"Forbidden" songs were those written by "cop-outs" before they left TWI. The songs were wonderfully spiritual before they left, but afterwards, somehow the words took on a dark meaning. Of course, TWI had no problem with songs written by trinitarians (Bullinger, Luther, etc.).
More and more restrictions were added as the years went by. In my last two years, I was forbidden to date anyone outside of TWI.
"luck", "fortune", "christmas", "demons", and the short list here is not anywhere near exhaustive. loy even had reservations about calling the days of the week monday, tuesday, wednesday.. because the names were dervived (supposedly) from the names of pagan gods..
Contact with family members who were not followers of TWI or downright opposed their loved one's involvement was strongly discouraged.
Example:
In summer of 1994 I flew from WA state to the midwest to be with my mother while she underwent major surgery. I was gone, I guess, about a week. When I flew back, I noticed blurry vision while I was on the airplane. It kind of cleared up and I chalked it up to fatigue.
I stayed tired and my vision was on-and-off blurred. My twig leader came up to me and asked about my mother, then told me "I can tell your mother is possessed just by how you look and how exhausted you are all the time. You should never go back there or be around her ever again or the devil spirits she has will kill you."
I was actually suffering from insulin dependent diabetes and did not know it yet. But this fartbrain puts it down to my mother being possessed with evil spirits. Why didn't he just say, "Gee, I hope your mom is okay. And you look pretty tired yourself - maybe you should see a doctor."
Oh, yeah, by the 1990's seeing a doctor was strongly discouraged also. Negative believing, you know.
Maybe that was my problem...I never let their "forbidden list" interfere with what I wanted to do...
...but I left in 1987...before king okie put the hammer down.
Even in the 90's, certain people could get away with doing the "forbidden" if they were ballsy enough about it, TWI needed their money, leadership wasn't paying attention, you were leadership, no one ratted you out, etc.
Usually Martindale would rant about something from the stage at the auditorium; how that got translated into actual policy and procedures varied.
Not because I don't know the answer but because, as has been pointed out, so much was "unspoken".
Many of the things that were "off-limits" were directly tied to the so-called "law" of believing.
Staying away from doctors was a big one (especially for mental heath) because it was an indicator of the strength of one's believing. And, if your believing quotient was low, that meant you were a spiritual weakling. Who wants to be thought of as a spiritual weakling?
I say "especially mental health" because it was taught that they promoted a "worldly" kind of wisdom that was contrary to God's Word. Heck, they could even be possessed (or worse). Wouldn't want to take advise from somebody like that when you could just as easily get everything you need from leadership. Besides, you should take the money you save by not going to them and send it to The Way.
With that in mind, here are some things that I think qualify as "forbidden" in the context of the discussion.
1. Dating outside the group
2. Marriage outside the group
3. Friendships outside the group.
4. Jobs that interfered with "Ministry" activities.
5. Avocations that took time (or money) away from The Way.
6. Lack of forward progress in completing classes.
7. Lack of desire to take on more and more responsibility.
8. Questioning the authority of "leadership" decisions.
9. Questioning the accuracy of anything that came from VPW.
10. Leaving "The One true household".
(If you ever left, you would be out of fellowship, outside God's "hedge of protection" -----and the Boogieman would be waiting for you on the other side so he could whoop you upside the head between your eyes.)
Oddly enough--Jesus was fairly forbidden. At least the Jesus of the bible--and for GOODNESS sake--don't say Jesus without the Christ added on.
VP's version of Jesus Christ was given a glancing nod on occasion.
Good tack-on at the end of prayer--You think I am kidding right?
NOPE! I would hate to tell you what they ended up calling the Jesus of the church. I really can't even say what they said about Him anymore-makes me ill.
Hello Folks - an appropriate re-entry topic for moi-
forbidden to date outside the charmed circle-I got a huge lecture about a young man I had witnessed to, took the class, and etc. He questioned the unwritten rules and regs, and he went off and toured with his band....I got married to the way corps grad---and the rest I had spoken of elsewhere long ago on here (andreatheflorist, anyone?)
