waysider

The key to understanding why we put up with this is that leadership made it seem as if WE were the ones who were flawed, not them. We had to persevere to prove ourselves worthy. You probably had somewhat similar experiences in boot camp.

He was transcribing The Grapes of Rats.

As was one of those ignorant, idealistic youths, I resemble that remark.

It's still plagiarism. He didn't cite his sources...ever. Not only that, it's his admission he lied when he said *he took all his books to the dump and relied on what God told him to look at in the Bible. *(That was the point he was trying to make with his phony "snow on the gas pumps" story.)

Yeah, none of us do...which is why you should get to the point. Wierwille was a plagiarist, not just any plagiarist, a hardcore plagiarist. Quite a bit of what he plagiarized has been shown to be scholastically deficient. (That means wrong.) You know it. I know it. Lots of people know it. So, why do you continue to exalt and promote the works of a plagiarist? A brief synopsis will suffice, as I understand the time and energy factors first hand.

Let the records show: It is Mike's contention that Wierwille's books are the result of divine revelation. "Do you think there are any modern God-breathed documents given in modern English? " What I think about that particular concept has no bearing on the topic at hand. I suggest you start a thread that more specifically addresses that question.

What happened to question 1.?

Why not both?

In a nutshell, the *odd* belief that got them kicked out was that Wierwille's so-called research was flawed. (Thou shalt never challenge the word of The Teacher)

Admittedly, this is a bit off topic (aside from establishing the credibility of a source), but you do realize he wasn't really a *Dr.*, don't you?

It's all in how you look at it.

Yes, he seriously said that and meant it. But, hey, he's back again, so maybe he can clarify the issue.

Welcome back, Mike. I'll cut straight to the point. 1.After investing so many years into studying Wierwille's books, are you still of the opinion they are the product of divine revelation? 2. Do you still hold to the assertion that, when Christ returns, He''ll be brandishing a PFAL book in his right hand? 3. Are you still chasing after that elusive *golden pony*? An extensive dissertation is not required, just a simple synopsis will suffice.

Ahh, but here's the rub. In Way World, having such thoughts would be considered thinking evil of your brother, a sign of spiritual weakness and unrenewed mind. You wouldn't want anyone to think you're spiritually weak, now, would you?

HERE

Don't worry, leadership will let you know.

In my opinion, it went downhill pretty fast, as soon as Wierwille saw that he could use it as a marketing tool. As early as the mid 1970's, creativity had been replaced with marketability.

Upper leadership knew the retention rate of new recruits was abysmal. That's why they pushed so hard to run more and more people through the class. It's like fishing. You cast your line countless times in expectation of an eventually successful catch. It also explains why the *donation* (price) fluctuated so widely over the years. It was adjusted to suit whatever the market would bear, not to fill a profit expectation. As recruiters, we were an unpaid sales force, working without commission. Last I heard, The Way is sitting on about a 60 million dollar nest egg. Peanuts in today's economy. Nothing to take lightly, though.

Wierwille said he asked God for a sign regarding the direction of his life and career. The result was an unprecedented snowstorm that was so intense it quickly covered the gas pumps at the filling station across the street. It was recounted in a book called The Way: Living in Love. You can revisit a thread that was devoted to an analysis and review of the book HERE. It's rather lengthy but a good read, nonetheless

"It wouldn’t be hard to find the local lonesome people who need a purpose in life and who have jobs so they can give me 15% of their income." I think this hits on an aspect of The Way that at lot of people miss. It wasn't about the bible. it wasn't about helping others. It wasn't even about the money they made from the class. It was about bringing people to a level of commitment that would have them freely giving 15% (or more) of every paycheck...week after week, month after month, year after year. That was the big plan. (as I see it.)

Cults are unkind and mean. It's the circle of life.

Yes, Allan. There were a few. Not ministry sanctioned, of course. More like renegade believers doing their own thing. I guess you have to expect crazy stuff will happen when you have that many people blindly devoting their lives to a wacky mental process. A couple of the incidents have been talked about here on GSC. I don't have any first hand knowledge. One of the incidents occurred in Norway, I believe. Another happened in one of the southern US states. Someone I knew quite well years ago did confide in me, though, that Way *associates* appeared at his front door, having been dispatched from Int. HQ, and *suggested* he refrain from publically speaking unfavorably about The Way. Am I being vague enough?

Birds of a feather.....ahh, you know the rest.

I remember Fort. He was selling some kind of fuel or oil additive called Steed. He was a twig area coordinator in Wooster, Ohio in the early 1970's. There were 2 small twigs. One was a college twig and the other was comprised of local believers. He was rarely there, though, because he spent all his free time at Int. HQ with his wife-to-be, Cindy (daughter of Howard Allen).

I think the sort of things you're looking for are pretty much scattered about on this site, like one of those glitter bombs that have been in the news. If you have something specific in mind, that would help greatly in finding what you're looking for.