penworks

I hope you're right about current leadership. But I think they have an uphill battle "covering up VPs faults," since there are hundreds of people who can testify to his narcissism, sexual abuse, plagiarism, and other "faults." Some of us speak out. Also, there are countless families with parents from my generation (I was in the Way Corps 1971-73) whose grown children who even have children of their own now, are questioning VPW's teachings. They are turning away from how they were raised to follow VPW's ideology. They are jumping ship and rocking the boat. I hear from them regularly. So, while many of my generation are busy running offshoot-groups or at least continuing to brainwash their kids with VPW's plagiarized bible teachings and derived mumbo jumbo, this next generation is beginning to wake up and leave. They might derail TWI outreach to the extent that it dies out by the time their kids are grown. Or not. Fundamentalist bible cults attract vulnerable people who want easy "answers" in a confusing world. But bad and disconcerting news gets around ... and often makes people stop and think.

First question: answer is NO. Second question: answer is YES. Even up until she died.

Yes, there's that. But more importantly and shockingly is the fact her mom was part of VPW's sex ring, as I call it. The situation of his seducing women is depraved. If my mother had been part of that, I can't imagine how heartsick I would be.

I keep those messages confidential. But one thing I can tell you without naming names is one person asked whether I knew if their mother was one of VPW's "girls." I did and I told that person the truth, which they said they already suspected from comments they'd heard directly from their mother, who was a Corps grad. I also know she solicited other women for VPW. How would you like to hear that about your mother?

Hilarious but seriously sad. In my experience with The Way (1970-1987), Wierwille's suggestions and outright orders amounted to "Do what you're told." Many of us loyalists in The Way Corps derived our willingness to obey Wierwille from our belief that when we did what we were told, we were "obeying God." We believed Wierwille spoke for God. This setup treats mature adults as children. It kept me and other Way Corps especially, stuck in an immature role, not thinking for ourselves, not claiming our own autonomy, not questioning VP. Today, I say he was overbearing and mean. Added to this, Wierwille called us "his kids." He would say it in a charming way, like when we sat around the campfire in the Way Woods down Wierwille Road. We felt like a family then. BUT he was deliberately setting himself up as a father image and we fell for it. Until some of us woke up to the B.S., and that doesn't stand for Boy Scouts :-) WE WERE NOT HIS KIDS. We had our own parents. HE WAS NOT OUR FATHER. HE WAS A CON ARTIST who used us to promote him as a bible authority and get others to support his organization. Can you tell I'm worked up this morning? I'm feeling like this because this week I got more messages from victims of Wierwille's insanity, either in the old days or recently in an off-shoot spawned by Wierwille's twisted beliefs and practices. You may know about the phrase we all used (and MANY innies and off-shoot believers still use): "Dr. Wierwille is our father in the Word." That was so ingrained in many of us (not all) that it locked us into dependence on him, trapped us in a stage of unquestioning obedience to whatever he said the Bible said to do. We also adopted his opinions about the world and how we should behave in it. For instance, he taught that The Way represented God's true household of believers because we had "the accuracy of The Word." That fostered the practice of looking down on outsiders. It made us think we were more "spiritual" than they were and we'd get more rewards in heaven if we remained faithful to The Way (give our time, money, resources). As Greasespotters know, this only breeds haughtiness and unkindness to people who did not follow Wierwille--to say the least. I could go on, but enough already. Have a good day. Charlene L. Edge Author of Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International

Here's a Wayback moment. While writing Undertow, I found the attached TIME article from 1971. Time mag_1971_TWI_VPW.pdf

Hi Greasespotters, Thanks to those of you who took advantage of this special sale on my second book. The sale is over BUT the book is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers. It's also in ebook format. Happy writing!

Today's blog post: Echo in New Knoxville, Ohio: Minister Reads "Undertow" | Charlene L. Edge (charleneedge.com)

From the Porch to the Page: A Guidebook for the Writing Life | Charlene L. Edge (charleneedge.com) Write your story somewhere, somehow, in some way, but write it down, especially for your children and grandchildren. That's why I wrote Undertow: primarily for my daughter. One of my favorite quotes about memoir from Patricia Hampl's book, I Could Tell You Stories: "If we refuse to do the work of creating this personal version of the past, someone else will do it for us. That is the scary political fact. 'The struggle of man against power,' Milan Kundera's hero in The Book of Laughter and Forgetting says, 'is the struggle of memory against forgetting.' He refers to willful political forgetting, the habit of nations and those in power (Question Authority!) to deny the truth of memory in order to disarm moral and ethical power. It is an efficient way of controlling masses of people."

