Sky, if you tell the story of the microcosm well, people will understand that it stands for the macrocosm. No need to shove a moral down people's throats. :)
Why were 190 clergy assigned to HQ? IMHO, because they should have been the most loyal to Wierwille, so he was hoping to have better control over his staff -- he wanted yes-men, not people with actual needs. (Which is why he shut down the Senior Corps.) If he'd played it right, he would have had minions to care for him and do his bidding in his old age even if he wasn't the board president anymore. Remember, narcissists tend to be lazy.
What he didn't count on was that clergy actually thought of themselves as leaders, able to make decisions and get "revelation" on their own, from Craig on down. He also didn't realize that the top clergy didn't like him much. No surprise -- he was demanding, insulting, capricious, a drunk, and an adulterer. No wonder he went off to Gartmore when it became apparent that he couldn't control the mess at home, a mess of his own making.
Dancer, what a post!! Your mother didn't raise a dummy, did she!!!
In 1978, wierwille's tone of ownership of "his" corps came in the derisive term COP OUTS.
Sitting in those corps meetings, I had the gut sense that wierwille's twi had a major, structural flaw. Why was vpw name-calling?
Why can't corps grads leave twi if they so desire? Why the heavy-handedness?
Yet, others sitting around me didn't seem perplexed.......what gives? Was I being too judgemental? Was I not seeing it clearly?
There it was in PLAIN SIGHT......and yet, there was no mounting dissent. So......I shelved this "concern" for another day.
Red flags were clearly flying in 1978.
Why aren't the clergy seeing this? Are they just a group of yes-men?
Questions, questions........and I was a lowly inrez corps guy.
Who was I to 'nitpick' the great mog of the universe for his choice of terms.
Or, does "cop out" indicate something far more sinister and devious?
The hidden parts of twi are now in plain sight.
On 11/1/2012 at 6:49 AM, Raf said:
So wait: a rational and honest train of thought is not pursued in part because no one around you is pursuing it, so you accept something you question in your gut that you might otherwise have challenged? Why, one might call it socially reinforced self-delusion. But Wierwille could never get away with that. Not without laying some groundwork first.
Naaaaah.
On 11/1/2012 at 5:19 PM, skyrider said:
Yeah.....the rational road was detoured by spiritual boulevard.
:B)
On 11/1/2012 at 5:57 PM, Raf said:
Now and then I think it pays, as we recall the trees that made up TWI, to take a step back and look at the forest. TWI was a pattern of deception. It wasn't that there was something wrong. It wasn't even that there were a lot of things wrong. The whole enterprise was rotten to the core. Every good thing about it was a trap to draw you into its real reason to exist: to control you and leave you utterly dependent on them for as many facets of your life as possible.
I'm lucky. I got out fast. For those of you who stayed a long time: I can't fathom the damage that was done. I'm impressed that you got out in one piece!
It's like I said when the Actual Errors thread came to a merciful end: trying to mine our TWI experience to figure out what was good in it is like looking at the cheese in a mousetrap as a potential source of calcium. I'm not denying it's cheese. I'm not denying it has calcium. But I'm also not losing sight of who laid it out there and why.
Skyrider and Raf, great stuff here !
I think one of the first steps in untangling our minds from cult indoctrination is to step back and try to get an overall picture…it may be baby-steps back…sometimes momentarily stepping just outside the tree line of the forest’s edge and realizing there is an outside in relation to the forest…I also think many of us have had brief glimpses of that (like in Skyrider’s first post) – but then we brush it off as just another one of those old-man-former-nature-sinful-five-senses-unrenewed-mind hiccups…we shrug and think maybe it just means we weren’t properly burped after taking PFAL.
Sometimes our journey is interrupted by one of those red flags…something someone said…or by an event…could be anything that momentarily throws us off our supposedly sure footing – and we stumble onto something we’re not supposed to see. For the courageously curious this becomes a tantalizing taste of “forbidden fruit” and marks the beginning of redirection along an epiphany laden road.
