Rocky

Yeah, of course you can dismiss my thoughts. But still, if in 10 or 20 years from now you don't know much more than you do now, and hence broaden your perspectives on lots of things, that would be a tragedy in itself.

Here's another relevant link: It’s 1944 and sixteen-year-old ballerina and gymnast Edith Eger is sent to Auschwitz. Separated from her parents on arrival, she endures unimaginable experiences, including being made to dance for the infamous Josef Mengele. When the camp is finally liberated, she is pulled from a pile of bodies, barely alive. The horrors of the Holocaust didn’t break Edith. In fact, they helped her learn to live again with a life-affirming strength and a truly remarkable resilience. The Choice is her unforgettable story. **** Btw, now in her 90s, Edith is still alive "and kicking." Her story is phenomenal.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30753738-the-choice I reiterate, you are NOT a victim, no matter how hard you try to play one on GSC. And GSC doesn't victimize people. Edith Eva Eger WAS victimized but chose not to embrace the victim mentality. Doing so allowed her an emotionally fulfilling and rewarding life. IF you (Mike) feel victimized here by social dynamics that you experience as a push for conformity... well, who's making you continue to post or read anything here?

I get it. Perhaps in a decade or two, what you learn in the meantime will change your perspective. I expect you will learn a lot in such a duration. I'm not suggesting I know what you'll learn, but only that you will learn more than you know now.

Answer: lockbox. Mike said: In addition to how Twinky addressed these two paragraphs, I will add that you may have a desire to do so, but you don't learn how to be a historian by washing windows. Your writing skills are atrocious. Your interviewing skills? Well, from reading your screed for so long, I surmise that you have no idea how to get anyone to open up and share meaningful, relevant insight. IOW, there's NFW you could accomplish this. People with journalistic background HAVE written histories of TWI. People with good writing skills HAVE written their twi experience stories. However, IF you were to use your self-lauded academic contacts (meaning YOU have lauded your ability to connect with highly educated individuals in science) to connect with historians with an interest in cults... or if you prefer, interest in out-of-the-mainstream Christian fundamentalist sects, you MIGHT be able to collaborate with one or more of them who actually COULD do a serious academic write up on twi's history. They MIGHT have skills that could convince the twi directors to sanction such an effort. But the realistic likelihood those directors would allow it for anything other than hagiography is somewhere between slim and none.

HAHAHAHA! Nope, You are NOT a victim no matter how hard you try to play one. If God is Love, don't be a jerk.

Pretty much.

There is SOOOOOOOOO much more to the situation than you claiming to be a victim. You're not a victim. You come here knowing your viewpoint is grossly at cross purposes to the stated mission of GSC. IF you were to get honest about it, the story would go more like this: I, Mike harass and abuse posters here because I can. I've been given permission to do so. If I were to accept this reality, I might be more inclined to take John Pavlovitz's guidance, which is on sweatshirts the pastor sells with the title of his most recent book clearly displayed on the front. https://pavlovitzdesign.com/products/if-god-is-love-hooded-sweatshirt and this on a tote bag sold by Pavlovitz Designs.

Speaking of human nature... it's human nature to communicate. Yet, content has expanded by orders of magnitude over the millennia. I suspect study of the content in NK (not North Korea) in the 1990s and early 2000s would/could provide immense anthropological insight into studies of community survival. Have any of you ever wondered about how/why WOW families faced resistance in communities they attempted to occupy and proselytize in? Might that be related at all to the phenomenon Bolshevik described from his experience after word of the Allen lawsuit started spreading like wildfire?

And it didn't take long at all for opportunists of all kinds to exploit said opportunity.

Wonderful insight. As to twi obscuring the organization's history, unfortunately that's typical and human nature. It's been believed for eons that history is written by the victors. Well, the interwebs, aka the internet, DOES democratize the writing and recording of history such that it's NOT ONLY the victorious who get to write their stories. THIS is why I am so enthusiastic about the history of Waydale and the Greasespot Cafe. Obviously, history is VIEWED through different lenses, different perspectives. I hope that in a decade or two, Bolshevik will see it differently than he does at this particular moment.

Speaking of "some devilish rumor mill..." that concept was, as I recall, endemic in the culture of twi in the 1970s and 1980s. Case in point, microwave ovens destroyed all of the nutritional content of food cooked in them. I mean, who's bee-HIND did they pull that stuff out of?

They're on FB.

Bump

Life is NOT about being perpetually chained to a group because one doesn't want to lose God's "hedge of protection." If you want to stay attached to twi because you genuinely love the lifestyle, more power to you. But if you harbor hidden cognitive dissonance, you CAN break free and won't be in any more danger from the trials of life if you go. This brief discussion of (emotional) antifragility may help. There is light at the end of the tunnel. There are communities where people understand and relate to what you've been through.

We agree there's a difference. I don't agree with the characterization as a distortion.

Both of my parents had cataract surgery in their early 50s. So did I (in MY early 50s, not theirs ;) ) At the time of my cataract surgery, the VA implanted permanent lenses under my corneas. That procedure meant I ONLY needed reading glasses but not distance correction lenses for the following 12 years or so. Now I get updated prescriptions every year.

No, it doesn't... even though colonoscopy prep can feel like roto rooter treatment. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/prostate-problems Benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, is very common in older men. It means your prostate is enlarged but not cancerous. Treatments for BPH include: Watchful waiting, also called active surveillance. If your symptoms are not too bad, your doctor may tell you to wait to see if they get worse before starting treatment. Your doctor will tell you how often to return for check-ups. Medications. Medicines can help shrink the prostate or relax muscles near your prostate to ease symptoms. Surgery. If nothing else has worked, your doctor may suggest surgery to help urine flow. Other treatments. Sometimes radio waves, microwaves, or lasers are used to treat urinary problems caused by BPH. These methods use different kinds of heat to reduce extra prostate tissue.

The MEDIUM presents an incomplete message. If it's distorted because a person does it intentionally, that's something else altogether. What you don't get with social media is body language and other nonverbals, like inflection for example. It's always going to be easier to read people face to face than here. That's why my avatar is actually a picture of me.

As if that's Twinky's responsibility? No, If you believe YOU have been unclear, it's YOUR responsibility to clarify your message.

Absolutely!

I started taking saw palmetto in my early 40s. Helps for a time. There's a medication, "tamsulosin" with a brand name of Flomax. That's very helpful too. The roto-rooter treatment comes in when meds no longer work.