Rocky

Thanks T-Bone. Methinks you told the your story of how sunesis worked in your head in this situation. Thanks for sharing that insight.

They belong in a museum for cult symbols... that's what your display is, right?

Not an endorsement of their message, but these gals are much more enjoyable to watch than the Renewed Mind singers.

YES! Shortcuts for our brain! Cognitive dissonance that festered, perhaps, to ultimately free you from the power of twi symbols.

An enlightening and very legitimate inquiry. From wikipedia, "A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different concepts and experiences. All communication (and data processing) is achieved through the use of symbols. Symbols take the form of words, sounds, gestures, ideas, or visual images and are used to convey other ideas and beliefs. For example, a red octagon is a common [virtually universal] symbol for "STOP"; on maps, blue lines often represent rivers; and a red rose often symbolizes love and compassion. Numerals are symbols for numbers; letters of an alphabet may be symbols for certain phonemes; and personal names are symbols representing individuals. The variable 'x', in a mathematical equation, may symbolize the position of a particle in space." ----- For understanding cults, it's important to understand that HUMANS, no matter how discerning and thoughtful any of us can or might be, we ALL take shortcuts. For example, when driving to work or home, if we take the same route all the time, we may get to our destination and NOT be able to consciously remember every time we shifted gears (if we drive a vehicle with standard transmission) or remember having passed any given intersection along the way. That's because we were essentially on autopilot, which is akin to habits we no longer have to think about, we just do. Regarding our cult experience, we (repeatedly) took the PFLAP class, the first major mind control mechanism we (almost always willingly) subjected ourselves to in twi. Even the first time, if we had questions, we were not allowed to ask them (ostensibly until the end of session 12). But how many people forgot about those questions in the meantime? Therefore, when we heard catch phrases like those Penworks included in her paper, we didn't think consciously about whether we agreed with them or not. We simply accepted them as legitimate and truthful and moved on. This actually may be exactly how we were BRAINWASHED. The important question to ask yourself may be, well, WHY did you (I) get hooked in the first place? Again, Charlene at least partially answers the question in her paper when she says we were hungry to know God. Wierwille (and his agents, those who "got us in the Word") claimed and made an argument that HE (VeePee) alone had the key to getting that fulfilled. But was it really that alone? I say that no, it wasn't. The bottom line is that we needed to belong. We found a group of people with whom we believed we belonged. The "hunger for God" was the ongoing hook that got us to donate more of our earnings than they deserved and to buy more classes, books, and study materials all designed to validate Wierwille as the Great One... even though they didn't dare use that expression, which was reserved for God and the Bible. Hence, the symbols triggered compliance and took the place of our conscious thought and critical analysis.

That's why twi is barely hanging on by a thread.

Brandeis made his famous statement that “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants” in a 1913 Harper’s Weekly article, entitled “What Publicity Can Do.” But it was an image that had been in his mind for decades. Twenty years earlier, in a letter to his fiance, Brandeis had expressed an interest in writing a “a sort of companion piece” to his influential article on “The Right to Privacy,” but this time he would focus on “The Duty of Publicity.” He had been thinking, he wrote, “about the wickedness of people shielding wrongdoers & passing them off (or at least allowing them to pass themselves off) as honest men.” He then proposed a remedy:

Indeed, MLE's approach is bold. As long as she's telling her own story, she should be okay.

Your entire post/comment resonates with me. I believe I've said the same thing about the authoritarian structure in different words, a number of times over the last twenty years. I saw it as the accountability in the social structure was bass-ackward in twi. In Acts, the elders held themselves accountable to the people who supported them. IMO, the entire Christian church, at least in the Western world, looks at authority in such a way that the elders were considered "leaders" who must be followed. That's dangerous stuff all around. And I believe that's why sexual abuse is pervasive regardless of denomination.

My community believes Phil, and other men trained as ministers in The Way International, are righteous, knowledgeable authorities and that the beautiful women they surrounded themselves with are lucky to be in their presence. This organization, a recognized cult, has significant claims of sexual and spiritual abuse, dating back to the 1970s. In this community, these are swept under the rug and brushed aside as “how men behave.” Is that how your community behaves? Where a man “teaches” sexually starved young women, who believe him to be a friend and mentor, by forcing his fingers inside their vaginas while asking, “Do you like it?” “Let me show you something,” he commanded right before the second assault, as he bent me over his desk and shoved his hand up my skirt. I had arrived intending to rebuild the church database; this was not the way I wanted to volunteer. From a post dated 3/21/2021 at MyRapistLivesHere. Note: the person who posted her story at that link can be found on Instagram and YouTube.