For me, the whole messy crapstorm after Chris G’s passing of a patriarch was read, is what got me to step back further and further baby-steps-style to try and understand what was happening to the most important stuff in my life (which at the time was God, “The Word”, and all things The Way International). Sometimes “stepping back” was recalling how wierwille was around the corps especially in unguarded moments…or me reflecting on certain interactions I’ve had with various leaders over the years…or me thinking about the elements of control built into programs and ministry positions/assignments.
I love that whole rat trap analogy that Raf talked about. I’ve recently had a conversation on another thread with someone who still struggles with the self-induced blindness of leaving the PFAL-colored glasses on. I can so relate to that experience. I loved “the cheese” in the trap. Fortunately this cult’s trap is not a literal rat trap that instantly snuffs out your life when the trap is sprung. The “hammer” of this cult-trap is a velvet covered rigid mindset mounted to a slow-spring mechanism and thus operates on a time delay – depending on how long you linger at the cheese. I think Raf’s insight is a great thing to keep in mind for those who are still into “the cheese”:
“trying to mine our TWI experience to figure out what was good in it is like looking at the cheese in a mousetrap as a potential source of calcium. I'm not denying it's cheese. I'm not denying it has calcium. But I'm also not losing sight of who laid it out there and why.”
I think one of the first steps in untangling our minds from cult indoctrination is to step back and try to get an overall picture…it may be baby-steps back…sometimes momentarily stepping just outside the tree line of the forest’s edge and realizing there is an outside in relation to the forest…I also think many of us have had brief glimpses of that (like in Skyrider’s first post) – but then we brush it off as just another one of those old-man-former-nature-sinful-five-senses-unrenewed-mind hiccups…we shrug and think maybe it just means we weren’t properly burped after taking PFAL.
Sometimes our journey is interrupted by one of those red flags…something someone said…or by an event…could be anything that momentarily throws us off our supposedly sure footing – and we stumble onto something we’re not supposed to see. For the courageously curious this becomes a tantalizing taste of “forbidden fruit” and marks the beginning of redirection along an epiphany laden road.
For me, the whole messy crapstorm after Chris G’s passing of a patriarch was read, is what got me to step back further and further baby-steps-style to try and understand what was happening to the most important stuff in my life (which at the time was God, “The Word”, and all things The Way International). Sometimes “stepping back” was recalling how wierwille was around the corps especially in unguarded moments…or me reflecting on certain interactions I’ve had with various leaders over the years…or me thinking about the elements of control built into programs and ministry positions/assignments.
I love that whole rat trap analogy that Raf talked about. I’ve recently had a conversation on another thread with someone who still struggles with the self-induced blindness of leaving the PFAL-colored glasses on. I can so relate to that experience. I loved “the cheese” in the trap. Fortunately this cult’s trap is not a literal rat trap that instantly snuffs out your life when the trap is sprung. The “hammer” of this cult-trap is a velvet covered rigid mindset mounted to a slow-spring mechanism and thus operates on a time delay – depending on how long you linger at the cheese. I think Raf’s insight is a great thing to keep in mind for those who are still into “the cheese”:
“trying to mine our TWI experience to figure out what was good in it is like looking at the cheese in a mousetrap as a potential source of calcium. I'm not denying it's cheese. I'm not denying it has calcium. But I'm also not losing sight of who laid it out there and why.”
T-Bone, I think these posts are so good, that I have nothing to add to them; they speak for themselves!
After an onslaught of VP worship trolling it kind of leaves you with the thought that there is no good to hold onto from our Way experience.
But there is. You just have to take the red pill in the Matrix first so you can see the Matrix, and not accept unquestioned the cover up lies they try to feed you in the blue pill so you go back to sleep and never question leadership again.
Life in the Matrix is harder but it is real not fake.
In 1978, wierwille's tone of ownership of "his" corps came in the derisive term COP OUTS.
Sitting in those corps meetings, I had the gut sense that wierwille's twi had a major, structural flaw. Why was vpw name-calling?
Why can't corps grads leave twi if they so desire? Why the heavy-handedness?
Yet, others sitting around me didn't seem perplexed.......what gives? Was I being too judgemental? Was I not seeing it clearly?
There it was IN PLAIN SIGHT......
