indeed. the therapist me and my kids saw right after said it takes about 5 years of therapy before people are comfortable being in control of their own lives. I found that to be true.
prison inmates have the same problem after a while, which is why so many of them commit crimes so they can go back. it's acquired helplessness. there are so many choices to make everyday and when you've been conditioned not to make or even see the choice, it's completely overwhelming.
....when I left in 2006, I was so scared. I was scared of my children getting killed for my waywardness, and I was scared of getting phone calls and visits because I'd heard so many times that's what you do when you don't see someone at twig... but in the end all I got was an email. I was too poor to tithe much, so I don't think they cared much that I left.
it still took years for me to learn how to make my own decisions again. I'm so happy I'm not in it anymore.
3 hours ago, potato said:
indeed. the therapist me and my kids saw right after said it takes about 5 years of therapy before people are comfortable being in control of their own lives. I found that to be true.
prison inmates have the same problem after a while, which is why so many of them commit crimes so they can go back. it's acquired helplessness. there are so many choices to make everyday and when you've been conditioned not to make or even see the choice, it's completely overwhelming.
Great posts Potato ! I can relate and I bet a lot of others can too. That learned helplessness that TWI followers acquire kept everyone in check...I agree with what the therapist said about it taking a few years for one to feel comfortable actually being in the driver seat again....terrible thing to let those decision-making muscles in our brains atrophy - but there's no better therapy than getting to take charge once again!
1989: On March 8, 1989 martindale and trustees officially declared "independence day at the way" and separated from chris geer. Cool. A couple additions and clarifications to your timeline. Honing in on more accuracy every iteration. :) Shortly after this date martindale sends out a loyalty letter to all active Corps demanding that they state their loyalty of who they stand with. 50% of 17th corps does not return in-residence after their interim year. This was the loyalty purge.
1990/91: martindale continues vehement opposition to geer and splinter group defectors. He teaches from Galatians....a two-tape series known as Galatians I and II, but later titled Leadership Tapes I & II. First released to corps, then all adv class grads. Later--if attending adv class, these were required prerequisites. Advanced Class Specials were held in Indianapolis [1990 & 91].....short drive for hq-personnel and support from Rome City & Indianapolis corps.
The Advanced Class Specials I remember were definitely preparations for filming the live DTA class. Why am I thinking that one of those was not in Indianapolis but in Dallas for GWIB that year? At any rate one of the live audience films was used for a class until the final DTA class production. As with every new class coming out, Corps is required to take first with mandatory participation and "old wineskin" purges for any not 100% gung ho. The DTA class was filmed with new production cameras at HQ in the auditorium in 1992. There was a live audience for this, but they were all silent. It was too hard for Loytoy to teach to a camera with no audience at that point. He overcame the need for a live audience filming the WAP class - there was no audience for that.
1992/93: Martindale taught live adv class at rome city.....mandatory requirement for all active corps and adv class grads to attend. This was a purge. Martindale was stepping forward to purge the old advanced class grads (wierwille allegiance) from the ranks. New syllabus, new nametag. New, improved Twi II. Rise and Expansion book was released in '93 and martindale was gaining confidence, once again. By the fall of 1993 (or Feb/Mar 1994).....all limb coordinators were to teach an R&E weekend (fri/sat/sun) seminar in their respective limbs.
1994/95: A series of purges, like waves slapping the rocky shores of an inlet bay........1) new adv class purge, 2) debt purge, 3) homo purge, 4) word over world purge, 5) full-time corps purge, 6) into the promised land purge, 7) wap class purge, 8) etc. Before the full-blown "1995 roa homo infiltration proclamation".....several corps and staff were caught "in the act" in homosexual relations: girl/girl and guy/guy. On corps nights, martindale called out these corps/staff and trashed their names across the airwaves.....giving them the bum's rush. The 1995 roa was first full-throated, open-exposure of this "whole ministry homo infiltration problem." And, as I've stated earlier....it gave martindale cover to cancel all future rock of ages......when corps went full-time after 1995 roa.
May 1994 "Get Out of Debt" Letter in Corps Document Files
July 1994 "War on Homosexuals" Letter from martindale
July 1994 "Dumping of Spouse Corps" Letter from martindale
All old twi-music tapes and teaching tapes from defector leaders are anathema. Need to be suspicious of anyone in twi who listens to this stuff and/or harbors attitudes for "old wineskins." Start confronting. If need be, bring 2-3 witnesses. If still unsuccessful, bring them to group confrontation. Purge the old-wineskin nostalgia.
1995: From September-December, these four months seemed like one year. The paper blizzard of faxes, mandates, updates, etc. was cranking up. The trustees and trunk office were totally ill-prepared for the onslaught. When martindale instigated the all-corps full-time policy coupled with wierwille's (illegal) need-basis staff-policy....the paper blizzard had major headwinds. The job description of field corps was not yet written. The trunk personnel were scrambling, caught between martindale pontificating and real-life corps situations. EVERY CORPS ACTION had to examined under the microscope of being a productive/unproductive, necessary/unnecessary, etc......with money, money, money at the basis of ever scrutinizing decision. Bottom line: How much did martindale trust corps leadership to wisely steward twi's funds?
