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Please forgive me if this topic has been covered before. There were certain books that were required reading when we were in the Way Corps as well as before entering into the Way Corps. For example, I remember reading "The Myth of the Six Million." If anyone who hasn't been in The Corps would like to add book titles that were recommended to them by Way Believer's I would be interested in knowing about them as well. On the other side of the coin, I would be interested in a list of books that we were encouraged to get rid of "Burn The Chaff". I remember someone telling me that the beloved children's book "Good Night Moon" was "devilish" because one page was in black and white and then the next page was in color. Interesting theory :wacko:

Halleluia! It's been 4 years since my last confession...... no seriously, I think that is how long since leaving TWI???? Hence my problem...~ I have to refresh my memory sometimes of the ''doctrines'' that so deceived me, just to say ''Oh ya....that is why I left." Seems the sting of grief has left me. Time has taken the disgust and disappointment away to a degree. So, in order for me to appreciate what I have become, and what I am doing now, I need to occasionally remind myself of what I used to be and what THE WAY did to me and others. I am not who I was. Anyone feelin me?

As the legalism and intrusion of twi encroached more and more into our very lives, especially those of us who stayed into the mid-90s.....I find myself fiercely independent today. And, reading the posts of many who entered offshoots for years after twi......it seems like the same sentiment is embraced: stay independent. What started out as (seemingly) good.....ended up really bad. When small, twi was small in centralized power. When bigger, twi grew incrementally in legalism and intrusion. What ever happened to the stated concepts of 1) self-governing, 2) self-propagating and 3) self-sustaining? As the money rolled in to a central location, hq, the intoxicating power of control never seemed to release its grip. With the turning of the screws..... ...."biblical research" became wierwille-endorsed interpretations of scripture. ...."transformed by the renewing of your mind" turned into waybrain. ...."service to God" morphed into service to twi and abysmally to sexually serving a mog. ...."wooden-spoon doctrine" marshalled the forces of "it takes a rome city village." ...."way corps volunteers" were branded as slaves to the master teacher. ...."present truth" became the progressive revolution against one's free will. ...."obey your leadership" put more hierarchal distance from you and twi's throne. ....tithing (10%) became abundant sharing (15-20%) and twi wanted plurality giving (20-50%). ...."vpw the teacher" escalated to "wierwille the mog" to "wierwille our father in the word." ....a wow commitment ---> a 4-yr corps commitment ---> a lifetime of twi service ....to stay corps (1995) one MUST become full-time corps ....then, no pets....no pregnancies (w/o permission)....no cable tv....no music lessons for kids, etc. ....the twi-mandates were herding us towards a monk servitude. THE INCREMENTAL INTRUSIONS WERE DECEPTIVELY DISGUISED. NO THANKS......NO WAY.......NO MORE. TODAY, I AM FIERCELY INDEPENDENT.

Gosh thanks Twinky – well, I have come a long way since then. Don’t know how to quantify that academically – it’s mostly been just reading up on things that interest me. Back in my college days, I was a fine arts major and at the time didn’t see the point of learning all the other stuff in a typical liberal arts program. So a lot of it was lack of motivation - which hit me big time during a review by one of my professors. While he was critiquing my paintings when suddenly the practical side of life slapped me upside the head with a sobering thought “who the hell is gonna pay me to make them a painting.” Guess if I had to do it all over again with what I know of myself now I would have gone for a degree in something technical. Ah well, wish in one hand.. . and hold a PFAL book in the other – both worth about as much as a pile of crap. Sorry for the detour into my past – but I think this stuff sort of relates to this thread – after dropping out of college I was a prime target for TWI. Thinking over the sharp points Penworks listed in her first post, they have such resonance with me. I mean PFAL seemed like a magical power to give me answers to everything in life and the means to attain it. Boy was I gullible.

And I don't disagree with this one bit Shellon, in fact I never did. And you are 100 percent correct in that, what anothers experience is, at times the actual facts differ from what we can reasonably know, which is why judgement is best left at the seat of Christ and God. Its always will be, hard to communicate with people if we dont have the facts balanced with the experience that they suggest. But the one thing that is great about people at GS, is that many times, too many people here were bushwacked by people like VPW, and they dont want to repeat the experience, so all in all many people here simply cannot tolerate deceit, because it has damaged them way too much. It provides for a much better dialogue in honesty. Anyway, Shellon, I didn't even want to touch the Watered Garden thing, because I cannot reasonably interpet what someone else's motives are, due in large part to some of the junk that has been going on around of late. Anyway appreciate your reply and thanks for keeping it civil, which is about the only way things ever get resolved for the better anyway. :)

Fantastic list, Geisha779. Thanks for adding this insighful information. It is an important distinction to repeat...that faith and education are distinctly different, and as far as reading is concerned, there is no end. And as far as interpretations of what "faith" is, or what "Christianity" is, there is no end either it seems... As a friend of mine recently said, "Scholarship does not lead one to God. And one's faith does not justify unethical behavior especially when one is exploiting the minds and lives of young [or any aged] people." He said that in reference to many ill effects of TWI's and it offshoots' efforts to promote and indoctrinate their beliefs as The Truth. BTW - I'm currently reading, The Gutenberg Elegies - The Fate of Reading in the Electronic Age by Sven Birkerts. Let's hope reading lives on! Cheers!

Thanks again to taxicab for providing the link to the Rachel Maddow report, which includes an interview with the author of, Crazy for God. It speaks to a major problem in this country - as I see it - of overzealous evangelizing and often reckless and offensive application of Bible verses to current-day events. This sort of interpretation denies the historical context of the verses and drags them into the 21st century, which in my view, is inappropriate. Another example appeared in the newspaper, USA Today, this past Monday, Oct. 12, 2009, on page 11A by Tom Krattenmaker (yeah, I collect such articles) titled, "And I'd like to thank God Almighty." It covers the story of Tim Tebow's promotion of his brand of Christianity to the point of disrespecting other players' (and anyone else's) beliefs. "Tebow does his missionary trips to the Philippines under the auspices of his father's Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association. The Tebow organization espouses a far-right theology. Its bottom line: Only those who assent to its version of Christianity will avoid eternal punishment. The ministry boldy declares, 'We reject the modern ecumenical movement.'" Unfortunately, until more Christians become aware of the history of own their religion (including an understanding of the multitude of beliefs floated in the first couple of centuries after the reports of Jesus's death and resurrection) and how these various Christ-focused movements influenced each other, this sort of religious bigotry will continue. It's the stuff "Holy wars" were/are made of. It's the grist for dividing humanity, not uniting or comforting people. Plenty of information is available. Public libraries are a good place to start. And it wouldn't hurt to become a little more educated about other religions, too. We might be surprised at what things they have in common. I also say let's pay more attention to making our behaviors more productive and caring of others and be less concerned about promoting many "beliefs" we can never prove one way or another anyway, no matter what our religion - or lack of it - might be. Cheers and enjoy your day. It's a gift to be alive, isn't it?