Great stuff skyrider. Sometimes people get this image of the man ingrained into their brain cells and the image becomes larger than life. The Way continually promotes this with the never-ending whitewashing along with life-size bronzes of VPW and other such idolatry. When people spend decades not questioning that mental image, it leads to disaster. You are breaking down the man into realistic pieces so that people should be able to pop the bubble of that image if they so desire.
Another wonderful post Skyrider....encouraging both critical thought and self-reflection. Your willingness to reveal your deepest personal “lens” view of experiences you witnessed or endured, without worrying about covering for your own naïveté at the time, due primarily to the vibrant idealism of youth at the time many of us got involved, is most admirable imho. I appreciate your honest insight and your reflection of TWIt “history” as you experienced it then, and as you understand it now, some 40 years later.
I am far less “kind” to dictor paul than you are. From my own interpersonal interactions with dp, I don’t think he had near the cleverness you give him credit for, Sky. He was a spoiled little brat, sexually abused baby of an Aryan family of 8. His intellect was a C- at best throughout his academic career, when he wasn’t failing. He mastered one thing. Plagiarism.
Vic was a charlatan from the beginning. But, he was just a small-time crappie in a huge pond of Elmer Gantrys in the 1940s who were looking to make a comfortable living and stay outta WWII. Plus, Adolph Ernst...his daddy...was a Nazi supporter in the German-American Bund founded by Lindbergh and Fritz Kuhn in 1936. Young dictor grew up in that racist, fascist environment, and they even spoke German in their home, before they learned English!
So, dp’s “call to ministry” was nothing more than a fortunate turn of events which got him through a cheap Evangelical and Reformed seminary, and ordained as a clergyman in that denomination with his own church, St. Jacob’s in Payne, OH, as Skyrider has recorded. That began a bumbling, stumbling, rumbling, bull-in-a-China-shop romp through the Bible Belt Fundamentalist Jesus culture of the post-war Midwest. Quite a conservative area of the USA at that time. His entire Chimes Hour Youth Caravan “founding” of TWIt was just the beginning of his hustle. He saw what worked with kids, had a nice, steamy affair with Rosalind Rinker, and had his first child, a son, Donald Ernst.
Then he got a promotion to a bigger, more important, better tithing E&R church in Van Wert, St. Peter’s. Got him out of Payne before his shenanigans could be uncovered, settled him into a comfortable, economically stable community with a built-in guaranteed flock to fleece. He was simply playing the denominational pastor game and really just wanted to be as big as his heroes, Oral Roberts and Billy Graham. At the AC at HQ in the sumner of 1972, dp said: “I’m not an Evangelist like Billy Graham, or Oral Roberts! I’m a teacher! I tried to reach out to them in the 50s to work together for the Lord. You know, when they pack ‘em into their tents and stadiums, get ‘em born again and then what?? Send them to ME! I’ll teach them the greatness of the accuracy of Gawd’s rightly divided word!” He said that right after he finished playing a tape of Oral Roberts’ preaching his famous 4th Man Sermon.
Dic was just a greedy young ne’re-do-well from a hick German farm town in the middle of nowhere Ohio, who got outta the hard work of taking over daddy’s farm, or starting a business of his own like his brothers, by choosing the easy, well-respected con of Midwest clergyman, knocking up his HS sweetheart, and grabbing and groping his way through one small group of suckers after another.
When he was lucky enough to stumble across folks like Peter J. Wade, David Anderson, John Somerville, Ken Klug, Walter Cummins, Jim Doop, Steve Heefner, and Donnie Fugit, it was THEIR gifts, abilities and enthusiasm that made dic’s class a hit, not dic’s personal presence. Often, his personal presence just caused trouble for everyone! He was a jerk in the opinion of many. Until those same men had the Bible ministry they loved stolen from them and brought under the iron fist of Herr Victor the First.
The progress of dic’s new possession really took off when he got rid of his competition. He started the corpse in 1969 with Ken Klug in it, John Lynn, Pat Browning, Johnny Townsend, and couple of others. The famous Zero corpse. Started again in 1970 with the first corpse of 9, including 1 guy at ECU. Again, not really planned or thought through beyond the free-spirited idealism of young hippies who really believed ole Dic was teaching the word like it hadn’t been known since the 1st Century and there were miracles, signs, and wonders everywhere! Dic wanted a core group as disciplined and tough as the Marine Corps after the Zero corpse pooped out to get married and take care of other personal priorities. That’s why he loved ECU so much. John and Tim Somerville started the “work” at ECU. John volunteered for Vietnam Nam to prove the revelation and power manifestations to himself, and was truly a hero and esteemed warrior among his fellow Marines. Dic said if John could do all that for the Marines, why can’t I get people to do that for God and His word??! Why can’t God have a Marine Corps?? Hence, the concept of the way corpse was born. Again, no cleverly calculated, sinister, MLM plot. Just the continued outworking of one man’s pathology now gathering steam through a serendipitous cult of personality that was building around a completely incompetent, dumbass, perverted drunk.
Imho, Dic had a lot less to do with building his cult than the first 5 corpses and the WOW program. It was those groups that most adored dictor, enjoyed the thrill and joy of genuine Christian revival when they first took that class thing, were free enough to just pick up and go wherever the man-o-gawd told them too. It was not dictor or the stupid class that got me into TWIt. It was my closest and most beloved friends. It was the power of miracles, signs, and wonders and no authoritarian control.
As the money began pouring in, Harry and Vic figured they better invest it. Best investment?? REAL ESTATE! Emporia, Rome City, Gunnison, Limb homes in OH, IN, MI, NC, KS, CA, NY, all bought by TWIt in the early 70s. The Colleges, campuses, camps, limb homes, etc., were all money-laundering schemes that Dic and Harry stumbled into, which were then “perfected” by Howard and Don, and all the new early corpse grads flooding HQ and all the new “Root Locales” with millions of laundered abundant sharing dollars. The only names on ALL the deeds to those properties were those of TWIt trustees.....Harry Wierwille, Ermal Owens, dictor paul, Howard, Don, and da Forehead. That was it until the Allen lawsuit was settled. Whose names are on the remaining deeds?? Ohio? Gunnison?
That’s when the real systemization of dic’s evil began imo. Dic himself was too dumb to do anything but drink and molest women while reading anyone else’s Bible teachings a couple of times a week in some quaint little midwestern hamlet in Ohio. He was a slick con. He knew the game. He was always on the prowl. He was clever, not intelligent. He was deceitful, and ambitious, not honest or humble. He was mentally ill....untreated, uncontrolled mental illness dysfunctionally working itself out since his teens. He was a charmer and manipulator, not by will, but by nature. No redeeming social value, spiritually empty, and intellectually vapid.
So, though dictor paul was lucky enough to attract some very talented people into his sex/personality cult, I don’t give him credit for diabolically planning, thinking through, or conceiving what he eventually destroyed. Sadly, he used a lot of wonderful, smart, talented, authentically loving, idealistic young people, who loved Jesus and just wanted to do the right thing to pay for and fulfill his own hubris and lusts. A pimp and a whore and a bully. What a ministry!
Wierwille continues to be a polarizing figure of huge dimensions and consequences......as another generation of youth are indoctrinated by cult elders. Some view his life and "ministry" on par, or greater, than biblical prophets or apostles. Others have documented accounts of wierwille as a sexual predator, deceiver and opportunist. Few, it seems, have moderate views of the man.
Of course, twi-headquarters and splinter groups, hold a superlative opinion of "Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille." They have a vested and profit-making interest in cheerleading his legacy. Splinter groups have little relevance without clinging to the wierwille brand and all that he taught.
I tend to see wierwille in terms of his narcissist pathologies to acquire power and dominance over others. It was only after he had "cornered the market" of stolen and plagiarized work from others that his "ministry" came to the fore and he made greater strides of controlling others. Dependence on twi was the alpha and omega.........not independence. Everything in the cult is a sequence..........of followship. Not once in all my years in twi did any leader encourage me to "go to the Lord in prayer." Every cog in the twi-machine functions on OBEDIENCE TO WIERWILLE-DOCTRINE..........not biblical authority.
To study the effects of wierwille's cult...........one needs to analyze the evolution of wierwille.
I submit my thesis........
The Six Stages of Wierwille's Climb to Power
The Unfulfilled Pastor..............church pastor in Payne (1941-1944) and Van Wert, Ohio (1944-1957).......restless and unfulfilled.
The Searching Opportunist......traveling to seminars, retreats, and church camps looking for direction and opportunity to advance.
The Plagiarizing Teacher.........starting December 1957, wierwille is now unhindered from church boards to plagiarize and teach others' work.
The Ensnaring Supplanter........filming pfal in 1967, vpw uses preemptive strikes against family, church and community to entrap followers.
The Usurping Authoritarian......wierwille power-grabs movements (Way West/East) in 1969-1970 and operates with stealth & subterfuge.
The Pinnacle Cult Leader..........5 corps training campuses embody isolation, immersion and indoctrination --- to teach and recruit others.
Base Camp...........scripture and homiletics training. From this starting position, wierwille could always rely on his "supplies" to climb greater heights. Who doesn't want to hear about God's love, abundance and power? Who doesn't thirst to know that a Merciful God will bestow health and prosperity to them and their family? Who doesn't hunger to know that a Righteous Heavenly Father will guide them thru life and into eternity? With homiletics training, vpw was adept at uplifting many who heard his sermons.
But.............church was confining. And, wierwille was a man on the move. Clearly, his seminary classes and life's experience were limited. He needed to learn more, much more.....to advance his thinking beyond its confinement. His narcissism wanted to stretch its legs........and, besides, every seminar or retreat that wierwille attended gave him the opportunity to get out of Van Wert. Did it also give him opportunity to see other women? Probably. Wierwille was a man who didn't like boundaries. In the late 60s, he headed to California to check out the orgy action in Haight-Ashbury, didn't he? Yep.
