This got me thinking about those very early letters to his nascent ekklesia.
They are short letters begging for money. The gaslighting and manipulation are subtle, the tone is almost sweet in desperation, written by a monster fully confident in his disguise to a supply still unaware of the hellscape they’ve entered.
The Corps letters are full of rage and word salad, written by an NPD exposed for what he is, furious that his supply is leaving. Furious at the truth. The manipulation and gaslighting are obvious and the tone is angry and mean and desperate.
All these letters read together chronologically show the arc of a relationship between an NPD and his supply.
And so, after reading Wierwille's own words, as Nathan so well describes, who would want to follow along with a group that lauds such a man, as he reveals himself to be in those letters, as a great "man of God?" Sigh. But many still do. For instance, some old timers on the Board of TWI are well aware of stuff in those letters. Yet, they pledge loyalty to VPW anyway. They maintain a tough wall of denial to breach.
In my view, a person has to be ready psychologically to admit they made a mistake in their adoration of VPW. A person has to be willing to consider VPW conned them. That's not easy, but it can and has been done by a lot of us. And life didn't end. And life actually expanded for many of us. Life opened itself in wonderful, healing, and loving ways.
who would want to follow along with a group that lauds such a man, as he reveals himself to be in those letters, as a great "man of God?"
How many would want to follow along with such a group?
How many would want to follow along with any other such group that exercises such apparent "undue influence" which is inherently deceptive?
Is this simply an example and an instance of something inherent in humanity and/or human nature because "we" (humans/humanity) crave something in particular that this deluded NPD "minister" promised?
Is this an instance of...
I propose answers to these questions may be alluded to, if not explicitly articulated in the writings of Steven Hassan, who has researched the phenomenon for nearly 50 years?
The Bite Model THE BITE MODEL OF AUTHORITARIAN CONTROL: UNDUE INFLUENCE, THOUGHT REFORM, BRAINWASHING, MIND CONTROL, TRAFFICKING AND THE LAW
Hassan also wrote a book explaining cult influence in a particular political figure in America today
The common thread in all of his writing is undue influence. He's not anti-religion. He's not inherently political. But he does have insight related to understanding what Victor Wierwille tapped into in order to capture or corral tens of thousands of us to follow his teaching.
What I suspect these Way Corps letters can provide to us now in retrospect is how Victor's emotional condition when he wrote those letters bely his underlying psychological vulnerability was perhaps one key to enable many of us to escape what we had not yet recognized as Victor's undue influence over us.
The clock is ticking. Only 49 days left to request these letters. Send me a message here at GSC or you can message me through my website at https://charleneedge.com/contact.
I'll email you the 8 files within 24 hours. They are FREE.
The clock is ticking. Only 49 days left to request these letters. Send me a message here at GSC or you can message me through my website at https://charleneedge.com/contact.
I'll email you the 8 files within 24 hours. They are FREE.
Offer is good till April 30, 2025 at 5 pm.
A key benefit you will receive by reading these letters: melting the mask off of the face of TWI's founder. I think of a quote from Soren Kierkegaard: Life can only be understood looking backwards; But it must be lived forwards.
You'll be able to understand much more about Victor Wierwille and his cult by reading these letters.
A key benefit you will receive by reading these letters: melting the mask off of the face of TWI's founder. I think of a quote from Soren Kierkegaard: Life can only be understood looking backwards; But it must be lived forwards.
You'll be able to understand much more about Victor Wierwille and his cult by reading these letters.
I love the quote Rocky. So to manipulate how life should be lived going forward, one only needs to inaccurately rewrite history. But who would dare to do such a thing?
I can also email the coercive 1990 LCM loyalty letter to the Way Corps. Even though I escaped TWI HQ in 1987 and broke off ties with TWI, he persisted in sending it.
I love the quote Rocky. So to manipulate how life should be lived going forward, one only needs to inaccurately rewrite history. But who would dare to do such a thing?
I wince at your use of the word "only." But yes, to manipulate how a society is to live, one factor is to somehow cause it to misunderstand history.
