WordWolf

Next song. "Don't cry for me, next door neighbor." "Oh, Danny boy, Danny boy, Danny boy!" (Anyone guessing "Danny Boy" as the song will get his nose honked.)

Ok, I was thinking this was The Beatles, but apparently it was John Lennon solo. The title's something like "I'M JUST SITTING HERE WATCHING THE WHEELS GO ROUND AND ROUND." (I think.)

"I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, that much is true. But even then I knew I'd find a much better place, either with or without you." This is "DON'T YOU WANT ME," by- I think- the Human League. Neat lyrics.

We don't have EXACT stats because twi has been hiding their numbers all along, and kept doubling-down on it every time a mass exodus hit (1985, 1989, etc). The 1989 purge cleared out 4 out of every 5 members overall, which was the biggest percentage drop in one year of which I'm aware. The most reliable method of numbers has always been headcounts at the ROA. The rule of thumb was that 1/2 the people attended. So, the highest attendance was, IIRC, for ROA 79 or 82 or something, and it was 24,000 people. Doubling that for the 1/2 who stayed home gave us 48,000 twi members at the time. Yes, twi bled members from 1985 to 1989, but it was only after lcm drew his line in the sand, DEMANDED AN OATH OF LOYALTY TO HIM PERSONALLY, and fired any leader who gave any other answer like "I vow to serve God". So, between ROA 88 and ROA 89, the ROA attendance collapsed to 1/5 the 88 attendance. Of course, some people waited until the end of ROA 89 to leave for good, so ROA 90 was even SMALLER. In case you're wondering what lcm meant about the oath of loyalty, one twi'er phoned and spoke to him personally- they knew each other. He told lcm it sounded like he wanted everyone in twi to follow him BLINDLY. lcm replied that he (the caller) was already doing that. The caller disagreed ("I told him that if that's what he thought, he could kiss my @$$ and hung up.") Since then, some people have tried to excuse lcm for this, and kept imagining what lcm meant. None of them ever defended his claim that lcm insisted twi was to follow him BLINDLY. The number you were quoted was an error. vpw claimed that there were 100,000 names in "the book of life"- that is, a total of 100,000 people had ever signed up for pfal. The implications that 100,000 people ever were in twi were dishonest. With all classes, some people never turned up for Session 1. Some people who did never turned up for Session 12. And some people vanished either right after Session 12 or in their first month thereafter. When I took pfal, we had 8 people on the roll, with 7 attending the first session, and THREE completing Session 12- myself, a coordinator's wife, and a different coordinator's son. So, claiming the 100,000 who ever signed up was deceptive. When it comes to twi, it is amazing how many levels of lie there were. Every time I think I've heard it all, I find out something else.

*looks it over* It's available for a donation or for free, but you have to sign up to attend in advance, so that's important to know. Any idea if they will make it available to view afterwards? This looks pretty weighty but informative for those who can attend.

Some years ago, we had active discussions on each of those things you mentioned! They are all archived around these fora somewhere. Yes, once witnessing was done that hardcore. Why has it cooled off? twi has lost almost 100% of its membership- from a one-time high of about 48,000 to possibly 480 adults by now. Different purges cleared out everyone who wasn't willing to march off a cliff if lcm commanded it or whatever, so all the quality Christians left sooner or left later. The remaining people are too few to risk, and Rosa-lie's leadership was too phlegmatic to inspire people to ridiculous and dangerous feats. There were those who witnessed because they were excited. They all left and twi is BORING.

It DEFINITELY existed in VHS. My family NEVER went Beta, so it wasn't until twi gave up and began releasing VHS videos (probably late 1987 or early 1988) that I got any VIDEOS from twi. I didn't get much- WC's "Fundamentals of Biblical Research" I had as audiocassettes and as VHS, and I had AOS. Both of them used the labels from the Beta versions- the AOS VHS case contained a label that was too small to fit normally. But I am 100% sure I OWNED the VHS version once, and even played it at home for non-twi people at least once. EDIT- If you look at Nova3200's photo, you'll see what I mean, a VHS case with a Beta label that doesn't fit like most VHS labels did.