And, in 1953..........B.G. Leonard's class, The Gifts of the Spirit, changed wierwille's life and trajectory. It was THE ROPE that aided wierwille to climb higher, much higher.
After leaving the Van Wert Church in December 1957.......wierwille, the plagiarizing teacher, hit the highways month after month to teach "his" foundational class and pay the bills. He not only needed students........he NEEDED faithful people to tithe to his fledgling work. From 1958-1967, wierwille was a one-man show........teaching classes, city after city. Wierwille's class and marketing strategy was to reach church people. What he didn't seem to grasp.........is that nearly 85-90% of these students went BACK to their churches and communities. They were not looking to be transformed or transplanted into twi-servitude for a lifetime. Mrs. W's book, Born Again To Serve, documents years of classes and confrontational letters that wierwille sent out at certain points of frustration. The Troy believers launched a mass exodus in 1960 when vpw and harry voted to move the Van Wert Headquarters to the family farm. They believed that the wierwilles could not be trusted in keeping the finances separate from the farm and The Way, Inc.
The filming of the 1967 class...........had a subterfuge agenda. What was this new hidden objective? To entrap new students into his organization by destroying their old support systems of family, religion and community........and erect a new system, a spiritual family that replaced their "earthly family." In essence: A Cult. Add lots of homespun stories........intermix ridicule of church denominations......then, demand that all students ---- "stand with the ministry that taught them the Word. Having done all, STAND." Oh, and just write the teacher.
Make sure to come visit the farm. See the wierwille barn. Meet "Uncle Harry" and "Aunt Sevilla" and have lunch in the Ecumenical BRC basement.
Cult Warning: The agenda is to replace your "earthly family" with this NEW spiritual family, the Household of God.
In 1969.........wierwille's narcissism flares up big time when Heefner and Doop [Way East and Way West] are pulling in MORE students and growing exponentially. According to Doop, he and wierwille had an agreement that 15% of all tithes would be sent to headquarters and the other 85% would stay in the area. [I will look for that GSC-information for confirmation.] So, what does wierwille do? He goes into their statewide meetings and power-grabs the movement. The Usurping Authoritarian HAS to be the Top Dog of the Show [the "Alpha Male"]. Wierwille NEEDED young ministers and firebrands to advance his climb to power.
The Corps Training Program was the final act of betrayal by wierwille. It will always entail "The Zero Corps"...........the ones who would NOT commit to wierwille's demands. Though wierwille turned the reins of this program over to others, he was always hiding in the shadows to plunder the youth. Spiritual abuse was part and parcel to its methodology. It was subtle and deceptive and devious. For years, wierwille traveled on his motor coach to these corps campuses and preyed upon these young, innocent corps girls. When he summoned the unsuspecting girl, she had no idea what was about to happen. The cult leader had reached his pinnacle of power over others. He was "untouchable." This 58 year-old sexual predator made sure that he had consumed several cups of Drambuie coffee so that he was well liquored up for these late night sexual romps.
With absolute power over others..............wierwille had reached his summit and fulfilled his narcissistic pathologies.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Surgically accurate insight. "Though wierwille turned the reins of this program over to others..." He had to in order for his legacy to have live forever.
Another wonderful post Skyrider....encouraging both critical thought and self-reflection. Your willingness to reveal your deepest personal “lens” view of experiences you witnessed or endured, without worrying about covering for your own naïveté at the time, due primarily to the vibrant idealism of youth at the time many of us got involved, is most admirable imho. I appreciate your honest insight and your reflection of TWIt “history” as you experienced it then, and as you understand it now, some 40 years later. [...]
So, though dictor paul was lucky enough to attract some very talented people into his sex/personality cult, I don’t give him credit for diabolically planning, thinking through, or conceiving what he eventually destroyed. Sadly, he used a lot of wonderful, smart, talented, authentically loving, idealistic young people, who loved Jesus and just wanted to do the right thing to pay for and fulfill his own hubris and lusts. A pimp and a whore and a bully. What a ministry!
I agree, narcissistic pathologies don't require methodical planning to be carried out "successfully."
Another wonderful post Skyrider....encouraging both critical thought and self-reflection. Your willingness to reveal your deepest personal “lens” view of experiences you witnessed or endured, without worrying about covering for your own naïveté at the time, due primarily to the vibrant idealism of youth at the time many of us got involved, is most admirable imho. I appreciate your honest insight and your reflection of TWIt “history” as you experienced it then, and as you understand it now, some 40 years later.
I am far less “kind” to dictor paul than you are. From my own interpersonal interactions with dp, I don’t think he had near the cleverness you give him credit for, Sky. He was a spoiled little brat, sexually abused baby of an Aryan family of 8. His intellect was a C- at best throughout his academic career, when he wasn’t failing. He mastered one thing. Plagiarism.
Vic was a charlatan from the beginning. But, he was just a small-time crappie in a huge pond of Elmer Gantrys in the 1940s who were looking to make a comfortable living and stay outta WWII. Plus, Adolph Ernst...his daddy...was a Nazi supporter in the German-American Bund founded by Lindbergh and Fritz Kuhn in 1936. Young dictor grew up in that racist, fascist environment, and they even spoke German in their home, before they learned English!
So, dp’s “call to ministry” was nothing more than a fortunate turn of events which got him through a cheap Evangelical and Reformed seminary, and ordained as a clergyman in that denomination with his own church, St. Jacob’s in Payne, OH, as Skyrider has recorded. That began a bumbling, stumbling, rumbling, bull-in-a-China-shop romp through the Bible Belt Fundamentalist Jesus culture of the post-war Midwest.
.......<snip>.......
Hence, the concept of the way corpse was born. Again, no cleverly calculated, sinister, MLM plot. Just the continued outworking of one man’s pathology now gathering steam through a serendipitous cult of personality that was building around a completely incompetent, dumbass, perverted drunk.
Imho, Dic had a lot less to do with building his cult than the first 5 corpses and the WOW program. It was those groups that most adored dictor, enjoyed the thrill and joy of genuine Christian revival when they first took that class thing, were free enough to just pick up and go wherever the man-o-gawd told them too. It was not dictor or the stupid class that got me into TWIt. It was my closest and most beloved friends. It was the power of miracles, signs, and wonders and no authoritarian control.
As the money began pouring in, Harry and Vic figured they better invest it. Best investment?? REAL ESTATE! Emporia, Rome City, Gunnison, Limb homes in OH, IN, MI, NC, KS, CA, NY, all bought by TWIt in the early 70s. The Colleges, campuses, camps, limb homes, etc., were all money-laundering schemes that Dic and Harry stumbled into, which were then “perfected” by Howard and Don, and all the new early corpse grads flooding HQ and all the new “Root Locales” with millions of laundered abundant sharing dollars. The only names on ALL the deeds to those properties were those of TWIt trustees.....Harry Wierwille, Ermal Owens, dictor paul, Howard, Don, and da Forehead. That was it until the Allen lawsuit was settled. Whose names are on the remaining deeds?? Ohio? Gunnison?
That’s when the real systemization of dic’s evil began imo. Dic himself was too dumb to do anything but drink and molest women while reading anyone else’s Bible teachings a couple of times a week in some quaint little midwestern hamlet in Ohio. He was a slick con. He knew the game. He was always on the prowl. He was clever, not intelligent. He was deceitful, and ambitious, not honest or humble. He was mentally ill....untreated, uncontrolled mental illness dysfunctionally working itself out since his teens. He was a charmer and manipulator, not by will, but by nature. No redeeming social value, spiritually empty, and intellectually vapid.
So, though dictor paul was lucky enough to attract some very talented people into his sex/personality cult, I don’t give him credit for diabolically planning, thinking through, or conceiving what he eventually destroyed. Sadly, he used a lot of wonderful, smart, talented, authentically loving, idealistic young people, who loved Jesus and just wanted to do the right thing to pay for and fulfill his own hubris and lusts. A pimp and a whore and a bully. What a ministry!
Thanks, DWBH............ I always look forward to your posts.
Yes, wierwille was a bumbling, stumbling, rumbling opportunist that was looking for something, anything that would give him a new shtick of relevance. When I posted about the "climb of power" and the summit of control over others..............that, in no way, credits wierwille. His narcissistic pathologies held sway over any measurable thought or character. The guy's narcissism, undiagnosed and unchecked...........left thousands abused, wounded and/or destroyed. A grifter and opportunist scheming to ease his way thru life........not an honest day's pay.
Thanks Skyrider and Don’t Worry - love your posts - anytime you guys get into analyzing wierwille / programs / beginnings - and also put things in historical context, it’s all quality stuff - as good any top notch non-fiction best seller! And it means a lot to me personally - since I was involved in it for a number of years...kinda helps to wrap my mind around what the hell happened.
I agree, T-Bone. I believe I was "in" later than you (78-97), every time I can wrap my head around another piece of this, it is a blessing to me. I'd like to think that I'd gotten all the old twi cobwebs out, when you shine your finely tuned light on it, lo and behold, another one pops up! Thanks, because when I see it, I can begin to eliminate it.
Every time I consider and review the wide-ranging aspects of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, as it relates to wierwille..........it is stunningly accurate.
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder with a long-term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of empathy. Those affected often spend a lot of time thinking about achieving power or success, or on their appearance.They often take advantage of the people around them. The behavior typically begins by early adulthood, and occurs across a variety of social situations.
When I think back on staff meetings, after-corps night meetings, night owls, sharings, etc..........wierwille always viewed his German heritage, his wierwille lineage, his New Knoxville church with Dr. Kunst, and his masters/doctorate degrees of excellent and supreme caliber. Everything his daddy bought was....."the best." Boastings and exaggerated expressions of self-importance were excessive.