I see what you mean as the definition of only is "no one or nothing more besides; solely or exclusively." My apologies for causing you a moment of discomfort - I hope you recovered quickly
I see what you mean as the definition of only is "no one or nothing more besides; solely or exclusively." My apologies for causing you a moment of discomfort - I hope you recovered quickly
Count down to April 30th to get these letters. And the loyalty letter from LCM 1990.
I'm getting requests for these almost daily.
Not only former Way Corps are asking for them, but others who value them for the behind-the-scenes look at volitile situations in TWI and what VPW really thought and did 1977 - 1981. For instance, how he turned on Way Corps members when they expressed their freedom of speech, etc.
I remember wondering why he got so upset and defensive, if truth (which he said he taught) needs no defense?
I'm amazed at how many people are asking me for these letters. That makes me glad because more people will have this important, undeniable, in-print history of those days in TWI in VPW's own words.
Until April 30 at 5 pm, you can get your copies of these letters by sending me a message through GSC or here: https://charleneedge.com/contact
With his permission, here's what Karl Kahler, who just read them, says about these letters:
“This stroll down deception lane reminds me that Wierwille was NOT stupid, and far from it. He poured so much energy into grooming his flock, and he was so combative with anyone who opposed him. These letters are a master class in mind control — of the very people he already controlled!
If you haven't connected the dots about who I am, I graduated from the 2nd Way Corps (1971-1973), then I was an area, limb, branch, twig leader over the years, married to Tim Bis*op, originally from the Rye, NY fellowship, also in the 2nd Corps, who VPW ordained.
I was also a member of the Way's biblical research team who worked on the Aramaic projects.
The VPW letters to the Way Corps are from my own personal files. I saved a whole lot of material from my time in VPW's cult, much of which I used to write my memoir.
I'm just sharing the letters with anyone interested.
You can contact me until April 30, 2025 at 5 pm and give me an email address to send them to you.
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Nathan_Jr
Thanks, Charlene.
This got me thinking about those very early letters to his nascent ekklesia.
They are short letters begging for money. The gaslighting and manipulation are subtle, the tone is almost sweet in desperation, written by a monster fully confident in his disguise to a supply still unaware of the hellscape they’ve entered.
The Corps letters are full of rage and word salad, written by an NPD exposed for what he is, furious that his supply is leaving. Furious at the truth. The manipulation and gaslighting are obvious and the tone is angry and mean and desperate.
All these letters read together chronologically show the arc of a relationship between an NPD and his supply.
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penworks
And so, after reading Wierwille's own words, as Nathan so well describes, who would want to follow along with a group that lauds such a man, as he reveals himself to be in those letters, as a great "man of God?" Sigh. But many still do. For instance, some old timers on the Board of TWI are well aware of stuff in those letters. Yet, they pledge loyalty to VPW anyway. They maintain a tough wall of denial to breach.
In my view, a person has to be ready psychologically to admit they made a mistake in their adoration of VPW. A person has to be willing to consider VPW conned them. That's not easy, but it can and has been done by a lot of us. And life didn't end. And life actually expanded for many of us. Life opened itself in wonderful, healing, and loving ways.
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Rocky
How many would want to follow along with such a group?
How many would want to follow along with any other such group that exercises such apparent "undue influence" which is inherently deceptive?
Is this simply an example and an instance of something inherent in humanity and/or human nature because "we" (humans/humanity) crave something in particular that this deluded NPD "minister" promised?
Is this an instance of...
I propose answers to these questions may be alluded to, if not explicitly articulated in the writings of Steven Hassan, who has researched the phenomenon for nearly 50 years?
I don't know. But I wonder about it a lot.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/steven-a-hassan-phd
Hassan's books include:
Freedom of Mind
Combating Cult Control
Releasing the Bonds
The Bite Model THE BITE MODEL OF AUTHORITARIAN CONTROL: UNDUE INFLUENCE, THOUGHT REFORM, BRAINWASHING, MIND CONTROL, TRAFFICKING AND THE LAW
Hassan also wrote a book explaining cult influence in a particular political figure in America today
The common thread in all of his writing is undue influence. He's not anti-religion. He's not inherently political. But he does have insight related to understanding what Victor Wierwille tapped into in order to capture or corral tens of thousands of us to follow his teaching.
