Actions, practices, behaviors, deeds, & conduct are regulated by law in the USA.
Beliefs are protected as long as one doesn't ACT on potentially harmful beliefs.
TWI as an operating strategy routinely utilized harmful & injurious conduct as standard practice.
Now what does the law of the land say? See God vs. The Gavel by Dr. Marci Hamilton.
In order to save your time, you will want to first focus on the two most pertinent chapters, which are chapters 8 & 9 (pages 203 – 272).
Chapter 8: Boerne v. Flores {pp. 203 – 237 with Conclusion on pp. 235 – 237}.
The net result of the Boerne decision was to foreclose religious’ entities arguments that religious motivation should absolve religious actors of neutral laws governing their conduct. The burden rests on the religious believers demanding exemption from a law to prove that the conduct sought to be immunized is not harmful to the society and individuals in it. In Employment Division v. Smith, it is seen that correct reading of the Free Exercise Clause is that an individual’s religious beliefs do NOT excuse him or her from compliance with an otherwise valid law prohibiting conduct that the State is free to regulate.
Chapter 9: The Decline of Special Treatment of Religious Entities & the Rise of the No-Harm Rule {pp. 238 – 272 with Conclusion on pp. 271 – 272}.
The elimination of religious sovereign power by definition made religious institutions private, and therefore on a more equal footing with other private entities. The constitutionally relevant question is NOT what is best for any ‘church’ – indeed that question is forbidden by the neutrality principle underlying the Establishment Clause. The proper question instead IS whether the liberty accorded is consonant with the no-harm principle. As the no-harm principle has developed over the centuries, it has become an insuperable barrier for the claim that the Constitution can or should place religious entities above the law.
Oldies, I suppose that because there was no criminal intent according to the bombers religion ... that makes the world trade centers bombing and subsequent murder of thousands of innocent souls not a crime either....That makes the mayans and their baby sacrafice parties upright individuals as well....
Apples and oranges.
Even though the Davidians thought they were doing God's Will, whether they were or weren't, they still didn't violate any laws.
In contrast, murdering babies (mayans) and humans (al Kaida) are violations of law.
Why aren't you concerned about the Davidian female teenagers being MURDERED by the FBI?
All you seem to care about is Koresh having sex with them.
This wasn't statutory rape, bigamy, or betrayal of authority.
Statutory rape,
as defined in "the Legal Dictionary":
"sexual intercourse with a female below the legal age of consent, but above the
age of a child, even if the female gave her consent, did not resist and/or
mutually participated."
Yep-sex with multiple 14 and 15 year olds is statutory rape.
The only possible way to avoid this being a felony is to escape ONE count
of this crime by obtaining PRIOR JUDICIAL PERMISSION and MARRYING
that ONE minor. Sex between two individuals who have obtained a legal
marriage license is not a crime.
If he tried to escape ALL counts of STATUTORY RAPE,
he would need PRIOR JUDICIAL CONSENT to marry EACH girl.
As we know, judicial consent is not granted for the comission of a crime,
and marrying more than one spouse is not legal in the US.
Koresh did NOT obtain PRIOR JUDICIAL PERMISSION,
so he committed multiple acts of STATUTORY RAPE.
This was a group of people who carried out their religious beliefs, openly, who violated no laws.
STATUTORY RAPE all by itself is a felony.
Koresh had sex with more than one girl aged 14-15.
Each such act was STATUTORY RAPE.
Amazing how you're unable to comprehend this.
By the way, the FBI seige had nothing to do with the Branch Davidian sexual beliefs.
The boiling point of water is 212 degrees Farenheit. So what?
That was used later (their sexual beliefs) to create sympathy for the FBI murderers.
We're not talking about the FBI,
we're talking about a MULTIPLE ACCOUNT RAPIST.
Just like folks seem to be using the Branch Davidian sexual beliefs now as rationale to justify murder.
Only YOU keep bringing up a supposed justification to commit murder.
Then again, you refuse to call statutory rape what it is.
"no big deal"...they were nuts anyway.
That's not from any of our posts. Please do not
invent straw men when supposedly discussing with us.
In the state of Texas men/women may get married at the age of 14, with parental consent.
You're ineligible for a marriage license at the age of 14 or 15,
unless the COURT has reviewed your situation,
and agreed you're a special exemption and can give informed consent,
despite being legally a minor.
Ever try entering into a legal contract with a minor?
It won't work.
Contract law specifies minors are legally unable to enter into contracts,
or give informed consent to enter into contracts.
(A contract is also voided if any of the parties are insane, since the
insane are unable to give informed consent.
That's in every contract-that's the sanity clause.)
Is the state of Texas all a bunch of statutory rapists in to allow that? How dare they?
They DON'T allow that.
The County Clerk of ANY county would disallow it.
He would NOT issue a license,
which is the legally-binding portion of a marriage.
I posted a link to the County Clerk of Dallas' website,
where this is spelled out.
I posted a link to a judgement by the Texas Attorney
General-the state's highest law officer,
where he EXPLAINS all this.
I recommend actually reading the linked sites
and trying to understand them.
I find that justification of statuatory rape, as well as bigamy, as well as the ultimate betrayal of ones authority .....to be deeply disturbing .....it is no wonder you are unable to acknowledge the true criminality and heinous nature of the betrayal by wierwille and his leaders.....nor comprehend the extent of the damage inflicted on his victims.
This puts me in mind of the term *seared conscience*
IDEOLOGICAL TOTALISM AND TWI’s Packaged Persuasion
My personal opinions follow:
It should be obvious that most if not all of these psychosocial techniques of covert packaged persuasion are of ubiquitous use in any of innumerable groups given to ideologicaltotalism, whether harmful cults such as TWI, terrorist cells, rogue nations, fascist states, or communist countries. In the range of ~ 1967 to1972 VPW is noted to have said to various TWI leaders, something to the effect of “…that the love of God just doesn’t work [as an enduring motivator], we need something with ‘teeth’ in it…” I think the ‘teeth’ that VPW selected, in a sociopathic and utilitarian sort of way, was the refining of these 'reform' techniques as they would be routinely utilized in TWI.
Several books had been published during the 1950’s and 1960’s regarding these topics. Dr. Robert J. Lifton, MD, published in 1961 his classic, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism. In this same era William Sargeant published his book, Battle for the Mind. I. P. Pavlov had written his work regarding transmarginal inhibition and abrupt self-image and personality change. Stalin’s head of the KGB, Lavrenti Beria, utilized Pavlov’s techniques in quelling the Russian populace, a point not lost on VPW which he mentions or quotes in his By The Way newspaper article series. Douglas Hyde wrote a book which was first published in 1966 entitled, Dedication and Leadership.
Hyde had grown up as a Roman Catholic, converted to communism in his idealistic adolescence, and then as a mature man returned to Roman Catholicism. {Oldies, are you reading this very closely?} One central premise of the book is that the Christian churches should use the thought reforming techniques (such as ‘struggle groups’ and the mobilization of peer pressure) of the communists, not to convert Christians to communism, but to “get” [? extort] the maximum productive work [? slave labor] out of Christian believers and workers, who appeared all too smug, complacent, and self-satisfied in Hydes’s opinion [and VPW’s].
Many of you have read Dr. Margaret Singer’s book, Cults In Our Midst. In Chapter 3 of this book she compares some of the major accepted criteria of packaged persuasion-thought reform. On page 63 there is a table comparing Singer’s 6 conditions, Lifton’s 8 criteria, and Edgar Schein’s 3 stages. On pages 64-77 she briefly describes each of these 17 criteria.
The tactics of a strategically coordinated,coercive persuasion-thought reform program are deceptively & covertly organized so as to: (1) Destabilize a person’s sense of true historical self and to destabilize his general reality orientation; (2) Get the person to drastically reinterpret his life’s history and radically alter his worldview and accept a new version of reality and causality; and, (3) Develop in the person a dependence on the organization, and thereby turn the person into a deployable agent of the cultic organization.
SINGER’S 6 CONDITIONS: (1) Keep the person unaware of what is going on and the changes taking place; (2) Control the person’s time, and if possible, physical environment; (3) Create a sense of powerlessness, covert fear, and dependency; (4) Suppress much of the person’s old behavior and attitudes; (5) Instill new behavior and attitudes; and, (6) Put forth a closed system of logic; allow no real input or criticism.
LIFTON’S 8 THEMES: (1) Milieu control; (2) Loading the language; (3) Demand for purity; (4) Confession; (5) Mystical manipulation; (6) Doctrine over person; (7) Sacred science; and, (8) Dispensing of existence.
Additionally cult expert, Steve Hassan, has developed the BITE model to explain mind control. A description of this model can be found in his new book, Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves. It is also listed on his website.
BITE MODEL: (1) Behavior control; (2) Information control; (3) Thought control; and, (4) Emotional control.
Returning to Doug Hyde’s observations, he stated that the Christian church had much to learn from the ideological totalist’s [communist’s] techniques, methods, and attitudes. Apparently VPW, as the totalistic, fascist fuehrer, agreed. {Corn wizard VPW & king oakie LCM were fond of quoting R.W. Emerson’s statement, “the end of education is action.” Don Wierwille was fond of admonishing us that “…no true learning has taken place until there is a change of [TWI-approved] behavior…”}.
Following are some of the totalitarian methods and strategies utilized by VPW/LCM/TWI that Hyde espoused. I will paraphrase Hyde and insert corresponding TWI practices where comparable to totalitarian techniques.VPW was supposedly & ostensibly terrified of communism and feared a communist takeover not only of the USA, but the world. After my disaffiliation, I found out that he was an admirer of Adolph Hitler and felt that the USA “fought on the wrong side in WW-II.” VPW used to teach at the Advanced Class that there is a great battle going on all over the world which in the final analysis is a struggle for men’s hearts, minds, and souls. Therefore, he “reasoned” that one needed to totally & unconditionally 'sell out' to TWI, because, to do anything else was essentially selling out to the indirect hustle of the Adversary, Satan.
Details to follow in subsequent installments…………………. :o
Returning to Doug Hyde’s observations, he stated that the Christian church had much to learn from the ideological totalist’s [communist’s] techniques, methods, and attitudes. Apparently VPW, as the totalistic, fascist fuehrer, agreed.
Following are some of the totalitarian methods and strategies utilized by VPW/LCM/TWI that Doug Hyde espoused. I will paraphrase Hyde and insert corresponding TWI practices where comparable to totalitarian techniques.
1) The strength of Communism [TWI] lies in its [manipulated, exploited] people and “the way” [covert thought reform, non-consented packaged persuasion] in which they are “used” [utilized as mere material objects with no individual human dignity; the true self has been extremely damaged]. It is at this level that the Communists [TWI] have the most to teach us. They “use well” [manipulate, exploit] the human material at their disposal.
2) The most distinguishing mark of the Communists [TWI rank & file member] is their [manipulated, exploited] idealism, their zeal, commitment/dedication, devotion to their cause and willingness to make phenomenal personal sacrifices [TWI has numerous programs that “assisted” one in “advancing” in learning to be so supposedly “self-less”]. The Communists [TWI] have evolved their “own means” [thought reform, packaged persuasion, struggle groups] by which they are able to “evoke” [pavlovian subliminally conditioned responses; post-hypnotic suggestion; various aspects of social peer pressure] an exceptional degree of [manipulated] commitment/dedication [TWI culttically-induced pseudo-self & pseudo-identiy, essentially Waybots with a bad case of waybrain]. Both Communists and TWI utilize a step by step process.
3) The majority of those persons who join the Communist Party [TWI] are young. The average joining age tends to be between fifteen and twenty-five [see the appendices in the book, Snapping; very similar demographics are noted for TWI followers]. Youth is a period noted to be characterized by a profound degree of idealism. The Communists [TWI] recruit these [college aged] young people by [manipulatively] appealing to their idealism and harnessing [captivating, enslaving] it to their “cause” [greedy, lustful, worldly self-interests of the top TWI leadership] with the end result of a tremendous pro-Communist [pro-TWI] effect [yet unequivocally personally self-defeating for the individual adherent]; it is a most “dynamic” thing. VPW was very fond of the word, “dynamic.”
4) Communism [TWI] becomes the dominant thing in the life of the Communist [TWI]. It is something to which he “gives” [is manipulated into inappropriate dispersal] himself completely. Quite obviously it “meets a need” [TWI uses the same terminology], fills a vacuum at the time when he is first recruited into it. It is a matter of the Communist or TWI preying on a potential recruits’ individual susceptibility and transient vulnerability at that unique point in time. More significant is that Communism [TWI] normally continues to be the dominant force in the life of the Communist [TWI member] for as long as he remains in the “movement” [TWI spoke of the ‘movement’ of God’s rightly divided (TWI-defined and interpreted) ‘Word’ over the World].
5) The Communists’ [TWI’s] appeal to idealism is direct and audacious. Communists [TWI] says that if you make mean little demands upon people, you will only get a mean little response, which is what you deserve for your lack of a bold appeal; but, if you repetitively make huge demands on people, you will get a heroic response [manipulation by the rejection-then-retreat, perceptual contrast, and commitment-consistency principles, among others]. Communists [TWI] work on the assumption that if you call for large personal sacrifices, people will “respond” [by conditioning and thought reform] to this and, moreover, the relatively smaller required sacrifices will come quite “naturally” [TWI's cultic-induced synthetic pseudo-self in relatively automatic and consistent daily operation].
Returning to Doug Hyde’s observations, he stated that the Christian church had much to learn from the ideological totalist’s [communist’s] techniques, methods, and attitudes. Apparently VPW, as the totalistic, fascist fuehrer, agreed.
Following are some of the totalitarian methods and strategies utilized by VPW/LCM/TWI that Doug Hyde espoused. I will paraphrase Hyde and insert corresponding TWI practices where comparable to totalitarian techniques.
6) Like attracts like. Those who are intrigued or attracted by the commitment/dedication they see within the Communist [TWI] “movement” will themselves be “possessed” of a latent idealism, a capacity for commitment/dedication. This commitment/dedication perpetuates itself! It sets the tone and pace of the “movement” as a whole. This being so, the movement can make huge demands upon its adherents, knowing that the “correct [conditioned] response” will come. If the majority of the members, from the top leaders on down, are characterized by their “single-minded” [very emphasized concept in TWI supposedly from the koine Greek word, haplotes, which is interpreted by TWI to mean ‘single-mindedness’] commitment/devotion to the “cause,” and it is quite clear that the majority of genuinely committed/dedicated, average adherents are “giving” [via guilt and fear manipulation] until it hurts, putting in their money, time, thought, talents, and if necessary, life itself, then this living example [TWI ‘living (Pauline) epistle’] of commitment/dedication, and loyalty is “inspiring” to potential adherents, who have never experienced the startling appeal of being totalitarian, deployable [TWI] agents.
If one probes into the recruiting tactics of Communism [TWI], almost invariably one will find that it is not the theoretical or doctrinal elements that makes the enticing initial impact, but, the shocking impact made on them by some commited/dedicated Communist [TWI mature member] , which via social manipulation {modeling, peer pressure, etc} predisposes and conditions the recruit to affiliate with a “movement” and to accept bizarre “doctrines” which otherwise most probably would have been totally unacceptable to them via application of their usual critical analysis of a highly emotional, social situation.
7) Commitment/dedication must be met with commitment/dedication. Ideally, it should be backed by a genuine understanding of Communism’s [TWI’s] beliefs]. This is precisely wherethe significance of VPW/LCM/TWI’s plagiarized, confabulated, iconoclastic, hermetic doctrinal beliefs become of interest to us, because they subserve (under gird, support) the ‘renewed mind’ mental infrastructure of TWI-promoted actions / deeds / behaviors / practices / conduct, these practices being detrimental and damaging to many individuals.
8) What distinguishes the Communist [TWI] “movement” from essentially all others and makes it possible for such a small minority of people to make so great an impact upon our time is the [manipulated, exploited]commitment/dedication of the average individual adherent and the immense and dynamic force this represents when all those individuals collectively make their contribution to the Communist [TWI] “cause.” {Martindale redefined and reframed TWI beginning in the fall of 1995; after this time he began to use more Marxist terms and concepts such as “…committed Way believer disciples of the [TWI] Household ‘individually and collectively’ need to do so and so…”}.
Without this [manipulated] magnitude of commitment/dedication, the Communists [TWI] would not be prepared to accept the constraining confines of the organizational culture, the discipline, the never ending, bone wearying ‘Marxist education’ [TWI classes, seminars, special advanced classes, etc], the incessant appeals [via guilt and fear motivation] for ever more pro-Communist [pro-TWI] actions and behaviors [on a personal level: renewed mind activities, glossolalia; On an organizational level: the so-called outreach/witnessing of the {TWI-defined} ‘Word,’ attending Household Fellowship meetings many times per week, attending national level TWI meetings such as Advanced Classed, Special Advanced Classes, Word in Business and Profession Conferences, etc].
9) Commitment/dedication to Communism [TWI] and willingness to experience the ‘awesome privilege’ to ‘sacrificially serve’ must be developed in a person, then drawn out of him. {TWI would often teach the “principle” of the so-called Biblical “bond-slave,” koine Greek, doulos/doule. This is supposedly an arrangement where one person (the potentially enslaved) would agree to be the bond-slave of a master, so long as the master would supply all of the potentially enslaved person’s needs & those of his immediate family. It was supposedly a relationship of love and trust! TWI taught us that we were to be bond-slaves to TWI’s top Man of God & correspondingly TWI’s hermetic ‘God.’ so that the Man of God & God, now analogously one’s Master, would be in a (? bribed) position to be not only willing, but now able to meet one’s need because of his demonstrated bond-slave commitment/dedication, as evidenced by faithful tithing/abundant sharing of one’s finances, steadfast giving of one’s time and talents, etc}.
The Communists [TWI] have had to find “ways and means” of doing this [thought reform, covert packaged persuasion, fraud, misrepresentation, lying, etc.], because after all, the end of a totally Communist [TWI] world justifies any means necessary to accomplish this most noble goal! In the process, Communists [TWI] have discovered that it is good “psychology” to demand much from their people. It is bad psychology and bad politics to demand too little. Communism [TWI] demands one to give his all, all of the time; Communism [TWI] demanded the whole man and got it. This is one of the many paradoxes {hence, ‘dialectical materialism,’ the blending of apparent conceptual opposites} which must face anyone who begins to delve into this aspect of Communism [TWI].
Communism [TWI] we are told, is the great enemy of the individual’s true historical self and self-image. Under Communism [TWI], in practice, the individual’s own true historical personality is to be suppressed [the creation of a new synthetic pseudo-identity, whether Communist-defined or TWI cult-defined]. Philosophically this is assuredly true. But in practice, whilst the Communist [TWI] “movement” is still only as yet on the path to total world Communism [equivalent to TWI’s all encompassing goal of the prevailing of the (TWI-defined) ‘Word’ over the inhabited world], and therefore they must diligently and tirelessly work through a committed/dedicated minority of Communist [TWI] adherents, and “use” [manipulate, exploit] each adherent to the uttermost [TWI spoke in terms of “…one doing one’s utmost for His Highest (i.e., TWI-defined ‘God’ or was it the adoration, veneration, and worship of “THE Man of God,” whether VPW or LCM)], it shows a quite exceptional “concern” [avaricious, organizational self-interest] for “drawing out the potentialities” [terrifying the captivated person into outlandish displays of pro-Communist or pro-TWI feigned bravado] of every individual [humanoid] who comes within its “discipline” [organizational coordinated network of programs of intense, exploitative indoctrination].