When I came back to hq from my deprogramming experience......I was summoned to meet with wierwille in his motor coach. He had reviewed my typed summation of this 10-day experience and wanted to include it in his By The Way articles for the St. Marys Evening Leader. Not once, did he show empathy towards my ordeal, or mental state......nor did he offer to pray for or with me. He immediately wanted to dive into the details of my account......when I look back and think about it, he wanted to take advantage of this event and add credence to the *us versus them* mantra (i.e. those in twi are righteous and vilified for it).
And......his "personal prophesy" to me did NOT come to pass. Here
Yep.....these "all 9" align with wierwille:
Grandiosity with expectations of superior treatment from other people
Fixated on fantasies of power, success, intelligence, attractiveness, etc.
Self-perception of being unique, superior, and associated with high-status people and institutions
Needing continual admiration from others
Sense of entitlement to special treatment and to obedience from others
Exploitative of others to achieve personal gain
Unwilling to empathize with the feelings, wishes, and needs of other people
Intensely envious of others, and the belief that others are equally envious of them
Wierwille continues to be a polarizing figure of huge dimensions and consequences.
I really don't think I can fully agree with you on this. "Polarizing," definitely, among some that heard of him (most, don't care - if his memory ever crosses their minds). "Huge dimensions and consequences" in some people's lives (inc many who hang out here and on other TWI-focused sites), but many walked away without a backward glance.
In the scale of things - he was just another small-town sex-obsessed liar. Who actually was of such insignificance that very few have heard of him (granted, more than most small-town sex-obsessed liars).
In the Christian world, he's not even a nonentity. Pathetic, really. All his grandiosity - he was just an empty paper bag.
I really don't think I can fully agree with you on this. "Polarizing," definitely, among some that heard of him (most, don't care - if his memory ever crosses their minds). "Huge dimensions and consequences" in some people's lives (inc many who hang out here and on other TWI-focused sites), but many walked away without a backward glance.
In the scale of things - he was just another small-town sex-obsessed liar. Who actually was of such insignificance that very few have heard of him (granted, more than most small-town sex-obsessed liars).
In the Christian world, he's not even a nonentity. Pathetic, really. All his grandiosity - he was just an empty paper bag.
Different perspective. Definitely legitimate, not necessary contradictory to what Skyrider described.
Yeah, I suppose.........."huge dimensions and consequences" is all relative to one's life and experiences.
I don't know.......I guess when I consider abuse, spiritual, sexual or otherwise, it seems like a huge deal to me. Considering a ballpark figure of some 50,000 people taking pfal, and maybe 9,000 going WOW and having their lives upended or worse, and thousands of corps being indoctrinated by a cult.......leaving in its wake, rape, abandonment, stress, anguish, divorce, suicide and/or assault.........those seem like "huge dimensions and consequences" to me.
I wonder why 17,866 people have, at one point in time, signed on to be a member of GSC........and, most of all, want to post their thoughts and opinions.
Sure, I get it..........wierwille was a small-time piker in a little Ohio hamlet, but the confluence of timing, technology and youth amplified his cult teachings and spiritual abuse in many parts of the world. He was definitely no "empty paper bag."
Some of the size perspective just depends on where the viewpoint is. For instance, I used to be a little paranoid when I told my story to other Christians that they would have heard of "the Way". By and large they have not. So from that perspective it is small.
But I look at the number of lives that were damaged of people I personally knew and know. That number seems really large to me. Especially when you compare percentages to your average church. There are problems in churches too but not that kind of damage.
Different perspective. Definitely legitimate, not necessary contradictory to what Skyrider described.
yeah Rocky - I agree.
I think of Twinky as looking at a bigger picture – “in the Christian world” as she put it; from meeting her at the Texas BBQ and going on things she shares in her posts, I really believe she is a woman with a mission AND with a compassionate heart for service; some of the stuff she shares about her street pastoring sounds like it could be in a new chapter in the book of Acts. I’m not qualified to speak about gift ministries or know much about them – but as far as I’m concerned she’s got something special up her sleeve – I believe she definitely has a calling...of course she brings a lot of good "things" here also - let's not forget that.
folks like Skyrider and Don’t Worry often focus on all things way-world; they’ve got that warrior ethos – never leave anyone behind…they pack some serious heat - - as well as some serious therapy. They are the big guns that expose and obliterate the hypocrisy of “those lying, thieving weasels” (as Don’t Worry calls them); then there’s the healing side of their ministries (there – I said it… and I’ll say it again through an amp that goes up to 11 ) – then there’s the healing side of their compassionate ministries reaching out to those who were hurt by “those lying, thieving weasels”.
I hope I haven’t embarrassed you all in some way – just thought I pass along some praise and encouragement.
like Skyrider was saying the extent of the consequences is relative to one’s life and experiences…this stuff may not matter much in the Christian world at large - but it matters to me - since part of my life was in way-world.
...every once and awhile I get to feeling down about how I devoted 12 years of my life to a cult and however much mental baggage I’ve been dragging around since then. There’s the shame…embarrassment… the… stigma that some folks associate with cults…sometimes I don’t mind that…maybe that keeps me on my toes…maybe it’s something I’ve got in the habit of doing from technical work – where I double, triple and quadruple check some things cuz I know I’m not perfect – me or someone else is going to screw up or a part will fail – so be prepared. I often look at it as a challenge to do my best critical thinking if we happen to get in a doctrinal or philosophical discussion..i know I’m rambling here – but trust me I’ll bring it back to this thread in a minute or two.
I’ve always tried to live my life like an open book – I have nothing to hide – I’ve really tried to live a good Christian life while in TWI and afterwards too! On occasion I have even shared with co-workers of my experiences in a cult as some tough lessons on the importance of a Christ-centered faith and giving heed to one’s authentic-self…the machinations of TWI went so counter to anything that had to do with your authentic-self… some of that crap from the mouths of those lying thieving weasels was really just blowing smoke up my a$$ - to make me think I was destined for greatness. I used to think I’d better go in the corps cuz God has some big plans for me…maybe I’ve got a gift ministry…I tried to picture myself as being the perfect PFAL believer spreading blessings and good fortune wherever I went…alright…about to reconnect to this topic in 3..2…1…
If I would have stayed in TWI I believe I would have been groomed to follow – on a small scale – wierwille’s power grabbing style: I think I was a restless and unfulfilled leader - going through the motions of handling my TWI assignment – oh the drudgery...trying to act enthusiastic about moving “the word” – I’m wondering if that’s the equivalent of a woman faking orgasm.…and I was a searching opportunist – taking the same classes again and again, going to advances, special events, joining programs…looking for direction and opportunity to advance spiritually – whatever the hell that means…I was even like my Plagiarizing “mentor “ – making PFAL my own, writing songs about it; looking for other verses to prove some point wierwille had made…and listening to the ensnaring supplanter - I learned to choose TWI’s “household” over family, friends and whatever I was taught in the Roman Catholic Church…in ignorance I endorsed that usurping authoritarian…and revered the consummate cult leader – I volunteered to be isolated, immersed, indoctrinated so I could teach and recruit others.
Reflecting on my life since I left TWI: I have such a sense of fulfilment from just trying to be a good husband, dad and competent technician. That may be underrated in some folks’ book but that’s my “ministry” and I’m damn proud of it!
I also get a sense of fulfillment and some peace of mind from Grease Spot. To me it’s a far cry from getting the halfway-house-treatment by well-meaning Christians who try to take me on as their next project – that has happened several times over the years in different places where I’ve worked. I can figure out a lot of $hit myself, thank you very much – but there’s nothing like the cyber-camaraderie of folks who have survived a cult.
Sorry for the long post, major detour and cuss words but I sure do feel better. Sweet dreams all – nighty night.
Edited by T-Bone clarity & formatting..."make it so"
oh the drudgery...trying to act enthusiastic about moving “the word” – I’m wondering if that’s the equivalent of a woman faking orgasm.…and I was a searching opportunist – taking the same classes again and again, going to advances, special events, joining programs…looking for direction and opportunity to advance spiritually
Reminds me of the time... a couple of years ago, an old 9th corpse bro came to Phoenix for a work convention. Another local 9th corpse bro (used to post at GSC as simonzelotes) and I met him for dinner once. The out of towner seemed incredulous when we responded to his question of whether we ever went to fellowship anymore. Of course, the answer was NO. And the reason is as you described in the text I quoted.
Thank you for your kind words, T-Bone (blushes). I'm just out there doing my best. Whenever and wherever.
Thinking about the damage caused, Rocky and Sky, I was a confident professional woman when I entered the Corps. The "head games" that they played were far worse and longer lasting than physical ill-treatment. After they booted me out, I was a wreck, thinking at one time that I was so useless that I probably wouldn't even be able to kill myself effectively. I spent ten years ("the lost years") in a daze not really knowing what was going on, and I was so hurt and damaged and spiky that it's a wonder nobody killed me before I could do that to myself. Seriously. I was a mental basket case; even now, I'm not sure I'd have the patience or compassion to love someone like me as I was then.
So, I know the damage that was caused to some people, and specifically to me. I think I was being groomed, by LCM himself (Rosie saved me from that; I think she saw lawsuits coming if he persisted) and later, by his head honcho in the country where I was living. I rather fancy my non-compliance had a bearing on my being booted out. But not before they'd beaten me into total inadequacy, then left me for dead.
I know what they did to my most wonderful Corps sister. I know what they did to other people, that I knew and loved.
Yet because of that, I can love others in hopeless places. Thankful others cared enough. Thankful to have found a tremendous church with outstanding people who looked out for the desperate, the injured and the hurting ones.
