Kool-Aid Drinkers - Blind followers of twi who never question anything and always obey whatever the "present truth" for the day is. These are the people who would drink the poisoned kool-aid willingly.
In the late 1970s there was this group who followed a cult leader named Jim Jones. Notorious. He had a bunch of them commit suicide by drinking kool-aid laced with cyanide. Those who did so willingly were last. First they had to take care of the unwilling.
Since then, kool-aid drinkers has evolved into a condescending term for someone who does not question another's authority, no matter how absurd, illogical, hateful or hurtful an instruction the authority figure is demanding.
Hey I just looked really quick at that TWI phrases and was the term : FRUIT in there ?
Fruit as in new people ? Hi this is Tom and Nancy and they are my new friut in twig !!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hated that ! My FRUIT !!!!!!!!!!!!! --> Some people even got into fits because they were worried you might spoil their fruit and then they wouldn't look as good in front of the BC
I heard something similar in more than one place. "Seeing fruit" was used in reference to growth in a twig. I never saw it used to directly refer to people in the way Dougie referenced.
I've heard fruit used as indicators of your success (obedience) to whatever the current rules were - to include signing people up for classes and bringing them to fellowship.
If you are living according to twi(t) doctrine then you will be bringing people in droves to fellowship. Those people are called your "fruit". They tie it back to some scripture, but I can't recall it at the moment.
Fruit also is considered your material abundance, spiritual insight, and used as an excuse as to why the leadership picked on you (if they didn't see enough fruit in your life).
The definition of fruit depended on the sentence and situation.
I didn't read all of this but I thought an accurate description of "way brain" is appropriate.
WAY-BRAIN: a) may refer to the use of Way terms, the elitest way attitude, or any number of way doctrines or any other sililar twi-type charicteristics that an accuser may deem appropriate. b) @ The Grease Spot Cafe the term is used as the worst of insults. Mearly implying that one has "
way-brain" is worse than calling their mother a bad name.
oh and c)what everyone here has to some degree or another. ;)-->
I don't remember the word "tricked" in the posts. We used it all the time here. You know, when someone actually left the way, they were tricked by the devil! And then we'd pray for them, because they needed it! ;)-->
The Law of Believing A fundamental teaching in PFAL that is a combination of 50s pop psychology (see books by Maxwell Maltz, Norman Vincent Peale, and Earl Nightingale) with biblical references. It was at one time the foundation of the PFAL foundational class. This law enables believers (and even unbelievers) to systematically acquire the abundant life referred to in John 10:10.
VPW graciously dictated a sequence of steps that one must execute to obtain percious things such as fire engine red drapes. One MUST accomplish each step carefully and not to do so negates the entire process. The first step was to determine if the object of desire was "available". (No point in asking for something that isn't there).
This first step prompted one of the more enduring (and subsequently loathed) questions in Way history - "Is it available to " ? Some people still reel in nausea when they hear a question or phrase involving the word "available" even if the poser of the question had no knowledge of TWI, VPW, or the magical law of believing.
While seemingly a wonderful tool there were few people who could master all the necessary steps in the formula quite likely because no one had ever heard the same definition for "having one's needs and wants parallel", which was one of the more important ,(yet least understood), aspects of the formula for acquisition.
Some theorized that it meant you should only ask for what it is you really need and others suggested that your needs are satisfied by God anyway so you shouldn't really be using the law of believing to get cool or fun stuff. Lots of debates took place on exactly how one would determine if a need and a want were in fact parallel and if not, how to balance them out to get the good stuff. References were made to the Stones' "you can't always get what you want.. but you get what you need" as evidence that VPW's teachings were universally accepted even by heathen rock stars.
But the Law of Beleiving isn't all good. It had a very,very dark side. Those who were fearful could unknowingly unleash "negative believing" which would result in your fears coming to pass. Worse, your level of fear didn't have to be parallel to anything. You just had to have it for some unspecified period of time and then BLAM. Your fear would become reality! In this regard there was much less work involved in receiving bad things than the good things. You didn't have to determine the availability of the bad thing nor did you have to match it up ("parellel-ize") with any thing. Just fear it and it will come to pass !
According to VPW negative believing should be avoided by parents as it can result in the death of their children who ,evidently, up until some unspecified age are not responsible for their own negative believing until something like a guardian angel leaves them as they transition into adulthood (perhaps at puberty ? ). Before this time its the parents "believing" which determines the child's destiny. As if parents didn't already have enough to worry about. Speaking of worry...
