Review of The Cult That Snapped: A Journey Into The Way International
Memoir + history of The Way International
The Cult That Snapped by Karl Kahler weaves Kahler’s personal experience in The Way International (TWI) with an extensive history.
Kahler’s career as a journalist and editor shines through in the substantial research, interviews, and of course, writing. He brings together information from multiple books and publications about The Way into one story.
I particularly enjoyed Kahler’s interviews with former top leaders in The Way, such as Del Duncan and Jim Doop. He even interviewed old college classmates.
Kahler makes several astute observations about Wierwille and The Way, such as:
“Wierwille’s skill lay in getting people to reject authority figures — without ever realizing that Wierwille aspired to exercise authority over them beyond the wildest dreams of any teacher, preacher or politician.”1
I loved this excerpt from his interview with Steve and Sandi Heefners, some early way leaders who left in the early seventies, about the beginning years of the leadership training program called The Way Corps:
“‘It’s the law,’ [Steve] Heefner said. ‘You’re teaching the law here with this inner group and you’re teaching grace with the outer group.’
‘And it’s the grace that attracts them,’ said Sandi, ‘then he pulls it back and puts them under the law.’
That struck me as a good summation of my entire experience with The Way.”2
Me, too, Karl. Me too.
The Cult That Snapped is available in various ebook formats at Smashwords.
Karl Kahler, The Cult That Snapped, (self-pub., Kindle Edition, 2010), Kindle Locations 835-836.
Ibid, Kindle Locations 1725-1728.