Rocky

There's no new thing under the sun. Screenwriters read literature. If the story idea came to the screenwriter in a dream, it's likely because he had been familiar the the Gospels. I don't see anything magical or mystical (or sinister) at work here, just a reader/writer with a good imagination. That's how the story writing process works.

A playlist, suppose to have 100 Glen Campbell videos.

Gentle on my mind.

We ALWAYS hear what we want to hear. Or at least what we hope to hear. The antidote to wierwille, in retrospect from my perspective, is two-fold: teach children critical thinking skills... and make sure they have their emotional needs mets growing up. Of course, both of those are easier said than done. We were indeed primed to accept his gobbledegook. I'm thankful I eventually figured it out. :) However, I faced a similar dilemma when I divorced and my ex decided to hook up with the mormon church. It took a good bit of doing to keep my daughter and stepson from taking that bait, but now they are grown and have chosen more mainstream spiritual paths. Even though their mother is still mormon.

Indeed. All of the hype and hoopla this week serves only to increase the value of the brand and that brand will be sold as a part of liquidation of the company's assets. Twinkies, perhaps unfortunately, won't be going away for good. Probably the first two words are most important. "Eat food" means to eat real food -- vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and, yes, fish and meat -- and to avoid what Pollan calls "edible food-like substances." Pollan specifically cites Twinkies in what he says are edible food-like substances.

Moira was just about the sweetest soul anyone could ever want to know. :)

I'm with you Twinky, 100 percent. Your post nicely underscores the issue of wierwille's sociopathic nature... his "research" and indoctrination speeches were, consciously or not, focused on what would enrich HIM, not the listener. That's a tremendous analogy. And it makes the point that this kind of charm (marketing propaganda) is pervasive in our society and culture.

The draw, for me, is LONG gone. I hope you get there too. But I'm glad you can recognize the seductive nature of wierwille's charm. I recognize Bill Gaither's style in that song. Just to clarify, in case anyone wondered, I didn't attribute the authorship of the song to Farrell, just the performance. :)

I saw someone on facebook say this evening that "you are STILL welcome at The Way." Of course, I SO do not care if I would be welcome there or not... any more. So, a friend suggested I watch a YouTube clip of some recent Way Productions song and dance. I found that clip to be incredibly cheesy and creepy. Then, I clicked on another YouTube to watch a 15 minute clip with a pic of wierwille and text saying it was about "Christians Should Be Prosperous." After Ted Farrell sings "At Calvary," wierwille preaches, apparently at a "Word in Business" event, for about five minutes. It was probably a lot longer than that, but this clip only went that far. I had no interest in listening to more of them. But looking back more than 30 years, I can now recognize several things that he was doing, that were, indeed, manipulative tactics to enrich HIMSELF at the expense of others. Because, after all, if he teaches "God's word" and you don't see the promised results, then YOU must be doing something wrong, right? After a typical prayer, he has the audience open their bibles to Psalm 37. "...I'd like to lay before this body of believers, the laws, those immutable laws, people, that govern prosperity. See, all material evidence, all of the evidences in the material, the senses world, all of those are governed by laws. For instance, a farmer has to adhere to the laws of planting and good farming practices. Christian prosperity or a believer's prosperity which is in the material realm, in the senses realm. This is governed by God's immutable laws. You cannot have prosperity without knowing those laws. No more so than you can know God's will without knowing God's word. If any man is ever to know God's will, sir, he has to go back to the word. For the Word of God is the Will of God. No man can ever know that will of God really for himself or herself without knowing the word. No individual can ever go beyond what they are taught. The reason we believe tonight what we believe is because of what we've been taught. No one will ever rise beyond what they are taught because you cannot believe, sir, bigger than what you've been taught, right? Those are just plain sensible horse sense logic, that's all it is. Just makes common sense. You gotta be stupider than a jackass to miss those kind of truths, that's right. It may not be a good figger of speech, but it communicates, okay? Well, I like you, you people know me, a lot of you have had to put up with this kind of stuff through the years. I love ya. Ya see, and no man can believe any more, sir, than he knows. You can believe less. You can practice less, too honey, but you can't ever believe more than what you know. Tonight on these laws that govern prosperity, I want to set three things before you and that's all. Number one: I wanna establish with you the truth that it is God's will for a believer to prosper. That's number one. Number two, WHY should a Christian; a believer, prosper more than a non-Christian or an unbeliever. That's number two. And then number three: HOW does the believer prosper. You see people there are... (and the clip ends there) ----- Before Ted Farrell's performance of At Calvary, wierwille got emotional about how he loves his people because they've been changed by God's word and that he's had the pleasure of teaching it to them in a wonderful class... blah blah blah. He connects emotionally with the audience and subtlely reminds them that HE is The Teacher. He used an example they could easily relate to about farmers. But that represented evidence that what he was telling them was LAW. It and HE was the authority on God's will. Of course, there has been plenty of recollection in this forum of wierwille's hatefulness, jealousy and insecurity. But THIS is wierwille at his charming best. That's how he got rich, charming the socks off of believers. Well, the dollars out of their wallets anyway. And then, believing HIMSELF ENTITLED, he took his pick of the lovely young women who fawned over him, not necessarily unlike the contemporary scandal of David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell. One glaring difference, Petraeus took immediate responsibility for poor judgment when FIRST confronted with it. That doesn't excuse the fact that he took advantage, but it's an amazing contrast that he would take responsibility. Anyway, it's been so long since I've subjected myself to wierwille's audible voice. What are your thoughts?

