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Confessions of a two-cult survivor
#11
RE: Confessions of a two-cult survivor
Welcome Woof!

Never heard of "The Way". Got some reading to do unless you can give me the skinny.

Glad you not one of those GD fence sitters.
I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem.
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#12
RE: Confessions of a two-cult survivor
(September 27, 2018 at 4:09 pm)Sal Wrote: Hello.

Only difference between a cult and a religion is the number of adherents.

[Image: quote-the-only-difference-between-a-cult...-92-40.jpg]
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#13
RE: Confessions of a two-cult survivor
(September 27, 2018 at 7:38 pm)wyzas Wrote: Welcome Woof!

Never heard of "The Way". Got some reading to do unless you can give me the skinny.

Glad you not one of those GD fence sitters.

Not entirely sure what you mean by a fence sitter, but I'll take the compliment.

IF the deists are correct, God created everything and then went on to play skeeball somewhere in New Jersey, which no one can really prove or disprove with the possible exception of Alanis Morrisette. Regardless, I see no reason to believe in Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Thor, Odin, Zeus, Ra, Rao, Mithra, Joe Pesci*, Isis, Osiris, Eshu, Oya, Mixcoatl, Divana, Podaga, Bendis, Ogoun, Jehovah, Yahweh, El Shaddai, Nodens, Pakhet, Qamaits or Donald Trump*.

* While I have it on good authority that these individuals actually do exist, the fact is they are not gods and anyone who treats them as such is a moron.

The only god whose existence I would even entertain is one whose existence would be, by definition, undetectable... which is to say, one who may as well not exist for all he cares, much less for all I care.

The Way is a wannabe cult out of New Knoxville Ohio that roped people into taking classes to grow, spiritually. The original series of classes was called Power for Abundant Living (PFAL), pioneered (to the extent that it wasn't plagiarized) by founder Victor Paul Wierwielle, who died in 1985. Wierwille was succeeded by L. Craig Martindale, under whose leadership the cult "snapped," shattering into a dozen pieces, some of which are likely larger than The Way itself. The Way continues to attract with its mixture of evangelicalism, fundamentalism and iconoclastic theology (Jesus Christ is Not God; the dead are not alive now and will not be until the return of Christ).

Everyone in the way claims to speak in tongues. Not one actually does. Some scholars call it "free vocalization." Most call it babbling bullcrap.

It's hard to tell how many followers of The Way there are. At its height, it boasted 100,000 graduates of PFAL. Today, I doubt they're even close to that number in terms of active followers. Most offshoots are tiny as well.

If you stumble on a church that does not believe in the Trinity, does not believe Jesus is God, but also is not Jehovah's Witness, I'd bet good money its roots can be traced to The Way International.
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#14
RE: Confessions of a two-cult survivor
Define "exist".

Nice Dogma reference. You should go out and fuck with a nun.
I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem.
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#15
RE: Confessions of a two-cult survivor
Welcome Two-Cults. Glad to have you here. Just jump in anywhere you like.

The difference between agnosticism and atheism is a bridge too far for many believers. But it really isn't surprising to combine them. Being agnostic is just conceding that that kind of shit is just unknowable. There are a few theists who will admit the same. (They're the good ones.)

I don't believe in anything supernatural but I understand that for some it is deeply important. So fine, we can agree to disagree so long as they can leave their WatchTower's at the door. They deserve as much respect for their beliefs as they demonstrate toward mine. Otherwise, fuck em'.


(September 27, 2018 at 6:28 pm)The Valkyrie Wrote: Welcome.

I have a large number of johos in my family.

Congratulations on your double escape.


Good lord!  I mean, wow!   I did not realize you had that to contend with.  Ouch!  Not in your immediate family though?
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#16
RE: Confessions of a two-cult survivor
(October 4, 2018 at 4:54 pm)Whateverist Wrote: Welcome Two-Cults. Glad to have you here. Just jump in anywhere you like.

The difference between agnosticism and atheism is a bridge too far for many believers. But it really isn't surprising to combine them. Being agnostic is just conceding that that kind of shit is just unknowable. There are a few theists who will admit the same. (They're the good ones.)

I don't believe in anything supernatural but I understand that for some it is deeply important. So fine, we can agree to disagree so long as they can leave their WatchTower's at the door. They deserve as much respect for their beliefs as they demonstrate toward mine. Otherwise, fuck em'.


(September 27, 2018 at 6:28 pm)The Valkyrie Wrote: Welcome.

I have a large number of johos in my family.

Congratulations on your double escape.


Good lord!  I mean, wow!   I did not realize you had that to contend with.  Ouch!  Not in your immediate family though?

No, my immediate family are Catholic (mum's side) or atheist (dad's side). But I have extended family on both sides who belong to the cult.
Dying to live, living to die.
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#17
RE: Confessions of a two-cult survivor
Welcome, TwoCults! I don't know if you wanna give Scientology a whirl, but you know the saying: "third time's the charm."
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#18
RE: Confessions of a two-cult survivor
Welcome aboard!

Out of interest, I can see that you were born in the JW's, but why did you go into other cults/religions following getting out of that in particular? Did you feel the need to, or were you "convinced" to join by people/information that they had?
"Be Excellent To Each Other"
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#19
RE: Confessions of a two-cult survivor
(October 5, 2018 at 4:52 am)OakTree500 Wrote: Welcome aboard!

Out of interest, I can see that you were born in the JW's, but why did you go into other cults/religions following getting out of that in particular? Did you feel the need to, or were you "convinced" to join by people/information that they had?

Back in the day, the awesome thing about being catholic is the camps, pilgrimages to Fatima, etcetera, of youth catholics. At least here in portugal it was cool in oh so many ways. I just was bored of all the cherry picked bible readings, when we were not doing other... more interesting stuff.

Wait, why did I left Catholicism again?
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#20
RE: Confessions of a two-cult survivor
I have zero Jehovah's Witnesses in my family. Your story is super interesting. My entire immediate family is Protestant Christian. At the age of 12, your parents separated and divorced. My parents have been married for twenty-five years so far, and I think that their anniversary was on Wednesday, April 11, 2018. I saw on my cellphone that I texted my dad about it on that date. I have never ever been in a relationship, and I'm a virgin. I have jerked off to cyberporn since I was a child. So it's like I've already vicariously experienced sexual intercourse a million times. I have visited a certain Canadian pornographic video sharing website, or PornHub, a lot. I stopped jerking off to a video from that website at 6:51 am yesterday. I stopped jerking off to that same video at 9:46 am today. I surely don't feel as if I'm missing out on anything if I die a virgin, and I never have sexual intercourse. I surely don't feel as if I'm missing out on anything because like I said, I've already vicariously experienced it a million times. I'm not certain if I ever want to get married as I like MGTOW, and they're basically against all romantic relationships with women. If I ever was to get married I'd ideally like to marry a woman with blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. I think that the very first girl that I fell in love with had blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. I still remember her first name and last name. I won't type it here though. I have never ever heard of a Christian ministry called The Way International. I did go to Word of Life Bible Institute for two years. I made a lot of friends and a lot of money there. I don't have a single Twitter account.
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