TWI was able to influence your mother to use funds to pay for her corpse training that was not hers. She stole your rightful money. It amazes me how low TWI could get parents to stoop to. Somehow they loose all sense of right and wrong in order to follow The Man of God.
TWI was able to influence your mother to use funds to pay for her corpse training that was not hers. She stole your rightful money. It amazes me how low TWI could get parents to stoop to. Somehow they loose all sense of right and wrong in order to follow The Man of God.
It's hard to accept that reality. But you're right. Those of us who grew up in TWI, we didn't join. We were dragged along and then left when we got older, so it's really hard to see how this could even happen. It's hard to let go, it's hard to know how to handle this, who to be mad at, if anyone. But I saw plenty of terrible abuses, thefts and lies in TWI so why am I surprised? I know this, TWI didn't care where that money came from as long as the pyramid scheme kept the money rolling in and the vulnerable people were there for them to take advantage of.
The whole SP thing was yet another scam. SPs were supposed to provide for your funding and everything else. It was "godly" to support people through their Corps training. And some people who could better have used the money to support their families did help sponsor in-rez corps through the training indoctrination. A lot of money was paid for the training, which included of course the accommodation (free to TWI, they owned the land and buildings) and food (at minimal cost, since they grew quite a bit of it). But the cost for the training... it wasn't training.
Your mother shouldn't have touched money that was your compensation. It should have been held in trust for you with two trustees (she'd be one).
Maybe you could sue your mom to try and get the money back, if she has any assets, but that'd trash forever any relationship you have. I suppose what you really want is an acknowledgement and a sincere apology. Whether you ever get that will depend on how deeply indoctrinated she remains, after all this time.
I second what Twinky said, however, with this addendum to consider. Your mother at the time would have been under tremendous pressure from everybody from her twig co-ordinator to branch co-ordinator to...she would have been on such a mind warp attempting to justify the paying of first block of tuition and wherewithal to get to campus with all the gear that one is expected to arrive with...not to mention having every 'also' and every capitalized and little HS,hs in her Bible marked...tremendous, tremendous pressure, much of which you would not have seen...you said yourself, you were 'proud' of her for getting you guys into residence. We sold our home and flew half way round the world to get to Rome City (which Twinky can validate). Whether your mom is still in or had the sense to get out please do not put all the blame on her ! She could very well be kicking herself everyday without you knowing...first thing you learn in the corps "never apologize to anyone (except leadership) " Over time this mindset can turn individuals very hard, obstinate, pig headed...it's all subconscious drama that twi puts into peoples minds.
Allan you are right about how much pressure she was under. We almost didn't go and that was being framed as a spiritual failure on her part and I was even spoken to about not having believing "big enough" to carry the weight my mother carries to take care of me. I really believed that if we didn't make it, I would have been to blame. I was proud of her but I was also relieved. I was afraid that I was screwing things up for her, which of course is ridiculous. I was 11. The only thing that bothers me at this point is the run around I got about it. If God wanted her to steal my money, why was she hiding it? I know exactly why. One lie causes another and she was lying about having spiritual partners and "earning" the money on her own and "coming up with it". It's funny (not haha) that she knew she was lying about getting into a Christian college.
Twinky, you're right about the fees. Not only did we grow our own food, not only was the property paid for, but we were required to work for free. She paid money for the privilege of working her rear end off on a farm.
vpw was determined to make a profit on everything twi- related. If it cost something, he'd try to get it free, or try to get it on the cheap if that was impossible. When he filmed the pfal class, he "bought" the desk for the set, then returned it for a refund, lying and claiming something was wrong to get a refund. Run a class? It's always at someone's home, so we pay no rent, and twi peons supply all refreshments out-of-pocket. All books were charged full retail despite having been printed and bound in-house, all audio tapes were made of a truly inferior quality, a level you couldn't buy in retail stores. Its mission program- wow- was run at a profit- the wow had to pay a fee to go out, and no funds were released to house them or otherwise run the program. Its leadership program- the corps- was run at a profit- with each student charged lots of money to participate, with other people chipping in the rest. In all other organizations, the group carries part or all of the expenses for such programs.