The “unfolding and growth” [response to packaged persuasion] of the “personality” [pseudo-personality post thought reform] of the recruit to Communism [TWI] is frequently ‘spectacular,’ for Communism [TWI] sets out to “create” [via thought reform] men of [into] a special mould, a consummately ‘formidable person” [now externally validated via an entity of an unconscionable, external locus of control]. TWI often repeated, “…all ‘learning’ must come from outside of the individual-seeking…” (See the PFAL book and syllabus and the WAP syllabus). Communists [TWI] fully expect and demand of their disciple-adherents to be so fanatically committed/dedicated so as to risk worldly victimization, to be prepared to lose his means of livelihood, to be black-listed by every employer in his particular industry, and to even see his own standard of life and that of his loved ones go down to poverty, illness, and death, if “need” be.
To get all of this {Nietzchian} superhuman, utilitarian mega-productivity, Communists [TWI] know that the adherent must be “inspired” [via thought reform and continuous reinforcement of indoctrination]. Communists [TWI] realize that this “inspiration” must come from outside of the individual, that the onus is on Communism [TWI] to “create” it [confabulate, misrepresent, lie, whatever it takes]. Communists [TWI] are hard-headed and hard-hearted enough to know that it is not sufficient to have an organization of enthusiasts. Sacrifice, commitment/dedication, and zeal are not enough in themselves. These [manipulated] “attributes” are definitely important, but they are only a starting point. These [exploited] “qualities” are what “helps” [via response to his intense, indoctrinating, thought reform] to “make” a person persist as an aggressive, active member; these attributes “ensure” [by coercive persuasion] that when the indoctrinated individual is “made and promoted” into leadership, that he continues to lead for the Communist [TWI] “cause” and not for himself.
Returning to Doug Hyde’s observations, he stated that the Christian church had much to learn from the ideological totalist’s [communist’s] techniques, methods, and attitudes. Apparently VPW, as the totalistic, fascist fuehrer, agreed.
Following are some of the totalitarian methods and strategies utilized by VPW/LCM/TWI that Doug Hyde espoused. I will paraphrase Hyde and insert corresponding TWI practices where comparable to totalitarian techniques.
Continued………..
10) Individual adherents of the Communist Party [TWI] are “brought to believe” [via a systematic, coordinated program of psychological and social manipulation] that collectively they and others like them can ‘change the world’ in their very lifetime [Communist phrase coined by Karl Marx’s friend and collaborator, Frederick Engels; TWI phrase by VP Wierwille, “…the Way Ministry needs to turn the world upside down, which really means to turn it right-side up, because it was ‘kittywampas’ to start with…;”
Communists [TWI] are “convinced” that this is not just a dream for they have techniques [covert packaged persuasion] and a Marxist science [TWI’s ‘sacred science’ of cultic practices with ‘mystical manipulation’] of “change-making” which provides them with the “means” by which this world-changing undertaking [TWI’s ‘Word over the world,’ or ‘The Prevailing ‘Word’ in the Promised Land’] can be accomplished. When a Communist [TWI] manipulative exploiter has succeeded in “making men believe” that ‘change’ is necessary and possible and that they are the ones who can actually achieve it; when the exploiter has “convinced” them that they and the small minority of whom they are a part [an elitist-minded TWI member], can actually “transform” the world in their lifetime, the exploiter has achieved something very considerable indeed [a TWI destructive cult].
The exploiter has “put into their lives” a ‘dynamic force’ so powerful that the exploiter can manipulate them to do what would otherwise be impossible. The dull and humdrum takes on the ‘illusion’ of becoming transcendently meaningfull. Life ‘appears’ to become extremely purposeful and immensely more “worth living.” Marx concluded his Communist Manifesto with the words, “You have a world to win.” VPW/LCM/TWI would paraphrase to say something to the effect of, “move out on the greatness of {TWI-defined} ‘God’s Word’ and win the world with and to the {TWI-defined and interpreted} ‘Word;’ it’s our only hope, people.” [TWI-defined] ‘Word over the world’ and ‘the prevailing [TWI-defined] Word over the world’ are TWI stated “spiritual” goals. The supposed “urgency of our times” is incessantly repeated to TWI adherents, which factors into their anticipatory anxiety of ‘betrayal’ exit-guilt and exit-phobia induction, were TWI adherents to so much as consider abandoning the jealous god that is TWI.
TWI further “induces” its members to make the inevitable comparisons between TWI and conventional, traditional, denominational Christian religion. The comparisons the TWI member is indoctrinated to make are of course consistently unfavorable to denominations or even TWI-spin off groups. They are labeled by VPW/TWI as being “smug, complacent, and self-satisfied.” Or they are stereotyped by LCM/TWI as being “brain-dead pew-warmers” sitting in a “stained glass, idolatrous, pseudo-spiritual whorehouses.” Or, they are just plain old “possessed by devil spirits.” This aversively confrontational approach “causes” [via thought reform] the TWI member to be all the more ‘favorably disposed’ [via the perceptual contrast principle, among other techniques] to totally throw ‘himself or herself’ {i.e., the cultic pseudo-self} into the counterfeit ‘ministry’ of TWI.
11) The detailed instruction of the new Communist Party [TWI] member does not normally begin immediately after he joins. Quite deliberately, and with good reason, the Party [TWI] sends its new members, whenever ‘possible’ into some form of public activity [manipulation of the commitment-consistency principle] before detailed instruction [TWI’s Advanced Class, College Division and Way Corps training]. For TWI this public activity would be something like the Word Over the World (WOW) program, the Way Disciple program, a Way Home living situation, a FellowLaborers training program, etc.
This activity is of course deceptively andstrategically designed by the Communists [TWI] to commit the new member publicly to Communism [TWI] {via utilization of the commitment-consistency principle}. This public activity is of profound psychological significance. For this relatively new member, still having to ‘adjust’ his [thought reformed] ‘mind’ to the ‘realization’ that he is now a Communist [sold-out committed TWI member] {all the while realizing that large segments of the general population consider the label of Communist (TWI believer, disciple) to be very negative}, this public display of commitment/dedication is very psychologically [manipulatively, exploitatively] significant indeed. He or she is making a public witness for the ‘cause’ which he is now ‘making his own’ [solidifying the coercively imposed synthetic pseudo-identity which has now largely suppressed the true historical self].
All of this public witnessing activity requires for many people {especially those who are not inclined by natural disposition to be an extrovert, dramatic, persuasive, pushy, etc.} a certain degree of moral courage to overcome the natural tendency of many people to be overly self-conscious, to overcome a social sense of inferiority, etc. As the new member/adherent embarks on his first public witnessing assignment, he usually feels to be such a fool that he is almost resentful of having been commissioned for such outreach work. But before long he begins to ‘understand’ the significance of it all. He receives a lot of low level, hackling-type of verbal abuse from those whom he has disturbed with his public witnessing. The self-conscious new member/adherent is embarrassed at the prospect of becoming the center of a ‘scene.’
But the crowd that begins to gather is a mixed one. He or she now finds himself having to deal with bystanders’ more rational questions than hackling. This rational questioning causes him ‘to draw deeply’ [respond to his intense indoctrination] upon the small resources as he has received in the way of teaching about the Communist Party’s [TWI’s] practices, history, theory, and the supposed integrity [?!] of its leaders. It requires yet another act of moral courage to remain in a war of ideological words for which, he by now realizes, he is not fully equipped. He now realizes that he does not have all of the answers to the questions he is likely to be asked as a practicing Communist [TWI member]. He is conscious now that he knows far less than he thought he did. In all probability he is now dissatisfied with himself. ‘He or she’ [the new cultic pseudo-identity] would dearly have loved to put up a tremendous war of persuasive, winning, ideological words and concepts for his or her new found hermetic & arcane ‘faith,’ taking on and defeating, or converting, all comers.
He or she has now learned of his or her own inadequacy as far as in-depth, detailed knowledge of Communism [TWI ideology] is concerned. This realization creates in him or her a [manipulated, exploited] deep feelingto become highly ‘educated’ [further in depth indoctrination] as far as his new faith is concerned [once again, via manipulation of the commitment-consistency principle, plus many others]. He or she is now seeking to make himself or herself more adequate, more worthy of the Communist Party [TWI], better able to ‘serve’ the ‘cause.’ And his new found thirst for knowledge about Communism [TWI ideology], the manipulated sense of urgency he or she feels has grown from manipulated actions and behaviors. Theory and action—those apparent opposites—have now found a [manipulated, counterfeit, illusory, putrid] ‘unity’ in his or her [thought reformed & ‘renewed’] ‘mind’ and in his or her [manipulated] experiences. The stage has now been set [exploitatively manipulated] for the TWI member to ‘desire’ to enter either the College Division or Way Corps so as to acquire this so-called “in-depth spiritual perception and awareness.”
12) The Power for Abundant Living ]PFAL] series of classes with affiliated seminars as well as its more recent replacement, the Way of Abundance and Power [WAP] series of classes and associated seminars, were presented in such a way as to be as “inspirational” as possible. This is because any implicit [post-hypnotic suggestions] or explicit instruction is all the more acceptable to a person when it is presented in an inspirational fashion. Next, the subject matter of Communism [TWI] is presented in global terms, so as to destabilize one’s current general reality orientation. This subject matter is presented against the background of a world in hopeless, politically correct, relative pluralism and never-ending conflict.
The new recruit or seasoned TWI member is made to feel that there is a great battle [TWI: God vs. the Adversary (Satan)] going on all over the world, which involves his own country, his own town, his own neighborhood, his workplace, and even his own family. He is made to feel that the period of history in which he happens to be living is a decisive one and that he personally has a decisive role to play [This is especially the case in TWI, since (obviously and of course, as VPW himself confabulates) God spoke audibly to VPW and told him that He was going to teach him the Word like it had not been known since the 1st Century AD Apostolic times; and that furthermore, whereas the movement of the Word ‘died’ by 100AD, this time, under the direction of the Apostle of our age, THE VICTOR PAUL (Wierwille), the {hermetic, arcane}’Mystery’ of the {TWI-defined} ‘Word’ was not going to be lost as long as TWI members remained faithful to their ‘calling’ for a lifetime of committed service].
This new Communist [TWI] believer is made to feel that he is a part of great, worldwide movement which is challenged on all sides [per TWI, by millions of devil spirits], confronted by an implacable enemy [satan himself], and furthermore, he is involved in a monumental [spiritual] battle which will decide the course of history for generations, if not millennia, to come. Martindale stated in the fall of 2000 on a Sunday teaching service, during TWI’s apocalyptically, fear-hyped Y2K preparations, that TWI-II was either on the threshold of a millennium of hope or a millennium of despair, which outcome depended on the faithful obedience of members to the [TWI-defined and interpreted] ‘Word of God’ and THE ‘Man of God’, Martindale as President of TWI.
13) Communist [TWI] teachings are presented in such a way as to make the individual undergoing intense indoctrination feel that he is engaged in a [spiritual] fight against all things evil and on behalf of what is genuinely good. It is us vs. them. Only Communists [TWI] are good and righteous, all others, no matter how sincere, are deceived and evil. The concept that there are people [or per TWI, that devil spirits are influencing and even possessing people, and therefore produce only evil acts] who have a vested interest in allowing and even promoting human suffering is a tremendously [manipulated] spur to action in the life of the Communist [TWI disciple].
All of this makes the Communist [TWI disciple] feel that he is engaged in a great crusade against something which is unspeakably evil, that he is fighting against monstrously evil things. This manipulation assists in engendering the exploited ‘willingness’ of the Communist [TWI disciple] to give his all to the ‘cause.’ For by implicit and explicit fear manipulation they are taught to very realistically consider that it may be their own wives who will be raped and children killed should the enemy.
Communists [TWI leadership] covertly appeal in their manipulative, intense indoctrinations to people’s capacity for moral indignation. Communist [TWI] moral indignation is a self-serving, highly selective moral indignation [as in TWI’s position regarding denominational religion, religion’s lack of any valid reason for its existence whatsoever, hence an egotistical, sociopathic ‘dispensing of existence’ as per Dr. Robert J. Lifton, MD]. Communist [TWI disciple] thought reforming indoctrination is presented in such a way that the Party member [TWI disciple] feels convinced that he is on the side of genuine good, and involved in a historic struggle of titanic proportions against evil.
This appeals to something deep in his [limbic] nature, something undeniably virtuous, true, righteous, just, and good. In their hearts, many people, perhaps most people, like to feel that they are on the side of righteousness. The Communist [TWI disciple] is indoctrinated via thought reform to ‘believe’ exactly this, now transforming the [limbic based] feeling into a deep intellectual conviction. An immense amount of [exploited, manipulated] activity flows from this [bogus] ‘conviction.’ One reason why the Communist [TWI disciple] is prepared to make his or her exceptional ‘sacrifices’ is that he or she is covertly conditioned to ‘believe’ that he is taking a part in an historic crusade of unimaginably gargantuan proportions.
14) It is in the ‘study group’ [TWI cell group and ‘struggle group’ called “Twig” or “Household Fellowship”] that Communist [TWI] leaders begin their thought reform program. There, the potentialities of the person are discovered, ‘drawn out,’ and focused. Each TWI cell group is ‘theoretically’ designed to be self-supporting, self-propagating, and self-governing. Through small study groups, Communists’ [TWI’s] covert strategic objective is: (1) to teach Marxism [teach TWI PRACTICES ]; (2) to equip those who attend them to go into effective [TWI – ‘loving,’ aggressive, bold action, in order to infiltrate, permeate, saturate, and dominate the targeted area for outreach] ACTION for the Communist [TWI] ‘cause;’ and, (3) in the process of indoctrinating them, to contribute to their further ‘training’ as potential leaders.
There are three main methods of Communist [TWI] ‘teaching:’ (1) ‘controlled discussion;’ (2) lecture followed by questions, discussion, or both; and, (3) question and answer method. Of the three, ‘controlled [trance-style paced and led] discussion’ is the one which is regarded as the most useful. It is utilized by TWI at all of its Advanced Classes and Special Advanced Classes. It is when this method is used that the covert objective of ‘developing’ qualities of [exploitable] leadership and ‘drawing out’ the [exploitable] potentialities of those attending the classes is most likely to be ‘realized.’ Immense attention has to be paid to detail. Even the fashion in which those present are seated is important. Ideally, they should be in a circle around the cell group coordinator in a relaxed, informal, yet serious atmosphere [this is exactly how TWI Advanced Class study groups operate]. The covert idea is to get everyone talking [TWI – “sharing”].
The cell group coordinator covertly puts in a strategic word here and there of his own in order to supposedly ‘unobtrusively direct’ the discussion in the way in which he wants it to go [representing TWI’s board of directors’ hidden agenda]. The obvious covert ‘value’ of this deceitful method is that the ‘ideas’ of the various people in the cell study group do not appear to come from the cell group coordinator [from which of course the strategic concepts do in fact originate], but from the class members themselves, who do not ‘feel’ that the cell group coordinator is imposing his ideas upon them! And since they, by [supposed] means of ‘their own’ thought and discussion have arrived at these [strategically preplanned] ‘conclusions,’ they will depart from the cell group study session [manipulatively] ‘convinced’ that these are ‘their own’ opinions and beliefs [which will be a significant basis for cultic prescribed actions and behaviors], arrived at on the basis of reading, thought, and discussion!!
Henceforth, these implanted, covert concepts will be felt to be the Communist’s [TWI disciple’s] own cogitations and he will defend them as his own!! There may be those [non-Communist, non-TWI] who speak of Communist [TWI] “indoctrination.” Those [still practicing Communists and TWI deluded disciples] who have been “taught” [undergone the systematic coordinated program of both psychological and social exploitative manipulations] by this ‘method’ are likely to angrily reject such a description of ‘their’ particular ‘instruction.’ They will feel even more strongly when their opponents describe this process as covert packaged persuasion. Anti-Communist [anti-TWI ex-cultic support groups] materials [which they interestingly and paradoxically perceive as ‘propaganda’] which describe them as ‘dupes of Moscow’ [dupes of TWI] will seem to them [in their conditioned, cultic pseudo-identity perception] to be quite transparently malicious and even a blatant LIE. It is as though TWI’s BOD were trying to move a person about with every wind of totalitarian, spiritualistic practice, utilizing their cunning craftiness by lying in wait to deceive, with an ultimate view of methodizing and canonizing pseudo-spiritual error.
In their [whether Communist or TWI] thought reforming process, terms are re-defined at almost every conceivable point. But the definitions given to ordinary terms are the Communists’ [TWI’s] own, not those normally accepted by others, essentially forming a conceptual, self-reinforcing “loaded language” of esoteric, jargonized, subcultural ‘code’ and [hypnotically implanted] suggestion ‘triggers.’
In practice Communists [TWI] have learned that the covert, sophisticated, subtle, non-physically coercive techniques of mind control usually achieves a much more preferable and enduring result than all the physically coercive techniques accomplish. In Communist [TWI] hands, the covert method may take on sinister qualities, as concepts which would otherwise be unacceptable are [deceptively] skillfully implanted [Pavlovian subliminal conditioning, post-hypnotic suggestion, individual and group psychosocial manipulations, etc.] into the minds of those who attend their classes and cell study/struggle groups [TWI Twigs, Household Fellowships]. Such thought reforming instruction ‘leads’ those who are indoctrinated in this covert fashion to abandon and repudiate practically all their past thinking {their true historical self} and, indeed, to abandon the very things which first were used to bait them.
The following is typical Communist [TWI] deceptive strategy. A new political situation, a new campaign[such as Martindale proclaiming the advent of the paradoxically ever-changing ‘present truth’ of TWI-II with a brand new series of indoctrination teachings, the Way of Abundance and Power, of which the foundational class was released to the general TWI followers in 01/1996, the intermediate class was released in the fall of 1996, and the advanced class was released to be run on the field in 05/1998], a turn in policy—all these automatically call for more study, directly related to the new development.
The Communist Party [TWI] is only being truly Marxist [Wierwillian, Martindalian, generically totalitarian] when its new ‘campaigns’ [the new TWI WAP class series, the new Way Disciple Outreach Program, the new no-debt policy, the new hyper-legalism, the new oppressive supposed oversight, the new intensified destruction of the true self via the techniques taught in the new 1992 Defeating the Adversary class, etc] are backed by more and more intensive ‘study,’ and its ‘studies’ are linked to ‘campaigns’ [as outlined just above]. It will not, incidentally, be easy to persuade a Communist [or a TWI faithful disciple of the remnant believing Household of true Zion who has crossed the bridge into the land of the Prevailing Word in TWI-II under the totalitarian dictatorship of Martindale], if the movement’s primary indoctrinators [Wierwille, Martindale], and class coordinators, and Twig cell group coordinators, etc., have done their respective [covert, exploitative, hit-] jobs ‘properly,’ that this Communist [TWI] movement and ‘education’ are some sinister process of covert packaged persuasion. On the contrary, his reply when such an accurate accusation is made is likely to be something to the effect of: “Who else in the world ever showed so much interest in ‘helping’ a poor so-and-so like me?”
15) The Communist Party [TWI] lives by its ‘campaigns’ [as outlined above]. The majority of the new recruits to the Party [TWI] come in via the campaigns which the Party [TWI] ‘organizes’ [via strategic manipulative exploitation]. Campaigning keeps the Party members [TWI disciples] active the whole of the time [so that: they don’t have time to re-evaluate and critically think; they don’t have time to really get involved in anything else]. This is a most strategic and deliberate policy. Communists [TWI] ensure that one campaign follows another almost non-stop. Communists [TWI disciples], if they are worthy of the name at all, are always active [in TWI, to the point of mental if not physical exhaustion, contributing to the development of intra- or post-cultic anxiety, depression, panic, etc.]. Activity in itself serves an important purpose, but it has to be made [by contrivance] as ‘meaningful’ as possible so that more and more non-Communists [non-TWI members] may be deceived into association with the Party [TWI].