I wrote the following blog September 9, 2015 at https://charleneedge.com Phenomena known as mind-control or brainwashing have been written about by psychologists, sociologists, and many other “ists.” Now it’s my turn. Note: This post was written in 2015, about one year before I published my memoir, Undertow, about my cult experience. My name is Charlene, and I am a former cult-ist The mere fact I am a former cult follower makes some cult researchers consider my testimony as non-objective, which makes what I say at the very least suspect; at most, unreliable. Their suspicions include: I might have an axe to grind. I probably exaggerate. I let my emotions color the real nature of my experience. Okay. Maybe. But show me a 100% objective researcher. No human being can be 100% objective, but I’d like to think I can add valuable insight into how intense indoctrination hijacked the “real me” and in its place substituted a facsimile, at least at the beginning of my seventeen-year long involvement. This alteration of vulnerable youth is covered in the news nowadays. It’s called ISIS recruitment. The group that altered my identity was The Way International, a fundamentalist cult. Ever since I left in 1987 I’ve been examining what happened to me, what transpired during that era of my journey on the planet. What did it all mean? I’ve written an entire book about this, a memoir I’ve finished and yet to have published. He lost me to a cult Doing research about how the indoctrination that I underwent changed my identity, I asked one person still alive who witnessed the dramatic change in me up-close—my former boyfriend, Rob Ruff. We were together the summer of 1970, just before I went off to college where the cult, founded by Victor Paul Wierwille, recruited me. I broke up with Rob because he would not adopt my cult’s beliefs. Much later, Rob worked in television and became a senior news producer for a major network. He is well acquainted with interviewing people and portraying their stories. We’ve had dinner twice within the last three years and discussed those old times. Here are a few snippets from Rob’s account of me before The Way’s influence and then after I spent three months on The Way’s Ohio farm in 1971 for a 24/7 summer school program of indoctrination into beliefs claimed to be “the accuracy of the Word,” the Bible. Rob writes: “The Charlene I remembered pre-Wierwille was an engaging, bright-eyed, flexible teenager who fit in seamlessly with all around her. There was nothing rigid, obstinate, single or closed-minded about her. It was clear there was a bright bulb inside that was reflected in a personality that fit well within the boundaries of ‘normal.'” “…That August [after Charlene went to Way summer school] our reunion started out well enough, but once religion and The Way took center stage everything changed. You seemed to erect an invisible wall of silence and detachment from the subject at hand—and from me. It was as though someone had taken over your body and transformed you into a single-minded person incapable of normal or ever any interaction with anyone except fellow believers…I was speaking to a wall…the brightness and life that I remembered was replaced by detachment.” He wrote more about this that I plan to use in a longer article, but for now, in light of recent news stories about the power of ISIS to brainwash vulnerable and disaffected young men and women around the world, I felt it was important to address this subject. It is real. It happened to me. Mind control happens Brainwashing happens out of the mainstream, but powerful sociopaths can and do grab a person’s mind when that mind is susceptible and yearning for certainty in a confusing world. Usually the powerful influencer makes appealing promises, like rewards in the afterlife. We see ISIS terrorists on T.V. almost every day grabbing recruits and turning them into killing machines. And we don’t have to look far into the past to find Hitler’s Youth amassing. I’ve been to Germany. I saw the Dachau ovens. We’ve promised ourselves, NEVER AGAIN. The question is: how well are we paying attention to that promise? Cults destroy cherished ideals In his New York Times article, ISIS and the Curse of The Iraq War, John Cassidy asks, “What explains the reluctance among politicians to consider confronting, head-on, a movement that has been intent on eradicating ideals that the United States and its allies hold dear?” Are we too overwhelmed by and under-educated about ISIS to dismantle it? I just don’t know. I do know that there are destructive cults in our own country that eradicate ideals, like free speech and respect for all civil rights that we hold dear. They don’t go around beheading in the name of God like ISIS, but predatory cults can still form non-profit organizations and can get away with unsavory, even criminal acts. Like changing people’s identity. Until someone blows the whistle. Where are the whistles? By: Steven Depolo How do we deal with the single-mindedness I had that Rob described? I exhibited it AFTER I’d been under the influence of a charismatic authoritarian. Victor Paul Wierwille, founder of The Way, was so powerful that he led me to abandon ideals my country holds dear, like freedom of speech and the democratic value of debating ideas, not insisting you have all the right ones. In the cult, I spoke only “the Word” as defined by Wierwille. I derided anyone who did not believe as I did. I de-valued them. I hurt, abandoned, and confused my friends and family. What’s good about that? The good news is that mind control can be undone, but it is not easy. A person has to wake up. This occurs in different ways for different people, if it does at all. Some people never leave cults. For the most part, education was the catalyst that helped me regain some semblance of my old self. After I escaped the cult, I finished my college education and made new friends—ones who loved me for who I was. Identity theft by any destructive cult is something to worry about, something to derail whenever possible. It is real, but it is not always permanent. Returning to interests, hobbies, and people you love helps recovery. For people born into a cult, the task is harder. There is no pre-cult identity to regain. I know some of those people and believe me, they are scarred in ways I am not. I’m grateful I retrieved some sense of the person I was pre-Way (only wiser, I hope!) I’ve tried to get that bright bulb burning again. Many kind and loving people have helped me do it. So has education. Light dispels darkness. Knowledge is power. Critical thinking is essential. Love mends minds. Rob writes: “And by the way, the person I know today in no way resembles the one from 1971!” Two helpful books Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships by Janja Lalich and Madeline Tobias Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steven Hassan ***** You are invited to subscribe to these posts by entering your email address in one of the Subscribe to Updates boxes at this site. I never will sell or share your email address. See you next time.