Page 216, 217.......Mrs. Wierwille's book:
Victor Paul Wierwille............Pastorate E&R Church in Van Wert, Ohio Ended, December 8, 1957
Before leaving church..........Wierwille had asked 12 people to support, work, and pray with us for one year.
"Now if I had to do it again, I would do what Paul did -- take all my people with me......"
Wierwille expressed himself further, "We did not allow them [the denominational synod] to control our lives; that's why I had to resign from the denomination. The only way I could have stayed would have been to give the denomination control over what I taught, what I spoke, and what I did."
THE CULT DICKTATOR AND HIS NARCISSISTIC HYPOCRISY.........as he goes on to build his cult and control "his corps" in all that they taught, spoke and did.
So was he at the top of his system, (The Way Tree), or above it?
Sounds like he had to be above it, constantly screaming at it to stay in existence. The system didn't really survive without him. And needs his ghost to continually spook current followers on.
Wayfers often point to "Look at what he built" as if to validate The Way and VPW. He built nothing, if it doesn't work without him.
So was he at the top of his system, (The Way Tree), or above it?
Sounds like he had to be above it, constantly screaming at it to stay in existence. The system didn't really survive without him. And needs his ghost to continually spook current followers on.
Wayfers often point to "Look at what he built" as if to validate The Way and VPW. He built nothing, if it doesn't work without him.
Bol, you are so right; it really doesn't work without him does it??
Victor Paul Wierwille............Pastorate E&R Church in Van Wert, Ohio Ended, December 8, 1957
Before leaving church..........Wierwille had asked 12 people to support, work, and pray with us for one year.
"Now if I had to do it again, I would do what Paul did -- take all my people with me......"
Wierwille expressed himself further, "We did not allow them [the denominational synod] to control our lives; that's why I had to resign from the denomination. The only way I could have stayed would have been to give the denomination control over what I taught, what I spoke, and what I did."
THE CULT DICKTATOR AND HIS NARCISSISTIC HYPOCRISY.........as he goes on to build his cult and control "his corps" in all that they taught, spoke and did.
Obviously, VeePee believed and acted as if he OWNED us.
"In the NT a person owned as a possession for various lengths of times (Hebrew slaves no more than seven years, Gentile slaves without time limit), of lower social status than free persons or masters; slaves could earn or purchase their freedom
"A male slave, or servant, of various degrees, Mt. 8:9, et al. freq.; a servitor, person of mean condition, Phil. 2:7; fem. δούλη, a female slave; a handmaiden, Lk. 1:38, 48; Acts 2:18; δοῦλος, used figuratively, in a bad sense, one involved in moral or spiritual thraldom, Jn. 8:34; Rom. 6:17, 20; 1 Cor. 7:23; 2 Pet. 2:19; in a good sense, a devoted servant or minister, Acts 16:17; Rom. 1:1; one pledged or bound to serve, 1 Cor. 7:22; 2 Cor. 4:5"
Of course, he sold it to us as (bait and switch) the high calling of being sold out to God.
Obviously, VeePee believed and acted as if he OWNED us.
"In the NT a person owned as a possession for various lengths of times (Hebrew slaves no more than seven years, Gentile slaves without time limit), of lower social status than free persons or masters; slaves could earn or purchase their freedom
"A male slave, or servant, of various degrees, Mt. 8:9, et al. freq.; a servitor, person of mean condition, Phil. 2:7; fem. δούλη, a female slave; a handmaiden, Lk. 1:38, 48; Acts 2:18; δοῦλος, used figuratively, in a bad sense, one involved in moral or spiritual thraldom, Jn. 8:34; Rom. 6:17, 20; 1 Cor. 7:23; 2 Pet. 2:19; in a good sense, a devoted servant or minister, Acts 16:17; Rom. 1:1; one pledged or bound to serve, 1 Cor. 7:22; 2 Cor. 4:5"
Of course, he sold it to us as (bait and switch) the high calling of being sold out to God.
Rocky, I remember VPW telling everyone they needed to be sold out to God. I thought it was Bullsheet then, and I still think it's Bullsheet. I think he wanted "his kids" to work for TWI for free, for the rest of their lives. Didn't work then, and it won't work today.
