Ministerial experience? Not in pharmacy school. Shortly after dad pulled a string and the BOD pulled the same trick VP did with son Don and Dons doctorate in education and experience as a principal. Zero to Way Corps director overnight. Oh and let’s have Chandler be one of the new class teachers too.
Yes!! Appearantly nepotism is still the flavor of the day around that lil ole cornfield cult.
Makes me wonder what kind of process VPW went through before he went to theological college and then got ordained as a minister in whatever church it was. What sort of selection process did he undergo? Surely at the least, references would have been sought from his home church. And then, interviews, at least one or two, with others in the church hierarchy? Or did he just take himself off to theo college, without church support, and offer his services to a local church afterwards - in some sort of capacity though not necessarily as an ordained person.
As I understand it, he was actually ordained as a church minister and fulfilledthat role for a period. But then - that might be a big lie, too. He tells tales about that church in his film PFAL. But then, he tells many tales. Has anybody actually seen any kind of ordination certificate? Perhaps he was only ever a probationary minister of some kind.
So if he never went through any kind of selection process, not surprising that there was no proper procedure for selecting candidates for Way ministerial roles. Much more than "heart" is required, and very much more than being nice to people a few times and reading the Bible once or twice. Even if one could recite the entire Bible from memory, it wouldn't make for being a good minister. In fact, likely exactly the opposite.
Good post, Twinky!
And you got me thinking about my way corps training. I put myself in wierwille’s shoes and imagine whatever significant prep/development there was before theological college and beyond would be uppermost in my thinking …subjects, training and experiences that were meaningful to me – I would incorporate into a leadership training program of my own design.
Reflecting back on my involvement with TWI – especially the way corps leadership training program – wierwille’s baby - there was a huge disconnect from his scholastic/academic/theological roots. I think about his maverick persona even in PFAL – talked about hauling off some 3,000 books to the dump – wasn’t going to read what others said about “The Word” – he was going to just read “The Word” (as he plagiarized material of what others taught about the Bible)
Think about how often wierwille’s offhand remarks disparaged academia, conventional wisdom, cognitive skills, five-senses knowledge, and “worldly” intellectual standards.
The way corps program was a HUGE disappointment. It was all about PFAL and how to sell PFAL and how to manage loyal customers of PFAL – useless stuff outside of way-world.
Ah yes young Chandler. It is SOOO easy to get that guy mixed up with the one from Friends it is understandable.
Let’s examine the history there. An undergrad paid for by family money since mom and dad are both Way clergy and dad just made the BOD. A doctorate in pharmacy, which represents around 150k in education. You know there is no debt there because he is active Corps so there is privilege beyond what any other enjoy.
Ministerial experience? Not in pharmacy school. Shortly after dad pulled a string and the BOD pulled the same trick VP did with son Don and Dons doctorate in education and experience as a principal. Zero to Way Corps director overnight. Oh and let’s have Chandler be one of the new class teachers too.
The guy is a perfect representation of his background. White privilege.
Doesn’t work for all the other races and po white trash without the blue blood connections.
Yes they had an African in as a teacher for image. Doesn’t change the Chandler privilege and lack of qualifications. But hey look at the standard set there by your fodder in da verd.
Today I’m so thankful to God I escaped that menagerie.
yikes ! another insidious tangent of a harmful and controlling cult! I never thought about that.
Makes me wonder what kind of process VPW went through before he went to theological college and then got ordained as a minister in whatever church it was. What sort of selection process did he undergo? Surely at the least, references would have been sought from his home church. And then, interviews, at least one or two, with others in the church hierarchy? Or did he just take himself off to theo college, without church support, and offer his services to a local church afterwards - in some sort of capacity though not necessarily as an ordained person.
As I understand it, he was actually ordained as a church minister and fulfilledthat role for a period. But then - that might be a big lie, too. He tells tales about that church in his film PFAL. But then, he tells many tales. Has anybody actually seen any kind of ordination certificate? Perhaps he was only ever a probationary minister of some kind.
So if he never went through any kind of selection process, not surprising that there was no proper procedure for selecting candidates for Way ministerial roles. Much more than "heart" is required, and very much more than being nice to people a few times and reading the Bible once or twice. Even if one could recite the entire Bible from memory, it wouldn't make for being a good minister. In fact, likely exactly the opposite.
In many denominations and their setup I think the home church is the one who sponsors the young adult to go to divinity school get an undergraduate and possibly graduate degrees working under the authority of the college. Upon graduation they ordain the candidate and they take up an assignment in the home church that sent them. Over time they increase their responsibility.
Other churches can reach outside their denomination to attract known pastors who speak well and pay them more to take an assignment.
Most pastorates in denominations work as a pay for preach setup. The head speaking clergy in a church is the one whose sermons draw in the greater amount of money. That provides more funding for all other activities.
Established denominations with governing synods or assemblies or whatever they name them tend to not be as money driven and hold a pastors reputation to come more in play.
The Way operates like a big good ole boys club just like all the other cults (meaning exclusive small group not necessarily gender and race driven but many times it is)
No outside accountability either in a business sense or a spiritual sense.
