Belle

LOL! I'd like to say I'm surprised, but, well... I'm just surprised it took this long to find the true source of the book. :D--> Now we only have, what, one more book to show he plagarized and we'll have covered the whole library?

Hot Diggity Dog, Oak!! Has it really been that long?? Life truly is better outside the walls of that crumbling Zion-wannabe, isn't it? Instead of taking suggestions to change seriously, they just throw out dissenters and those who actually have good ideas on how to save the ministry. Funny since they come on here for ideas and suggestions now. How many things have they done, changed and taught because of what we've posted on here?? If only the innies had a clue.... CONGRATULATIONS, MY FRIEND!!

I've seen WC teach how to use the spoon and in the process swatted the poor kid more than once pretty hard. :(-->

You know, I don't even remember the other "kinds" of love. I remember that they glossed over them on their way to teaching about agape, but that's about it. Now, I can list about 100 different devil spirits, how they operate and which scriptures are supposedly about those devil spirits. I can tell you about Eve being a lesbian and I can tell you about how rotten and evil the Pharisees were but God's unconditional love or any other kind of love.....nope. Sorry. Can't help you there. What's wrong with this picture??? p.s. I predict TWI will suddenly start teaching "Love in the Prevailing Word in the Decade of Victory in the Household of the One True God: Our Zion"

Ahhhh, and therein lies the problem. What part of what vee pee said is true and what part of what vee pee taught is not true? That's why people have re-examined the teachings of TWI and I venture to say that obviously we have come to many different conclusions on the matter. :)--> Determining these things requires a re-examination of what was taught. And, some would say that spiritual truths are way more important than math or English and that you can generally get a consensus from just about anywhere that 1+1=2, but that kind of consensus on the Bible just doesn't exist. Some of us believed whatever TWI taught without really questioning it or "searching whether those things were so". The realization that TWI was corrupt down to the very core prompted a re-evaluation of the things we merely took forgranted. We just come out with different views on "whether those things were so."

Bliss, I forgot. Sorry. Does he have any non-TWI related hobbies and/or friends? If not, is there something that's he's interested in that maybe you two could do together or you could encourage him to spend time on? I agree slow is definitely the way to go as it seems to be working for you. You don't want to pull the rug out from under him because then he'll resent you and that's no good. :)--> Feed him little bits and pieces and encourage, support and get excited about anything non-TWI related that he shows an interest in.

LOL! The "Love Nazi" came out of his shell once we quit giving 100%, didn't he? The more you gave the more they wanted and the harder they pushed you, but by then you had totally forgotten about the love and quit thinking about God's love, but whether or not you were going to make your leadership mad at you.

Thanks so much, Roy! This is a lot of info, so I'm going to wait till I get home to sit down and read it. I appreciate your time. :)-->

Gonna have to disagree with you there, OM. ;)--> I never got the love. I got the ego boost from learning Bible that nobody else knew; from being told that I now knew more than the average minister. I stayed because my local WC kept coming by my house and checking up on me whenever I missed a meeting. I completely sold out when my ex pointed out the hypocracy in my life (saying I wanted to live according to TWI's version of the word, but going out partying every night). I absolutely abhor hypocracy! Can't stand it....gets me all riled up!! To think I was living like that really p*ssed me off. So, I started doing whatever they said to do. Love had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with it in my case. It was just the "logical thing to do".

OM, yeah, I think the warm & fuzzy experiences depended on where you were and who your leaders were, but by the time I got involved in 1993 there were no warm & fuzzy people or teachings to be had. I know PFAL started out that way but by the end of the class if you weren't speaking in tongues and tithing and jumping through other hoops, you weren't feeling the luv....

OM, you were obviously in a very, very different TWI than I was.

That's what they start with, OM, but by the time you've been there for a while they've added all kinds of conditions to that love.

Ham, that's when I take that bag of ...., put it at their front door, set it on fire then ring the doorbell and run like h*ll! :D-->

Stuff like this makes me think there's still hope yet for me! :D--> :D--> :D--> I don't think anyone wants to live someone else's life, just encouraged to know that others have overcome what appears to us as difficult, if no insurmountable, obstacles.

I need to know how to shrink the photos to regulation size. Some of mine are too big.

Grasshopper's comment on unconditional love made me stop and think. TWI never teaches love, never have. Oh, sure they taught agapao, but they perverted and twisted that definition and they never spent much time on any of the other words for love. They certainly never taught unconditional love, not even from God. Come on! My parents may not always be happy with my decisions (like, say, joining a cult), but THEY NEVER QUIT LIVING ME! Same with my ex's parents even though he refused to speak to any of them or receive any messages, letters or cards from them. How much more would God not do for his kids?? Remember TWI teaches, "God is not a respecter of persons, but he IS a respector of conditions. In essence, tying God's hands and teaching us that we're unworthy and incapable of being loved unless we're jumping through the right hoops. How friggin' perverted and wrong!!!! Santa Claus came to see me every year even though I was a holy terror sometimes. My Mama and Daddy always gave me birthday presents, even when I was a completely rebellious teenager and didn't deserve squat. TWI taught parents to respect conditions and how to use that excuse to act "without natural affection" toward their children. I wonder if that's why some of these parents aren't doing anything when they find out some TWIt has been molesting their children. It must be terribly difficult to grow up in that kind of environment with parents taught to be that cold-hearted. I think TWI doesn't even have an inkling about what true love is. If they taught unconditional love it would invalidate some of their reasons for unanswered prayers and it would also take away one of their ways of controlling the followers.

This may be a stupid question, but where does this come from? Is it from the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi scrolls or something like that? I've never heard of it, but, then again, I was living under a very dark rock for the past 10+ years.

Karmic, I know parents can see through superficial appearances of their children to their strengths, but the truth of the matter is society doesn't do such a good job of it as a whole. That comment would be a typical "southern" response. I heard that said many times growing up and, no, it wasn't always meant as a compliment. Kind of like, "Bless her heart..."

LOL! Ham, I once had to listen to a whole conversation this girl had about her boyfriend cheating on her. After she got off the phone I walked over, sat down beside her and offered her my advice. LOL! She looked at me like I was crazy at first and so I told her that if she was going to air her dirty laundry where others could hear it then she should be willing to listen to what others have to say about it. :D--> BTW, I told her to dump the b@st@rd.....

LOL! :D--> Go ahead, Tom. Name that tune!

Imagine that! It's definitely nothing you ever saw or heard about in TWI. Heck even God is a respector of "conditions", therefore his love is "conditional". I'm so glad my family, my friends and my God are so much more loving than TWI's god.

In five years TWI has had to admit the power, influence and effect WayDale and GSpot has had to tell people the truth, expose the skeletons and tell where the bodies are buried. So much so that Harve acknowledged our presence and impact by submitting a letter attempting to defend their decision to break a promise and a vow. The verbal attacks, spin control and juvenile language only reinforced the things that had been posted on here about how truly evil, crooked and devilish they are.

Some of my fondest memories come from post-midnight adventures. :D-->

Ahhhh, but George, you were probably "arrogant" in that you pointed out obvious errors and actually loved and wanted to take care of people. That kind of thing was not encouraged at all! When I became arrogant in that regard, I, too, was looked down upon and labeled as a troublemaker.

Thank you, Jeff. I'm certainly praying for her and her family. I'm glad that everyone will be able to pay their respects. That's heartening.