You're wrong on that, Grace. There are still too many who are still in thrall to TWI and are slaving away at HQ and other locations. We can only pray that one day they will come to their senses and see the servitude for what it is.
You're wrong on that, Grace. There are still too many who are still in thrall to TWI and are slaving away at HQ and other locations. We can only pray that one day they will come to their senses and see the servitude for what it is.
Twinky, good point!! I don't understand why they do it, but perhaps they like being treated like slaves!!
So was he at the top of his system, (The Way Tree), or above it?
Sounds like he had to be above it, constantly screaming at it to stay in existence. The system didn't really survive without him. And needs his ghost to continually spook current followers on.
Wayfers often point to "Look at what he built" as if to validate The Way and VPW. He built nothing, if it doesn't work without him.
The bait was VPW's perceived special knowledge of Scripture. ..."as it hasn't been known since the first century."
Bolshevik, I now see the context of what you are referring to...staff & corps. I was a rank & file follower where I gave of my money and time but didn't participate at the deeper levels: Wow & Corps.
It seems VPW at some point sensed there could be a mass exodus even back in the 70s. That is the reason for bashing the people who left. I remember hearing about people leaving here & there and the "cop out" term was used among others such as being influenced by "devil spirits".
It seems VPW at some point sensed there could be a mass exodus even back in the 70s. That is the reason for bashing the people who left. I remember hearing about people leaving here & there and the "cop out" term was used among others such as being influenced by "devil spirits".
When wierwille looked in the mirror.........I believe that, at times, he saw the utter depravity of his morality and integrity. Sure, he vaunted his position with that narcissistic personality disorder that consumed his soul and robbed him of empathy for others. Wierwille scouted out ever advantage he could find, because his basic nature was one that was lazy and academically challenged........thus, he tweaked, plagiarized and glued a degree-mill doctorate to his name. Yet, in the end.......many continued to see thru the ruse and so did the man in the mirror.
Several posters have come forward to give us a "history lesson" of how wierwille power-grabbed The Way West and Way East from Hefner and Doop......one wherein wierwille and dell dunkin (??) walked into a big meeting and wierwille took "ownership" and kicked Hefner to the curb. Wierwille knew the road to power was TO CENTRALIZE the allegiance and money-funneling to one destination, the Ohio-hq. And, when was this.......1970 or 1971.....?? Soon thereafter, "the way tree" terminology took root (no pun intended)..........and the counterfeit-clusterflock became a full-fledged cult.
Confrontation seemed to be the m.o. for training the corps:
The 6th corps at Emporia were all dismissed at one point. Smoking issues.....??
7th corps had lots of business savvy leaders who needed to submit.........needed tethered to the cult.
8th corps fiasco with three guys doing dynamic, independent research......major, lingering confrontation.
Cop-out terminology went hand-in-hand with devil-spirit possession.
Only if you are possessed would you LEAVE the way ministry..........
Once wierwille went down THIS PATH.......there was no turning back. The doctrine came from the "man-of-gawd." I have posted several times of personal accounts that I saw in 1978. Wierwille could, nor would, NOT allow a major corps leader to just walk away WITHOUT SLANDER. That person's name and reputation had to be soiled to stifle questioning and/or dissent. It WAS character-assassination......straight-up!
Recent posts by Bolshevik, InfoAbsorption, and Skyrider got me thinking that wierwille had a bunch of ways to ensnare folks AND to keep them that way. So once the prey is trapped - from then on it's all about control.
The term "bait ball" was foreign to me so I had to look it up: a bait ball "occurs when small fish swarm in a tightly packed spherical formation about a common centre. It is a last-ditch defensive measure adopted by small schooling fish when they are threatened by predators. " from Wikipedia .
I think maybe wierwille's strategy of painting the outside world as such a treacherous place - was a strategy of control ("if you trip out you could get possessed, the devil will ruin your life, etc" ) that manufactured fear might generate a "bait ball" of sorts -
just thinking like a little schooling fish now, I would want to be towards the middle of the bait ball and not out on the periphery where devil spirits are lurking and danger is all about....yup I'm gonna get as close to the middle as possible - right alongside that Great White Shark with one eye
Yikes ! No thanks - think I'll just tough it out here in the real world Dory-style - keep on swimming, keep on swimming.
