Jesus Christ confronted the religious leaders of his day for their hypocritical nature.
What really woke me up to the realization that the way leadership was becoming more and more like the hypocrites JC talked about was a decision my wife and I made to join a boat club. We found that the people there were more loving forgiving that those we knew in the way.
When we made mistakes we were not lambasted, when we were down we were cared for and when we needed help they were more than willing to jump in.
While in twi if we made a mistake, leadership were quick to jump down our throats.
If we tried to point out a mistake that leadership made, there was a major meltdown.
When we had challenges we were told that we had to work them our ourselves and that they didn't want to get involved.
When leadership moved or needed to clean their houses for classes, we were all expected to be there to help. Yet if we moved they told us they had to study.
The leadership would make us drive hundreds of miles in the worst kind of weather to hear them teach something they believed was special and needed for us to stay ahead of the adversary's attacks. (I didn't know we so far behind).
Yet if we ever had special events we would receive not so much as a phone call from leadership.
YEPPERS!! One of the biggest gripes I had with TWI.
They weren't "servants of men", they made US "servants of them".
They sat in the "high places"; went first in all the lines; were waited on hand and foot and expected it. How many people got chewed out for "missing a detail" in taking care of things for "leadership"? How many actually received any help from these bozos?
When someone needed help, we and they were told, "they need the Word.... they need to believe God...."
NO!!
Sometimes people need a few bucks, a shirt off someone's back, a helping hand.... NOT to merely be told, "GO and believe God."
My last year of being fully immersed in TWI I had surgery and was laid up for at least a week.
NOT ONE PERSON brought us anything and ONLY ONE PERSON called to even see how I was doing after my surgery. My own branch coordinator called, but it was just to see if we would purchase his secular services.... not the least bit concerned about my well-being or how my ex was handling having to take care of me and everything else all by himself. <_<
My co-workers and neighbors, you know - those egg sucking empties floating by - they sent cards, called to check on me and one of them even brought over dinner one night so my ex wouldn't have to cook or clean dishes. Give me an egg sucker over a TWIt any day.
I have similar experiences to what both Mr.Ham and Belle posted. I won't even speak about it, since it gets my back up, so to speak.
But, what really bothered me...something I've continued to suppress in my ulcer-generating personality...was the separate set of rules...one for leadership and toadies, and another for us regular joes.
As many of you know, I've spent the weekend battling a computer problem, so I'll put it in PC (that's not politically correct, I mean Personal Computer) language.
It was like the L&T's operated under XP with the nicest systems, and the rest of us muddled through with dinosaur 486's running on Windows 3.1.
Examples: We are "above the world and were to ignore offshoots". However, when B*b and C*nst*nce D*rnell discovered my husband had an acquaintance with a man and his family who were then attending CES fellowships, my husband was instructed to renew that relationship (as a good little goose-stepper, he had already given up all his ex-way, non-way friends), infiltrate the family, and acquire the written materials so that B*b could look them over.
Yeah. Like I believe that was the only way they could get ahold of those books. Anyway, the most disturbing part of that was the utter glee with which my husband, 007 of The Way, undertook his task. He arranged a golf date with this man, got him to talk about CES, feigned real interest, got the stuff, B*b perused it...made copies of everything...and it was returned to the friend, who was, then, told in no uncertain terms just where he could shove his "devilish" materials. Now, in case anyone is thinking that b*b acted on his own, a rogue LC with an agenda, I shall simply point out that I was in the Limb Home, PRESENT, as he discussed this on the phone with LCM. So, yeah, it was endorsed.
What sort of tactics are those? I don't think I need to answer that question.
Now...had any one of us hatched a plan to, say, infiltrate a rival business-person's environment, take their possessions under false pretenses, copy them and use them for our own purposes, and then basically expect that person to thank us for the foot-reaming...? Well, I think we all know what the counsel would have been.
Other areas in which I think the institutionalized duplicity occurred, that I can personally attest to:
Fear and intimidation tactics used to coerce certain behaviors (like coming to my job and making their presence known the first time I tried to leave my husband). That's according to the Word, if you believe it, ... just how exactly?
Marriage counseling performed by those without any skills in conflict resolution and with no *other* material to help them than what they'd been taught in TWI. The bible is our only source of faith and practice, every answer to every question and problem is there. Indeed? Interpersonal dynamics are not as simple as the leadership would like to believe. I suppose if they were, their own behavior might have reflected it.
