Broken Arrow

Gnosticism during the 2nd century and a little beyond had a belief that the material world and one's physical body trapped people on this earth and that we can break free from this by obtaining a "special knowledge". So, yes, there were levels of spirituality in cerain forms of gnosticism. However, gnosticism takes on many forms and can be expressed all the way from extreme hedonism all the way to extreme stoicism. There were degrees of gnosticism with TWI, imo. There was an elite few who knew the "secrets", and the initiation was PFAL. The next level was Advanced Class grad, Corps Grad, clergy, BOT, MOGFOT, then God. There was also a belief that what one does with their physical body was irrelevant and "did not affect a person's spirit".I believe that was one of the "inner secrets" known by a chosen few. You won't hear that on a public teaching tape or anything. There are some posters here, though who have pointed out that while there were elements of gnosticism in TWI, TWI was not complete gnosticism. TWI was/is a hodpodge of different things.

Elitism, if I'm not mistaken, is a hallmark of gnosticism. That is, there are a certain few who are entrusted with "special", or "higher knowledge". I'm sure it existed before that. Weren't the Pharisees and Saducees elitist? It's also been very well bred into the American culture.

Nietzsche is known most for saying God is dead, that is true. But he said a lot more and his "thing" was the survival of the fittest philosophy. Nietzsche, for example, would not be in favor of helping out someone in need. He was into natural selection and said the weak must die, or at least get out of the way and not be a bother. Helping the weak, in Nietzsche's opinion, held back the strong. He would not be in favor of government funds going to help the poor. In fact, he would not be in favor of anyone helping the poor at all, or the elderly, or the sick and on and on. Hitler adopted a lot of this philosophy with National Socialism and his extermination of races and people groups he decided were weak such as the Jews. Hitler also exterminated homosexuals and the insane. Nietzsche is also credited with the popular saying, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger".

Shhhhh! I don't think anyone can tell. :P

V.P. and others often talked about taking the Word Over the World. A noble idea I guess. To rouse the "troops" we were told that The Apostle Paul, "without the aid of newspapers, television, satellite, newspapers, etc. was able to take the world over the known world in 2 years and 3 months. To back this up, he quotes from Acts 19:10 where it says in the King James. "All they which dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. He says Asia refers to Asia Minor which was the known world at that time. That is not true. "Asia" as spoken of in Acts 19 was a Roman province. It included such places as Ephesus, Corinth, and Galatia. It did not include Rome, Israel, Antioch (which was in Northern Africa) or Eurpope. Yes, they knew about Europe even back then. The Romans had troops in Gaul, and Paul talks about his desire to go to Spain. The NIV is even more clear regarding this matter. There it says, "...all of the Jews and Greeks who lived in the Province of Asia heard the word of the lord." You know for someone who harped and yelled about reading what was written, sure didn't practice the same principle himself. Please understand, I'm not dismissing Paul's accomplishments, I'm just saying it wasn't the Word Over the World in the first century.

In PFAL, V.P. discusses how Paul was expressively told several times by the holy spirit not to go to Jerusalem. By removing the man-made commas, he shows how the verse reads differently. That is,"...we ceased, saying, the will of the Lord be done" verses, "...we ceased saying the will of the Lord be done." As further evidence as to the proof of this teaching, V.P. points out that all Asia heard the Word of the Lord in 2 years and 3 months. However, V.P. says that after being arrested at Jerusalem, the closest Paul came to convincing anyone to accept the new birth was "almost". That was after Paul gave his defense before King Agrippa and the King said to Paul that he "almost persuaded him to be a Christian". In Acts 28:33-35, Paul is asked to address a group of Jewish leaders in Rome. In so doing, the text reads that Paul tried to convince them about Jesus. In verse 24 it says that, "Some were convinced by what he said." Paul did, in fact, lead people to Christ after his arrest at Jerusalem. Hence, another "staple" teaching of TWI is debunked.