It is a natural human tendency for activity to be almost an end in itself [e.g., golfing, gardening, skiing, boating, playing bridge or bingo, etc]. Therefore, in ‘urging’ their members [disciples] to be active, Communists [TWI] are once again exploitatively manipulating a natural human tendency. These exploiters are utilizing [abusing] something which has its own intrinsic appeal. People, once they are ‘suitably activated,’ get ‘satisfaction’ from being active. If this can be manipulated to give the illusion of being made ‘meaningful,’ then the victim will get even greater ‘satisfaction,’ for they will feel that they are engaged in something virtuous. Collectively at all levels of the Communist [TWI] organization, the leaders must find ‘issues’ [TWI-II, no debt, unquestioning obedience, mark and avoid threats, constantly increasing one’s financial contribution level, the Way Disciple Outreach program wherein TWI adherent participants are commissioned by the board of directors/trustees to “confront the religious illogic of the world” thereby attempting to deceptively gain new recruits, etc.] upon which to campaign which relate this artificial activity to the perceived ‘real needs’ of the people.
Ideally, these ‘issues’ should be linked to the people’s deepest desires [therefore possessing more potential for exploitation and manipulation due to the person’s emotional overreaction to the apparent fulfillment of deep desire]. The recruiting/outreach assignment of the Communist [TWI] is to discover the NEEDS of the people and then to [appear] to come before them as their [deceptive, exploitative] ‘champions.’ This approach was described by Mao Tse-tung as ‘from the people to the people.’ Members/disciples are to go out among the people and discover their hearts deepest desires, their concerns, their frustrations, their unanswered questions [This technique was taught in the “Christian Motivational Techniques” class at the WayCollege of Emporia].
The members/disciples then should ‘report back’ [a major TWI concept and requirement, for any and all micromanagement purposes] to the Party [TWI leadership]. This is to be discussed among the leadership and the [deceptive, exploitative] ‘means’ be found by which it can be exploited for the Communist [TWI] ‘cause.’ The Party [TWI] then parasitically adapts its ‘campaigns’ to the things the people are perceived to ‘already want.’ The exploiter takes the raw material for ‘campaigning’ from the people [without informed consent], distorts the issue to a Communist [TWI] ‘content,’ then ‘gives’ it [captivates, enslaves, mesmerizes, manipulates, ‘sticks it to them’] back to the people again.
Certain ‘campaigns’ are purposefully designed to have short-term, immediate objectives. The exploiter knows that there is a high likelihood of victory in these small ‘skirmishes.’ This is of great psychological importance in constantly keeping morale at the highest pitch. Campaigning for well chosen immediate objectives helps to ensure that members/disciples do not lose heart or get discouraged, it keeps them continuously working for the ‘cause,’ and therefore emotionally tied to it, if not captivated it. Per Liu Shao-chi, “…to pass from a novice to a mature and well-experience revolutionary [TWI ultra-committed elite disciple of the utmost maturity, the Way Corps] able to cope with any situation call for a very long process of revolutionary steeling [4 year Way Corps training] and cultivation, that is, a long process of reformation [covert thought reform]…” Therefore the Communists [TWI] developed a Special Cadres Department [Way Corps intense indoctrination program]. Good ‘cadres work’ makes a major contribution to the production of the ‘men of a special mould’ which Stalin [Wierwille, Martindale] said every Communist [TWI Way Corps ‘volunteer’ and ‘minister’] should strive to be.
Communists [TWI] have a deserved reputation for being good propagandists. This reality grows out of their whole approach to thought reform techniques. It reflects the attitude of mind of this group/cult of people who [have been manipulated to] ‘believe’ that they have got what the world needs and so have a responsibility to pass it on as efficiently and as efficaciously as possible. They have ‘perfected’ a technique of conversational deception. When ‘witnessing,’ instead of setting out to prove that the other man is wrong [per VPW, “a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still;” “the guitar is mightier than the (atomic) bomb”], they seek to find a point of contact and commonality with the potential recruit’s mind, then they try to extend the area of sympathetic interest and agreement just as far as [deceptively] possible.
16) VPW called the organization of TWI “The Way Tree,” where local cell groups of disciples comprise a Household Fellowship Twig. There used to be a 10-12 hour TWI seminar which I took on ‘the way tree’ prior to 1985, taught by John Townsend. Funny thing is, these terms are largely of Communist origin, where they speak of ‘branches’ of cell groups, ‘local branches,’ ‘branch meetings,’ etc. Communists consider that wherever you have three or more Communists, there you have a Communist cell. TWI teaches the same thing regarding the Twig cell group.
Communism has a division of labor where certain, top quality, experienced members are directed into more so of an ideological political officer training, and others whose interests are in business or culture (such as the performing arts, visual arts, music, medicine, law, architecture, etc.) are directed into another form of development. TWI does the same thing. Those people of supposed ‘proven leadership ability’ who ‘desire’ to make a lifetime commitment to spiritual TWI leadership are ‘encouraged’ to enter the Way Corps training program; those whose interests were ‘secular’ in nature were directed to enter the College Division training program.
Communism [TWI] is ideally composed of “professional revolutionaries” [at least attained to the level of an aggressive TWI Advanced Class graduate]. They were to be professional in the sense that they would not be amateurs, that their [deceptive, exploitative, deceiving] methods would not be amateurish. They would ‘fight’ for Communism [TWI] as though they were fighting a war. They would fight like a disciplined army, sweeping away the existent society [hence, dispensing of the ideologically non-preferred existence of lazy infidels] as a necessary precondition for building the ‘new society’ [TWI’s ‘Ministry of the Mystery of God’]. Communists [TWI disciples] are people who live for the revolution [TWI’s Word over the World, Prevailing Word, etc.] from the moment they get up in the morning to the time they go to bed at night, as trained and disciplined people
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In conclusion of this section on the TWI’s ideological totalistic practices, then, regarding TWI’s strategic utilization of techniques of covert packaged persuasion, it is unmistakably seen that the “teeth” VP Wierwille introduced into TWI in the 1967-1971 time period was non-biblical, hard-hearted thought reform, the purpose of which was to fulfill his own selfish desires.
Even though I originally posted this on WW’s The Way: Living in Wonderland thread, it would be incomplete not to re-post it here because it is a paraphrase of Doug Hyde’s experience as a Roman Catholic converted to Communism, & then re-conversion back to Catholicism. Just as for Hyde as well as Arthur Koestler {author of The God that Failed, Darkness at Noon, & The Thirteenth Tribe}, ideological totalitarianism was the ‘god that failed,’ so it is with the victims of TWI’s cultic totalitarianism.
VPW & LCM would say that Way Corps leadership in top positions are men & women of a ‘ special mould.’ TWI everywhere sets out to ‘produce’ [indoctrinate] men & women of this so-called special mould. To a large degree, an observer of the TWI cultic scene can see that TWI frequently succeeds in this covert, exploitative endeavor to the detriment of many rank & file adherents.
The man or woman [‘Waybot’] molded by TWI, the new 'leader,' is a formidable man indeed. He is cast in the opposite mould to the traditional 'New Man in Christ,' because TWI’s ‘christ’ is a recycled hybridized pagan god, with characteristics of Osirus, Dionysis, Mithra, Adonis, Pan, Hermes, & other demigods.
Even though a person’s original motivation, upon being deceived into joining TWI, may have been altruistic, even though this person retains much of his or her initial youthful idealism and sense of oneness with suffering humanity in the valley of human need, still, because that person has been indoctrinated to adhere to TWI’s contaminated pseudo-spiritual deeds, that person’s life tends to become contaminated with TWI's oppresive mindset. Therefore the mould into which the TWI leader is pressed is one that ultimately debases him or her as a person.
Part of the tragedy of TWI is that it takes good men & women, with good intentions, and exploitatively uses & abuses them for the corrupt cause of fallacious pseudo-spiritual practices. The tragic consequence of these TWI enforced practices is that the idealistic leaders, who join or adhere to TWI, set out to be the saviours of humanity and become instead men’s jailers.
TWI stands condemned, not only for the problems it has caused the societies of the USA and other nations around the world, but also for the phenomenal psychological damages it has caused in the non-consenting, individual TWI members themselves. The WAY“MINISTRY” in actuality is nothing more than a cultic, multi-level marketing- racketeering scam at best with a thin veneer of Hermitically oriented, ‘white-washed’ & ‘ redefined’ biblical terms.
NO genuine, lasting virtue has come about due to the existence of TWI. It did in fact between ~1967 to ~1972 attract some people who had a desire to serve God, but a critical mass of these people had been witnessed to by non-TWI people such as Jimmy Doop, Steve Heefner, Ted Wise, & Lonnie Frisbee.
These movements were later invaded by avaricious power-hungry Wierwille. Wierwille-TWI essentially stole these people from those simple, grassroots ministries. In significant part due to the presence of Doop, Heefner, Wise, Frisbee & their followers, as well as the exuberance of their unmistakable presence, many of the PFAL classes of this time period generated a great excitement, more so in spite of Wierwille than due to him & to his supposed original “research” (but in actuality it was almost entirely plagiarized).
Certain honest individuals, comprised of the Doop/Heefner/Wise/Frisbee derivatives, as well as many who became involved directly by Wierwille’s PFAL series, were the pure-hearted people in our local areas that created the positive environment that appealed to the transient vulnerabilities of so many of us.
Then TWI, primarily via Wierwille & later Martindale, those despicable wolves in sheep’s clothing, surreptitiously ‘ taught & trained’ us by way of various exploitative programs {via VPW's PFAL series, the WOW program, the Fellowlaborers’ program, the Way Corps & College Division programs, LCM's WAP series, TWI-II, & many other scenarios} which were ALL disguised TWI indoctrination. The proceeds & benefits of these clandestine programs & MLM operations went not to the TWI-claimed beneficiaries, the rank-and-file affiliates of TWI, but rather went to the TWI Board of Trustees & other high level TWI leadership for their own selfish interests.
TWI ‘redefined’ & hence contaminated the supposed 'grace of God' as a hook of vulnerability on the front side, only to later bait & switch it to oppressive hyper-legalism replete with TWI-exit phobia on the far side of this despicable victimization. This oppressive legalism (the supposed ‘teeth’ Wierwille began speaking of around 1967 to 1972) was originally most visible in the Way Corps in the 1970’s, but after the 1989 LCM loyalty demand, & in/after the Fall of 1995, when LCM began his ‘mark & avoid’- enforced extreme obedience demands (among many other abusive & harmful practices), the end result for those of us who in good faith held out to the bitter end, is that we have essentially nothing to show for our TWI servitude except for the psychological & emotional wounds (damages) with which TWI has so disgracefully left us.
This does not even begin to account for all of our good-faith financial contributions (tithing & abundant sharing) & our irreversibly lost time (both economic & emotional equivalents implied) stolen from us during our affiliation with The Way International, Inc. One can now easily determine this cult’s supposed “spiritual” benevolence is not altruistic at all, but is rather strategically rigged cons and scams to make a financial profit off of an unaware one, without one’s informed consent.
Further, if JUSTICE is to be done, exploitation attempts by TWI should be, and must be, met with equilibrating RECIPROCAL CONFRONTATION & REPROOF.
A central issue in cultic mind controlis theoverriding or co-opting of an individual’s internal locus of self-determination & the replacing of it with an undesired & non-consented external source of control & non-self determination. I would like to elaborate on how & in what sense brains, with their cells, the neurons, can actually generate actions & thoughts, which one experiences as his own mind & himself, and then, how externally imposed, covert packaged persuasion actually physically changes one’s neuronal synaptic connections & therefore one’s physical brain. This position is based on the premise that varying degrees of freedom of choice (which is not the same as quasi-religious, metaphysical “freedom of ‘will’ ”) do in fact exist (unless it is co-opted as noted above), & hence assist in explaining causality as a property of the brain. The majority of the neurological information in this section in from neurophysiologist, Dr. Walter J. Freeman, Ph.D, in his book, How Brains Make Up Their Minds.
“Intentionality” or goal-directed action denotes the process by which one acts in accordance with ones own profitable growth & maturation. 'Intent' is the directing of an action toward some future goal that is defined & chosen by the actor. It differs from a motive, which is ostensibly the reason & explanation of the action, and from a desire, which is the awareness & experience stemming from the intent. Meaning is created by the process of intentionality & is expressed in symbols such as words comprising representations. Meanings arise as a brain creates intentional behaviors & then changes itself in accordance with the sensory consequences of those behaviors. This is the process of “assimilation.” It is the process by which the true historical self comes to understand the world by adapting itself to the world. The contents of meaning include the entire context of historical experience that one has personally acquired through operation from one’s own internal locus of control. Although the contents of meaning are largely social in origin, the actual mechanisms of meaning are biological & have to be understood in terms of brain dynamics (electrophysiological, electrochemical). Meaning is a kind of living neuro-architecture that is constantly growing & changing, yet endures.
The brain responds to the non-self, ambient environment of the world by a ‘benign disequilibrium’ of the primary sensory cortices of the brain. The result is the creative construction of neural activity patterns, which provide the elements of which meaning is made. When the freshly made patterns are transmitted to other parts of the brain, the raw sense data that triggered them are washed away. What remains is what has been created within the brain itself. (This process conceptually resembles that of digestive assimilation). The dynamics of this process isolate the meaning in each individual’s brain from all other meanings in all other brains in all other people, which creates the challenge of creating social companionship with other people through the process of communication, most typically conversation or didactic teaching. This in essence is the condition of humanity known as epistemological solipsism, which could be characterized as that philosophy that holds that all knowledge and experience is constructed (created) by & within the individual.
The sensory portals of the brain cooperate with deeper structures in the brain [the brainstem, limbic system, convergence-association cortices] to construct brains activity patterns in which inputs from all the multimodal five senses are blended. This blending is the original meaning of common sense. No one neuron or part of the brain normally takes charge to control the other semi-autonomous parts. Nevertheless, in thought reform this is clearly not the case. The key to brain function lies in the massive recurrent feedback & feed forward pathways by which each part of the brain broadcasts its output to other parts & receives from them. These interactions provide the basis for the neural consensus that is necessary for the self-organization of behavior.
Most intentional behaviors occur without the need for awareness, so intentionality operates before awareness & consciousness, up to a point. That point is reached when, in order to understand intentionality, one needs to ‘think’ about meaning, and then to represent one’s thoughts in words. We need to hear & read the words of others in order to enhance our own meanings. Effective use of language requires consciousness. Consciousness combines the comfortable aspects of linear (predictable) causality with the terrifyingly inhuman open range of ‘acausal’ circular causality. Hence consciousness is interactive with brain processes & is neither a mere ‘epiphenomenon’ nor is it identical with those processes. Consciousness is an ‘operator’ in that it modulates the brain dynamics from which past actions sprang. Residing nowhere & everywhere, it reworks the contents that are provided by the parts. The frontal & temporal lobes of the brain provide the neurological mechanisms for self-consciousness. Hence consciousness is a ‘social contract’ that governs ethical behaviors & attitudes (in a normal, benign group/tribe/society) & unethical attitudes or even illegal behaviors (in destructive mind controlling cults). The possibility exists of being conscious without being self-conscious or even being aware of intentional action.
Brains surmount epistemological solipsistic isolation and form societies (or perhaps even cults at times), through which some contents of meaning are partially assimilated by the members of society (or cult) & are represented in benign, generally accepted knowledge or are represented in cultic, esoteric, jargonized ‘loaded language.’ The most common methods of assimilation of meanings are conversations & didactic teachings. However, the deep formation of trust requires more complex behaviors, which involve the induction of altered states of consciousness, including trance states, hypnoid states, & hypnotic states. Among the many techniques used to induce these states are chanting & mantras (equivalent to polysyllabic nonsense babbling of speaking in tongues, Glossolalia), intense music, drumming, & dancing. The essence of these procedures is to loosen the self-conscious internal locus of control one’s mind & dissolve one’s cognitive & emotional neurological living architecture in a meltdown of meanings that are counter to the end goal, whether the end goal is via a benign society or an exploitative cult. This is the process of “unlearning,” which is essentially the same as thought reform researcher, Edward Schein’s, concepts of “unfreezing & changing.” By unfreezing he meant the destruction of the true historical self, the undermining of self-confidence, the generation of a false identity crisis (‘requiring’ anxiety-driven rapid resolution), & the utter destabilization of one’s general reality orientation. Unlearning is mediated by numerous neuromodulators in the brainstem, particularly oxytocin & vasopressin.
Individual minds, with their isolated meanings, assimilate to each other & create transcendent social entities (benign societies or destructive cults or something in between) that theoretically should enhance & empower the individual. Societies or cults are invariably organized around some form of symbolic representation such as an icon, logo, or flag. In a benign society at each level of organization from the individual up to a national scale, the individual should retain autonomy & accept reasonable constraints in respect to the embedding surround or cultural milieu. However in destructive cults, the individual is covertly deprived of autonomy & has deceptive, exploitative, oppressive, & hyper-legalistic constraints shackled upon him. This cultic failure of individual autonomy leads to at best apathy & stagnation, and at worst leads to irreversible psychopathology, & even avoidable violent death or suicide.
To synoptically reiterate up to this point, consider the following. Meaning is an expression of the particular situation of an individual. Meaning emerges in sequences of global brain amplitude modulating patterns of oscillatory neural activity coordinating the neuropil of an entire cerebral hemisphere. The amplitude of the oscillations is high in local patches and low in others as viewed through brain imaging. Each pattern is a creative construction of the brain, with onset & termination by global state transitions. The contributions to the patterns are both local & large scale. Local details are provided by synapses that have been modified by previous learning & now shape local bursts as they emerge in patches of the forebrain, including the primary sensory cortices, the limbic system, & the brainstem nuclei. The interactions of these patches with each other & with the brainstem create a global state which both organizes & constrains (focuses) local activity in a process of circular causality. At any given time, this state, which is constantly in flux as an individual grows & learns (or ‘learns’ as in cultic covert packaged persuasion), is the benign, societal, acculturated meaning, or the covertly imposed, cultic hidden agenda ‘meaning,’ as the particular case may be.
An essential part of the self-regulatory functions of the limbic system, in addition to it is use of the motor systems, is provided by neurons that secrete brain chemicals called neuromodulators. These neurons are found in a collection of chemically specialized nuclei embedded as pairs in the core of the brainstem . Whereas neurotransmitters immediately excite or inhibit neurons, the neuromodulators enhance or diminish the effectiveness of the synapses, typically without having immediate excitatory or inhibitory actions of their own, and they typically bring about long-lasting changes in synaptic gains. The neuromodulatory neurons receive input from many parts of the brain but most important is their limbic input during the creative construction and control of intentional action. Their output axons typically branch widely & infiltrate the neuropil without making terminal synapses. They secrete their chemicals to permeate throughout the neuropil of both cerebral hemispheres, making their actions global, not local like that of neurotransmitters. This functional ‘architecture’ is a major determinant of the unity of intentionality, because the entire forebrain is simultaneously affected by the action of each pair of brainstem nuclei.