When wierwille looked in the mirror.........I believe that, at times, he saw the utter depravity of his morality and integrity. Sure, he vaunted his position with that narcissistic personality disorder that consumed his soul and robbed him of empathy for others. Wierwille scouted out ever advantage he could find, because his basic nature was one that was lazy and academically challenged........thus, he tweaked, plagiarized and glued a degree-mill doctorate to his name. Yet, in the end.......many continued to see thru the ruse and so did the man in the mirror.
Several posters have come forward to give us a "history lesson" of how wierwille power-grabbed The Way West and Way East from Hefner and Doop......one wherein wierwille and dell dunkin (??) walked into a big meeting and wierwille took "ownership" and kicked Hefner to the curb. Wierwille knew the road to power was TO CENTRALIZE the allegiance and money-funneling to one destination, the Ohio-hq. And, when was this.......1970 or 1971.....?? Soon thereafter, "the way tree" terminology took root (no pun intended)..........and the counterfeit-clusterflock became a full-fledged cult.
Confrontation seemed to be the m.o. for training the corps:
The 6th corps at Emporia were all dismissed at one point. Smoking issues.....??
7th corps had lots of business savvy leaders who needed to submit.........needed tethered to the cult.
8th corps fiasco with three guys doing dynamic, independent research......major, lingering confrontation.
Cop-out terminology went hand-in-hand with devil-spirit possession.
Only if you are possessed would you LEAVE the way ministry..........
Once wierwille went down THIS PATH.......there was no turning back. The doctrine came from the "man-of-gawd." I have posted several times of personal accounts that I saw in 1978. Wierwille could, nor would, NOT allow a major corps leader to just walk away WITHOUT SLANDER. That person's name and reputation had to be soiled to stifle questioning and/or dissent. It WAS character-assassination......straight-up!
Wierwille was a thug.
Sky, I think you are polite; I think he was a POS.
When wierwille looked in the mirror.........I believe that, at times, he saw the utter depravity of his morality and integrity. Sure, he vaunted his position with that narcissistic personality disorder that consumed his soul and robbed him of empathy for others. Wierwille scouted out ever advantage he could find, because his basic nature was one that was lazy and academically challenged........thus, he tweaked, plagiarized and glued a degree-mill doctorate to his name. Yet, in the end.......many continued to see thru the ruse and so did the man in the mirror.
Several posters have come forward to give us a "history lesson" of how wierwille power-grabbed The Way West and Way East from Hefner and Doop......one wherein wierwille and dell dunkin (??) walked into a big meeting and wierwille took "ownership" and kicked Hefner to the curb. Wierwille knew the road to power was TO CENTRALIZE the allegiance and money-funneling to one destination, the Ohio-hq. And, when was this.......1970 or 1971.....?? Soon thereafter, "the way tree" terminology took root (no pun intended)..........and the counterfeit-clusterflock became a full-fledged cult.
Confrontation seemed to be the m.o. for training the corps:
The 6th corps at Emporia were all dismissed at one point. Smoking issues.....??
7th corps had lots of business savvy leaders who needed to submit.........needed tethered to the cult.
8th corps fiasco with three guys doing dynamic, independent research......major, lingering confrontation.
Cop-out terminology went hand-in-hand with devil-spirit possession.
Only if you are possessed would you LEAVE the way ministry..........
Once wierwille went down THIS PATH.......there was no turning back. The doctrine came from the "man-of-gawd." I have posted several times of personal accounts that I saw in 1978. Wierwille could, nor would, NOT allow a major corps leader to just walk away WITHOUT SLANDER. That person's name and reputation had to be soiled to stifle questioning and/or dissent. It WAS character-assassination......straight-up!
Wierwille was a thug.
Skyrider, The 8th corps fiasco you mentioned was briefly brought up in another section of GSC. Apparently these 3 corps guys were kicked out of TWI altogether. The nature of their research wasn't known by any of the posters on that particular thread. Do you happen to know what they were researching?
