TheHighWay

Okay... here's my first stab at it... well the first half anyway (dang, that's a long song!!) A long long time ago I can still remember how those teachings used to make me smile And I knew if I had my turn That I could show folks what I'd learned And maybe they'd sit and listen for awhile But ex-twi's lawsuit made me shiver With every red flag I'd remember Bad news on my doorstep I couldn't take one more step I can remember that I cried When I read about his tarnished bride And something touched me deep inside The day my twi-world died So {Refrain} Bye-bye, T – W - I Drove my beater with no heater For the very last time And my leadership looked me right in the eye Sayin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die Doc Vic sold the Book of Love And now you have faith in God above You read The Bible Tells Me So Now, you believe in all the keys And you recite retemories And you can teach me how to live abundantly Well, I know that you're a grad of the class 'Cause I saw you speakin' in tongues real fast You made sure we all saw Because you want to be a man of the cloth Oh, I was a lonely person just lookin' for God With pure intentions and a big ol' heart But I knew I was up against the BOD The day my twi-world died I started singin' {Refrain} Now for years our needs have all been met And none of us are greasespots yet But that's not how it used to be Once the Craigster ruled, and Rosalie She waited oh so patiently But the choice, it came from V-P So, while Craig just loved putting others down The Allens proved he was a horny clown The courtroom was adjourned No verdict was returned And now Rosie reads from the book of Mark The Sunday stage looks like a park And the believers they're still in the dark Some day, their twi-world may die We were singing {Refrain}

I put my groceries in the cart by category (dry boxes, cans and jars, refrigerator, freezer) and it drives me crazy that baggers don't seem to have a clue these days how to group things in the bags and how not to overload or underload each bag. It's really not that hard, people... I never fill the sink up with water to wash my dishes. I just run the water while I soap a few and then rinse them. I remember getting chewed out over this while in twi for wasting water but hey, I pay the water bill and why do I want to swish my dishes in already-used water? Once the first dish is rinsed, that water isn't clean anymore! I brush my teeth in the shower... a habit started in college where bathroom space was scarce and people would stand there and stare at you while you used the sink, waiting their turn. (Back off, Barbie!!) I often reference movies, books, etc. (Mostly in live conversation rather than online). I can't help it... lines just pop into my head and out my mouth. You wouldn't believe all the puzzled looks I get... Therefore I absolutely love shows like Gilmore Girls and House which frequently slip such references into their dialog without really acknowleging them. You either get it or you don't. --- By the way, cudos to Tom Strange for his Rumpole reference! Oh, and I also seem to switch between cursive and print willy-nilly. Worse yet, if I am filling out a form I will stick to print, but switch between Mixed Caps and ALL CAPS without even realizing I'm doing it. When the heck did I start doing this weirdness? Somebody help me!!!

Oh yeah... I remember those days... We were due in another city for a big meeting. Weatherman said a blizzard is coming. Everyone was running to the store to stock up on supplies. What were we doing? Packing up the infant child and the bibles for a road trip. We were so conditioned after four years of being yelled at for even thinking about missing a meeting (by just about every corps coordinator on every campus) it never even occurred to us to call and ask about a weather-exception. We just headed out. The weather came. We got stuck. We also got our butts chewed off because "we should have known" that the meeting was cancelled!!!!!!!! I am not kidding. He literally said to us: "You should have known that the meeting was cancelled." Excuse me? Have you never heard of a @#$!@#$!@#$ telephone? I thought revelation was for things you COULDN'T know by your five senses... You knew it would take us hours to drive from our city to yours and you didn't bother to let us know you had cancelled the meeting? And the worst part? We hung our heads in shame and agreed with him... we should have known. How stupid of us. ((THANK GOD FOR FREEDOM))

I remember Gilbert!! What a great guy... wonderful influence in my life.

Hang in there, PinkLady... Regardless of what griffp and that ilk say to you or try to imply... Those of us here at GS who have fought a hard fight to get free of the evil influences of twi in our lives know you are posting the truth and we support you whole-heartedly!! Do what you have to do, for yourself and your kids, and don't let anyone discourage you... THW

I'm with you, CA Dreaming.... Da Bearss!!!!!

Wow... well, that confirms what my impressions have been all along... The guy had to go so deeply into monsterville to go along with Vic's teachings and practices that he can't dig himself back out. His only regrets are that he got caught, and the consequences of getting caught. There is no remorse because there is no understanding of what he did wrong. He is still just a hollow little man in a big shell of bluff, bluster, and ego.

Natawayfer... Did your friend tell you what Craig's thoughts/perspective was? Many of us here at the Gspot would really like to understand what this man thinks/thought about what he did, what others did, the whole thing... Anything you can share with us? THW

Agreed. Comraderie. Common Goals. That is what most of my "friendships" were in twi. The exception being some of the folks I was in the College Program with. That was so much more like "real" college than any other twi program, and we were okay with being more "flawed" than anyone in the corps or wow. I think that environment allowed us to be more natural.

