At the risk of veering off into a political debate (but hoping not to do so), I understand TWI/Wierwille to have developed a position that was much more about the morality of ministry leaders justifying adultery and providing an escape clause, as it were, when a pregnancy occurred outside of a normal marriage.
I would agree with this. I would also point out that vpw was doing his best to be seen as "counter-cultural" and "cool" to the young folk. Part of doing that was to say "down" when traditional Christianity said "up." If you look at both twi and ex-twi, a LOT of time is spent on how wrong most of Christianity is on specific things, and often making the same points decades later about going directly to God and so on, that was surprising when the hippies said it, but is old news decades later. (Does this mean they're stuck in the 60s and 70s? Probably. They're definitely in a rut.)
So, if traditional Christianity was for a healthy family and against abortion, vpw was ANTI-FAMILY ("I have no friends when it comes to God's Word!"- said while cutting ties to family at twi's recommendation) and for abortion. As was said, the pro-abortion thing had the advantage of being what vpw wanted to say, as it promoted getting rid of children that could interfere with A) sending money to twi B) blindly following twi C) keeping it secret that vpw and other leaders were outside their marriages, doing things that could/did result in children.
If you want to know what the Bible says about some of the related ideas, I started a thread for that here...
Ok so before this gets banned out of the gate let me set the framework. In the US of A, sometimes otherwise referred to as ‘Murica, we have a two party political system. Some other free republics also have this construct.
I personally would prefer a four viable party system so that we have more options and aren’t restricted to a Tweedledee vs Tweedledum choice in geriatric medicine like we are currently.
However, while I was in TWI I totally noticed a complete affiliation that was unspoken to a single political party. This was all done hush-hush and never from a stage or teaching platform. Why? Political affiliations would ruin a non-profit tax status and be grounds to disqualify TWI.
I remember being on staff at TWI and the undercurrent of “suggestion” which is ever present was to get out and vote for our preferred political party.
Why does TWI present a complete falsehood to our government that they are politically unbiased? How can they get away with it without losing tax exempt status?
Mods this isn’t a political discussion so consider merits before ban hammering it. It is not presenting a one party opinion but discussing the attachments politically of a cult.
I found that TWI set a standard for what they thought was truth, or politically historical and crucial facts, and then let the member decide what political party they wanted to entertain. The one book that got me started on the anti-globalist NWO agenda was "None Dare Call It Conspiracy" which condemned both parties (republican and democrat) as being infiltrated by globalists bent on world government and to watch both parties carefully. Sometimes they did support democrats remember Hayes Gahagan? Larry McDonald? Also, remember in 1976 "Wake Up America" was trying to expose the "Newstates Constitution" as a plan to supplant our own constitution. That was under President Carter and I remember TWI actively lobbying him to make him aware of what was happening. In that sense TWI was political-party generic; didn't care which party was there they wanted both parties awake and informed.
I found that TWI set a standard for what they thought was truth, or politically historical and crucial facts, and then let the member decide what political party they wanted to entertain. The one book that got me started on the anti-globalist NWO agenda was "None Dare Call It Conspiracy" which condemned both parties (republican and democrat) as being infiltrated by globalists bent on world government and to watch both parties carefully. Sometimes they did support democrats remember Hayes Gahagan? Larry McDonald? Also, remember in 1976 "Wake Up America" was trying to expose the "Newstates Constitution" as a plan to supplant our own constitution. That was under President Carter and I remember TWI actively lobbying him to make him aware of what was happening. In that sense TWI was political-party generic; didn't care which party was there they wanted both parties awake and informed.
I do remember the campaign supporting Hayes Gahagan and the Wake Up America push. If I’m not mistaken that led to a viable challenge of their tax exempt status in the 80s. I think for that reason they abandoned all efforts in that category.
Because like all other cults, the “revelation” they receive seems to line up with the laws being passed in the lands they reside. Like the Mormons banning polygamy right after laws changed.
Penny-ante dictators are only constrained by force, especially legal force.
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WordWolf
I would agree with this. I would also point out that vpw was doing his best to be seen as "counter-cultural" and "cool" to the young folk. Part of doing that was to say "down" when traditional Christianity said "up." If you look at both twi and ex-twi, a LOT of time is spent on how wrong most of Christianity is on specific things, and often making the same points decades later about going directly to God and so on, that was surprising when the hippies said it, but is old news decades later. (Does this mean they're stuck in the 60s and 70s? Probably. They're definitely in a rut.)
So, if traditional Christianity was for a healthy family and against abortion, vpw was ANTI-FAMILY ("I have no friends when it comes to God's Word!"- said while cutting ties to family at twi's recommendation) and for abortion. As was said, the pro-abortion thing had the advantage of being what vpw wanted to say, as it promoted getting rid of children that could interfere with A) sending money to twi B) blindly following twi C) keeping it secret that vpw and other leaders were outside their marriages, doing things that could/did result in children.
If you want to know what the Bible says about some of the related ideas, I started a thread for that here...
https://www.greasespotcafe.com/ipb/topic/24071-when-is-it-a-person-when-is-it-alive/
A related thread meandered a lot, but here it is also.....
https://www.greasespotcafe.com/ipb/topic/14337-holy-thing/
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Junior Corps Surviver
That's what I figured. Especially in light of some of my peers who had to go get things "taken care of".
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oldiesman
I found that TWI set a standard for what they thought was truth, or politically historical and crucial facts, and then let the member decide what political party they wanted to entertain. The one book that got me started on the anti-globalist NWO agenda was "None Dare Call It Conspiracy" which condemned both parties (republican and democrat) as being infiltrated by globalists bent on world government and to watch both parties carefully. Sometimes they did support democrats remember Hayes Gahagan? Larry McDonald? Also, remember in 1976 "Wake Up America" was trying to expose the "Newstates Constitution" as a plan to supplant our own constitution. That was under President Carter and I remember TWI actively lobbying him to make him aware of what was happening. In that sense TWI was political-party generic; didn't care which party was there they wanted both parties awake and informed.
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chockfull
I do remember the campaign supporting Hayes Gahagan and the Wake Up America push. If I’m not mistaken that led to a viable challenge of their tax exempt status in the 80s. I think for that reason they abandoned all efforts in that category.
Because like all other cults, the “revelation” they receive seems to line up with the laws being passed in the lands they reside. Like the Mormons banning polygamy right after laws changed.
Penny-ante dictators are only constrained by force, especially legal force.
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