This was the birthplace of "Vision and Direction - the Oxymoron". On my list of thread topics to start :) The Way has never trusted Corps leadership with funds. The fund limit approval levels for Petty Cash expenditures were $100 at the Limb level, $300 at the Region level, $500 at the Trunk level, then needs BOT approval. Can't even rent a hall for a meeting without the dummies involved. Unless it's the library or fire station - free. Another way to control expenses - increase the red tape necessary to approve them.
The full-time corps revelation....er, experiment [August 1995--October 1998] was a pivotal episode of martindale's tenure. A whole chapter could be written on its implementation, adaptation, regulation, subordination and institutionalization. The pillar that wierwille constructed, the needs-basis policy.....had a MAJOR CRACK going down thru the center of it. On the field, what constitutes a need? Every time a corps person decided to drive his/her car for witnessing.....that was an expense. Extra air conditioning at limb/branch home for meetings/classes.....higher expense. Your teenage kid needs braces......that's a need, right? The list is endless.
What all this full-time corps policy exposed was........twi hierarchy was/is a non-factor unless they SUCK OFF THE ABS FOR EVERYTHING. A small minority at headquarters governs,....er, manipulates the followers to separate them year-after-year from their hard-earned money. The spiritual mandates are nothing but a ruse.
1996: Martindale records The Way of Abundance and Power class (WAP).....the foundational class. Red syllabus. Later, a systematic running of these new classes for every active follower. If one didn't take this new class, he was not considered to be involved with twi.....pfal was old wineskin. With every new class, the pattern was: Corps takes it first - they are all full-time anyway so they are tasked with martindale mandates. Limb coordinators run the classes. then they run it for grads. Then they run it for new students. With each running of the class offers the opportunity for more "old wineskin" purging at every level.
1997: Martindale records The Way of Abundance and Power intermediate class. Same pattern....everyone in twi must take it to update status and involvement. Systematically run throughout the usa.
1997 "Gift Policy for Corps" Letter from hq
March 1997 "Dangers of Bribery" Letter from martindale
September 1997 "Vision and Direction" Policy
1998: Martindale records The Way of Abundance and Power advanced class. The series is complete. Big fanfare and celebration for martindale teaching this series and completing the work. This wap-series is the new standard in twi. Each limb had to structure 4 separate weekends to run this adv class on the field. Major work and involvement......trunk/region/limb. Dress code. Break out groups to absorb info. Class picture. Thank you card sent to martindale.
Then, in June at headquarters.......the sexcapade that involved in-residence corps and martindale ensued at the advanced class. Sexual favors at 1998 Adv Class
Skyrider, thanks for the information. No wonder why so many left TWI!
"On July 5, 1948, our family of five began a trip in our new 1948 Chevrolet, given to us by the Wierwille family, to Manitou Springs, Colorado. Rev. Wierwille had been taking correspondence work with Pikes Peak Bible Seminary and Burton College and writing his doctoral dissertation on "Peter the Preacher." By being in attendance at the seminary in Colorado, he was completing his requirements for a Doctor of Theology degree. Students there came from India and China as well as various parts of the United States.
Along with taking course work, Rev. Wierwille also taught two classes: 'Radio Preaching Techniques' and 'Peter the Preacher.' On Wednesday, July 28, 1948, he was awarded the Doctor of Theology degree by Pikes Peak Seminary in a ceremony at the Community Congregational Church in Manitou Springs. Immediately after his graduation, the five of us left for Minnesota for the Camp Farthest Out at Lake Koronis. It was a tremendous and exceptional summer to have our young family experience both occasions."
Insert picture: Dr. Wierwille on the right at Pikes Peak Seminary. Dr. Stuart Hydanus, who later taught at one of our camps, is on the left. And Dr. Ellis Lininger, the president of the seminary and an educator whom Dr. Wierwille highly revered, is second from the left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1948 Commencement Brochure:
Pikes Peak Bible Seminary
and Burton College
SUMMER SESSION JULY, 1948
COMMENCEMENT
WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 1948
Community Congregational Church
Manitou Springs, Colorado
The Rev. H. Ellis Lininger, E.D., LL. D.
President
The Rev. Lewis C. Miller, Ps,D., S.T.D.
Dean
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: In 1948, Pikes Peak Seminary and Burton College utilized the nearby Community Congregational Church for graduation ceremony........whereas, by 1963, the graduation ceremonies was held at the First Southern Baptist Church auditorium.
Further Noted: After wierwille got his "doctorate degree" in 1948, the wierwille family THEN headed off to take part in Camps Farthest Out in Minnesota.....[wierwille had attended this camp by Glenn Clark in the summer of 1945, also].....which led to wierwille's version TFI, "Total Fitness Institute" in California with John Summerv!lle and later, L.E.A.D. --- Leadership Education Adventure Direction.
Skyrider, thanks for all the information on TWI, and VPW! I hope he rots in hell.