My community believes Phil, and other men trained as ministers in The Way International, are righteous, knowledgeable authorities and that the beautiful women they surrounded themselves with are lucky to be in their presence. This organization, a recognized cult, has significant claims of sexual and spiritual abuse, dating back to the 1970s. In this community, these are swept under the rug and brushed aside as “how men behave.” Is that how your community behaves? Where a man “teaches” sexually starved young women, who believe him to be a friend and mentor, by forcing his fingers inside their vaginas while asking, “Do you like it?” “Let me show you something,” he commanded right before the second assault, as he bent me over his desk and shoved his hand up my skirt. I had arrived intending to rebuild the church database; this was not the way I wanted to volunteer. (excerpted from MyRapistLivesHere.com, posted 3/21/2021)

Nice! An apt summary.

Truth.

Sorry, I didn't see this until now. Glad you found the book to be thought provoking. Another one you might find intriguing that I recently learned of is The Tao of Psychology by Jean Shinoda Bolen. IF you can find a copy. I bought one (used) on Amazon recently and now can't find the book by searching Amazon at all. But Bolen's website does have a link to it on Amazon. Immanence as described on your linked Wikipedia page seems to fit with Bolen's concept of synchronisity. The blurb on Amazon reads: Understanding the Moments That Touch and Transform Our Lives Who hasn't experienced that eerie coincidence, that sudden, baffling insight, that occasional flash of extrasensory perception that astonishes? Can these events be dismissed as mere chance, or do they have some deeper significance for us? The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of this classic explores the inter-relationship between these meaningful coincidences and our intuitive sense that we are part of some deep oneness with the universe -- a oneness called Tao in Eastern philosophy and synchronicity in Jungian psychology. By relating the concepts of Tao and synchronicity, Dr. Bolen reveals important links between psychology and mysticism, right brain and left, the individual and the external world. The Tao of Psychology provides the key for each individual to interpret the synchronistic events in his or her life and gives fresh insight into the relationships, dreams, and flashes of perception that transform our existence.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/12/us/ravi-zacharias-sexual-misconduct-report/index.html "We want to help the victims of Ravi's abuse, and we want to thoroughly understand what has taken place in our organization so that we can do everything we can to make sure nothing like this happens again," the board statement said. Seems like they need to shut that whole thing down.

Can you find it at this link?

Hi Laura, I have some old HS friends who live in the Houston area. There are also a couple of GSCers who live around there. Nurses, IMO, are very special people. Thank you for serving those around you in that capacity. I recently picked up a book, The Tao of Psychology, by Jean Shimoda Bolen MD. I've realized that inner guidance thing IS real and is a big deal, but in no way is it exclusive to Christians. Dr Bolen describes it in that book. Charlene Edge, whose memoir about her time in TWI and her escape, Undertow, mentioned Bolen's book (as one her favorites) in a newsletter Charlene sends out by email from time to time. It's nice to "meet" you.

Advances the illusion that Wierwille/Martindale/Rosie had a valid and legitimate model for advancing godliness but just somehow made a mistake along the way and didn't know how to right the ship. I don't believe that's what happened either in the beginning or at any time in the course of the cult's history. The social accountability was bass-ackward from the start. The model in the book of Acts seems to have been having leaders be servants of and to the followers. TWI, from the start seemed to make the followers believe that they should treat the "leaders" like gods. That's why everywhere veepee and Loy went, branch and limb leaders collected extra cash from twigs/leaves to buy exorbitant gifts and collected the prettiest young women to present for the pleasure of the MOG. That, to me (NOW) is so obviously at the core of the corruption of the organization's culture. All bow down. To Wierwille be the glory. That's not what they said, but it IS what they did.

A fantasy ministry, apparently.

Thanks John. I appreciate that insight.

Good job, John. I realized (as many here at GSC have also) long ago that the PFLAP class was all about focusing the student's world view and biblical understanding on what Wierwille said any of it meant.

Sigh... didn't we all.

May I call you "IR-Reverend?"