When folks read the subtitle of Undertow, I sometimes get asked what I mean by Fundamentalism. They think only of the cult aspects of TWI, not the foundation it was built on, which was VPW's use of a fundamentalist view of Scripture. Much of it he plagiarized from work of other fundamentalists. Here's one of many blogs I've written about this: https://charleneedge.com/whats-on-the-menu-fundamentalism-basics/

Okay, I'll say here that I'm agnostic. Here's the scoop: https://charleneedge.com/charlenes-post-cult-nonreligious-alternative/

Update on this offer: There seems to be trouble with making payments to my account on Venmo. So, if anyone wants a signed copy at $15, free shipping, payment would need to be by check or money order. Supplies are running low. Email me at crledge@earthlink.net

Yes, you're right, Charity. Good memory! In the paperback, the scene is in chapter 37, "Not So Good," on page 289.

Hi Greasespotters! Today on my blog at https://charleneedge.com: From “The Snow Story” to “The Comment” by Charlene L. Edge | posted in: Writing Undertow | Hi subscribers! Amazingly, Undertow’s 7th birthday is this November. One way I’m celebrating is by sharing extra bonus material with you that’s related to my cult story, such as the book review below. I’ll do this until Nov. 1st. On that day, you’ll [subscribers to my blog] receive a special post offering free copies of Undertow. So, stay tuned. Meanwhile … Today’s extra bonus I’m very happy and humbled to share another unsolicited review of my memoir, Undertow. This one is from a former follower of The Way International named Buck Dopp. I met Buck and his wife in California many years ago when my then-husband and I were leaders for The Way. They were and still are among the kindest folks you’ll ever meet. From “The Snow Story” to “The Comment” A review of Charlene Edge’s memoir, Undertow In her exciting new memoir, Undertow, Charlene Edge records her real-life roller coaster ride when a Bible fundamentalist cult, The Way International, recruited and trained her to be one of its elite leaders in the Way Corps. For the next 17 years, her major life decisions were dictated or influenced by the Way’s teachings and her fear that disloyalty would engender severe consequences. Edge’s story details, step-by-step how the naïve freshman from Salisbury, MD who simply wants to know and serve God, is recruited by a fellow student at East Carolina University to a Way fellowship. She soon takes the Way’s Power for Abundant Living Class taught by founder and leader Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille who convinces Edge and her fellow converts that his research—by comparing ancient texts—has uncovered the inerrant and original Word of God. Wierwille’s miracle, which Edge calls “The Snow Story” confirms her emotions and soon her life has only one major purpose: to spread Wierwille’s Word of God over the world. Friends and family warn her along the way and in time she discovers the clues—-like “The Comment”—that lead to the realization that she has made a mistake. But how can she escape? Her writing style is generously seasoned with metaphors to complement the crisp details she is able to provide thanks to her meticulous journals and notebooks faithfully recorded during that period. Despite the length of time covered, the book is fast paced. Edge senses when defining moments need to be zoomed in on, and when other periods can be summarized. In the middle of the story, the reader forgets he or she is reading a book and it feels more like watching reality TV. The people in Undertow are multi-dimensional and she paints them with depth and color. The exception is her ex-husband whose deeds and misdeeds are brought into the story as needed without insight into his motivations. Edge guesses where he is coming from, but doesn’t know for sure. He’s a supporting actor, not a main character in this marriage which seems secondary to Edge’s primary relationships in her ministry work and special friendships. Undertow is a lively story and a cautionary tale for the youth who want to search for truth and then save the world. They may end up sacrificing their time, energy and money in the process. The money can be replaced, but the time is gone forever. What glitters isn’t always gold and as Edge discovers, the Word of God may not really be the true Word of God and therefore not the Will of God either. ~ Buck Dopp, former follower of The Way International —END— Next time on the blog “The Faulty Foundation of The Way International” Thanks for reading! Your writer on the wing, Charlene

On this topic ... TWI is using the same phrase, The Jesus Christ Revolution. 81st Anniversary Celebration Updates - The Way International News and Events I never thought I'd see the day when TWI was still grinding out the same old VPW teachings and pulling in the cash. Will this never END?

