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SPECIAL NEWS: November 18th is International Cult Awareness Day | Charlene L. Edge

Undertow: Happy 8th Birthday | Charlene L. Edge

My experiences as a Way Corps leader back in the 1970s and 1980s included providing those "perks" for VPW that WordWolf mentioned. So WordWolf is not making up what he posted. That is the kind of man he was. Take those perks, drink that booze, sexually assault women and get away with it. Too many women have told me their stories, independently from one another, not to believe that is true. So that is the man that followers of The Way even TODAY praise as a "great man of God." Actions speak louder than words ...

Socks, your phrase "external contact" jumps out at me. In my Way experience, the purpose of engaging with people who were not involved in The Way was to recruit them into it. Not be influenced by them to the point that you'd leave The Way or try to change it. Since there were thousands of us involved over many years, there are probably many variations on this theme of "external exposure." Here's a link to what I wrote about things to consider when evaluating Way stories. REVISED Speaking of "Way" Stories ... | Charlene L. Edge (charleneedge.com) Cheers!

Hello, Greasespotters, This week is another anniversary for Undertow: in 2016, I was working with my editor on the final copy. In celebration, I thought I'd post something from the book. Enjoy. The following is the Preface to Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. By Charlene L. Edge In its heyday in the 1980s, The Way International was one of the largest fundamentalist cults in America, with about forty thousand followers worldwide.1 Founded in 1942 by a self-proclaimed prophet, Victor Paul Wierwille (1916–1985), who marketed the group as a biblical research, teaching, and fellowship ministry, The Way still operates in the shadow of its dark history. I knew Wierwille personally. As one of his biblical research assistants and ministry leaders, I am a witness to his charisma, as well as his abuse of power and manipulation of Scriptures to serve his own agenda. I discovered his sexual abuse of women and chronic plagiarism. Today, those underbelly facts are hidden, denied, or otherwise squelched. The years of Wierwille’s authoritarian reign and the chaos after his death provide the context of my story. In 1987, after seventeen years of commitment to The Way, my life was a wreck. I rejected Wierwille’s ideology, escaped, and resumed my education. At Rollins College, my essay “Somewhere between Nonsense and Truth” laid the foundation for “An Affinity for Windows,” a short memoir in Shifting Gears: Small, Startling Moments In and Out of the Classroom. These writings are woven into this book. My recruitment story is included in Elena S. Whiteside’s book, The Way: Living in Love.2 This book is a memoir. It is my recollection of events related to the best of my knowledge and ability. The story’s crucial facts are true. Some events and conversations are combined in the interest of storytelling. Besides my memory and bits from others’ memories, my sources include my extensive collection of notes, journals, letters, calendars, books, newspapers, photographs, and copies of The Way Magazine. Names in this story that I have not changed, besides mine, are those of current or former public figures in The Way International: leaders at the state level or higher, Way trustees, and a few members of The Way’s Biblical Research Department. For privacy reasons, other identities have been changed or are composites. I recognize that others’ memories or interpretations of the events I describe herein may be different from my own. My book is not intended to hurt anyone. This is a recollection of life in a cult that in recent years has become a topic of public interest. My title invites the question, what makes The Way International a fundamentalist cult? Here is the crux of my answer: Wierwille believed in scriptural inerrancy, a cornerstone of Christian fundamentalism. As the biblical scholar James Barr tells us: “It is this function of the Bible as supreme religious symbol that justifies us in seeing fundamentalism as a quite separate religious form.”3 The Way International is also a cult, or at least was while I was in it. I use the definition of cult I found on The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) website: “An ideological organization held together by charismatic relationships and demanding total commitment.”4 Scripture quoted in this book is from the King James Version of the Bible. Any errors of fact, interpretation, or judgment in this book are my sole responsibility. I hope you enjoy reading my story. Charlene Edge Winter Park, Florida October 2016 Notes Preface 1. Author Karl Kahler states, “Cult numbers are notoriously hard to pin down, and are often inflated by anti-cult writers more concerned with sounding the alarm than checking the facts. Many writers have claimed The Way had 100,000 members, as if everyone who ever took the class were still a member. Around 1982, when [Craig] Martindale [second president of The Way International] was marching in Ontario and Way leaders were talking to the press, I heard consistently that we were claiming to have 40,000 members.” Karl Kahler, The Cult That Snapped: A Journey into The Way International (Los Gatos, CA: Karl Kahler, 1999), 110. See also: Zay N. Smith, “The Way—40,000 and Still Growing,” Chicago Sun-Times, Aug. 17, 1980. 2. Elena S. Whiteside, The Way: Living in Love. (New Knoxville, Ohio: American Christian Press, 1972), 142–149. 3. James Barr, Fundamentalism (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1978) 37. 4. The definition of cult is taken from “Cults: Theory and Treatment Issues,” a paper presented by Rutgers University professor Benjamin Zablocki at a conference on May 31, 1997; cited in Michael D. Langone, “Cults, Psychological Manipulation, and Society: International Perspectives— An Overview,” Cultic Studies Journal 18 (2001), 1–12. http://www .icsahome.com/articles/cultspsymanipsociety-langone.

