Wierwille's Theatrics of PFAL's "Christ-in-you"

[skyrider]

The 1967 pfal class was a mixture of plagiarized information, scriptures, stories and theatrics.  Wierwille was nearly 51 years old and had spent 14 years (1953-1967) teaching this material and honing his skill of histrionics.

Wierwille inserted "zingers" into pfal via his stories.

Who could forget the story of a mother and her little boy.  As the story goes..... with each passing month, she feared that something tragic would happen to little son.  Wierwille builds the story with melodramatics and accelerating voice inflection.... "....and she held that fear and held that fear UNTIL ONE DAY IT HAPPENED, HER LITTLE BOY WAS KILLED OUTRIGHT!"  You know what killed that little boy, wierwille proclaimed.  So, you just quit your yakking.  It was the fear in the heart of that mother that killed him.  FEAR is negative believing.  It is the law of believing in reverse. God would have to change all the laws of the universe for this not to happen.  Fear killed her little boy.  That's the law of believing.

But the theatrics of *Christ-in-you, the hope of glory* was not a story, but scriptural truth [Colossians 1:27].  Once again, with immense theatrics....wierwille highlights this truth with repetitive emphasis.  Over and over he repeated the phrase....Christ in you, Christ in you, Christ in you, the hope of gloooory!!  Animated, on his feet, shaking his fists, overacting in theatrical drama.....wierwille claimed its significance.

• Colossians 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

YET.... wierwille didn't believe it.  Else he would have structured his ministry on Christian truths, not lockstep obedience.  Individuals within this ministry would have flourished with personal sovereignty, boundaries, dignity, integrity......rather than denigrated, ,manipulated and exploited.

This histrionic performance was a "hook" that snagged youth into his boat.  His theatrics were classic "bait and switch" in every sense of that concept.

Seemingly, wierwille could NOT pull off the same theatrics ten years later......at PFAL '77.  The re-filming of his pfal class was a failure.  Why the failure?  Were the stories and zingers and theatrics THAT IMPORTANT to pfal's success?  Or, had the plagiarized material that wierwille once taught repetitiously escaped his grasp?  

And, if the importance of *Christ in you* was shout-to-the-Lord glorifying.....why did wierwille rarely teach it nor expound upon it?  Well, seems to me that wierwille used theatrics to ensnare a following, but wierwille's malignant narcissism was his wheelhouse.  He used every tool in his woodshed to keep people from finding out his true and authentic self.  With power and control firmly established, the depths of his narcissistic pathologies came to the fore.  His enablers and inner circle kept the mystique growing as Drambuie-wierwille stepped out of the back room for another late-night corps meeting or night owl.  But for many staff and corps, this wierwille family heritage was hard to stomach.

The theatrics no longer work.....when one sees behind the curtain.

 

 

[Rocky]

3 hours ago, skyrider said:

Seemingly, wierwille could NOT pull off the same theatrics ten years later......at PFAL '77.  The re-filming of his pfal class was a failure.  Why the failure?  Were the stories and zingers and theatrics THAT IMPORTANT to pfal's success?

YES! A thousand times, YES!

Back then, critics would say we were brainwashed, but it took decades before academic research had pinpointed how and why that was the case.

In a sense, his histrionics were intended as a form of hypnosis, to get us to reduce our resistance to his mind shaping (controlling) suggestions. 

Quote

Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI),[2] reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.[3]

 

[WordWolf]

vpw plagiarized not just the material, but how it was taught, as well.   Over time, he would have forgotten specifics in the delivery that longtime pfal fans would have remembered.   So, since it was all mimicry, he would have gotten worse over time.  If it had been legit, then the subjects would get BETTER over time, not worse.

[chockfull]

Yes again sky.  It is not a logic leap to look at a guy who got a cereal box top correspondence degree in homiletics and see that the crux of his interest is in influencing people via the spoken word.

I like your histrionics word.  Yes VP threw semi emotional fits on set throughout the class.  This is a major element of how he “set the hook” to appeal to our young minds and emotions.

[waysider]

You know what killed that little boy? Well, I'll tell you. It was a 1939 Packard with a rumble seat.