Grace.......well, since you've taken such an interest in my 1981 deprogramming experience, I decided that a response was in order.
Sure, at the time.....I was defiant and determined to break free from these deprogrammers, thugs, and my parents so that I could reunite with my fiancé and twi. It was heart-wrenching to have to choose "one side" and not the other. I couldn't have both.
Forgiveness came relatively easy for me regarding my parents.....
My parents deeply loved me and were trying, as best they could, with this "deprogramming intervention."
They believed, from what they'd heard and read, that once I graduated from the corps, I would be "gone forever."
They were willing to spend another $16,000 or so.......to deprogram my fiancé, too.
In their mind, this was an intervention.......what other avenues were available to helping extricate a loved one from a cult?
The depth of love my parents went thru to do this, especially my Mom, is a testament to parental love and family.
My parents welcomed me with open arms.......WHENEVER my wife and I visited them.
Yesterday.......was Mother's Day. My mother passed away two years ago. I spent the day in solemn thankfulness for the unconditional love she lived. She went "far beyond her comfort zone" to try and help her youngest son out of a cult. Thankfully, I had 10 years with Dad (he died in 2008) and 17 years to reconcile my relationship with Mom. Forgiveness? It was easy.......looking thru the eyes of parental love.
On 5/15/2017 at 6:24 PM, skyrider said:
Grace.......well, since you've taken such an interest in my 1981 deprogramming experience, I decided that a response was in order.
Sure, at the time.....I was defiant and determined to break free from these deprogrammers, thugs, and my parents so that I could reunite with my fiancé and twi. It was heart-wrenching to have to choose "one side" and not the other. I couldn't have both.
Forgiveness came relatively easy for me regarding my parents.....
My parents deeply loved me and were trying, as best they could, with this "deprogramming intervention."
They believed, from what they'd heard and read, that once I graduated from the corps, I would be "gone forever."
They were willing to spend another $16,000 or so.......to deprogram my fiancé, too.
In their mind, this was an intervention.......what other avenues were available to helping extricate a loved one from a cult?
The depth of love my parents went thru to do this, especially my Mom, is a testament to parental love and family.
My parents welcomed me with open arms.......WHENEVER my wife and I visited them.
Yesterday.......was Mother's Day. My mother passed away two years ago. I spent the day in solemn thankfulness for the unconditional love she lived. She went "far beyond her comfort zone" to try and help her youngest son out of a cult. Thankfully, I had 10 years with Dad (he died in 2008) and 17 years to reconcile my relationship with Mom. Forgiveness? It was easy.......looking thru the eyes of parental love.
My mother died 15 years ago this month. I know that my mother loved me dearly, and she trusted me. If I wanted to spend my life in TWI, that was fine with her. Finally, I got tired of all the Bulls--t, and left. My mother welcomed me back with open arms. I had to break free from TWI but I did it when I was ready too. How I miss my mother; TWI I have never missed.
And you are one of them, Skyrider! Thanks for ALL you have shared, and, hopefully will continue to share! Love ya man!
I too enjoy reading your posts. So many people suffered so much during their time in TWI; I had no idea of what some went through to do what they thought was the will of God. So much was kept hidden from the rank-and-file believers. If I had known all the garbage that went on in Way World, I would have left much sooner than I did.
Just a side note: The reason some people might find it offensive is because it's not a "lifestyle" any more than being heterosexual is a lifestyle. It's just one element of the individual's whole makeup. If we said a person lives a heterosexual lifestyle, what would that even really mean? Not all heterosexuals live the same lifestyle nor do all homosexuals live the same lifestyle.
This is not directed at any one person. I'm only pointing it out because using it in this manner can cause the listener to disengage. Well, at least that's been my experience.
Wierwille Takes Direct Aim: When wierwille steamed with fury......his outcry was a rifle, martindale used a shotgun (or buckshot "scatter-gun"). From my observations, I would say that wierwille was far more selective of his target. With wierwille, any dissent was personal. But wierwille was cunning and crafty.....he didn't unmask this fury to the general public. Except for the occasional advanced class rant, wierwille kept his fury ire directed at corps leadership and rogue clergy in closed-meetings.
I witnessed three extreme episodes of rifled-fury as keynoted in this thread.....A Series of Purges
To those who've read these accounts, my apologies for the re-iteration......but thought it should be inserted here.
Why didn't they pray for him?? And people wondered why I never went Corps.
Not in my state: The more martindale yelled, the more resistance I mounted. That period between January 1994 - July 1994 was "Insanity on Steroids"........at headquarters. My world was some 900 miles away. And, just because there was a "homo purge" in craig's mind.......didn't mean there was one in mine. When we had our annual limb meeting at the end of May........we went to the lake.
