Reepicheep Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I still think that was it very wrong for personal
> information, situations and direction to be tape
> recorded, transcribed and filed. It will probably
> never be used against anyone, and maybe it was
> even done with good intentions. Just the idea that
> it could still exist is disturbing.
>
> I often wonder why that type of behavior seemed
> normal to us back in the day. If someone asked me
> to write down my deepest thoughts now and turn it
> in to the "ministries", I believe I would turn and
> run.

Absolutely, fleeing is the best thing to do. I remember hearing that Leah Remini feared that Scientology would make public her secret files. And with good reason. Here are a few questions from Scientology's ethics exam: Have you ever killed or crippled animals for pleasure, had anything to do with pornography, lived or worked under an assumed name, blackmailed anybody, embezzled money, forged a signature check or document, hit and run with a car, murdered anyone, hidden a body, attempted suicide, peddled dope, been in prison. Another one of the questions....Do you have a secret you're afraid to tell? And here is the ethics exam disclaimer: While we cannot promise you faithfully that no part of it nor any answer you have made here will be given to the police or state, no Scientologist will ever bear witness against you in court by reason of answers to the security check. However, reportedly one man who confessed to skimming $25,000 a year from his business quit Scientology and asked for his money back. He was told if he pursed his claim, Scientology would reveal his tax cheating to the IRS. Many Scientology quitters have reported being harassed by the cult. I'm thinking that Scientology has the resources to go after critics; while, TLWF probably doesn't have the resources to harass quitters or critics. BTW, while Scientology doesn't pray for the "death" of defectors or critics, they do have a special "dead" file for those who send critical letters to the cult.

(Disgusted and horrified)

Years ago, I heard a rumor from an ex Scientologist that only people
who confessed to having done really heavy s**t were promoted to the highest
ranks in CO$, because this could be used against them if they tried to
defect or blow the whistle.

Persons who'd lived clean lives were less likely to get promoted - they had
nothing to fear!

BTW: This contrasts with canon law of the Roman Catholic Church which obligates
clergy not to break the seal of the confessional.

[www.google.com]

It’s fascinating to me how one human is able to gain control over another human, even without physical force. Usually, some form of fear is used on the followers and an exaggerated calling is declared about the leader. We are the ones who make the decision to give up our free will – although sometimes our minds are manipulated without us having a conscious awareness of it. On the positive side, we are also the ones who can decide to take that control back. We empower others by giving them our free will – they don’t inherently have the power to take our free will away.

Breaking the fear that others have used to manipulate us into bondage is essential to our freedom. Fearing personal files or imagined death threats only continues the cycle of bondage. If TLWF even had a shred of legitimacy when it came to prophesying someone’s death, Martha would have died a long time ago. The whole church (and it was much larger then), including John and Marilyn – the Door Opener Apostle and the Lamp of Israel - were screaming for her death until they were blue in the face. The only ones that died as a result were John and Marilyn. You reap what you sow. There is a reason we are to love even our enemies.

The promise of immortality in exchange for obedience is laughable after the fact. You cannot give to others what you do not have yourself – no matter how loud you scream about the new level you are about to break through into. For Marilyn to blame the lack of resurrection life on “the rebellion of the sons” is just an evil effort for control. You lead by example. Show us the fruit of that obedience by the resurrection life in you, before you demand it of others. Suggesting John and Marilyn are still leading TLWF from the cloud of witnesses and their teachings are still true is just crazy on so many levels. However, Jesus’ words, which they attempted to replace, will continue to live on, even after heaven and earth have passed away.

Random Thoughts...

I came into the Walk just after there had been a split in the Valley church, supposedly over someone that JRS called a witch. However, Woodrow Nichols' research paper, An Experiment in End-Time Apostasy: The Walk of John Robert Stevens, tells a more complete story. In Chapter 9: The Split of 1967, Nichols talks about division in the eldership. All I heard chatter about at the time was a witch named Salyer and how she had deceived a good portion of the congregation and they left.

I find it odd that the Nichols' paper can no longer be found on the internet. Is it possible for organizations to pressure websites to remove negative information about them? All I could find lately is this short summary. [www.dialogueireland.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2018 01:15PM by Reepicheep.

More Random Thoughts...

