JustThinking

I guess I lived in bad areas during the 80s and 90s. Corruption came in many forms of such accusing others or being very religious. "Smokin' out homos" was a big pastime in the 90s, for example. If you weren't the Marlboro man, you might get questioned. Make sure you know football and don't go to art school. Too sissy. Also, I saw a lot of butt-kissing during my time too. People doing nice things but it was like the pharisees praying in public. Their goal wasn't to love. It was to be seen being "loving."

I saw a lot of problems over the years but heavy drinking wasn't one of them. Even in the 80s, I was told two drinks equaled two "servings" of alcohol. One shot=one drink, etc. I had my time when I was in "leadership" and didn't see it then either. Maybe it happened other places but no place I lived.

Unless I missed a reply, no one here seems to know anything of a first-hand nature about PJ's question. Others have done reseach on properties deeded to TWI. Maybe that is the route to go? That would at least answer the question of who actually owns it.

dmiller, You can always count on Oldies and Mike to defend VP. We'll have to add a 0.5 or 1.5 option though. "I'm out but still worship and defent VP." ;-)

Do you have one worse than the last one? I find that too many stories remind me of a personal experience that I had blocked out. How could I have stayed so long and so stupid?

Just clean houses!? Try scaping paint, cleaning the pool, yard work, watching kids and painting. Oldies Redirection Disclaimer: I CHOSE to be manipulated into doing these things therefore anyone who worships VP can in no way be held accountable. It was my responsibility to know the Bible well enough to spot subtle twisting of scripture by people with years of training. I'm such a lazy scum.

OM, I don't have words to describe how I feel about your treatment of Imbus. Hmm... did TWI teach you to be an abuser? No empathy for a victim. Callous comments. Always blame the victim. And, yes, older men in positions of authority seducing young women are not considered valid, adult, consensual relationships by anyone but TWI apologists. You convict the great VP with your own actions. Thanks for being a great, living example of the impact of his "never blame leadership for anything" mentality. Imbus, I have some personal experience by way of a loved one who got duped at a young, impressionable age. It's been well over 10 years but she still goes to counseling on a regular basis to help with the hurt and shame. The good news is that she's doing much better and has been able to put a lot behind her. Lots of friends, family and loved ones help a lot. As I'm sure God knows who you are, I'll keep you in my prayers. Try to ignore people like OM and stick with those that love you.

From a ROA in the mid-90s: TWI is the only known ministry to have healed someone of AIDS. - From LCM. I don't know that it's NOT true but got the usual nervous look from wc when asking for more information. Any information. Anything at all... Yet another VERY fast subject change.

The way corps "created" dungeons & dragons? I don't think so templelady! Only God creates. ;-) Just kidding. Our TC threatened to kick a guy out of twig for playing it. Hmmm... so maybe they did "create" it! VPW did the first hook shot? Yeah, right. God's ministry. "We're a research ministry." The Way Ministry is 60 some-odd years old. Various miracle health remedies such as Acidophilus. (Bacteria that aids in digestion) Why, this cured everything from yeast infections to headaches.

Way myths? Gee, do I have a space limit here? The head of every major religion is born of the seed of the serpent. Using a metrnome (device to keep musical intervals which looks like an upside grandfather clock pendulum) and saying God with each click will build your believing. My first TC tried to get me to do that. Creepy.

Strength never brings up weakness. Weakness always brings down strength. (Guess Jesus had this all screwed up)

Bramble, Add Santa, the Easter bunny and Halloween costumes.

I want to laugh but am not sure I'm allowed. Is it best? Is it the Word? Is it really the Stepford wives? Hahahahahah... Gee, we wish he were the man he knew to be too!

The master of redirection strikes again!

Tom, That was actually a typo. The original said: "We are foreign to more people than any other ministry." I'm sure whomever said it regrets the error. ;-)

The Word is over the World. 'Cause we said so. We can document that somebody who sat through a class visited some foreign countries before so that means anyone could have met them at the airport to register too! See, there ya' go. Hello? Hello? Hello?

