Nero

My mom used to think that we had the power to cast devils out of people. She thought she cast one out of a dog. When my dad was dying our family friend thought it would be a good idea to push down on my fathers chest (he had chest compressions). I was so ....ed off at him). He thought he could do some healing touch garbage, Someone tried to cast devils out of my spouse and I. It was hilarious listening to "in the name of Jesus Christ leave this person!" The reason they thought we were possessed? We were visiting my brother and they thought we were a bad influence on him. They didn't want us there.

I have the NAB and another translation my friend gave me that I can't remember off the top of my head. It was so wonderful getting to read them. I've not quite gotten through the Old Testament yet but I actually understood what I read.

I'm getting a bit better at talking with mom about the TWI stuff. I'm trying to explain to her that I don't think everyone in TWI is evil and stupid. I just don't believe what they are saying and the organization is pretty manipulative (in the nicest way possible). I believe we will still have more conversations in the future but I'm trying to get better at talking with her.

Happy New Year. :D

Growing up I never knew how much my parents spent sending me through those classes. Hundreds of dollars each time. In my short life I went through 5 versions of the foundational class. PFAL. 3 intermediate? Plus a few others. Christian family and sex? I think I took that 4 times. I even went to the advanced class. Which cost at least a k. All of it was the same crap over and over. I remember going to the AC - thinking they might talk about something new - nope. Same stuff I heard in fellowship. I wondered why I was even there.

That and she thinks they are the only ones who are right about anything scripture wise. It's been so great being out of the way. For the first time in my life I've actually been reading the bible. I can actually read it in a more understandable translation too. Growing up in TWI we could only read it in the KJV. And only the select chapters and verses TWI would let you.

My mom - I believe - enjoys how effortless it is to make "friends" in TWI. After going to church and making almost no effort to make friends (you have to try and talk with people) the smallness of TWI makes her more comfortable being friendly. The problem is - is these "friends" aren't really friends. If you make friends at a church and are actual friends with them - they aren't going to shun you if you leave their church. Unless it's another cult of course. She has only really seemed interested in other cult like organizations. We left after Rosalie was in for a few years. I often wonder what that particular mog is like. Is she still in charge?

Isn't that weird? It's like an abused spouse: "But s/he hardly beats me anymore!" It's something they have been saying for years. After CM left they acted like everything was super great. It never was and it's still justas awful. I'm so glad the old man died - if not god know how long my parents would have stayed on staff if he had lived longer.

I'll be alright. I'm just being mopey - but I will probably take you up on that waysider. Man... We live so far away from any fellowship. I was so hopeful that I wouldn't ever have to deal with them again. Haha.

1. I can now say Merry Christmas instead of "Ho Ho Day" 2. I can have gay friends and not be to a cult that thinks they should die. 3. I have a wonderful spouse and son. :) Neither of which has to go to "fellowship." My sons childhood will be about 100 yikes better for it. This should have been #1 but I'm too lazy to retype this. 4. I can use the word "creative" without someone telling me "only god can create." 5. I don't have to "abundantly share" - I can give what I want when I want. 6. I can go to different churches and not act/think like a smug douche know-it-all. Happy New Year everyone!

It's been a long time. :)/> I thought my family and I had gotten away from TWI a few years ago. Now my brother and mom are being dragged back into it... Quite willingly. Mom was going to a church for a while - I was so excited for her. I was feeling so close to her after years of feeling my parents had chosen TWI over me. They had let the adult members of "fellowship" treat me like dirt growing up. At least I was only bullied and subjected to years of mental and sometimes physical abuse. I never was sexually abused thank god. But they knew it was happening (even though mom denied it). My dad was the one who finally chose his family over that cult. I finally got away in my twenties. Now they are going back. Every time they mention TWI - I can feel my heart rate go up and I get so frustrated. It wouldn't bother me so much if they would just go and leave me out of it. Instead they bring up their doctrine with me all the time like I'm supposed to agree with them. :(/> Telling me everything has gotten better. How wrong my way of thinking is. The whole song and dance. After leaving TWI I had a crisis of faith - it's so hard for me to even believe in God. I felt so betrayed and lied to. I'm thinking of trying to go to a church now. It is trinity based so my family is having a fit about it. I told my mother once - isn't it better that I believe in god at all? Having told her a long time ago that I didn't even believe in god. I think she was just upset - but she said something along the lines of I might as well be dead if I believed it. Maybe she was just thinking of herself but the way she worded it - it just made me sad. My feelings are so hurt. I love her. I love my family. I'm so worried things are going to get worse and worse between us. I don't want my son hearing her talk about how TWI is the only true religion - or how crazy I am for my beliefs. I feel like I've been rambling. Sorry, not sure what point I was trying to make. I'm just so sick of dealing with them and had to tell someone before I exploded.

Cheese Rap: These guys make such cute videos and songs hehe. XP I'm still not sure how to post videos so they show up on the forum without following a link.