Okay... so, how the heck can they send that kind of $$$ to a university for a Wierwille offspring, but they couldn't "afford" to cover Mrs. Wierwille's final expenses????? wtf? Anyone know the legal rules? It's okay for a not-for-profit ministry to donate major bucks to a university with clear ties to the founding family line? With each passing stupid, blatant, outrageous thing they do, I think to myself, "Now I've heard it all." And then they manage to do one more thing to shock and disgust me. Will it never end???? And people wonder why we have a hard time moving on with our lives... hey, it's because the BS just keeps on coming!!!

Today, I mourn for the Buckeyes... they just didn't bring their best game. Sorry everyone.

Potato, I've not heard anything until your post about Myra. Any idea what she changed her name to? She was one of the few I considered a good friend in rez and I'd love to find her again (in or out).

Potato, Thank you very much for answering! Sorry to hear she is still in. Whereabouts does she live these days?

QUOTE: "The real funny part is that I have no desire whatsoever to even engage them in conversation (an apology might be nice) nor do I have any desire to build any type of relationship with them. So why are my feelings so mixed up?....." That's exactly how I feel. I really have little or no interest in building a friendship with some of these folks!! So why do I feel nostaligic as well as angry every time I encounter them? How can you feel both at the same time? I think the pangs of jealousy are about wishing things didn't turn out the way they did. Wouldn't it have been nice if twi was really what we all thought it was? And the people in it were all good-hearted folks wanting the best for your life as well as theirs? At the same time, an apology would validate what we went through... it would just be so nice if some of these folks could admit they did something wrong and that it caused negative consequences to our lives. (sometimes devestating ones) We were just "blown off" after everything we invested, and it is very hard to reconcile being treated that way. I've said it before, and I'll say it again here... it is all about dealing with loss. We lost our innocence, our hopes, and a chunk of time in our lives. We lost the potential that this loss represents--- what could we have accomplished if that fresh youthful attitude had found a genuine outlet? Sometimes it is just hard to deal with.

I'm with Shaz... I love being free to help the people around me in whatever way presents itself and there is no question in my mind I've made a far more significant Christian impact doing that than I ever made in all those years in twi.

I, too, was specifically Marked and Avoided six years ago. But in the past year I have had folks who are still active around town acting like nothing happened. I've even been encouraged to initiate contact with some old friends at HQ. My response is much like yours... excuse me, I am not the one who turned my back on them. If they want to be so friendly all of a sudden they can start by approaching me with a sincere and heartfelt apology!! Nothing less is acceptible. Period. How typical of the abusers to turn things around and make it seem like you are shunning them if you don't act like nothing happened. My advice: be willing to forgive if forgiveness is asked for, but otherwise don't fall for their act; don't give in!

Wow, Motherof2, what a great post!! I hope you let your dad know asap that you now "get it" and thank him for his sacrifice. He clearly did the right thing (the hard thing) for his family. What a good man. You made my day. THW

Rascal, I find it interesting, as well, that every "successful" dictatorship uses these same tactics and methods. Exactly the same... charismatic leader, new better direction with special link to God, blind obedience required... you can always trace how folks put these leaders in power because they believed they would do something good (or at least better than what had happened previously) and once they are in power, there are few ways of getting them out of power. Just like a cult. People are people are people are people. THW

Eagle... I had no idea... "a shopping we will go, a shopping we will go....." (can't wait to read it!) Actually, I have also been told I should write a book. And I have even considered it once or twice. But mine would have almost nothing to do with twi doctrine, and everything to do with my personal experiences both getting in and getting out. As such, even if I do write it eventually, I will probably never publish it because of the impact it would have on my family members and others closely involved.

Waysider, Thanks for the info... in 1978 I was still in high school, and mine was probably the last family on the block to get a color tv, let alone anything more high tech... someone help my failing memory: when did VCRs (Beta or non-Beta) hit the market? (sorry... not meaning to derail this thread... just don't want to start a whole new thread with just this one question) So, the website I found seems to be a whole archive of stuff... just like your thoughts on Bud Morgan, makes you wonder where/why this guy has access to all this material?

I found a website that says the special (movie) first aired on ABC on Sunday, June 8, 1978. How the heck VP got a copy in the days before VCRs and multiple showings is beyond me. According to this website: http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/fl/f64}1.htm They have a copy of the transcript in their special collections library. And this site http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~ahmintz/news.htm implies that there is an audio or video copy available, although when I went to the home webpage: http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~ahmintz/index.htm I couldn't find it in a search. But there is contact info if you really wanted to pursue it. Hope that helps.