There are at least a dozen important neuromodulators with different chemical structures. The types of neuromodulation include: generalized arousal by histamine; sedation & the induction of sleep by serotonin; regulation of affect and movement by dopamine; modulation of circadian biorhythms by melatonin; introduction of value by the reward hormone CCK; relief of pain by the endorphins; release of aggressive behavior by vasopressin; iniation of maternal behavior by oxytocin; and facilitation of changes in synaptic gains with imprinting & learning by acetycholine & norepinephrine which is crucial for the updating stage of intentionality. These changes are cumulative, so they meet the requirement for continuing additions to the true personal self history constituting the ever-developing ‘wholeness’ of intentionality. When a new fact, skill, or insight is ‘learned,’ the widespread synaptic changes knit the new modification into the entire loop, & into the entire structure of meaning that is embedded the neuropil. Neuromodulators are essential for intentional action, including emotion, & for the construction of meaning, including remembering.
The entire hemisphere constructs goal states through its interactive neural activity patterns. Those patterned activities guide the body through complex sequences of actions, & prime the sensory cortex to select the smells sight, sounds, tastes, & prior gestalts that are predicted as the resulting consequences of the impending goal-directed actions. This is the process of “preafference” which provides the multimodal perceptual processes of expectation & attention.
The genesis of apparently chaotic neuronal background activity is an essential element of intentionality. Unpredictability is inherent in these chaotic neuronal trajectories, and introduces flexibility & creativity in the construction of each new homeostatic state transition. Chaos generates the disorder needed for creating new trial-and-error learning, and for creating new basins in assimilating new stimuli. This Hebbian learning provides an optimal balance between flexibility & stability, adaptiveness & dependability.
Neuronal populations sustain the chaotic dynamics of intentionality, because these dynamics provide the biological basis for the flexibility, creativity, & meaning of human behavior. This particular perspective regarding the neurobiology of mental processes belongs to the dynamic pragmatist school of thought, most especially that of neurophysiologist Dr. Walter J. Freeman, a neuroscientist in the graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley. To summarize the central concepts of this view of neurological biology, measurable by EEG (electroencephalogram), functional MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) & PET (positron emission tomography) cranial scans:
· The state transition of an excitatory neuronal population from a point attractor with zero activity to a nonzero point attractor with steady-state activity by positive feedback.
· The emergence of oscillation through negative feedback between excitatory & inhibitory neuronal populations.
· The state transition from a point attractor to a limit cycle attractor that regulates steady-state oscillation of a mixed excitatory-inhibitory cortical population.
· The genesis of chaos as background activity by combined negative & positive feedback among three or more mixed excitatory-inhibitory populations.
· The distributed wave of chaotic dendritic activity that carries a spatial pattern of amplitude modulation made by the local heights of the wave.
· The increase in nonlinear feedback gain that is driven by input to a mixed neuronal population, which results in construction of an amplitude modulation pattern as the first step in perception.
· The embodiment of meaning in amplitude modulation patterns of neural activities, which are shaped by synaptic interactions that have been modified through learning.
· Attenuation of microscopic sensory-driven activity and enhancement of mesoscopic (larger neuronal grouping) amplitude modulation patterns by divergent-convergent cortical projections underlying epistemological solipsism.
· The divergence of corollary discharges in preafference followed by multisensory convergence into the limbic system/entorhinal cortex as the basis for gestalt formation.
· The formation of a sequence of global amplitude modulation patterns of chaotic activity that integrates and directs the intentional state of an entire cerebral hemisphere.
***Theneurological biologyof mental processes is very illuminating in explaining what is actually occurring when one supposedly is either speaking in tongues [sIT] or ‘renewing one’s mind.’ Essentially what one is doing via either ‘SIT’ or TWI so-called renewed mind processes is functionally largely severing the somatosensory aspects of the cerebral hemispheric cortices away from the emotion-oriented, multimodal association cortex of the limbic system. The limbic system integrates (via its interconnections to brainstem nuclei, the sensory cortex, & the frontal lobes) the lifetime summation of one’s true, personal, experiential history such that the individual internally creates idiosyncratic meaning & meaningfulness by way of environmental ‘reaching out’ or hypothesis testing. The limbic system contains explicit memories that one that one has learned in a normal fashion & can be easily recalled (whereas Pavlovian hypnotically implanted implicit memories via transmarginal inhibition cannot be recalled). The limbic system is the neuroanatomic & neurophysiologic ‘house’ of all human goal-directed intent & intentional action & allows one to overcome solipsistic isolation. Thus the limbic system, by virtue of its multimodal convergence & divergence, its control of brainstem nuclei, its access to the space-time field of the brain, is the locus of integration of neural activities into awareness.
Both speaking in tongues & sustained ‘mind renewal’ processes largely anesthetize this emotion-oriented, mutimodal limbic association cortex such that one becomes susceptible to having one’s true historical neuronal ‘software’ of self “overwritten” or overridden by the subsequent covert induction & implantation of a synthetic pseudo-personality & pseudo-identity (this is not the same as multiple personality disorder), especially when done in conjunction with the other numerous reinforcing aspects of coercive thought reform. This SIT, ritualistic mind-stilling activity predictably leads to cognitive-emotional-behavioral dissonant mental states rendering one very vulnerable/suggestible/hypnotizable, especially when combined with TWI’s ‘renewed mind’ thought-stopping processes, such that over time, a person habitually practicing such mind-numbing activities has an increased probability of developing significant psychopathology such as: depression, anxiety, panic, dissociative disorder, & possibly other conditions. What I have endeavored to explain in the preceeding sections regarding SIT & TWI ‘renewed mind’ are a combination of the neuroscientist pragmatist’s view & the somatic marker representational view of mental activity. Also, Pavlovian operant conditioning with transmarginal inhibition (a relative state of mental ‘collapse’ induced by extreme emotional stress prior to ‘conversion’) is involved in the above mentioned “other numerous reinforcing aspects of coercive thought reform.”
Emotions, Feelings, Reasoning, & Behavior as Related to Thought Reform
Per the research of Dr. Antonio R. Damasio at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, the limbic system is the initial neural system involved in processing primary emotions that ultimately are frequently involved in critical thinking & rational strategies. Emotions could be defined as patterns of chemical & neural responses, the function of which is to assist the person in goal-oriented, intentional high quality survival by promoting adaptive behaviors. Emotions are due to the activation of limbic brain structures & neural systems/pathways with their numerous interconnections {most notably to the ventromedial prefrontal cortices & the right hemispheric primary somatosensory areas (Brodman’s cytoarchitectonic areas 1, 2, & 3), the secondary sensory area S2, & the insular cortex}, most of which also regulate bodily states centered around the homeostasis of optimal physiological values.
Reason is not as pure as most of us think it is or wish it were,; emotions & feelings are not intruders in the bastion or reason at all: they are enmeshed in its neural networks, for better & at times for worse (especially with cult supplied covert mental manipulation). The strategies of human reason are significantly interrelated to the guiding force of the mechanisms of biological regulation (involving among other neurological areas the limbic system & brainstem). Even after reasoning strategies become established in the formative years (including the years of late adolescence in college, an age-group that TWI strategically focused upon), their effective deployment depends, to a considerable extent on a continuing ability to experience feelings.
Human reason depends, therefore, on several brain systems, working in concert across many levels of neuronal organization (neural trajectories & pathways), rather than on a single brain region or center. Both “high-level” (cerebral hemispheric gray matter) and “low-level” brain regions, from the prefrontal cortices (especially the ventromedial section) to the full limbic system & brain stem, cooperate in the making of reason. These lower levels in the neural edifice of reason are the same ones that regulate the processing of emotions & feelings, along with the body functions necessary for an organisms quality survival. In turn, these lower levels maintain direct & mutual relationships with virtually every bodily organ, thus placing the body itself directly within the chain of operations that generate the highest reaches of reasoning, decision making, and, by extension, social behavior & creativity.
Emotion, feeling, and biological regulation all play a role in human reason. Hence the essence of a feeling is not an elusive mental quality attached to an object or situation, but rather the direct perception of a specific “landscape” of the body itself. Thus feelings are not intangible but rely on actual neural substrates of critical neuronal networks involving the entire limbic system, the prefrontal cortices (especially the ventromedial aspect), and, most importantly, the neuronal convergence zones/association areas, that represent & integrate signals from the body. The sense of the body landscape is juxtaposed in time to the perception or recollection of something else that is not part of the body—a face, a melody, an aroma, TWI intense indoctrination, etc.—feelings end up being “qualifiers” to that something else. The qualifying body state, positive or negative, is accompanied & founded up by a corresponding thinking mode: fast moving & idea rich, when the body-state is in the positive & pleasant band of the spectrum, slow moving & repetitive, when the body-state veers toward the painful band.
Conscious feelings (based on largely unconscious limbic-based emotions) are the sensors for the matching or lack thereof between nature & circumstance. {Hence there can be non-consented, covert TWI thought reform activities acting to induce a state of relative cultic dissociation or at least disturbing cognitive-emotional incongruity or dissonance}. By ‘nature’ I mean both the nature we inherited as a pack of genetically engineered adaptations, and the nature we have acquired in individual development, through interactions with our social environment, mindfully & willfully as well as covert non-consented coercive persuasion.
Feelings, along with the emotions they come from, are not a luxury. They serve as internal guides, and they help us communicate to others signals that can also guide them. Feelings are just as cognitive as other percepts. Feelings let us catch a glimpse of the person in full biological swing, a reflection of the mechanisms of life itself as they go about their business. Were it not for the possibility of sensing body states that are inherently ordained to be painful or pleasurable, there would be no suffering or bliss, no longing or mercy, no tragedy or glory in the human condition. Feelings form the basis for what humans have described for millennia as the human soul or spirit.
One’s body, as represented in one’s brain, constitutes the indispensable frame of reference for the neural processes that we experience as the true, historical, personal mind. Our very organism, rather than some absolute external reality is used as the ground reference fore the constructions we make of the world around us and for the construction of the ever-present sense of subjectivity that is part and parcel of our experiences. {TWI endeavors to impose an external absolute reality, covertly destabilizing one’s own general reality orientation, & replacing one’s natural frame of reference with an non-consented ,undesired synthetic pseudo-identity of TWI cultic design}.
Our most refined thoughts (appearing to be pure reason) and most altruistic actions, our greatest joys and deepest sorrows, use our own body as a internal neural ‘yardstick.’ Thus the mind exists in & for an integrated person. Our minds would not be the way they are if it were not fore the interplay of body & brain during individual development (which can be co-opted by cultic thought reform), and at the current moment. One’s mind has to be first about one’s body, or that mind has no point of reference in which to exist & ultimately overcome epistemological solipsistic isolation.
The human brain and the rest of the body constitute an indissociable organism, integrated by means of mutually interactive biochemical & neuronal regulatory circuits (including the limbic system, the autonomic nervous system, as well as the endocrine & immunological systems). The person interacts with the environment as an ensemble: the interaction is neither of the body alone or the brain alone. The electrophysiological operations (see Dr. Freeman’s information above) that we call “mind” are derived from the structural & functional ensemble rather than from the brain alone.
Mental phenomena can be fully understood only in the context of a person’s interacting within an environment. Hence we become conscious of the world around us, we know what we know, & we know that we know. {TWI would pervert this latter neuronal fact & endeavor by thought reform to get one to the mental position regarding TWI doctrine & practices, that one becomes so fully convinced & persuaded, that one would “…know that you know that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt…”}.
There is a region of the human brain, the ventromedial prefrontal cortices, whose damage consistently compromises, in as pure a fashion as one is likely to find, both reasoning/decision making, emotion/feeling, especially in the personal & social domains. Bilateral ventromedial prefrontal damage precludes normal emotional display (compare post-cultic emotional numbing & anhedonia) & abnormalities in social behavior (compare post-cultic social withdrawal phenomenon). Reason and emotion “intersect” in the ventromedial prefrontal cortices & in the amygdala. There is another region of the human brain, the complex somatosensory cortices in the right hemisphere, whose damage also compromises reasoning/decision making and emotion/feeling, and, in addition, disrupts the processes of basic body signaling.
Thus, there is a collection of systems in the human brain consistently dedicated to the goal-oriented, critical, analytical, thinking process we call reasoning, and to the response selection we call decision making, with a special emphasis on the personal & social domains. There is a particular area in the human brain where the systems concerned with emotion/feeling, attention, and working memory interact so intimately that they essentially constitute the source for the energy of both external action (movement) and internal action (reasoning, thought animation). This fountainhead region is the limbic system’s anterior cingulate cortex.
Having a “mind” means that a person forms either neural representations intrinsically or forms representations of the existential meaning of the object/situation relative to the unique true historical neural self, these representations then becoming either images or higher level quasi-holographic representations. These images or higher level representations can be manipulated in a process called “thought,” & eventually influence behavior by helping to try to predict the future, plan accordingly, & choose the next action. {It should be intuitively obvious that cultic induced thought reform can largely override this process & generate the cultic pseudo-personality which influences cult-preferred behaviors, such as recruiting, abundant sharing, illogical obedience & subservience, etc.}
Herein lie some of the central precepts of neurobiology: the process whereby neural representations, which consist of biological modifications created by learning in a neuronal circuit, become either images or higher level representations in one’s mind; the process that allows for invisible microstructural changes in neuronal circuits (in neuronal cell bodies, axons, dendrites, & synapses) to become neural representations, which in turn becomes either an image or higher level representation which one can experience as belonging to him. This learning (a repository of facts & strategies for action) is held abeyantly in memory in higher level dispositional representations.
Recall from the electrophysiological perspective that the embodiment of existential meaning dwells in amplitude modulation patterns of neuronal activities which are shaped by synaptic interactions that have been modified through learning. If the learning is benign & personally desired, fine. However, if the externally imposed, non-consented learning is in actuality functionally limbic &/or prefrontal severing, or pavlovian transmarginally inhibited with implanted implicit non-recallable (mis)-information, or the application of extreme social/peer pressure influences (such as exploitative reciprocation, commitment & consistency, social proof, liking, authority, scarcity, fear of loss, etc., with all of the subtypes under each of these categories), then these invisible, microstructual, dendritic learning changes are absolutely not benign, but harmful & damaging, with resulting psychopathology such as post-cultic anxiety, panic, depression, & others.
Our strong sense of mental integration is created within our own mind from the concerted action of large-scale systems by synchronizing or juxtaposing certain sets of neural activity in separate brain regions; this is in essence a “trick” of essentially simultaneous timing, creating the impression of simultaneity. If the brain does not integrate separate processes into meaningful combinations by means of their temporal relationship, one can experience a malfunction of the timing mechanism & generate the confusional states of spurious integration or disintegration. {Compare TWI covertly induced mental states which distort time such as trance states, hypnoid states, hypnotic states, and other altered mental states. Also compare the effect in this paradigm of Pavlovian subliminal conditioning}.
Images or higher level dispositional representations of something that one has thought about that has not yet actually happened and that may in fact never come to pass are no different in neural representation than the representations that one holds of something that has in fact already happened. These various representations are constructions or existential creations of one’s own brain. All that one can know for certain is that the representations are “real” to oneself. These representations constitute the memory of a possible future rather than a past that was. We do not know, & it is improbable that humans will ever know, what “absolute” reality or truth is, from a purely scientific perspective.
Mental images or higher level dispositional representations are based directly on topographically organized, neural representations in the early sensory cortices. These representations are formed either under the control of sensory receptors oriented to the brain’s outside (e.g., a retina), or under the control of dispositional representations contained inside the brain itself, in both cortical regions & subcortical nuclei. The early sensory cortices and the topographically organized representations they form are necessary for images &/or representations to occur in consciousness. In essence, those neural representations must be correlated with those which, moment by moment, constitute the neural basis for the true, historical self.
An analogy can be made between true neurological anosognosia & what I would term cult-induced partial anosognosia. Anosognosia is a neurological condition which denotes the inability of a person to acknowledge disease in oneself. In addition to prefrontal damage, true anosognosia patients have a lesion in the right hemispheric somatosensory cortices. In cultic induced psychopathology, one of the primary lesions, in my opinion, is a functional severing away of the input of the ventromedial prefrontal cortices, involved with emotion/feeling and personal/social decision making. When one’s own true, historical self-image is harmed & compromised in this way, it is often not possible to realize that the thoughts and actions of that ‘self’ (the synthetic, cult-induced pseudo-identity) are no longer normal relative to societal non-cultic normative behavior & attitudes.
Feelings, along with the emotions they come from, are not a luxury. They serve as internal guides, and they help us communicate to others signals that can also guide them. Feelings are just as cognitive as other percepts. Feelings let us catch a glimpse of the person in full biological swing, a reflection of the mechanisms of life itself as they go about their business. Were it not for the possibility of sensing body states that are inherently ordained to be painful or pleasurable, there would be no suffering or bliss, no longing or mercy, no tragedy or glory in the human condition. Feelings form the basis for what humans have described for millennia as the human soul or spirit.
So feelings aren't just "icing on the cake" and to be ignored?
I never bought into that command anyway, but I see how it was a control technique to get us to ignore our inner dialog and internal fire alarms telling us that something was wrong. It's like the kid who knows they don't like someone but can't exactly tell you why.....then later you find out that the adult was a child molester. The child wasn't hurt because I listened to him and didn't force him to be around that person, but other kids were and most likely because some adult told them they were being silly and to ignore those feelings.
Thanks for taking the pains to document the process of what happened to us jkboehme ... It helps me to see an educated explanation of how we were manipulated and why we became so dependant.
It relieves me of some of the shame I have felt for being so naieve and foolish.
So feelings aren't just "icing on the cake" and to be ignored?
I never bought into that command anyway, but I see how it was a control technique to get us to ignore our inner dialog and internal fire alarms telling us that something was wrong.
_____________________________________
An aspect of TWI's coercive packaged persuasion was to get us to ignore our own internal dialogue, the packaged persuasion being aided by mind-numbing TWI styled glossolalia and renewed mind.
If we tried to act in concert with our true historical self, then we would experience cognitive dissonance because these true-self actions were probably not consistent with TWI's thought reform indoctrination.
If we tried to act in concert with TWI's heartless directives, then we would experience cognitive dissonance due to the actions of our TWI-induced synthetic pseudo-self were probably not consistent with the values of our true historical self.
Catch 22. Hotel California. It's a wonder we are not all totally bonkers.
Per rascal, re information on TWI’s thought reform programs,
It relieves me of some of the shame I have felt for being so naieve and foolish.
In my opinion & in all likelihood, rascal, you were neither naïve or foolish, but just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time with a transient vulnerability.
When we hear of cults, scams, and individuals’ being controlled and influenced by others, we instinctively try to separate ourselves from these persons. It seems a point of valor and self-esteem to insist that “no one could get me to do such things” when hearing about situations of intense influence. Just as most soldiers believe bullets will hit only others, most people tend to believe that their own minds and thought processes are invulnerable, contributing to the ‘Not me” myth.
People like to think that their opinions, values, and ideas are inviolate and totally self-regulated. They may grudgingly admit that they’re influenced by advertising. Beyond that, however, people want to preserve the comfortable myth that only other people are weak-minded and easily influenced while they are strong-minded. Even though we all now know that human minds are open to influence – whether or not that is a comfortable consideration – most of us defensively feel that we could never be scammed, even by master exploitative manipulators such as vpw & lcm.
There is an almost universal aversion to accepting the idea that we ourselves are vulnerable to covert coercive packaged persuasion.
So rascal, my opinion is that we were all scammed by the new age cultic manipulative influence techniques of TWI’s unethical compliance professionals, vpw & lcm. Hopefully you will no longer blame yourself and feel foolish or naive.
I actually think that this battle against reality thing could stand up as its own discussion topic.
Per JKB:
Yes, I agree, as well as excathedra. That’s why I’ve got two threads ongoing regarding extant reality vs. illusory wayworld : TWI-induced SNAPPING + Wierwille, Jonestown, & totalitarian "Cults."
