oldiesman

[snip] Steve!, this thread was not hijacked by me, but by cowards who engage in gossip and false accusations.

It's not your story to tell, yet you don't mind gossipping about it, and trying to use that information for accusatory purposes, right, Rascal?Gee, what a bastion of integrity.

Diazbro, are you kidding or what? Most folks already know me, my name is Phil Polizotto. I was ppolizotto on waydale.com. I am oldiesman here. that's P-H-I-L P-O-L-I-Z-O-T-T-O pjp a.k.a Philip J. Polizotto ok, now its the BRAVE ONE'S TURN... come on, email me and tell me all about your information that's so relevant to this thread.

Protected from who or what? This is intriguing. I'd love to hear from your source of gossip. Perhaps if they're not too cowardly, they can email me at oldiesmanpics@aol.com? Oh Brave soul, come forth and reveal yourself!

Oh so you didn't ignore the doctor, you had free will then. Fantastic! Also, let's be fair. You really can't blame twi (even twi-2) for selfish corps who may not give a rat's butt about you. There are good corps folks, too.

First couple of months I was in the 6 corps, my wisdom teeth had to be removed. They got infected. I don't remember whether I was asked to believe to get healed or ministed to. Probably. But the problem/pain persisted. Did Craig say to ignore the problem? No. He sent me to the dentist. I don't remember who paid for the medication and extractions, but the point is, twi didn't ignore the medical community, as has been alleged TWI does. Doubt if they ever did.

Thanks Galen. Tithing brings wings to life.

Groucho, ha! "we" means me and every other person who freely gave ABS money to twi. Even when they taught that God wouldn't protect you if you don't tithe, it was still up to you to prove it in your life. The choice was yours. I concede I do not speak for those who were forced to give ABS money at gunpoint. Lindyhopper, actually I think it might be fairly easy to prove. I cannot state this for a certainty because I wasn't there, but I heard that at one point in twi-2, twi-2 was pressuring folks to tithe because it is a "household" and they stand together and do the same thing and why wouldn't you want to tithe since this is the prevailing word in God's ministry ? and they kept track and made sure you did. Correct? Well at that point, if you didn't tithe, as far as I know they would ask you to leave. There could be no other way, unless they extract the money from you forcibly.So at the point anybody was really "pressured" to give money, and they refused, they were asked to leave (this was 1990's and beyond). So how do the Peelers get their money back?

Gee, yeah, I wonder why. Those who engage in gossip and murmuring really don't want themselves to be known, lest they be revealed as gossippers and murmurers.

Mr. Hammeroni, I think the vast majority of folks in twi-1 experienced the same good things I did. Bearing witness to those things are another matter. First you have folks who, under any circumstances, do not want to give TWI any benefit of any doubt, they hate the outfit so much. Then there's the many thousands of folks who never post, who we never hear from, who do not have any comment. I know lots of folks like that, who had the same experiences as me, who never post. Just ask yourself why folks stayed for so long. Some 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 years. Folks don't stay that long in a group when there's some good things happening there. I do wish more folks like me would come forward, but then again, they'd be subject to ridicule and criticism from those who hate twi and who wants that.

Rascal, you don't speak for everyone in twi. Who's "us"?With regard to your accusations toward me, if you can't be specific, then all it does is confirm your false accusatory mindset. And it confirms what I say you engage in.

Ok Groucho, UncleHairy?, I will try to address your examples: TWI didn't teach us to ignore the medical community. I don't doubt that some zealots got in leadership positions and said some stupid things, but that's not necessarily what was being promoted at twi. Heck there were medical doctors in TWI, (Rawkins, Winegarner, etc.) Do we ignore them? twi taught that when we are sick, we go to God first, but if that doesn't work, we seek medical attention. This is ridiculous. Those going in the Corps and WOW couldn't be in debt. Therefore if someone was going Corps or WOW and they had a mortgage, they had to get rid of it. If they sold the house, I can see them thinking they should give 10%, although I don't see any mandate, at least in twi-1. Never saw that in twi-1, and it really sounds ridiculous. I knew of many folks who had family members who weren't in twi, and they were never taught to refuse to have any communication with earthy family. TWI did teach not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. But since twi purported to believe the bible, they taught that, and it was up to the individual participant how they wanted to apply that in their situation. You blame twi for something they have no control over. This was the individual's choice. In one sense I see your point because twi was all about "moving the Word" therefore that was the most important and godly thing to do. But it still was the individuals choice and there were plenty of folks who didn't follow that path. I distinctly remember being taught in twi-1 that you should stay with your unbelieving spouse if they want to remain with you. I cannot speak for twi-2. And I doubt seriously if there was just one formula for this problem. Here is the only point I totally agree with you on. Craig & co. was off the wall with this mentality.

Rascal said: Rascal, I'm still waiting for your answer to my questions. What preferential treatment did I receive [edited]? You asserted this in a prior post and I shrugged it off, but since you mention this yet again, I want you to reveal what specific things you're talking about. Mr. Hammeroni, it's not fair or reasonable to conclude that I received preferential treatment, or that protection was purchased on my behalf, based upon one of my family members' employment at twi. If anyone makes those allegations, they need to be specific. Put it on the table and let's see if it withstands scrutiny.I will say this: my whole family was involved in twi. My mother got us in the Word, all of us. That was a blessing, that all of us were involved, and that point alone made my experience more pleasant than others. But that doesn't cover the accusations made on this thread. And, your blanket assumption that whole families were treated better than others because they were somehow "afraid" of losing them is so absurd. And it's insulting to my twig coordinators in NY, who basically had nothing to do with what was going on at hq.

Rascal, yet another false accusation?[edited]

Al, I was about to agree with you, until you typed that last paragraph. But this one is good.I think the Peeler lawsuit is insane and frivilous. You summed it up quite well. Hatred of twi doesn't mean the legal system should be abused in the process.

You folks must have been in a different ministry than I was. I NEVER was discouraged from going to the doctor.

A controversial point seems to be whether she is in a "persistent vegetative state." I read in the paper that one reason why Michael Shiavo wants the autopsy is to prove the vast extent of the brain damage. Seems to me if he was trying to hide something, he wouldn't want the autopsy.

I was fortunate to be involved with excellent twigs and coordinators.

Oh really?, than what does this mean: Oh well Rascal, whatever. Your words speak for themselves. Galen, that makes sense. Corps experiences were much more dramatic and commital than average Joes.

Stella Doro...mmmmmmmmmmm....

Rascal, and you wonder why you are sometimes thought of as a liar? You would do well to speak only for yourself and your experiences, because you can't possibly speak for everyone else. Please get off of your pedestal.

Uncle Hairy, who's "we"? Please speak for yourself and not someone else. The idea that "we" all supposedly experienced all of the above is a bit much.

The worst I ever heard or read was that you owed God the tithe and if you didn't pay, you wouldn't prosper. But, that's still up to the individual to try it to see if it works or not. We can spin this any way we wish, but the bottom line is, we gave money freely. Even if our giving was considered a religious obligation. Even if our giving was considered a way to get God's hedge of protection around us. Individuals had and have the ability not to believe that, and not give. If you didn't want to partake, you didn't have to. That's the whole reason why the Peeler case is so ludicrous. They could have declined to give at any point in the process.

They hang around twi for years, freely give money because they are blessed, but then years later when bad things happen and they don't like what's happening, they sue for their money back. Does that make any sense? UncleHairy, I'm not an attorney but I don't see any real legal basis for this lawsuit. I wonder if something like this would fall into the category of a frivilous lawsuit? Don't know but if I were the judge, I'd think about it. There should be consequences for abuse of the legal system.