As for vpw's explanation of "love God, love your neighbor, then you can do as you fool well please" was both UNINFORMATIVE and INCORRECT. The entire purpose of that was to INSERT vpw's "private interpretation" (as he would call it) into a verse that did not contain "do as you fool well please." The goal was to get people used to the idea that God Almighty was fine with them "doing as they fool well pleased". However, that contradicted the actual verses. It's so obvious. IF you actually A) love God Almighty with everything you've got and B) love your neighbor like you love yourself, then it is IMPOSSIBLE to "do as you fool well please." Your actions will reflect pleasing God and being a good neighbor and making God and neighbor happy. And before anyone claims that just applied to someone living next door, Jesus himself clarified "who is my neighbor" with the parable of The Good Samaritan. THAT was the example Jesus gave. Luke 10: 29-37 KJV 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. Which was the example Jesus gave? He found the stranger, and had him healed and taken care of at his own expense. "Go and do thou likewise." As for the priest and the Levite, who SUPPOSEDLY served God and avoided the stranger who needed help? They did as they fool well pleased. According to vpw, that was FINE- becuase he was setting the stage for himself to have free reign to do whatever he wanted to, and encourage likewise. vpw had FAR more in common with the religious hypocrites of Jesus' day than with the disciples he CLAIMED to resemble (and insinuate he outperformed.)

BTW, this "if you COULD be in danger somewhere else, it doesn't matter if you're in danger here" thing was standard vpw. vpw made mandatory some practices that exposed women to what healthy people would consider UNACCEPTABLE RISKS. With them hitchhiking, some of them ended up getting raped- which should not have been a surprise if the potential for risk was even considered. Naturally, it got back to vpw that some women got raped as a result of following his instructions. Did he reconsider the risks and change things to lower the risks while maintaining a program? No, he doubled-down and told off the Corps for bringing it up. His only comment on record about the risks of a woman getting raped as a result of being forced to hitchhike was to say that they could get raped down near their location. The idea that one was an increased risk that was avoidable never even seemed to occur to him. The idea that he should make reasonable efforts to keep people safe never occurred to him- people got injured or killed doing mandatory activities like rock-climbing in addition to hitchhiking (which carried risks of death and rape.) Other Christian groups don't require those because they actually care about their students and take their LEGAL fiduciary responsibility seriously. As for vpw, he was all talk about "loving his kids" but kept them in harms way because it was cheaper and funneled more money back to HQ where he could dip into it- and he did. Amazingly, I've heard people defend this kind of thinking- as if there was no way to challenge the students without placing them in risk of life, limb or rape. It's NOT difficult, which is why non-twi groups don't have this sort of problem. And only vpw fans insist this sort of thing is a good idea or possibly even necessary.

As I've said many times before- I'm glad I got in, and I'm glad I got out.

"Now, when I was just a little boy, standin' to my Daddy's knee, my poppa said, "Son, don't let the man get you- do what he done to me."

Next song. "You don't need a penny just to hang around. But if you've got a nickel, won't you lay your money down? Over on the corner there's a happy noise. People come from all around to watch the magic boy."

This SHOULD be Manfred Mann and "BLINDED BY THE LIGHT."

"I don't ever remember any TWI leader discouraging us from reading the gospels. Yes, at times in TWI the gospels were used merely to augment the epistles, but that's better than what churches did...totally ignore the epistles." [To this day, in ever Roman Catholic mass, there is a reading from the Epistles. Many modern churches teach about the Epistles, and teach living like Jesus said in the Gospels AND was said in the Epistles. There's plenty of sound doctrine in churches today. Please remember that you are making errors in your doctrine right now because we ALL do- bur you give yourself a pass on that and let the churches have both barrels. In the neighborhood where I grew up, right now, there's a RC parish that walks the walk and talks the talk, teaching fairly well from the Epistles and teaching RIGHT ACTION- like helping others, and getting out in the community to actually help them! That's something any ex-twi person should try sometime. It's very different than just reciting Scripture and feeling superior. Not far from where I once worked is a large Pentecostal church that teaches Scripture in a manner you'd find comfortable- coupled with practices of The Spirit (their celebrant completely discarded the schedule for one of their services because he was advised =by revelation- that healing was a bigger priority, so the entire service was given over for prayers for healing.) There's definitely plenty of churches out there where the Epistles are NOT ignored.] "There is nothing that could happen in a 'so called' cult...that couldn't also happen in a 'so called' mainstream Christian church. Adolescents getting molested in a catholic church is as bad or worse than anything that could happen in a "cult". " [It's a disgrace either way, but the odds on it happening are much greater in a cult for many reasons, and there's methods of redress in a church whereas in a cult, the victim can be silenced and destroyed to the point of committing suicide by the cult leader (vpw certainly did that one.) a sensible person will manage and MINIMIZE THEIR RISKS. You can get run over when walking on the sidewalk- but a sensible person crosses at the corners and crosswalks and waits for the traffic lights, and watches carefully as they cross. They don't say "Well, I can get run over anytime" and just dash out into oncoming traffic! That's a rather silly defense for being in a cult- but it's been brought up before and refuted before. Some people never learn.] "The argument that VPs sins negate the possibility that he was right about anything is absurd...just simply not true. Imagine the most heinous crimes possible. Murder, sexual assault, theft, etc. Imagine that I, Johniam, am guilty of those. Then imagine yourself...not guilty of any of those. Each of us (myself and yourself) say that 2 plus 2 equals 4. Am I less correct than you??? We're ALL sinners. We ALL deserve the death Jesus endured for us. That doesn't mean that any one of us cannot tell many truths." [ It IS absurd. BECAUSE it is absurd, I wish you pro-vpw people would stop inventing that one and putting it in people's mouths! NOBODY claimed that to any of you. I even ran a poll a long time ago, and nobody claimed that position even under anonymity. I've mentioned that before, as well. Selective memory or an inability to give up a deeply-held belief? Why would that one be "deeply held?" Because it's ANOTHER piece of nonsense invented to cling to and hide behind when others are saying sensible, inconvenient truths. "Oh, don't listen to them, they hold this ridiculous viewpoint!" they can say, and go back to believing all sorts of things that were successfully refuted years or decades ago.] "If you don't want to fellowship with someone whom you KNOW is guilty of such and such, then you don't have to. I got into the word in 1976. If I had found out in, say, 1980 that VP was doing what he did with women, then I may have had a real problem with continuing beyond the people I knew in twig. I really can't say conclusively how I would have responded." {If you would have considered it AN OPTION to continue, that says a lot about the error of your walk- something taught rather extensively to you BY vpw. Surprise, surprise, he soft-pedaled the consequences of his types of sins, while still hiding them from you.] 2 Timothy 4:14 King James Version "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:" I Corinthians 5:11-12 King James Version 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? [For someone who supposedly reads and respects the Epistles, this should be easy, But, according to you, we DON'T judge them that are within" no matter what the apostle Paul wrote. Whose words matter more to you? That will determine your doctrine and practices- as it has.] (snip)