Also VP was running scared ahead of his denominations sanctions due to being highly critical of foreign mission efforts by the E&RC church as well as a rumored affair with his secretary they were closing in on sanctioning him for. None of this made the snowstorm stories lol.
Originally VP was sponsored by his home church. There is a record of his father helping him to obtain the recommendation. Then he went to college and disobeyed promptly the rule about getting married exchanging vows with Dottie immediately and being secretly marrried against the seminary rules.
Before I went into the way corps program, I had something of a romanticized idea of what it was all about – an image comes to mind – me as an idealist of the counterculture 60s - peeking into the window of what appeared to be a tight-knit group…they hit me as kindred spirits who I imagined had a set of attitudes like my own – basically dissatisfied with the prevailing social norms… I guess from the outside a cult of personality can look like that.
I’ve witnessed folks defend wierwille to the hilt – with the reasoning that we’re all human and make mistakes – and what they uphold is the truth contained in all his works…But that’s a huge misunderstanding – because it WAS the collaterals, PFAL, the programs WOW, Fellow Laborers, Way Corps, etc., that taught us to ignore feelings...to suppress intuition...to disengage cognitive skills…to twist the meaning of Scripture…to accept logical fallacies…the reason wierwille’s body of work won’t stand up to close scrutiny is BECAUSE (drum roll please )
it ALL was derived from the malignant narcissistic-deluded-morally depraved-hypocritical-megalomaniacal-money worshipping mind of victor paul wierwille – a harmful and controlling pseudo-Christian cult-leader extraordinaire! (drum roll finishes with crash cymbals and the backup band does a big Tah-Dah )
The way corps appeared to be a tight-knit group is because they were! The intense indoctrination of the way corps program is one of the best kept secrets in TWI.
In truth the way corps program was a clone factory. Maybe this was not the intention when the program was set up but it seems to me the whole thing wound up being a means of creating an idealized or somewhat worshipful idea of a leader – victor paul wierwille…in other words a cult of personality.
~ ~ ~ ~
We learned in the way corps to have complete confidence in everything wierwille wrote, said or did…I know in the Bible we are told to imitate the faith of godly leaders. But what if one fails to discern a counterfeit?I thought of passages like Matthew 7 and II Peter 2 . If there’s anything to verses like that, then it’s possible that false teachers can lead people astray.
After leaving TWI, I’ve often wondered if there’s a point where fervent admiration for someone crosses the line. I would think of verses like Ezekiel 14:3 that talks of people setting up idols in their heart – if it’s in my heart, it’s invisible – no one else knows there’s an idol in my heart – perhaps even I wouldn’t realize it… I think a lot of people really believed inwierwille – and believed he could do no wrong.
~ ~ ~ ~
To be fair, even if a person is a godly leader, we can turn them into an idol when we cease to imitate their example of faith in God and instead make them the object of our faith. But looking back without the way-blinders on, it’s obvious to me now that wierwille wasn’t a godly leader – he lacked the moral uprightness and was lost in delusions of grandeur.
For dedicated followers like the way corps, wierwille taught us to shun the status quo or conventional wisdom while at the same time making it clear that his authoritywas not to be challenged. Teachings on blind obediencewere common in residence.
Recalling my time in residence, it was extremely laser-focused on knowing The Power For Abundant Living class material backwards and forwards. I am NOT exaggerating! During the three meals we had each day in the dining room, we were randomly called upon to give a five-minute teaching - right there on the spot – and immediately critiqued right after that. Even back then I was disturbed by one fact (which at the time was another one of those things I relegated to the back burner) - that people who quoted PFAL material verbatim or with very little deviation from that, received the highest praise with little or no criticism...
…In preparation for doing our research papers – which I suppose is one of the academic highlights of a college education – the current president L. Craig Martindale – (I can still remember him as he ) was pounding on the podium and bellowing out “Don’t try to reinvent the wheel – base your research paper on something from PFAL”…looking back now – do you know what all that tells me? The aim of the way corps program was to create little clones of wierwille.
~ ~ ~ ~
If you were or are in the way corps, or presently you are going through the training program…maybe you’re thinking about going in the way corps…maybe you have sponsored or currently sponsor someone in the way corps program you ought to check out the book Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International on Grease Spot Café the author goes by the name Penworks. She also started a thread about her book - click here .
She worked in the research department ofTWI. There’s some very revealing stuff in there about the shady inner workings of The Way International, how the precarious mythology of wierwille – like the story of him hearing God’s voice – is an unreliable basis for a belief system and the intellectual and emotional frustration we all experience within the TWI-mindset.
One of the big takeaways of the book - in my opinion - is how wierwille who was supposedly so concerned about “the integrity and accuracy of The Word” had no qualms about pressuring the research department to mistranslatea Greek word so it would ‘validate’ what he thought a passage should say…hmmmm… what about his dictum “ private interpretation of the Bible is not allowed“? I guess it’s okay for wierwille to do that.