I was performing a Google search when I ran across this article from the WellSpring Journal of the WellSpring Retreat in Albany, OH. WellSpring specializes in the treatment of victims of thought reform and coercive abuse.
Notice how TWI has foreshadowed many elements of extremist 'christian patriotism,' some elements of which are quite dangerous.
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Thunder on the Far Right
By Lawrence A. Pile
Overview of Christian Patriotism
April 19, 1995 brought the shock of the bombing of the AlfredP.MurrahFederalBuilding in Oklahoma City. The final casualty count of 168 dead and hundreds more injured made this the single worst terrorist act on American soil in the history of the U.S. The first thoughts of many commentators and others were that this was the work of Islamic fundamentalists, perhaps as revenge for the prosecution of their compatriots then on trial for the similar bombing of the WorldTradeCenter in New York City. Others, noting that the bombing occurred on the second anniversary of the fiery conclusion to the ATF/ FBI standoff with David Koresh and his Branch Davidians, suggested that the perpetrators may have been surviving members of that sect seeking vengeance on the evil forces of "Babylon." Of course, as we all know now, neither of those groups was involved in the bombing. Rather, the alleged culprits are disaffected right-wing adherents of a heretofore shadowy and little-known subculture in the United States known as the Christian Patriots, or simply the Patriots. Thrust into particular prominence from this broader movement have been numerous citizen militias, with which the accused bombers, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, have had an affinity.
Who are these people, and what do they want? Who are these people? The origins of the Christian Patriot movement go back at least to the mid-1960s. Many of its founders and current leaders were once active in the ultraconservative John Birch Society, or in such fringe organizations as the Ku Klux Klan and the neo-Nazis. (The Birch Society is perhaps the least radical of the groups usually considered as part of the Patriot movement — it does not advocate violence of any sort, seeking to further its views primarily through literature and public lectures.)
At least three broad categories of Patriots can be identified, in which the above groups and many more may be placed.1 It must be said that the lines separating one category or group from another are not often very sharply defined. Many members of the broader Patriot movement are concurrently active in more than one group. The various organizations and their leaders frequently cooperate together in activities, especially in conferences and protest rallies. This fact is vividly shown by the dust jacket of James A. Aho's The Politics of Righteousness, which consists of a full color photograph of a Klan-style cross burning on the Aryan Nations compound during a national gathering of white supremacists. Around the blazing cross can be seen Klansmen in their all-too- familiar hoods and robes; neo-Nazis in brown uniforms, Sam Brown belts, and jackboots; and Aryan Nations members in business suits.
For all their commonly shared beliefs, fears, and goals that lead them to such cooperation, however, there is little willingness to compromise on the very real differences that separate them from each other. Hence, the Far Right landscape is littered with countless relatively small organizations led by men (usually) of extraordinarily strong egos. In fact, it seems both the left and right extremities of the socio-politico-religious spectrum attract fiercely independent and strong-willed individuals intent on "doing their own thing."
Three Patriot categories are:
1. Christian Constitutionalistswant a return to what they identify as the "organic" Constitution, i.e., the Constitution plus the Bill of Rights.
The Constitution, many of these people believe, was divinely inspired just as was the Holy Bible. This is especially true of Patriots who are (or were) also members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Brigham Young, second President of the Mormon Church, wrote, "no item of inspiration is held more sacred with us than the Constitution,"2 clearly placing it on the level of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price. Late Mormon President and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson declared that the United States was established by the direct "intervention and merciful providence" of God as "a prologue to the restoration of the gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ."3 Constitutionalists often object to what they consider interference in their lives and infringement of their rights by the federal government, believing that, under English Common Law, the highest legitimate governing official is the county sheriff. This is particularly the case with the Posse Comitatus. Other Constitutionalist groups are the Freemen Institute, the John Birch Society, the Mayflower Institute, and the Sons of Liberty.
2. Identity Christianshold to the view that those of northern European ethnic heritage are the so- called "ten lost tribes of Israel."
They believe that the descendants of the northern tribes of Israel — which separated from the southern tribes with the accession of King Solomon's son Rehoboam to the throne — migrated to Europe in the centuries following their captivity by Assyria. This view, originally known as Anglo- or British-Israelism, was first put forward in the second half of the 18th century by an eccentric English naval officer named Richard Brothers. Brothers called himself "a nephew of the Almighty" and claimed descent from King David. He also prophesied that he would be raised to the office of "Prince of the Hebrews and ruler of the world."4 He attracted many followers, whose faith was put to the ultimate test when he was confined in an asylum. Brothers' ideas were later picked up and advanced by British minister John Wilson, who published Our Israelitish Origin in the 1840s. The notion was next promoted by Edward Hine, who brought it to America. Anglo-Israelism caught on with a number of ministers, and Bible study groups were established to promote it.5
The most prominent (and successful) church to embrace the idea was the WorldwideChurch of God, founded by Herbert W. Armstrong. Though not strictly a Christian Identity church because of differences on other aspects of the teaching, the WCG has recently publicly abandoned Anglo-Israelism. While Anglo-Israelism is the core teaching of Christian Identity, there are other doctrines that further distance the movement from orthodox Christianity.
Perhaps the next most important one is the so- called "two seed theory," taught also by the late William Branham and other teachers of the "Latter Rain" movement. According to this notion, the Fall occurred when Eve was literally seduced by Satan (disguised as the serpent), becoming pregnant with the "serpent seed." She then persuaded Adam to lie with her, and she became pregnant with a second seed. Cain, the offspring of Satan and Eve, was the real progenitor of the people known today as the Jews. Abel, of course, was eventually killed by Cain. Later, Seth (actually the second son of Adam and Eve according to the theory, rather than the third as the Bible indicates) was born and became the progenitor of true Israelites. The non-white races are held to be "pre-Adamic," included in God's creation of the "beasts" in Genesis 1.6
Many Identity groups insist on calling God "Yahweh" and Jesus "Yeshua" or some similar name (allegedly their true Hebrew names which must be used if one is to worship them in truth). This is similar to sects of the Sacred Name movement, which, however, do not espouse Anglo-Israelism. Wesley Swift, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ Christian, added teaching on occult legends about the mythological civilizations of Atlantis and Lemuria, as well as space aliens. Others today include occult teachings about the Great Pyramid in Egypt and elements of the King Arthur legends in their theologies.7
Not all Identity churches and organizations are racist, even though they hold to Anglo-Israelism. Those that are not racist do not preach hatred of Jews or nonwhite peoples, or actively discriminate against them. Those that are racist also typically espouse some form of conspiracy theory which places the Jews at the core of a dark plot to subvert the rights and freedoms of all God-fearing patriotic Americans. Racist Identity groups include Aryan Nations (HaydenLake, Ida.), the Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord (Ark.), White Aryan Resistance (southern Calif.), the MountainChurch (Cohoctah, Mich.), the National Alliance/Cosmotheist Community Church (W. Va.), the Church of Israel (Schell City, Mo.), and Scriptures for America (Laporte, Col.).
3. Citizen Militiashave arisen in virtually every state in the Union since the early 1990s.
Estimates of militia membership range upwards from 10,000 nationwide, with some organizations making probably exaggerated claims of 12,000 alone. Alan W. Bock places the true figure "in the tens of thousands."8 The wide diversity among militia groups is clearly indicated in the following synopsis by Bock: They range from what are essentially civic organizations that do a little organized target practice on weekends to paramilitary groups led by people worried about the possibility that a master plan exists to subvert U.S. sovereignty, snatch the people's guns, and impose a UN-directed dictatorship. Some militia organizations hold their meetings openly, advertising in newspapers and welcoming all comers, while others are secretive. A few militia leaders associate or sympathize with racist groups, and racist and anti-Semitic organizers certainly see the militia movement as a recruiting opportunity. Many militia leaders, in turn, have gone out of their way to expel or otherwise dissociate themselves from people who seem to be animated by racist sentiments.9
Many of the racist militias share the Anglo-Israel views found in the Christian Identity groups, along with the associated conspiracy theories. While there are variations in the latter, most conspiracy theories espoused by these groups hold that a dark cabal of national and international organizations is plotting the undermining and eventual overthrow of the United States. Among the organizations allegedly allied in this sinister compact besides the United Nations are the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Society, the Federal Reserve Board and "international bankers," the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Illuminati, the Masons, the Communists, and above all, the Jews.
Most conspiracy believers promote the infamous Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, which sets forth the purported secret plot of international Jewry to establish "Communist-Jewish rule in America."10 Unfortunately (for conspiracy buffs) the Protocols have long since been proved to be a hoax perpetrated by a member of the Czarist secret police based in France who plagiarized an anti-Napoleonic pamphlet written by Maurice Joly in 1864.11 The Protocols were published in Henry Ford's newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, during the 1930s, and many Identity groups (and others) continue to sell copies.
"Evidence" of the international conspiracy against freedom-loving Americans includes the following: the ban on assault weapons and the restrictions on the purchase of handguns; the presence of UN troops on US soil (training, it is said, for the eventual takeover of the US); black, unmarked helicopters flying over American farms and towns "spying" on citizens in preparation for the takeover; bar codes and other symbols on highway signs, interpreted as giving secret directions to invading forces; the construction of secret "concentration camps" to incarcerate those who resist the "New World Order"; secret federal plans to brand citizens with a bar code in order to monitor behavior (Oklahoma City bombing suspect McVeigh reportedly claimed that the Army had implanted a computer chip in his buttocks).12
Other elements of the conspiracy allege that: the UN plans to use the National Guard, Chinese troops, and Los Angeles street gangs to disarm the citizenry; salt mines beneath Detroit are already being used to house Russian forces set to take over America; "recent chemical spills are practice runs for a much larger series of disasters, faked by the government, to draw people out of their homes and enable UN forces to enter homes and seize guns";13 "the Amtrak repair yards in Indianapolis will be used as a huge crematorium to dispose of political dissidents";14 "the government has installed electronic devices in car ignitions to stall autos on the day the new world order takes over";15 "paper currency has bar codes in it so government agents can drive by each house with secret scanners and count how much money each family has";16 "Gurkha troops and Hong Kong police are already training in the Rocky Mountains to go into action in the US";17 the assault on the Branch Davidians in 1993 and on Idaho white separatist Randy Weaver the year before were part of a deliberate campaign to disarm gun owners and eliminate nonconformist religious groups.
Waco Revisited
As hinted by the last "conspiracy" element mentioned, Waco and Weaver have become major focal points around which Patriot frustration and anger rage. To the true believer of the Far Right, these two tragic incidents are all the "proof" needed that the federal government, especially the FBI and ATF, is wildly out of control and determined to suppress freedom loving Americans. This has been alleged to be one of the chief motives driving the Oklahoma City bombers to blow up the MurrahBuilding — as revenge for the Waco victims. Numerous authors and speakers of the Far Right have been most vocal with their allegations of criminal wrongdoing on the part of federal agents involved in the raid and subsequent siege of the Mount Carmel complex of the Branch Davidians. Major emphasis is placed on the government's alleged desire to stamp out a peace-loving, though nontraditional, religious community whose members were just minding their own business. The feds, say these spokespersons, simply wanted to take the Davidians' lawfully purchased and possessed firearms, and punish them for their nonconformist lifestyle by removing their children from them. Naturally, the sect members sought to defend themselves from such unjust action — it is unfortunate that to do that they were compelled to kill and wound several federal agents, while suffering six dead and many more injured on their own side.
Perhaps the most outspoken (and outrageous) of these Patriot propagandists has been Linda Thompson, head of the American Justice Federation in Indianapolis. Thompson, who also founded the Unorganized Militia of the United States, produced two widely distributed videos purporting to prove the criminality of the feds at Waco. Entitled "Waco: the Big Lie" and "Waco II: the Big Lie Continues," the videos allege that: "ATF agents fired automatic weapons at Branch Davidians who were not shooting back"; "the fire that engulfed the Branch Davidian compound was deliberately started by government tanks", as "proved" by video footage shot by a TV camera which shows a tank shooting "flames" into the front of the building; "the FBI trapped Branch Davidians inside a burning bunker by destroying part of the house over a trapdoor"; "government tanks deliberately destroyed evidence by pushing it into the fire";18 an FBI or ATF agent can be seen on top of a tank as it comes around the corner of the building; the agent has just jumped off the roof and onto the tank, and can be seen removing a "fireproof-type hood" that kept him safe while he spread fire on the building; an ATF agent was responsible for the deaths of four of his comrades who entered an upstairs window from a lower roof while he remained behind, later firing through the window and walls after them, striking and killing them.
The government version, as would be expected, is quite to the contrary on these and many other allegations leveled by Thompson. And most of Thompson's atrocious charges are disproved by other video footage shot at the same time. In fact, the same TV video used by Thompson in "Waco: the Big Lie" to "prove" that a tank shot flames into the building actually demonstrates no such thing. Thompson carefully edited the film so the sequence stops just as the tank is backing away from the building, revealing a flash of light near the front of the tank. Thompson identifies this as the flames shooting from a flame thrower mounted on the tank. The immediately following footage, however, which Thompson elected not to include, shows that the light is actually sunlight reflected from a piece of wallboard broken from the building.
Many other leaders of the Patriot movement have had the integrity to acknowledge this and have distanced themselves from Thompson's charges. Thompson's allegation about the fire having been started by the federal agents is disproved by a second video shot from a fixed-wing airplane and shown publicly for the first time by chief arson investigator Paul Gray on a Nightline program broadcast on May 5. Shot with infrared film, it shows the same tank as seen in "Waco: The Big Lie" as it backs away from the building. Because the film is infrared it captures the heat from the tank's exhaust showing white; it shows no similar indication of heat at the front of the tank where the alleged flame thrower is supposed to be. It also shows the tank moving away from the building for about a minute and 40 seconds before the first flames are ever seen coming from the structure. The aerial film clearly shows flames breaking out in three widely separate locations of the building, virtually at the same time, none of which was in the area on the front of the building where the "flame-throwing tank" was seen.
The same aerial video disproves Thompson's remarks about the agent who had supposedly leaped off the roof onto the tank. From the air it is clear that the tank is at least 60 feet away from the building — much too far for anyone to jump to. The TV news video makes the tank look as though it is right next to the building because of the "compression effect" caused by the use of telephoto lenses, but the overhead shot shows the true relationship between the tank and the building. In addition, the image is hardly as "clear" as Thompson says it is. The arson investigators asked the University of Maryland to prepare synchronized versions of the two videos to confirm that they were, in fact, showing the same event. This side-by-side composite was shown on the Nightline program.
The conclusion is, then, that there was no agent on the tank at all, hooded or not. Thompson's allegations about the four ATF agents being accidentally killed by a fifth have been rebutted in other reports that indicate those four agents were not killed at all — the fatalities involved other agents. Finally, Ted Koppel asked Mr. Gray how he could be so certain that the fire was actually started from within the building by sect members themselves. His response was that the arson team used a dog "specially trained to sniff out hydrocarbons — flammable liquids — and all of the places in the compound where the dog confirmed for us there were flammable liquids."19
In other words, the dog found evidence of hydrocarbons inside the building at every spot where fire was seen to have begun, thus indicating the fire began inside, and at places no tank had been.
Now, it is evident that the government badly botched the Waco affair — we don't dispute that. As Alan W. Bock wrote in his article for National Review, "t's certainly true that these sorts of violent raids [i.e., against Randy Weaver and the Branch Davidians] mostly appear to result from ineptitude, headline seeking, individual abuse of authority, or bureaucratic competition."20 However, it is one thing to say the government blew it, and quite another to say the government acted criminally, especially in the ways alleged by Ms. Thompson and others. And while we desperately hope that important lessons were learned from all the mistakes that were made at Waco, the distortions of fact and other groundless accusations made by Thompson and company do nothing to further the cause of justice and truth.
Patriot Groups and Their Agendas
As mentioned above, the Patriot movement is characterized both by broad areas of agreement and cooperation, but also by other large areas of disagreement and fierce independence. Although one is struck with the large numbers of individuals who have had significant involvement in two, three, or more separate organizations, one is also impressed by the seemingly innumerable, relatively small groups led by men intent on promoting their own unique blend of ideologies and doing their own thing.
Thumbnail Sketches of Patriot Groups
I can only sketch a few of the organizations and some of the convictions that drive Patriots, but among the bewildering array of groups and leaders are the following:
I can only sketch a few of the organizations and some of the convictions that drive Patriots, but among the bewildering array of groups and leaders are the following:
Liberty Lobby
Founded about 1960 by Willis Carto, Liberty Lobby has been labeled the "most anti- Semitic organization" in America by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (ADL).1 In 1991 Carto and another of his organizations, the Institute for Historical Review, were sued by a Holocaust survivor for $11 million in damages for breach of contract — failing to award $50,000 offered by Carto to "anyone who could prove that Jews were gassed to death in Auschwitz."2 Carto also founded the Populist Party in about 1984. That year the Populist ticket featured Olympic gold medal track star Bob Richards for president — Richards ceased campaigning after a falling out with Carto.
Four years later the Populist candidate for president was the notorious David Duke, former Grand Dragon of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and founder of the racist National Association for the Advancement of White People. Carto's newspaper, Spotlight, was one of several allegedly read by Oklahoma bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh.
Aryan Nations
Founded in 1980 in Hays, Kansas, by Richard Butler; now located on a wooded compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho. According to the ADL, prior to founding the Aryan Nations Butler had been a member of the blatantly pro-Hitler Silver Shirt Legion during the 1930s. He later joined Gerald L. K. Smith's Christian Nationalist Crusade in California, and still later, the Church of Jesus Christ Christian, founded by Wesley Swift.3 Both Swift and Butler were also heavily involved with the KKK, as were other COJCC members. Upon Swift's death in 1970 Butler became pastor of the COJCC, eventually moving the church to Kootenai County, Idaho, and the present Aryan Nations compound. Louis Beam, former Texas Klan leader and current "ambassador-at-large" for the Aryan Nations, gave a fiery speech at the Aryan National Congress in July 1994 advocating something called "leaderless resistance." Beam has been pushing this tactic since at least 1992, when he wrote about it in his Seditionist newsletter.
Also vigorously promoted by White Aryan Resistance founder Tom Metzger, this "underground strategy would eliminate leaders and identifiable groups in favor of small, leaderless, ‘phantom cells'. These terrorist cells, some with only one member, would commit violence aimed at provoking a revolution against the federal government."4 It has been reported that Timothy McVeigh visited the Aryan Nations compound, where he could have imbibed the leaderless resistance idea. This may be one reason the authorities are having difficulty identifying other suspects in the Oklahoma City bombing — only McVeigh and Nichols have been charged.
The Posse Comitatus
This is one of the earliest Constitutionalist groups. According to James Coates, "Investigators for the U.S. Treasury Department have traced its formation to Portland, Oregon, in 1969, when a retired dry-cleaning executive named Henry Lamont Beach formed the first Posse chapter, called the Sheriff's Posse Comitatus (SPC) or Citizen's Law Enforcement Research Committee..."5
Beach had already gained some notoriety as a leader in the Silver Shirts in the 1930s. Beach and others grounded much of their ideology on the Civil War era Posse Comitatus Act passed by Congress "to bar the federal military from intervening in local police matters", specifically with regard to guarding polling places to prevent election fraud.6 Modern Posse ideologues, however, have interpreted the Posse Comitatus Act to mean that "no citizen is bound to obey any authority higher than that of the county sheriff."7 Thus, state and federal laws regarding the obligation to pay income taxes, register automobiles and firearms, or obtain licenses for driving, hunting, and marriage are all considered unlawful infringements of the rights of citizens.