What I suspect these Way Corps letters can provide to us now in retrospect is how Victor's emotional condition when he wrote those letters bely his underlying psychological vulnerability was perhaps one key to enable many of us to escape what we had not yet recognized as Victor's undue influence over us.
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penworks
My question was rhetorical, but the resources Rocky shared in response are excellent.
For some of us, those resources and books came out YEARS after we left, after our own moral compasses pointed us toward the exit signs.
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penworks
The clock is ticking. Only 49 days left to request these letters. Send me a message here at GSC or you can message me through my website at https://charleneedge.com/contact.
I'll email you the 8 files within 24 hours. They are FREE.
Offer is good till April 30, 2025 at 5 pm.
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Rocky
A key benefit you will receive by reading these letters: melting the mask off of the face of TWI's founder. I think of a quote from Soren Kierkegaard: Life can only be understood looking backwards; But it must be lived forwards.
You'll be able to understand much more about Victor Wierwille and his cult by reading these letters.
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Charity
I love the quote Rocky. So to manipulate how life should be lived going forward, one only needs to inaccurately rewrite history. But who would dare to do such a thing?
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penworks
I can also email the coercive 1990 LCM loyalty letter to the Way Corps. Even though I escaped TWI HQ in 1987 and broke off ties with TWI, he persisted in sending it.
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Rocky
Nevermind.
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Charity
I see what you mean as the definition of only is "no one or nothing more besides; solely or exclusively." My apologies for causing you a moment of discomfort - I hope you recovered quickly
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Rocky
I misunderstood. My apologies.
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Charity
I'll PM my reply.
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penworks
Count down to April 30th to get these letters. And the loyalty letter from LCM 1990.
I'm getting requests for these almost daily.
Not only former Way Corps are asking for them, but others who value them for the behind-the-scenes look at volitile situations in TWI and what VPW really thought and did 1977 - 1981. For instance, how he turned on Way Corps members when they expressed their freedom of speech, etc.
I remember wondering why he got so upset and defensive, if truth (which he said he taught) needs no defense?
Message me here or on my website at https://charleneedgel.com/contact
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penworks
Correction: there's no letter l at the end of my name.
My CORRECT website contact page is
https://charleneedge.com
OFFER IS GOOD until APRIL 30, 2025 at 5 pm.
I'm amazed at how many people are asking me for these letters. That makes me glad because more people will have this important, undeniable, in-print history of those days in TWI in VPW's own words.
Thanks for contacting me!
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penworks
Hi Greasespotters,
Until April 30 at 5 pm, you can get your copies of these letters by sending me a message through GSC or here: https://charleneedge.com/contact
With his permission, here's what Karl Kahler, who just read them, says about these letters:
“This stroll down deception lane reminds me that Wierwille was NOT stupid, and far from it. He poured so much energy into grooming his flock, and he was so combative with anyone who opposed him. These letters are a master class in mind control — of the very people he already controlled!
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penworks
BTW, if you don't know, Karl Kahler is the author of The Cult That Snapped: A Journey Into the Way International
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penworks
If you haven't connected the dots about who I am, I graduated from the 2nd Way Corps (1971-1973), then I was an area, limb, branch, twig leader over the years, married to Tim Bis*op, originally from the Rye, NY fellowship, also in the 2nd Corps, who VPW ordained.
I was also a member of the Way's biblical research team who worked on the Aramaic projects.
My story is in my memoir. Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. (2007). It's for sale online in paperback and ebook.
The VPW letters to the Way Corps are from my own personal files. I saved a whole lot of material from my time in VPW's cult, much of which I used to write my memoir.
I'm just sharing the letters with anyone interested.
You can contact me until April 30, 2025 at 5 pm and give me an email address to send them to you.
Send me a message either here on GSC or at https://charleneedge.com
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