Skyrider, The 8th corps fiasco you mentioned was briefly brought up in another section of GSC. Apparently these 3 corps guys were kicked out of TWI altogether. The nature of their research wasn't known by any of the posters on that particular thread. Do you happen to know what they were researching?
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Grace Valerie Claire
Dancer, what a post!! Your mother didn't raise a dummy, did she!!!
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T-Bone
Skyrider and Raf, great stuff here !
I think one of the first steps in untangling our minds from cult indoctrination is to step back and try to get an overall picture…it may be baby-steps back…sometimes momentarily stepping just outside the tree line of the forest’s edge and realizing there is an outside in relation to the forest…I also think many of us have had brief glimpses of that (like in Skyrider’s first post) – but then we brush it off as just another one of those old-man-former-nature-sinful-five-senses-unrenewed-mind hiccups…we shrug and think maybe it just means we weren’t properly burped after taking PFAL.
Sometimes our journey is interrupted by one of those red flags…something someone said…or by an event…could be anything that momentarily throws us off our supposedly sure footing – and we stumble onto something we’re not supposed to see. For the courageously curious this becomes a tantalizing taste of “forbidden fruit” and marks the beginning of redirection along an epiphany laden road.
For me, the whole messy crapstorm after Chris G’s passing of a patriarch was read, is what got me to step back further and further baby-steps-style to try and understand what was happening to the most important stuff in my life (which at the time was God, “The Word”, and all things The Way International). Sometimes “stepping back” was recalling how wierwille was around the corps especially in unguarded moments…or me reflecting on certain interactions I’ve had with various leaders over the years…or me thinking about the elements of control built into programs and ministry positions/assignments.
I love that whole rat trap analogy that Raf talked about. I’ve recently had a conversation on another thread with someone who still struggles with the self-induced blindness of leaving the PFAL-colored glasses on. I can so relate to that experience. I loved “the cheese” in the trap. Fortunately this cult’s trap is not a literal rat trap that instantly snuffs out your life when the trap is sprung. The “hammer” of this cult-trap is a velvet covered rigid mindset mounted to a slow-spring mechanism and thus operates on a time delay – depending on how long you linger at the cheese. I think Raf’s insight is a great thing to keep in mind for those who are still into “the cheese”:
“trying to mine our TWI experience to figure out what was good in it is like looking at the cheese in a mousetrap as a potential source of calcium. I'm not denying it's cheese. I'm not denying it has calcium. But I'm also not losing sight of who laid it out there and why.”
Edited by T-Boneclarity and impact
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Grace Valerie Claire
T-Bone, I think these posts are so good, that I have nothing to add to them; they speak for themselves!
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chockfull
After an onslaught of VP worship trolling it kind of leaves you with the thought that there is no good to hold onto from our Way experience.
But there is. You just have to take the red pill in the Matrix first so you can see the Matrix, and not accept unquestioned the cover up lies they try to feed you in the blue pill so you go back to sleep and never question leadership again.
Life in the Matrix is harder but it is real not fake.
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skyrider
Page 216, 217.......Mrs. Wierwille's book:
THE CULT DICKTATOR AND HIS NARCISSISTIC HYPOCRISY.........as he goes on to build his cult and control "his corps" in all that they taught, spoke and did.
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Bolshevik
Sounds like The Way was a bait ball.
So was he at the top of his system, (The Way Tree), or above it?
Sounds like he had to be above it, constantly screaming at it to stay in existence. The system didn't really survive without him. And needs his ghost to continually spook current followers on.
Wayfers often point to "Look at what he built" as if to validate The Way and VPW. He built nothing, if it doesn't work without him.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Bol, you are so right; it really doesn't work without him does it??
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Rocky
Obviously, VeePee believed and acted as if he OWNED us.
