Well, this was a long time back, '73 or '74, but we had a guy in our fellowship with some severe developmental disabilities (to put it charitably), physically and mentally.
Anyway, rather than letting the state house him and train him, the "believers" were encouraged to pray and "believe" for him and fellowship with him as much as possible. I guess I can understand that, but they had no idea of what they were dealing with.
Long story short, he ended up raping a girl in his twig. He ended up going to a state mental facility for criminals and she, well, I never saw her again, and don't know what became of her.
Not one word of the whole sordid story was EVER spoken to the local Wayfers. When I found out what had happened I was told to keep that info. in the infamous "lockbox".
In retrospect I can see that the way the incident was handled was way beyond stupid and very close to being criminally negligent. But, then, what do I know?
Good? Shaz, all I remember about help "outside the household" was that therapy or anything along those lines was nothing better than a "rent a buddy" system. Paying people to care for you and listen to you. LCM likened it to fraternities and sororities and paying people to like you.
"All needs should be met in the fellowship/twig/household" if they weren't, well, then you were screwing it up somewhere, but it wasn't TWI's fault.
Pretty sick. I'm ashamed I ever believed it and actually judged people based on that "fact" because I believed everything LCM taught. Gawd, the amounts of kool-aid I drank.... -->
Unreal, Geo. Love thy neighbor is great, but common sense tended to go out the window. We thought we had the instant answers to everything. All your problems solved in 12 easy sessions....
"Just renew your mind."
Wow, easy to say if you were sound-minded in the first place. And of course, the Corps had all that advanced training on counseling. We took a course for like, what, 2 weeks? And read the book Competent to Counsel. Yup, we were real prepared to handle some real issues, as long as the issues concerned which songs to sing with abundant sharing.
To make a long story short, in the mid-80's, I got to know a girl in my twig, who had been an incest victim, I discovered, from the time she was 2 until she left home at age 18. (and got witnessed to.) Her father actually spent time in jail for molesting her.
She had been with the way for 10 years, was in her late 20's and had never received counseling for her ordeal, and was having marital trouble. (What a shock, right?)
I immediately hooked her up with a sex abuse counselor I knew in town, and she finally got the therapy and the help she needed, which unfortunately led to her divorce. Long story... But when my higher up found out what I had done, as in refer her to a couselor, I got "reproved" heavily.
Just another warning signal that I was in the wrong organization. Duh....
This is one of those "don't get me started topics." Uh oh, too late.
What I saw and what I know now:
1. Being corps was assumed to give you the magical powers to handle ANY topic at all. Formal training of any kind was unnecessary. That was "world wisdom" after all.
2. Any new person needing this kind of help was ignored or in some way given the hint that they should move on. Too much work, I suppose, or just didnt' fit the plastic smile mold.
3. Those with serious problems needing intervention were expected to adopt the wayfer smile and get along or THEY were the problem. It was easy to slap a label on them such as "possessed" or "stiffnecked." Of course, in the 90s anything other than complete submission got your pegged as a "homo."
4. Medication was looked at as always wrong. In the 90s this did change to "suggestions." What I was told in private was it was important to put it this way to avoid legal issues. Gee, no thought to what actually was a good idea? Nah, why bother? :-(
The more I think about this, I can't help but think of the Stepford Wives. Everything had to LOOOOOOOK perfect. Everything solved in one 30 minute teaching. Or one cosmic statement from the local MOG. Sort of like the TV detective who always catches the criminal about 50 minutes in to the show.
More of what I saw:
5. A women who had been abused sexually was assigned a single guy to undershepherd her through PFAL. Single guy who was looking for a wife! Hello?
6. Psychologists and Psychiatrists were trashed by LCM thoroughly. If you had thoughts of going in the corps or being a tc and saw one? Forget it.
I think this mindset prevented a lot of people already in TWI from going for professional counseling (not the TWI kind) when it would have benefitted them. They never took that first step to seek help, because they were told they didn't need unbeliever shrinks. We now call them experts.
"How are you?"
"GREAT!"
Regards,
Shaz
(P.S. Will be away for a couple of days. Carry on -- will tell you my story when I get back! ;)--> )
Outside counselling was very much frowned upon in our area. I have a friend whose daughter is biopolar, boy did her mom get grief for putting her on medications.
Not only counselling, but even M.D.'s were frowned upon to a degree. I had another friend who's two year old daughter fell and broke a bone in her neck. She needed surgery to fuse in a piece of bone, in order to repair the break. Not doing so could mean an accidental bump in the wrong spot could kill her.
