Twinky

Welcome back, Man, and who knows, you might meet some new friends too! Glad you "woke up" and now that you are awake, it truly is your choice to believe what you want, and get the benefits/consequences either way. You are welcome here whatever your views. Try starting a thread on "social control" and see what responses you get. Could be interesting.

Yes, and added to which, the class might well be run by WoWs who themselves only took the class last year and may not know much other stuff about the Bible and certainly weren't able to answer questions posed by Christians who had been around (in other churches) for many years. My mum took PFAL and talked with the class coord privately thereafter with some queries. He threw her out. She was a disruptive influence or some such - she's never given me a blow by blow account of their conversation but she dislikes him immensely.

"Model number" !!!!! WD: Thanks for starting this alternative thread.

Rascal: I'm sorry you were ill-treated as a mere spouse-corps wife. You got a double whammy. Partly because you are "only" a woman and partly because you were "only" spouse Corps. Of course it was right you had to leave when your spritually tricked out husband left (you can see my tongue in my cheek, right?) (spit, spit, at that sort of attitude). No women were treated as equal partners in their marriages (or other significant relationships). In this you were (unfortunately) not discriminated against. Everyone, please: Can I remind posters that the purpose of this thread is to consider who comes here to the Cafe and not to debate treatment of spouse Corps. That is a significant point that perhaps should be discussed - maybe someone would like to start another thread? (Mods, feel free to lift some of this thread to start a new one!) Thanks, folks for continuing to vote in the poll. There are some interesting results that I hadn't quite expected.

Now if they'd shown that as a preface to Session 1 of PFAL...

Okay, let's try and keep this on track. For the avoidance of doubt, I see Spouse Corps as Corps. So tick that box. Unless you prefer to tick some other box. It's how you see yourself.

Thank you, "Spouse Corps/child in Family Corps" would have been a good addition. Life could be very unfair for such spouses. There are also horror stories from plenty of WC kids here who were affected by their parents' decisions to enter the WC. Non Corps spouses were encouraged to participate in the program and the spouse was often given a job on staff (usually at the same location but there were times when they would be at separate campuses for a month or two). Around my time in rez (early 90s) came the ban on marrying non-Corps and shortly thereafter BOTH of them were required to repeat the Corps program. If either was deemed not up to standard, they both had to leave. One grad of about WC10 or 12 was in with his spouse and she had suuuch a hard time and they both got asked to leave. She had been a good loyal supporter of her husband but simply couldn't cope with the extreme demands of in rez. A good couple was lost there. (Or maybe, was given the opportunity to get found (wry smile).) I must admit I was a little envious of in rez couples having their own room (oh, some space!!) and the opportunity for a few shreds of normal life. You could be right, especially since the highest ranking is "servant" of all. Maybe I'm showing a little Waybrain... Thanks, all, for your responses, please add your own votes if you have not already done so.

Clearly passionate about Scientology, but what exactly does he believe or his belief achieve except to "wanna help" in some vague undefined way? Looks just like some almighty ego kick to me, "I have the answers". When is the next bus outta here? To anywhere?

Spectrum: Wouldn't you have more respect for a research ministry if it actually DID research and also considered the works of other respected theologians/authors? Allowed those authors credit for what work was used/built on (like JE Stiles)? The reason we were discouraged from reading other authors' work is because we would find out the sources of the "research" already done by TWI. But never mind that: Let's consider their view of fellowship. There are many wonderful Christian people that you can meet every day. Can TWI members "fellowship" with them? No way, those Christian people must be possessed. In his eartly ministry JC didn't demand that people hung around with him all the time. In the post-Pentecost period the early Christians didn't make such a demand, either. In later years TWI has done all it can to restrict who can fellowship with whom. In the prison that is TWI, the phrase "cell group" takes on a whole new dimension. How convenient to disregard scriptures like Rom 12:16-18. I leave you to check these for yourself, since you like research.

Ah, Ex, sure you didn't screw up too badly. Some of the sections allow more than one answer, including, "what you did for TWI" and "what you did after TWI." Thanks for everyone's responses, let's see a few more, please! :) :) :)

Well I don't know if this is quite "personality," but on several occasions I followed the example of what was done by others (one in particular) (being a follower of my local leader, y'know), only to have THAT SAME PERSON come back at me and tell me how much I was off the word. Does that add to mental confuson, or what? He simply loved reaming me (and women generally) for doing things he allowed for himself. Got worse just before THAT SAME PERSON threw me out because I just wasn't good enough for him.

MA Vet! Too funny, T-Bone!! but I don't think I'd join you with your other T shirt unless you changed the wording to "TWI's possessed all the time". Well, even that's not fair. Can I have one that says, "Possession of the Lord Jesus Christ" (since I was purchased by his blood)?

Me too me too me too! Maybe if GSC ever gets closed down like Waydale did we could call ourselves the Marked and Avoided. Or Avoiders.

