficient processes.

Years to finish--yes, indeed. Rosie actually believes slower is better. She's in no hurry to get anything out. She said her goal as president is to get the new Way of Abundance and Power series out--Foundation, intermediate, and advanced. Yet she's been there for 10 years and hasn't been able to put out 3 classes yet. She's the picture of inefficiency. It was the same for these books. She lauds the two publications departments and lets them take as much time as they need (unless she needs something fast, then amazingly they can turn it around for her). Update doctrine--no, they did not do that in the second editions of these books. Their take on it was that these were the great "Dr." Wierwille's books, and they shouldn't change any doctrine to line up with new teaching. The changes would have been petty things, maybe a word or two or punctuation, but not doctrine. (They talked a lot about "printed perfection"--that's actually what they think they do in the publications departments--they're the guardians of printed perfection! RUN!) So why did these books take so long to finish? Inefficiency, not "new light."

I had the "privilege" of helping to spring-clean the Chalet--only one or two days after we listened to LCM's taped confession / lawsuit announcement: Yes, he had been boinking a married woman, but it was a "mutually consensual" relationship. I was still in disbelief. I kept thinking "Did he really say he was f***ing another man's woman??" And nobody would talk about it that day of spring-cleaning, either. Everyone was there, headed up by Donna herself (just to give her speech, not to clean, mind you), with their denial-of-reality plastic smiles, in their alter-reality mental state of "everything is good." I had the "privilege" of cleaning Princess Leah's suite--yes, each of the kids's rooms had their own bathroom also. I couldn't help but think about those kids all day long -- I was so hurt and deceived, but they had to be even more hurt and deceived than me.

OMG...I think I'm going to barf

I think the Way Mag is printed in Dayton now. Here's a funny thing: before the big Y2K lawsuit, the Way Mag editor (a married man) and one of his staffers (who were all women) used to get a motel room and stay overnight for the press checks, when they'd have to go to the printer's shop every few hours to check the print runs. After the Y2K lawsuit, no, no, no. The editor would borrow a man from another department so that a woman and a man wouldn't be together in a hotel room overnight. As far as the books, the book's, and the bookses' books', they're all done at printers in the area. None are actually printed at hq.

Oh yeah, beautiful place. Not called the Corps Chalet anymore, though, just the Chalet, since it's not used to house visiting WC. It's also used as a guest housing place for VIP guests, such as sometimes for an STS teacher. Both floors have a full kitchen--and very beautiful as well. Both floors have fireplaces too. And the main floor has an office that apparently wasn't good enough for Loy since he had the Annex built, which also has a kitchen--but a small one. And I think Donna and Rosie still have offices in the Annex, as well as Donna's offices in the OSC and at Founders Hall and Rosie's offices in the auditorium and in the OSC. The Chalet also has a 3-car garage plus small parking lots on both sides. Donna lived there for 20 years before she moved to the Founders Hall apartment. Maybe she couldn't afford it anymore after the staff had to start paying rent at "fair market value" for their housing.

After Rosalie worked so hard to push through her Vision and Direction plan, they started getting monthly reports on numbers from the Region coordinators, which the Reg. co's got from their limb and branch puppets. These monthly reports are very detailed, including numbers of faithful standing grads, people who signed up for the class but haven't taken it yet, people who moved out of the region, people who died, people who left the miniistry, people who stopped attending fellowship before they even took the class.... My point is, it was very detailed, and they know exactly who poops, when they poop, size, shape, color... (Aren't you glad you got out when you did?!) I think these reports were only done in the USA. At first they wanted these reports to get a handle on how many people they had, and why people left when they left. But then they just kept them coming in, and I even asked Rupp why--when he was a director--and he didn't know why they were still receiving them. So even the directors are puppets, you know. That was a few years ago, so I don't know if they still have these reports or not. Maybe by my asking, he looked into it and they stopped. But then again, I doubt anything could be initiated successfully from the bottom up in that twisted org. Everything is top down. Noteworthy: whenever anyone left the ministry, the region coord. had to write at least one paragraph to explain what happened. Of course, it was always explained with a TWI spin on the details: blinded by devil spirits, did not respond to confrontation, loves money and family more than God...blah, blah, blah. I don't know how they account for the international followers, but I'm sure they have some sort of idea, even if it's not as accurate or detailed as the US reports.

OMG, are you the mailman?!!

TWI is the one place on earth that really thinks that a slow, painful death is more dignified than just closing the doors and turning off the lights. After all, and I can still hear Rozilla's voice saying this: Theeus iz Gaawwwd's meuhnuhstree.