Beguiled

Weird flexes going on here. Because the game is about creating and running your own cult, not being in it. Did you watch the trailer?! You want to get over some of the crap you lived through? Name some of your servants, I mean followers, after people from TWI and watch as they break their backs helping you get rich and lying to others. I mean you could even lay out the layout like at HQ lol, though I seriously doubt you would want to do that.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/841190/Honey_I_Joined_a_Cult/

An interesting "connection" to TWI lol.

I agree with everything you say waysider. What I'm trying to say and my own shortcomings are obviously preventing me from getting my point across is that the conversation is not going to happen, there is not going to be an "other person" if we have labels up that prevent further victims from seeing this space as a safe-haven for healing. Now, whether or not we believe that a simple misunderstanding of a word could/would actually prevent a person from enjoying said content and healing of this site is obviously the line in the sand for my particular argument. But I just wanted to let it be known that from my experiences, the terminology being used here could be counter-productive towards the site's primary objective, for some people.

So I searched "flat earth" just now here at GSC and I didn't see any results that I'm aware of, so I thought I'd bring this subject up because it has been a thing again since...well, since "mis-information" was a new political weapon. I bring it here because the mental hurdles and cognitive dissonance that "flat-earthers" display is exactly like "wafers." I'm sure most around here have seen these videos but man, coming back here to GSC and reading the past few days has really reminded me and made just way too many parallels between wafers and flat-earthers for me not to bring it up. While I'm not too inclined to get into the details right now of their arguments and beliefs, I figured I'd share a few clips of my favorite "debunker" to do it for me. The best part is seeing the "deer in the headlights" look of flat-earthers when confronted with information that they created from their own experiments that runs opposite to their beliefs. It's just all pure gold. _________________________________________________________ This first one is what Flat Earthers believe so you can understand where they are coming from. Just think of them like you were when you were in TWI and defending them and their beliefs lol. It makes for some great internal shenanigans.

In the most lovingly way possible I guess I disagree. (I'm totally just having a conversation, in case this comes off as more than that.) Adapting one's terminology to another individual's can continue to make things unclear and arguments can go on and on because people don't understand each other since their meanings do not line up. I believe that you have to define terminology first, be on the same page first before a productive conversation can actually begin. Those whose master status and identity are tied up in gender/sexuality identity will judge us based on whether or not we are respecting their language. I say their language because they are the ones proactively using and they are the ones defining it today, and therefore they are the ones who it affects the most. I feel that your response is precisely what they would expect, and then they may falsely judge us and not care what anyone around here has to say. Again, I know I'm way down the rabbit hole of "no big deal" and "who gives an f." It's just I'm around and aware of the people I'm talking about and I know that what I brought up is both factual and an issue...for them. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the site is/has/will be judged by others based off of the misuse of a label that is voluntarily being put out into the world inaccurately by today's definitions. I am trying to say that those that this label affects will react in a way that may seem reactionary and over-the-top to you and me (not listen to anything else we have to say), but that is the reality of those that are utilizing the language today. If we wish to utilize the same language (i.e. put it on the site), we must adhere to how it is being used today - else we signal to others that we do not care about our ignorance, because we "know" or do not care that we are right. And that just sounds way too much like those we broke away from imho.

Thank you Twinky, In the end I guess I'm not watching the video. But I did find 2 interesting comments to it. Two months ago someone said, "I last saw her perform at The Way Internationals 75th anniversary five years ago, vibrant as ever!" One month ago some said, "In Phoenix Arizona Claudette talked to me and warned me of the way international. I thank her for that conversation."

I'm just nit picketing so feel free to disregard, but those that are younger and come to this site will in fact notice that GSC can't even distinguish between sex and gender. I know I know, I can feel all of your eyeballs rolling into the back of your head. But since GSC decides to put it under everyone's screen name and does it improperly so we can see it over and over, it could easily turn off those who know better who can't see past this one thing. And trust me, to some it is a huge deal. So, just throwing it out there that a simple word change would tremendously help make it look like people know what they are doing around these here parts. I know if I was trans-gendered and was coming here for healing I might think this community wouldn't care about me because of the mistake and its widespread use on the site. Just my thoughts. Sex = Male, Female Gender = Man, Woman Cis-Man/Woman = Man born a male, Woman born a female Trans-gender = Man born a female, Woman born a male

Same. I should perhaps find common ground first but I generally only "flex, shout, yell, get angry" when I see that an individual is crossing boundaries and others let it slide. I guess that's how I saw him on this site. I do the same thing in my neighborhood for the record. Some neighbor continually disrespects me, my family, or my property then I see them as already crossing my boundaries so I need to make them known. I do it clearly so there is no confusion where I stand. Cross my boundary again and you will have to deal with me. I'm not saying it's right, but it is for me. I lose sleep when I see others sit back and let someone step over boundaries. But when I make an foot of myself to set them, I don't lose a wink of sleep. I just lose the respect of those around me, which I've finally learned to not gaf about.