On top of that, the corps WORKED. They were charged money, were housed in tiny "residences" and paid for the privilege of working for free. If there IS a God, vpw will have to account for all of that.
vpw was determined to make a profit on everything twi- related. If it cost something, he'd try to get it free, or try to get it on the cheap if that was impossible. When he filmed the pfal class, he "bought" the desk for the set, then returned it for a refund, lying and claiming something was wrong to get a refund. Run a class? It's always at someone's home, so we pay no rent, and twi peons supply all refreshments out-of-pocket. All books were charged full retail despite having been printed and bound in-house, all audio tapes were made of a truly inferior quality, a level you couldn't buy in retail stores. Its mission program- wow- was run at a profit- the wow had to pay a fee to go out, and no funds were released to house them or otherwise run the program. Its leadership program- the corps- was run at a profit- with each student charged lots of money to participate, with other people chipping in the rest. In all other organizations, the group carries part or all of the expenses for such programs.
On top of that, the corps WORKED. They were charged money, were housed in tiny "residences" and paid for the privilege of working for free. If there IS a God, vpw will have to account for all of that.
Exactly what I started to figure out when I decided to leave. "wait a minute...we are paying to work AND getting reproved by very angry leaders who cheat on their wives. WHAT THE..."
You should have been there when a friend and I went to Craig to let him know we had "discovered" an adulatory and theft problem among some leaders. I thought he was going to punch me.
You should have been there when a friend and I went to Craig to let him know we had "discovered" an adulatory and theft problem among some leaders. I thought he was going to punch me.
Oh, tell more! When/what year was this? (Do you mean, adulterous? Nearly everyone, unfortunately, was adulatory)
Oh, tell more! When/what year was this? (Do you mean, adulterous? Nearly everyone, unfortunately, was adulatory)
LOL yes I did mean adulterous. Autocorrect strikes again.
I was out WOW when I walked into a certain Reverend fooling round with a 19 year old woman. I told my friend and he had seen them too. The Rev's wife was upstairs and Rev was in his office with his secretary, a new PFAL grad, "working on a teaching". I then found out from the child of this leader that this had been going on for a while. I sat on that information for a while. A few weeks later, that leader took the teen fellowship out for ice cream "his treat". He had me go to his office and grab some of the ABS to pay for the ice cream. I was taken aback when he told me to "grab a few hundred dollars". There were like 5 of us. We didn't need that much money for ice cream. When I went to get the money, the horn of plenty was not where he said it would be so I looked around and opened his desk and found marijuana and polaroid's of the secretary, nude. After taking us out, he made a stop at Radio Shack and used the money to buy a car stereo. I couldn't deal with it anymore. Shortly after LCM came to the region for a meeting and my friend and I asked if we could speak to him. He said "yes". We told him what I just told you and he said "who the F do you think you are? You think God doesn't tell me what's going on? You think I don't know my calling? I don't see a 'reverend' in front of your name you fat little f***ot."
He was an inch from my face screaming at the top of his lungs. I was terrified. Then he told my mother, who gave me a beating and told her we are lucky he is letting us stay in the corps. I was 16.
That was the beginning of the end for me. That summer was the Passing of a Patriarch. That was my last Rock. My mother was mad at me for months because I quit going to twig. Then was the truth started to trickle out she came around and we volunteered to DFAC. She herself was a victim of sexual assault by VPW, yet she thought I was making it up. How's that for brainwashed?
LOL yes I did mean adulterous. Autocorrect strikes again.
I was out WOW when I walked into a certain Reverend fooling round with a 19 year old woman. I told my friend and he had seen them too. The Rev's wife was upstairs and Rev was in his office with his secretary, a new PFAL grad, "working on a teaching". I then found out from the child of this leader that this had been going on for a while. I sat on that information for a while. A few weeks later, that leader took the teen fellowship out for ice cream "his treat". He had me go to his office and grab some of the ABS to pay for the ice cream. I was taken aback when he told me to "grab a few hundred dollars". There were like 5 of us. We didn't need that much money for ice cream. When I went to get the money, the horn of plenty was not where he said it would be so I looked around and opened his desk and found marijuana and polaroid's of the secretary, nude. After taking us out, he made a stop at Radio Shack and used the money to buy a car stereo. I couldn't deal with it anymore. Shortly after LCM came to the region for a meeting and my friend and I asked if we could speak to him. He said "yes". We told him what I just told you and he said "who the F do you think you are? You think God doesn't tell me what's going on? You think I don't know my calling? I don't see a 'reverend' in front of your name you fat little f***ot."
