Reepicheep Wrote: December 13, 2019 06:15AM
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> I heard that Bowman Littleton died in the orient,
> still searching for the "real" thing after he
> realized that this was not it. So sad.
WOW! What can I say? thanks for the information.
I recall Bowman saying "
I get my best revelations when I do ___ (some drug)." He really knew the Bible; but, it struck me as
oh so very wrong to "
get revelations" by using drugs.what's wrong in this picture?
When I was being gaslighted it did no make any sense at the time why any of the leaders needed
drugs to get a revelation of god.
Now, this belief of his is very revealing about leadership, in general. One of the problems is that I have to question how many TLF-er's were aware of the alcohol and drug use in the cult??? To grasp that fact I think should be extremely eye=opening. Many were
functional alcoholics * and drug users.If Bowman, as a prime example, cult hopped to the Orient, he never found a true revelation that people may have admired him for. that leaves a huge gap in what people believed - was the
revelation not good enough"?
*FYI * It may be helpful for those who only read the forum to know some facts about functional drug users and functional alcoholics, as we do know for fact that seemed to be the trend among much of the leadership of the Walk. For your convenience I overloaded with quotes and some links about
functional alcoholism and functional drug use facts. Knowing the facts I think is a compelling reason to question the
revelation of The Living Word Quote
To function is to be capable of carrying out a specific action or activity, to operate or to work. [u]High-functioning alcoholics[/u], then, are those people who are able to convincingly go through their prescribed roles and carry out their duties – yet who continues to drink alcohol.
They are able to maintain relationships with family, friends and colleagues, keep up with their job and home....they lead a double life: they are outwardly the successful, capable husband, wife, sibling, child or other relative, friend, or coworker, while inside they are alcoholics."
High-functioning alcoholics would never put themselves in the same consideration set as a skid-row drunk... both have the same disease, with high-functioning alcoholics (HFAs) the progression is different... extraordinarily high level of denial, they often find it extremely difficult to admit that they even have a problem with alcohol. Through years of success and achievement – despite drinking – the HFA isn’t looked upon by others as an alcoholic."...Warning Signs and Symptoms of HFAs Although some of the warning signs and symptoms of HFAs are similar to those of other alcoholics, they often appear at different stages of the progression of alcoholism... the longer the HFA goes without treatment, the more likely he or she will display some of these warning signs and symptoms.
• – The HFA surrounds himself with others who like to drink. This assimilation makes it difficult to pick out the HFA as being different from the rest. Besides, the HFA truly enjoys drinking and being around others with similar likes.] ...• Self-deluding – Some HFAs drink only expensive wine or liquor in the mistaken belief that this means they’re not an alcoholic. It’s a self-delusion that allows them to continue to drink with impunity.
[/quote] [
www.addiction-intervention.com]
Quote
Characteristics of High-Functioning Drug Users
www.drugaddictiontreatment.com/addiction-in-the...
Common Drugs Used by Functional Addicts. Students may use them for exams, while others may use to meet a tight deadline. Meth users, however, rarely appear to function for long. – Cocaine: Believe it or not, cocaine is actually popular within some circles of business executives. Like meth, this drug is a stimulant,... no addict, no matter how high-functioning, can avoid the dangers of long-term drug abuse, and are in just as much need of help and rehabilitation as a drug addict who falls apart early on. In addition, all functional drug addicts and their families may face greater hurdles on the road to rehabilitation. Denial can become more difficult to overcome, while very long-term use, even if that use is moderate, can lead to chronic health issues. Overdose is also still a risk. ***
At home, problems inevitably occur as the addict breaks family trust with behaviors such as lying, stealing, and hiding to protect their drug use. In other words, while the addiction itself is fully functional, the user is not.
[
www.drugaddictiontreatment.com]
Quote
People who refuse to get professional help for their addiction yet are very functional in life are commonly called functional addicts. It means that a person’s addiction is not always obvious to outside observers but is still very much present in their lives and is likely starting to affect their life negatively overall.
Traits of Functional Addicts
People may think that addictions prevent people from functioning in everyday life, but many addicts maintain careers, community activities and relationships with friends and family...can be difficult to tell if someone is dealing with an addiction or not,False appearance of normalcy – From the outside, most functional addicts look completely normal and healthy, but they have actually developed a
complex double life that enables them to function in society while feeding their addictions...
Excuses – To continue the addiction, the functional addict must figure out how to hide his problem, which often means
making excuses for unusual behavior...**
[
www.foundationsrecoverynetwork.com]
Quote
But There Really Is a Problem
For the functional alcoholic, the denial runs deep, because they have yet to encounter outward negative consequences. They go to work every day. They haven't suffered financially. They have never been arrested. They don't have a problem.
The functional alcoholic consumes as much alcohol as any "full-blown" alcoholic, they just don't exhibit the outward symptoms of intoxication. This is because they have developed a tolerance for alcohol to the point that it takes more for them to feel the effects (including hangovers). Consequently, they must drink increasingly larger amounts to get the same "buzz" they want.
This slow build-up of alcohol tolerance means the functional alcoholic is drinking at dangerous levels that can result in alcohol-related organ damage, cognitive impairment,
**Not specific to Bowman, but, if we focus on the the word
excuses in the above quote, what may have been the
a excuse? how about
an assault of the enemy or Jezebel? Or maybe the cover excuse was
you people did not intercede hard enough. You are killing me with your lack of faith?
Only
ministry was acceptable. Getting therapy or treatment for alcohol or drugs use was ever acceptable. I anyone got any kind of psych treatment OMG!
so many needed treatment. So many will go from one addiction to another one cult to another with out help. (Let's all get therapy and healthy!)
For leadership to drink expensive booze on church credit cards has been revealed on this forum by a number of witnesses. I saw the drug abuse first hand among leadership in Anaheim. I knew bowman for a very long time tho' I was not a close friend or anything like that. I had nothing in common except that we had children.
If you note the words above
double life that pretty much spells out leadership in TLWF. ( Of course there are many exceptions- but who know for sure? One thing for certain is that all too many members of the Church of the Living Word had absolutely no revelation that we were being lead around by functional alcoholics and drug users saying one things, but, living an entirely different life style at our expense.
***How many in the cult
overdosed by accident? How many died of secondary complications of alcoholism or drug abuse? I think far more than we will ever know. it's kind of like a slow suicide that could be prevented IF only. IMO , I also think that some leadership
pushed over the edge some people who knew too much so they drank or did drugs. ( Please don't quote as a fact. this is my opinion form what I experienced before and after I escaped. Substance abuse served a purpose to keep the lies, cover ups, double life, the fraud going IMO.)
Bowman was at JRS side from almost the time he came into the Walk. He was cool guy. I liked him. I also knew that he was druggie. Way back when I did not think that his choices affected me - But, in reality from being better educated - this fact tells quite a bit about how JRS started his fraud operation that Marilyn absconded with with Gary.
It was to JRS and M & G advantages to discourage out side treatment and education. I only wish I could have process this 40 to 50 years ago. These facts, keep hitting me at a deeper and more clear level than ever before. I hope my words help someone to better process our survivor-ship on a healthy level.