My independence of thought was diverging, once again.......and I loathed the authoritarian "teaching" from afar. How did they know anything about the needs in my state? How does this shotgun-yelling into the night help anybody? The droning on of weekly corps nights, the sunday teachings..........how could this possibly be "ministering" to the people? Clearly, in my mind......the answer was no. I was so far from lockstep loyalty, I wasn't even in the same platoon. Everything in my past was crying out for "Fresh Air"..........growing up on a farm, motorcycle riding with the wind in my face, pheasant hunting with my 12-guage over my shoulder, or those 3 years as Canada's country coordinator in the '80s........just don't fence me in. I loathed going to any more corps weeks/roa. I found myself Loathing the Overlords.
Heck......July 1994 would have, also, been a good time to jump off the train.
Everything at hq.......had lost its mystique.
.
Skyrider, it sounds to me that God was getting you ready to leave TWI. I left in 1988, so to me this information is interesting.
skyrider, thanks for sharing all of this. 1989 was the year TWI sucked me in, although I'd taken PFAL in 1985. I was advanced class grad twice over by mid-90s, and the later 90s were such a nightmare. all the M&A, and I was living in a pretty remote area and was semi-M&A myself for a period of time where I was required to do that horrible schedule, but mine was in 15 minute increments and I had to write a weekly report on how well I stuck to my schedule.
and I was scared the entire time... of not renewing my mind, of the adversary killing my kids because of my mistakes (that were blown all out of proportion, all the way to HQ and back to closed-door meetings where I was worn down and coerced into consent) and I came to doubt every thought in my head. they took away my autonomy, completely.
it was this group of people here at GSC who helped me finally leave in 2006. I could not have done it without you. I had nothing and no-one, and it took a long time to heal. I've been mostly absent from the café the last few years still dealing with fall-out from the cult years, but also to a large extent rebuilding a better life, one true to myself. I've been compiling things into book form for my kids because I'll eventually pass on, and I feel like my kids deserve some explanation of those years, and it's still really difficult to put it into perspective, so I've been lurking here a bit more lately.
this thread stirred up a lot of memories. I remember when the announcement came down that the L people were going to take over your job. it felt horrible and wrong, and I stopped trusting everyone, so I was alone for all those years. I was conditioned not to trust outsiders, and I knew I couldn't trust insiders.
gods, it was so horrible.
when I left in 2006, I was so scared. I was scared of my children getting killed for my waywardness, and I was scared of getting phone calls and visits because I'd heard so many times that's what you do when you don't see someone at twig... but in the end all I got was an email. I was too poor to tithe much, so I don't think they cared much that I left.
it still took years for me to learn how to make my own decisions again. I'm so happy I'm not in it anymore.
Potato, I think many of us feel that way. I know I do.
More Background: Let me back up on this one and fill in the blanks:
Another girl phoned........who was signed up for foundational way-class. I had personally witnessed to her and signed her up.
Now what? I was m/a and she called to ask me what to do.
She was conflicted (obviously)....
A week later, she came to talk with me face-to-face (she parked her car around the corner, down the street)
She, too, was growing paranoid of what to think. She wanted info of class.....but saw wreckage floating around.
I was driving on Northwest Expressway around 4pm one day (mid-June) and I had this thought (small, still voice..??).....go to Mardel's Christian Bookstore. I had only been there ONE time, but passed by it often. So, I turned around and.....mostly out of curiosity -- just to see.....once there, parked my car. I stepped inside and said to myself, "Now what?" Again, I had this inner peace and an inner "voice" said....."the bible aisle, someone is searching." Okay, now I'm really interested and thinking to myself....."If this is of God....I will be amazed."
In the bookstore aisle was this woman talking to a sales clerk asking about different types of bibles. I watched for about a minute and then, stepped toward her and said that I really liked the king james version rather than some of the other paraphrased versions. We had a 5-6 minute conversation on this....and then, I told her about home fellowships and "blah, blah, blah." Anyways.......the rest of the story is she came to 3-4 fellowships and signed up for the class to check it out.
So.....this woman was deeply conflicted six weeks later when I, "the state leader" was blacklisted. She had NO idea of twi-jargon, but had this unique personal involvement with me on that day and I'd seen her nearly every week. We had this "connection" because of that day at Mardel's.
Note: Before, during and after twi................I've had a couple dozen of these unique experiences.
~~~~~~~~~~
Paranoia Through the years, I've seen varying aspects of paranoia regarding the cult and I'm sure most of you have too. Not to belabor the point.....here are four examples that come to mind.......again, on different points of a continuum:
I was sitting with wierwille on his motor coach as we worked thru my 36-pages of captivity report (1981). Of those three-day afternoon sessions, this happened on the second day. Back and forth, wierwille asked me questions about this-or-that.....and would scratch thru whole sentences of my report and/or reword them to his liking for those "By The Way" articles for the St. Marys Evening Leader. On the second afternoon, while we were deep into this......the motor coach doors whisked open and Chris Geer briskly headed toward us at the table. Wierwille lifted his head and they made eye contact. With intensity of focus and brevity of words.....Geer said, "They're here. On grounds." Wierwille shot to his feet and the two walked out, got in Geer's car and drove away. I was the only one who witnessed this....no one else was in the motor coach. Stunned by it all, I sat there for another two minutes and then left the coach. Never did figure it out, but it sure got wierwille's attention in a hurry.
