Leaderboard

Did he preach and elevate himself (or live lavishly)? Did he preach Christ crucified, and risen from the dead? Were doors opened unto him? What then? Well, to continue on (in the words of Paul)... notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

So among the current leadership of the Way lies the vast majority that have lived most of their lives or a significant portion of their lives in the small city ecosystem that exists around the Way International Headquarters at the Wierwille farm in New Knoxville Ohio. Far removed from the realities of life that most experience, such as a commute, a mortgage, a family (RFR), these leaders have developed in a vacuum environment. Like cultivating mushrooms, great care must be taken to keep foreign spores from invading your mushroom patch. This is the perfect environment for breeding a leader with zero empathy and compassion. Altruistic goals like "It Is Written" can still be portrayed loftily on walls around communes and on little geometrical carved pieces on clergies desks keeping them in tow while being functionally replaced with "It Is Position" being paramount. Chapter and verse can little by little be replaced with pithy quotes like published in "Lifelines" from leaders with lofty titles and puny hearts. Quotes can go on like "I remember meeting Rosalie once, and she told me this.....". The Research department can be replaced with a whited sepulchre Timothy statue and a re-worked BG Leonard class 3 times removed. And because snow on gaspumps - "we already have the truth we don't need more research". At any rate, not to shift gears too drastically in concept, recently I was listening to an old B-52's song called "My Own Private Idaho". It just struck me about some parallel lines of concept. So I thought I would post up the YouTube link and the lyrics and start up a discussion with y'alls. Peace. What do you think? Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo You're living in your own Private Idaho Living in your own Private Idaho Underground like a wild potato Don't go on the patio Beware of the pool Blue bottomless pool It leads you straight, right throught the gate That opens on the pool You're living in your own Private Idaho You're living in your own Private Idaho Keep off the path, beware of the gate Watch out for signs that say "hidden driveways" Don't let the chlorine in your eyes Blind you to the awful surprise That's been waitin' for you at The bottom of the bottomless blue, blue, blue pool You're livin' in your own Private Idaho, Idaho You're out of control, the rivers that roll You fell into the water and down to Idaho Get out of that state Get out of the state you're in You better beware You're living in your own Private Idaho You're living in your own Private Idaho Keep off the patio (your own private Idaho) Keep off the path (your own private Idaho) The lawn may be green but you better not be seen Walkin' through a gate that leads you down Down to a pool fraught with danger It's a pool full of strangers Hey, you're living in your own Private Idaho Where do I go from here to a better state than this? Well Don't be blind to the big surprise Swimming round and round like the deadly hand Of a radium clock At the bottom Of the pool I-I-I-daho I-I-I-daho Woah-oh, woah-oh, woah-oh, oh Ah, ah, ah, ah Ah, ah, ah, ah Get out of that state Get out of that state You're living in your own Private Idaho Livin' in your own Private Idaho Songwriters: CINDY WILSON, FRED SCHNEIDER, KATE PIERSON, KEITH STRICKLAND, RICKY WILSON © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

I'm glad you commented on the sunglasses, chock, because I was too busy watching Cindy rock that brunette 'do to give much thought to the dusty old creeps in the cornfield. The higher the hair, the closer to God.

Billy Graham Open Secret Alliances This may Ruffle some feathers, but let the chips fall where they may...

Franklin and Beans. That's got to be the name of the political lobbyist group that used to be a ministry. Or maybe it always was a political lobbyist group. Oh crap. Politics and lack of Billy. 2 strikes for me here LOL.

Well, for one, Hollywood isn't quite as closed of a society/subculture even though it may be reasonable to cite some strong common bonds between many people who would be considered part of Hollywood. In twi, I never saw or heard anyone voicing strong feelings about political views contrary to group norms. In Hollywood, while it may be commonly understood that most of "them" are politically liberal, you still have the James Woods and Jon Voights and (before he passed) Charleton Heston. Who speak/spoke out boldly and emphatically with starkly contrasting views and values. There's no question that the Branch Davidians were a cult. The Turpins (the 13 kids severely abused) are an extreme example of a closed social group and how tragic it can be. Also in contrast, the ISS (International Space Station) of course had/has the potential but it's not a closed social group. By virtue of the nature of "international" it has to have openness and communications norms (unwritten rules) and written rules to safeguard both the scientific work and the cooperation between nations. Back in the 1980s, when I was going to college, I learned in communications classes about group dynamics, specifically that groups small and large go through stages: Forming, storming, norming, performing. Groups start for a reason. There develops or exists common interests and goals. But before the group can accomplish its intended purpose, there will be conflict. Among those who stay in the group, they figure out what rules (written or not) that they can live with. Not everyone who's there at the beginning, stays through this stage, but for those who do, they then can accomplish their common objectives and goals. Unintended consequence comes in when there's no leadership that can wisely guide the group through those stages. Leadership in this context is an intangible concept, not necessarily always provided in the same way in all groups. Of course there's more to it, but that's the gist.