Her parents were reproved for not believing God to heal their daughter.
You remeber we weren`t ALLOWED to confess any negatives?
Remember how we were taught about the lady that had so many horrible things happen to her she would just say to the mog *it is well*...
We were not allowed to confess that we had any physical or mental weaknesses...and we weren`t allowed to *dwell* on them ..thinking about probl;ems...only meant that we were harboring thoughts from satan...remember? renewed mind...only one thought at a time....sheeshe...my husband still operates this crap....and we have been out for over a decade.
Bottom line ...we were taught to ignore much that should have had attention..physical and menatl...counting on God to heal it....
I am astonished at what resurfaces from time to time that I shoved......way back .... even after all of these years.
Remember when LCM announced he and Donna were going to get marriage counseling?
Late 70's early 80's it was not uncommon for leaders to tell underlings to get someone to a mental health institute or at least professional. Depends on the leader I guess, but one woman I knew was placed in a hospital, one man was told to stay away from his family until a doctor said he was safe enough to be around them.
If I remember correctly, Loy had stepped down as pres, placed Rosie in and announced this move. It was stated no one would be capable in TWI to do the job as they were all to afraid of him!
CYA with a heavy dose of ego and some truth mixed in! The truth being anyone with any savvy was kicked out by him long before this! As MOGFOT he announced no one was spiritual in his *household*!
So I'm wondering: how many of you, or people that you know who were in TWI, were given a little less than a referral to a knowledgeable professional? Anybody given a geographical cure? Anybody told that the Word was the answer to mental illness, and anything else was "good" instead of "best?"
IMO, everybody ever involved in twi...because twi was born upon, grew upon, thrived upon and still lives upon the fact that they have convinced people with real problems that the only solution to those problems is twi.
Quote 'It would be interesting to know how many people in a current Way fellowship are seeking psychological or medical help outside the walls of Zion.'
In the last fellowship I went to(left in 99) it would behoove you to keep your mouth SHUT about any problems. If you didn't look perfect, then you were trouble to be weeded out.
And mental problems--weren't retemories and renewing the mind supposed to solve all that?
It would also be interesting to know how many went to seek help or just plain ran after being apart of the Advance Class on the Way of Abundance & Power.
You know it is painful to read this thread but nessisary. I can't amagin how many of God's wonderful folks are suffering from some form of mental illness as a result of TWI.
Would someone do a poll on this? It could be stated, "Since leaving TWI how many people have had to seek professional help either by councel/meds or both.( I don't know how to do polls.)
Some of my stuff is directly related to TWI. The worst of it spiritual PTSD. I will not allow my self to get close to any "spiritual organization" and have a HUGE distrust for clergy regardless of the belief system. I'm parinoid as all get out, and really hate that I can't get past the fear. I guess everything in it's own time.
I wish there was a class action suite against them for all the mental anguish, shame and hoplessness that spilled into our minds for leaving the mother ship and then having to pick up the peices.
Anyway while in the corps folks got sick and believing was the answer in all matters. They had a potential outbreak of strep-throat at Emporia and came close to quarantining the whole campus. Boy was the pressure on to be healthy or else. At the time the answer to mental health issues were diablo spiritos. Talk about the Inquision mind set. That is pretty screwed up.
All I know that if you walked away from TWI with minimal mental health issues ...you were very fortunite.
Ditto on just about every thing everyone has said regarding twi believers seeking professional counseling. A couple of women I know that did need professional counseling were sent to Dottie M. for counseling....now, that bothers me. These women were young, innocent, inexperienced (you relating here ExCathy?) but were in desperate need of help. Dottie is excellent, well trained (educationally) and easy to talk to. I wonder about all of this now. She, as the counselor, KNEW, about the history of the *offender,* yet, counseled these very young women. Some how, some way.....that whole thing feels slimey.
That aside, Imbus, I remember the 1984 strep throat outbreak at Emporia. I was at Gunnison that block and remember being SO THANKFUL that I was not at Emporia. My childhood, teenage and young adult years had been spent fighting off strep. I had been hospitalized a handful of times with strep, and had been cautioned that another case could prove "difficult."
That block at Gunnison (first block 84) was THE FREAKING STALAG, it was meant to be a ball breaker and it was...but still I was thankful I wasn't there at Emporia because I realized that another serious strep infection could be fatal. Okay....how is that for a sick rationalization?