Also essential to the understanding of negative believing is that doubt leads to worry and worry leads to fear though there was no formula or chart that helped the person determine when a doubt turned to worry or just how much worrying one had to do before they had a bona fide FEAR.
Seems somewhat lazy and inconsiderate of VPW to omit details on these details of dark side since it could have such perilous impact on one's life.
Its important to know that those who didn't get what they had believed for were typically chastised for being out of fellowship or for not giving enough "ABS" money. Of course getting back into fellowship is contingent upon giving ABS so you can attend more Way functions to talk about how wonderful the Law of Believing is.
The whole "believing = receiving" thing came under some examination when it was discovered that VPW had cancer
which is, by Way teaching, caused by a "devil spirit". Without discussing how VPW could get a devil spirit - it was telling that "The Teacher" could not "get his believing" to the point where he could get the healing that presumably could be easily had by applying the principles. Of course followers of TWI who had maladies were still chastised and humiliated for suffering with diseases and medical conditions of any kind. A different standard was applied to VPW than was to the rest of TWI community. Some attempted to rationalize this problem by suggesting that VPW "willed himself" to die and thus COULD HAVE believed himself healthy again though CHOSE not to. (I don't think many went for this though there are those who do).
The LOB spawned many Way urban myths some of which persist today. Claims of "believers driving 2000 miles to the ROA in a car that had no oil or even gas" were common place enough in the 70s to suggest that the law of believing might have been tailor made for young people who drove clunker automobiles with hideous green , "Way" bumper stickers
on their way to New Knoxille, Ohio. If you weren't going to HQ or "the rock" then you had to use gas and oil.
Spectacular tales of healing (the blind seeing, the crippled walking, even limbs growing back) were of course abundant (no pun intended) though most are related in third or fourth person with no reasonable contact trail to followup on it even if you wanted to. Less exciting though very popular amongst WOWs were "miraculous" stories of healings from sore throats and colds ! "My WOW brother prayed for me and just three days later my sore throat was gone !".
Its unknown to me exactly what role the LOB plays in TWI of 2005. Is it even taught ? If it is then is it even the same recipe for abundance outlined by VPW ? Has any Way leader explained just how "The Teacher" could get a devil spirit and not be able to believe his way out of his illness" ?
The whole "believing = receiving" thing came under some examination when it was discovered that VPW had cancer
which is, by Way teaching, caused by a "devil spirit". Without discussing how VPW could get a devil spirit - it was telling that "The Teacher" could not "get his believing" to the point where he could get the healing that presumably could be easily had by applying the principles. Of course followers of TWI who had maladies were still chastised and humiliated for suffering with diseases and medical conditions of any kind. A different standard was applied to VPW than was to the rest of TWI community.
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WordWolf
Graven image: any symbol used in worship or connected with a church.
Includes crosses, statues of saints, and so on.
Condemned at great length especially by lcm.
Is NEVER used of the statue of Timothy in the auditorium, the sculpture
of Elijah, Elisha and the bull in the auditorium, and is especially
never used of the ugly statuettes of vpw inflicted on the rank-and-file
in the 90's.
crucifix: condemned by twi. Jesus got off the cross and is now ascended.
Thus, the image of a crucifix or even a cross is depressing and old news.
"If they'd have shot Jesus Christ with a machinegun, they'd all be wearing
machineguns."-lcm
It's also been said a more honest symbol-if one were to use symbols-
would be an empty tomb.
Babylon Mystery Religion: a book by Ralph Woodrow, basically a user-friendly
version of Alexander Hislop's "The Two Babylons". Both books condemn the
Catholic Church for most of its practices. Some of the accusations are
legit, some were cobbled together by Hislop. Was carried in the way
bookstore and lcm, especially, based a lot of his anti-Catholic diatribes
on the contents.
the Babylon Connection: a book by Ralph Woodrow, which was NOT carried in the
way bookstore. Basically, it's a repudiation of his previous book and Hislop's
book, with citations from the Bible and history. Some people refuse to read it
and hang onto the previous book.
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insurgent
Kool-Aid Drinkers - Blind followers of twi who never question anything and always obey whatever the "present truth" for the day is. These are the people who would drink the poisoned kool-aid willingly.
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Tom Strange
ya know... kind of ala Jonestown...
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outandabout
Divine Design - the artist dept. that makes posters, decorates and such. Divine Design NEVER creates, only expresses, as only God can create.
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Raf
Refiner,
You will, no doubt, see some parallels with the JW cult.
