"Spiritual Protocol" always reminds me of an incident: A believer couple spontaneously decided to barbecue. They invited some other believers, then some others. THEN they thought the branch leaders would like to come so they invited THEM. Well, you would have thought they just sacrificed a baby to Molech. The branch leader REAMED them up and down, reporoving them for breaking SPIRITUAL PROTOCOL by not inviting them FIRST!!!
Needless to say, it wasn't much fun to be in THAT branch with THOSE particular (ordained no less) "leaders."
What always pi$ed me off was the requirement that one stood when a "man of God" (a Rev) entered the room.
Often, not only stand up, but bl00dy well applaud as well.
I have never ever seen this anywhere else. I think the (arch)bishops in the Anglican church would be horrified at that behavior - certainly the local bishop and his predecessor would be appalled. They're genuinely humble men. And as for the local vicar or whatever, heck, I don't know any who would consider this appropriate. From what I've seen of Methodists, the Sally-Ann, etc. this isn't expected or wanted either.
At least TWI only expected us to stand...not actually bow down.
Many things always confused me to the point I wasn't sure what I was suppose to do. Here's an example. On the wow field, Our Leader hadn't come home for dinner and so it was ready, hot, and waiting and we decided to go ahead and eat. Our leader came home and reamed us for not waiting for her to come home to eat. She was corps. The next night, we had everything ready again, hot and waiting. She hadn't come home yet....but we knew better than to eat. We didn't, not a bite. She came home some time later and reamed us for not eating the food while it was hot. What was the point of all this???? At the time, it just confused the heck out of me. What were we suppose to do?? Eat? Not Eat? And it makes you feel like a child when you get reamed for something. Believe me I was reamed all the time for something, so instead of focusing on the Word and God, I started focusing on is this right or is this wrong? I didn't want to be yelled at so much.
It just trickled down from the top down to the twig leader. I thought about going into the corps, but the reason I wanted to go was to get off the bottom rung of the Way tree and stop getting yelled at. Then I learned how much the corps go yelled at and it just trickled down......what was the point of all this???
"Everything in The Way was judged by its supposed "spirituality". The whole thing was no more "spiritual" than the flying monkeys that vexed Dorothy. "
True enough...In the case of Wierwille and Martindale, the flying monkeys would have been an improvement. Spiritual protocol was nothing more than a made up list of rules to keep you in your place and lord over you. I recall an incident at Emporia when Vic was sitting on a makeshift stage on the pond...some sort of raft with chairs on it. (I think he was trying to be like Jesus when he taught the folks on shore from a boat...)...suddenly Vic lit up a smoke and all the other smokers did likewise...that was the protocol taught...wait until the guy in charge to light up first and then it's ok...but not THAT night...Vic changed the rules right on the spot and reamed us all out...Spiritual protocol was used selectively when it served their purposes (egos).
"Everything in The Way was judged by its supposed "spirituality". The whole thing was no more "spiritual" than the flying monkeys that vexed Dorothy. "
True enough...In the case of Wierwille and Martindale, the flying monkeys would have been an improvement. Spiritual protocol was nothing more than a made up list of rules to keep you in your place and lord over you. I recall an incident at Emporia when Vic was sitting on a makeshift stage on the pond...some sort of raft with chairs on it. (I think he was trying to be like Jesus when he taught the folks on shore from a boat...)...suddenly Vic lit up a smoke and all the other smokers did likewise...that was the protocol taught...wait until the guy in charge to light up first and then it's ok...but not THAT night...Vic changed the rules right on the spot and reamed us all out...Spiritual protocol was used selectively when it served their purposes (egos).
That incident sounds familiar to me. Was that at Advanced Class 78 ?
i'm reminded of another incident - I was at Advanced Class 79 and PFAL 77 - and don't remember which one the following happened: during filming of one of the teaching sessions - vp stood up from the desk rather quickly and somehow he noticed one of the camera men didn't raise the camera fast enough; vp stopped teaching and proceeded to give this guy a royal tongue lashing for missing that.
i don't remember the content of what vp said to the camera man but i do remember i felt so bad for the camera man....there's nothing like the love of God in manifestation....and that was nothing like it! />
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skyrider
IF......wierwille and company had been laboring in the Word
[the words/works of Jesus Christ], then there would have been NO NEED for petty lists
of "spiritual protocol." That's what Pharisees do.
