The Stranglehold of Cults

[skyrider]

Last Saturday afternoon, I went for a walk in my neighborhood......an invigorating walk with temperatures hovering around 18 degrees.  With sidewalks on both sides of the street, one can easily walk throughout this neighborhood and stay clear of the busy streets just on its outskirts.  For many reasons, our cluster of homes continues to be a favorite for soliciting girl scout cookies, sales canvassing and the six-week rotation of Jehovah Witnesses.....and so it was this day.

Two sets of pairings were knocking on doors.....and no one was opening their doors.  This routine is so common that most here simply don't even open their door with the gesture of "no thanks."  Many of my neighbors have those little signs that say "no soliciting"......but, oftentimes, the door knocking is not assuaged.

Anyways, as I passed by.......I asked myself, "Should I just let this pass or try to help these people?"  Well, I walked another 30 yards or so and decided to turn around.  This couple had stood at this door for about 45 seconds before heading back to the sidewalk where I greeted them with, "What are you selling?"  I was playing coy.  I was quite positive that they were JW, but didn't want to put them on the defensive.  This pair was one man and one woman.......and she was the dominant of the two.  She assured me that they were NOT selling anything, but were trying to find anyone in the neighborhood who spoke Russian.  Their "program" was to help to assemble a gathering of those interested in the Russian language to help one another.

After another five minutes of chit chat, I told them that one of the reasons why few open their doors around here was because of dominant solicitation from sales people AND Jehovah Witnesses who target this area.  With that.......she admitted to me that they were, indeed, JW.  See.....they were using "a backdoor witnessing technique" [deception] to gain access to bring others into the JW-cult.  And, then....I told her that I, too, had knocked on doors for years trying to help people to better understand scripture....adding another five minutes of background and detail.  They were really nice people, late-20s, and I couldn't leave them without WARNING them about cult manipulation.  Long story short.....I gave a short overview of the scientology tv-documentary, then my experiences and why I walked away........and cults worldwide.  There are better ways to serve Jehovah.....than doing this grueling coercion of door-knocking.  I told them to think long and hard......their life's passions should not be dictated by JW-hierarchy.

~~~~~~~

Here at GSC......our desire to help expose the way international cult.....does NOT stop there! 

The tell-tale signs of cults are consistent across the board.  Same tactics.  Same techniques.

Here at GSC......these discussion forums were instrumental in exposing the CES-splinter CULT.   CES is in a Mess......

~~~~~~~

 

So yeah.............lots of us are passionate about BREAKING THE STRANGLEHOLD OF ALL CULTS.  

TWI-gatekeepers

 

On ‎12‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 10:54 AM, skyrider said:

When did twi's stranglehold on wierwille's mog-status, impact and legacy lose its grip?

1. Did the stranglehold cease when many clergy/corps dissented and exited in late '70s or early '80s?
2. Did the stranglehold cease when wierwille died in May 1985?
3. Did the stranglehold cease when geer read "The Patriarch" paper at corps week, 1986?
4. Did the stranglehold cease when lynn and others wrote that 37-page proclamation?
5. Did the stranglehold cease with an exodus of a reported 80% of corps leadership?
6. Did the stranglehold cease when dozens of splinter groups started preaching "the truth?"
7. When did the stranglehold cease?

Well......imo, the stranglehold ceased when twi-gatekeepers could NO LONGER control the message or contain the secrets.  The leaders (cough, cough) who exited en masse after "the poop paper propaganda" did very little to release the wierwille-the-man-of-God vise grip.  The geer camp kept beating the same drum.  The lynn camp did better.....but just seemed to sidestep the wierwille doctrine/legacy in many ways.  What about the finn3gan camp?  The summ3rville camp?  Others?  The shr0yer camp seemed to embrace the wierwille doctrine more closely.....of which, the two younger wierwille kids hitched a ride to keep the embers glowing?

The stranglehold was BROKEN when Waydale in April 1999 took the fight directly at Martindale and twi.  The full onslaught of punches caught martindale/twi off guard and in a defensive posture.  Pa-ul All3n hit them with an uppercut that left them staggering to find the ropes.  From a position of husband-rage and legal strength, this man went on a relentless, 18-hours a day, flurry of punches that staggered the corporate "giant."  Month after month, the scandalous secrets poured forth on Waydale.  Twi mandated that their followers stay off the internet and, it didn't take long before martindale had to publically admit to this "consensual affair."  Twi knew that Waydale was, indeed, a formidable foe.

A second lawsuit erupted......and martindale's fate was sealed.  Cover-ups.  Silence.  Lawyers.  Depositions.