And while you're thinking about ordering Penworks’ book you could always do some light reading of another thread started by PenworksEvidence: Letters VPW wrote to the Way Corps
Try to read these newsletters as if you didn't know who wierwille or TWI was. I wonder if you would be as shocked as I was when you remove the PFAL filter and see how narcissistic, manipulative, and mean-spirited he was and what a berating personality he had – evidenced by his own words to the way corps - his most devoted followers...Of course, if you're already disappointed way corps this stuff is not new to you - but if you're not - perhaps you're seeing wierwille in a different light for the first time. Sorry to put you through that - sometimes truth hurts.
~ ~ ~ ~
Leaving The Way International can be extremely difficult. There might be extenuating circumstances like familial and social bonds, living arrangements, staff/leadership responsibilities. I was involved for 12 years – and in that time I managed to cut a lot of ties with family and old friends who were not interested in what TWI had to offer – plus they were sick of me trying to push PFAL. I speak from personal experience – consequences of indoctrination lead to one becoming isolated…I didn’t hear from or talk to outsiders in a meaningful way…so, why did I leave TWI? There’s a lot of reasons – what comes to mind most often was a growing awareness that I was being manipulated…that I was not in the driver’s seat on my spiritual journey – others were – the upper leadership of TWI. I let them decide the direction to take.
If you feel anything like that – and maybe you’re thinking about leaving – be forewarned – there will be intellectual and emotional challenges ahead. I liken it to swimming upstream. The simpler, safer, and comfortable route is to stick with TWI.
Reflecting on the year of my exit (1986), it slowly dawned on me that thinking like an adult had been trained out of me. I had lost a lot of self-confidence. You’d think once a person is done with way corps training they’d be treated like responsible adults who have grown-up and moved out of Mom & Dad’s home – but – NOPE! It didn’t matter if you were 25-years old…35…45…55… you were expected to check with upper leadership before making any major decisions.
Self-doubt is a byproduct of TWI’s constant bombardment of your “old man nature” (which in TWI-jargon usually refers to what you were like before you joined TWI ). They also use some other hi-tech ammunition like berating folks for going by their five senses or using worldly logic. They will pontificate over your lack of "mastering" the PFAL material or other classes. Perhaps one of their deadliest missiles is sowing the fear of disobeying God or the fear of being misled by unbelievers and devil spirits.
TWI wages a continuous silent war on one’s personhood – and one of the major casualties of these attacks is a type of identity crisis. I would often question myself...I usually lacked confidence in my own thinking process…I found myself at times wondering who I really was and if I fit in… Self-awareness is a conscious knowledge of our own character, true feelings, motives and desires. However, this may be difficult to perceive through that translucent overlay of TWI’s social identity “bestowed” on followers. It’s like wearing frosted glasses and looking at your own reflection in the mirror…details are diffused …individual features are not clear.
We are social creatures and have a natural desire to fit in. But all too often the social influence of a group like The Way International causes discomfort, pain, fear, sadness, frustration and even anger and resentment deep down inside. So, to survive in the group and to insulate our authentic self from further harm, we adapt somehow. We bury uncomfortable feelings and put on our ministry-face. Our adaptive self enables us to get along in a challenging social environment like TWI with some success and with the least amount of conflict with others – but often at the expense of our authentic self going into hibernation... In my opinion the longer one stays involved with TWI the more the authentic self gets buried under TWI’s values, goals, priorities, contrived interpersonal skills, beliefs, behaviors - all of which serves TWI more than one’s own best interest...
The authentic self, and not some TWI’s homogenized version of you, thrives on self-awareness and self-acceptance…self-examination is perhaps a life-long process…from time to time we may have to take stock of our beliefs and behaviors - and then change what doesn’t serve our best interests.
~ ~ ~ ~
…The initial path to freedom may be a lonely one... That’s why websites like Grease Spot may be someone’s only lifeline…Wherever your first taste of freedom comes from – I can tell you this – it will feel like a breath of fresh air! And take heart – getting reconnected with the outside world is not such a daunting task. You’ll find that human beings are a lot more alike than they are different. You are free to reconnect with old friends and make new friends.
I can't say enough good things about all the folks at Grease Spot and what a great place it is to think out loud. If anything of what I've said strikes a nerve with you maybe, it's time for you to get down to brass tacks and focus on the heart of the matter. The critical issue is NOT what I've said about The Way International – or what anyone on Grease Spot Café has said about it. The most important thing about any of this stuff is what do YOUthink …what do YOUfeel?
"Look in my eyes, what do you see?
The cult of personality.
I know your anger, I know your dreams.
I've been everything you wanna be.
I'm the cult of personality.
Like Mussolini and Kennedy,
I'm the cult of personality,
The cult of personality,
The cult of personality.
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies.
You won't have to follow me,
Only you can set me free.
I sell the things you need to be.
I'm the smiling face on your TV.
I'm the cult of personality.
I exploit you, still you love me.
I tell you one and one makes three.
I'm the cult of personality.
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi,
I'm the cult of personality,
The cult of personality,
The cult of personality.
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a leader speaks, that leader dies.
You won't have to follow me,
Only you can set you free.
You gave me fortune.
You gave me fame.
You gave me power in your God's name.
I'm every person you need to be.
I'm the cult of personality."
"Look in my eyes, what do you see?
The cult of personality.
I know your anger, I know your dreams.
I've been everything you wanna be.
I'm the cult of personality.