Well -happy ending city-the now not young man 20 years later has gotten in touch with me, and I moved back to Michigan-so HA to the rules and regs I am getting hitched this upcoming year! It just took 20 years for us to work it out.
The unwritten rules, waybrained as they where.....the multitude of them, well mind blowing for certain. Actually had so many lectures so many times...the overall gist was always anything not produced, bent folded or manipulated by the way (or for sale at the bookstore!) not a good idea.....
I say "especially mental health" because it was taught that they promoted a "worldly" kind of wisdom that was contrary to God's Word. Heck, they could even be possessed (or worse). Wouldn't want to take advise from somebody like that when you could just as easily get everything you need from leadership. Besides, you should take the money you save by not going to them and send it to The Way.
Yeah, you are right about that. As if it was so much better not to get help but to give your money to people who would only chastise you when you admitted you needed help. Whenever I was dumb enough to go to leadership for advice, I was verbally and emotionally assaulted and ended up apologizing to them for taking up their time with my "weaknesses"
St*ve* D*ani*el was one of the worst for this. I once saw a child ask him a bible question after the class and instead of answering it, he "reprooved" the parents for letting that child run around with a question like that in her mind.
He was such an ego maniac. After touting himself as the MOG for the state, he would resent anyone who sought advice from him. He often publically used these situations as an example of weak believers.
God forbid somebody didn't constantly agree with him.
So I guess it was forbidden to consider any need I may have had in my life important.
Ha, Seth. I agree. Sex outside of marriage was forbidden. But looking back, it wasn't because of the cult, as much as it was my upbringing. Somehow I joined the cult, bringing my deeply instilled values with me. Yes, they served me well, but also messed me up, as I assumed my "Christian" upbringing still applied. ie, The Way was a "Christian Organization."
I'd add whatever pet rant 'leadership' was on that month. In a way home once, we were forbidden to watch TV unless the corpse dude ok'ed it , because HQ was touting the book '4 arguments for the elimination of television',and it became the flavor of the month.
We were also forbidden to bring beer into the house, though same corpse dude would go on an ouzo binge about every 5 weeks when the pressure got to him.
Oh yes, in another house I was once 'caught' with a Playboy magazine and had to rip it up and feed it to the fireplace. Way people never are into anything relating to sex, of course.
This is opening a floodgate of memories. I'll stop for now.
oops-i stand corrected-thankfully Im starting to forget their stuff --
Another implied 'forbidden'--in almost no circumstance was it right to say NO to a request by someone higher on the food chain than you. If you did you werent 'committed' .
If the branch or limb dude needed his house painted, yard cleaned, children babysat, errands run, or any other little thing that he deemed important, you had the abilities to do it and he asked you--you were expected to perform it no matter what the inconvenience to you
So, I have a question...What if you left TWI and your family was still in? WHat would happen? Wouldthe family "disown" you? I think dealing with the family abanding you would be hard.
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Jim
Questioning leadership.
Missing twig meetings
Missing branch meeting
Missing limb meetings
Missing the ROA
Not having an attitude of gratitude
Questioning leadership
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cheranne
A Normal Life.
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frank123lol
By forbidden,I meant,you were not allowed,Unless you wanted to get yelled at.
After all it was not spurtually right.
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GeorgeStGeorge
"Forbidden" songs were those written by "cop-outs" before they left TWI. The songs were wonderfully spiritual before they left, but afterwards, somehow the words took on a dark meaning.
Of course, TWI had no problem with songs written by trinitarians (Bullinger, Luther, etc.).
More and more restrictions were added as the years went by. In my last two years, I was forbidden to date anyone outside of TWI.
George
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GrouchoMarxJr
Maybe that was my problem...I never let their "forbidden list" interfere with what I wanted to do...
...but I left in 1987...before king okie put the hammer down.
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Belle
Anything fun and anything you wanted to do that would keep me from doing something TWI related 24/7. Did I mention, anything fun?
Oh yeah, and...... anything fun.
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Ham
well.. there was forbidden vocabulary.