No, she is not related to them. I asked her.

That substack by Liz Childers is remarkable in that she shows so well what her cult experience was like and how it continues to affect her today. She writes in such a brave, down-to-earth way, with clarity and deep understanding. Cheers to Liz! Charlene

Welcome to GSC, WayKid2019. I hope you find lots of helpful info here to add to your healing journey!

Regarding your 2. In my view, loyalty to TWI is such that it very much warrants grave concern to anyone who understands what loyalty to TWI involves at this stage of its game. To still be loyal to TWI, from my viewpoint after 17 years experience of it up close, includes turning a blind eye to (or denying or making excuses for) the abuse of people and Scripture by its founder, VPW, who they continue to laud as their great man of God who taught "the accuracy of The Word." There's been more than enough evidence shown that he plagiarized-- stole -- a great deal of those teachings. So if you're loyal to TWI, in my view that's the stuff you're loyal to. What does that say about such people?

In the mid 1980s while I was on staff at TWI HQ, I knew Rev. Bill Greene, but not well enough to sit down and have a conversation with. He was always polite to me but that was it. He was a total loyalist, as far as I could tell, even back then. I had known his wife, Marcia, since the 1970s, because we were both at HQ for summer school, etc. back then. Around the time I went in the Second Corps, Sept. 1971, VPW sent her on a special roving WOW Ambassador Overseer assignment with a guy named Steve Aldridge (he had a brother named Mike). She and Steve were both from N.C. They traveled around the country in a camper doing PR for WOWs and "undersheparding them." She was originally from the ECU fellowship in Greenville, NC, where I was recruited in 1970, a short time after she left. If memory serves me well, she lived in the ECU Way Home when the Sommervilles (VP's daughter, Mary, and her husband John Sommerville) lived in the house and "trained" future Way leaders. After the Sommervilles left, John and Pat Lynn moved in and did that job. They were there when I was recruited (see Undertow). Anyhow, fast forward to 1986 at HQ. Marcia and Bill were Corps leaders at HQ. When I helped one of the research guys with an Aramaic class for the in-rez Corps, Marcia was around and I remember an issue with her criticizing the research guy for going home on the weekend to visit his "earthly" family rather than stick around for some event at HQ. She said something like, Well, that shows where his loyalties are. That is something I never forgot.

I found this in my files. Time Magazine 09-1971.pdf

Something I learned after leaving TWI is that fundamentalists who cling to the non-negotiable notion that the gospels should not contradict each other (which comes from the belief in inerrancy) will come up with ludicrous interpretations like four crucified. They disregard the fact that each gospel stands on its own. And in case you don't know, each gospel was written loooong after the events it describes. And the gospels were written long after Paul wrote his letters, too. Sometimes I wonder how people woud view the N.T. if the order of the books were put in order of when they were written. That would result in the gospels coming AFTER Paul's epistles. If you're super interested in this topic, check out Fundamentalism by James Barr. And excellent books on the history of the N.T. texts are available by Bart Ehrman. They are easy to read, too!

No. It's too big.

The cover of The Toldeo Blade Sunday magazine, March 26, 1972. BEYOND YUK! Just FYI: I also have a PDF of that LIFE Magazine article, but it's too large to post here. The date of it is May 14, 1971. The cover has a photo of Carol Burnett on it. The article inside on The Way is titled, "The Groovey Christians of Rye, N.Y." by Jane Howard. With that article is a photo of VPW on his motorcycle, but it's a bit different than this one. Next to the photo is this: "My vision," Way founder Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille likes to say, "is for the world! We're growing faster than we know how to handle." He made his first triumphal trip to Rye, from Ohio, on a motorcycle."

Today I again spoke with a religion class at Rollins College. Students were assigned to read Undertow and we discussed it. Attached is a handout I gave them to help them understand cults. Feel free to pass it along to others. Cheers, Charlene Cult info flyer-student version_r1.pdf