[chockfull]

One of the saddest things I experienced running these PFAL classes for people was the grads who served.  They were kind of a running dialogue going along with the quirks of the class.  They had all sat through it many times to the point of having it all memorized.  Then they would interject pre scripted comments in places.  It was so bizarre.  
 

What it reminded me of was this group in college that used to go to Rocky Horror Picture Show and dress up and counter dialogue and wear rain gear and throw water on each other:

Peoples behavior patterns fascinate me.

[skyrider]

On 9/10/2022 at 9:37 AM, chockfull said:

Yes again sky.  It is not a logic leap to look at a guy who got a cereal box top correspondence degree in homiletics and see that the crux of his interest is in influencing people via the spoken word.

I like your histrionics word.  Yes VP threw semi emotional fits on set throughout the class.  This is a major element of how he “set the hook” to appeal to our young minds and emotions.

 

Wierwille took this histrionic-homiletics to absurd levels.

His stories in pfal were zingers.... implanting a coded-message of intimidation and fear into the minds of youth.  Even in the 12th Session of pfal, wierwille closes out his class with telling students to spend the next three months reading his pfal collaterals.  Indoctrination 101.  Keep them involved.  Keep them addicted.  Keep them indoctrinated.

With each new class/program level came more aggressive measures of commitment.  Seal your corps vow to twi with salt.  No matter how much debauchery, plagiarism, drunkenness, or evil you uncovered at the top levels of twi..... you were "salted" for life?  Screw that!!  The Scriptures state plainly to flee even the appearance of evil.  Oftentimes, especially in closed-session meetings with corps..... it was debasing and mean-spirited.  Wierwille ruled by fear.  

 

 

[Nathan_Jr]

1 hour ago, skyrider said:

implanting a coded-message of intimidation and fear into the minds of youth

Programming, conditioning, brainwashing is never obvious, apparent. It is subtle, coded.

 

1 hour ago, skyrider said:

in the 12th Session of pfal, wierwille closes out his class with telling students to spend the next three months reading his pfal collaterals.  Indoctrination 101.  Keep them involved.  Keep them addicted.  Keep them indoctrinated...

....Keep them insular.

[Mike]

On 9/11/2022 at 12:20 PM, skyrider said:

 

Wierwille took this histrionic-homiletics to absurd levels.

His stories in pfal were zingers.... implanting a coded-message of intimidation and fear into the minds of youth.  Even in the 12th Session of pfal, wierwille closes out his class with telling students to spend the next three months reading his pfal collaterals.  Indoctrination 101.  Keep them involved.  Keep them addicted.  Keep them indoctrinated.

With each new class/program level came more aggressive measures of commitment.  Seal your corps vow to twi with salt.  No matter how much debauchery, plagiarism, drunkenness, or evil you uncovered at the top levels of twi..... you were "salted" for life?  Screw that!!  The Scriptures state plainly to flee even the appearance of evil.  Oftentimes, especially in closed-session meetings with corps..... it was debasing and mean-spirited.  Wierwille ruled by fear.  

 

 

Well, this is GreaseSpot Histrionics:
"...wierwille closes out his class with telling students to spend the next three months reading his pfal collaterals."

We were strongly encouraged in the PFAL class to spend the next 3 months reading the Epistles of Paul.

[Rocky]

45 minutes ago, Mike said:

Well, this is GreaseSpot Histrionics:
"...wierwille closes out his class with telling students to spend the next three months reading his pfal collaterals."

We were strongly encouraged in the PFAL class to spend the next 3 months reading the Epistles of Paul.

ummmmm..... at some point after you took the PFLAP class, the closing apparently changed. 

[Mike]

22 minutes ago, Rocky said:

ummmmm..... at some point after you took the PFLAP class, the closing apparently changed. 

Memory is far more prone to those kinds of changes than are recording media.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Mike

[Mike]

24 minutes ago, Rocky said:

ummmmm..... at some point after you took the PFLAP class, the closing apparently changed. 

I think at some point many years ago, here, I made the suggestion that people come back to written PFAL, study nothing but those collaterals for 3 months, and see how it goes.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Mike

[Nathan_Jr]

1 hour ago, Mike said:

study nothing but...

