chockfull

I guess this is what happens when the Word first interprets itself but then it doesn’t for everyone. I guess we all can’t have Timothy statues of us or the lobbies would be filled to overflowing like Mars hill. Is this where paint by numbers meets the face in the hat interpretation like Joseph Smith? Trust me. No not if you’re a butcher a lawyer or a preacher lol.

Thx for the interview links C. They are interesting reads and I appreciate you doing them and sharing them. I personally strongly connected with the feeling of getting my kids out from the influence of TWI for their lives and am thankful they have grown up outside that influence and are free to seek life liberty and the pursuit of happiness unencumbered by the bondage elements from a cult that I was faced with.

Well if a music coordinator mentioned it, then the T7TMOG must be a thing. We’ve gotta hurry and reprogram all the clone armies to imprint T7TMOG on their foreheads I mean memory cards so that they will do no harm to the T7TMOG. Then the empire will be saved. That will be $100 for the printing session. Mogadishu mentalata ensalada lo shonta! Will there be a T7TMOG t shirt run so the faithful can purchase a momento?

Man this is like a 20 yr old thread LOL. What is all the 7th man of God nonsense? I mean people like lists and who are the preceding 6 then? Larry,Mo,Curly,Shep? And Batman and Robin? Lo shonta Mogadishu slap u ? And man a 20 year aged Georgio Jessio? Has to be the best username eva. all my best to all the MOGFODATlets out there - making the world turn around them one day at a time!

If “Drs Last Teaching” were lost for another 17 years what’s the probability that anyone except the thread starter here will actually give a shiz?

I just wanted to burn a post to say that my give-a-shiz meter has not wandered above zero. As you stated you can find community among the pro Plaffy Facebook groups and other places. Here on a thread about escaping fundamentalism and cult control you are not going to find community by embracing fundamentalism and cult control. But that hasn’t stopped you so far.

Other religions don’t try to “sell” a DIY Bible that “interprets itself” and then bait and switch for a totalitarian environment where the top dogs dictate the interpretation with no tolerance for questioning. Many other religions have deep tolerance for others and inclusion of others. Many religions welcome the questioning of faith and beliefs. The ones that do not are pretty much the large cults. The same ones with an imbalance of power and plenty of unwritten rules for followers to trip over.

Here’s an interesting thought. Of the two accounts written of TWI history during that timeframe - 70s - early Way Corps - research department - one of them was written by an inspired author wanting to journal, tell her story, and heal, The other one was more of a coerced account - Dottie really had little motivation to write or finish Born Again To Serve. The project drug out for years and the finished result you can see basically she filled in about 80 percent of the content with scrapbook type material and basic facts as opposed to really telling a story. One can be bought in the bookstore. The other if on your shelf would be a reason for disciplinary action. Nobody wins Pulitzer Prizes under a communist government regime.

“I see a massive number of massively blessed for all eternity people. They keep popping up everywhere”. The largest number of people I have ever heard remotely involved with TWI in numbers was someone said one time maybe 100,000 people took PFAL and had their names in “the book of life” TWIs membership computer named egocentric resource. Realistic resources place numbers more around the 10,000 number for the US and scarce pockets outside of this. That’s probably generous counting the number who regularly attend and subscribe to tapes and magazines. Compared to this, Mormons spout off an 18 million person membership. That’s probably high as they count non attending members. The Jehovahs Witness group claims maybe half that amount and that’s who they have doing “pioneering” or D2D witnessing and cart work. There were never “massive amounts of people” anywhere anytime ever in TWI. It is and always has been a small nondescript cult in rural Ohio. Local churches have memberships in the same numbers as the whole entire TWI in all of its 1,2,3,4 glory. Actually in numbers between 1 and 2 they lost 80% of followers and have never returned to anything near those TWI - 1 numbers. They survive off an excess from that time once shown as $65 million. They never publish finances so who knows what shenanigans go on there. People don’t hide things they are proud of though. This fictional “massive amounts of people” is wishful thinking. There are Facebook groups with maybe 1000 members. But mostly it is a small group in every state or nation and unknown to the local Christian community in any sense. Except some still remember Wierwille and react extremely negatively to his name or any associated with his group. This group of 10 to 20 active posters is also a very very small group. GSC has a reach even more minuscule than TWI. Cults always want to appear larger than they are.

I think the problem comes in here with PFAL teachings of the Bible being “our only rule for faith and practice” then dancing around problems doing that. I get just as much inspiration not to be a scribe or Pharisee by Ralph Waldo Emerson when he said “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” for example.

Yes weird story for sure. I can’t explain it all. It seems to me like a failure in understanding the heart of the bloodline principle and the girls trying to make it happen on their own. And an honest story about it including failures. But there is a lot in Numbers, Deut etc about “the law” that seems primitive and extreme beyond that. My approach is looking for that which can inspire me. And OT law and incest don’t do that currently but maybe there will be a good reason to study that in the future. I just look at OT as mostly primitive with weapons, technology, and ethics. I don’t have a clear reason why it was so primitive.