All you can say is that you understand and empathize... and that you can't be the one making her decisions for her. Maybe say what you (think you) would do if you were in her position, but you don't want to take responsibility if she takes your advice and regrets it later... do you? Having been through divorce, I can say confidently that one of the most important things a person going through it needs is emotional support. Friends can do, be and provide that. :)

John Lynn's facebook profile indicates today is his birthday also.

Whatever. write what you want to write. The trick will be taking it to market.. Find a literary agent, a publishing house and an editor. You don't have to sell me, you have to sell them. But candid feedback from a good editor can often be hard to swallow. See what comes together and makes sense. When I get into working on my book, not about TWI, btw, I'm hoping to get Vickie F. A. who has used the handle NotinKansasanymore here on facebook as a preliminary editor. And for those of you who have not yet voted, VOTE today! :)

Dude, you are STILL projecting your response, feelings and analysis of your experience in twi onto a system that you only know because you have read or heard what others say about it. Microcosm, smicrocosm... your editorial writing about politics is NOT your story until or unless you are involved in it. And frankly, your interpretation of the role of the federal government is limited in scope, even if you factor in family experience in farming. The fact of the matter is that the Obama administration is not at all responsible for the take over of American government by corporate interests. That is tied into an event and manifesto that was published in 1971 and has been used as a blueprint for encroaching plutocracy ever since. Now, I'd hate to see this thread get shut down because the discussion got too much into politics. My point is exclusively to point out what aspect of the things you've been posting are YOUR story and what is something else.

My thought on that would be such that if YOU have been involved in some political/public service situation, at any level, then it's YOUR story and you have every right to tell it in your book. If it's you pontificating on what you think other people are doing wrong, but you haven't been involved in any aspect of it, then how is it YOUR story? That's what I mean by compartmentalizing. Of course, you have a right to your own opinions on politics, government and public policy. And if you find yourself an audience who values your insight on those subjects, THEN it's plenty reasonable to use your experiences in TWI to illustrate whatever point you try to make. But it's completely different to project your displeasure with an authoritarian religious subculture on people and processes you only read about in the news.

I think that conscious self-awareness and awareness of the subculture issues in TWI, for so long, is what gives/gave you an important story to tell (book to write). I also suspect that at times, it may be difficult to compartmentalize your story such that you keep from blurring the lines between one's (yours in particular) spiritual journey/path and political systems. At some point, you may find more clarity regarding how those areas of life and society differ and how they overlap. Perhaps... for what it's worth (probably not more than two cents).

Dear friend J Fred Wilson's birthday would have been today. He was a good guy. I miss him. And for what it's worth, and please, I just mention it for historical reference... feel free to "celebrate" however you'd like but (please) let's not get on each other's cases on GSC about it, but today IS Loy C Martindale's birthday.

I knew you meant it. And I meant it too... except that I was most definitely using a euphemism when I said "unpleasant." I had (and have) no doubt that he was exceedingly mean and nasty. Clearly, Martindale didn't have the presence of mind -- unlike King David when Nathan confronted him -- to recognize the graceful guidance that you had offered him. We live and learn. And thankfully, we're still alive and kicking. :)

Good for you for writing the letter to him despite him not having his ears and eyes open to what you had, maybe right from the heart of God for him. A lot of things that happened exposed how unprepared Loy was to lead anyone in the ways of the Lord. I suspect your letter was among them. Instead, he was marking his territory, spraying his urine indescriminately, figuratively speaking, in hopes of establishing himself as THE alpha male... known in that organization as the MOGFOT. It's unfortunate that you were rewarded with unpleasant feedback.

Poignant, but not necessarily humorous. Perhaps you need another slice of baloney in your shoes... ;)

Mike Tracy? He was in the 7th WC. You must be thinking of someone else.

Write about ALL of those things. When you get it to what looks like a reasonable stopping place, you then look back and decide what goes in the final manuscript.

How ghastly AWFUL... I am SOOO glad I got out when I did. It was so much easier to build a life at age 31 than later. Of course, I've changed careers a couple of times since, but... anyway, Sky... I hope you write that book.

I bet he even convinced himself they were true, however. Isn't that what narcissists do?

What exactly does "up for parole" mean? Is he scheduled for release or for a hearing before the parole board for them to consider whether they should release him?