Thanks, all, for your replies so far. I think if I were to start this again I would add another button, "Did you leave pre- or post-PoP?" but too late for that now. Perhaps that can be considered later. Results so far on 66 votes are that 54% of us have had Corps involvement (though didn't necesarily graduate) and 64% of us have been out for over 15 years, which gives some idea of the insidious nature of TWI teachings. The subtle way of inviting someone to "take a break" as a subterfuge for throwing them out has also been raised in several posts. Whether anyone was received back with open arms after such a break is debatable. (I myself was invited to "take a break" and when I returned after 6 months met even more vile treatment than before. I doubt there was ever any intention to do let me back - it was just someone on a jolly to administer more humiliation.) Well done those of you who "took a break" and made it permanent. I think I'd call that being thrown out, rather than leaving volutarily, but it's whatever you feel is appropriate. Looking forward to more responses. Twinky (edited cos I can't type today, hurt my index finger)

In case anyone thinks I've not voted - I did, but made an amendment to the poll and it won't let me vote again.

Folks, it might be interesting to find out a bit about who comes to the Cafe so if you're willing, let's ask the questions. If I missed out a relevant category, apologies, tick other and tell us about it below.

Echoed. I met some of the most wonderful people and I met some of the most vile people in TWI. "When they were good, they were very very good And when they were bad they were horrid" To plagiarize a nursery rhyme.

That was me. I was a fool. I was completely desolate when they kicked me out. I had no-one and no thing. "Burn your bridges," my CC said. So I did. Homeless, friendless, very little money, no career prospects (had given up a professional career), vilely besmeared by certain people - WTF? I was told to come back in six months, so I went back, grovelling, only to face a barrage of more of the same, in fact, including further false allegations. If I felt gruesome to start with, this magnified it. Caring? Compassion?? (SCREAM!!!!!) It was GSC that opened my eyes to the assault on me as a pattern most often against women. And began to restore some of my crushed self-esteem. The haranguing here frightens me a bit (too reminiscent of old times, still dealing with some aspects of that) but it's great to be able to shrug it off. At least I can take off and not read such threads any more. Please bicker politely!

We all had something that attracted us to TWI. Somebody relayed to me what another Greasespotter had said to her long ago: "TWI was like Miraclegro on our personality faults" or something like that. That just about sums it up. If something is overgrown, it needs pruning. Lovingly. We can learn to prune out our more unpleasant behavior. We can start by pruning some of our posts before we hit the Add Reply button. Would be interesting to consider why it wasn't also Miraclegro on our good bits (well, perhaps it was for some of us, at least in some areas) but everything "negative" was shoved under the carpet. I recall when asking for some help/need - some emotional wrangle I was in, can't remember the details, too long ago - that it was the squeaky wheel that got the attention and we should aim not to be squeaky wheels. Real helpful, that was. Not that the squeak could be oiled, but that we shouldn't be "squeaking" or needy in any way. It does appear under pressure, doesn't it?! Still, enough pressure and all that thinking should eventually be squeezed out. Can't agree with you, Eyes, that you can't get the sponge clean again, just needs lots of washing (with the Word perhaps, but not with Da Verd).

(but only slightly) Extracted from the above article. This has an awfully familiar ring to it. Who else do you know who had/has to answer to no-one; and produced their own version of what the Bible says (by way of "literals according to usage"). Who else do you know who suffered from "open rage"? Now back to the regularly scheduled topic: the peasants probably couldn't read or right very well or even at all, and reading books would be an activity for the better-educated middle and upper classes, scholars and people connected with the church. But of course they would be the very people you wouldn't want to read "subversive" material.

This is hyperbole, right? They didn't really ask for paycheck stubs?

Not closing on the parents - recently charged "official suspect" is the girlfriend of the very first suspect, Robert Murat, who I believe is alleged to be a pedophile. After all this time it would be amazing if the child is still alive but stranger things have happened.

I just went to the link in the first post and clicked on Dockets under The Way International: Plaintiff: The Way International Search Dockets [ Dockets ] Litigious lot, aren't they? I really would never have thought it. To think that they also considered suing The Way in GB for passing off/use of copyright material. None of this litigation is about "moving the word." It's all about protecting the income base.

This may go on an old thread, "Your abundant sharing at work". Lifted straight from the website linked above. Search for: "the way international" Results 1 - 20 of 20 Subscribe ... August 24, 2007 Way International v. Turner et al DE Unassigned Judge Trademark Trademark Infringement Plaintiff: Way International; Defendant: Carl A. Turner, Sr., Way Ministries Inc. August 8, 2007 The Way International et al v. Executive Risk Indemnity Inc. et al OH Southern Rice Insurance Diversity-Insurance Contract Plaintiff: The Way International, The Way International, Inc.; Defendant: Executive Risk Indemnity Inc., Executive Risk Inc., Chubb & Son, Inc., Baldwin & Whitney Insurance Agency Inc, Acordia Of Ohio LLC and others... July 13, 2007 The Way International v. The Way Ministries, Inc. et al KY Western Simpson Trademark Trademark Infringement Plaintiff: The Way International, Inc.; Defendant: The Way Ministries, Inc., Charles Darnell May 12, 2006 The Way International v. Rose MD Chasanow Copyrights Copyright Infringement August 16, 2005 The Way International v. Gilmore et al TN Western McCalla Copyrights Copyright Infringement

Uh, sorry folks, what's a Troll? What's a Poser? If people look, they will see this site is not just About The Way and there are lots of other interests that people share, generally via threads in Open, where people have enjoyed various things outside TWI mindset. Could the problem be in part that we were so used to "controlling our thinking" (or having it controlled) that once free of that control we splurge all over anything and anyone else, especially in ATW forum?