For me, I know what lingers and where the trigger points are.
But still, Sky, in the wider Christian world - VPW was such a nonentity. Thank God!
But still, Sky, in the wider Christian world - VPW was such a nonentity. Thank God!
Twinky.......I totally agree with you on that aspect. In the wider Christian world, vpw was nonexistent. He plagiarized other men's work and cherry-picked scripture to twist and plant a hybrid crop of wierwille-doctrinesque theology. In terms of large-scale, wierwille wasn't even a pimple on a flea on an elephant.
But..........as you so elaborated above, the damage this cult did to one's heart, soul and mindset was extensive. Ten years in a daze......confusion, hurt, broken, anguish.....is a swath of life that you should have not entered. THAT is why I believe in the mission of Greasespot Café: to tell the other side of the story. This site may not be a Christian-site......but there is sure a lot of compassion and healing going on.
What is the worth of a soul? We know from scripture the answer to that. How many hundreds, thousands even, have come to GSC to glean what they needed to be delivered from burdens, wounds or a broken heart? As WordWolf notes often.........the fact that scores and scores of people have left GSC is great! They've moved on. They are the success stories. This site continues to sound and expound a warning shot to those who were sucked into the vortex of a cult, or might be. Our purpose is clear. Our results are profound. I like being a part of this G-team.
God Bless you, Twinky.........I find your life's story compelling and marvel at your incredible ministry of service to others. You are a gem. Your deep compassion and fortitude to "hit the streets" to minister to others is remarkably inspiring. You are truly one of God's treasured servants.
Another wonderful post Skyrider....encouraging both critical thought and self-reflection. Your willingness to reveal your deepest personal “lens” view of experiences you witnessed or endured, without worrying about covering for your own naïveté at the time, due primarily to the vibrant idealism of youth at the time many of us got involved, is most admirable imho. I appreciate your honest insight and your reflection of TWIt “history” as you experienced it then, and as you understand it now, some 40 years later.
I am far less “kind” to dictor paul than you are. From my own interpersonal interactions with dp, I don’t think he had near the cleverness you give him credit for, Sky. He was a spoiled little brat, sexually abused baby of an Aryan family of 8. His intellect was a C- at best throughout his academic career, when he wasn’t failing. He mastered one thing. Plagiarism.
Vic was a charlatan from the beginning. But, he was just a small-time crappie in a huge pond of Elmer Gantrys in the 1940s who were looking to make a comfortable living and stay outta WWII. Plus, Adolph Ernst...his daddy...was a Nazi supporter in the German-American Bund founded by Lindbergh and Fritz Kuhn in 1936. Young dictor grew up in that racist, fascist environment, and they even spoke German in their home, before they learned English!
So, dp’s “call to ministry” was nothing more than a fortunate turn of events which got him through a cheap Evangelical and Reformed seminary, and ordained as a clergyman in that denomination with his own church, St. Jacob’s in Payne, OH, as Skyrider has recorded. That began a bumbling, stumbling, rumbling, bull-in-a-China-shop romp through the Bible Belt Fundamentalist Jesus culture of the post-war Midwest. Quite a conservative area of the USA at that time. His entire Chimes Hour Youth Caravan “founding” of TWIt was just the beginning of his hustle. He saw what worked with kids, had a nice, steamy affair with Rosalind Rinker, and had his first child, a son, Donald Ernst.
Then he got a promotion to a bigger, more important, better tithing E&R church in Van Wert, St. Peter’s. Got him out of Payne before his shenanigans could be uncovered, settled him into a comfortable, economically stable community with a built-in guaranteed flock to fleece. He was simply playing the denominational pastor game and really just wanted to be as big as his heroes, Oral Roberts and Billy Graham. At the AC at HQ in the sumner of 1972, dp said: “I’m not an Evangelist like Billy Graham, or Oral Roberts! I’m a teacher! I tried to reach out to them in the 50s to work together for the Lord. You know, when they pack ‘em into their tents and stadiums, get ‘em born again and then what?? Send them to ME! I’ll teach them the greatness of the accuracy of Gawd’s rightly divided word!” He said that right after he finished playing a tape of Oral Roberts’ preaching his famous 4th Man Sermon.
Dic was just a greedy young ne’re-do-well from a hick German farm town in the middle of nowhere Ohio, who got outta the hard work of taking over daddy’s farm, or starting a business of his own like his brothers, by choosing the easy, well-respected con of Midwest clergyman, knocking up his HS sweetheart, and grabbing and groping his way through one small group of suckers after another.
When he was lucky enough to stumble across folks like Peter J. Wade, David Anderson, John Somerville, Ken Klug, Walter Cummins, Jim Doop, Steve Heefner, and Donnie Fugit, it was THEIR gifts, abilities and enthusiasm that made dic’s class a hit, not dic’s personal presence. Often, his personal presence just caused trouble for everyone! He was a jerk in the opinion of many. Until those same men had the Bible ministry they loved stolen from them and brought under the iron fist of Herr Victor the First.
The progress of dic’s new possession really took off when he got rid of his competition. He started the corpse in 1969 with Ken Klug in it, John Lynn, Pat Browning, Johnny Townsend, and couple of others. The famous Zero corpse. Started again in 1970 with the first corpse of 9, including 1 guy at ECU. Again, not really planned or thought through beyond the free-spirited idealism of young hippies who really believed ole Dic was teaching the word like it hadn’t been known since the 1st Century and there were miracles, signs, and wonders everywhere! Dic wanted a core group as disciplined and tough as the Marine Corps after the Zero corpse pooped out to get married and take care of other personal priorities. That’s why he loved ECU so much. John and Tim Somerville started the “work” at ECU. John volunteered for Vietnam Nam to prove the revelation and power manifestations to himself, and was truly a hero and esteemed warrior among his fellow Marines. Dic said if John could do all that for the Marines, why can’t I get people to do that for God and His word??! Why can’t God have a Marine Corps?? Hence, the concept of the way corpse was born. Again, no cleverly calculated, sinister, MLM plot. Just the continued outworking of one man’s pathology now gathering steam through a serendipitous cult of personality that was building around a completely incompetent, dumbass, perverted drunk.
Imho, Dic had a lot less to do with building his cult than the first 5 corpses and the WOW program. It was those groups that most adored dictor, enjoyed the thrill and joy of genuine Christian revival when they first took that class thing, were free enough to just pick up and go wherever the man-o-gawd told them too. It was not dictor or the stupid class that got me into TWIt. It was my closest and most beloved friends. It was the power of miracles, signs, and wonders and no authoritarian control.
As the money began pouring in, Harry and Vic figured they better invest it. Best investment?? REAL ESTATE! Emporia, Rome City, Gunnison, Limb homes in OH, IN, MI, NC, KS, CA, NY, all bought by TWIt in the early 70s. The Colleges, campuses, camps, limb homes, etc., were all money-laundering schemes that Dic and Harry stumbled into, which were then “perfected” by Howard and Don, and all the new early corpse grads flooding HQ and all the new “Root Locales” with millions of laundered abundant sharing dollars. The only names on ALL the deeds to those properties were those of TWIt trustees.....Harry Wierwille, Ermal Owens, dictor paul, Howard, Don, and da Forehead. That was it until the Allen lawsuit was settled. Whose names are on the remaining deeds?? Ohio? Gunnison?
That’s when the real systemization of dic’s evil began imo. Dic himself was too dumb to do anything but drink and molest women while reading anyone else’s Bible teachings a couple of times a week in some quaint little midwestern hamlet in Ohio. He was a slick con. He knew the game. He was always on the prowl. He was clever, not intelligent. He was deceitful, and ambitious, not honest or humble. He was mentally ill....untreated, uncontrolled mental illness dysfunctionally working itself out since his teens. He was a charmer and manipulator, not by will, but by nature. No redeeming social value, spiritually empty, and intellectually vapid.
So, though dictor paul was lucky enough to attract some very talented people into his sex/personality cult, I don’t give him credit for diabolically planning, thinking through, or conceiving what he eventually destroyed. Sadly, he used a lot of wonderful, smart, talented, authentically loving, idealistic young people, who loved Jesus and just wanted to do the right thing to pay for and fulfill his own hubris and lusts. A pimp and a whore and a bully. What a ministry!
It IS a matter of perspective. vpw fancied himself a big deal. However, even twi's total numbers, compared to society in general or Christianity in general, were insignificant. They were too small to rate even a historical footnote. However, if someone "only" ruins 3 lives, it's very important to you if you're one of the 3 lives they ruin. In 1982, I was hit and almost killed by a careless driver who was driving carelessly. That's not noteworthy among the statistics of pedestrians hit by vehicles, but it made a big impression on me at the time.
When one looks back at vpw trying to grab power, I think it helps to look back to BEFORE his professional career. He was a child who shirked his chores and ran off for hours rather than work on the farm like his brothers. (According to TW:LiL.) He was a show-off and a bully who zoomed around on a motorcycle trying to get attention. (According to a big fan of his who actually went around and talked to people he knew in his childhood.) He considered careers in business and in show business before settling on ministry as a career. (According to vpw himself talking to the corps.) When he decided on it, he was met with disbelief that he was serious because he wasn't appropriate for it (according to TW:LiL). He chose to study "Homiletics" or preaching rather than any rigorous, academic ministry path- which is odd when contrasted with how scholarly he portrayed himself. And in the first year of his ministry career, he seriously considered quitting for the first time. All of that paints a rather specific picture- one of someone unsuited for such a career path but on it anyway.
God Bless you, Twinky.........I find your life's story compelling and marvel at your incredible ministry of service to others. You are a gem. Your deep compassion and fortitude to "hit the streets" to minister to others is remarkably inspiring. You are truly one of God's treasured servants.