Like Mussolini and Kennedy,
I'm the cult of personality,
The cult of personality,
The cult of personality.
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies.
You won't have to follow me,
Only you can set me free.
I sell the things you need to be.
I'm the smiling face on your TV.
I'm the cult of personality.
I exploit you, still you love me.
I tell you one and one makes three.
I'm the cult of personality.
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi,
I'm the cult of personality,
The cult of personality,
The cult of personality.
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a leader speaks, that leader dies.
You won't have to follow me,
Only you can set you free.
You gave me fortune.
You gave me fame.
You gave me power in your God's name.
I'm every person you need to be.
I'm the cult of personality."
Great lyrics, I've always loved Corey Glovers voice and Vernon Reid, the guitarist, is a jazz/fusion monster!
"Look in my eyes, what do you see?
The cult of personality.
I know your anger, I know your dreams.
I've been everything you wanna be.
I'm the cult of personality.
Like Mussolini and Kennedy,
I'm the cult of personality,
The cult of personality,
The cult of personality.
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies.
You won't have to follow me,
Only you can set me free.
I sell the things you need to be.
I'm the smiling face on your TV.
I'm the cult of personality.
I exploit you, still you love me.
I tell you one and one makes three.
I'm the cult of personality.
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi,
I'm the cult of personality,
The cult of personality,
The cult of personality.
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a leader speaks, that leader dies.
You won't have to follow me,
Only you can set you free.
You gave me fortune.
You gave me fame.
You gave me power in your God's name.
I'm every person you need to be.
I'm the cult of personality."
"Look in my eyes, what do you see?
The cult of personality.
I know your anger, I know your dreams.
I've been everything you wanna be.
I'm the cult of personality.
Like Mussolini and Kennedy,
I'm the cult of personality,
The cult of personality,
The cult of personality.
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies.
You won't have to follow me,
Only you can set me free.
I sell the things you need to be.
I'm the smiling face on your TV.
I'm the cult of personality.
I exploit you, still you love me.
I tell you one and one makes three.
I'm the cult of personality.
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi,
I'm the cult of personality,
The cult of personality,
The cult of personality.
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a leader speaks, that leader dies.
You won't have to follow me,
Only you can set you free.
You gave me fortune.
You gave me fame.
You gave me power in your God's name.
I'm every person you need to be.
I'm the cult of personality."
12 hours ago, OldSkool said:
Great lyrics, I've always loved Corey Glovers voice and Vernon Reid, the guitarist, is a jazz/fusion monster!
4 hours ago, Rocky said:
Great song – lyrics, music and video !!!
What really gets me is the herky-jerky part of the tune. Now this is weird – the phrase herky-jerky came to mind when I was wanting to describe the feel of the song – so, for grins I looked up herky-jerky and found this:
herky-jerky
the state of being isolated, kept apart, or withdrawn into solitude. You, too, will be zipping along to the angular guitars and zigzagging, herky-jerky vocals. It was superficial and jumpy and herky-jerky, bopping all over the place. Herky-Jerky watched me with extreme attention, all the time grinning.
Herky-jerky | Definition of Herky-jerky at Dictionary.com
I thought what a great convergence of music and themes – cult tactics of isolation – hard stops solitary notes , starts and stops, jumpy…and all those other words related to herky-jerky ...what cult-leaders do to "whip us into shape"
...then I thought of me being the rubber band…and how some challenges and stresses can stretch us – but we’re resilient and bounce back…but a rubber band could get worn out or snap…so there's both sides of the rubber band metaphor – the cult tactic side, cult-leaders use this herky-jerky method to indoctrinate you. On the cult-survivor side, I can tap into resilience – but also accept that in some ways I am changed from the cult experience…I prefer the idea of a changed shape - rather than being worn out or snapped -
I found this one article along those lines – it’s from a career coach but I think some points are applicable for cult-survivors…in that regard, I found when I got back into my career after leaving TWI, I had some catching up to do on what’s the latest tech. But as far as job performance goes and navigating office politics in some ways I felt like a ringer. From my in-residence experience I know what blows a manager’s mind is when they find someone who can work unsupervised - and get the job done, understand what priorities are and will toe the company line…anyway…here’s the article - maybe you'll find something applicable too:
Understanding Resilience: The Rubber Band Analogy by Chrissy Scivicque | Jun 30, 2021 |
I like the rubber band analogy, because it really makes a lot of sense, and it’s a great visual when we’re talking about something like resilience, which is actually a pretty abstract topic on the surface. So I have my nice little visual aid here…A rubber band stretches, right? That’s what they’re good for! They stretch. And when it stretches, it creates tension in that rubber band, and it puts pressure on that rubber.
As human beings, we stretch as well. And when we stretch, it creates tension and pressure. When we are just comfortable, and we have no pressure and no tension on us, that’s fine. But that’s not where great things happen. It’s not where you actually have a meaningful experience in life. When we stretch, and we have that tension, and we have that pressure placed upon us, that’s when we’re actually growing as humans.
Now a rubber band stretches, and that comes right back. It bounces back to its original shape. As human beings, we do this too, we are constantly stretching and bouncing back, stretching and bouncing back. This is part of the normal natural human experience.