First week in rez for us sickth korp, and we were on serious caloric deprivation. I mean, the guys were HONGRY. Well, at luch one day one of the fellows at the table goes catatonic. An absolute trance. We're passing the water and coffee around him. After awhile Wally Manthy goes "hey bro, you gonna eat your food?". After no response, he swoops up the plate & downs the contents. Jeez. after teh meal the table is cleared And the guy is just left there. Still catatonic, staring off into space. But one of the people at the table goes to Loy & says 'we gotta prollem'.
What does Martindale do? after determining the guy was definitely catatonic, he had his roomates pack up his belongings, bring him to the bus station & stick him on a bus home. Still catatonic.
Oh Evan..how truly reprehensible...drive the poor guy to the point of being in a catatonic state....and just dump him in the most convenient manner....Don`t bother taking him to a hospital...might involve law suite I suppose....Don`t bother to send someone to look after him since he obviously couldn`t look after himself....and make sure that this poor fellow gets home safely.....Don`t bother to contact family members to help him...
Isn`t that just like twi...he wasn`t usefull anymore...so dump him like so much garbage....heartless bastards.
The cruelty is unfathomable to me...this is what you got for giving your utmost for God....putting your life on the line...placing your trust in God...being a sold out doulos sacraficing all ...your utmost for his highest.....and all of the other crapola that they fed us to get us to enroll in the corpes program.
Just when I didn`t think that my opinion of lcm couldn`t sink any lower....
In Aug. of 1974 I went to Amarillo TX out WOW, 7 twigs, 28 people. There was a young lady who, on the way to Amarillo, got possessed (the only way I know to describe it). She was getting progressively worse so from the time the Rock ended, to the time we arrived, was possession, or what seemed like it. Totally out of control, foul language, fierce, visage changing, the works.
She was sent packing, home. Don't know if the branch coordinator called her parents, probably, but Valerie52 might know more about this than me, cause she was in the branch coords. family.
Anyways, looking back on this, I don't think it would have hurt us to send her to a local hospital and have her evaluated, on the ministry's dime, rather than send her packing. In this case, people's praying and ministering didn't work, but I'm sure this young lady didn't get possessed on purpose. She needed help, and we just let her go home.
Agreed oldies....I wish that the ministry would have helped folks when they broke down.... a lot of times (in my area) people were encouraged to go wow or corpes in order to address problems....you know...when you put your life on the line and trust God...he could deliver you...maybe some folks tried their very best to live up to everybodies enthusiastic expectations and just couldn`t make it....I wish that the ministry would have taken better care of them when they needed help....seems like we were kind of creeped out whenever it came to mental issues.
After taking his first PFAL class, my first husband, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, was convinced the Word had healed him. He was on medication but went for a blood test to prove he was healed after he had thrown out his medication(s). (I wasn't in his life at this time.)
Of course, anyone who knows about psychotropic medications will know that those medications take quite some time to get into your system - they also take some time to leave your system. He had some labs drawn about a week or so after he stopped his meds and everything was within "normal" range.
However, behavior modification is low on the list for successfully treating these types of disorders. Like someone who has a weight problem because of a thyroid problem, someone with mental illness is missing some of the proper chemicals needed to function. Additionally, some mental illnesses are a result of a coping mechanism that the brain sets up to get the body physically through some trauma. In my first husband's case, he had been molested as a child.
To put it simply, it was hell living with someone who could be your best friend one moment, and then your worst enemy minutes later - and you had no idea why. There were times when I knew the man I was talking to was not my husband - he was someone else. I could see the "personalities" change. I tried to explain this to leadership - I was told I was thinking evil and had a lot to learn about being a good wife. When we went to marriage counseling it was never - NOT ONCE - recommended that he have a mental evaluation.
People who were "healed" of an illness were often trotted out for witnessing or testimonials, especially when it was time to drum up a class. They were a useful tool to TWI, from time to time. However, people who had any problems - even problems they couldn't help - were shunned or eliminated. No weakness, you know.
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George Aar
Well, this was a long time back, '73 or '74, but we had a guy in our fellowship with some severe developmental disabilities (to put it charitably), physically and mentally.
Anyway, rather than letting the state house him and train him, the "believers" were encouraged to pray and "believe" for him and fellowship with him as much as possible. I guess I can understand that, but they had no idea of what they were dealing with.
Long story short, he ended up raping a girl in his twig. He ended up going to a state mental facility for criminals and she, well, I never saw her again, and don't know what became of her.