...is the most important and sinister clause here, whether epistles or collaterals.

 

I seem to remember you writing this, Mike, about the collaterals, etc. You may be technically correct, but I also remember victor grumbling: read nothing but or exclusively or only the epistles/collaterals/pfal.

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Nathan_Jr
The mere suggestion that victor is T7TMOG is a spiritual liability...also, waterhead babies... also, gloves...also, apple buttered-pickles.

[Rocky]

52 minutes ago, Mike said:

I think at some point many years ago, here, I made the suggestion that people come back to written PFAL, study nothing but those collaterals for 3 months, and see how it goes.

Are you now suggesting that YOU were the "voice" of Wierwille?   

[Rocky]

58 minutes ago, Mike said:

I think at some point many years ago, here, I made the suggestion that people come back to written PFAL, study nothing but those collaterals for 3 months, and see how it goes.

Bottom line, Mike, you're making a claim that you only support with insinuation and NOT with any proof that any of us here are or were factually incorrect.

I'd pose questions to you about it, but WE ALL know that you are capable of masterful obfuscation.

And you're effort to derail this thread is totally OFF TOPIC anyway.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Rocky

[T-Bone]

1 hour ago, Mike said:

I think at some point many years ago, here, I made the suggestion that people come back to written PFAL, study nothing but those collaterals for 3 months, and see how it goes.

 

I did that  for 2 years in-residence at Rome City…it was boring and it sucked…but to comment on your recommendation to see how it went after studying PFAL stuff – in my case, 2 years straight – I’ll try to be brief.

 

In one sense (in keeping with the theme of this thread) my way corps training was a non-accredited 2-year program in theatrics with a minor in bait-and-switch. It was like going to school for the performing arts where we studied the master – no, not Shakespeare - but wierwille…although what I remember from a catholic university, I think we would probably have learned a lot more about practical matters, social interactions, and human nature if we had studied Shakespeare in Rome City instead of that PFAL nonsense.

 

What’s the worst time to find out a strategy doesn’t work? When a crisis hits. One of the great watershed moments of TWI was the passing of wierwille. when the “great” cult-leader passed away what I saw was a ministry in complete turmoil, upper leadership vying for power, and I heard a lot of my corps saying when they get out on the field, they’re going to run PFAL classes back-to-back. Like that’s going to solve everything. Know what that tells me? The way corps – which was wierwille’s baby – was NOT about teaching people to be disciples of Christ and how to serve and shepherd the Lord’s flock…No!  The way corps was really a clone factory to mass-produce mini-wierwilles!

 

TWI only has one playbook – and it was written by wierwille. Everything flows from that: business plans, financial plans, marketing plans, operational plans, contingency plans, succession plans…and it’s all based on the egotistical / delusional musings of a pathological liar…a malignant narcissist...a thieving plagiarist…a Drambuie-guzzling-chain-smoking, abusive & exploitative sexual predator with a flair for the dramatic. And that's all rolled into one person. depending on how you slice-and-dice those attributes you'd probably come up with an alternate nine manifestations .

 

  come back to written PFAL, study nothing but those collaterals for 3 months, and see how it goes? Hell, I did that for 12 years! And how long has PFAL been around? How many other peoples’ lives, families, marriages, friends, careers, finances, physical & mental health suffered from    CONTINUING    to believe in the PFAL collaterals for years on end!

[Mike]

1 hour ago, Nathan_Jr said:

...is the most important and sinister clause here, whether epistles or collaterals.

 

I seem to remember you writing this, Mike, about the collaterals, etc. You may be technically correct, but I also remember victor grumbling: read nothing but or exclusively or only the epistles/collaterals/pfal.

 

You left out the time limit of 3 months.

[Mike]

53 minutes ago, Rocky said:

Are you now suggesting that YOU were the "voice" of Wierwille?   

I am suggesting that because you don't regularly refresh your mind's memory with the originals, your memory of the originals is continually distorted by what you DO put regularly into your mind...  which would be... ?

[Mike]

53 minutes ago, Rocky said:

Bottom line, Mike, you're making a claim that you only support with insinuation and NOT with any proof that any of us here are or were factually incorrect.