(blushes again) Thank you, Skyrider.
Yep. If it's "you" that got hurt, it is a big deal. "You," basically are all you've got.
5 hours ago, skyrider said:
the mission of Greasespot Café: to tell the other side of the story.
Yep again. I've posted this before: I was so desperate and destroyed that I was prepared to crawl across broken glass to get back to TWI after ten years in the wilderness. I got on the net to find their zip code. The first result for TWI was - GreaseSpot Cafe! I looked. I was appalled, horrified. And ultimately healed.
My grovelly letter of apology for my imagined sins never got written. I thank God for Saint Pawtucket and this place.
On 7/13/2018 at 7:02 PM, DontWorryBeHappy said:
Another wonderful post Skyrider....encouraging both critical thought and self-reflection. Your willingness to reveal your deepest personal “lens” view of experiences you witnessed or endured, without worrying about covering for your own naïveté at the time, due primarily to the vibrant idealism of youth at the time many of us got involved, is most admirable imho. I appreciate your honest insight and your reflection of TWIt “history” as you experienced it then, and as you understand it now, some 40 years later.
I am far less “kind” to dictor paul than you are. From my own interpersonal interactions with dp, I don’t think he had near the cleverness you give him credit for, Sky. He was a spoiled little brat, sexually abused baby of an Aryan family of 8. His intellect was a C- at best throughout his academic career, when he wasn’t failing. He mastered one thing. Plagiarism.
Vic was a charlatan from the beginning. But, he was just a small-time crappie in a huge pond of Elmer Gantrys in the 1940s who were looking to make a comfortable living and stay outta WWII. Plus, Adolph Ernst...his daddy...was a Nazi supporter in the German-American Bund founded by Lindbergh and Fritz Kuhn in 1936. Young dictor grew up in that racist, fascist environment, and they even spoke German in their home, before they learned English!
So, dp’s “call to ministry” was nothing more than a fortunate turn of events which got him through a cheap Evangelical and Reformed seminary, and ordained as a clergyman in that denomination with his own church, St. Jacob’s in Payne, OH, as Skyrider has recorded. That began a bumbling, stumbling, rumbling, bull-in-a-China-shop romp through the Bible Belt Fundamentalist Jesus culture of the post-war Midwest. Quite a conservative area of the USA at that time. His entire Chimes Hour Youth Caravan “founding” of TWIt was just the beginning of his hustle. He saw what worked with kids, had a nice, steamy affair with Rosalind Rinker, and had his first child, a son, Donald Ernst.
Then he got a promotion to a bigger, more important, better tithing E&R church in Van Wert, St. Peter’s. Got him out of Payne before his shenanigans could be uncovered, settled him into a comfortable, economically stable community with a built-in guaranteed flock to fleece. He was simply playing the denominational pastor game and really just wanted to be as big as his heroes, Oral Roberts and Billy Graham. At the AC at HQ in the sumner of 1972, dp said: “I’m not an Evangelist like Billy Graham, or Oral Roberts! I’m a teacher! I tried to reach out to them in the 50s to work together for the Lord. You know, when they pack ‘em into their tents and stadiums, get ‘em born again and then what?? Send them to ME! I’ll teach them the greatness of the accuracy of Gawd’s rightly divided word!” He said that right after he finished playing a tape of Oral Roberts’ preaching his famous 4th Man Sermon.
Dic was just a greedy young ne’re-do-well from a hick German farm town in the middle of nowhere Ohio, who got outta the hard work of taking over daddy’s farm, or starting a business of his own like his brothers, by choosing the easy, well-respected con of Midwest clergyman, knocking up his HS sweetheart, and grabbing and groping his way through one small group of suckers after another.
When he was lucky enough to stumble across folks like Peter J. Wade, David Anderson, John Somerville, Ken Klug, Walter Cummins, Jim Doop, Steve Heefner, and Donnie Fugit, it was THEIR gifts, abilities and enthusiasm that made dic’s class a hit, not dic’s personal presence. Often, his personal presence just caused trouble for everyone! He was a jerk in the opinion of many. Until those same men had the Bible ministry they loved stolen from them and brought under the iron fist of Herr Victor the First.
The progress of dic’s new possession really took off when he got rid of his competition. He started the corpse in 1969 with Ken Klug in it, John Lynn, Pat Browning, Johnny Townsend, and couple of others. The famous Zero corpse. Started again in 1970 with the first corpse of 9, including 1 guy at ECU. Again, not really planned or thought through beyond the free-spirited idealism of young hippies who really believed ole Dic was teaching the word like it hadn’t been known since the 1st Century and there were miracles, signs, and wonders everywhere! Dic wanted a core group as disciplined and tough as the Marine Corps after the Zero corpse pooped out to get married and take care of other personal priorities. That’s why he loved ECU so much. John and Tim Somerville started the “work” at ECU. John volunteered for Vietnam Nam to prove the revelation and power manifestations to himself, and was truly a hero and esteemed warrior among his fellow Marines. Dic said if John could do all that for the Marines, why can’t I get people to do that for God and His word??! Why can’t God have a Marine Corps?? Hence, the concept of the way corpse was born. Again, no cleverly calculated, sinister, MLM plot. Just the continued outworking of one man’s pathology now gathering steam through a serendipitous cult of personality that was building around a completely incompetent, dumbass, perverted drunk.
Imho, Dic had a lot less to do with building his cult than the first 5 corpses and the WOW program. It was those groups that most adored dictor, enjoyed the thrill and joy of genuine Christian revival when they first took that class thing, were free enough to just pick up and go wherever the man-o-gawd told them too. It was not dictor or the stupid class that got me into TWIt. It was my closest and most beloved friends. It was the power of miracles, signs, and wonders and no authoritarian control.
As the money began pouring in, Harry and Vic figured they better invest it. Best investment?? REAL ESTATE! Emporia, Rome City, Gunnison, Limb homes in OH, IN, MI, NC, KS, CA, NY, all bought by TWIt in the early 70s. The Colleges, campuses, camps, limb homes, etc., were all money-laundering schemes that Dic and Harry stumbled into, which were then “perfected” by Howard and Don, and all the new early corpse grads flooding HQ and all the new “Root Locales” with millions of laundered abundant sharing dollars. The only names on ALL the deeds to those properties were those of TWIt trustees.....Harry Wierwille, Ermal Owens, dictor paul, Howard, Don, and da Forehead. That was it until the Allen lawsuit was settled. Whose names are on the remaining deeds?? Ohio? Gunnison?
That’s when the real systemization of dic’s evil began imo. Dic himself was too dumb to do anything but drink and molest women while reading anyone else’s Bible teachings a couple of times a week in some quaint little midwestern hamlet in Ohio. He was a slick con. He knew the game. He was always on the prowl. He was clever, not intelligent. He was deceitful, and ambitious, not honest or humble. He was mentally ill....untreated, uncontrolled mental illness dysfunctionally working itself out since his teens. He was a charmer and manipulator, not by will, but by nature. No redeeming social value, spiritually empty, and intellectually vapid.
So, though dictor paul was lucky enough to attract some very talented people into his sex/personality cult, I don’t give him credit for diabolically planning, thinking through, or conceiving what he eventually destroyed. Sadly, he used a lot of wonderful, smart, talented, authentically loving, idealistic young people, who loved Jesus and just wanted to do the right thing to pay for and fulfill his own hubris and lusts. A pimp and a whore and a bully. What a ministry!
Many of us have heard the stories of wierwille's childhood and how he hid in the woods to avoid farm work.........but Dotsie gives us earlier information as well:
Mrs. W's book, page 7 ---- "Victor Paul was born to Ernst and Emma Wierwille on December 31, 1916, in the same farmhouse his forefathers had built. He was born the last of seven children: Ella Maria (born in July 1896, lived only two months and twenty-seven days), Lydia (1897), Otto (1900), Sevilla (1904), Harry Ernst (1907), Reuben (1912), and Victor (1916). Although Victor appeared to be a healthy newborn, his mother noticed after a short time that he was not developing as he should. Emma prayed for her baby, as her manner was. The doctor couldn't seem to find a cause for Victor's problem; in those days people just called it "short growth." Ernst and Emma , in seeking help for their baby, called the revered minister of their church, the Reverend L. H. Kunst, to come and water baptize him. This was the best thing they knew to do, and they acted accordingly."
Also, there are stories of Lydia, the older sister, needing to "tutor" young victor thru his homework. Victor was a *needy* child........and all this pampering and attention looks like it had long-term effects on his psyche, psychological and social development.
And, music was another way for young victor to gravitate to the center of attention.........page 10, "By age thirteen Victor regularly listened to a music radio program over station WLW in Cincinnati, featuring a singer named Bradley Kincaid. At that time Victor's father bought him a twenty-dollar guitar, and Victor began teaching himself to play the guitar so that he could sing and play the country-western songs of his musical hero, 'Bradley Kincaid had the greatest influence in my learning music,' Victor occasionally remarked."
"After teaching himself to strum and sing, Victor was frequently invited to perform at box socials. Box socials were social events for the families whose children were attending various one-room schoolhouses. At these occasions there would be a program of entertainment, and then the food boxes were auctioned and sold to the highest bidders. The boxes were attractively decorated, and food was put in them by young girls of datable age. With no one supposedly knowing who packed the individual boxes, the young men would bid and buy them and then have the pleasure of eating the contents with the girls who had prepared them."