Not one word of the whole sordid story was EVER spoken to the local Wayfers. When I found out what had happened I was told to keep that info. in the infamous "lockbox".
In retrospect I can see that the way the incident was handled was way beyond stupid and very close to being criminally negligent. But, then, what do I know?
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Belle
Good? Shaz, all I remember about help "outside the household" was that therapy or anything along those lines was nothing better than a "rent a buddy" system. Paying people to care for you and listen to you. LCM likened it to fraternities and sororities and paying people to like you.
"All needs should be met in the fellowship/twig/household" if they weren't, well, then you were screwing it up somewhere, but it wasn't TWI's fault.
Pretty sick. I'm ashamed I ever believed it and actually judged people based on that "fact" because I believed everything LCM taught. Gawd, the amounts of kool-aid I drank....
-->
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shazdancer
Unreal, Geo. Love thy neighbor is great, but common sense tended to go out the window. We thought we had the instant answers to everything. All your problems solved in 12 easy sessions....
"Just renew your mind."
Wow, easy to say if you were sound-minded in the first place. And of course, the Corps had all that advanced training on counseling. We took a course for like, what, 2 weeks? And read the book Competent to Counsel. Yup, we were real prepared to handle some real issues, as long as the issues concerned which songs to sing with abundant sharing.
Regards,
Shaz
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ex10
Great topic, shaz.
To make a long story short, in the mid-80's, I got to know a girl in my twig, who had been an incest victim, I discovered, from the time she was 2 until she left home at age 18. (and got witnessed to.) Her father actually spent time in jail for molesting her.
She had been with the way for 10 years, was in her late 20's and had never received counseling for her ordeal, and was having marital trouble. (What a shock, right?)
I immediately hooked her up with a sex abuse counselor I knew in town, and she finally got the therapy and the help she needed, which unfortunately led to her divorce. Long story... But when my higher up found out what I had done, as in refer her to a couselor, I got "reproved" heavily.
Just another warning signal that I was in the wrong organization. Duh....
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JustThinking
This is one of those "don't get me started topics." Uh oh, too late.
What I saw and what I know now:
1. Being corps was assumed to give you the magical powers to handle ANY topic at all. Formal training of any kind was unnecessary. That was "world wisdom" after all.
2. Any new person needing this kind of help was ignored or in some way given the hint that they should move on. Too much work, I suppose, or just didnt' fit the plastic smile mold.
3. Those with serious problems needing intervention were expected to adopt the wayfer smile and get along or THEY were the problem. It was easy to slap a label on them such as "possessed" or "stiffnecked." Of course, in the 90s anything other than complete submission got your pegged as a "homo."
4. Medication was looked at as always wrong. In the 90s this did change to "suggestions." What I was told in private was it was important to put it this way to avoid legal issues. Gee, no thought to what actually was a good idea? Nah, why bother? :-(
The more I think about this, I can't help but think of the Stepford Wives. Everything had to LOOOOOOOK perfect. Everything solved in one 30 minute teaching. Or one cosmic statement from the local MOG. Sort of like the TV detective who always catches the criminal about 50 minutes in to the show.
More of what I saw:
5. A women who had been abused sexually was assigned a single guy to undershepherd her through PFAL. Single guy who was looking for a wife! Hello?
6. Psychologists and Psychiatrists were trashed by LCM thoroughly. If you had thoughts of going in the corps or being a tc and saw one? Forget it.
I'll stop before I start to get really p***ed.
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shazdancer
I think this mindset prevented a lot of people already in TWI from going for professional counseling (not the TWI kind) when it would have benefitted them. They never took that first step to seek help, because they were told they didn't need unbeliever shrinks. We now call them experts.
"How are you?"
"GREAT!"
Regards,
Shaz
(P.S. Will be away for a couple of days. Carry on -- will tell you my story when I get back!
;)--> )
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Abigail
Outside counselling was very much frowned upon in our area. I have a friend whose daughter is biopolar, boy did her mom get grief for putting her on medications.
Not only counselling, but even M.D.'s were frowned upon to a degree. I had another friend who's two year old daughter fell and broke a bone in her neck. She needed surgery to fuse in a piece of bone, in order to repair the break. Not doing so could mean an accidental bump in the wrong spot could kill her.
Her parents were reproved for not believing God to heal their daughter.
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rascal
You remeber we weren`t ALLOWED to confess any negatives?