He was an inch from my face screaming at the top of his lungs. I was terrified. Then he told my mother, who gave me a beating and told her we are lucky he is letting us stay in the corps. I was 16.
That was the beginning of the end for me. That summer was the Passing of a Patriarch. That was my last Rock. My mother was mad at me for months because I quit going to twig. Then was the truth started to trickle out she came around and we volunteered to DFAC. She herself was a victim of sexual assault by VPW, yet she thought I was making it up. How's that for brainwashed?
And to think some of the Ar$ewipes are now starting 'same $hit diffen't day ministry' at Restoration and revival (including my bro-in-law)...hmmnnn...what are they 'reviving' I wonder ?!
And to think some of the Ar$ewipes are now starting 'same $hit diffen't day ministry' at Restoration and revival (including my bro-in-law)...hmmnnn...what are they 'reviving' I wonder ?!
That's outrageous, JCS. First, even taking a little money for ice creams - then taking more for private use for a car radio - on the field, people weren't allowed to dip into the ABS even to provide refreshments for the PFAL class, not that milk, coffee and a little cake or cookies cost a lot.
Your mother sounds like she not only drank the kool-aid but wallowed in it too. I pray her head is in a better place now.
And to think some of the Ar$ewipes are now starting 'same $hit diffen't day ministry' at Restoration and revival (including my bro-in-law)...hmmnnn...what are they 'reviving' I wonder ?!
Another re boot? Seems there's one every few years. Meet the new cult, same as the old cult.
Another re boot? Seems there's one every few years. Meet the new cult, same as the old cult.
Advances the illusion that Wierwille/Martindale/Rosie had a valid and legitimate model for advancing godliness but just somehow made a mistake along the way and didn't know how to right the ship.
I don't believe that's what happened either in the beginning or at any time in the course of the cult's history. The social accountability was bass-ackward from the start.
The model in the book of Acts seems to have been having leaders be servants of and to the followers. TWI, from the start seemed to make the followers believe that they should treat the "leaders" like gods. That's why everywhere veepee and Loy went, branch and limb leaders collected extra cash from twigs/leaves to buy exorbitant gifts and collected the prettiest young women to present for the pleasure of the MOG.
That, to me (NOW) is so obviously at the core of the corruption of the organization's culture.
All bow down. To Wierwille be the glory. That's not what they said, but it IS what they did.
Advances the illusion that Wierwille/Martindale/Rosie had a valid and legitimate model for advancing godliness but just somehow made a mistake along the way and didn't know how to right the ship.
I don't believe that's what happened either in the beginning or at any time in the course of the cult's history. The social accountability was bass-ackward from the start.
The model in the book of Acts seems to have been having leaders be servants of and to the followers. TWI, from the start seemed to make the followers believe that they should treat the "leaders" like gods. That's why everywhere veepee and Loy went, branch and limb leaders collected extra cash from twigs/leaves to buy exorbitant gifts and collected the prettiest young women to present for the pleasure of the MOG.
That, to me (NOW) is so obviously at the core of the corruption of the organization's culture.
All bow down. To Wierwille be the glory. That's not what they said, but it IS what they did.
We had to drop whatever we were doing and stand and clap when they walked in the room. That alone is insane. Stop eating, quit doing your home work, stop sitting...Craig is here YAY!
And to think some of the Ar$ewipes are now starting 'same $hit diffen't day ministry' at Restoration and revival (including my bro-in-law)...hmmnnn...what are they 'reviving' I wonder ?!