There are many obstacles for me in reading scripture as literal guidance. OT laws and stories are primitive in ethics for sure. Incest, talking donkeys, weird laws around sex, over extensive genealogy just to name a few off the top of my head. Male oriented society multiple wives, kings laws, etc all are even weirder. No I look for gems in the dirt. And find enough for my wants.

The more I live the more I see convincing people who are of an entirely different opinion is futile. The nature of faith is such that you can prove it to yourself and witness it to others. But you can’t prove it to others as that oversteps their beliefs, boundaries, and interpretation of facts. Yes I believe scripture can inspire humans to more worthy endeavors. But I also believe that scribes and Pharisees squeeze scripture like a lime trying to get their juice out of it which doesn’t help any but themselves. And enslaves others.

The problem I see is the unshaken underlying viewpoints. For example “constructive criticism”. Even this term shows a predisposition towards preserving the entity long term. Things shared are evaluated against whether or not they “help TWI long term” or “hurt TWI long term”. The greatest help I see long term for TWI is disbanding. That would immediately solve the current imbalance of power between leader and lay follower. And would immediately end the idolatry. The greatest construction for the genuine body of Christ happens outside of being constantly subjected to TWIs framing of fact, policy, or scripture. Outside of getting hyped for the new PFAL class. Outside of WOW and the Ways programs. Outside of reminiscing about things that occurred with others while under false authority. Outside of needing to whitewash Wierwille or defend his lifestyle. The Way is constructing a building for their own lusts of power and control under the guise of constructing for the Lord Jesus Christ. What is most constructive is canceling that construction project and starting one with correct blueprints of common Christianity. What is least constructive is enabling the current higher ups and following them. And getting back on the hamster wheel running their classes.

STL reading about the road you traveled helps me understand where you are coming from. Sorry for the tragedy and poor judgement and communication on the part of the Wayfer idiots. Please don’t take my banter as judging you or your position. My journey has led me to reject fundamentalism but retain my faith as a Christian. Each of us has our unique journey. Peace.

If the Bible contains accurate accounts then all the stories aren’t people living principles perfectly. Paul’s conversion flipped his script dramatically. This could just be another story about girls taking the bloodline too seriously and doing some twisted shiz as a result. Please explain your logic in claiming it means something different. Or that it’s all fictional.

So you want to prove it’s impossible to interpret the Bible correctly. Whatever. Prove it to yourself I’m not interested.

Ok nobody is holding a gun to your head on believing anything about scripture. I didn’t say it’s of any interpretation I said it is the students responsibility to interpret it in a fashion where it is beneficial to them. Which is accurate? I’m not a fundamentalist so,who cares? You think it’s fiction so what difference does it make beyond wanting to argue?

Maybe the story is in there to show that manipulating godly appearing results through ungodly methods doesn’t work. People are just tricking themselves. What you sow you reap.

My logic is that God breathed doesn’t mean the same thing as when VP was hyperventilating over it. Inspiration still allows the artist leeway in producing the end product. A judge bent on punishment will have a fundamentalist hard line interpretation of “Theo pneustos” that wants to catch the believer in a trap. It sounds more like your reading into the meaning and demand for answers. What made you decide that your interpretation of God breathed is the only correct one? Please choose any number of scriptures to show why your view is uniquely right and clarify what that view is please.

From my recollection the vast majority of offshoots were literally kicked out from TWI for various unjust reasons usually to do with little peoples ego and need for control. So it actually would be in the Ways ball court with making reparations and apologies or re in statements known and communicated. To date I have yet to hear Way leaders publicly be accountable for anything they say or do. They are simply never wrong in their own eyes. This seared conscience prevents the good hearted from considering returning. Whether or not it is due to over reliance on advice from attorneys is really irrelevant.

I responded on the other thread but it seems to me that Mikes complete dedication to PFAL and the collaterals needs constant attention or it fades away. Whereas reading my Bible without that nonsense seems to provide inspiration in many varied and sometimes random ways to me. And that doesn’t fade away is it is an integral part of Christianity.

The greatest secret in Wayworld is that the Bible doesn’t “interpret itself” you have to read it, study it, interpret it yourself, and apply it’s lessons in life.

The truth that a figure of speech that was not inspired by God or written in scripture “the Bible interprets itself” and exploited to the stars by VP is not a recent belief introduced here. It is merely a factual observation. Here VP twists scripture by introducing a figure of speech personification. The Bible itself is an inert object incapable of any human activity. Contrary to your BS negative observations the revealed Word of God around here is on the rise not declining. Since minds are no longer held captive by Wierwille idolatry and knees no longer bend before his molten images Christian minds here on GSC are free to worship God and incorporate His Word into their lives in the best way they see fit with complete freedom of will no longer bound to the self seeking goals of the small minded leaders forced upon them as “the present truth”. We are also not bound to supporting one organization made by man as the only one worth supporting. The Bible has no need of people continuously rubbing snake oil into its covers for people from all over the world to derive benefit from it. And 99.9999% of those people if you asked them about “The Teacher” or “The Doctor” would say ”Who?”

Yes the old “tell them what you’re gonna teach them, teach them, tell them what you taught them” paradigm is alive and thriving in Wayworld. I know AI written articles come off a little bland but the Way can make robots seem exciting lol. Sucks all the oxygen out of the room.