Remember how we were taught about the lady that had so many horrible things happen to her she would just say to the mog *it is well*...
We were not allowed to confess that we had any physical or mental weaknesses...and we weren`t allowed to *dwell* on them ..thinking about probl;ems...only meant that we were harboring thoughts from satan...remember? renewed mind...only one thought at a time....sheeshe...my husband still operates this crap....and we have been out for over a decade.
Bottom line ...we were taught to ignore much that should have had attention..physical and menatl...counting on God to heal it....
I am astonished at what resurfaces from time to time that I shoved......way back .... even after all of these years.
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Grizzy
Remember when LCM announced he and Donna were going to get marriage counseling?
Late 70's early 80's it was not uncommon for leaders to tell underlings to get someone to a mental health institute or at least professional. Depends on the leader I guess, but one woman I knew was placed in a hospital, one man was told to stay away from his family until a doctor said he was safe enough to be around them.
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pjroberge
Interestingly enough one of LCM's many lies is that psychologists were unneeded by a believer.
Interesting that LCM was being treated by one himself......
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JustThinking
Rascal quote:
"You remeber we weren`t ALLOWED to confess any negatives?"
THAT sums up my entire experience with TWI on this subject. Ignore as much as possible, dismiss what can't be ignored.
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JustThinking
Grizzy quote:
"Remember when LCM announced he and Donna were going to get marriage counseling?"
When did Loyboy announce this?! Was it after the court case came to light? If so, it was just a CYA move.
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Grizzy
If I remember correctly, Loy had stepped down as pres, placed Rosie in and announced this move. It was stated no one would be capable in TWI to do the job as they were all to afraid of him!
CYA with a heavy dose of ego and some truth mixed in! The truth being anyone with any savvy was kicked out by him long before this! As MOGFOT he announced no one was spiritual in his *household*!
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CoolWaters
IMO, everybody ever involved in twi...because twi was born upon, grew upon, thrived upon and still lives upon the fact that they have convinced people with real problems that the only solution to those problems is twi.
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Redzephyr
It would be interesting to know how many people in a current Way fellowship are seeking psychological or medical help outside the walls of Zion.
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Bramble
Quote 'It would be interesting to know how many people in a current Way fellowship are seeking psychological or medical help outside the walls of Zion.'
In the last fellowship I went to(left in 99) it would behoove you to keep your mouth SHUT about any problems. If you didn't look perfect, then you were trouble to be weeded out.
And mental problems--weren't retemories and renewing the mind supposed to solve all that?
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Redzephyr
It would also be interesting to know how many went to seek help or just plain ran after being apart of the Advance Class on the Way of Abundance & Power.
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imbus
You know it is painful to read this thread but nessisary. I can't amagin how many of God's wonderful folks are suffering from some form of mental illness as a result of TWI.
Would someone do a poll on this? It could be stated, "Since leaving TWI how many people have had to seek professional help either by councel/meds or both.( I don't know how to do polls.)
Some of my stuff is directly related to TWI. The worst of it spiritual PTSD. I will not allow my self to get close to any "spiritual organization" and have a HUGE distrust for clergy regardless of the belief system. I'm parinoid as all get out, and really hate that I can't get past the fear. I guess everything in it's own time.
I wish there was a class action suite against them for all the mental anguish, shame and hoplessness that spilled into our minds for leaving the mother ship and then having to pick up the peices.
Anyway while in the corps folks got sick and believing was the answer in all matters. They had a potential outbreak of strep-throat at Emporia and came close to quarantining the whole campus. Boy was the pressure on to be healthy or else. At the time the answer to mental health issues were diablo spiritos. Talk about the Inquision mind set. That is pretty screwed up.
All I know that if you walked away from TWI with minimal mental health issues ...you were very fortunite.
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Radar OReilly
Ditto on just about every thing everyone has said regarding twi believers seeking professional counseling. A couple of women I know that did need professional counseling were sent to Dottie M. for counseling....now, that bothers me. These women were young, innocent, inexperienced (you relating here ExCathy?) but were in desperate need of help. Dottie is excellent, well trained (educationally) and easy to talk to. I wonder about all of this now. She, as the counselor, KNEW, about the history of the *offender,* yet, counseled these very young women. Some how, some way.....that whole thing feels slimey.
That aside, Imbus, I remember the 1984 strep throat outbreak at Emporia. I was at Gunnison that block and remember being SO THANKFUL that I was not at Emporia. My childhood, teenage and young adult years had been spent fighting off strep. I had been hospitalized a handful of times with strep, and had been cautioned that another case could prove "difficult."