Under my own personal definition of an athlete, with a dash/heap of anecdotal experience, I think athletes of the spirit is a very apt description of at least Christians, but most definitely wafers. Dictionary.com states that an athlete is a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill. In today's world I operationalize it as someone who is not only participating in a physical sport, but their master status and life is oriented around the notion of being an athlete. Generally speaking, but not in all cases, said person would have to be actively participating/training in a sport as well (and perhaps even at the highest level of competition that they can). AAU, the high school team, college, military, and so on. I have been an athlete for my entire life up until about 5 years go through team sports, my job in the military, racing motorcycles and cars, and surfing competitions. As an athlete and a teacher at a very large Division 1 University who has literally had entire basketball, football, baseball, softball, and soccer teams in my classroom at the same time - athletes are not something that anyone should look up to. Athletes in this world are children. They are dumb, they are ignorant, and they do not care about things that do not affect their sport, team, or own physical abilities. They have no respect for those not in their circle. Those I taught in my classes were all Division 1 athletes and some have gone onto being professional athletes as children. I would never look up to any of them and I never have told anyone about my being an athlete because of how I see them and because I can unequivocally say that I was just as bad as anyone I am referring to. They are too narrow-minded and only care about their physical abilities in so much that it elevates them above others. They believe they are better than others because they can do X or Y better than the next person, or you. Also, these teams would only be in my 300 person classrooms, not the 75 person ones, and they would sit in the back corners with their backs to me and their headphones on. They would have a chaperone follow them to my class to make sure they made it and then would come back after to make sure they were still there. EVEN THE UNIVERSITY KNEW THESE KIDS DIDN'T HAVE THERE SH!T TOGETHER. But all of the money that Universities get is basically through sport. All Division 1 schools shut down the campus for game days, fyi. Learning does not matter when millions of dollars are about to pour in. I am generalizing. I understand not all athletes are like this. But I would say that over 50% definitely are. Based on GPA's of said athletes I am being very generous in my opinion. I remember when my favorite Kansas University point guard back in the day graduated with a 4.0 and went on to the NBA, it was such a big deal lol. Anywhooo, I see no difference between athletes in college/professional level and those in TWI. Their way or the highway. Listen to what I have to say I'm better than you. I don't talk to people like you because you are not at the same level as me. I see athletes as young and dumb and willing to do whatever they are told to be on the team, much like TWI. Once on said team they will take almost any type of mental or physical abuse to stay or the team, or to be ranked higher within their own team, let alone their sport. I see coaches, trainers, and any other type of leadership as the same as in TWI/Christianity. Utilizing their position for their own status and egos at the cost of those beneath them. Yet those involved will defend the leadership because it is "making them stronger, better, more disciplined," et cetera. Leaders will control the athlete (read ignorant child still figuring out him/herself through the only lens they know, competition). Athletes have huge mental problems today, huge. The higher up you go in competition the more you will see how these athletes are not well-rounded and have little to no social and cognitive thinking skills. As long as they "strive to be #1 in everything they do" no one cares, let alone themselves, how skewed these kids' mental capacities really are. (And yes, I am including myself here. For the record, I decided I no longer wanted to be one of these people and literally threw my surfboard down at a competition as a symbol to myself and decided to go back to college. I thought I was better than everyone around me and I had no basis to think that. I told myself I had to prove it. So I stopped being an athlete and instead took a new path and outlook on how to approach life.) Everything I have said gets compounded 10 fold when said athletes participate in non-team sports, any type of racing, and especially any Olympic sport. Sociology, the discipline I have studied for a fortnite or two *wink*, lays out how they are basically slaves in the modern era. I would agree. But we look the other way because we have created a society in which only having one physical skill is supposedly better than having a hundred cognitive/social skills, and we put the highest dollar amount to this physical skill. If you are a man anyway... So when I see the term "athletes of the spirit" I think wafers definitely are an Christians are but not as badly. I smile inside when I see the term and I don't think it should stopped being used. Their viewpoint of the spiritual is just as skewed as athletes' viewpoints and reasoning are in the physical. They both believe they are better than you because...of this one thing they have that you don't. Just an alternative perspective from someone who has had some of the same spiritual experiences as you.

Did you see the plethora of rings he had in public? You really think that there wasn't a secret ring? I don't even need to believe in the secret ring. I believe rings he wore in public were used for the same thing. It would hold great power over those that knew, as well as feed his ego. I mean even the obsession with jewelry should be a freaking clue.

Ah man Twinky beat me by a year. I wanted to be able to tell myself I necro'd (slang term for "raising a forum topic from the dead") a 13 year old post lol. I too looked up to her just because of her talent and because I was young. I never knew her personally. But when my mother sang at RoA one year and I got to see Claudette behind the scenes and whatnot, it really was Wizard of Oz and pulling back the curtain. She smoked, was short with people, would snub people that were not worthy of her time. She clearly was TWI material. It is no surprise that she has her own business but won't talk to anyone not in TWI. She wouldn't talk to lowly disciples of god when she was at headquarters, why would she ever do it after? All I can say is she is two-faced like every single person who was been in TWI's hierarchy. She may have treated you well, but you are an exception. She thought her sh!t didn't stink. I feel no love lose that she lost the thing she loved, singing. :D

I have queries about this lol. When I clicked on the link I see 150 clips, including AoTS. Sure they say they are by Loy and yes I listened to 60s seconds of a couple of them and they are indeed him and current. But all of these clips are uploaded by Watson PA and then Watson PA gives them all 5 stars, calls him "the TEACHER" (not to be confused with "THE TEACHER"). Watson PA even gives the TEACHER'S email address of flysortie@gmail.com. So is Watson PA actually Loy? Do we know anything? Does he have followers and this is just one of them? I just have so many questions. But one thing is clear, he speaks and teaches the exact same way so he clearly hasn't learned anything and just continues to be a con-artist. I will be sending a loving message to that email some day. That p.o.s. destroyed many of our lives and/or families lives. He still has my parents under his control (even if he isn't in control anymore), and yet he is still trying to phuc people over just so he can sate his ego.

Yea, that's how I see it. When someone is blatantly a bully, a victim blamer, a contrarian, a passive aggressive whatever - then we will never share the same bread together. I don't know how old he is but the brain doesn't stop developing until you hit 25, then it takes a few more years to figure out what you know and what you don't know and to figure out the patterns you/society have created in your brain. I'm assuming he is 30 or younger and is still trying to figure out how to find his own mental footing. But if you do that at the cost of others, it's time for you to get slapped upside your developing head.