This is the essence of resilience.
At times, you stretch your rubber band, and you stretch a really hard and really tight to get around something that’s a little bit too big for it, but it makes it! And you stretch it so far, and perhaps for so long, that when you finally take the rubber band off, it actually has changed shape. Have you experienced this? It’s changed shape. It’s kind of loosened up a little bit.
That same thing happens with us as human beings. We can stretch so far and so hard that it actually changes our form, so that we actually become a different person on the other side of that stretch. So much tension and so much pressure has been placed upon us that when it finally releases, we realize, “Wow, I’ve changed.”
And then of course, we’ve probably all also experienced a time when we have pulled and stretched that rubber band so hard that it’s actually snapped on us. (I’m not going to do it to save my delicate fingers!) But you’ve all experienced the snapped rubber band, because there’s so much tension and so much pressure.
As human beings, that can happen to us. We have so much challenge placed upon us that we actually snap. And what I mean by that is that we have a breakdown of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion.
When we are talking about this concept of resilience, we really need to stay conscious of the fact that there are limitations to how far we can stretch without snapping. What we ultimately want to be able to do is to stretch and bounce back to our original form or stretch and (what I call) bounce forward into that changed form.
"Look in my eyes, what do you see?
The cult of personality.
I know your anger, I know your dreams.
I've been everything you wanna be.
I'm the cult of personality.
Like Mussolini and Kennedy,
I'm the cult of personality,
The cult of personality,
The cult of personality.
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies.
You won't have to follow me,
Only you can set me free.
I sell the things you need to be.
I'm the smiling face on your TV.
I'm the cult of personality.
I exploit you, still you love me.
I tell you one and one makes three.
I'm the cult of personality.
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi,
I'm the cult of personality,
The cult of personality,
The cult of personality.
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a leader speaks, that leader dies.
You won't have to follow me,
Only you can set you free.
You gave me fortune.
You gave me fame.
You gave me power in your God's name.
I'm every person you need to be.
I'm the cult of personality."
I’m grooving to it now. Awesome song and lyrics thanks for the link
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OldSkool
Yes!! Appearantly nepotism is still the flavor of the day around that lil ole cornfield cult.
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T-Bone
Good post, Twinky!
And you got me thinking about my way corps training. I put myself in wierwille’s shoes and imagine whatever significant prep/development there was before theological college and beyond would be uppermost in my thinking …subjects, training and experiences that were meaningful to me – I would incorporate into a leadership training program of my own design.
Reflecting back on my involvement with TWI – especially the way corps leadership training program – wierwille’s baby - there was a huge disconnect from his scholastic/academic/theological roots. I think about his maverick persona even in PFAL – talked about hauling off some 3,000 books to the dump – wasn’t going to read what others said about “The Word” – he was going to just read “The Word” (as he plagiarized material of what others taught about the Bible
)
Think about how often wierwille’s offhand remarks disparaged academia, conventional wisdom, cognitive skills, five-senses knowledge, and “worldly” intellectual standards.
The way corps program was a HUGE disappointment. It was all about PFAL and how to sell PFAL and how to manage loyal customers of PFAL – useless stuff outside of way-world.
Edited by T-Bonerevision
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T-Bone
yikes ! another insidious tangent of a harmful and controlling cult! I never thought about that.
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chockfull
In many denominations and their setup I think the home church is the one who sponsors the young adult to go to divinity school get an undergraduate and possibly graduate degrees working under the authority of the college. Upon graduation they ordain the candidate and they take up an assignment in the home church that sent them. Over time they increase their responsibility.
Other churches can reach outside their denomination to attract known pastors who speak well and pay them more to take an assignment.
Most pastorates in denominations work as a pay for preach setup. The head speaking clergy in a church is the one whose sermons draw in the greater amount of money. That provides more funding for all other activities.
Established denominations with governing synods or assemblies or whatever they name them tend to not be as money driven and hold a pastors reputation to come more in play.
The Way operates like a big good ole boys club just like all the other cults (meaning exclusive small group not necessarily gender and race driven but many times it is)
No outside accountability either in a business sense or a spiritual sense.
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chockfull
Also VP was running scared ahead of his denominations sanctions due to being highly critical of foreign mission efforts by the E&RC church as well as a rumored affair with his secretary they were closing in on sanctioning him for. None of this made the snowstorm stories lol.
Originally VP was sponsored by his home church. There is a record of his father helping him to obtain the recommendation. Then he went to college and disobeyed promptly the rule about getting married exchanging vows with Dottie immediately and being secretly marrried against the seminary rules.
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T-Bone
Before I went into the way corps program, I had something of a romanticized idea of what it was all about – an image comes to mind – me as an idealist of the counterculture 60s - peeking into the window of what appeared to be a tight-knit group…they hit me as kindred spirits who I imagined had a set of attitudes like my own – basically dissatisfied with the prevailing social norms… I guess from the outside a cult of personality can look like that.