WOW = Pioneer
The Blue Book = The Truth that Leads to Eternal Life
Mark and Avoid = disfellowshipped
Household = The Truth
Goey, you asked, what are dubs?
Jdubs. As in J-W's. Dub. Dubya. J Dubya. Dubs.
They are Jehovah's Witness Wayfers (more fattening, no doubt, since they are allowed to have incomes and, therefore, meals).
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Trefor Heywood
I have to ask - what is this kool-aid stuff?
And those lists of definitions are so right-on! :D-->
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Raf
In the late 1970s there was this group who followed a cult leader named Jim Jones. Notorious. He had a bunch of them commit suicide by drinking kool-aid laced with cyanide. Those who did so willingly were last. First they had to take care of the unwilling.
Since then, kool-aid drinkers has evolved into a condescending term for someone who does not question another's authority, no matter how absurd, illogical, hateful or hurtful an instruction the authority figure is demanding.
TRIVIA NOTE: It wasn't Kool-Aid at Jonestown. It may have been "Flavor-Aid," a competitive knock-off.
Don't drink the Kool-Aid.
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dougie73
Hey I just looked really quick at that TWI phrases and was the term : FRUIT in there ?
Fruit as in new people ? Hi this is Tom and Nancy and they are my new friut in twig !!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hated that ! My FRUIT !!!!!!!!!!!!! --> Some people even got into fits because they were worried you might spoil their fruit and then they wouldn't look as good in front of the BC
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WordWolf
I never heard the "fruit" thing. Might it have been a local expression
only?
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JustThinking
WW,
I heard something similar in more than one place. "Seeing fruit" was used in reference to growth in a twig. I never saw it used to directly refer to people in the way Dougie referenced.
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insurgent
I've heard fruit used as indicators of your success (obedience) to whatever the current rules were - to include signing people up for classes and bringing them to fellowship.
If you are living according to twi(t) doctrine then you will be bringing people in droves to fellowship. Those people are called your "fruit". They tie it back to some scripture, but I can't recall it at the moment.
Fruit also is considered your material abundance, spiritual insight, and used as an excuse as to why the leadership picked on you (if they didn't see enough fruit in your life).
The definition of fruit depended on the sentence and situation.
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Tom Strange
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dmiller
Yes -- it was common to hear this. Gotta stand up for yourself, and make sure everyone knows you are out there witnessing, you know. -->
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dmiller
Almost like rewards in Heavan don't count, but those in twig did.
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lindyhopper
I didn't read all of this but I thought an accurate description of "way brain" is appropriate.
WAY-BRAIN: a) may refer to the use of Way terms, the elitest way attitude, or any number of way doctrines or any other sililar twi-type charicteristics that an accuser may deem appropriate. b) @ The Grease Spot Cafe the term is used as the worst of insults. Mearly implying that one has "
way-brain" is worse than calling their mother a bad name.
oh and c)what everyone here has to some degree or another. ;)-->
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WordWolf
"third-aid". twi term. The idea was that, before any medical attention was
given like an aspirin, you would pray, then ask someone else to pray
(steps 1 and 2).
This has nothing to do with the 100% reimbursements the bot/bod has for
LARGE amounts of medical attention.
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WordWolf
"piffle": GSC term. Another name for PFAL.
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WordWolf
"empties": twi-speak. A person not born again, who does not have
Holy Spirit, thus, empty inside. Usually in the context of them being
scum, not even worth saying "hello" to.
"in the household": twi-speak for twi. The Household supposedly was
twi Christians and ONLY twi Christians. Other Christians were second-
class at BEST, and empties didn't even count. Was eventually
tacked on to sentences and definitions without rhyme or reason.
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gc
I don't remember the word "tricked" in the posts. We used it all the time here. You know, when someone actually left the way, they were tricked by the devil! And then we'd pray for them, because they needed it! ;)-->
gc
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Steve!
Of course, "only a sap runs out of the way tree".
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diazbro
Lets see...
The Law of Believing A fundamental teaching in PFAL that is a combination of 50s pop psychology (see books by Maxwell Maltz, Norman Vincent Peale, and Earl Nightingale) with biblical references. It was at one time the foundation of the PFAL foundational class. This law enables believers (and even unbelievers) to systematically acquire the abundant life referred to in John 10:10.
VPW graciously dictated a sequence of steps that one must execute to obtain percious things such as fire engine red drapes. One MUST accomplish each step carefully and not to do so negates the entire process. The first step was to determine if the object of desire was "available". (No point in asking for something that isn't there).