Oldies, It's very convenient of you to focus on the few here who believe any kind of hitting of a child is abuse. I'm not one of them. I think a good solid whack on the fanny is definately what a child MIGHT need at certain times to let them know what they are doing WILL NOT be tolerated. Do you know how many times my child actually needed such a good solid whack as he was growing up? Less than five. And trust me, he got them when he needed them! Would you like to know exactly what I was told to do by my TC/BC when my child was a toddler? 1) He must not fall asleep in fellowship, even though it runs past his bedtime 2) He must not snuggle too close to mommy as this is just his way of not being involved with fellowship 3) He must sit still and quiet through an entire SNS tape, with no toys or books, even though there is absolutely nothing in the room to keep his attention and half the adults are inattentive 4) If he does not abide by these rules, I must take him in the other room and whack him until he does Only a parent would understand how completely, utterly ridiculous and counter-productive these rules are, and only a twi-head would know what it feels like to teeter-totter between trying to avoid the rules, protect your child, please your leadership, and not get yourself booted from the ministry. Oldies, you are a complete fool. People stayed because they spent years being indoctrinated into believing it was God's Word, into believing their leadership was "tapped in" to a special spiritualness, into believing any time they didn't understand it was their own fault for not being Godly enough. We were TAUGHT to hide from what we saw, what we thought, what we were afraid was wrong-doings by anyone in The Way International... did the leadership come right out and say, "Hey, we want you to cover up for anything bad we do."? Obviously not. They didn't need to... we SAW what happened to those who didn't do exactly as we were told by our local leadership. I sat in countless corps night teachings listening to Craig publically tear people apart for the slightest infractions. I went through years of corps/college program/fellowship coordinator/advanced class/WIPB training that told us in no uncertain terms that the word of a man of God was LAW. I was given demonstrations on exactly how hard and how often to smack my kid's bare leg with a wooden spoon for not being attentive enough. I spent time at Rome City where I was told I didn't strike a child hard enough during children's fellowship (by the fella who coordinated it for years). Don't you DARE sit on your high horse and tell me what I did or did not live through. Enjoy the rose-colored tint from those dark glasses you choose to wear, but stop telling the rest of us who have taken them off that you are the one seeing things clearly.

I'm afraid my sarcasm (usually a regular companion) has left me on this one... I recently had a family member suffer extensive home damage due to fire. There's a lot more that gets damaged than the physical home. I really feel for these folks and I'm just glad everyone escaped unharmed. --- granted, someone will probably have to review their thinking and determine precisely when God told them... to have their chimney cleaned, or not to light a fire in the fireplace, or to have the fellowship someplace else... and they will have to figure out what they were doing that caused them to miss hearing, or second-guess obeying that still small voice --- I don't miss those days.

Well, you all are pretty much confirming my own thoughts on this... it very much depends on the workplace, the nature of the work you are responsible for doing, and your own reputation. All of which Craig missed by setting down a particular mandate for everyone. Perhaps some of those late-arrivers had already worked things out with their immediate department boss. Perhaps some of those folks were shiftless no-goods milking the system. Many of us know first-hand you had great and not-so-great folks at HQ just like anywhere else. One blanket ruling from on high probably wasn't the best way to go. I have no problem with jobs that require you to be in your place ready to go by a certain time. I've done them myself and even enjoyed them. You usually know if that's what you signed on for ahead of time. But I refuse to feel guilty or feel that I am a bad person because the pace at my place of employment allows a little freedom. So there, Craig!!!!! NYAH. (one more piece of waybrain falls by the wayside) Thanks everyone for responding.

In the late 1980s, while living at HQ, I heard Craig gave one of his famous lunch-time rants. (Well, he actually gave a few on this topic.) This one was about what constituted a work day. Apparently he had sat inconspicuously in a car in the staff parking lot over a series of days and noted how many folks were only just walking into the building at 8am (the start of the working day) and how many others came in several minutes late each day. He was outraged. He said that being honest in the workplace didn’t mean just not stealing pencils. It meant being honest with your time, which meant actually WORKING each and every minute you were being paid to work. From that point on, he insisted Way staff arrive early enough to be at their desk, etc. ready to go at 8am, and that they not start getting ready to leave until after the close of the working day (5pm). Now, I really don’t want to go into the utter hypocrisy of the forehead spouting off on workplace ethics to people who actually worked for a living, usually putting in far more than standard overtime, for far less than minimum wage!! That’s not what I want to discuss in this thread. No, what’s bothering me today – and in fact, bothers me from time to time – is that while this concept is valid and enforced in every factory or business that deals with the public that I have ever worked for, I have never found it to be the case regarding general office work, which is what Craig was trying to apply it to… In every office I’ve encountered there is a certain amount of leeway given. Sort of under the heading of “Life Happens”. In fact, I’ve gotten so used to having this type of flexible work environment, that allows me a few minutes for a phone call to make sure my son is home from school, or an email to a friend who’s cat is sick, that I have little or no tolerance for situations that are more highly regulated. So, who is right? If you don’t deal directly with the public, and your work day is more focused on getting the tasks done in a timely manner, than on how much time you spend on them, is it a big deal if you arrive a few minutes late, and make up the time by shaving minutes off your lunch hour or staying a bit late that day? Have I just become a lazy worker?