I'd pose questions to you about it, but WE ALL know that you are capable of masterful obfuscation.

And you're effort to derail this thread is totally OFF TOPIC anyway.

I thought I was dead on topic.  I am bringing up the close tangential topic of GSC theatrics and histrionics. 

I'll stop the slight tangential de-rail, unless someone asks me politely to post an audio clip from the film class that says what I posted to correct faulty memories.

[Nathan_Jr]

7 minutes ago, Mike said:

You left out the time limit of 3 months.

I did. I sure did. Thanks.

Why do you suppose he he included this specific time frame? Why not two weeks? Or four months? Or the next 72 hours? Why three months?

[Rocky]

6 minutes ago, Mike said:

I am suggesting that because you don't regularly refresh your mind's memory with the originals, your memory of the originals is continually distorted by what you DO put regularly into your mind...  which would be... ?

even more.

[Mike]

22 minutes ago, T-Bone said:

 

I did that  for 2 years in-residence at Rome City…it was boring and it sucked…but to comment on your recommendation to see how it went after studying PFAL stuff – in my case, 2 years straight – I’ll try to be brief.

 

In one sense (in keeping with the theme of this thread) my way corps training was a non-accredited 2-year program in theatrics with a minor in bait-and-switch. It was like going to school for the performing arts where we studied the master – no, not Shakespeare - but wierwille…although what I remember from a catholic university, I think we would probably have learned a lot more about practical matters, social interactions, and human nature if we had studied Shakespeare in Rome City instead of that PFAL nonsense.

 

What’s the worst time to find out a strategy doesn’t work? When a crisis hits. One of the great watershed moments of TWI was the passing of wierwille. when the “great” cult-leader passed away what I saw was a ministry in complete turmoil, upper leadership vying for power, and I heard a lot of my corps saying when they get out on the field, they’re going to run PFAL classes back-to-back. Like that’s going to solve everything. Know what that tells me? The way corps – which was wierwille’s baby – was NOT about teaching people to be disciples of Christ and how to serve and shepherd the Lord’s flock…No!  The way corps was really a clone factory to mass-produce mini-wierwilles!

 

TWI only has one playbook – and it was written by wierwille. Everything flows from that: business plans, financial plans, marketing plans, operational plans, contingency plans, succession plans…and it’s all based on the egotistical / delusional musings of a pathological liar…a malignant narcissist...a thieving plagiarist…a Drambuie-guzzling-chain-smoking, abusive & exploitative sexual predator with a flair for the dramatic. And that's all rolled into one person. depending on how you slice-and-dice those attributes you'd probably come up with an alternate nine manifestations .

 

  come back to written PFAL, study nothing but those collaterals for 3 months, and see how it goes? Hell, I did that for 12 years! And how long has PFAL been around? How many other peoples’ lives, families, marriages, friends, careers, finances, physical & mental health suffered from    CONTINUING    to believe in the PFAL collaterals for years on end!

 

I'd love to get into it with you T-Bone, since I have some time to kiill tonight. But I sort of just promised to stop my slight de-rail.

 

[Rocky]

3 minutes ago, Mike said:

I thought I was dead on topic.

 You thought wrong.

[Rocky]

9 minutes ago, Mike said:

I am suggesting that because you don't regularly refresh your mind's memory with the originals, your memory of the originals is continually distorted by what you DO put regularly into your mind...  which would be... ?

Gaslighting. 

BTW, not everyone here is familiar with how insidiously he has OFTEN derailed and taken over threads by BAITING people into bickering unrelated to the topic intended by the OP.

Please don't take Mike's bait.

[Nathan_Jr]

5 minutes ago, Mike said:

I thought I was dead on topic.  I am bringing up the close tangential topic of GSC theatrics and histrionics. 

I'll stop the slight tangential de-rail, unless someone asks me politely to post an audio clip from the film class that says what I posted to correct faulty memories.

I think it's not only important to find out what he said and wrote, but what he meant. This is how one puts it together so it fits like a hand in a glove - this is the original work.

I have posted screen shots of advanced class transcripts. It's always astonishingly revelatory. I wish I had a transcript of pfal. Do you have a transcript? Would you please post a screen shot of this phrase?