The All3n lawsuit was settled out of court and sealed from prying eyes.  Martindale was ousted.  Within a year, 7 region coordinators had sent in their resignation letters and headed for the doors to separate themselves from all things twi.  Amazingly, the loyalist trunk coordinator, panasmello around like 2004 and started on offshoot and STILL clings to wierwille doctrine (from what I've heard).  Greasespot Café didn't miss a beat and picked up when the Waydale websie, under settlement agreement, was to close down.

But make NO mistake.......it was NOT the staunch defectors from the 1986 exodus who broke the twi-stranglehold.  Many of those men went forward to fill their pews and pockets with the wierwille-deception, the fake-truth doctrine, that they embraced.....still.  They simply wanted the deception, and funneling of money, to continue as long as possible.  They were, and are, complicit in leading these followers astray.  Woe unto them.

Waydale........thank you!

GSC.........174 pages and counting, on About the Way forum.

 

[T-Bone]

5 hours ago, skyrider said:

(SNIP)...After another five minutes of chit chat, I told them that one of the reasons why few open their doors around here was because of dominant solicitation from sales people AND Jehovah Witnesses who target this area.  With that.......she admitted to me that they were, indeed, JW.  See.....they were using "a backdoor witnessing technique" [deception] to gain access to bring others into the JW-cult.  And, then....I told her that I, too, had knocked on doors for years trying to help people to better understand scripture....adding another five minutes of background and detail.  They were really nice people, late-20s, and I couldn't leave them without WARNING them about cult manipulation.  Long story short.....I gave a short overview of the scientology tv-documentary, then my experiences and why I walked away........and cults worldwide.  There are better ways to serve Jehovah.....than doing this grueling coercion of door-knocking.  I told them to think long and hard......their life's passions should not be dictated by JW-hierarchy....(SNIP)

Excellent counsel, Skyrider! Good countermeasures to any stranglehold are the ability to think and the courage to choose one’s own response. I have to mention one of my favorite quotes regarding tyranny:

Freedom of the mind requires not only, or not even specially, the absence of legal constraints but the presence of alternative thoughts. The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other possibilities….from Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind

[penworks]

T-Bone, I love this: "Freedom of the mind requires not only, or not even specially, the absence of legal constraints but the presence of alternative thoughts."

For some alternative thoughts, some of you might like to read other folks stories about "spiritual abuse" at SAR, a new website produced by the International Cultic Studies Association. Last summer, ICSA published a mini version of my story in their magazine, ICSA Today. It is now posted on SAR.

The stories are testimonies about a variety of high-control groups. The common thread: control.

Cheers!

 

 

Edited February 2, 2017 by penworks

[Twinky]

A few years ago,  I was walking down the road and here come these JWS.  I watched them door knocking and getting nowhere.  I too paused and talked to them, told them much the same as you did, Sky, but I doubt it had any impact. But who knows what seeds are sown? 

I don't mind them, in fact they're sometimes genuinely helpful - and always sincere.  But we know all about misguided sincerity,  don't we!

[Bolshevik]

I met a young JW not long ago.  Not a JW in heart, just "raised in the J-Word"  He participates on anti-JW websites, but the people in his life are still JWs.

I had asked him what he was a part of because his expressed frustration to others around him sounded familiar.

I took five minutes, told him situations I would guess he was probably dealing with, how people in his life were treating him, and how I thought he probably felt.  Even though I have no real experience with JWs, but plenty with TWI.

For months after that he got excited every time I came around and would follow me and start telling me about JWs. He began speaking up more openly and positively to everyone around him what he was experiencing.  I then heard other people start talking about abusive organizations and relationships and how they work.

He was a cool character, fighting to go to school in spite of an organization that dictates aspects of his life.  I hope he is doing well.

 

 

[higherground30]

On 01/02/2017 at 4:29 AM, skyrider said:

Here at GSC......our desire to help expose the way international cult.....does NOT stop there! 

The tell-tale signs of cults are consistent across the board.  Same tactics.  Same techniques.

Here at GSC......these discussion forums were instrumental in exposing the CES-splinter CULT.   CES is in a Mess......

~~~~~~~

 

So yeah.............lots of us are passionate about BREAKING THE STRANGLEHOLD OF ALL CULTS.  

TWI-gatekeepers

BOOOM!! Right on Skyrider

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On 2/3/2017 at 4:01 AM, Twinky said:

A few years ago,  I was walking down the road and here come these JWS.  I watched them door knocking and getting nowhere.  I too paused and talked to them, told them much the same as you did, Sky, but I doubt it had any impact. But who knows what seeds are sown? 

I don't mind them, in fact they're sometimes genuinely helpful - and always sincere.  But we know all about misguided sincerity,  don't we!

Twinky, they can be nice people, but I am not interested in anything they have to say about anything.  I want to pursue God in my own way.