I’ve witnessed folks defend wierwille to the hilt – with the reasoning that we’re all human and make mistakes – and what they uphold is the truth contained in all his works…But that’s a huge misunderstanding – because it WAS the collaterals, PFAL, the programs WOW, Fellow Laborers, Way Corps, etc., that taught us to ignore feelings...to suppress intuition...to disengage cognitive skills…to twist the meaning of Scripture…to accept logical fallacies…the reason wierwille’s body of work won’t stand up to close scrutiny is BECAUSE (drum roll please )
it ALL was derived from the malignant narcissistic-deluded-morally depraved-hypocritical-megalomaniacal-money worshipping mind of victor paul wierwille – a harmful and controlling pseudo-Christian cult-leader extraordinaire ! (drum roll finishes with crash cymbals and the backup band does a big Tah-Dah )
The way corps appeared to be a tight-knit group is because they were! The intense indoctrination of the way corps program is one of the best kept secrets in TWI.
In truth the way corps program was a clone factory. Maybe this was not the intention when the program was set up but it seems to me the whole thing wound up being a means of creating an idealized or somewhat worshipful idea of a leader – victor paul wierwille…in other words a cult of personality.
~ ~ ~ ~
We learned in the way corps to have complete confidence in everything wierwille wrote, said or did…I know in the Bible we are told to imitate the faith of godly leaders. But what if one fails to discern a counterfeit? I thought of passages like Matthew 7 and II Peter 2 . If there’s anything to verses like that, then it’s possible that false teachers can lead people astray.
After leaving TWI, I’ve often wondered if there’s a point where fervent admiration for someone crosses the line. I would think of verses like Ezekiel 14:3 that talks of people setting up idols in their heart – if it’s in my heart, it’s invisible – no one else knows there’s an idol in my heart – perhaps even I wouldn’t realize it… I think a lot of people really believed in wierwille – and believed he could do no wrong.
~ ~ ~ ~
To be fair, even if a person is a godly leader, we can turn them into an idol when we cease to imitate their example of faith in God and instead make them the object of our faith. But looking back without the way-blinders on, it’s obvious to me now that wierwille wasn’t a godly leader – he lacked the moral uprightness and was lost in delusions of grandeur.
For dedicated followers like the way corps, wierwille taught us to shun the status quo or conventional wisdom while at the same time making it clear that his authority was not to be challenged. Teachings on blind obedience were common in residence.
Recalling my time in residence, it was extremely laser-focused on knowing The Power For Abundant Living class material backwards and forwards. I am NOT exaggerating! During the three meals we had each day in the dining room, we were randomly called upon to give a five-minute teaching - right there on the spot – and immediately critiqued right after that. Even back then I was disturbed by one fact (which at the time was another one of those things I relegated to the back burner) - that people who quoted PFAL material verbatim or with very little deviation from that, received the highest praise with little or no criticism...
…In preparation for doing our research papers – which I suppose is one of the academic highlights of a college education – the current president L. Craig Martindale – (I can still remember him as he ) was pounding on the podium and bellowing out “Don’t try to reinvent the wheel – base your research paper on something from PFAL”…looking back now – do you know what all that tells me? The aim of the way corps program was to create little clones of wierwille.
~ ~ ~ ~
If you were or are in the way corps, or presently you are going through the training program…maybe you’re thinking about going in the way corps…maybe you have sponsored or currently sponsor someone in the way corps program you ought to check out the book Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International on Grease Spot Café the author goes by the name Penworks. She also started a thread about her book - click here .
She worked in the research department of TWI. There’s some very revealing stuff in there about the shady inner workings of The Way International, how the precarious mythology of wierwille – like the story of him hearing God’s voice – is an unreliable basis for a belief system and the intellectual and emotional frustration we all experience within the TWI-mindset.
One of the big takeaways of the book - in my opinion - is how wierwille who was supposedly so concerned about “the integrity and accuracy of The Word” had no qualms about pressuring the research department to mistranslate a Greek word so it would ‘validate’ what he thought a passage should say…hmmmm… what about his dictum “ private interpretation of the Bible is not allowed “? I guess it’s okay for wierwille to do that.
And while you're thinking about ordering Penworks’ book you could always do some light reading of another thread started by Penworks Evidence: Letters VPW wrote to the Way Corps
Try to read these newsletters as if you didn't know who wierwille or TWI was. I wonder if you would be as shocked as I was when you remove the PFAL filter and see how narcissistic, manipulative, and mean-spirited he was and what a berating personality he had – evidenced by his own words to the way corps - his most devoted followers...Of course, if you're already disappointed way corps this stuff is not new to you - but if you're not - perhaps you're seeing wierwille in a different light for the first time. Sorry to put you through that - sometimes truth hurts.
~ ~ ~ ~
Leaving The Way International can be extremely difficult. There might be extenuating circumstances like familial and social bonds, living arrangements, staff/leadership responsibilities. I was involved for 12 years – and in that time I managed to cut a lot of ties with family and old friends who were not interested in what TWI had to offer – plus they were sick of me trying to push PFAL. I speak from personal experience – consequences of indoctrination lead to one becoming isolated…I didn’t hear from or talk to outsiders in a meaningful way…so, why did I leave TWI? There’s a lot of reasons – what comes to mind most often was a growing awareness that I was being manipulated…that I was not in the driver’s seat on my spiritual journey – others were – the upper leadership of TWI. I let them decide the direction to take.