[Two sentences there go together nicely. There was no "hate" or "trip" or "hate trip" demonstrated in that video. Anyone who thinks they get that from this video is obviously projecting- seeing things that aren't there because that's what they WANT to see. Why would someone so divorce themselves from reality to see a 12-minute video so completely the opposite of what it was? In this case, delusion allows the person who "sees" the "hate trip" to dismiss the content of the video. They have an excuse to refrain from addressing the uncomfortable issues brought up in it- so, delusion as a method of avoiding "inconvenient truths." That's followed up here with someone who thinks that pfal and twi emphasized Jesus and his love. Anyone who could spend time with vpw and get that is probably prone to seeing things that aren't there- like a "hate trip" in a calm video, or compassionate altruism in a man who plagiarized and deceived to make a comfortable living, then added rape on top because he could get away with it.]

This is Natalie Imbruglia's "lying naked on the floor" song. Actually, the title is "TORN", but it's amazing how often I've heard it referred to by the "other name." Strictly speaking, it's a COVER of "Torn", but I never remember the name of the singer who wrote it. Somewhere, there's a video of this song with clips of Gumby edited to match the lyrics.

It's obvious Human "remembers" this song, so I'll call it for him and clear the round. Besides, the title is VERY idiosyncratic (I would have taken any portion of the correct title as correct.) The actual title of this song is "Carn Evil 9- First Impression Part TWO." Part One starts with an instrumental, and the lyrics begin, eventually going to "step inside, hello! We've a most amazing show, you'll enjoy it all we know, step inside step inside." That's why Part Two begins "Welcome BACK my friends..." The artist is not required. In this case, it was NOT "Yes" (nor "Yess.") It was EMERSON, LAKE and PALMER. It's arguably the most famous song they ever did, and arguably the most famous song off it's album, "Brain Salad Surgery." (That same album also had "Lucky Man,", which would probably be the most famous song if it wasn't this one.) So, Human's turn!

We need another quote or another clue. I'm thinking Raf was giving us a hint.