As is the case with other Constitutionalists, "[m]any, but not all, Posse followers take matters even farther and hold that the Posse doctrine was divinely revealed by God and therefore to pay taxes is not only illegal but sinful."8 One of the early Posse organizers was William Potter Gale, who had also been a leader of the Church of Jesus Christ Christian until Butler succeeded Wesley Swift. Both Swift and Gale had been involved in a radical precursor of today's militia movement known as the Minutemen, after the heroes of the American Revolution.
Among the leaders of the Posse Comitatus (which is Latin for "power of the county") was a charismatic firebrand named Gordon Kahl. Following Posse doctrine, Kahl ceased paying income taxes "after undergoing a religious conversion that told him that paying the IRS was sinful."9 In 1983 Kahl shot and killed two federal marshals near his farm in North Dakota when they tried to serve a warrant. Four months later federal law enforcement agents killed him in a massive shoot-out at another farm near Smithville, Arkansas.
The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord
Founded in 1976 by Jim Ellison on a compound called Zarephath-Horeb on the shores of BullShoalsLake in northern Arkansas, land purchased from the respected Fellowship of Christian Athletes. According to author James Coates, "At its peak, Zarepath-Horeb [sic] ... was a tightly knit polygamous community boasting its own water supply, electrical system, dormitories and a number of factories, including one for making hand grenades and another for making silencers and other paraphernalia for firearms."10
The Order
Founded in 1983 by Robert Mathews out of the matrix of the KKK, neo-Nazis, Aryan Nations, the CSA, and another right-wing group, the National Alliance. (The founder of the latter, William Pierce, wrote a book entitled The Turner Diaries, which includes the fertilizer/fuel oil bombing of FBI headquarters in Washington, DC. It is known that Timothy McVeigh read and shared this book with others.) This was perhaps the most violent of the far right groups, staging bank robberies, the single largest armored car holdup in US history, and at least four murders, including those of Denver talk show host Alan Berg and at least one disaffected member.11
The group, also called the Bruder Schweigen (garbled German for "Silent Brotherhood") financed many of its activities by counterfeiting US currency. The Order was finally eliminated by federal agents in a fiery shoot-out on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound, Washington, in which Mathews was killed. Most other Order members were captured, convicted, and incarcerated for their many crimes.
White Aryan Resistance
Founded by former California Knights of the KKK leader Tom Metzger, who "won the 1980 Democratic nomination for the seat in Congress representing California's 43rd District."12Metzger's son John heads a neo-Nazi Skinhead organization, the Aryan Youth Movement, some of whose members achieved their 15 minutes of fame by breaking Geraldo Rivera's nose with a chair on television. Metzger was convicted of inciting Oregonian Skinheads to violence in the beating death of an Ethiopian man in 1989. Metzger had been a member of the Birch Society in the 1960s. (Other former Birch members in the '60s or '70s were Willis Carto, Gordon Kahl, Bob Mathews, and John A. Walker, Jr., who went on to become a recruiter for the Invisible Empire Knights of the KKK and a notorious spy for the Soviet Union while in the Navy.)13
Almost Heaven
Established in Kamiah, Idaho by decorated Viet Nam war hero, ex-Mormon, and 1992 presidential candidate Bo Gritz as an armed community for about 30 families. According to Time magazine, "it hopes to be self-sufficient and obey all laws ‘unless they go against the laws of God and common sense.'"14
Elijah's Disciples
This organization, based in the Southwest, was founded by Thomas Glasberg,15 a disfellowshipped Mormon with strong Patriot affinities. Like the Posse Comitatus, Glasberg refuses to carry a Social Security card, get licenses for driving, hunting, fishing, or marriage, or pay taxes. He conducts all business in cash or barter. Like many right-wing organizations, the Disciples are survivalists, anticipating an Armageddon-like war between the righteous and the unrighteous. In preparation, they stockpile food, other supplies, and weapons, much as faithful Mormon Church members are encouraged to do today. Like Jim Ellison of the CSA (and Bob Mathews of the Order) Glasberg teaches and practices polygamy, finding support for it in Mormon teaching and practice from the 1820s to 1890, and in fundamentalist Mormon sects down to the present. Members of Elijah's Disciples are well-known in fundamentalist Mormon circles in Mexico and elsewhere, and several members of one notorious (and murderous) clan have been associated with the group. Glasberg has visited the Zarephath-Horeb compound of the CSA, as well as other white supremacist bases.
What Do the Patriots Want?
Most Americans would be surprised to learn that their fellow citizens who comprise the Patriot movement in all its variety are really not much different from themselves, if just a little more paranoid and a little more naive to believe one or another version of the conspiracy theory.
In a Newhouse News Service article Jim Nesbitt quotes James Aho as saying, "These extremists are pretty similar to the rest of us and that's pretty hard for us to swallow because we'd like to disassociate ourselves from these groups; we'd like to push them away and see them as loonies and psychos."16 As Aho discusses at length in The Politics of Righteousness, people join right-wing organizations for many of the same reasons they join golf leagues, quilting clubs, mainline churches, or other common interest associations. Nesbitt sums up: An everyday mechanism is at work — a friend, a coworker, a boyfriend or girlfriend invites them to a meeting. They tag along to maintain the relationship. They are also moved by the same concerns shared by many Americans — from taxes, gun control, school prayer and abortion to frustration with what they consider unresponsive government and worries about their economic futures.
The difference is how they choose to express their feelings and the groups they join to turn frustration into action.17
Most Patriots are angered by what they perceive as radical environmentalists both private and governmental who work to pass laws prohibiting, for example, a farmer to work his land because it is the home of an endangered kangaroo rat, or a small logging company to harvest its own trees because they are the habitat of the rare spotted owl. Most Patriots are anti-gay rights and anti-abortion. Many Patriot families homeschool their kids, believing that public education is either just plain bad or anti-religious indoctrination, or both. Many refuse, as Oklahoma City bombing suspect Terry Nichols did, to register for Social Security. Others likewise refuse to get driver's licenses, marriage licenses (believing in common law marriage or "marriage in the sight of God"), or other state or federal permits for various activities. Many, like the Freemen and Posse members, refuse to pay income taxes, and conduct most business in cash or by barter.
Those on the Far Right, according to Aho, "live in a world divided into absolute good and absolute evil... They live in a conspiratorial world where everything is explained by saying, ‘Somebody intended for this to happen.' Their world view is not the result of insanity. It's the result of what they read, what they watch, who they talk to, who they listen to."18 Again, Nesbitt writes, ...the anti-tax and anti-government message of some of the less racially oriented groups of the Far Right isn't that different from the same message preached by more mainstream populist and conservative organizations that have taken root in suburban America, with mainstream groups echoing some of the less-offensive rhetoric of the extreme right. "The more you have people openly voicing this right- wing, antigovernment sentiment, the more it provides a sense of legitimacy for those on the extreme right," said [university of Montana sociologist Robert] Balch.19
There is a danger for the rest of us who might share some of these concerns to fail to exercise sufficient discernment and caution and inadvertently end up slipping towards the Far Right ourselves. Much as some Fundamentalist and Evangelical Christian leaders supported Sun Myung Moon's appeal of his conviction of tax evasion (and found themselves in an embarrassing position), political and social conservatives and libertarians need to beware that they don't find themselves supporting individuals and organizations that promote fringe theories and advocate violent resistance of legitimate government.
This type of initiation ceremony conducted by the Grand Corn Wizard, vpw, would be typical in the ancient pagan mystery religions as well as initiation into various esoteric hermetic societies. The primary purpose of the ceremony was essentially thought reform, of the abrupt highly emotional conversional form, of the inductee. It also served to mark the top level insiders as such & generate camaraderie among them. There was layer upon layer of concentric circles of supposed ever-increasing ‘esoteric knowledge’ among the insider inner circles of top leadership.
From my review of the literature, it seems to me that a significant portion of TWI material was taken from non-biblical arcane hermetic sources, both proximate {Kenyon} and remote {the ancient, mediaeval, & renaissance}. This is a significant reason why I think veepee made such an issue of the supposed 'Great Mystery.'
It also interesting to note the paradox of veepee denigrating such traditions as noted in Babylon: Mystery Religion, & The Two Babylons, when he himself covertly promoted teaching along the very same lines, albeit with an apparent biblical veneer. It is as though he wanted to disparage the Mystery concept in another context just to thrown us off, but in his own private interpretations vpw wanted to possess the only valid ‘Mystery,’ and therefore did a rather nice epiluo trip with the text.
Also veepee's hermetic proclivities would explain several other things. It is interesting to me that veepee would often open the section of the AC dealing with the 'revelation manifestations' with the account of Baalam, 'the copped out prophet.' It's as though vpw's guilty conscience is breaking through the explicit teaching to project that he feels himself to be a copped out prophet, apostle, etc.
Also, vpw's hermetic orientation would help to explain why he liked to open pfal with jn10:10 regarding the thief. Once again, I think vpw's corrupt conscience is projecting to us in the midst of pfal, essentially that vpw will try to steal, kill, & destroy those he has deceived into TWI for the purpose of fulfilling his own selfish lusts.
It seems to me that veepee was probably subconsciously projecting his own guilty conscience via his choice of passage to use {he could have used many other passages rather than the ‘interesting’ one he chose}. The one-eyed Corn Wizard was consciously teaching the selected passage {with a twist of spiritual darkness} but not realizing his subconscious guilty projections.
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rascal
You try to make a point oldies...that it was no big deal because these young teenaged girls *consented* ....... you know, there were many of us gals who did indeed *consented* to having sex in our ear
jkboehme
Returning to Doug Hyde’s observations, he stated that the Christian church had much to learn from the ideological totalist’s [communist’s] techniques, methods, and attitudes. Apparently VPW, as the to
jkboehme
Actions, practices, behaviors, deeds, & conduct are regulated by law in the USA.
Beliefs are protected as long as one doesn't ACT on potentially harmful beliefs.
TWI as an operating strategy routinely utilized harmful & injurious conduct as standard practice.
Now what does the law of the land say? See God vs. The Gavel by Dr. Marci Hamilton.
In order to save your time, you will want to first focus on the two most pertinent chapters, which are chapters 8 & 9 (pages 203 – 272).
Chapter 8: Boerne v. Flores {pp. 203 – 237 with Conclusion on pp. 235 – 237}.
Chapter 9: The Decline of Special Treatment of Religious Entities & the Rise of the No-Harm Rule {pp. 238 – 272 with Conclusion on pp. 271 – 272}.
:) ;)
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oldiesman
Apples and oranges.
Even though the Davidians thought they were doing God's Will, whether they were or weren't, they still didn't violate any laws.
In contrast, murdering babies (mayans) and humans (al Kaida) are violations of law.
Why aren't you concerned about the Davidian female teenagers being MURDERED by the FBI?
All you seem to care about is Koresh having sex with them.
:blink:
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rascal
No oldies, I am just not going to allow you to distract me from Koresches illegal immoral activities which is what we are discussing in this thread.
The atrocities committed by the atf officials are another issue entirely, and in no way makes what David Koresch did acceptable.
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WordWolf
Nice site.
It's NOT a an official site of the government of the state of Texas.
As that site's disclaimer says, it is "not a substitute for personal legal advice
from an attorney."
According to their "Conditions of Use" disclaimer,
"FreeAdvice is a legal publisher, and neither a law firm, nor a substitute
for an attorney's advice, nor a legal referral service.
By using FreeAdvice...you are agreeing that under no circumstances will the Company,
its affiliates, or any lawyer listed on either site be responsible for
(1) any information contained on or omitted from the site
(2) any person's reliance on any such information, whether or not
the information is correct, current or complete
(3) the consequences of any action you or any other person takes
or fails to take, whether or not based on information provided by or
as a result of the use of the sites."
In short, they're not legal experts and offer no guarantee ANY of their site's
contents are accurate. But THIS is the site you picked to document your
side.
I used several.
If you look, you'll see that I cited the official site for the Dallas County Clerk's Office.
That's an official county in Texas.
Marriages are not legal or recognized without a marriage license.
I linked the page giving the requirements for obtaining a marriage license
in Dallas County, which is bound by ALL the same requirements as the
rest of the state. (Each county does NOT have different license requirements.)
What are the license requirements?
"JUDICIAL APPROVAL IS REQUIRED FOR ANY MARRIAGE UNDER 16. INDIVIDUALS
WHO ARE 16 AND 17 MUST HAVE JUDICIAL APPROVAL OR PARENTAL CONSENT."
In other words, an AUTHORITATIVE site said you were wrong,
and an UNauthoritative site said you were right.
(There's no DISCLAIMER on the site of the County Clerk's office.)
So, marriages of a man to a 14 or 15-year old in Texas without
PRIOR JUDICIAL APPROVAL are invalid,
and they're unable to get married.
Sex between an adult and a 14- or 15-year old minor in Texas with whom
they are not married is STATUTORY RAPE.
STATUTORY RAPE is the same as RAPE in regards to laws and sentencing.
Furthermore, Koresh would be unable to legally obtain a marriage license
for all of his sex partners. The state of Texas would issue ONE license at
MOST. (It would not issue one for him and a 14-year old without
PRIOR JUDICIAL APPROVAL.)
Therefore, by definition, if he had sex with 2 or more girls of age 14 or
15, it would be impossible under ANY provision under Texas law
(even if he DID get judicial approval for ONE)
to avoid the charge of STATUTORY RAPE.
It was immoral of him to exploit the office of leader to trick his
congregation's women into having sex with him.
Based on violations of fiduciary trust, some of the adults
may have sued him in civil court, and may have won.
It was both IMMORAL AND ILLEGAL for Koresh to have sex
with 14-and 15-year olds.
In the eyes of the law,
a 14 or 15-year old is unable to give INFORMED CONSENT,
which is why any exceptions would need prior review and
approval by a judge (who is both a legal expert and holds
the office of an executor of the law.)
The state does acknowledge that it is possible that someone
may find an exception where this may apply.
It's obvious you were unable to understand the explanation
given by the TEXAS STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL-
which I linked- which explained WHY this is set up in this fashion.
This is no surprise.
If the sheriff is unaware Koresh is having sex with 14-year olds, he can't claim KoreshIS. Since the parents were hoodwinked, and the teens had diminished capacity due
to age, no one had filed a report of STATUTORY RAPE.
With no report filed, I don't expect the sheriff to just somehow know Koresh
COMMITTED STATUTORY RAPE.
The lack of a filed report does not mean that a crime has not occurred-
just that an investigation has not begun since you can't investigate a crime
you've never heard was committed, nor suspect happened.
If you are murdered and no one ever finds the body (you just disappear),
the murdered STILL committed a murder, which is a felony.
If you are raped and never report it, you were still the victim of a
felony.
I don't need to watch a film to know that an adult male having
sex with 14 or 15 year oldS in Texas is COMMITTING
STATUTORY RAPE.
Why did you not even suspect this,
and why do you even question this?
Fine.
You're a supposedly healthy person,
who is claiming that a felony was not a crime,
and minors who were the victims of felonies were not
victims of a crime,
and you've claimed that
sex with underage partners is not a crime
in Texas.
You've stopped short of literally ADVOCATING it
as far as I see. Was that a lapse, or did I miss it,
or would you like to claim 'adults SHOULD
have sex with minors in Texas' and get this
over with?
For a supposedly-healthy person, you're already
advocating FOR someone who committed
statutory rape.
If you had sex with a 14-year old in the US with whom you were not married,
who was 1/2 your age, and she gave full consent in WRITING and VIDEO
ahead of time,
you'd still go to JAIL for "STATUTORY RAPE".
That's a CRIME in the US. Don't you know what the term "jailbait" is?
The "culture" of the Branch Davidians was the US culture.
Waco is in TEXAS. That's in the US.
They get tv and radio-the same channels as the rest of us.
Etc, etc.
Further,
if you married someone, then had sex with a minor with whom you
are not married, that's "STATUTORY RAPE" and ILLEGAL in this
country.
Further,
if you married more than one minor,
that's "BIGAMY" and ILLEGAL in this country.
David Koresh broke the LETTER of the law with his boinking
the women of "his congregation",
no matter WHAT justification he gave.
You may have forgotten,
but "freedom of religion" does not allow you to commit
crimes as defined in the Laws of the US.
That was reiterated in the court documents presented to
twi in one of their cases.
People have the right to believe as they wish, and teach
as they wish, but they may not commit crimes, nor
incite to commit crimes, nor conspire to commit crimes.
===
Besides it being ILLEGAL,
it was also IMMORAL.
"David Koresh" abused his office
when he defined procedure and said all the women
were supposed to have sex with him.
Even if "everyone knew about it and approved",
you're still ignoring that when an authority figure
REDEFINES things for you, and establishes
social structures that REINFORCE that,
it doesn't steal all freewill from the person,
but it means they are no longer thinking in a
fair and objective fashion.
(Perhaps you still don't see that, ever.)
So,
it is wrong for a religious leader to take a woman
(or man), arrange things in his favour,
pressure him/her to have sex with him,
and claim it's perfectly fine.
WHETHER OR NOT HE DRUGS HIM OR HER.
It's wrong no matter WHO does it.
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WordWolf
They did not BELIEVE it was sick.
That made it no less sick, no less wrong, no less illegal.
The guys in NAMBLA who want to have sex with little boys,they don't WANT to "break the law",
they just want to have sex with little boys.
They've constructed a sub-culture where it is permissible
and acceptable to have sex with little boys.
According to NAMBLA, the little boys would not be harmed
if the adult males had sex with them.
According to NAMBLA, they have no ill will towards the little
boys and wish only good things for them.
So, according to YOUR logic,
a NAMBLA guy with "no criminal intent" who has sex
with a little boy can't be charged with a crime.
He claims he has not harmed the little boy, he has no
"criminal intent", he claims the little boy has BENEFITTED
from the experience and consented and so on.
By YOUR logic, this makes what he did fine.
By the laws of ALL 50 United States,
that NAMBLA guy committed a felony,
and will go to jail.
(Where he will face other criminals who view child
molestors as the lowest of the low-even to THEM they
are reprehensible.)
When he comes out of jail, entire communities would
have to be notified of his whereabouts,
in order to alert the parents that their little boys
face an imminent danger.
If John Law catches you in Texas having sex with
a little boy,
you WILL go to jail, you WILL be charged with a felony,
and you WILL serve a sentence behind bars.
If John Law catches you in Texas having sex with
2 15-year old females (the minimum possible scenario
with Koresh),
you WILL go to jail, and you WILL be charged with a felony,
and you WILL serve a sentence behind bars.
We're still discussing the STATUTORY RAPE COMMITTED by Koresh
when he had sex with 14 and 15 year olds.
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WordWolf
Statutory rape,
as defined in "the Legal Dictionary":
"sexual intercourse with a female below the legal age of consent, but above the
age of a child, even if the female gave her consent, did not resist and/or
mutually participated."
Yep-sex with multiple 14 and 15 year olds is statutory rape.
The only possible way to avoid this being a felony is to escape ONE count
of this crime by obtaining PRIOR JUDICIAL PERMISSION and MARRYING
that ONE minor. Sex between two individuals who have obtained a legal
marriage license is not a crime.
If he tried to escape ALL counts of STATUTORY RAPE,
he would need PRIOR JUDICIAL CONSENT to marry EACH girl.
As we know, judicial consent is not granted for the comission of a crime,
and marrying more than one spouse is not legal in the US.
Koresh did NOT obtain PRIOR JUDICIAL PERMISSION,
so he committed multiple acts of STATUTORY RAPE.
STATUTORY RAPE all by itself is a felony.Koresh had sex with more than one girl aged 14-15.
Each such act was STATUTORY RAPE.
Amazing how you're unable to comprehend this.