Nothing brought the throngs of people like the DEMONSTRATION OF GOD'S POWER.
Check out Luke 8.....in verse 30, Jesus confronts and casts out the spirit Legion
and shortly thereafter, the throngs of people were swelling the streets.
Only Pharisees dictate a 10-minute deadline ultimatum to get your butt in that seat...!!!
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Rocky
Does the name Ernest Angley ring any bells?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2014/10/14/tv-evangelist-accused-of-running-cult.html
By the way, Sky... I wholeheartedly agree with your analysis on "spiritual protocol" being an indoctrination mechanism.
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waysider
Protocol....yes
Spiritual....no
Everything in The Way was judged by its supposed "spirituality". The whole thing was no more "spiritual" than the flying monkeys that vexed Dorothy.
"Oh, Toto, do be careful. There might be a devil spirit in your water dish."
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outandabout
"Spiritual Protocol" always reminds me of an incident: A believer couple spontaneously decided to barbecue. They invited some other believers, then some others. THEN they thought the branch leaders would like to come so they invited THEM. Well, you would have thought they just sacrificed a baby to Molech. The branch leader REAMED them up and down, reporoving them for breaking SPIRITUAL PROTOCOL by not inviting them FIRST!!!
Needless to say, it wasn't much fun to be in THAT branch with THOSE particular (ordained no less) "leaders."
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Twinky
What always pi$ed me off was the requirement that one stood when a "man of God" (a Rev) entered the room.
Often, not only stand up, but bl00dy well applaud as well.
I have never ever seen this anywhere else. I think the (arch)bishops in the Anglican church would be horrified at that behavior - certainly the local bishop and his predecessor would be appalled. They're genuinely humble men. And as for the local vicar or whatever, heck, I don't know any who would consider this appropriate. From what I've seen of Methodists, the Sally-Ann, etc. this isn't expected or wanted either.
At least TWI only expected us to stand...not actually bow down.
MoOG worship. Huh.
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newlife
Many things always confused me to the point I wasn't sure what I was suppose to do. Here's an example. On the wow field, Our Leader hadn't come home for dinner and so it was ready, hot, and waiting and we decided to go ahead and eat. Our leader came home and reamed us for not waiting for her to come home to eat. She was corps. The next night, we had everything ready again, hot and waiting. She hadn't come home yet....but we knew better than to eat. We didn't, not a bite. She came home some time later and reamed us for not eating the food while it was hot. What was the point of all this???? At the time, it just confused the heck out of me. What were we suppose to do?? Eat? Not Eat? And it makes you feel like a child when you get reamed for something. Believe me I was reamed all the time for something, so instead of focusing on the Word and God, I started focusing on is this right or is this wrong? I didn't want to be yelled at so much.
It just trickled down from the top down to the twig leader. I thought about going into the corps, but the reason I wanted to go was to get off the bottom rung of the Way tree and stop getting yelled at. Then I learned how much the corps go yelled at and it just trickled down......what was the point of all this???
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GrouchoMarxJr
"Everything in The Way was judged by its supposed "spirituality". The whole thing was no more "spiritual" than the flying monkeys that vexed Dorothy. "
True enough...In the case of Wierwille and Martindale, the flying monkeys would have been an improvement. Spiritual protocol was nothing more than a made up list of rules to keep you in your place and lord over you. I recall an incident at Emporia when Vic was sitting on a makeshift stage on the pond...some sort of raft with chairs on it. (I think he was trying to be like Jesus when he taught the folks on shore from a boat...)...suddenly Vic lit up a smoke and all the other smokers did likewise...that was the protocol taught...wait until the guy in charge to light up first and then it's ok...but not THAT night...Vic changed the rules right on the spot and reamed us all out...Spiritual protocol was used selectively when it served their purposes (egos).
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T-Bone
That incident sounds familiar to me. Was that at Advanced Class 78 ?
i'm reminded of another incident - I was at Advanced Class 79 and PFAL 77 - and don't remember which one the following happened: during filming of one of the teaching sessions - vp stood up from the desk rather quickly and somehow he noticed one of the camera men didn't raise the camera fast enough; vp stopped teaching and proceeded to give this guy a royal tongue lashing for missing that.
i don't remember the content of what vp said to the camera man but i do remember i felt so bad for the camera man....there's nothing like the love of God in manifestation....and that was nothing like it!
/>
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