Using the time and specific talents of believers for "the benefit of the household" which translates to "Do this for us, but you will receive no credit" and yet, leadership breaking their arms to pat each other on the back.
And...what about the artists and other really talented people used without any sort of compensation to produce unique, lovely and often amazingly beautiful cards to send to HQ for birthdays, events, etc. It seems like every time a dog farted we were sending cards to HQ. They benefited spiritually by giving their time, so they were told...yeah, well, those things took hours and those members were still expected to be at every fellowship and event...and run their families...and work their jobs, etc.
I'm sorry, the abuse of individual talent was codified in twi, there was an intricate plan for exploitation. I've posted about some of these things in specific before, but...
...is it not the very epitome of hypocritical behavior to manifest, time and again, an observable standard for one section of a group and to have another for the rest? Yes, as it has been posted before, some pigs were, in fact, more equal than other pigs.
I do not, as some may speculate, remember every moment in twi as evil. I have some very good memories and I miss the people I knew and cared for. This cannot, however, negate the truth of the standards as they applied to leadership and then to the *ahem* household at large.
I was told to eschew my "earthly family"....until we needed money, and then it was ok to touch them for some cash.
Believe bigger? I did...I believed I could run my own life better than the unqualified, arrogant, damaging people who were somehow in a position of authority.
I think there were a few people who were genuine. During my latter years as a twibot, though, I saw hypocrisy in leaders great and small. Example: The woman who loved to feed her four small children pie for breakfast on Sundays, loading them with a sugar buzz which manifested itself during the Sunday morning fellowship she and her husband ran. The little darlings would be bopping all over the place. My son, however, carefully fed a sugar-free breakfast and prepped with Ritalin by his fearful mother, was REQUIRED to sit silently and squirm-free on the floor, legs crossed in front of him, hands folded in his lap, his eyes glued to a Bible or the magnificant visage of our glorious twig leader who was holding forth the present truth. One twitch, one moan, and he was to be removed to the bathroom and beaten. However, her kids were twice as disruptive and never corrected.
This same woman, when I was first diagnosed with diabetes and half blinded, grudgingly took me to the doctor one time, being sure I understood how busy she was and what a huge favor she was doing me. It was only a couple miles from where I lived, so after that I just walked until I got my sight back totally and could drive. Then, a year or so later, she had surgery. Well, guess who was ordered to come over every day and clean and clean and clean. This woman wanted her bathrooms cleaned every day, starting with washing down the walls. Then the whole house had to be vacuumed. Then finally, she mentioned she would like the furniture dusted. Her 10-year-old eldest son took it on himself to REPROVE me for dusting AFTER I had vacuumed. I had stuff of my own to do and had been there about an hour, scrubbing and polishing and all, so I told him I was performing tasks in the order in which his mother had requested them and maybe he needed to go correct HER.
The third or so time I came over to do all this, the little branch leader's wife had called me the night before, and told me I shouldn't spend more than 15 minutes doing housework for this woman. The next morning she was there herself with the invalid, sipping tea and chatting. I spent my usuall 45-60 minutes cleaning away and do you think this great little woman of God branch leader's wife stood up and said, "Garden, you don't need to be here cleaning all this time. Mrs. Hotsi-Totsie, I told her last night on the phone not to be here more than 15 minutes. your house doesn't need to be immaculate all the time and you are taking advantage of her." OH HECK NO! She just sat there and sipped her tea and smiled.
Remember VP talked about the church he went to where the minister had to present his teaching to a board of directors before he taught it and had to read it verbatim on the following sunday. And how he said that the spirit of God could never move in an environment like this.
The Way has always boasted itself to be an environment where the spirit of God can move freely in it's teachings.
Well guess what folks? Every SNS teaching is reviewed by the board of directors and the teacher has to read it word for word when he teaches it. It's great for those with sleep problems. Naptime.
I can remember once getting chewed out royally by my twig coordinator ....
I played music and sang with a couple of buddies for fellowship all the time. It really seemed to bless (shoot I HAVE to get away from all those TWI metaphores!) -ahem- made all the people in attendance happy, and lets face it it beat the heck outta singing some of those worn out songs from the "Sing Aong the Way" while the twig leader waves his hand back and forth like a 3rd grade music teacher........PEW.....
