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I'm starting this topic so that we who are out can give some advice to people who are out or thinking about it as their next step in their new direction. Here is my advice: What some of us did was join up with an offshoot, which in retrospect is something that I would not recommend. I don't know why you are thinking about leaving or why you have left. This is the reality: every offshoot is dedicated to some aspect of TWI. They may think they are trying to do it better or a bit different, but the foundation for every offshoot is TWI. TWI is a cult. It demands "like-mindedness," which on the surface seems like a great idea, but in reality it is not. Every offshoot is all about like-mindedness like it is the end-all. What this mentality does is delay your entry back into the world. You might think you can straddle the fence, but there will be a time when you will have to make a decision to stay and swallow the blue pill or go. That is the way it is. If you move to an offshoot, you will not allow yourself the opportunity to really explore your belief system, and I'm telling you that you need to do that. You need the opportunity to question everything you think you know when it comes to your faith and practice. What I have found out since leaving TWI and the offshoot I was involved with for 16 years after that, is that they were really short on actual research due to the limitations set by their basic assumptions and premises. The methodology is very lightweight, as research methods go. However, you will, even using the basic methodology of reading what's on the page and paying attention to context, come to very different conclusions than what was taught in TWI - if you treat the text honestly. The different conclusions start if you read the gospels as being written to you, and not merely for your learning. There is no reason to believe they weren't written to you other than someone's notion that they weren't. That's the next thing you might consider. God doesn't have a prescribed method for interpreting the Bible. Any methodology at all is based on some person's idea of how it should be done. I believe every methodology is designed to lead you to someone's conclusion, which may or may not be the conclusion that God wants you to have. I believe that if you approach bible study with that in mind, your mind is allowed to accept or reject, and that's ok. What I finally ended up doing was making a clean break from the offshoot. I headed back to school where I was forced to take a couple of humanities courses. These courses presented the era of pre and early Christianity very differently than what I thought I knew. That led me to looking at a historian's view of Christianity, which I chose to do with books written by and college level courses taught by Bart Erhman. I started studying philosophy, psychology, critical thinking, reasoning, and religion, including the study of religion along with world religions. I now read from a number of different viewpoints and methodologies. I believe I have benefited from enlarging my resources. Now when I go back and read TWI and offshoot writings, it is very clear how each organization is trying to lead people to its conclusion. That is not to say that I have come to believe all of the theology taught by TWI and offshoots is wrong. What I have come to believe is that a big part of it is for no other reason than to create division and arrogance. The one thing I noticed when in the offshoot was the initial feeling of freedom and the ability to explore other beliefs in an open and inviting environment, or so I believed. By the time I left, that was no longer possible. I was in a position where I could see the drafts of how the organization expected the local fellowships to function and what it would take to be involved, and I was appalled. I don't know what was actually adopted and what was not, but what I read was frightening. I couldn't support it, and that was while I was still able to appreciate the mindset. Now that no checks and balances exist (at least within that group) I can only imagine what it is like, but I know it was bad enough with the few checks and balances in place, that I could no longer support it. Being in the offshoot delayed the inevitable for me. I left TWI for a number of reasons. One of those was the idea that you could be trained to be more spiritual. While in the beginning we were treated as though we were on more of a level playing field, the reality was these leaders liked the basis of TWI, and the only reason many of them were gone was because they were fired. All they want to do is "improve" on TWI, where the underlying presumption that TWI's premises, theology, and practice is sound. This invariably led to the introduction of "classes" and "training" that was touted as "breakthrough training," but was actually nothing more than training designed to break you and fill you with its garbage. When people protested, they took it underground, but it's still alive. This kind of thing is going on in all of the offshoots to some degree. The point I'm trying to make is that you can plop yourself into one of the offshoots and feel like you're right at home. That is not a good thing, because the real reason why you left is still alive and thriving in the offshoot. It may not be noticeable right away; after all you've been conditioned to accept many things at face value and so those things become a comfortable friend even as they work against you, but the reason is there. Please just think about it.

Cult Month on MSNBC By Chris Ariens on Oct 03, 2009 01:18 PMStarting tomorrow night, and continuing each Sunday in October, MSNBC's long-form unit will air documentaries on some of America's most notorious cults. "Will You Kill For Me? Charles Manson and His Followers" airs tomorrow, then next Sunday "Witness to Jonestown" will air. It all leads up to the Oct. 18 premiere of "Witness to Waco." The 2-hour special gives an in-depth look into the Branch Davidian cult and its leader David Koresh. It begins in the late '80s, and continues into the early 90's culminates in the fiery end of the compound near Waco, Texas on April 19, 1993. The documentary features interviews with survivors of the tragedy and rarely-seen footage of Koresh and other members of the group inside the compound throughout the nearly two-month siege. "Witness to Waco" debuts Sunday, Oct. 18 at 10pmET.

Yeah, I'd like to return to a simpler time in America. A time when we could really breath free. A time when a man was the master of his own destiny and could do what he wanted. Like sometime before the 13th Amendment say. A time when we could not only be free, but we could deny freedom to out fellow citizens, you know, by OWNING them. Yeah boy, I yearn for the good 'ol days...

I wonder how many people realize, ... I mean _really_ realize what Communism actually consists of. People who bandy that term around like they determine what (or should I say who? <_< ) is a Communist, and they do it in such a knee-jerk fashion. The same goes for terms like Marxist and Nazi. This stuff has gone on during McCarthyism in the 50's (with no real results), just like it goes on today. And I positively daresay that most people have absolutely _no_ idea what those terms mean. Far more often than not however, those terms are used with about as much maturity as a little spoiled brat going "You're a Doo-Doo Head!!" Why else are people like Glenn Beck so popular, hmmm? What? ... Is that their version of what it takes for America to be Godly again? ((hurls)) If so, they can take your deity and shove it.

As penworks mentioned, a large part of it is a sense of belonging... For me, it is key to understanding our experience for me to keep in mind that many young adults "explore" various types of spiritual experiences. It's a very vulnerable time and TWI (by far) wasn't the only group to aim marketing efforts at that need. btw, I've written out some of my additional thoughts (elsewhere) on my experience with the WC social site... I'm going to sit on that for a bit, then decide how much I'll post here. While I have criticisms of the way that site is now being run, I'm not a victim of anything and don't want to sound like it. :)