"Well, if I'm going to comment, I need to sit through it. " [OK, 12 minutes isn't that long, but it's long enough to analyze and to make observations about the content or the presentation. What did you get from it?] "This video is nothing more than a guy thinking evil and going on a 12 minute rant about it. There's more. You can tell by listening to his vocal flow, that he's obsessed. He's run those thoughts through his mind rapid fire for decades. Martindale wasn't that bad when he talked about Jews and homos. Even VPs teaching 'the way of life and death' wasn't that out of control. The guy's a whack job. " [That's a gross MIScharacterization of this video. I know, because I just watched it, and the presentation is completely different from your claims. The speaker was calm and kept to his points. There was no "rant". Furthermore, there was no indication from his speech that he was "obsessed." As a student of Psychology AND Human Communication, I've studied this out before. There's no "vocal flow" of "obsessed" there. He spoke calmly- and you said he was worse than men who were known to scream AND hurl insults at everyone they disagreed with. This man "disagreed without being disagreeable." All of that CAN be catalogued independently of the content. That you missed the mark so completely reflects a lack of understanding of making such an analysis, and an inability to separate his message (of which you disapprove) from his presentation (which you distorted because it contains a message you dislike. I try not to do that even of people I strongly dislike. ] "Victor Paul Wierwille's Power for abundant living class did indeed do one thing very well.....it drew a line in the sand which clearly separated mainstream Christianity, which is STILL based on man made traditions not found in scripture...from biblical research, which is based on the firm belief that the words in the bible as originally given by God, are truth, God breathed, whatever you want to call it. " [The "line in the sand" was between all other Christians- who were maligned and insulted at every turn, characterized as ignorant and useless- and vpw and his students, who were characterized as the ONLY Christians who knew anything and were any good for anything. "Them" were characterized as unable to read the Bible or see anything past their traditions, and "us" were characterized as the only Christians with The Truth because we had vpw's "God-given" understanding of the Bible, and no traditions of our own. Those are ALL demonstrably false, all the way down to twi having made its own traditions. An inability to see the distinction DECADES LATER does NOT do you credit.] "I've attended a few churches since leaving TWI. Those people are mostly Christians, not glassy eyed robots. They know a lot of the same stuff we do. " [Yes! They're people "FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED." As are you.] "But they still believe Jesus is God, that dead people aren't really dead, they don't understand incorruptible seed ( they think they can be saved one moment and unsaved the next), some of them think they might go to hell for playing outside on Sunday. THAT should be regarded as brainwashing! " [ It's shocking how UNimportant those are in the scheme of things. If you obey Jesus because he answers directly to God, says exactly what God would say, and commands your fealty as your lord who is The Son of God, or if you obey Jesus because he is God the Son himself, the results from your end work out the same! If you obey God because you love Him and want to make Him proud of you, or if you obey God because you believe it's mandatory, the results from your end work out the same! Although, in fairness, under vpw's system, actually obeying God is less likely because it's given a LOW PRIORITY. As for "brainwashing", you don't understand the concept if that's what you think.] "People don't join cults because they're "brainwashed"...they join because they want more substance than they're ever going to get from their church. Not everybody feels that way, but, obviously, enough people do so there will always be small religions that spring up which bigotted mainstream ministers will be likely to label as "cults". " ]People don't ALL join cults for ONE reason or the SAME reason. Some do join because they are brainwashed. Also, people IN cults who are still in the honeymoon phase really do think what it's like inside is superior to everything else outside, like all the churches out there. If you don't understand what brainwashing is, nor cults, you're not going to be able to tell the difference between a small church and a cult. BTW, vpw was fond of making them sound synonymous because that served his purposes. You don't need to fall for that anymore.]

https://flipboard.com/topic/argentina/comedy-of-errors-in-argentine-tv-shakespeare-mix-up/a-AiMBvcdnSGqzETyvQ3UZZg%3Aa%3A3199692-cdde161c7e%2Fco.uk https://www.memesita.com/the-driver-who-got-confused-and-announced-the-death-of-playwright-william-shakespeare/

All right, normally there's nothing funny about an obituary. In this particular case, there was. The second person in the UK to get approved for-and receive- a COVID vaccine just passed away- from a stroke. Not covid, from heart trouble, which is not unusual at his age and health level. Here's where it begins to get noticed- if you saw this mentioned when he was vaccinated, it was because his name is Bill Shakespeare. The second person in the UK to get the vaccine was William Shakespeare. Now comes the funny part- not that he passed away, but that it was news, and sometimes someone goes a little fast when reading the news on television. I myself remember hearing that Alfred Hitchcock had just died at age 30, and the reporter closed the story by saying, "again, Alfred Hitchcock is dead at 80". with the last number pronounced slower and louder, as if she was trying to pretend we misheard her. So, the news about Bill Shakespeare's death...... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/28/william-shakespeare-death-mistake-argentinian-tv https://www.nydailynews.com/snyde/ny-william-shakespeare-author-dead-covid-20210528-tcbxptpi55g7tlk55w5ckis7fq-story.html

"Welcome back, my friends to the show that never ends, we're so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside."

Yes, most of the season has passed. We're probably going to binge-watch the season, or something.

Tom Cruise Interview With A Vampire Brad Pitt

I can hear those lines in my head, but that's it. Any chance this is "Roll Over Beethoven"?