Search the Community

The Way International – the Christ-free religious substitute… …just another challenging counterfeit In the final analysis of The Way International it may come down to one of two options. Either TWI was a genuine Christian ministry, and it eventually went downhill, or it was false from the get-go. If you’re familiar with my other posts on the subject, you already know my opinion – it was a sham from the beginning. My judgement is not based on divining wierwille’s motives or intent – I’ll leave that up to God. My reasoning is grounded in the common knowledge of his written and recorded works, my 12 years of involvement in classes, programs and projects created by wierwille or sanctioned by him. I afford wierwille a very narrow benefit of a doubt in terms of guessing at his motivations or intentions – was it criminal, delusional, a combination of several things, “the best laid plans of mice and men” as the saying goes. In a court of law, how does a prosecutor prove that a defendant’s state of mind was to intentionally commit a crime? Many suspects make it easy for the prosecutor by fully confessing to the police. A competent investigator will ask the right questions to nail down the suspect’s intent at the time he committed the crime. What if there is no confession? The prosecutor normally attempts to convince the judge or the jury of a defendant’s criminal intent through implication. They will re-examine all the known circumstances, the accused’s behavior and spoken or written words as well as testimony from witnesses who can attest to the defendant’s actions and perceived mental state at the time of the crime. *See footnotes below for hyperlinks on delusional, criminal intent you can tell by the title of this thread, my assumption is that – for whatever reasons – wierwille started a pseudo-Christian harmful and controlling cult. I did not come to that belief lightly. It comes in the wake of 36 years of reflecting on my 12 years of TWI-experiences, observations, reassessing his written and recorded works, programs and projects created by wierwille or sanctioned by him. I know I am not alone in doing this. There’s been many folks who have posted here at Grease Spot Café besides published works like Amazon.com: Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International: 9780997874709: Edge, Charlene L, Ruth Mullen, Duane Stapp: Books The Cult That Snapped by Karl Kahler | Goodreads Losing the Way: A Memoir of Spiritual Longing, Manipulation, Abuse, and Escape: Skedgell, Kristen: 9780972002196: Amazon.com: Books These books make great gifts to yourself and others !!!!! They are relevant and provide clarity and much needed answers especially if you're still in TWI, thinking about leaving, wondering if you should leave...or you've left and you're trying to unpack the intellectual and emotional baggage from the experience. Just as a matter of survival I think many folks who leave a harmful and controlling cult become somewhat of a profiler to reassess a cult-leader’s psychological and behavioral characteristics – the cult-leader’s modus operandi if you will. I think that’s a natural and therapeutic process to identify, evaluate, make repairs, and reinforce one’s intellectual and emotional defenses against the deceptive inroads used by a cult-leader. Most arguments used to defend wierwille / PFAL / TWI go along the tenuous lines of referencing the 1942 audible promise that God made to wierwille [ see thread WordWolf started concerning the failure of the 1942 promise ] and that with the help of God’s guidance he was divinely authorized to plagiarize the works of Christian authors and ‘accurize’ it all in the process. There are numerous threads in About The Way and Doctrinal that shoot innumerable holes in that nonsense – you’re on your own to discover and/or review them. My purpose with this thread is to show you the very real possibility that creating a pseudo-Christian cult is not only feasible since it has been done before but in all probability, it will keep happening - until it doesn’t. [I’m using Nathan_Jr’s statistical formula “it works every time 60 % of the time” ] ~ ~ ~ ~ Religious cults are nothing new – and it’s been pointed out that Christianity started out as a cult – a religious sect. One can find a number of ways to define a cult - see Cult - Wikipedia . For this thread and elsewhere on Grease Spot Café, I’m going with The Way International being a harmful and controlling cult. It can also be described as a pseudo-Christian cult since there is a fake Jesus Christ centerpiece – “The Word” which in PFAL, wierwille designated as taking the place of the absent Christ. [ see thread OldSkool started The Absent Christ?] What is “The Word”? What does that simple buzzword mean to a TWI-follower? [ see buzzwords wayspeak , cults and social cohesion , the old wierwille switcheroo , ] It’s NOT The Bible, any translation or version. It is wierwille’s plagiarized, mangled, self-aggrandizing reinterpretation of select Christian works and Scripture. TWI-followers are under the false assumption that wierwille is correctly interpreting the Word of God and that notion imbues everything wierwille said or did with Christ-like authority. But it doesn’t take a theologian or scholar to see through wierwille’s smoke and mirrors. One just needs to remove the cult-mindset they adopted – the power that mindset holds over one’s cognitive skills varies according to years of involvement, responsibilities, personal makeup, etc. If you haven’t read the Why PFAL sucks thread yet – check it out – as of this writing, there’s some 119 and counting reasons why it’s so horrible - plus all the subsets – as noted by Grease Spotters. That thread is a great exercise in the Socratic method used on a lot of Grease Spot threads - a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between Grease Spotters, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions. It helps to identify and eliminate the dubious theories, logical fallacies, contradictions, eclectic unbiblical sources, and flat-out Scripture twisting in the Power For Abundant Living class – which is the mainstay of The Way International…You will find some posts by wierwille-sympathizers and wierwille-defenders on the Why PFAL sucks thread – which I think is great – because it affords everyone a chance to have some hands-on experience of using cognitive skills. Truth, logic, and facts will stand up to the toughest scrutiny. Lies, error, and absurd nonsense will not. ~ ~ ~ ~ The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. 7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. 11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. 17 “‘As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet? 20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken. 25 “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. 26 I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing.[a] I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. 27 The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. 28 They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. 29 I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. 30 Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. 31 You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’” Ezekiel 34 Ezekiel mentions the leaders…kings…priests…prophets…who were frauds cheating the flock for personal gain. This stands in contrast to the Lord as Shepherd See also Psalm 23 and Isaiah 40 and of course there's John 10: “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. 7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” 19 The Jews who heard these words were again divided. 20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” 21 But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” 22 Then came the Festival of Dedication[b] at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all[c]; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” 33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’[d]? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. 40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus. John 10 The threats that Jesus mentions in Matthew 23 seem analogous to the abuse of power mentioned in Ezekiel 34. ~ ~ ~ ~ Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted[a] by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’[b]” 5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’[c]” 9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[d]” 12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[e]” 13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. Luke 4 I think one of the reasons this account was recorded was to alert Christians to the fact that the devil knows the Scriptures too and will try to use them to undermine our faith. wierwille’s extensive plagiarism of the works of Christian authors is perhaps a similar ploy the devil used in Luke 4. wierwille’s mangling of the works of others along with his twisting of Scriptures was a deadly scheme to the young and naïve like myself. I notice some interesting similarities between wierwille’s methods and the devil’s strategy in tempting Jesus to deviate from God’s plan by abusing power, twisting the meaning of Scripture, and as a means of self-aggrandizement in the religious community. The early Christians were warned by Paul and others “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!” Acts 20 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. II Peter 2 That’s all for now folks, Merry Christmas to all Jesus Christ is the reason for the season! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ *Footnotes: https://open.lib.umn.edu/criminallaw/chapter/6-1-the-insanity-defense/ Delusion - Wikipedia Implications of Delusional Disorders and Criminal Behaviour for Criminology | Office of Justice Programs (ojp.gov) Explaining Delusional Thinking | Psychology Today Criminal Intent: What Everyone Should Know - Cook Attorneys Criminal Intent - Definition, Examples, Cases, Processes (legaldictionary.net) Violent Crime and Dimensions of Delusion: A Comparative Study of Criminal and Noncriminal Delusional Patients | Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (jaapl.org) Delusions - IResearchNet the absolute positively complete and final end - I think