This first step prompted one of the more enduring (and subsequently loathed) questions in Way history - "Is it available to" ? Some people still reel in nausea when they hear a question or phrase involving the word "available" even if the poser of the question had no knowledge of TWI, VPW, or the magical law of believing.
While seemingly a wonderful tool there were few people who could master all the necessary steps in the formula quite likely because no one had ever heard the same definition for "having one's needs and wants parallel", which was one of the more important ,(yet least understood), aspects of the formula for acquisition.
Some theorized that it meant you should only ask for what it is you really need and others suggested that your needs are satisfied by God anyway so you shouldn't really be using the law of believing to get cool or fun stuff. Lots of debates took place on exactly how one would determine if a need and a want were in fact parallel and if not, how to balance them out to get the good stuff. References were made to the Stones' "you can't always get what you want.. but you get what you need" as evidence that VPW's teachings were universally accepted even by heathen rock stars.
But the Law of Beleiving isn't all good. It had a very,very dark side. Those who were fearful could unknowingly unleash "negative believing" which would result in your fears coming to pass. Worse, your level of fear didn't have to be parallel to anything. You just had to have it for some unspecified period of time and then BLAM. Your fear would become reality! In this regard there was much less work involved in receiving bad things than the good things. You didn't have to determine the availability of the bad thing nor did you have to match it up ("parellel-ize") with any thing. Just fear it and it will come to pass !
According to VPW negative believing should be avoided by parents as it can result in the death of their children who ,evidently, up until some unspecified age are not responsible for their own negative believing until something like a guardian angel leaves them as they transition into adulthood (perhaps at puberty ? ). Before this time its the parents "believing" which determines the child's destiny. As if parents didn't already have enough to worry about. Speaking of worry...
Also essential to the understanding of negative believing is that doubt leads to worry and worry leads to fear though there was no formula or chart that helped the person determine when a doubt turned to worry or just how much worrying one had to do before they had a bona fide FEAR.
Seems somewhat lazy and inconsiderate of VPW to omit details on these details of dark side since it could have such perilous impact on one's life.
Its important to know that those who didn't get what they had believed for were typically chastised for being out of fellowship or for not giving enough "ABS" money. Of course getting back into fellowship is contingent upon giving ABS so you can attend more Way functions to talk about how wonderful the Law of Believing is.
The whole "believing = receiving" thing came under some examination when it was discovered that VPW had cancer
which is, by Way teaching, caused by a "devil spirit". Without discussing how VPW could get a devil spirit - it was telling that "The Teacher" could not "get his believing" to the point where he could get the healing that presumably could be easily had by applying the principles. Of course followers of TWI who had maladies were still chastised and humiliated for suffering with diseases and medical conditions of any kind. A different standard was applied to VPW than was to the rest of TWI community. Some attempted to rationalize this problem by suggesting that VPW "willed himself" to die and thus COULD HAVE believed himself healthy again though CHOSE not to. (I don't think many went for this though there are those who do).
The LOB spawned many Way urban myths some of which persist today. Claims of "believers driving 2000 miles to the ROA in a car that had no oil or even gas" were common place enough in the 70s to suggest that the law of believing might have been tailor made for young people who drove clunker automobiles with hideous green , "Way" bumper stickers
on their way to New Knoxille, Ohio. If you weren't going to HQ or "the rock" then you had to use gas and oil.
Spectacular tales of healing (the blind seeing, the crippled walking, even limbs growing back) were of course abundant (no pun intended) though most are related in third or fourth person with no reasonable contact trail to followup on it even if you wanted to. Less exciting though very popular amongst WOWs were "miraculous" stories of healings from sore throats and colds ! "My WOW brother prayed for me and just three days later my sore throat was gone !".
Its unknown to me exactly what role the LOB plays in TWI of 2005. Is it even taught ? If it is then is it even the same recipe for abundance outlined by VPW ? Has any Way leader explained just how "The Teacher" could get a devil spirit and not be able to believe his way out of his illness" ?
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WeWereScammed
There will be many examples of Way Speak in my upcoming movie about VPW/TWI, "Swindler's List"
Well IF I was doing a movie, that's what I'd call it.
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dmiller
Diazbro -- exactly!
Repeat after me -----
the Leader is always right.
The Leader is always ......
The Leader is .............
-->
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WordWolf
Uh, guys.....
There's a copy of this thread enshrined in "Greasespot 101",
except for the posts from the last 2 days....
BTW,
Hello, GC.
Hope you enjoy your stay.
I recommend "Greasespot 101" when looking around.
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