OM, Hahahahaha... Never saw anyone who could talk so much and say so little. Still no answer after four paragraphs in the last post alone! Just the politically correct, non-answer "two sides to every story." Too much. Outandabout, My flashback is an incident which made it into a thread a few months back. ROA 91 or 92 where some poor soul made the mistake of giving a suggestion to the MOGs on stage during a TC meeting. OMG, you would have thought he was a criminal! They started screaming at him about how NO ONE gives the Man of God direction, etc. Yikes. They didn't argue with his suggestion but bellowed about how he shouldn't even think to consider giving THEM a suggestion. But I'm sure this never happened during VP's reign. ;-) My favorite though is VPW's infamous direction to not put his name on the auditorium Um... we use your farm on Weirwille road, in a ministry with a whole bunch of your relatives in senior positions... No, no personal influence here. I'm sure he HATED the idea. ;-) The more I think about it, it's hard to see ANYTHING that wasn't all about VP. His motorcycle, His plane, etc. (Caps were on purpose, btw)

Should we do a poll to see who gets the nomination of our fellow greasespots?

Now that we've spent a whole lot of time on OM's distractions... Do any of the folks who were in during the 70s or earlier, was this the case all along? Or did this type of behavior increase as time went on?

Ex, Focusing ONLY on the victim is supposed to do that. The hurt and emotion it stirs up is one of the best ways to change the direction of the conversation. That way you react to the hurtful statement and get away from the original point. VERY old trick. Sorry it got used on folks like you. OM, To be balanced, people do bear responsibility for their own lives. HOWEVER, many laws recognize the, sometimes greater, responsibility of the person in charge. If I run a pharmaceutical company and sell a dangerous product, some people will be fooled because there is a level of trust there. When their loved ones drop dead, they realize it's deadly. However, it would be cruel to somehow put blame on the victim. They were unaware of the potential harm. I think someone knowingly doing something harmful is another story. There was a time when the general population had a level of respect for ordained ministers. If a person misuses that trust for harm, that person bears the lion's share of the responsibility for his or her own misdeeds. The legal idea of "caveat emptor" or buyer beware has it's limits. If I build a product, I bear responsbility for obvious negligence. Using something like a ministry to twist the Bible to justify your desire to prey on women, in my mind, is a serious breach of the public trust. I fail to see how innocent teens can be somehow be blamed for this.

OM, ------------------------------------- If this link doesn't make you sit up and make the connection between VPW/LCM and Narcissistic Personality Disorder, I don't know what else will: Cult of the Narcissist Check it out -- it is worth it. And I did NOT tell him about The Way International. ---------------------------------------- The original topic with no mention of victim mentality. The very first response was yours introducing the idea. You seem to be the sole person trying very hard to veer it away from VP/LCM's behavior to why people let him be that way. Why someone does or does not allow that won't change the fact that this description in most everyone's view here seems to fit. I can see a manipulative, self-centered distructive personality targeting young or impressionable people and using them for their own purposes. Why a 15 year-old girl (for example) is unable to spot a trained predator in no changes the fact that he is one. And, yes, I do think a young teen is a fitting example because I met quite a few people who got into TWI-1 at a very young age. By your logic we should also give a pass to those who seduce young women into drugs or prostitution. Are they just mindless zombies too? No, just tricked or manipulated. Your posts constantly deal with the person hurt. Have you ever said either way if you feel this description of their behavior fits this? Not that I've read. "It's insulting to hear some of these things that comment on my alleged mentality, or my alleged victim status." Oldie, who is commenting on this other than you? Everyone else seems to be discussing the original topic which was whether or not this fits the behavior of VPW and LCM.

Maybe we could just start a list of examples of potentially narcissistic behavior? I'll start: Way Magazine covers (How many was he on? Or maybe it would be easier to list those where he was absent?) Research books written by supposed research teams but he's the only author listed? I have a lengthy list but I'll share time.

Oldies, You seem unable to discuss this topic without bringing other's possible flaws into it. Why is that? Why can't you leave Weirwille by himself and allowed this to be explored? Seems like a WHOLE lot of redirectin' goin' on here. Kind of like politicians who don't like to answer uncomfortable questions. They simply change the subject. Don't want to say that VPW might have been a raving narcissist? Redirect fault to those pointing it out. If you feel the need to discuss whether people were his victims, perhaps another thread would be appropiate? JT

I wish I were the man I know to be = Gee, people, I'm trying to be this wonderful imaginary person so respect me for my self-proclaimed humility and desire to be Gawdly. How pompous! I have yet to meet a person who goes around touting their (a) wonderful qualities or (b) striving for the same where either is true.

LOL! May I borrow the knife when you're done please?!