Leaderboard

When I left in 2008, it was common to hear way corps (et al.) express their disdain with TWI but then turn right around and say that nobody else had the package of truth taught by TWI. And what is inseparable from this package of truth? The manifestations of holy spirit as taught by TWI. By tackling topics like SIT it hits right at the backbone TWI's doctrine. No matter what conclusion we draw, at least we are exercising critical thinking skills to prove all things.

Chockfull asks a series of probing questions about the doctrinal implications of all modern SIT being false. Does it mean the Bible is not reliable? Does it mean God is a respecter of persons? I submit that those questions, valid though they may be, have no bearing on the validity of modern SIT. Modern SIT is valid or invalid strictly on its merits. Does it produce what the Bible describes? If not, you have just cause to question whether what you are doing is Biblical. What does the Bible describe? That is a fair and necessary question to answer that has a direct bearing on our ability to determine whether modern SIT is even testable, much less verifiable or disprovable. But the questions Chockfull raises have no bearing. They're important for different reasons, but no matter what their answers are, they will not make modern SIT any more false or true.

I was very angry, but not at first.... My husband got a job right after our Recognized Family Corps year as a chef (his trade), and I was refused a place in the Way Productions dance group (my trade). I sucked it up. My husband got kicked out of working at HQ when he revealed he was still an active alcoholic. I got kicked out with him, though I had done nothing wrong. In the middle of the night, without my input (and my input was later refused), we were "assigned" as far from my family as we could possibly get. My parents hardly got to see their first grandchild. I sucked it up and went. The leader who was supposed to help my husband refused to help him. Instead, I was left with a sometimes violent man. I sucked it up, and wrote a letter to the "man of God," who had written me (and everyone else) to ask why I hadn't gone to the Rock and Corps Week that year, and how had he failed me? I told him how. I received an answer from Mr. Wierwille, self-proclaimed "father in the Word." He scrawled in the margins of my letter that I was "bitter." THEN, I got angry. I knew I wasn't bitter, I knew I had done everything he had told me to do, and done it willingly. He had broken his word to get my husband help, and had abandoned me and my young children. I had always promised myself that if TWI stopped standing for the Word, I would stop standing for TWI. (It was much later, and thanks to WayDale and Greasespot, that I learned TWI was never about the Word of God.) The time had come, after 12 years of faithful service, and I left. I will admit that it took still more years to separate the wheat from the chaff of TWI in my life, but I never second guessed my decision to leave. I should have made it sooner.

AA was based on a Christian organization, the Oxford Group. The founders of AA backed off of the references to God, and moved to referring to a "higher power," in an attempt to not make God a stumbling block to sobriety. So yes, they left the door open for someone to "get the program," which for many AAers meant coming to God through Christ. (To some, the higher power meant believing in the strength of the AA group or some other concept.) But what I find sad is that TWI has a history, not of helping people with a drinking problem to overcome it, but of kicking them to the curb and telling everyone else that alcoholics are possessed and should believe bigger. This very thing happened to my first husband, who drank, and me with him, who did not. So much for the loving care that is the true essence of Christianity.

Skyrider, If you want to write your book, do it. Yes, there are many considerations about going public, but there are people who want to hear our stories. Who need our stories. If you feel you can put yourself out there, that you are coming from a good place, not a place of revenge for instance, let it rip. People respect that. I can say this about the embarrassment aspect: It's a matter of trust. I began confessing to being in a cult gradually with people I had gotten to know. They already knew a healed version of me before they learned what I'd been through. Most of them were aghast but very curious and loved me for surviving. Most understood I had had a hard time and had learned things they will never have a chance to find out without stories from people like me. The people I've talked to are fascinated and want to understand it all. They respect the fact I left. They see I'm "normal" and wonder how I got in, how I left, how I sorted things out, how I rebuilt my life. So keep writing if you feel compelled to do it, and I think you do. The writing saves us. The writing is important. Our lives matter. Love to you and cheers to your endeavors, Charlene

My twelve step program is centered on distancing myself from twi's cult..... 1) TWI is a composite organization of psuedo-christian and occultist elements. 2) Wierwille was not a 'man of God' in any sense of biblical understanding. 3) PFAL was filled with private interpretation and agenda-driven marketing. 4) Other classes like Way Tree, CFS, and Renewed Mind were detrimental to growth. 5) The WOW Program was front-loaded with all benefits to twi, not the individual. 6) The Way Corps program was designed to indoctrinate and idolize wierwille legacy. 7) Therefore.....everything twi-related needs to be re-evaluated with critical thought. 8) Therefore.....every step I take is to distance my life from the twi cult. 9) Therefore.....I regain my true self and embrace my core values. 10) Therefore.....husband, father, son, brother, uncle, are responsibilites of joy! 11) Therefore.....coming to GreaseSpot Cafe is one contribution to warn others. 12) Therefore.....I will never again allow ANY organization that much control of my life.