Anyway, my twig leader had asked us to do a particular song, not even a worship tune - just some old Will Rogers type podunk tune. Well, we were kept very busy playing for fellowship and even a limb meeting once, and because we put worship music first we never got around to it...Selfish? Well, perhaps, but at the time we didnt look at it that way...
Anyway we all gathered one night for practice before fellowship as we usually did and he came in and lit into us BAD. 'We didnt care about anyone but ourselves..' and on and on and on...and I'm talking it was done in a very demeaning, cruel fashion. Ouch....(of course his wife sang with us on occaision - but she didnt get b__ch slapped like we did).
Needless to say, we didnt play at fellowship after that....
While in twi if we made a mistake, leadership were quick to jump down our throats.
If we tried to point out a mistake that leadership made, there was a major meltdown.
When we had challenges we were told that we had to work them our ourselves and that they didn't want to get involved.
When leadership moved or needed to clean their houses for classes, we were all expected to be there to help. Yet if we moved they told us they had to study.
The leadership would make us drive hundreds of miles in the worst kind of weather to hear them teach something they believed was special and needed for us to stay ahead of the adversary's attacks. (I didn't know we so far behind).
Yet if we ever had special events we would receive not so much as a phone call from leadership.[/size]
Hypocrites, what do you think?
a quote from Howard Allen:
"No man is ever completely worthless. You can always use him as a bad example"
"No man is ever completely worthless. You can always use him as a bad example"
I may be mistaken, but I believe that may be a rewording of a famous quote by Edgar W. Howe who said, "I'm not completely worthless. I can always be used as a bad example."
Geeze! Didn't these guys ever have ANYTHING original?
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Bramble
I think you have a point.
We noticed how delightful, warm, giving and kind our earthly families were compared to the Household Fellowship.
To our TWI leadership we were just props. Make them look good , or you were useless.
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excathedra
i'll take a boat cult anyday !!!! and i don't particulary like boats
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FreeFromCults
I think you're right.
They are real hypocrites.
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Belle
YEPPERS!! One of the biggest gripes I had with TWI.
They weren't "servants of men", they made US "servants of them".
They sat in the "high places"; went first in all the lines; were waited on hand and foot and expected it. How many people got chewed out for "missing a detail" in taking care of things for "leadership"? How many actually received any help from these bozos?
When someone needed help, we and they were told, "they need the Word.... they need to believe God...."
NO!!
Sometimes people need a few bucks, a shirt off someone's back, a helping hand.... NOT to merely be told, "GO and believe God."
My last year of being fully immersed in TWI I had surgery and was laid up for at least a week.
NOT ONE PERSON brought us anything and ONLY ONE PERSON called to even see how I was doing after my surgery. My own branch coordinator called, but it was just to see if we would purchase his secular services.... not the least bit concerned about my well-being or how my ex was handling having to take care of me and everything else all by himself. <_<
My co-workers and neighbors, you know - those egg sucking empties floating by - they sent cards, called to check on me and one of them even brought over dinner one night so my ex wouldn't have to cook or clean dishes. Give me an egg sucker over a TWIt any day.
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Ham
I remember when branch coordinator's wife came back from some minor surgery- these sycophants had meals and service planned for weeks in advance..
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QuietThinker
I have similar experiences to what both Mr.Ham and Belle posted. I won't even speak about it, since it gets my back up, so to speak.
But, what really bothered me...something I've continued to suppress in my ulcer-generating personality...was the separate set of rules...one for leadership and toadies, and another for us regular joes.
As many of you know, I've spent the weekend battling a computer problem, so I'll put it in PC (that's not politically correct, I mean Personal Computer) language.
It was like the L&T's operated under XP with the nicest systems, and the rest of us muddled through with dinosaur 486's running on Windows 3.1.
Examples: We are "above the world and were to ignore offshoots". However, when B*b and C*nst*nce D*rnell discovered my husband had an acquaintance with a man and his family who were then attending CES fellowships, my husband was instructed to renew that relationship (as a good little goose-stepper, he had already given up all his ex-way, non-way friends), infiltrate the family, and acquire the written materials so that B*b could look them over.