"luck", "fortune", "christmas", "demons", and the short list here is not anywhere near exhaustive. loy even had reservations about calling the days of the week monday, tuesday, wednesday.. because the names were dervived (supposedly) from the names of pagan gods..
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Ham
Then there was music..
while not on an "official" "forbidden" list..
what would happen if your immediate "overseer" came.. and heard you listening to John Lennon.. or the Beatles.. or ELP.. or.. on and on..
and art.
Why would one want a nice painting by Monet.. when one can have a copy of loy and family's picture on the refrigerator..
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Watered Garden
Contact with family members who were not followers of TWI or downright opposed their loved one's involvement was strongly discouraged.
Example:
In summer of 1994 I flew from WA state to the midwest to be with my mother while she underwent major surgery. I was gone, I guess, about a week. When I flew back, I noticed blurry vision while I was on the airplane. It kind of cleared up and I chalked it up to fatigue.
I stayed tired and my vision was on-and-off blurred. My twig leader came up to me and asked about my mother, then told me "I can tell your mother is possessed just by how you look and how exhausted you are all the time. You should never go back there or be around her ever again or the devil spirits she has will kill you."
I was actually suffering from insulin dependent diabetes and did not know it yet. But this fartbrain puts it down to my mother being possessed with evil spirits. Why didn't he just say, "Gee, I hope your mom is okay. And you look pretty tired yourself - maybe you should see a doctor."
Oh, yeah, by the 1990's seeing a doctor was strongly discouraged also. Negative believing, you know.
WG
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Oakspear
Usually Martindale would rant about something from the stage at the auditorium; how that got translated into actual policy and procedures varied.
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mstar1
Doctors --true enough
God Forbid you ever even thought of seeing a psychiatrist or a therapist
i havent got a list and it was along time ago but There were a lot of 'unwritten rules' of things forbidden.
I got yelled at for not standing when the head branch guy entered the room (I disrespected the word )
a girl in my twig got yelled at for crying when her mother was in the hospital. (shows lack of believing)
there was a "correct" way and time for near everything.
dont ever ever have a question at the wrong time
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waysider
Tough question to answer, Brush.
Not because I don't know the answer but because, as has been pointed out, so much was "unspoken".
Many of the things that were "off-limits" were directly tied to the so-called "law" of believing.
Staying away from doctors was a big one (especially for mental heath) because it was an indicator of the strength of one's believing. And, if your believing quotient was low, that meant you were a spiritual weakling. Who wants to be thought of as a spiritual weakling?
I say "especially mental health" because it was taught that they promoted a "worldly" kind of wisdom that was contrary to God's Word.
Heck, they could even be possessed (or worse). Wouldn't want to take advise from somebody like that when you could just as easily get everything you need from leadership. Besides, you should take the money you save by not going to them and send it to The Way. 
With that in mind, here are some things that I think qualify as "forbidden" in the context of the discussion.
1. Dating outside the group
2. Marriage outside the group
3. Friendships outside the group.
4. Jobs that interfered with "Ministry" activities.
5. Avocations that took time (or money) away from The Way.
6. Lack of forward progress in completing classes.
7. Lack of desire to take on more and more responsibility.
8. Questioning the authority of "leadership" decisions.
9. Questioning the accuracy of anything that came from VPW.
10. Leaving "The One true household".
(If you ever left, you would be out of fellowship, outside God's "hedge of protection" -----and the Boogieman would be waiting for you on the other side so he could whoop you upside the head between your eyes.)
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geisha779
Brushstroke,
Oddly enough--Jesus was fairly forbidden. At least the Jesus of the bible--and for GOODNESS sake--don't say Jesus without the Christ added on.
VP's version of Jesus Christ was given a glancing nod on occasion.
Good tack-on at the end of prayer--You think I am kidding right?
NOPE! I would hate to tell you what they ended up calling the Jesus of the church. I really can't even say what they said about Him anymore-makes me ill.