Hehe - maybe this thread is not for me because I am only 26 and I have a college education? ;) My mother is out and she is now getting her college education in her 50's as well. This is going to sound weird - bear with me - but I've been thinking about it and I'm a little worried about where I would be if my parents HADN'T gotten into TWI. No I don't think I learned any life lessons or that TWI has done ANYTHING for me but cause me heartache... but my mother and father when they were younger were very attracted to cults - my mother still is to an extent - she is still looking for that "we all have to think the same way" culty sort of church. I keep thinking what if they got into something else that was a little more tight-knit that TWI? *shudder* Like one of those cults that have ALL their members in a camp forever and ever not just a couple weeks or years? I do think it would have been different if my parents had stayed at headquarters. I would have gotten the trapped in cultsville life. Ugh. I just don't know how it would have worked out if VP or LCM had demanded that everyone live in headquarters. Ugh - so creepy. Ok - I'm rambling... but I am exhausted. That and I watched a cult documentary today. Do you guys ever watch those and think to yourself - well at least I didn't have to drink the poisoned punch? Blah! Rambling again! I don't think I would be anywhere different. My parents wanted me to get an education and despite all of TWI's beatchy don't-go-to-college-or-you'll-become-gay crapola - they sent me. Now if I had stayed in it probably would have messed up my life... if I had to go to fellowships all the darned time and had to endure anymore verbal abuse instead of getting to study I'm sure my grades would have slipped. Edited: because I totally missed the question! Dur! *bonks head*

That's awful. They did all that research to find your posts on a forum and did nothing to actually answer your questions or fix (or at least LOOK at) their own flawed docterine. Since when was their moto to agree with everything someone says because they say it? I thought the whole point of the ministry was to REASEARCH and FIX stuff if they found something wrong - not just keep the same stagnant crud year after year. Ugh.

I always had fun at the RoA - I was still a kid at the time mind ya. My dad used to cook at one of the burger shacks and even though he did it for free (he volunteered) he had a great time doing it. I remember getting to see a lot of my friends there and we would go to the playgrounds or ride the train. The food was great too and during the night meetings we all sat outside the tent on a blanket and I got to play with my cousin. My mother really loved it too because she got to see all her old friends that had moved away. I freaking cried when they canceled it! I honestly think that RoA was the only fun/good thing about being in TWI. It was like you were going on vacation with all of your friends.

That almost sounds like stalking someone or at the very least invading their privacy. Why don't you just ask them yourselves? I have a few friends who have access to information like that. Sometimes when they offer to look info up for me or someone else it sort of freaks me out and ....es me off. I always politely decline but I can't help but think they are taking their position way too lightly. I worked at a school and I had access to student's grades, schedules, socials and tax information etc etc etc... I don't think anyone would have liked it if I just handed out that info like candy. BTW - They actually don't mind you buying homes anymore either even if he doesn't own his - before I stopped talking to my friend she said they were looking into purchasing a house. However - I do KNOW they still cling to that like-minded nonsense that absolutely keeps them from accepting you on any level unless you look like you are heading in the same direction they are.

It was pretty tough for me to deal with at first. I kept thinking to myself: if there is a God - would he ever forgive me for being a part of such a thing? All that money I gave, all the support, the people I talked to, the way I thought when I was younger... it's really sickening. I have forgiven mysef since then though. It's like feeling guilty about giving money to an agency that promises to take care of homeless animals and finding out later they were just putting them down by the dozens. You feel bad you contributed to the monster - but you weren't aware of it and you certainly were never physically involved in the slaughter. The only thing I could really do was STOP feeding the monster. I'm just glad it's over now... and they definitely won't be getting anymore of my money or time.

The M&A is not really in effect. My family can come and go as they please and we haven't given abs in years or really heavily involved. I know I sure haven't! My little brother goes when he wants and they don't get hiffy. My mom was just at headquarters with my dad's ashes and she hasn't done anything remotely TWIish in a while. She did go back to fellowships until just a couple months ago. I don't think TWI can afford to be snooty "get outta my club house" brats anymore. Although if I am a guessing woman I would say that if one went to one of their fellowships and act like an arse then you will probably get kicked out. Sort of like if you went into ANY church and acted out that you would asked to leave. ... But they are still crazy. ;)

I said other because I was born into it - so any interest I had in the Bible was really just crammed down my throat. I guess when I was very little I thought everything was pretty fun because my parents protected me and we were in a nice area with other families and their children. In that sort of environment it was a little easier to enjoy myself and "learn" stuff. Once I got out I had some passing fancy to look into the Bible for myself (pretty funny considering we were all supposed to be researchers eh?) - until I just gave up on it all together. I guess I'm just having a hard time believing any of it right now. It just seems like a waste of time.

Sundays were a pain but I hated the nights. Mostly because they were during school nights and the teachers had absolutely no compassion for those of us who had to wake up at 6 AM or earlier. They just droned on with the same freaking 2-3 hour long fellowships that once went on to 10:30 or 11:00 and we had to drive home afterwards. Ugh. I agree with everyone about having the same teaching over and over. Boring. It was hard being a kid - then teenager trying to pretend like it was interesting because you just knew if you didn't your parents and you were going to get screamed at because us kids were uncontrollable, stupid teens or just plain rude for not hanging on their every freaking word.

I finally got a chance to listen to the interviews - she is so quiet I can barely hear her at full volume in a silent room. It sounds so interesting I think I'll pick up a copy once I get a job. I know so very little from that era in TWI (in detail) that isn't sugar coated. It also sounds like a good read. I wonder if anyone wrote a book about more recent events though? Ones with Mr. M and later? Is there one? VP is so before my time that even though I can relate a little since we were in the same cult it's hard to feel incredibly betrayed by someone that died almost right after I was born.

Really? XP Couldn't they have put the foot thing on a mat or something rather than the toilet seat? It seems like a lot of hassel... and it's creepy. I tried doing a search on it because I wanted to see what it looks like but I just ended up with this thing: link: http://www.geekologie.com/2008/03/washing_...et_combo_sa.php

It's pretty easy to remember the good times with my dad hehe - since there are very little good times to be had at the moment. I think things seemed to just get worse and worse as time progressed. Things still aren't all that good - but maybe they'll be better soon and I guess it could be worse. I just really miss him still. I keep thinking of things he would say in certain situations or how he would help us out if we needed it. It just really sucks without him here. Sorry about your loss as well Jeffso. =( I have so many friends now around my age or younger that are losing their parents. It's sad - I always thought I would have my dad for at least a few more years.

How sweet of them to treat you that way. Very loving.