Yeah. Like I believe that was the only way they could get ahold of those books. Anyway, the most disturbing part of that was the utter glee with which my husband, 007 of The Way, undertook his task. He arranged a golf date with this man, got him to talk about CES, feigned real interest, got the stuff, B*b perused it...made copies of everything...and it was returned to the friend, who was, then, told in no uncertain terms just where he could shove his "devilish" materials. Now, in case anyone is thinking that b*b acted on his own, a rogue LC with an agenda, I shall simply point out that I was in the Limb Home, PRESENT, as he discussed this on the phone with LCM. So, yeah, it was endorsed.
What sort of tactics are those? I don't think I need to answer that question.
Now...had any one of us hatched a plan to, say, infiltrate a rival business-person's environment, take their possessions under false pretenses, copy them and use them for our own purposes, and then basically expect that person to thank us for the foot-reaming...? Well, I think we all know what the counsel would have been.
Other areas in which I think the institutionalized duplicity occurred, that I can personally attest to:
Fear and intimidation tactics used to coerce certain behaviors (like coming to my job and making their presence known the first time I tried to leave my husband). That's according to the Word, if you believe it, ... just how exactly?
Marriage counseling performed by those without any skills in conflict resolution and with no *other* material to help them than what they'd been taught in TWI. The bible is our only source of faith and practice, every answer to every question and problem is there. Indeed? Interpersonal dynamics are not as simple as the leadership would like to believe. I suppose if they were, their own behavior might have reflected it.
Using the time and specific talents of believers for "the benefit of the household" which translates to "Do this for us, but you will receive no credit" and yet, leadership breaking their arms to pat each other on the back.
And...what about the artists and other really talented people used without any sort of compensation to produce unique, lovely and often amazingly beautiful cards to send to HQ for birthdays, events, etc. It seems like every time a dog farted we were sending cards to HQ. They benefited spiritually by giving their time, so they were told...yeah, well, those things took hours and those members were still expected to be at every fellowship and event...and run their families...and work their jobs, etc.
I'm sorry, the abuse of individual talent was codified in twi, there was an intricate plan for exploitation. I've posted about some of these things in specific before, but...
...is it not the very epitome of hypocritical behavior to manifest, time and again, an observable standard for one section of a group and to have another for the rest? Yes, as it has been posted before, some pigs were, in fact, more equal than other pigs.
I do not, as some may speculate, remember every moment in twi as evil. I have some very good memories and I miss the people I knew and cared for. This cannot, however, negate the truth of the standards as they applied to leadership and then to the *ahem* household at large.
I was told to eschew my "earthly family"....until we needed money, and then it was ok to touch them for some cash.
Believe bigger? I did...I believed I could run my own life better than the unqualified, arrogant, damaging people who were somehow in a position of authority.
And, I do.
So, that's a "yes" for hypocrites.
Yours non-hypocritically,
~QT
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Watered Garden
I think there were a few people who were genuine. During my latter years as a twibot, though, I saw hypocrisy in leaders great and small. Example: The woman who loved to feed her four small children pie for breakfast on Sundays, loading them with a sugar buzz which manifested itself during the Sunday morning fellowship she and her husband ran. The little darlings would be bopping all over the place. My son, however, carefully fed a sugar-free breakfast and prepped with Ritalin by his fearful mother, was REQUIRED to sit silently and squirm-free on the floor, legs crossed in front of him, hands folded in his lap, his eyes glued to a Bible or the magnificant visage of our glorious twig leader who was holding forth the present truth. One twitch, one moan, and he was to be removed to the bathroom and beaten. However, her kids were twice as disruptive and never corrected.
This same woman, when I was first diagnosed with diabetes and half blinded, grudgingly took me to the doctor one time, being sure I understood how busy she was and what a huge favor she was doing me. It was only a couple miles from where I lived, so after that I just walked until I got my sight back totally and could drive. Then, a year or so later, she had surgery. Well, guess who was ordered to come over every day and clean and clean and clean. This woman wanted her bathrooms cleaned every day, starting with washing down the walls. Then the whole house had to be vacuumed. Then finally, she mentioned she would like the furniture dusted. Her 10-year-old eldest son took it on himself to REPROVE me for dusting AFTER I had vacuumed. I had stuff of my own to do and had been there about an hour, scrubbing and polishing and all, so I told him I was performing tasks in the order in which his mother had requested them and maybe he needed to go correct HER.