Ten days left to order your personalized, signed copy of From the Porch to the Page Email me at crledge@earthlink.net In the Subject line, write PORCH. I’ll reply with specific instructions. Offer ends: September 30, 2023 Description: From the Porch to the Page: A Guidebook for the Writing Life is Charlene L. Edge’s most recent book—a delightful multi-genre collection with something for every reader and writer. Edge’s prose is crisp and to-the-point, her voice discerning yet collegial, speaking friend-to-friend, as she shares stories, realizations, and moments of beauty. At the heart of the collection are more than thirty short essays, containing insights into the writing craft, practical exercises, marketing tips, self-publishing advice, and recommendations of books on topics to nourish the emotional and intellectual lives of writers. As well as exploring beloved authors and poets, Edge includes her own work to illustrate and enrich her essays: short-short stories about a character, Melanie Craven, who falls into sticky but enlightening predicaments; poems on themes of growth, love, loss, nature, travel, and being a writer; and a short story about her cult experience predating her award-winning, book-length memoir Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. Beginning with “Readers Become Writers” and ending with “If You Want to Keep Writing,” Edge’s encouraging and gentle book guides us on a journey from porches to pages, as she highlights the vistas, detours, and delights on the writing path, along with truths we can all apply to poetry, prose, and life.

I don't have answers to these questions about what current numbers might be. Perhaps someone who has left the organization recently might know. Is there anyone like that who is reading this?

Sorry, no, I haven't.

Part of TWI's history, in my view, is how a uniquely American belief helped shape VPW's teachings: that America was founded to be a Christian nation. About 35 years ago, I examined this belief in a paper I wrote for a creative writing class at what was then called Valencia Community College in Orlando, FL. I've posted it here for anyone interested in the fundamentalist aspect of TWI. Note - my name at the time I wrote the paper was Charlene Bishop. I was still married to my first husband, T*m Bish*p, from the Rye, NY fellowship. We married the day after we graduated from the Second Corps in 1973. In Undertow, I gave Tim the alias of Ed. We divorced in 1991. Cheers! Fund to Freedom_C_Edge.pdf

Thanks, Nathan.

I listened to her story and applaud her courage. Can someone find the other thread where we discussed the other podcast she is on? There are some good comments there. I remember in that thread sharing that in my experience (1970-87) the "holy kiss" was on the cheek and we absolutley NEVER taught our children to kiss adults on the mouth! For my own recorded presentation, view here: CHARLENE L. EDGE --Author "A Cult Insider's Story" - YouTube

Not quiet on my Way front. Every month Undertow is sold somewhere in the world according to sales reports I get from my book printer/distributor IngramSpark. And messages from readers continue to amaze me, especially from people from my daughter's generation. Some as young as 35. Anyway, you'd be surprised how and where word has spread about the cult called The Way International. Keep sharing your story, fellow Greasespotters. Word gets around. BTW, The International Cultic Studies Association sells Undertow in their bookstore.

Rocky, we know there can't be intellectual honesty when there's an agenda to protect. The biblical agenda was that VPW got that special revelation, remember? I call it the Snow Story. God told VP that He would teach VP the Word like it hadn't been known since the first century if he would teach it to others. And the rest of the agenda, in my opinion, has to do with upholding the belief that the original text had no contradictions. Right. And how would you know you have recovered the orignal text if there is no original text in existence to compare your findings to? Anyway, right, Chockull, what could go wrong? It was wrong from the beginning, in my view, since VPW stole most of his work from others, etc., and had an ego that wouldn't stand others usurping his power. What a mess he created. And the mess continued. In Undertow, I cite a letter VPW wrote to the Way Corps about a mess he created when members of the 8th Corps challenged his "biblical research," especially his gross ignorance and lack of understanding about what the Aramaic version (actually Syriac, but that's another story) was all about. He kicked them out of The Way Corps training in Emporia and they never returned.

In my experience, I met plenty of "older adults" in TWI 1970 - 1987. What I realized after escaping and reflecting on who they were, it became clear to me that none of them were equipped to challenge VPW on his teachings because they, like most of us younger ones, readily accepted the basic assumptions that VP based his biblical beliefs on: the inerrancy of scripture, the cannon of the KJV, and that Christianity was the only avenue to reach "God." And VP was good at deflecting questions. No serious scholars that I know of took PFAL. There were a few ministers, but they didn't stick around long.