~~~~~
Outside of OKC, I spent much of my time and effort in Tulsa to help strengthen outreach efforts. Several corps had come and gone thru the years, but this one night.......I found myself trying to help craig's sister breath thru a multitude of factors that will remain confidential. It was well past midnight and took nearly three hours to untangle the growing intensity of anxiety and fear. We went for a short walk to help break its momentum. The paranoia was real, coming from several directions and by 3:45am her thinking and heart settled. During my one-hour drive home to OKC, I pondered the sequence of how something like that could escalate.
~~~~~
The advanced class grad who wanted out of twi, after we were m/a ...(mentioned before). It was surreal to watch paranoia mount its charge. As I said before, we had two secret meetings....one in the middle of the day, another late at night. The fear that someone in twi might see her with us was palpable. Her short bursts of speech had a tinge of shortness of breath. She was deeply conflicted and disturbed. Trying to process it all, the only thing that made sense to her was space. She needed time and space.....and moving out of the duplex, away from her roommate, was the first step. The stigma of m/a that twi had thumped on our chests made no sense. The convergence of the m/a stigma and Lally's damage control methods ushered in critical thought. And, paranoia dissipated.
~~~~~
In 2002, four years after we'd left the cult.....my family took a four-day trip to Canada. We wanted to take our growing boys to Niagara Falls and head over to London, Ontario to show my oldest son the city and hospital where he was born. Also, we had five people that we wanted to visit from years gone by. On this Saturday morning, we met up with this couple, she had been a godsend to help with all the cult's bookstore functions and her husband was invaluable to me as we handled the financial ledger and accounting. [In Canada.....we did ALL the financial reports, yearly self-imposed audit, etc......in states, limb work never had to do any of this, it went to hq]. Anyways......a phone call was made, because we thought it'd be nice to see Goldie, a wonderful adv class grad who was on the executive committee during my tenure. We agreed to meet at a food court in a local mall. When he arrived......the paranoia in his eyes was striking. He kept glancing over his shoulder to see if any believers might see him there with us. Here, a 72-year old businessman gripped by cult-fear was a memory I will never forget.
~~~~~~~~~~
Depths of Understanding About the time, I think that I understand something.....I find that I really didn't understand it at all or that more understanding would be gained over the next ridge. This could not be more apparent to me than the process of writing this book. I am not the same person I was on December 15th.....when I began this journey. I'm exploring caverns and crevices that I told myself not to venture. Memories of anguish that haunted my soul....I forbade to trespass. I cordoned off those areas of my life for years. Nor did I want others to see them either.
All those years in a cult and I'm still breaking free from the corral. And now, in less than one month, I have changed even more. My perceptions are different. My thinking is different. What is beyond the next ridge? What lies beyond the horizon?
This catharsis journey has changed my life. What differing perceptions are gained throughout the day as the sunlight brightens our understanding and then, leaves us with deep-red hues of splendor. Insert:The sunlight of one's youth does NOT "brighten one's understanding".......but rather, it is the deep-red hues of splendor of REFLECTION [and wisdom of experience.....ie, hindshight] that give that rich glow of meaningful understanding.
Or, what a difference the years make.......after exiting a cult. The stark contrast of understanding this journey could not be more apparent than where I was some 35 years ago. What a chasm I had/have crossed.........
~~~~~~~~~~
GSC is an Oasis This place is a pleasant contrast to life's challenges and schedules.......but I need to get to work.
If the girls weren't so cute and the drinks so refreshing......I'd stop coming here altogether.
Cheers!.........I gotta go.....for now.
Yes, the GSC is an Oasis for many of us. For me, it is a place where I can learn from others, and process my time in TWI.
More Info / Reflections Filling in some details........
Abduction Altered .....I believe the abduction went to Plan B.........during that van ride to Wichita, KS......disgruntle thug-conversation led me to believe that this whole abduction process was originally supposed to take place the night before (after supper with folks). Thus, traveling thru night would have made it easier for them and less conspicuous (hiding the abduction from fellow-travelers). Maybe....I wouldn't have been blind-folded in cargo van.
~~~~~
Separation Gap .........This whole thing could have been diffused with better communication with folks. The damn phone switchboard set-up at Emporia Campus and HQ were (perhaps, at hq ----- still are) ASININE. The whole frickin' gatekeeper-to-cultperson only heightened by parents' concerns that THEY had us enclosed and under their "spell."
~~~~~
HQ-Sexcapade at 1998 Adv Class ...........Maybe, someday....someone will come forward to give more details, but it might be too much exposure to those trying to rebuild. That's the thing about all this.....those who experienced such things and saw the cult's fangs........don't WANT to tell their stories. Too much time was ALREADY lost.......and rebuilding life, career, family, etc is of utmost importance.