In Nichol's book, the reason for the split in the Valley church was revealed to be related to rumors of a "spiritual marriage" between JRS and an elder's wife. Several elders in the church were becoming very suspicious about the situation. They were also upset about the "special" relationship between JRS and the group of women known as the intercessors. I remember the intercessors group, and I can say without a doubt that they were aware that they should pray for Martha's death way back in the 60's. Of course, JRS excommunicated the elders who questioned him, and then, predictably, blamed the whole fiasco on witchcraft. Of course, there was no chance that those elders challenging some of the beliefs and practices in the Walk would win. After all, JRS owned the church. Why were there elders? Anyone who questioned him was out.

Lily rose and corboy, I've been watching the Leah Remini series about Scientology, too. I feel for the people that left, and what they've been through. It's good that Remini is shining a spotlight on the outrageous practices of the group.

Larry, I agree that we should not be afraid to keep speaking up and warning others about TLWF.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2018 07:45AM by Reepicheep.

Sheesh.

I live in a town where the CO$ people have a table and advertise the famous free stress questionnaire/test.

This is right by the main tourist attraction and there's nearly always someone sitting there getting tested.

Either people still fall for this, or perhaps CO$ has some of their own members act as shills so as to encourage unsuspecting members of the public to step right up(?)

Shill

[www.google.com]

Hmm....is there an equivalent of this in The Walk, or other hustler churches?

Reepicheep Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> More Random Thoughts...
>
> Of course,
> there was no chance that those elders challenging
> some of the beliefs and practices in the Walk
> would win. After all, JRS owned the church. Why
> were there elders? Anyone who questioned him was
> out.


Exactly. Another example of the deception in calling the LW a New Testament Church because they have church elders when in fact the LW elders had to be yes men to JRS (or G&M) or face excommunication. I shudder when I recall hearing JRS shout from the pulpit, "I don't want yes men."

Reepicheep...I too have wondered why all the links to the Woodrow Nichols book have disappeared. I don't know anything about the process to remove a link or webpage.

Corboy I don't know if the walk had/has shrills. It seems like most of us were just duped and when we presented our involvement to others to get them involved it came from a place of spreading kind of a fairytale. Little did I know of the witches and the yogi and JRS's equating psychic abilities with Walking with God. From the Nichol's research is sounds like this spiritual probe that JRS pushed was nothing more than hypnosis. Good grief.

For those interested, here is a .doc link to Woodrow Nichols's book. I downloaded it a few months ago when I first escaped my family's version of The Walk.

[drive.google.com]

lily rose Wrote:
--------------------------------------------
> Corboy I don't know if the walk had/has shrills.
> It seems like most of us were just duped and when
> we presented our involvement to others to get them
> involved it came from a place of spreading kind of
> a fairytale.

Lily rose and corboy,

I don't think that JRS used shills, that I was aware of. There wasn't much emphasis on outreach, especially during the "great nephilim wars". Within the church, he often held up one member as an example to get others to give money or time. Does anybody else remember the money-raising services when he would ask for pledges? He would get people to pledge an amount that they would give by a certain date for a project. It was all public, so you could really get sucked into pledging, sort of like bidding at an auction.

Later on, under G&M there was a time when ministries were actually sent out to malls to hand out literature. (!) I think changedagain has mentioned this before. It was about as ridiculous as it sounds.

Maybe they are doing more outreach now, especially in Brazil, where sheep-stealing seems to be a short-cut to grow their numbers (as in combined worship services with the Catholic youth).

Thanks for the link, Tknc. Awesome!

NARCISSISTIC MANIAC ON THE LOOSE ALERT:

We Must Foster And Nurture The Holy Spirit’s Presence
Posted on January 24, 2018
By Gary Hargrave

On Monday, January 22nd, I was honored to speak to the leadership of the Catholic charismatic movement in Brazil. I began by expressing the deep oneness I feel with Papa Francisco and my appreciation for what he is doing to create oneness in the Body of Christ.

[garyhargrave.com]
*********************************

Seriously? Did they just shred The First Principles, in which JRS called the Catholic Church the great whore of Babylon? Or did they edit it down to a toothpick? The pomposity, brazen egotism and hubris defies belief. Intruder alert to Papa Francisco and his sheep!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2018 11:29PM by Reepicheep.