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andreab
Hello Folks - an appropriate re-entry topic for moi-
forbidden to date outside the charmed circle-I got a huge lecture about a young man I had witnessed to, took the class, and etc. He questioned the unwritten rules and regs, and he went off and toured with his band....I got married to the way corps grad---and the rest I had spoken of elsewhere long ago on here (andreatheflorist, anyone?)
Well -happy ending city-the now not young man 20 years later has gotten in touch with me, and I moved back to Michigan-so HA to the rules and regs I am getting hitched this upcoming year! It just took 20 years for us to work it out.
The unwritten rules, waybrained as they where.....the multitude of them, well mind blowing for certain. Actually had so many lectures so many times...the overall gist was always anything not produced, bent folded or manipulated by the way (or for sale at the bookstore!) not a good idea.....
Happy Now-A
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Abigail
Hey Andrea, I kinda remember you from your florist days, but I don't think I ever knew you were from Michigan. What years were in you Michigan?
I live in Lansing, so we aren't too far from each other. There are a handful of other Michiganians here at the cafe too.
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finallyunderstand
I say "especially mental health" because it was taught that they promoted a "worldly" kind of wisdom that was contrary to God's Word.
Heck, they could even be possessed (or worse). Wouldn't want to take advise from somebody like that when you could just as easily get everything you need from leadership. Besides, you should take the money you save by not going to them and send it to The Way. 
Yeah, you are right about that. As if it was so much better not to get help but to give your money to people who would only chastise you when you admitted you needed help. Whenever I was dumb enough to go to leadership for advice, I was verbally and emotionally assaulted and ended up apologizing to them for taking up their time with my "weaknesses"
St*ve* D*ani*el was one of the worst for this. I once saw a child ask him a bible question after the class and instead of answering it, he "reprooved" the parents for letting that child run around with a question like that in her mind.
He was such an ego maniac. After touting himself as the MOG for the state, he would resent anyone who sought advice from him. He often publically used these situations as an example of weak believers.
God forbid somebody didn't constantly agree with him.
So I guess it was forbidden to consider any need I may have had in my life important.
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Seth R.
Sex
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ex10
Ha, Seth. I agree. Sex outside of marriage was forbidden. But looking back, it wasn't because of the cult, as much as it was my upbringing. Somehow I joined the cult, bringing my deeply instilled values with me. Yes, they served me well, but also messed me up, as I assumed my "Christian" upbringing still applied. ie, The Way was a "Christian Organization."
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hiway29
I'd agree with most everything said so far.
I'd add whatever pet rant 'leadership' was on that month. In a way home once, we were forbidden to watch TV unless the corpse dude ok'ed it , because HQ was touting the book '4 arguments for the elimination of television',and it became the flavor of the month.
We were also forbidden to bring beer into the house, though same corpse dude would go on an ouzo binge about every 5 weeks when the pressure got to him.
Oh yes, in another house I was once 'caught' with a Playboy magazine and had to rip it up and feed it to the fireplace. Way people never are into anything relating to sex, of course.
This is opening a floodgate of memories. I'll stop for now.
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TheHighWay
"What was forbidden...?"
Have a seat, this could take awhile...
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mstar1
don't know if this was covered or not
Dont EVER EVER pray to "Jesus",
in fact dont even ever say Jesus.
its only acceptable if you follow it or precede it with "Christ".
You can however swear like a trooper--thats fine.
IIRC from way theology anyone who mentions 'Jesus" is talking to a devil.
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GeorgeStGeorge
That's a bit of an exaggeration. Anyone who PRAYED TO Jesus was supposedly talking to the "other Jesus" (2 Cor. 11:4), a devil spirit.
George
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mstar1
oops-i stand corrected-thankfully Im starting to forget their stuff --
Another implied 'forbidden'--in almost no circumstance was it right to say NO to a request by someone higher on the food chain than you. If you did you werent 'committed' .
If the branch or limb dude needed his house painted, yard cleaned, children babysat, errands run, or any other little thing that he deemed important, you had the abilities to do it and he asked you--you were expected to perform it no matter what the inconvenience to you
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bucks4now
PS, I was never a member of the TWI.
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