~~~~~
TWI's Needs-Basis Doctrine ...............1) An absolute joke, 2) Use/abuse of people, 3) Short-term use of people.....Long-term advantage to twi, 4) Wierwille's temp agency.......No Investment In People, 5) Anti-Family........because of $$$$$, 6) Children were shelved/ignored.......again, $$$$......to have children involved multiple layers of involvement/investment (.....ie. braces, school activities, cars, higher education......hell, having one's OWN family traditions)....but I digress....
~~~~~
HQ-Bureaucracy is a FARCE ...........in late-September of 1998 (a month after we exited).......... I received in the mail another "invite" to attend the November 1998 Advanced Class Special.......................to AGAIN..............be Mrs. Wierwille's escort.
~~~~~
Skyrider, pardon me, but if TWI had sent me a letter like that, I would of told them to go f-themselves.
In OKC, as we were finishing that third Advanced Class Weekend.......I started receiving several phone calls, so did my wife. Specific details will remain anonymous (at present), because as of this writing.....most all have moved on with lives of their own. To go into "the deep dive of details" would only further hurt those caught in the aftermath of this "minor" tsunami. But.......word was spreading far and wide: martindale was involve in a "sexcapade episode" at hq, during that HQ-Advanced Class nonetheless. The phones were ringing and the whispers increased into conversations and divulging secrets.
I had gone thru one dramatic episode (1981 captivity)......and this next one was unfolding (1998 extrication): The Two Bookends.
Deeply guarded secrets had come to light.......there was a pattern. Martindale was a sexual predator. Days followed with more phone calls. People whom I knew for decades were opening up and revealing personal involvement regarding craig martindale. My wife and I started grappling with this rippling news.....these thrashing waters of emotion against OUR association with twi and those who'd exited twi years ago, and some still in. We were caught in the turbulence. They, too, those still in.....were caught as well. More phone calls. More "lock box" secrets.
By the third or fourth day, my sleep was tormented by the questions.....whether to even believe this was true concerning martindale/twi. WHAT HAPPENED AT HQ? What happened at that advanced class? Sex....adultery, predation? What? Someone was put on a bus and sent back to Colorado. More questions. More confusion. Many of these calls were from people who'd left years ago....were they lying? Why come forward with this information now? Why wasn't this exposed in the '80s? Seductresses leading other corps women to martindale. Corps girls shuttled to Dayton motel, three-somes, and then given money to go shopping. Cabin 12 at camp gunnison. Motor coach encounters and one girl hiding in the closet knowing that donna was just minutes away.
Why hadn't I seen any of this? Why hadn't someone gone public with this?
Skyrider, honey you just asked the Million dollar question. Why didn't I and other believers, know any of this?? I know you are talking about what happened in 1998, and I was long gone. But I know a lot of S--t happened in the dark, and was never made public, until it was told here at the GSC.
Nothing can encapsulate this era without spotlighting the martindale's "revelation" claim.......that all active field corps be full-time ministers, salaried by twi. Those 36-months (3 years).......seemed like every month martindale had us chasing something else, much like a cat is trying to chase down a darting laser beam from a small flashlight.
The paper blizzard....as I've often referred to, was the faxes, memos, updates, reports, guidelines, policies, and the reporting back to limb/region/trunk respectively. Listed below is a sample of that:
.......all the corps were inundated with reporting back to twi leadership. I tend to believe that the trunk office issued this paper blizzard to appease martinfail's screaming episodes and micromanaged leadership style. Quite obvious to me.....martinfail didn't trust the corps to do their ministerial duties.
The paperwork was multi-faceted. Branch guys reported to the limb, the limb to region, the region to trunk, the trunk to bot. The following are some of the reports that I recall:
--Time-Analysis Report....each week, this report was a projected schedule of the corps person's week detailing 6am - 11pm in 30-minute time slots. After about one year, lcm instructed region & limb guys to scrutinize these reports and strongly recommend changes (each week).
--Witnessing Report....each week, this report was a detailed analysis of how many in your area went witnessing, the number of contacts, the number of follow-ups, the number who attended fellowships as a result, the number who signed up for WAP, etc.
--Petty Cash Report....each branch, limb and region were allocated a level of petty cash. Branch corps, generally, consisted of two or three fellowships and didn't utilze petty cash reports except for times when lcm designated 8 consecutive public/formal branch meetings during the videotaping of WAP. All expenses over $100 had to be cleared by the region guy. The region guy could spend up to $300 before the trunk got involved.
--Yearly Budget Reports....this report had to be cleared through twi's personnel department. With some 600+ corps/families on payroll, this was a monumental task to sort thru the "needs" of every corps family, every situation. Some parents had a child in a musical instrument class, or a karate class, or a voice lessons class, etc. Martindale blasted the corps on a corps meeting for spending "excess money" on their children.
--[Note: Pet policies, gift-giving policies, pregnancy policies, traveling policies, cable tv policies, etc......these came into play as the mountain of corps expenses soared far beyond anything martindale had foreseen.]
--Monthly Progress Report....(whatever it was called??) detailed each branch's progress on class sign-ups (fnd, int, ac, etc). Month after month, it seemed like there were always goose eggs (zeros) in the blanks.