If you feel anything like that – and maybe you’re thinking about leaving – be forewarned – there will be intellectual and emotional challenges ahead. I liken it to swimming upstream. The simpler, safer, and comfortable route is to stick with TWI.
Reflecting on the year of my exit (1986), it slowly dawned on me that thinking like an adult had been trained out of me. I had lost a lot of self-confidence. You’d think once a person is done with way corps training they’d be treated like responsible adults who have grown-up and moved out of Mom & Dad’s home – but – NOPE! It didn’t matter if you were 25-years old…35…45…55… you were expected to check with upper leadership before making any major decisions.
Self-doubt is a byproduct of TWI’s constant bombardment of your “old man nature” (which in TWI-jargon usually refers to what you were like before you joined TWI ). They also use some other hi-tech ammunition like berating folks for going by their five senses or using worldly logic. They will pontificate over your lack of "mastering" the PFAL material or other classes. Perhaps one of their deadliest missiles is sowing the fear of disobeying God or the fear of being misled by unbelievers and devil spirits.
TWI wages a continuous silent war on one’s personhood – and one of the major casualties of these attacks is a type of identity crisis. I would often question myself...I usually lacked confidence in my own thinking process…I found myself at times wondering who I really was and if I fit in… Self-awareness is a conscious knowledge of our own character, true feelings, motives and desires. However, this may be difficult to perceive through that translucent overlay of TWI’s social identity “bestowed” on followers. It’s like wearing frosted glasses and looking at your own reflection in the mirror…details are diffused …individual features are not clear.
We are social creatures and have a natural desire to fit in. But all too often the social influence of a group like The Way International causes discomfort, pain, fear, sadness, frustration and even anger and resentment deep down inside. So, to survive in the group and to insulate our authentic self from further harm, we adapt somehow. We bury uncomfortable feelings and put on our ministry-face. Our adaptive self enables us to get along in a challenging social environment like TWI with some success and with the least amount of conflict with others – but often at the expense of our authentic self going into hibernation... In my opinion the longer one stays involved with TWI the more the authentic self gets buried under TWI’s values, goals, priorities, contrived interpersonal skills, beliefs, behaviors - all of which serves TWI more than one’s own best interest...
The authentic self, and not some TWI’s homogenized version of you, thrives on self-awareness and self-acceptance…self-examination is perhaps a life-long process…from time to time we may have to take stock of our beliefs and behaviors - and then change what doesn’t serve our best interests.
~ ~ ~ ~
…The initial path to freedom may be a lonely one... That’s why websites like Grease Spot may be someone’s only lifeline…Wherever your first taste of freedom comes from – I can tell you this – it will feel like a breath of fresh air! And take heart – getting reconnected with the outside world is not such a daunting task. You’ll find that human beings are a lot more alike than they are different. You are free to reconnect with old friends and make new friends.
I can't say enough good things about all the folks at Grease Spot and what a great place it is to think out loud. If anything of what I've said strikes a nerve with you maybe, it's time for you to get down to brass tacks and focus on the heart of the matter. The critical issue is NOT what I've said about The Way International – or what anyone on Grease Spot Café has said about it. The most important thing about any of this stuff is what do YOU think …what do YOU feel?
Below I’ve left some more thought food.
~ ~ ~ ~
Check out these other books by former way corps:
The Cult that Snapped: The Journey into the Way International by Karl Kahler | eBook | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Losing the Way: A Memoir of Spiritual Longing, Manipulation, Abuse, and Escape: Skedgell, Kristen: 9780972002196: Amazon.com: Books
See also
Dangerous Cult Leaders | Psychology Today
Spiritual Abuse Resources - Traumatic Abuse in Cults: A Psychoanalytic Perspective
How to overcome Religious Abuse | RELIGION’S CELL (religionscell.com)
Spiritual Abuse Resources - Mind Control - Psychological Reality or Mindless Rhetoric
Groupthink Theory and Examples - Simply Psychology
Groupthink | Psychology Today
Spiritual Abuse Resources - Six Conditions for Thought Reform
Spiritual Abuse Resources - Religion Versus Cult
Spiritual Abuse Resources - Origins and Prevention of Abuse in Religious Groups
Spiritual Abuse Resources - Characteristics Associated With Cultic Groups
Spiritual Abuse Resources - A House of Mirrors
How cult leaders entrap their followers — and their detractors | Karla McLaren
THE ALLURE OF TOXIC LEADERS: WHY FOLLOWERS RARELY ESCAPE THEIR CLUTCHES - Ivey Business Journal
4 Personality Traits Cult Leaders Have In Common (culteducation.com)
Why People Become Narcissists, Gaslighters and Cult Members | Psychology Today
Authoritarian Parenting: Examples, Definition, Effects (verywellmind.com)
Why Authoritarians Love Religion | Psychology Today
that's all for now, folks
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WordWolf
Living Colour, "Cult of Personality."
"Look in my eyes, what do you see?
The cult of personality.
I know your anger, I know your dreams.
I've been everything you wanna be.
I'm the cult of personality.
Like Mussolini and Kennedy,
I'm the cult of personality,
The cult of personality,
The cult of personality.
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies.