.......and young victor confessed that one reason he enjoyed church choir was that he could "quit his farm work early on Wednesdays." (p. 11)
......."Since Victor didn't like to ride the bus to high school, he rode into town in bad weather with the neighbor boy in his horse and buggy, and in nice weather he rode his bicycle. During his sophomore year, Victor and Reuben were given a motorcycle to share by their father, and thus began Victor's lifelong romance with motorcycles. As a high schooler, Victor became quite versatile and even did trick riding, such as standing on the motorcycle seat while sailing through town." (p. 16) [Emphasis added]
~~~~~~~~~~
Connecting the dots............wierwille was always pursuing ways to get attention, to showboat, and be in the spotlight. Since he was academically challenged and lazy, so many doors were closed to him in the business and professional sectors.......so he had to look elsewhere. Thus, he spearheaded his efforts into a seminary whereby he could grasp the attention of a "captive audience" and the adulation that he craved. The seeds of his narcissistic personality disorder were growing.
........after seminary, preaching in a rural church wasn't enough.
........embarking on his own to teach b.g.'s class, wasn't enough.
........teaching class after class to church people, wasn't enough.
........filming the pfal class in 1967 was STILL not enough.
........power-grabbing Heefner/Doop movements and young firebrands, was the start.
........young firebrands begat more young firebrands, THAT started the fire ablaze.
........wierwille claimed the spotlight, but HE WAS NEVER THE TRUE SPOTLIGHT.
On 7/13/2018 at 7:02 PM, DontWorryBeHappy said:
.......snip
Imho, Dic had a lot less to do with building his cult than the first 5 corpses and the WOW program. It was those groups that most adored dictor, enjoyed the thrill and joy of genuine Christian revival when they first took that class thing, were free enough to just pick up and go wherever the man-o-gawd told them too. It was not dictor or the stupid class that got me into TWIt. It was my closest and most beloved friends. It was the power of miracles, signs, and wonders and no authoritarian control.
As the money began pouring in, Harry and Vic figured they better invest it. Best investment?? REAL ESTATE! Emporia, Rome City, Gunnison, Limb homes in OH, IN, MI, NC, KS, CA, NY, all bought by TWIt in the early 70s. The Colleges, campuses, camps, limb homes, etc., were all money-laundering schemes that Dic and Harry stumbled into, which were then “perfected” by Howard and Don, and all the new early corpse grads flooding HQ and all the new “Root Locales” with millions of laundered abundant sharing dollars. The only names on ALL the deeds to those properties were those of TWIt trustees.....Harry Wierwille, Ermal Owens, dictor paul, Howard, Don, and da Forehead. That was it until the Allen lawsuit was settled. Whose names are on the remaining deeds?? Ohio? Gunnison?
That’s when the real systemization of dic’s evil began imo. Dic himself was too dumb to do anything but drink and molest women while reading anyone else’s Bible teachings a couple of times a week in some quaint little midwestern hamlet in Ohio. He was a slick con. He knew the game. He was always on the prowl. He was clever, not intelligent. He was deceitful, and ambitious, not honest or humble. He was mentally ill....untreated, uncontrolled mental illness dysfunctionally working itself out since his teens. He was a charmer and manipulator, not by will, but by nature. No redeeming social value, spiritually empty, and intellectually vapid.
So, though dictor paul was lucky enough to attract some very talented people into his sex/personality cult, I don’t give him credit for diabolically planning, thinking through, or conceiving what he eventually destroyed. Sadly, he used a lot of wonderful, smart, talented, authentically loving, idealistic young people, who loved Jesus and just wanted to do the right thing to pay for and fulfill his own hubris and lusts. A pimp and a whore and a bully. What a ministry!
.........."As the money began pouring in, Harry and Vic figured they better invest it. Best investment??
Best Investment?? Double-down on manipulation, indoctrination and exploitation of youth.
MORE DECEPTION...................establish "training centers" in other states. The backstory of the purchase of the Indiana Campus [Rome City], as was told to me by David DeW*ld [8th corps], was that he and his sister, Karen [7th corps] told wierwille of this property for sale. In other words, it came up for sale.....wierwille heard of it......and then, voila, the *family corps location* had a training center. No designed plans or vision by wierwille......it just was "plopped" in his lap to consider purchasing it.
MORE INDOCTRINATION.........the youth were the engine of all the energy and outreach. Indoctrinate more youth [corps] = running more classes.
USE TWI-LEADERSHIP TO TEACHING "CURRICULUM" at *The Way College of Biblical Research, Emporia Kansas.......Lame, side-step of authenticated certification
TRY TO REPLICATE "SEMINARY TRAINING" and CERTIFICATION.........bring Dean Don on board at Emporia [enticing him to pursue his doctorate degree in education and become the *Dean* of his Dad's cult-college in emporia. LOL
THE WAY COLLEGE in Emporia, Kansas never received state recognition to hand out associate degrees in theology from this campus.
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chockfull
Great stuff skyrider. Sometimes people get this image of the man ingrained into their brain cells and the image becomes larger than life. The Way continually promotes this with the never-ending whitewashing along with life-size bronzes of VPW and other such idolatry. When people spend decades not questioning that mental image, it leads to disaster. You are breaking down the man into realistic pieces so that people should be able to pop the bubble of that image if they so desire.
Peace
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DontWorryBeHappy
Another wonderful post Skyrider....encouraging both critical thought and self-reflection. Your willingness to reveal your deepest personal “lens” view of experiences you witnessed or endured, without worrying about covering for your own naïveté at the time, due primarily to the vibrant idealism of youth at the time many of us got involved, is most admirable imho. I appreciate your honest insight and your reflection of TWIt “history” as you experienced it then, and as you understand it now, some 40 years later.
I am far less “kind” to dictor paul than you are. From my own interpersonal interactions with dp, I don’t think he had near the cleverness you give him credit for, Sky. He was a spoiled little brat, sexually abused baby of an Aryan family of 8. His intellect was a C- at best throughout his academic career, when he wasn’t failing. He mastered one thing. Plagiarism.
Vic was a charlatan from the beginning. But, he was just a small-time crappie in a huge pond of Elmer Gantrys in the 1940s who were looking to make a comfortable living and stay outta WWII. Plus, Adolph Ernst...his daddy...was a Nazi supporter in the German-American Bund founded by Lindbergh and Fritz Kuhn in 1936. Young dictor grew up in that racist, fascist environment, and they even spoke German in their home, before they learned English!
So, dp’s “call to ministry” was nothing more than a fortunate turn of events which got him through a cheap Evangelical and Reformed seminary, and ordained as a clergyman in that denomination with his own church, St. Jacob’s in Payne, OH, as Skyrider has recorded. That began a bumbling, stumbling, rumbling, bull-in-a-China-shop romp through the Bible Belt Fundamentalist Jesus culture of the post-war Midwest. Quite a conservative area of the USA at that time. His entire Chimes Hour Youth Caravan “founding” of TWIt was just the beginning of his hustle. He saw what worked with kids, had a nice, steamy affair with Rosalind Rinker, and had his first child, a son, Donald Ernst.
Then he got a promotion to a bigger, more important, better tithing E&R church in Van Wert, St. Peter’s. Got him out of Payne before his shenanigans could be uncovered, settled him into a comfortable, economically stable community with a built-in guaranteed flock to fleece. He was simply playing the denominational pastor game and really just wanted to be as big as his heroes, Oral Roberts and Billy Graham. At the AC at HQ in the sumner of 1972, dp said: “I’m not an Evangelist like Billy Graham, or Oral Roberts! I’m a teacher! I tried to reach out to them in the 50s to work together for the Lord. You know, when they pack ‘em into their tents and stadiums, get ‘em born again and then what?? Send them to ME! I’ll teach them the greatness of the accuracy of Gawd’s rightly divided word!” He said that right after he finished playing a tape of Oral Roberts’ preaching his famous 4th Man Sermon.
Dic was just a greedy young ne’re-do-well from a hick German farm town in the middle of nowhere Ohio, who got outta the hard work of taking over daddy’s farm, or starting a business of his own like his brothers, by choosing the easy, well-respected con of Midwest clergyman, knocking up his HS sweetheart, and grabbing and groping his way through one small group of suckers after another.
When he was lucky enough to stumble across folks like Peter J. Wade, David Anderson, John Somerville, Ken Klug, Walter Cummins, Jim Doop, Steve Heefner, and Donnie Fugit, it was THEIR gifts, abilities and enthusiasm that made dic’s class a hit, not dic’s personal presence. Often, his personal presence just caused trouble for everyone! He was a jerk in the opinion of many. Until those same men had the Bible ministry they loved stolen from them and brought under the iron fist of Herr Victor the First.
The progress of dic’s new possession really took off when he got rid of his competition. He started the corpse in 1969 with Ken Klug in it, John Lynn, Pat Browning, Johnny Townsend, and couple of others. The famous Zero corpse. Started again in 1970 with the first corpse of 9, including 1 guy at ECU. Again, not really planned or thought through beyond the free-spirited idealism of young hippies who really believed ole Dic was teaching the word like it hadn’t been known since the 1st Century and there were miracles, signs, and wonders everywhere! Dic wanted a core group as disciplined and tough as the Marine Corps after the Zero corpse pooped out to get married and take care of other personal priorities. That’s why he loved ECU so much. John and Tim Somerville started the “work” at ECU. John volunteered for Vietnam Nam to prove the revelation and power manifestations to himself, and was truly a hero and esteemed warrior among his fellow Marines. Dic said if John could do all that for the Marines, why can’t I get people to do that for God and His word??! Why can’t God have a Marine Corps?? Hence, the concept of the way corpse was born. Again, no cleverly calculated, sinister, MLM plot. Just the continued outworking of one man’s pathology now gathering steam through a serendipitous cult of personality that was building around a completely incompetent, dumbass, perverted drunk.
Imho, Dic had a lot less to do with building his cult than the first 5 corpses and the WOW program. It was those groups that most adored dictor, enjoyed the thrill and joy of genuine Christian revival when they first took that class thing, were free enough to just pick up and go wherever the man-o-gawd told them too. It was not dictor or the stupid class that got me into TWIt. It was my closest and most beloved friends. It was the power of miracles, signs, and wonders and no authoritarian control.