The boiling point of water is 212 degrees Farenheit. So what?
We're not talking about the FBI,we're talking about a MULTIPLE ACCOUNT RAPIST.
Only YOU keep bringing up a supposed justification to commit murder.
Then again, you refuse to call statutory rape what it is.
That's not from any of our posts. Please do notinvent straw men when supposedly discussing with us.
You're ineligible for a marriage license at the age of 14 or 15,
unless the COURT has reviewed your situation,
and agreed you're a special exemption and can give informed consent,
despite being legally a minor.
Ever try entering into a legal contract with a minor?
It won't work.
Contract law specifies minors are legally unable to enter into contracts,
or give informed consent to enter into contracts.
(A contract is also voided if any of the parties are insane, since the
insane are unable to give informed consent.
That's in every contract-that's the sanity clause.)
They DON'T allow that.The County Clerk of ANY county would disallow it.
He would NOT issue a license,
which is the legally-binding portion of a marriage.
I posted a link to the County Clerk of Dallas' website,
where this is spelled out.
I posted a link to a judgement by the Texas Attorney
General-the state's highest law officer,
where he EXPLAINS all this.
I recommend actually reading the linked sites
and trying to understand them.
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jkboehme
IDEOLOGICAL TOTALISM AND TWI’s Packaged Persuasion
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jkboehme
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jkboehme
Returning to Doug Hyde’s observations, he stated that the Christian church had much to learn from the ideological totalist’s [communist’s] techniques, methods, and attitudes. Apparently VPW, as the totalistic, fascist fuehrer, agreed.
Following are some of the totalitarian methods and strategies utilized by VPW/LCM/TWI that Doug Hyde espoused. I will paraphrase Hyde and insert corresponding TWI practices where comparable to totalitarian techniques.
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jkboehme
Returning to Doug Hyde’s observations, he stated that the Christian church had much to learn from the ideological totalist’s [communist’s] techniques, methods, and attitudes. Apparently VPW, as the totalistic, fascist fuehrer, agreed.
Following are some of the totalitarian methods and strategies utilized by VPW/LCM/TWI that Doug Hyde espoused. I will paraphrase Hyde and insert corresponding TWI practices where comparable to totalitarian techniques.
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jkboehme
Even though I originally posted this on WW’s The Way: Living in Wonderland thread, it would be incomplete not to re-post it here because it is a paraphrase of Doug Hyde’s experience as a Roman Catholic converted to Communism, & then re-conversion back to Catholicism. Just as for Hyde as well as Arthur Koestler {author of The God that Failed, Darkness at Noon, & The Thirteenth Tribe}, ideological totalitarianism was the ‘god that failed,’ so it is with the victims of TWI’s cultic totalitarianism.
VPW & LCM would say that Way Corps leadership in top positions are men & women of a ‘ special mould.’ TWI everywhere sets out to ‘produce’ [indoctrinate] men & women of this so-called special mould. To a large degree, an observer of the TWI cultic scene can see that TWI frequently succeeds in this covert, exploitative endeavor to the detriment of many rank & file adherents.
The man or woman [‘Waybot’] molded by TWI, the new 'leader,' is a formidable man indeed. He is cast in the opposite mould to the traditional 'New Man in Christ,' because TWI’s ‘christ’ is a recycled hybridized pagan god, with characteristics of Osirus, Dionysis, Mithra, Adonis, Pan, Hermes, & other demigods.
Even though a person’s original motivation, upon being deceived into joining TWI, may have been altruistic, even though this person retains much of his or her initial youthful idealism and sense of oneness with suffering humanity in the valley of human need, still, because that person has been indoctrinated to adhere to TWI’s contaminated pseudo-spiritual deeds, that person’s life tends to become contaminated with TWI's oppresive mindset. Therefore the mould into which the TWI leader is pressed is one that ultimately debases him or her as a person.
Part of the tragedy of TWI is that it takes good men & women, with good intentions, and exploitatively uses & abuses them for the corrupt cause of fallacious pseudo-spiritual practices. The tragic consequence of these TWI enforced practices is that the idealistic leaders, who join or adhere to TWI, set out to be the saviours of humanity and become instead men’s jailers.
TWI stands condemned, not only for the problems it has caused the societies of the USA and other nations around the world, but also for the phenomenal psychological damages it has caused in the non-consenting, individual TWI members themselves. The WAY “MINISTRY” in actuality is nothing more than a cultic, multi-level marketing- racketeering scam at best with a thin veneer of Hermitically oriented, ‘white-washed’ & ‘ redefined’ biblical terms.
NO genuine, lasting virtue has come about due to the existence of TWI. It did in fact between ~1967 to ~1972 attract some people who had a desire to serve God, but a critical mass of these people had been witnessed to by non-TWI people such as Jimmy Doop, Steve Heefner, Ted Wise, & Lonnie Frisbee.
These movements were later invaded by avaricious power-hungry Wierwille. Wierwille-TWI essentially stole these people from those simple, grassroots ministries. In significant part due to the presence of Doop, Heefner, Wise, Frisbee & their followers, as well as the exuberance of their unmistakable presence, many of the PFAL classes of this time period generated a great excitement, more so in spite of Wierwille than due to him & to his supposed original “research” (but in actuality it was almost entirely plagiarized).
Certain honest individuals, comprised of the Doop/Heefner/Wise/Frisbee derivatives, as well as many who became involved directly by Wierwille’s PFAL series, were the pure-hearted people in our local areas that created the positive environment that appealed to the transient vulnerabilities of so many of us.
Then TWI, primarily via Wierwille & later Martindale, those despicable wolves in sheep’s clothing, surreptitiously ‘ taught & trained’ us by way of various exploitative programs {via VPW's PFAL series, the WOW program, the Fellowlaborers’ program, the Way Corps & College Division programs, LCM's WAP series, TWI-II, & many other scenarios} which were ALL disguised TWI indoctrination. The proceeds & benefits of these clandestine programs & MLM operations went not to the TWI-claimed beneficiaries, the rank-and-file affiliates of TWI, but rather went to the TWI Board of Trustees & other high level TWI leadership for their own selfish interests.
TWI ‘redefined’ & hence contaminated the supposed 'grace of God' as a hook of vulnerability on the front side, only to later bait & switch it to oppressive hyper-legalism replete with TWI-exit phobia on the far side of this despicable victimization. This oppressive legalism (the supposed ‘teeth’ Wierwille began speaking of around 1967 to 1972) was originally most visible in the Way Corps in the 1970’s, but after the 1989 LCM loyalty demand, & in/after the Fall of 1995, when LCM began his ‘mark & avoid’- enforced extreme obedience demands (among many other abusive & harmful practices), the end result for those of us who in good faith held out to the bitter end, is that we have essentially nothing to show for our TWI servitude except for the psychological & emotional wounds (damages) with which TWI has so disgracefully left us.
This does not even begin to account for all of our good-faith financial contributions (tithing & abundant sharing) & our irreversibly lost time (both economic & emotional equivalents implied) stolen from us during our affiliation with The Way International, Inc. One can now easily determine this cult’s supposed “spiritual” benevolence is not altruistic at all, but is rather strategically rigged cons and scams to make a financial profit off of an unaware one, without one’s informed consent.
Further, if JUSTICE is to be done, exploitation attempts by TWI should be, and must be, met with equilibrating RECIPROCAL CONFRONTATION & REPROOF.
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jkboehme
THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF THOUGHT REFORM
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jkboehme
Emotions, Feelings, Reasoning, & Behavior as Related to Thought Reform
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oldiesman
How about a biblical perspective?
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Belle
So feelings aren't just "icing on the cake" and to be ignored?
I never bought into that command anyway, but I see how it was a control technique to get us to ignore our inner dialog and internal fire alarms telling us that something was wrong. It's like the kid who knows they don't like someone but can't exactly tell you why.....then later you find out that the adult was a child molester. The child wasn't hurt because I listened to him and didn't force him to be around that person, but other kids were and most likely because some adult told them they were being silly and to ignore those feelings.
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rascal
Thanks for taking the pains to document the process of what happened to us jkboehme ... It helps me to see an educated explanation of how we were manipulated and why we became so dependant.
It relieves me of some of the shame I have felt for being so naieve and foolish.
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oldiesman
Belle, you are speaking to me! Oh Belle.
Aaw, you know what the Word says.
Here's one:
Who do you believe?
Jkboehme, or Jesus?
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Belle
I think this verse is the more appropriate one for the answer to your question:
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1Cr 13:12
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jkboehme
Per Belle:
_____________________________________
An aspect of TWI's coercive packaged persuasion was to get us to ignore our own internal dialogue, the packaged persuasion being aided by mind-numbing TWI styled glossolalia and renewed mind.
If we tried to act in concert with our true historical self, then we would experience cognitive dissonance because these true-self actions were probably not consistent with TWI's thought reform indoctrination.
If we tried to act in concert with TWI's heartless directives, then we would experience cognitive dissonance due to the actions of our TWI-induced synthetic pseudo-self were probably not consistent with the values of our true historical self.
Catch 22. Hotel California. It's a wonder we are not all totally bonkers.
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jkboehme
Per rascal, re information on TWI’s thought reform programs,
In my opinion & in all likelihood, rascal, you were neither naïve or foolish, but just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time with a transient vulnerability.
When we hear of cults, scams, and individuals’ being controlled and influenced by others, we instinctively try to separate ourselves from these persons. It seems a point of valor and self-esteem to insist that “no one could get me to do such things” when hearing about situations of intense influence. Just as most soldiers believe bullets will hit only others, most people tend to believe that their own minds and thought processes are invulnerable, contributing to the ‘Not me” myth.
People like to think that their opinions, values, and ideas are inviolate and totally self-regulated. They may grudgingly admit that they’re influenced by advertising. Beyond that, however, people want to preserve the comfortable myth that only other people are weak-minded and easily influenced while they are strong-minded. Even though we all now know that human minds are open to influence – whether or not that is a comfortable consideration – most of us defensively feel that we could never be scammed, even by master exploitative manipulators such as vpw & lcm.
There is an almost universal aversion to accepting the idea that we ourselves are vulnerable to covert coercive packaged persuasion.
So rascal, my opinion is that we were all scammed by the new age cultic manipulative influence techniques of TWI’s unethical compliance professionals, vpw & lcm. Hopefully you will no longer blame yourself and feel foolish or naive.
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jkboehme
Per HCW:
Per JKB:
:huh:
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jkboehme
I was performing a Google search when I ran across this article from the WellSpring Journal of the WellSpring Retreat in Albany, OH. WellSpring specializes in the treatment of victims of thought reform and coercive abuse.
Notice how TWI has foreshadowed many elements of extremist 'christian patriotism,' some elements of which are quite dangerous.
[/size]
By Lawrence A. Pile
Overview of Christian Patriotism
April 19, 1995 brought the shock of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The final casualty count of 168 dead and hundreds more injured made this the single worst terrorist act on American soil in the history of the U.S. The first thoughts of many commentators and others were that this was the work of Islamic fundamentalists, perhaps as revenge for the prosecution of their compatriots then on trial for the similar bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. Others, noting that the bombing occurred on the second anniversary of the fiery conclusion to the ATF/ FBI standoff with David Koresh and his Branch Davidians, suggested that the perpetrators may have been surviving members of that sect seeking vengeance on the evil forces of "Babylon." Of course, as we all know now, neither of those groups was involved in the bombing. Rather, the alleged culprits are disaffected right-wing adherents of a heretofore shadowy and little-known subculture in the United States known as the Christian Patriots, or simply the Patriots. Thrust into particular prominence from this broader movement have been numerous citizen militias, with which the accused bombers, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, have had an affinity.
Who are these people, and what do they want? Who are these people? The origins of the Christian Patriot movement go back at least to the mid-1960s. Many of its founders and current leaders were once active in the ultraconservative John Birch Society, or in such fringe organizations as the Ku Klux Klan and the neo-Nazis. (The Birch Society is perhaps the least radical of the groups usually considered as part of the Patriot movement — it does not advocate violence of any sort, seeking to further its views primarily through literature and public lectures.)
At least three broad categories of Patriots can be identified, in which the above groups and many more may be placed.1 It must be said that the lines separating one category or group from another are not often very sharply defined. Many members of the broader Patriot movement are concurrently active in more than one group. The various organizations and their leaders frequently cooperate together in activities, especially in conferences and protest rallies. This fact is vividly shown by the dust jacket of James A. Aho's The Politics of Righteousness, which consists of a full color photograph of a Klan-style cross burning on the Aryan Nations compound during a national gathering of white supremacists. Around the blazing cross can be seen Klansmen in their all-too- familiar hoods and robes; neo-Nazis in brown uniforms, Sam Brown belts, and jackboots; and Aryan Nations members in business suits.
For all their commonly shared beliefs, fears, and goals that lead them to such cooperation, however, there is little willingness to compromise on the very real differences that separate them from each other. Hence, the Far Right landscape is littered with countless relatively small organizations led by men (usually) of extraordinarily strong egos. In fact, it seems both the left and right extremities of the socio-politico-religious spectrum attract fiercely independent and strong-willed individuals intent on "doing their own thing."
Three Patriot categories are:
1. Christian Constitutionalists want a return to what they identify as the "organic" Constitution, i.e., the Constitution plus the Bill of Rights.
The Constitution, many of these people believe, was divinely inspired just as was the Holy Bible. This is especially true of Patriots who are (or were) also members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Brigham Young, second President of the Mormon Church, wrote, "no item of inspiration is held more sacred with us than the Constitution,"2 clearly placing it on the level of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price. Late Mormon President and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson declared that the United States was established by the direct "intervention and merciful providence" of God as "a prologue to the restoration of the gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ."3 Constitutionalists often object to what they consider interference in their lives and infringement of their rights by the federal government, believing that, under English Common Law, the highest legitimate governing official is the county sheriff. This is particularly the case with the Posse Comitatus. Other Constitutionalist groups are the Freemen Institute, the John Birch Society, the Mayflower Institute, and the Sons of Liberty.
2. Identity Christians hold to the view that those of northern European ethnic heritage are the so- called "ten lost tribes of Israel."
They believe that the descendants of the northern tribes of Israel — which separated from the southern tribes with the accession of King Solomon's son Rehoboam to the throne — migrated to Europe in the centuries following their captivity by Assyria. This view, originally known as Anglo- or British-Israelism, was first put forward in the second half of the 18th century by an eccentric English naval officer named Richard Brothers. Brothers called himself "a nephew of the Almighty" and claimed descent from King David. He also prophesied that he would be raised to the office of "Prince of the Hebrews and ruler of the world."4 He attracted many followers, whose faith was put to the ultimate test when he was confined in an asylum. Brothers' ideas were later picked up and advanced by British minister John Wilson, who published Our Israelitish Origin in the 1840s. The notion was next promoted by Edward Hine, who brought it to America. Anglo-Israelism caught on with a number of ministers, and Bible study groups were established to promote it.5
The most prominent (and successful) church to embrace the idea was the Worldwide Church of God, founded by Herbert W. Armstrong. Though not strictly a Christian Identity church because of differences on other aspects of the teaching, the WCG has recently publicly abandoned Anglo-Israelism. While Anglo-Israelism is the core teaching of Christian Identity, there are other doctrines that further distance the movement from orthodox Christianity.
Perhaps the next most important one is the so- called "two seed theory," taught also by the late William Branham and other teachers of the "Latter Rain" movement. According to this notion, the Fall occurred when Eve was literally seduced by Satan (disguised as the serpent), becoming pregnant with the "serpent seed." She then persuaded Adam to lie with her, and she became pregnant with a second seed. Cain, the offspring of Satan and Eve, was the real progenitor of the people known today as the Jews. Abel, of course, was eventually killed by Cain. Later, Seth (actually the second son of Adam and Eve according to the theory, rather than the third as the Bible indicates) was born and became the progenitor of true Israelites. The non-white races are held to be "pre-Adamic," included in God's creation of the "beasts" in Genesis 1.6
Many Identity groups insist on calling God "Yahweh" and Jesus "Yeshua" or some similar name (allegedly their true Hebrew names which must be used if one is to worship them in truth). This is similar to sects of the Sacred Name movement, which, however, do not espouse Anglo-Israelism. Wesley Swift, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ Christian, added teaching on occult legends about the mythological civilizations of Atlantis and Lemuria, as well as space aliens. Others today include occult teachings about the Great Pyramid in Egypt and elements of the King Arthur legends in their theologies.7
Not all Identity churches and organizations are racist, even though they hold to Anglo-Israelism. Those that are not racist do not preach hatred of Jews or nonwhite peoples, or actively discriminate against them. Those that are racist also typically espouse some form of conspiracy theory which places the Jews at the core of a dark plot to subvert the rights and freedoms of all God-fearing patriotic Americans. Racist Identity groups include Aryan Nations (Hayden Lake, Ida.), the Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord (Ark.), White Aryan Resistance (southern Calif.), the Mountain Church (Cohoctah, Mich.), the National Alliance/Cosmotheist Community Church (W. Va.), the Church of Israel (Schell City, Mo.), and Scriptures for America (Laporte, Col.).
3. Citizen Militias have arisen in virtually every state in the Union since the early 1990s.
Estimates of militia membership range upwards from 10,000 nationwide, with some organizations making probably exaggerated claims of 12,000 alone. Alan W. Bock places the true figure "in the tens of thousands."8 The wide diversity among militia groups is clearly indicated in the following synopsis by Bock: They range from what are essentially civic organizations that do a little organized target practice on weekends to paramilitary groups led by people worried about the possibility that a master plan exists to subvert U.S. sovereignty, snatch the people's guns, and impose a UN-directed dictatorship. Some militia organizations hold their meetings openly, advertising in newspapers and welcoming all comers, while others are secretive. A few militia leaders associate or sympathize with racist groups, and racist and anti-Semitic organizers certainly see the militia movement as a recruiting opportunity. Many militia leaders, in turn, have gone out of their way to expel or otherwise dissociate themselves from people who seem to be animated by racist sentiments.9
Many of the racist militias share the Anglo-Israel views found in the Christian Identity groups, along with the associated conspiracy theories. While there are variations in the latter, most conspiracy theories espoused by these groups hold that a dark cabal of national and international organizations is plotting the undermining and eventual overthrow of the United States. Among the organizations allegedly allied in this sinister compact besides the United Nations are the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Society, the Federal Reserve Board and "international bankers," the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Illuminati, the Masons, the Communists, and above all, the Jews.
Most conspiracy believers promote the infamous Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, which sets forth the purported secret plot of international Jewry to establish "Communist-Jewish rule in America."10 Unfortunately (for conspiracy buffs) the Protocols have long since been proved to be a hoax perpetrated by a member of the Czarist secret police based in France who plagiarized an anti-Napoleonic pamphlet written by Maurice Joly in 1864.11 The Protocols were published in Henry Ford's newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, during the 1930s, and many Identity groups (and others) continue to sell copies.