"In the NT a person owned as a possession for various lengths of times (Hebrew slaves no more than seven years, Gentile slaves without time limit), of lower social status than free persons or masters; slaves could earn or purchase their freedom
Of course, he sold it to us as (bait and switch) the high calling of being sold out to God.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Rocky, I remember VPW telling everyone they needed to be sold out to God. I thought it was Bullsheet then, and I still think it's Bullsheet. I think he wanted "his kids" to work for TWI for free, for the rest of their lives. Didn't work then, and it won't work today.
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Twinky
You're wrong on that, Grace. There are still too many who are still in thrall to TWI and are slaving away at HQ and other locations. We can only pray that one day they will come to their senses and see the servitude for what it is.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Twinky, good point!! I don't understand why they do it, but perhaps they like being treated like slaves!!
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Infoabsorption
The bait was VPW's perceived special knowledge of Scripture. ..."as it hasn't been known since the first century."
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Infoabsorption
Bolshevik, I now see the context of what you are referring to...staff & corps. I was a rank & file follower where I gave of my money and time but didn't participate at the deeper levels: Wow & Corps.
It seems VPW at some point sensed there could be a mass exodus even back in the 70s. That is the reason for bashing the people who left. I remember hearing about people leaving here & there and the "cop out" term was used among others such as being influenced by "devil spirits".
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skyrider
When wierwille looked in the mirror.........I believe that, at times, he saw the utter depravity of his morality and integrity. Sure, he vaunted his position with that narcissistic personality disorder that consumed his soul and robbed him of empathy for others. Wierwille scouted out ever advantage he could find, because his basic nature was one that was lazy and academically challenged........thus, he tweaked, plagiarized and glued a degree-mill doctorate to his name. Yet, in the end.......many continued to see thru the ruse and so did the man in the mirror.
Several posters have come forward to give us a "history lesson" of how wierwille power-grabbed The Way West and Way East from Hefner and Doop......one wherein wierwille and dell dunkin (??) walked into a big meeting and wierwille took "ownership" and kicked Hefner to the curb. Wierwille knew the road to power was TO CENTRALIZE the allegiance and money-funneling to one destination, the Ohio-hq. And, when was this.......1970 or 1971.....?? Soon thereafter, "the way tree" terminology took root (no pun intended)..........and the counterfeit-clusterflock became a full-fledged cult.
Confrontation seemed to be the m.o. for training the corps:
Only if you are possessed would you LEAVE the way ministry..........
Once wierwille went down THIS PATH.......there was no turning back. The doctrine came from the "man-of-gawd." I have posted several times of personal accounts that I saw in 1978. Wierwille could, nor would, NOT allow a major corps leader to just walk away WITHOUT SLANDER. That person's name and reputation had to be soiled to stifle questioning and/or dissent. It WAS character-assassination......straight-up!
Wierwille was a thug.
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T-Bone
Recent posts by Bolshevik, InfoAbsorption, and Skyrider got me thinking that wierwille had a bunch of ways to ensnare folks AND to keep them that way. So once the prey is trapped - from then on it's all about control.
The term "bait ball" was foreign to me so I had to look it up: a bait ball "occurs when small fish swarm in a tightly packed spherical formation about a common centre. It is a last-ditch defensive measure adopted by small schooling fish when they are threatened by predators. " from Wikipedia .
I think maybe wierwille's strategy of painting the outside world as such a treacherous place - was a strategy of control ("if you trip out you could get possessed, the devil will ruin your life, etc" ) that manufactured fear might generate a "bait ball" of sorts -
just thinking like a little schooling fish now, I would want to be towards the middle of the bait ball and not out on the periphery where devil spirits are lurking and danger is all about....yup I'm gonna get as close to the middle as possible - right alongside that Great White Shark with one eye
Yikes ! No thanks - think I'll just tough it out here in the real world Dory-style - keep on swimming, keep on swimming.
Edited by T-BoneShark warning
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Grace Valerie Claire
Sky, I think you are polite; I think he was a POS.
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Infoabsorption
Skyrider, The 8th corps fiasco you mentioned was briefly brought up in another section of GSC. Apparently these 3 corps guys were kicked out of TWI altogether. The nature of their research wasn't known by any of the posters on that particular thread. Do you happen to know what they were researching?
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Rocky
The situation is referenced in Undertow.
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