Welcome back for the second of two posts about Victor Paul Wierwille and the books he “borrowed from.” These two posts are especially for former followers of The Way International, what I now consider a fundamentalist cult. In my memoir, Undertow, readers find out how I discovered, while working in … [Read more…]
Welcome to the first of two posts about “biblical research” done by Victor Paul Wierwille and how he derived it from other people without citing them as his sources. This is called plagiarism. This is serious. In my memoir, Undertow, readers find out how I discovered, while working in The … [Read more…]
If you think cults are long-gone, weird groups from the 1970s when some of us wore bell-bottoms, think again. Recently, the A&E channel produced a series about some high profile groups considered cults or “high-control” organizations, such as Scientology and NXIVM, a so-called self-empowerment group. A common question on the show … [Read more…]
Despite its official sounding title, this post is not a statement of faith, or a list of beliefs, or any other such carved-in-stone program I’ve invented. It is just some thoughts about my life after leaving a cult. Why I’m writing this Recently, I was asked to speak at an … [Read more…]
My favorite humorist, Oscar Wilde, quoted a popular adage that I absolutely love: “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” Last Sunday, I gave another presentation about cults—specifically my own cult experience—and used that adage to convey this: Anyone who does not stand for values such as … [Read more…]