The third or so time I came over to do all this, the little branch leader's wife had called me the night before, and told me I shouldn't spend more than 15 minutes doing housework for this woman. The next morning she was there herself with the invalid, sipping tea and chatting. I spent my usuall 45-60 minutes cleaning away and do you think this great little woman of God branch leader's wife stood up and said, "Garden, you don't need to be here cleaning all this time. Mrs. Hotsi-Totsie, I told her last night on the phone not to be here more than 15 minutes. your house doesn't need to be immaculate all the time and you are taking advantage of her." OH HECK NO! She just sat there and sipped her tea and smiled.
Two hypocrites for the price of one!
WG
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Neo
OK, OK, I just have to add my two cents to this one!
Does anybody remember LCM talking about Disney World and how devilish it was? And then he told us that he and his family went!
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Watered Garden
I remember LCM talking about how he didn't counsel a wife without the husband present because it wouldn't be proper!
WG
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pond
how about writing a book to sell on sex and scripture by JOHN S.
yeah he knows what the bible says.
it doesnt matter
he is divorced or has been guilty of adultery in his own life.
you need to learn what the bible says not what he lives and does in life.
can you say hypocrit?
do as I write not as I do !!
NOT A FREE BOOK! nope he has to pay for his bills in life ya know !!!!
hmm
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excathedra
hush pond i think he's the new mog
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polar bear
Watered Garden-you got it right. I remember a branch leader (one person) who was moving he told the whole branch they were expected to be there.
We had 50 people helping him move. One poor believer got yelled at for taking a small break.
When we moved (a family of four), the branch coordinator was nowhere to be seen.
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excathedra
ahhhh those were the days my friend we thought they'd never end
he should have taken a big break, like a chair over the leader's head
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pond
chapter and verse please?
give me a break.
this mog ideal has to go away.
they show up and people turn into cock roaches .
where is "YOUR STAND" now??
under their cloak of being the one who tells you how to think and do and be but never held accoutable for the same in their own life?
why that would be "causing divsion" wouldnt it?
so go to a web site and say it or wonder it .
give me a break.
such cult heads live here
i love you man.
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pond
Ham wrote me a pm
so EX did you think my reply was about you?
he thinks it was.
it wasnt
you know that right?
I do not neccesarily like PMs when misunderstanding occur .
so lets ALL be honest. and up front. hmm???
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excathedra
no i didn't think your reply was about me, pond
it got ya ! and your post
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Ham
That's why I put it in a PM.. I wasn't sure. :) Carry on..
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excathedra
tanks, hammie
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polar bear
Another example of hypocrites-
Remember VP talked about the church he went to where the minister had to present his teaching to a board of directors before he taught it and had to read it verbatim on the following sunday. And how he said that the spirit of God could never move in an environment like this.
The Way has always boasted itself to be an environment where the spirit of God can move freely in it's teachings.
Well guess what folks? Every SNS teaching is reviewed by the board of directors and the teacher has to read it word for word when he teaches it. It's great for those with sleep problems. Naptime.
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Mr Incredible
I can remember once getting chewed out royally by my twig coordinator ....
I played music and sang with a couple of buddies for fellowship all the time. It really seemed to bless (shoot I HAVE to get away from all those TWI metaphores!) -ahem- made all the people in attendance happy, and lets face it it beat the heck outta singing some of those worn out songs from the "Sing Aong the Way" while the twig leader waves his hand back and forth like a 3rd grade music teacher........PEW.....
Anyway, my twig leader had asked us to do a particular song, not even a worship tune - just some old Will Rogers type podunk tune. Well, we were kept very busy playing for fellowship and even a limb meeting once, and because we put worship music first we never got around to it...Selfish? Well, perhaps, but at the time we didnt look at it that way...
Anyway we all gathered one night for practice before fellowship as we usually did and he came in and lit into us BAD. 'We didnt care about anyone but ourselves..' and on and on and on...and I'm talking it was done in a very demeaning, cruel fashion. Ouch....(of course his wife sang with us on occaision - but she didnt get b__ch slapped like we did).
Needless to say, we didnt play at fellowship after that....
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polar bear
You can come play at my place anytime. Love Roger Miller.
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Mr Incredible
Thank you and Bless your heart!
Michael
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Catcup
a quote from Howard Allen:
"No man is ever completely worthless. You can always use him as a bad example"
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waysider
I may be mistaken, but I believe that may be a rewording of a famous quote by Edgar W. Howe who said, "I'm not completely worthless. I can always be used as a bad example."
Geeze! Didn't these guys ever have ANYTHING original?
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