"Evidence" of the international conspiracy against freedom-loving Americans includes the following: the ban on assault weapons and the restrictions on the purchase of handguns; the presence of UN troops on US soil (training, it is said, for the eventual takeover of the US); black, unmarked helicopters flying over American farms and towns "spying" on citizens in preparation for the takeover; bar codes and other symbols on highway signs, interpreted as giving secret directions to invading forces; the construction of secret "concentration camps" to incarcerate those who resist the "New World Order"; secret federal plans to brand citizens with a bar code in order to monitor behavior (Oklahoma City bombing suspect McVeigh reportedly claimed that the Army had implanted a computer chip in his buttocks).12
Other elements of the conspiracy allege that: the UN plans to use the National Guard, Chinese troops, and Los Angeles street gangs to disarm the citizenry; salt mines beneath Detroit are already being used to house Russian forces set to take over America; "recent chemical spills are practice runs for a much larger series of disasters, faked by the government, to draw people out of their homes and enable UN forces to enter homes and seize guns";13 "the Amtrak repair yards in Indianapolis will be used as a huge crematorium to dispose of political dissidents";14 "the government has installed electronic devices in car ignitions to stall autos on the day the new world order takes over";15 "paper currency has bar codes in it so government agents can drive by each house with secret scanners and count how much money each family has";16 "Gurkha troops and Hong Kong police are already training in the Rocky Mountains to go into action in the US";17 the assault on the Branch Davidians in 1993 and on Idaho white separatist Randy Weaver the year before were part of a deliberate campaign to disarm gun owners and eliminate nonconformist religious groups.
Waco Revisited
As hinted by the last "conspiracy" element mentioned, Waco and Weaver have become major focal points around which Patriot frustration and anger rage. To the true believer of the Far Right, these two tragic incidents are all the "proof" needed that the federal government, especially the FBI and ATF, is wildly out of control and determined to suppress freedom loving Americans. This has been alleged to be one of the chief motives driving the Oklahoma City bombers to blow up the Murrah Building — as revenge for the Waco victims. Numerous authors and speakers of the Far Right have been most vocal with their allegations of criminal wrongdoing on the part of federal agents involved in the raid and subsequent siege of the Mount Carmel complex of the Branch Davidians. Major emphasis is placed on the government's alleged desire to stamp out a peace-loving, though nontraditional, religious community whose members were just minding their own business. The feds, say these spokespersons, simply wanted to take the Davidians' lawfully purchased and possessed firearms, and punish them for their nonconformist lifestyle by removing their children from them. Naturally, the sect members sought to defend themselves from such unjust action — it is unfortunate that to do that they were compelled to kill and wound several federal agents, while suffering six dead and many more injured on their own side.
Perhaps the most outspoken (and outrageous) of these Patriot propagandists has been Linda Thompson, head of the American Justice Federation in Indianapolis. Thompson, who also founded the Unorganized Militia of the United States, produced two widely distributed videos purporting to prove the criminality of the feds at Waco. Entitled "Waco: the Big Lie" and "Waco II: the Big Lie Continues," the videos allege that: "ATF agents fired automatic weapons at Branch Davidians who were not shooting back"; "the fire that engulfed the Branch Davidian compound was deliberately started by government tanks", as "proved" by video footage shot by a TV camera which shows a tank shooting "flames" into the front of the building; "the FBI trapped Branch Davidians inside a burning bunker by destroying part of the house over a trapdoor"; "government tanks deliberately destroyed evidence by pushing it into the fire";18 an FBI or ATF agent can be seen on top of a tank as it comes around the corner of the building; the agent has just jumped off the roof and onto the tank, and can be seen removing a "fireproof-type hood" that kept him safe while he spread fire on the building; an ATF agent was responsible for the deaths of four of his comrades who entered an upstairs window from a lower roof while he remained behind, later firing through the window and walls after them, striking and killing them.
The government version, as would be expected, is quite to the contrary on these and many other allegations leveled by Thompson. And most of Thompson's atrocious charges are disproved by other video footage shot at the same time. In fact, the same TV video used by Thompson in "Waco: the Big Lie" to "prove" that a tank shot flames into the building actually demonstrates no such thing. Thompson carefully edited the film so the sequence stops just as the tank is backing away from the building, revealing a flash of light near the front of the tank. Thompson identifies this as the flames shooting from a flame thrower mounted on the tank. The immediately following footage, however, which Thompson elected not to include, shows that the light is actually sunlight reflected from a piece of wallboard broken from the building.
Many other leaders of the Patriot movement have had the integrity to acknowledge this and have distanced themselves from Thompson's charges. Thompson's allegation about the fire having been started by the federal agents is disproved by a second video shot from a fixed-wing airplane and shown publicly for the first time by chief arson investigator Paul Gray on a Nightline program broadcast on May 5. Shot with infrared film, it shows the same tank as seen in "Waco: The Big Lie" as it backs away from the building. Because the film is infrared it captures the heat from the tank's exhaust showing white; it shows no similar indication of heat at the front of the tank where the alleged flame thrower is supposed to be. It also shows the tank moving away from the building for about a minute and 40 seconds before the first flames are ever seen coming from the structure. The aerial film clearly shows flames breaking out in three widely separate locations of the building, virtually at the same time, none of which was in the area on the front of the building where the "flame-throwing tank" was seen.
The same aerial video disproves Thompson's remarks about the agent who had supposedly leaped off the roof onto the tank. From the air it is clear that the tank is at least 60 feet away from the building — much too far for anyone to jump to. The TV news video makes the tank look as though it is right next to the building because of the "compression effect" caused by the use of telephoto lenses, but the overhead shot shows the true relationship between the tank and the building. In addition, the image is hardly as "clear" as Thompson says it is. The arson investigators asked the University of Maryland to prepare synchronized versions of the two videos to confirm that they were, in fact, showing the same event. This side-by-side composite was shown on the Nightline program.
The conclusion is, then, that there was no agent on the tank at all, hooded or not. Thompson's allegations about the four ATF agents being accidentally killed by a fifth have been rebutted in other reports that indicate those four agents were not killed at all — the fatalities involved other agents. Finally, Ted Koppel asked Mr. Gray how he could be so certain that the fire was actually started from within the building by sect members themselves. His response was that the arson team used a dog "specially trained to sniff out hydrocarbons — flammable liquids — and all of the places in the compound where the dog confirmed for us there were flammable liquids."19
In other words, the dog found evidence of hydrocarbons inside the building at every spot where fire was seen to have begun, thus indicating the fire began inside, and at places no tank had been.
Now, it is evident that the government badly botched the Waco affair — we don't dispute that. As Alan W. Bock wrote in his article for National Review, "t's certainly true that these sorts of violent raids [i.e., against Randy Weaver and the Branch Davidians] mostly appear to result from ineptitude, headline seeking, individual abuse of authority, or bureaucratic competition."20 However, it is one thing to say the government blew it, and quite another to say the government acted criminally, especially in the ways alleged by Ms. Thompson and others. And while we desperately hope that important lessons were learned from all the mistakes that were made at Waco, the distortions of fact and other groundless accusations made by Thompson and company do nothing to further the cause of justice and truth.
Patriot Groups and Their Agendas
As mentioned above, the Patriot movement is characterized both by broad areas of agreement and cooperation, but also by other large areas of disagreement and fierce independence. Although one is struck with the large numbers of individuals who have had significant involvement in two, three, or more separate organizations, one is also impressed by the seemingly innumerable, relatively small groups led by men intent on promoting their own unique blend of ideologies and doing their own thing.
Thumbnail Sketches of Patriot Groups
I can only sketch a few of the organizations and some of the convictions that drive Patriots, but among the bewildering array of groups and leaders are the following:
Thumbnail Sketches of Patriot Groups
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Thumbnail Sketches of Patriot Groups
I can only sketch a few of the organizations and some of the convictions that drive Patriots, but among the bewildering array of groups and leaders are the following:
Liberty Lobby
Founded about 1960 by Willis Carto, Liberty Lobby has been labeled the "most anti- Semitic organization" in America by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (ADL).1 In 1991 Carto and another of his organizations, the Institute for Historical Review, were sued by a Holocaust survivor for $11 million in damages for breach of contract — failing to award $50,000 offered by Carto to "anyone who could prove that Jews were gassed to death in Auschwitz."2 Carto also founded the Populist Party in about 1984. That year the Populist ticket featured Olympic gold medal track star Bob Richards for president — Richards ceased campaigning after a falling out with Carto.
Four years later the Populist candidate for president was the notorious David Duke, former Grand Dragon of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and founder of the racist National Association for the Advancement of White People. Carto's newspaper, Spotlight, was one of several allegedly read by Oklahoma bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh.
Aryan Nations
Founded in 1980 in Hays, Kansas, by Richard Butler; now located on a wooded compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho. According to the ADL, prior to founding the Aryan Nations Butler had been a member of the blatantly pro-Hitler Silver Shirt Legion during the 1930s. He later joined Gerald L. K. Smith's Christian Nationalist Crusade in California, and still later, the Church of Jesus Christ Christian, founded by Wesley Swift.3 Both Swift and Butler were also heavily involved with the KKK, as were other COJCC members. Upon Swift's death in 1970 Butler became pastor of the COJCC, eventually moving the church to Kootenai County, Idaho, and the present Aryan Nations compound. Louis Beam, former Texas Klan leader and current "ambassador-at-large" for the Aryan Nations, gave a fiery speech at the Aryan National Congress in July 1994 advocating something called "leaderless resistance." Beam has been pushing this tactic since at least 1992, when he wrote about it in his Seditionist newsletter.
Also vigorously promoted by White Aryan Resistance founder Tom Metzger, this "underground strategy would eliminate leaders and identifiable groups in favor of small, leaderless, ‘phantom cells'. These terrorist cells, some with only one member, would commit violence aimed at provoking a revolution against the federal government."4 It has been reported that Timothy McVeigh visited the Aryan Nations compound, where he could have imbibed the leaderless resistance idea. This may be one reason the authorities are having difficulty identifying other suspects in the Oklahoma City bombing — only McVeigh and Nichols have been charged.
The Posse Comitatus
This is one of the earliest Constitutionalist groups. According to James Coates, "Investigators for the U.S. Treasury Department have traced its formation to Portland, Oregon, in 1969, when a retired dry-cleaning executive named Henry Lamont Beach formed the first Posse chapter, called the Sheriff's Posse Comitatus (SPC) or Citizen's Law Enforcement Research Committee..."5
Beach had already gained some notoriety as a leader in the Silver Shirts in the 1930s. Beach and others grounded much of their ideology on the Civil War era Posse Comitatus Act passed by Congress "to bar the federal military from intervening in local police matters", specifically with regard to guarding polling places to prevent election fraud.6 Modern Posse ideologues, however, have interpreted the Posse Comitatus Act to mean that "no citizen is bound to obey any authority higher than that of the county sheriff."7 Thus, state and federal laws regarding the obligation to pay income taxes, register automobiles and firearms, or obtain licenses for driving, hunting, and marriage are all considered unlawful infringements of the rights of citizens.
As is the case with other Constitutionalists, "[m]any, but not all, Posse followers take matters even farther and hold that the Posse doctrine was divinely revealed by God and therefore to pay taxes is not only illegal but sinful."8 One of the early Posse organizers was William Potter Gale, who had also been a leader of the Church of Jesus Christ Christian until Butler succeeded Wesley Swift. Both Swift and Gale had been involved in a radical precursor of today's militia movement known as the Minutemen, after the heroes of the American Revolution.
Among the leaders of the Posse Comitatus (which is Latin for "power of the county") was a charismatic firebrand named Gordon Kahl. Following Posse doctrine, Kahl ceased paying income taxes "after undergoing a religious conversion that told him that paying the IRS was sinful."9 In 1983 Kahl shot and killed two federal marshals near his farm in North Dakota when they tried to serve a warrant. Four months later federal law enforcement agents killed him in a massive shoot-out at another farm near Smithville, Arkansas.
The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord
Founded in 1976 by Jim Ellison on a compound called Zarephath-Horeb on the shores of Bull Shoals Lake in northern Arkansas, land purchased from the respected Fellowship of Christian Athletes. According to author James Coates, "At its peak, Zarepath-Horeb [sic] ... was a tightly knit polygamous community boasting its own water supply, electrical system, dormitories and a number of factories, including one for making hand grenades and another for making silencers and other paraphernalia for firearms."10
The Order
Founded in 1983 by Robert Mathews out of the matrix of the KKK, neo-Nazis, Aryan Nations, the CSA, and another right-wing group, the National Alliance. (The founder of the latter, William Pierce, wrote a book entitled The Turner Diaries, which includes the fertilizer/fuel oil bombing of FBI headquarters in Washington, DC. It is known that Timothy McVeigh read and shared this book with others.) This was perhaps the most violent of the far right groups, staging bank robberies, the single largest armored car holdup in US history, and at least four murders, including those of Denver talk show host Alan Berg and at least one disaffected member.11
The group, also called the Bruder Schweigen (garbled German for "Silent Brotherhood") financed many of its activities by counterfeiting US currency. The Order was finally eliminated by federal agents in a fiery shoot-out on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound, Washington, in which Mathews was killed. Most other Order members were captured, convicted, and incarcerated for their many crimes.
White Aryan Resistance
Founded by former California Knights of the KKK leader Tom Metzger, who "won the 1980 Democratic nomination for the seat in Congress representing California's 43rd District."12Metzger's son John heads a neo-Nazi Skinhead organization, the Aryan Youth Movement, some of whose members achieved their 15 minutes of fame by breaking Geraldo Rivera's nose with a chair on television. Metzger was convicted of inciting Oregonian Skinheads to violence in the beating death of an Ethiopian man in 1989. Metzger had been a member of the Birch Society in the 1960s. (Other former Birch members in the '60s or '70s were Willis Carto, Gordon Kahl, Bob Mathews, and John A. Walker, Jr., who went on to become a recruiter for the Invisible Empire Knights of the KKK and a notorious spy for the Soviet Union while in the Navy.)13
Almost Heaven
Established in Kamiah, Idaho by decorated Viet Nam war hero, ex-Mormon, and 1992 presidential candidate Bo Gritz as an armed community for about 30 families. According to Time magazine, "it hopes to be self-sufficient and obey all laws ‘unless they go against the laws of God and common sense.'"14
Elijah's Disciples
This organization, based in the Southwest, was founded by Thomas Glasberg,15 a disfellowshipped Mormon with strong Patriot affinities. Like the Posse Comitatus, Glasberg refuses to carry a Social Security card, get licenses for driving, hunting, fishing, or marriage, or pay taxes. He conducts all business in cash or barter. Like many right-wing organizations, the Disciples are survivalists, anticipating an Armageddon-like war between the righteous and the unrighteous. In preparation, they stockpile food, other supplies, and weapons, much as faithful Mormon Church members are encouraged to do today. Like Jim Ellison of the CSA (and Bob Mathews of the Order) Glasberg teaches and practices polygamy, finding support for it in Mormon teaching and practice from the 1820s to 1890, and in fundamentalist Mormon sects down to the present. Members of Elijah's Disciples are well-known in fundamentalist Mormon circles in Mexico and elsewhere, and several members of one notorious (and murderous) clan have been associated with the group. Glasberg has visited the Zarephath-Horeb compound of the CSA, as well as other white supremacist bases.
What Do the Patriots Want?
Most Americans would be surprised to learn that their fellow citizens who comprise the Patriot movement in all its variety are really not much different from themselves, if just a little more paranoid and a little more naive to believe one or another version of the conspiracy theory.
In a Newhouse News Service article Jim Nesbitt quotes James Aho as saying, "These extremists are pretty similar to the rest of us and that's pretty hard for us to swallow because we'd like to disassociate ourselves from these groups; we'd like to push them away and see them as loonies and psychos."16 As Aho discusses at length in The Politics of Righteousness, people join right-wing organizations for many of the same reasons they join golf leagues, quilting clubs, mainline churches, or other common interest associations. Nesbitt sums up: An everyday mechanism is at work — a friend, a coworker, a boyfriend or girlfriend invites them to a meeting. They tag along to maintain the relationship. They are also moved by the same concerns shared by many Americans — from taxes, gun control, school prayer and abortion to frustration with what they consider unresponsive government and worries about their economic futures.
The difference is how they choose to express their feelings and the groups they join to turn frustration into action.17
Most Patriots are angered by what they perceive as radical environmentalists both private and governmental who work to pass laws prohibiting, for example, a farmer to work his land because it is the home of an endangered kangaroo rat, or a small logging company to harvest its own trees because they are the habitat of the rare spotted owl. Most Patriots are anti-gay rights and anti-abortion. Many Patriot families homeschool their kids, believing that public education is either just plain bad or anti-religious indoctrination, or both. Many refuse, as Oklahoma City bombing suspect Terry Nichols did, to register for Social Security. Others likewise refuse to get driver's licenses, marriage licenses (believing in common law marriage or "marriage in the sight of God"), or other state or federal permits for various activities. Many, like the Freemen and Posse members, refuse to pay income taxes, and conduct most business in cash or by barter.
Those on the Far Right, according to Aho, "live in a world divided into absolute good and absolute evil... They live in a conspiratorial world where everything is explained by saying, ‘Somebody intended for this to happen.' Their world view is not the result of insanity. It's the result of what they read, what they watch, who they talk to, who they listen to."18 Again, Nesbitt writes, ...the anti-tax and anti-government message of some of the less racially oriented groups of the Far Right isn't that different from the same message preached by more mainstream populist and conservative organizations that have taken root in suburban America, with mainstream groups echoing some of the less-offensive rhetoric of the extreme right. "The more you have people openly voicing this right- wing, antigovernment sentiment, the more it provides a sense of legitimacy for those on the extreme right," said [university of Montana sociologist Robert] Balch.19
There is a danger for the rest of us who might share some of these concerns to fail to exercise sufficient discernment and caution and inadvertently end up slipping towards the Far Right ourselves. Much as some Fundamentalist and Evangelical Christian leaders supported Sun Myung Moon's appeal of his conviction of tax evasion (and found themselves in an embarrassing position), political and social conservatives and libertarians need to beware that they don't find themselves supporting individuals and organizations that promote fringe theories and advocate violent resistance of legitimate government.
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Re-posted from the Secret Initiation thread:
This type of initiation ceremony conducted by the Grand Corn Wizard, vpw, would be typical in the ancient pagan mystery religions as well as initiation into various esoteric hermetic societies. The primary purpose of the ceremony was essentially thought reform, of the abrupt highly emotional conversional form, of the inductee. It also served to mark the top level insiders as such & generate camaraderie among them. There was layer upon layer of concentric circles of supposed ever-increasing ‘esoteric knowledge’ among the insider inner circles of top leadership.
From my review of the literature, it seems to me that a significant portion of TWI material was taken from non-biblical arcane hermetic sources, both proximate {Kenyon} and remote {the ancient, mediaeval, & renaissance}. This is a significant reason why I think veepee made such an issue of the supposed 'Great Mystery.'
It also interesting to note the paradox of veepee denigrating such traditions as noted in Babylon: Mystery Religion, & The Two Babylons, when he himself covertly promoted teaching along the very same lines, albeit with an apparent biblical veneer. It is as though he wanted to disparage the Mystery concept in another context just to thrown us off, but in his own private interpretations vpw wanted to possess the only valid ‘Mystery,’ and therefore did a rather nice epiluo trip with the text.
Also veepee's hermetic proclivities would explain several other things. It is interesting to me that veepee would often open the section of the AC dealing with the 'revelation manifestations' with the account of Baalam, 'the copped out prophet.' It's as though vpw's guilty conscience is breaking through the explicit teaching to project that he feels himself to be a copped out prophet, apostle, etc.
Also, vpw's hermetic orientation would help to explain why he liked to open pfal with jn10:10 regarding the thief. Once again, I think vpw's corrupt conscience is projecting to us in the midst of pfal, essentially that vpw will try to steal, kill, & destroy those he has deceived into TWI for the purpose of fulfilling his own selfish lusts.
It seems to me that veepee was probably subconsciously projecting his own guilty conscience via his choice of passage to use {he could have used many other passages rather than the ‘interesting’ one he chose}. The one-eyed Corn Wizard was consciously teaching the selected passage {with a twist of spiritual darkness} but not realizing his subconscious guilty projections.
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