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Yeah.............totally predictable. Self-appointed sleaze.........that want to sit on an elevated perch and rule over others. They just quit pimping for the twit-cult....and wanted to start their own action, in another neighborhood. Good riddance. That's why that R&R thread is SO, DAMN INSTRUCTIVE........."meet the new boss, same as the old boss." LOL

That’s a great way to handle the cognitive dissonance issues, OutandAbout ! Thanks for sharing. You know what’s weird - when you talked about “hearing” Craig’s voice trying to counter your own thoughts - I recalled in “VP and Me” of Craig sharing how he supposedly grew in walking by revelation by first “hearing” wierwille’s voice or “seeing” him (in his mind/memory) in a situation as far as how to handle something...guess it was just another nefarious mind-fvck that wierwille had sowed into the corps program... just my 2-bit theory anyway.

Regarding cognitive dissonance - while in the process of extricating myself from TWI in 1988, I experienced a strange process going on in my mind. I was starting to think original thoughts - thoughts that were contrary to my TWI programmed thoughts. Sometimes I would hear Craig yelling against my thoughts, yelling things I had heard at mealtimes in residence. So I did the thing with the line down the middle of the page. Left side - my thought, right side - TWI rebuttal. Back and forth, back and forth. Like having two brains. As time went by, my own thoughts predominated and the yelling rebuttals receded. Many years later, my brain belongs to me. And TWI is a distant far off strange thing I was in....... the farther back in time it gets, the stranger it seems.

Hey Taxidev, thanks for trying - you’re a good man...Don’t Worry got me thinking of some good advice from “The Godfather” ...which is “leave the gun - take the cannoli”...so forget about the harmful and destructive games that they play and holdfast to that which is good...this is the I Thessalonians 5:21 film critic signing off.

Indeed Taxidev. Sorry they let you down. Thanks for trying. For those of us “old timers” still hanging around the GSC, this was totally predictable. Not saying, “I told ya so.” in any way. Simply stating a fact that we also have come to learn “the hard way” over the last 18 years. It always reminds me of that scene in “The Godfather”, when Clemenza is teaching Michael how to make a “good sauce”. This was right after Clemenza had overseen the hit of “Paulie”, the driver who called in sick the day the Don got shot. As he’s stirring the sauce, Sonny asks, “Where’s Paulie?” Clemenza responds, “Oh Paulie! We won’t be seein’ him no more!”. LOL! I fear you have been secretly Paulie’d, Taxidev, and you’ve been secretly “marked and avoided”!! Congratulations! They won’t be seein’ YOU no more. YOU committed treason against “the family”! YOU asked questions IN PUBLIC, about the family “business” these pimps used to run. How dare YOU question the righteous perfection of those who have chosen to RULE OVER YOU? How dare YOU harbor any misgivings about their “truthfulness” in days past, and their “faithfulness to DO da Woid”? WHO the hell are YOU?? Are you even Corpse??? LOL! How dare YOU question their past behavior, crimes, and lies! Where were YOU in 1972??? Where’s Alice?? “Oh Taxidev! We won’t be seein’ him no more!”.....The “not-really leadership” of Removal and Relocation Christian Liars, Inc., since 1942! Do as I say, and don’t question what I do! Ignore the revisionist TWIt history we “teach” you. Believe all our lies if you want to grow ”spurchly” and not be a Greasespot by midnight! Resistance is futile! We are the “spiritual” Borg. Obey, listen, or leave. So, far Taxidev, it seems you are learning the same curriculum we did back in the daze! Godspeed brother! And...........peace.

There's nothing they do that replicates that lifestyle. In fact, many things they do run exactly contrary to it.

The Way liked to represent itself as replicating a lifestyle from the book of Acts. This is delusional. It's a bit like believing that when you have that General Tso's chicken at the local Chinese restaurant you are eating something that is typically consumed in China.

By your definitions, T-Bone, I agree. I no longer believe in the supernatural (as most commonly defined). And kudos to you for recognizing our approach to so-called "faith." I do recognize that different people define faith differently, so definitions are needed there too. Everybody has "faith," if you define faith the way some of us did. Everybody believes something. But there's an enormous difference between believing the sun will "rise" tomorrow and believing that this has only been happening for thousands of years. Believing the sun will rise is evidence-based. Believing it has only been happening for thousands of years (as opposed to a few billion) is contrary to evidence and requires a belief that an alternative explanation that defies evidence is correct. Define evidence. And away we go! ... But when you define faith as "believing something despite there being 'no proof,'" it gives us one less thing to argue about. Atheism is not a religion because it does not entail belief in the supernatural. Humanism is a worldview and philosophy, not a religion. But if we were to switch gears and talk about these same words as defined by government, I would switch gears and argue that humanism IS a religion. Not that it entails a belief in the supernatural, but that it is entitled to the same protections and privileges as religion when it comes to government recognition. If you're not allowed to deny me a job based on my religious beliefs, but you are allowed to deny me a job based on my being an atheist, that is a violation of my rights. Not because atheism is a religion, but because as far as government is concerned, atheism and humanism should be entitled to the same protections. Government should not be allowed to say "Atheism is not a religion and is therefore atheists are not entitled to freedom from persecution or discrimination." And lest you think that's a trivial argument: not really. Multiple states have constitutional provisions depriving atheists of the right to hold elected office. Those provisions are illegal and unenforceable, but that has not always been the case. They are only unenforceable because atheists stood up for their rights and won.