As the money began pouring in, Harry and Vic figured they better invest it. Best investment?? REAL ESTATE! Emporia, Rome City, Gunnison, Limb homes in OH, IN, MI, NC, KS, CA, NY, all bought by TWIt in the early 70s. The Colleges, campuses, camps, limb homes, etc., were all money-laundering schemes that Dic and Harry stumbled into, which were then “perfected” by Howard and Don, and all the new early corpse grads flooding HQ and all the new “Root Locales” with millions of laundered abundant sharing dollars. The only names on ALL the deeds to those properties were those of TWIt trustees.....Harry Wierwille, Ermal Owens, dictor paul, Howard, Don, and da Forehead. That was it until the Allen lawsuit was settled. Whose names are on the remaining deeds?? Ohio? Gunnison?
That’s when the real systemization of dic’s evil began imo. Dic himself was too dumb to do anything but drink and molest women while reading anyone else’s Bible teachings a couple of times a week in some quaint little midwestern hamlet in Ohio. He was a slick con. He knew the game. He was always on the prowl. He was clever, not intelligent. He was deceitful, and ambitious, not honest or humble. He was mentally ill....untreated, uncontrolled mental illness dysfunctionally working itself out since his teens. He was a charmer and manipulator, not by will, but by nature. No redeeming social value, spiritually empty, and intellectually vapid.
So, though dictor paul was lucky enough to attract some very talented people into his sex/personality cult, I don’t give him credit for diabolically planning, thinking through, or conceiving what he eventually destroyed. Sadly, he used a lot of wonderful, smart, talented, authentically loving, idealistic young people, who loved Jesus and just wanted to do the right thing to pay for and fulfill his own hubris and lusts. A pimp and a whore and a bully. What a ministry!
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Rocky
Surgically accurate insight. "Though wierwille turned the reins of this program over to others..." He had to in order for his legacy to have live forever.
Bravo, Skyrider!
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Rocky
I agree, narcissistic pathologies don't require methodical planning to be carried out "successfully."
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skyrider
Thanks, DWBH............
I always look forward to your posts.
Yes, wierwille was a bumbling, stumbling, rumbling opportunist that was looking for something, anything that would give him a new shtick of relevance. When I posted about the "climb of power" and the summit of control over others..............that, in no way, credits wierwille. His narcissistic pathologies held sway over any measurable thought or character. The guy's narcissism, undiagnosed and unchecked...........left thousands abused, wounded and/or destroyed. A grifter and opportunist scheming to ease his way thru life........not an honest day's pay.
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DontWorryBeHappy
Yup! Love ya man!
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T-Bone
Thanks Skyrider and Don’t Worry - love your posts - anytime you guys get into analyzing wierwille / programs / beginnings - and also put things in historical context, it’s all quality stuff - as good any top notch non-fiction best seller! And it means a lot to me personally - since I was involved in it for a number of years...kinda helps to wrap my mind around what the hell happened.
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krys
I agree, T-Bone. I believe I was "in" later than you (78-97), every time I can wrap my head around another piece of this, it is a blessing to me. I'd like to think that I'd gotten all the old twi cobwebs out, when you shine your finely tuned light on it, lo and behold, another one pops up! Thanks, because when I see it, I can begin to eliminate it.
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skyrider
Every time I consider and review the wide-ranging aspects of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, as it relates to wierwille..........it is stunningly accurate.
Narcissistic personality disorder
When I think back on staff meetings, after-corps night meetings, night owls, sharings, etc..........wierwille always viewed his German heritage, his wierwille lineage, his New Knoxville church with Dr. Kunst, and his masters/doctorate degrees of excellent and supreme caliber. Everything his daddy bought was....."the best." Boastings and exaggerated expressions of self-importance were excessive.
When I came back to hq from my deprogramming experience......I was summoned to meet with wierwille in his motor coach. He had reviewed my typed summation of this 10-day experience and wanted to include it in his By The Way articles for the St. Marys Evening Leader. Not once, did he show empathy towards my ordeal, or mental state......nor did he offer to pray for or with me. He immediately wanted to dive into the details of my account......when I look back and think about it, he wanted to take advantage of this event and add credence to the *us versus them* mantra (i.e. those in twi are righteous and vilified for it).
And......his "personal prophesy" to me did NOT come to pass. Here
Yep.....these "all 9" align with wierwille:
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Twinky
I really don't think I can fully agree with you on this. "Polarizing," definitely, among some that heard of him (most, don't care - if his memory ever crosses their minds). "Huge dimensions and consequences" in some people's lives (inc many who hang out here and on other TWI-focused sites), but many walked away without a backward glance.
In the scale of things - he was just another small-town sex-obsessed liar. Who actually was of such insignificance that very few have heard of him (granted, more than most small-town sex-obsessed liars).
In the Christian world, he's not even a nonentity. Pathetic, really. All his grandiosity - he was just an empty paper bag.
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Rocky
Different perspective. Definitely legitimate, not necessary contradictory to what Skyrider described.
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skyrider
Yeah, I suppose.........."huge dimensions and consequences" is all relative to one's life and experiences.
I don't know.......I guess when I consider abuse, spiritual, sexual or otherwise, it seems like a huge deal to me. Considering a ballpark figure of some 50,000 people taking pfal, and maybe 9,000 going WOW and having their lives upended or worse, and thousands of corps being indoctrinated by a cult.......leaving in its wake, rape, abandonment, stress, anguish, divorce, suicide and/or assault.........those seem like "huge dimensions and consequences" to me.
I wonder why 17,866 people have, at one point in time, signed on to be a member of GSC........and, most of all, want to post their thoughts and opinions.
Sure, I get it..........wierwille was a small-time piker in a little Ohio hamlet, but the confluence of timing, technology and youth amplified his cult teachings and spiritual abuse in many parts of the world. He was definitely no "empty paper bag."
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chockfull
Some of the size perspective just depends on where the viewpoint is. For instance, I used to be a little paranoid when I told my story to other Christians that they would have heard of "the Way". By and large they have not. So from that perspective it is small.
But I look at the number of lives that were damaged of people I personally knew and know. That number seems really large to me. Especially when you compare percentages to your average church. There are problems in churches too but not that kind of damage.
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T-Bone
yeah Rocky - I agree.
I think of Twinky as looking at a bigger picture – “in the Christian world” as she put it; from meeting her at the Texas BBQ and going on things she shares in her posts, I really believe she is a woman with a mission AND with a compassionate heart for service; some of the stuff she shares about her street pastoring sounds like it could be in a new chapter in the book of Acts. I’m not qualified to speak about gift ministries or know much about them – but as far as I’m concerned she’s got something special up her sleeve – I believe she definitely has a calling...of course she brings a lot of good "things" here also - let's not forget that.
folks like Skyrider and Don’t Worry often focus on all things way-world; they’ve got that warrior ethos – never leave anyone behind…they pack some serious heat - - as well as some serious therapy. They are the big guns that expose and obliterate the hypocrisy of “those lying, thieving weasels” (as Don’t Worry calls them); then there’s the healing side of their ministries (there – I said it… and I’ll say it again through an amp that goes up to 11
) – then there’s the healing side of their compassionate ministries reaching out to those who were hurt by “those lying, thieving weasels”.
I hope I haven’t embarrassed you all in some way – just thought I pass along some praise and encouragement.
like Skyrider was saying the extent of the consequences is relative to one’s life and experiences…this stuff may not matter much in the Christian world at large - but it matters to me - since part of my life was in way-world.
...every once and awhile I get to feeling down about how I devoted 12 years of my life to a cult and however much mental baggage I’ve been dragging around since then. There’s the shame…embarrassment… the… stigma that some folks associate with cults…sometimes I don’t mind that…maybe that keeps me on my toes…maybe it’s something I’ve got in the habit of doing from technical work – where I double, triple and quadruple check some things cuz I know I’m not perfect – me or someone else is going to screw up or a part will fail – so be prepared. I often look at it as a challenge to do my best critical thinking if we happen to get in a doctrinal or philosophical discussion..i know I’m rambling here – but trust me I’ll bring it back to this thread in a minute or two.
I’ve always tried to live my life like an open book – I have nothing to hide – I’ve really tried to live a good Christian life while in TWI and afterwards too! On occasion I have even shared with co-workers of my experiences in a cult as some tough lessons on the importance of a Christ-centered faith and giving heed to one’s authentic-self…the machinations of TWI went so counter to anything that had to do with your authentic-self… some of that crap from the mouths of those lying thieving weasels was really just blowing smoke up my a$$ - to make me think I was destined for greatness. I used to think I’d better go in the corps cuz God has some big plans for me…maybe I’ve got a gift ministry…I tried to picture myself as being the perfect PFAL believer spreading blessings and good fortune wherever I went…alright…about to reconnect to this topic in 3..2…1…
If I would have stayed in TWI I believe I would have been groomed to follow – on a small scale – wierwille’s power grabbing style: I think I was a restless and unfulfilled leader - going through the motions of handling my TWI assignment – oh the drudgery...trying to act enthusiastic about moving “the word” – I’m wondering if that’s the equivalent of a woman faking orgasm.…and I was a searching opportunist – taking the same classes again and again, going to advances, special events, joining programs…looking for direction and opportunity to advance spiritually – whatever the hell that means…I was even like my Plagiarizing “mentor “ – making PFAL my own, writing songs about it; looking for other verses to prove some point wierwille had made…and listening to the ensnaring supplanter - I learned to choose TWI’s “household” over family, friends and whatever I was taught in the Roman Catholic Church…in ignorance I endorsed that usurping authoritarian…and revered the consummate cult leader – I volunteered to be isolated, immersed, indoctrinated so I could teach and recruit others.