I've often wondered if LCM went slightly insane after Passing of the Patriarch. Having one's dirty laundry hanging out there for everyone to see, and then being confronted about it even by subordinates can be very upsetting. Couple that with his desire to "be somebody" and you could have a rather explosive situation. One of the reasons I got taken in by POP was Martindale's initial reaction, which was agreement. Now I think he was just shell-shocked at the time and wanted it all to just go away.

Ah yes, the latent talent within the in-residence corps was simply amazing!

So, is there no record of him attending these fine institutions of higher education, or are they just not talking?

That man was always angry. It was unreal.

LCM took the yelling to whole new level. Even VPW didn't stand up in public meetings and swear (he did in private meetings though). In fact, VPW himself confronted LCM about the language he used. There were more than a few times I had to defend LCM to some father of small children who just witnessed him cussing his head off in some public meeting.

Or, "I only yell at you because I love you, and I want what's best." Isn't that another sign of an abuser those of you who are trained in this area. That is, redefining one's abusive behavior and convincing the victim it's actually a loving act. I pretty much think LCM was a yeller right out of the gate. I don't think he needed anyone to teach him. Maybe VP helped him refine this "skill". I don't remember him ever being a particularly nice guy.

If the doctrine were written anywhere, I think it would say, "A person's spirituality is in direct proportion to how loud they can yell." Everyone who prided themselves as a leader yelled. It was spiritual anger, don't you know. Of course, VP would do whatever it took. He did at least as much crying in public as he did yelling. Wasn't it funny, though, that some people's voices would get really "squeaky" when they yelled? They'd try to be all "spiritual" but would come off sounding like that lead dog in "Up" when his translator malfunctioned.

You are a nice man Teachme.

I always thought it was "sea of turtles". You know, "take arms against a sea of turtles".

I think it is safe to say that I've officially derailed this thread! I apologize TeachMe. Let me know if there's anything else I can do, I'm off to another thread to spread my good cheer and insight. Oh, and Ham, that is a really old commercial you're quoting. It ends with, "Only her hairdresser knows for sure." At least that's what I thought it said as I was trying to adust the rabbit ears on top of the console T.V. during Spin and Marty.

Could be 3 couples with a kid; could be a couple with 5 kids; could be 2 couples with one having 2 kids and the other having one; or 7 singles. You see? The possibilities with TWI are endless! One thing we do know, there is no way this is an inflated number.

I think all love you here you ol' (sniff) squirrel!

Was it High Country Caravan? Maybe K[p H0ldren?

No. No problem here. Well, you know, nothing that a slight power adjustment in my electro shock therapy won't fix. How are you?

It's the collective talent of the posters here at GSC that keep me coming back.

I'm not so sure that pie is facing the right direction. Waysider, you might want to check your etiquette manual located inside your underwear drawer, underneath the porn and the mousetraps.

I remember when the greatly revered (even on GSC sometimes) Mrs. Dotsie Wierwille had her heart broken because not enough people from the surrounding areas volunteered to work at the holiday staff party. A cry went out to the local leadership. The thinking was that the staff sacrificed all year to bless the believers, and the believers should in turn bless the staff. After all, it was just for one night. Of course, the party was on a week night, people had to drive, stay for clean-up, and drive back. Folks, some with little kids, would return home at 2:00, 3:00, or even 4:00 in the morning, and then have to go to work the next day. There was no offer to reimburse for expenses. I believe the staff were required to attend the event as well. Sounds like the main purpose of the event was for Mrs. Wierwille. While I was in residence during the event, a few of us made sure those volunteers knew they were appreciated.

Wouldn't hurt to try.

I appreciated the bronze thingy because it was the first time I recall having such a good laugh after having left TWI. It was just so idiotic! He looked like Mr. Bill with a Bible. You know some poor schmoe on staff or in the Corps came up with the idea and never got paid a dime for it but TWI sold it and put money in the coffers. That damned thing was so ugly.