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Stayed Too Long
TWI was able to influence your mother to use funds to pay for her corpse training that was not hers. She stole your rightful money. It amazes me how low TWI could get parents to stoop to. Somehow they loose all sense of right and wrong in order to follow The Man of God.
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Junior Corps Surviver
It's hard to accept that reality. But you're right. Those of us who grew up in TWI, we didn't join. We were dragged along and then left when we got older, so it's really hard to see how this could even happen. It's hard to let go, it's hard to know how to handle this, who to be mad at, if anyone. But I saw plenty of terrible abuses, thefts and lies in TWI so why am I surprised? I know this, TWI didn't care where that money came from as long as the pyramid scheme kept the money rolling in and the vulnerable people were there for them to take advantage of.
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Twinky
The whole SP thing was yet another scam. SPs were supposed to provide for your funding and everything else. It was "godly" to support people through their Corps training. And some people who could better have used the money to support their families did help sponsor in-rez corps through the
trainingindoctrination. A lot of money was paid for the training, which included of course the accommodation (free to TWI, they owned the land and buildings) and food (at minimal cost, since they grew quite a bit of it). But the cost for the training... it wasn't training.Your mother shouldn't have touched money that was your compensation. It should have been held in trust for you with two trustees (she'd be one).
Maybe you could sue your mom to try and get the money back, if she has any assets, but that'd trash forever any relationship you have. I suppose what you really want is an acknowledgement and a sincere apology. Whether you ever get that will depend on how deeply indoctrinated she remains, after all this time.
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Allan
I second what Twinky said, however, with this addendum to consider. Your mother at the time would have been under tremendous pressure from everybody from her twig co-ordinator to branch co-ordinator to...she would have been on such a mind warp attempting to justify the paying of first block of tuition and wherewithal to get to campus with all the gear that one is expected to arrive with...not to mention having every 'also' and every capitalized and little HS,hs in her Bible marked...tremendous, tremendous pressure, much of which you would not have seen...you said yourself, you were 'proud' of her for getting you guys into residence. We sold our home and flew half way round the world to get to Rome City (which Twinky can validate). Whether your mom is still in or had the sense to get out please do not put all the blame on her ! She could very well be kicking herself everyday without you knowing...first thing you learn in the corps "never apologize to anyone (except leadership) " Over time this mindset can turn individuals very hard, obstinate, pig headed...it's all subconscious drama that twi puts into peoples minds.
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Junior Corps Surviver
Allan you are right about how much pressure she was under. We almost didn't go and that was being framed as a spiritual failure on her part and I was even spoken to about not having believing "big enough" to carry the weight my mother carries to take care of me. I really believed that if we didn't make it, I would have been to blame. I was proud of her but I was also relieved. I was afraid that I was screwing things up for her, which of course is ridiculous. I was 11. The only thing that bothers me at this point is the run around I got about it. If God wanted her to steal my money, why was she hiding it? I know exactly why. One lie causes another and she was lying about having spiritual partners and "earning" the money on her own and "coming up with it". It's funny (not haha) that she knew she was lying about getting into a Christian college.
Twinky, you're right about the fees. Not only did we grow our own food, not only was the property paid for, but we were required to work for free. She paid money for the privilege of working her rear end off on a farm.
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WordWolf
vpw was determined to make a profit on everything twi- related. If it cost something, he'd try to get it free, or try to get it on the cheap if that was impossible. When he filmed the pfal class, he "bought" the desk for the set, then returned it for a refund, lying and claiming something was wrong to get a refund. Run a class? It's always at someone's home, so we pay no rent, and twi peons supply all refreshments out-of-pocket. All books were charged full retail despite having been printed and bound in-house, all audio tapes were made of a truly inferior quality, a level you couldn't buy in retail stores. Its mission program- wow- was run at a profit- the wow had to pay a fee to go out, and no funds were released to house them or otherwise run the program. Its leadership program- the corps- was run at a profit- with each student charged lots of money to participate, with other people chipping in the rest. In all other organizations, the group carries part or all of the expenses for such programs.
On top of that, the corps WORKED. They were charged money, were housed in tiny "residences" and paid for the privilege of working for free. If there IS a God, vpw will have to account for all of that.