--Trunk Faxes.....reporting back on specific policies or corps meeting assignments was common. The corps were responsible to listen to lcm's sts tape on tuesday or early wednesday each week BEFORE the corps phone hookup. Trunk faxes were common and demanded a quick response. Sometimes, corps would be up until midnight to meet the fax deadline.
--Greetings Faxed to Trunk....as the paper-insantiy escalated, the corps seemed to be competing as to who could send in the most heartfelt greeting for twi's anniversary, for thanksgiving, for twi's holiday party, for the new year's, etc.
--Thank You Cards.....it became mandatory for each branch, each area to send a unique, handmade, personalized card to lcm after each WAP class. Every student was to sign the card and detail what blessed them specifically in the class.
Those who had bigger branches, bigger limbs, bigger regions had MORE paperwork to do. It wasn't any secret why MANY region couples had no kids. No time.
There were more reports, but I think you get the gist of it. I know lots of people criticize their corps leadership, but from one who was in the midst of this paper blizzard.....it was one hell of a ride!
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I'm surprised that so many people put with up with this nonsense. I would have walked, and taken others with me. Why on earth did TWI need to know people's schedules?? For married couples, it was no one's business, how much time they spent together. Seriously, Skyrider I didn't know all of this; some of it I did know. But not all.
In the Fall of 1979.......twi-hq transitioned from EOB/BRC to -----> OSC Building. That's when headquarters moved higher in corporation status and mandates. Out was the brc-lunch meals and nostalgia for the old ways......twi was ramping up some serious speed in 1979. As way builders continued to complete the office space for that 600 ft-long building (two football fields long).....cut down the middle with the north side warehousing and the south side office/lobby/dining room space.....departments were moving in and some old-timers lamented that hq just didn't have the same feel to it anymore.
I remember all this vividly. I was on my interim year in Way Builders.......and hung nearly every damn door on the second floor.
I remember 1979. I had just gotten my WOW pin, at the ROA. At the time, it was very important for me to receive that pin. I lived in a Way Home for a year. What a waste of a year.
Thanks again.......for giving me this space to tell my story.
All of the GSC posters, past and present, have my deepest admiration. These postings are helping to chip away at the twi-cult.......the wierwille mystique, the corps indoctrination, the unfathomable fraud, deception and destruction of individuals........and the despicable cult-underpinnings that allow it to hoard away its properties and growing investment accounts. At present, that figure is $64 MILLION.
After exiting this cult in August 1998, we stayed in OKC for nearly another two years while our two sons finished up their school years......respectively, junior high and middle school. During this time, I started working in management.....working long hours to support my family.
Month after month, I continued to receive phone calls from advanced class grads and a few corps alumni who wanted to know why we were stigmatized with m/a. Several in Canada and Indiana had heard the news and called us as well. The rippling of this injustice helped a lot of people exit this cult.
When we moved back to Indiana.....some of the advanced class grads we knew 8 years earlier were NOW notched up in cult-loyalty and attitude. Even though they hadn't gone corps, they were WARNED by Michael Fort to stay away and/or amped up to confront us. A few years later and Mr. Fort did NOT want to stay the course on cult-payroll........he stepped down from his limb position and got SECULAR WORK.
See the pattern? Here Howard Allen's son-in-law, michael fort, does NOT have the balls to confront it........but slithers away.
We moved back to Indiana in June 2000. It was during this time that martindale was "staring down the barrel of two lawsuits" and trying to salvage his status and petitioned Rosalie Rivenbark to bestow upon him as Head Guy of the Research Department. And, it was ONLY the twi-lawyers that stepped forward to advise against it. Martindale went down in flames two months later [August 2000].........and LOTS of region guys [Lallys, Lich-t, Mosqu3da, Sailor, Panarello, etc.], like rats, started making plans to jump ship. The cult could NOT protect those yes-men........those who had the same "stripes" as martindale/wierwille.
Paul Allen via Waydale broke the cult stranglehold.
Waydale/GSC.........one story at a time.
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Thank God for Paul Allen, and his wife. And for the others who helped bring down LCM.
Last night, I watched the 3rd episode of Leah Remini's six-part documentary of scientology. Time and again, she and others attempt to explain the steps and process of how one is indoctrinated into a cult. Leah spent 35 years in that totalitarian cult-world and wants to unravel....and WARN.....others from falling captive to their trappings. Along with "the good" that is taught.......the trappings are set to hinder you from escape.
The following link delves into the trappings and the purges:
The martindale-led era was inundated with a series of purges. I seriously doubt that there's been a complete listing of the purge-onslaughts......
the loyalty purge
the Galatian tapes
martindale adv class purge
the homo purge
unproductive/harassing/evil purge
the debt purge
corps spouse purge
full-time corps purge
bridge to the promise land purge
word is over the world purge
new wap-class series purge
prevailing word purge
Along the way......if you failed to measure up and were "purged from the ranks" you would be assigned to a probationary period. If you repented of your failings/sins, and obeyed the systematic monitoring of your leadership......then, after a designated period of time, would be reinstated. Martindale and his lieutenants had the power to confront, slander, smear any corps person that, they felt, needed reprimanding......it made for good corps night smear-fests. Thru the years, several region men were confronted and "had their ears notched" by martindale.......before prostrating themselves before him and allowed back into the camp.