That block at Gunnison (first block 84) was THE FREAKING STALAG, it was meant to be a ball breaker and it was...but still I was thankful I wasn't there at Emporia because I realized that another serious strep infection could be fatal. Okay....how is that for a sick rationalization?
Radar
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TheEvan
My favorite story:
First week in rez for us sickth korp, and we were on serious caloric deprivation. I mean, the guys were HONGRY. Well, at luch one day one of the fellows at the table goes catatonic. An absolute trance. We're passing the water and coffee around him. After awhile Wally Manthy goes "hey bro, you gonna eat your food?". After no response, he swoops up the plate & downs the contents. Jeez. after teh meal the table is cleared And the guy is just left there. Still catatonic, staring off into space. But one of the people at the table goes to Loy & says 'we gotta prollem'.
What does Martindale do? after determining the guy was definitely catatonic, he had his roomates pack up his belongings, bring him to the bus station & stick him on a bus home. Still catatonic.
Can't you just feel the love?
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rascal
Oh Evan..how truly reprehensible...drive the poor guy to the point of being in a catatonic state....and just dump him in the most convenient manner....Don`t bother taking him to a hospital...might involve law suite I suppose....Don`t bother to send someone to look after him since he obviously couldn`t look after himself....and make sure that this poor fellow gets home safely.....Don`t bother to contact family members to help him...
Isn`t that just like twi...he wasn`t usefull anymore...so dump him like so much garbage....heartless bastards.
The cruelty is unfathomable to me...this is what you got for giving your utmost for God....putting your life on the line...placing your trust in God...being a sold out doulos sacraficing all ...your utmost for his highest.....and all of the other crapola that they fed us to get us to enroll in the corpes program.
Just when I didn`t think that my opinion of lcm couldn`t sink any lower....
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oldiesman
In Aug. of 1974 I went to Amarillo TX out WOW, 7 twigs, 28 people. There was a young lady who, on the way to Amarillo, got possessed (the only way I know to describe it). She was getting progressively worse so from the time the Rock ended, to the time we arrived, was possession, or what seemed like it. Totally out of control, foul language, fierce, visage changing, the works.
She was sent packing, home. Don't know if the branch coordinator called her parents, probably, but Valerie52 might know more about this than me, cause she was in the branch coords. family.
Anyways, looking back on this, I don't think it would have hurt us to send her to a local hospital and have her evaluated, on the ministry's dime, rather than send her packing. In this case, people's praying and ministering didn't work, but I'm sure this young lady didn't get possessed on purpose. She needed help, and we just let her go home.
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rascal
Agreed oldies....I wish that the ministry would have helped folks when they broke down.... a lot of times (in my area) people were encouraged to go wow or corpes in order to address problems....you know...when you put your life on the line and trust God...he could deliver you...maybe some folks tried their very best to live up to everybodies enthusiastic expectations and just couldn`t make it....I wish that the ministry would have taken better care of them when they needed help....seems like we were kind of creeped out whenever it came to mental issues.
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ChasUFarley
After taking his first PFAL class, my first husband, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, was convinced the Word had healed him. He was on medication but went for a blood test to prove he was healed after he had thrown out his medication(s). (I wasn't in his life at this time.)
Of course, anyone who knows about psychotropic medications will know that those medications take quite some time to get into your system - they also take some time to leave your system. He had some labs drawn about a week or so after he stopped his meds and everything was within "normal" range.
However, behavior modification is low on the list for successfully treating these types of disorders. Like someone who has a weight problem because of a thyroid problem, someone with mental illness is missing some of the proper chemicals needed to function. Additionally, some mental illnesses are a result of a coping mechanism that the brain sets up to get the body physically through some trauma. In my first husband's case, he had been molested as a child.
To put it simply, it was hell living with someone who could be your best friend one moment, and then your worst enemy minutes later - and you had no idea why. There were times when I knew the man I was talking to was not my husband - he was someone else. I could see the "personalities" change. I tried to explain this to leadership - I was told I was thinking evil and had a lot to learn about being a good wife. When we went to marriage counseling it was never - NOT ONCE - recommended that he have a mental evaluation.
People who were "healed" of an illness were often trotted out for witnessing or testimonials, especially when it was time to drum up a class. They were a useful tool to TWI, from time to time. However, people who had any problems - even problems they couldn't help - were shunned or eliminated. No weakness, you know.
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