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Junior Corps Surviver
Exactly what I started to figure out when I decided to leave. "wait a minute...we are paying to work AND getting reproved by very angry leaders who cheat on their wives. WHAT THE..."
You should have been there when a friend and I went to Craig to let him know we had "discovered" an adulatory and theft problem among some leaders. I thought he was going to punch me.
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Twinky
Oh, tell more! When/what year was this? (Do you mean, adulterous? Nearly everyone, unfortunately, was adulatory)
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waysider
They should call the organization "Irony International".
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Junior Corps Surviver
LOL yes I did mean adulterous. Autocorrect strikes again.
I was out WOW when I walked into a certain Reverend fooling round with a 19 year old woman. I told my friend and he had seen them too. The Rev's wife was upstairs and Rev was in his office with his secretary, a new PFAL grad, "working on a teaching". I then found out from the child of this leader that this had been going on for a while. I sat on that information for a while. A few weeks later, that leader took the teen fellowship out for ice cream "his treat". He had me go to his office and grab some of the ABS to pay for the ice cream. I was taken aback when he told me to "grab a few hundred dollars". There were like 5 of us. We didn't need that much money for ice cream. When I went to get the money, the horn of plenty was not where he said it would be so I looked around and opened his desk and found marijuana and polaroid's of the secretary, nude. After taking us out, he made a stop at Radio Shack and used the money to buy a car stereo. I couldn't deal with it anymore. Shortly after LCM came to the region for a meeting and my friend and I asked if we could speak to him. He said "yes". We told him what I just told you and he said "who the F do you think you are? You think God doesn't tell me what's going on? You think I don't know my calling? I don't see a 'reverend' in front of your name you fat little f***ot."
He was an inch from my face screaming at the top of his lungs. I was terrified. Then he told my mother, who gave me a beating and told her we are lucky he is letting us stay in the corps. I was 16.
That was the beginning of the end for me. That summer was the Passing of a Patriarch. That was my last Rock. My mother was mad at me for months because I quit going to twig. Then was the truth started to trickle out she came around and we volunteered to DFAC. She herself was a victim of sexual assault by VPW, yet she thought I was making it up. How's that for brainwashed?
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Allan
And to think some of the Ar$ewipes are now starting 'same $hit diffen't day ministry' at Restoration and revival (including my bro-in-law)...hmmnnn...what are they 'reviving' I wonder ?!
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Rocky
A fantasy ministry, apparently.
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Twinky
That's outrageous, JCS. First, even taking a little money for ice creams - then taking more for private use for a car radio - on the field, people weren't allowed to dip into the ABS even to provide refreshments for the PFAL class, not that milk, coffee and a little cake or cookies cost a lot.
Your mother sounds like she not only drank the kool-aid but wallowed in it too. I pray her head is in a better place now.
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waysider
I remember when it was forbidden to use ABS funds to buy postage ....to send your ABS funds to HQ.
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Junior Corps Surviver
Another re boot? Seems there's one every few years. Meet the new cult, same as the old cult.
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Rocky
Advances the illusion that Wierwille/Martindale/Rosie had a valid and legitimate model for advancing godliness but just somehow made a mistake along the way and didn't know how to right the ship.
Edited by RockyI don't believe that's what happened either in the beginning or at any time in the course of the cult's history. The social accountability was bass-ackward from the start.
The model in the book of Acts seems to have been having leaders be servants of and to the followers. TWI, from the start seemed to make the followers believe that they should treat the "leaders" like gods. That's why everywhere veepee and Loy went, branch and limb leaders collected extra cash from twigs/leaves to buy exorbitant gifts and collected the prettiest young women to present for the pleasure of the MOG.
That, to me (NOW) is so obviously at the core of the corruption of the organization's culture.
All bow down. To Wierwille be the glory. That's not what they said, but it IS what they did.
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Junior Corps Surviver
We had to drop whatever we were doing and stand and clap when they walked in the room. That alone is insane. Stop eating, quit doing your home work, stop sitting...Craig is here YAY!
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WordWolf
Their retirement accounts, of course!
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