You won't have to follow me,
Only you can set me free.
I sell the things you need to be.
I'm the smiling face on your TV.
I'm the cult of personality.
I exploit you, still you love me.
I tell you one and one makes three.
I'm the cult of personality.
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi,
I'm the cult of personality,
The cult of personality,
The cult of personality.
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a leader speaks, that leader dies.
You won't have to follow me,
Only you can set you free.
You gave me fortune.
You gave me fame.
You gave me power in your God's name.
I'm every person you need to be.
I'm the cult of personality."
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OldSkool
Great lyrics, I've always loved Corey Glovers voice and Vernon Reid, the guitarist, is a jazz/fusion monster!
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Rocky
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T-Bone
Great song – lyrics, music and video !!!
What really gets me is the herky-jerky part of the tune. Now this is weird – the phrase herky-jerky came to mind when I was wanting to describe the feel of the song – so, for grins I looked up herky-jerky and found this:
herky-jerky
the state of being isolated, kept apart, or withdrawn into solitude. You, too, will be zipping along to the angular guitars and zigzagging, herky-jerky vocals. It was superficial and jumpy and herky-jerky, bopping all over the place. Herky-Jerky watched me with extreme attention, all the time grinning.
Herky-jerky | Definition of Herky-jerky at Dictionary.com
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/herky-jerky
WORDS RELATED TO HERKY-JERKY
desultory, intermittent, periodic, spotty, broken, capricious, catchy, changeable, disturbed, erratic, flickering, fluctuating, haphazard, hit-or-miss, impulsive, inconstant, interrupted, on-again-off-again, random, recurrent.
~ ~ ~ ~
I thought what a great convergence of music and themes – cult tactics of isolation – hard stops solitary notes , starts and stops, jumpy…and all those other words related to herky-jerky ...what cult-leaders do to "whip us into shape"
...then I thought of me being the rubber band…and how some challenges and stresses can stretch us – but we’re resilient and bounce back…but a rubber band could get worn out or snap…so there's both sides of the rubber band metaphor – the cult tactic side, cult-leaders use this herky-jerky method to indoctrinate you. On the cult-survivor side, I can tap into resilience – but also accept that in some ways I am changed from the cult experience…I prefer the idea of a changed shape - rather than being worn out or snapped -
I found this one article along those lines – it’s from a career coach but I think some points are applicable for cult-survivors…in that regard, I found when I got back into my career after leaving TWI, I had some catching up to do on what’s the latest tech. But as far as job performance goes and navigating office politics in some ways I felt like a ringer. From my in-residence experience I know what blows a manager’s mind is when they find someone who can work unsupervised - and get the job done, understand what priorities are and will toe the company line…anyway…here’s the article - maybe you'll find something applicable too:
Understanding Resilience: The Rubber Band Analogy by Chrissy Scivicque | Jun 30, 2021 |
I like the rubber band analogy, because it really makes a lot of sense, and it’s a great visual when we’re talking about something like resilience, which is actually a pretty abstract topic on the surface. So I have my nice little visual aid here…A rubber band stretches, right? That’s what they’re good for! They stretch. And when it stretches, it creates tension in that rubber band, and it puts pressure on that rubber.
As human beings, we stretch as well. And when we stretch, it creates tension and pressure. When we are just comfortable, and we have no pressure and no tension on us, that’s fine. But that’s not where great things happen. It’s not where you actually have a meaningful experience in life. When we stretch, and we have that tension, and we have that pressure placed upon us, that’s when we’re actually growing as humans.
Now a rubber band stretches, and that comes right back. It bounces back to its original shape. As human beings, we do this too, we are constantly stretching and bouncing back, stretching and bouncing back. This is part of the normal natural human experience.
This is the essence of resilience.
At times, you stretch your rubber band, and you stretch a really hard and really tight to get around something that’s a little bit too big for it, but it makes it! And you stretch it so far, and perhaps for so long, that when you finally take the rubber band off, it actually has changed shape. Have you experienced this? It’s changed shape. It’s kind of loosened up a little bit.
That same thing happens with us as human beings. We can stretch so far and so hard that it actually changes our form, so that we actually become a different person on the other side of that stretch. So much tension and so much pressure has been placed upon us that when it finally releases, we realize, “Wow, I’ve changed.”
And then of course, we’ve probably all also experienced a time when we have pulled and stretched that rubber band so hard that it’s actually snapped on us. (I’m not going to do it to save my delicate fingers!) But you’ve all experienced the snapped rubber band, because there’s so much tension and so much pressure.
As human beings, that can happen to us. We have so much challenge placed upon us that we actually snap. And what I mean by that is that we have a breakdown of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion.
When we are talking about this concept of resilience, we really need to stay conscious of the fact that there are limitations to how far we can stretch without snapping. What we ultimately want to be able to do is to stretch and bounce back to our original form or stretch and (what I call) bounce forward into that changed form.
From: Understanding Resilience: The Rubber Band Analogy - Eat Your Career
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chockfull
I’m grooving to it now. Awesome song and lyrics thanks for the link
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OldSkool
Im a Living Color fan from waay back...both TV show and band...check this one out....T-Bone: lemme know if you dig the bass line.
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