Reflecting on my life since I left TWI: I have such a sense of fulfilment from just trying to be a good husband, dad and competent technician. That may be underrated in some folks’ book but that’s my “ministry” and I’m damn proud of it!
I also get a sense of fulfillment and some peace of mind from Grease Spot. To me it’s a far cry from getting the halfway-house-treatment by well-meaning Christians who try to take me on as their next project – that has happened several times over the years in different places where I’ve worked. I can figure out a lot of $hit myself, thank you very much – but there’s nothing like the cyber-camaraderie of folks who have survived a cult.
Sorry for the long post, major detour and cuss words but I sure do feel better. Sweet dreams all – nighty night.
Edited by T-Boneclarity & formatting..."make it so"
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Rocky
Reminds me of the time... a couple of years ago, an old 9th corpse bro came to Phoenix for a work convention. Another local 9th corpse bro (used to post at GSC as simonzelotes) and I met him for dinner once. The out of towner seemed incredulous when we responded to his question of whether we ever went to fellowship anymore. Of course, the answer was NO. And the reason is as you described in the text I quoted.
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Twinky
Thank you for your kind words, T-Bone (blushes). I'm just out there doing my best. Whenever and wherever.
Thinking about the damage caused, Rocky and Sky, I was a confident professional woman when I entered the Corps. The "head games" that they played were far worse and longer lasting than physical ill-treatment. After they booted me out, I was a wreck, thinking at one time that I was so useless that I probably wouldn't even be able to kill myself effectively. I spent ten years ("the lost years") in a daze not really knowing what was going on, and I was so hurt and damaged and spiky that it's a wonder nobody killed me before I could do that to myself. Seriously. I was a mental basket case; even now, I'm not sure I'd have the patience or compassion to love someone like me as I was then.
So, I know the damage that was caused to some people, and specifically to me. I think I was being groomed, by LCM himself (Rosie saved me from that; I think she saw lawsuits coming if he persisted) and later, by his head honcho in the country where I was living. I rather fancy my non-compliance had a bearing on my being booted out. But not before they'd beaten me into total inadequacy, then left me for dead.
I know what they did to my most wonderful Corps sister. I know what they did to other people, that I knew and loved.
Yet because of that, I can love others in hopeless places. Thankful others cared enough. Thankful to have found a tremendous church with outstanding people who looked out for the desperate, the injured and the hurting ones.
For me, I know what lingers and where the trigger points are.
But still, Sky, in the wider Christian world - VPW was such a nonentity. Thank God!
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skyrider
Twinky.......I totally agree with you on that aspect. In the wider Christian world, vpw was nonexistent. He plagiarized other men's work and cherry-picked scripture to twist and plant a hybrid crop of wierwille-doctrinesque theology. In terms of large-scale, wierwille wasn't even a pimple on a flea on an elephant.
But..........as you so elaborated above, the damage this cult did to one's heart, soul and mindset was extensive. Ten years in a daze......confusion, hurt, broken, anguish.....is a swath of life that you should have not entered. THAT is why I believe in the mission of Greasespot Café: to tell the other side of the story. This site may not be a Christian-site......but there is sure a lot of compassion and healing going on.
What is the worth of a soul? We know from scripture the answer to that. How many hundreds, thousands even, have come to GSC to glean what they needed to be delivered from burdens, wounds or a broken heart? As WordWolf notes often.........the fact that scores and scores of people have left GSC is great! They've moved on. They are the success stories. This site continues to sound and expound a warning shot to those who were sucked into the vortex of a cult, or might be. Our purpose is clear. Our results are profound. I like being a part of this G-team.
God Bless you, Twinky.........I find your life's story compelling and marvel at your incredible ministry of service to others. You are a gem. Your deep compassion and fortitude to "hit the streets" to minister to others is remarkably inspiring. You are truly one of God's treasured servants.
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Grace Valerie Claire
DWBH, what a post!!
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WordWolf
It IS a matter of perspective. vpw fancied himself a big deal. However, even twi's total numbers, compared to society in general or Christianity in general, were insignificant. They were too small to rate even a historical footnote. However, if someone "only" ruins 3 lives, it's very important to you if you're one of the 3 lives they ruin. In 1982, I was hit and almost killed by a careless driver who was driving carelessly. That's not noteworthy among the statistics of pedestrians hit by vehicles, but it made a big impression on me at the time.
When one looks back at vpw trying to grab power, I think it helps to look back to BEFORE his professional career. He was a child who shirked his chores and ran off for hours rather than work on the farm like his brothers. (According to TW:LiL.) He was a show-off and a bully who zoomed around on a motorcycle trying to get attention. (According to a big fan of his who actually went around and talked to people he knew in his childhood.) He considered careers in business and in show business before settling on ministry as a career. (According to vpw himself talking to the corps.) When he decided on it, he was met with disbelief that he was serious because he wasn't appropriate for it (according to TW:LiL). He chose to study "Homiletics" or preaching rather than any rigorous, academic ministry path- which is odd when contrasted with how scholarly he portrayed himself. And in the first year of his ministry career, he seriously considered quitting for the first time. All of that paints a rather specific picture- one of someone unsuited for such a career path but on it anyway.
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Twinky
(blushes again) Thank you, Skyrider.
Yep. If it's "you" that got hurt, it is a big deal. "You," basically are all you've got.
Yep again. I've posted this before: I was so desperate and destroyed that I was prepared to crawl across broken glass to get back to TWI after ten years in the wilderness. I got on the net to find their zip code. The first result for TWI was - GreaseSpot Cafe! I looked. I was appalled, horrified. And ultimately healed.
My grovelly letter of apology for my imagined sins never got written. I thank God for Saint Pawtucket and this place.
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skyrider
Absolutely.........and Amen.
Else......we wouldn't have connected all the dots and how wierwille chose to lord over God's heritage RATHER than to lead the faithful TO THE LORD.
Thread after thread.......we expose this. Wierwille stole it and ran with it
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skyrider
Many of us have heard the stories of wierwille's childhood and how he hid in the woods to avoid farm work.........but Dotsie gives us earlier information as well:
Mrs. W's book, page 7 ---- "Victor Paul was born to Ernst and Emma Wierwille on December 31, 1916, in the same farmhouse his forefathers had built. He was born the last of seven children: Ella Maria (born in July 1896, lived only two months and twenty-seven days), Lydia (1897), Otto (1900), Sevilla (1904), Harry Ernst (1907), Reuben (1912), and Victor (1916). Although Victor appeared to be a healthy newborn, his mother noticed after a short time that he was not developing as he should. Emma prayed for her baby, as her manner was. The doctor couldn't seem to find a cause for Victor's problem; in those days people just called it "short growth." Ernst and Emma , in seeking help for their baby, called the revered minister of their church, the Reverend L. H. Kunst, to come and water baptize him. This was the best thing they knew to do, and they acted accordingly."
Also, there are stories of Lydia, the older sister, needing to "tutor" young victor thru his homework. Victor was a *needy* child........and all this pampering and attention looks like it had long-term effects on his psyche, psychological and social development.
And, music was another way for young victor to gravitate to the center of attention.........page 10, "By age thirteen Victor regularly listened to a music radio program over station WLW in Cincinnati, featuring a singer named Bradley Kincaid. At that time Victor's father bought him a twenty-dollar guitar, and Victor began teaching himself to play the guitar so that he could sing and play the country-western songs of his musical hero, 'Bradley Kincaid had the greatest influence in my learning music,' Victor occasionally remarked."
"After teaching himself to strum and sing, Victor was frequently invited to perform at box socials. Box socials were social events for the families whose children were attending various one-room schoolhouses. At these occasions there would be a program of entertainment, and then the food boxes were auctioned and sold to the highest bidders. The boxes were attractively decorated, and food was put in them by young girls of datable age. With no one supposedly knowing who packed the individual boxes, the young men would bid and buy them and then have the pleasure of eating the contents with the girls who had prepared them."
.......and young victor confessed that one reason he enjoyed church choir was that he could "quit his farm work early on Wednesdays." (p. 11)
......."Since Victor didn't like to ride the bus to high school, he rode into town in bad weather with the neighbor boy in his horse and buggy, and in nice weather he rode his bicycle. During his sophomore year, Victor and Reuben were given a motorcycle to share by their father, and thus began Victor's lifelong romance with motorcycles. As a high schooler, Victor became quite versatile and even did trick riding, such as standing on the motorcycle seat while sailing through town." (p. 16) [Emphasis added]
~~~~~~~~~~
Connecting the dots............wierwille was always pursuing ways to get attention, to showboat, and be in the spotlight. Since he was academically challenged and lazy, so many doors were closed to him in the business and professional sectors.......so he had to look elsewhere. Thus, he spearheaded his efforts into a seminary whereby he could grasp the attention of a "captive audience" and the adulation that he craved. The seeds of his narcissistic personality disorder were growing.
........after seminary, preaching in a rural church wasn't enough.
........embarking on his own to teach b.g.'s class, wasn't enough.
........teaching class after class to church people, wasn't enough.
........filming the pfal class in 1967 was STILL not enough.
........power-grabbing Heefner/Doop movements and young firebrands, was the start.
........young firebrands begat more young firebrands, THAT started the fire ablaze.
........wierwille claimed the spotlight, but HE WAS NEVER THE TRUE SPOTLIGHT.
........the youth, and the zeal of life, were.
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T-Bone
Another jam-packed post - thanks Skyrider !!!
Fascinating to think of these details that add to the backstory of wierwille’s narcissism and megalomania
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skyrider
.........."As the money began pouring in, Harry and Vic figured they better invest it. Best investment??
What a blundering quest of foolery !!!
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