Just like scientology, twi was utilizing the same tactics.
Skyrider, thanks for the information. I left in 1988, so this happened after I left. But I don't understand one thing; why didn't people tell LCM to go f-himself, and leave? I would have in a heartbeat. However, I was single, and had no kids, while I was in TWI. I understand why some people stayed; they had kids, and paychecks from TWI. To this day, it is hard for me to believe all the sheet that went on behind closed doors in Way World. So many wonderful people were so badly hurt by all the BS that TWI did to them.
Wow!! Rocky, I have never read any place where people did that to him. For those who did, good for them! But you do have a good point; just because I haven't read about it in the GSC, doesn't mean that it didn't happen.
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higherground30
Skyrider Thank you very much for sharing these hardhitting personal life stories. Im ready to give my background in the next couple of days in the new member area Oh and btw Happy new year
skyrider
The Pregnancy Policy What kind of board of directors legislates pregnancy policy to their employees? Forget diving into all the details......what gives them the right to insert when a couple s
potato
skyrider, thanks for sharing all of this. 1989 was the year TWI sucked me in, although I'd taken PFAL in 1985. I was advanced class grad twice over by mid-90s, and the later 90s were such a nightmare.
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potato
indeed. the therapist me and my kids saw right after said it takes about 5 years of therapy before people are comfortable being in control of their own lives. I found that to be true.
prison inmates have the same problem after a while, which is why so many of them commit crimes so they can go back. it's acquired helplessness. there are so many choices to make everyday and when you've been conditioned not to make or even see the choice, it's completely overwhelming.
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T-Bone
Great posts Potato ! I can relate and I bet a lot of others can too. That learned helplessness that TWI followers acquire kept everyone in check...I agree with what the therapist said about it taking a few years for one to feel comfortable actually being in the driver seat again....terrible thing to let those decision-making muscles in our brains atrophy - but there's no better therapy than getting to take charge once again!
Edited by T-Boneneeded more time
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Grace Valerie Claire
Skyrider, thanks for the information. No wonder why so many left TWI!
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Grace Valerie Claire
Thank God for the GSC!!
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Grace Valerie Claire
Skyrider, thanks for all the information on TWI, and VPW! I hope he rots in hell.
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Grace Valerie Claire
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Grace Valerie Claire
I too enjoy reading your posts. So many people suffered so much during their time in TWI; I had no idea of what some went through to do what they thought was the will of God. So much was kept hidden from the rank-and-file believers. If I had known all the garbage that went on in Way World, I would have left much sooner than I did.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Wow, Waysider you are right!! Good insight!!
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Grace Valerie Claire
Sheet!
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Grace Valerie Claire
Why didn't they pray for him?? And people wondered why I never went Corps.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Skyrider, it sounds to me that God was getting you ready to leave TWI. I left in 1988, so to me this information is interesting.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Potato, I think many of us feel that way. I know I do.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Yes, the GSC is an Oasis for many of us. For me, it is a place where I can learn from others, and process my time in TWI.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Skyrider, pardon me, but if TWI had sent me a letter like that, I would of told them to go f-themselves.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Skyrider, honey you just asked the Million dollar question. Why didn't I and other believers, know any of this?? I know you are talking about what happened in 1998, and I was long gone. But I know a lot of S--t happened in the dark, and was never made public, until it was told here at the GSC.
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Grace Valerie Claire
I'm surprised that so many people put with up with this nonsense. I would have walked, and taken others with me. Why on earth did TWI need to know people's schedules?? For married couples, it was no one's business, how much time they spent together. Seriously, Skyrider I didn't know all of this; some of it I did know. But not all.
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Grace Valerie Claire
I remember 1979. I had just gotten my WOW pin, at the ROA. At the time, it was very important for me to receive that pin. I lived in a Way Home for a year. What a waste of a year.
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Grace Valerie Claire
A lot of us feel the same way Potato.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Thank God for Paul Allen, and his wife. And for the others who helped bring down LCM.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Skyrider, thanks for the information. I left in 1988, so this happened after I left. But I don't understand one thing; why didn't people tell LCM to go f-himself, and leave? I would have in a heartbeat. However, I was single, and had no kids, while I was in TWI. I understand why some people stayed; they had kids, and paychecks from TWI. To this day, it is hard for me to believe all the sheet that went on behind closed doors in Way World. So many wonderful people were so badly hurt by all the BS that TWI did to them.
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Grace Valerie Claire
As did I. I think if I had stayed in, I would have told people to go F themselves, and I would probably have been kicked out.
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Rocky
Why would you assume nobody did that?
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Grace Valerie Claire
Wow!! Rocky, I have never read any place where people did that to him. For those who did, good for them! But you do have a good point; just because I haven't read about it in the GSC, doesn't mean that it didn't happen.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Sheet!
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