Rutland Hostel

[greenmtnboy]

I stayed at the hostel in Rutland a few days ago and found the people there polite, pleasant and hospitable. For around $15, it was good to have a shower and space to sleep away from the bugs, etc. Let's all try to be more positive--the old adage, if you don't have anything good to say, stay silent, is advisable. I have no axe to grind in this--only trying to practice the Golden Rule.

[neo]

I stayed at the hostel in Rutland a few days ago and found the people there polite, pleasant and hospitable. For around $15, it was good to have a shower and space to sleep away from the bugs, etc. Let's all try to be more positive--the old adage, if you don't have anything good to say, stay silent, is advisable. I have no axe to grind in this--only trying to practice the Golden Rule.

i plan on staying there in september neo

[Wolf - 23000]

I stayed at the hostel in Rutland a few days ago and found the people there polite, pleasant and hospitable. For around $15, it was good to have a shower and space to sleep away from the bugs, etc. Let's all try to be more positive--the old adage, if you don't have anything good to say, stay silent, is advisable. I have no axe to grind in this--only trying to practice the Golden Rule.

Greenmtnboy,

If you lost a good friend of 12-years due to the twelve tribes you might feel different. The people are polite, pleasant as you said but they will also sick you in the back if you don't become part of their belief.

It is a cult.

Wolf

[RITBlake]

Greenmtnboy,

If you lost a good friend of 12-years due to the twelve tribes you might feel different. The people are polite, pleasant as you said but they will also sick you in the back if you don't become part of their belief.

It is a cult.

Wolf

I stayed there last year during my thru hike. Great place, nice people and a very interesting experience. Thankfully no one tried to 'sick me in the back' whatever that means. Maybe they did and I just didn't feel it. I would recomend this hostel, it's in a great location, and is clean and comfortable.

[Rockhound]

Greenmtnboy,

If you lost a good friend of 12-years due to the twelve tribes you might feel different. The people are polite, pleasant as you said but they will also sick you in the back if you don't become part of their belief.

It is a cult.

Wolf

friends are people, not possessions

[Wolf - 23000]

friends are people, not possessions

I agree, friends are not possessions and no one should tell others who they can be friends with and who they can not talk too.

Wolf

[bfitz]

friends are people, not possessions

Would you say that if he lost his friend to drug addiction or something like that? Because it's really the same thing.

[Rockhound]

Would you say that if he lost his friend to drug addiction or something like that? Because it's really the same thing.

not really. has your friend passed away ? If you were to speak to him now, would he tell you he's happy? are you a hiker? perhaps you should stop in & visit your friend sometime & resolve these issues.

[bfitz]

Not only a cult, but an abusive, exploitive, diabolical mind control group. The devil always has an inviting smile, remember that. The "golden rule" you refer to should not allow you to let a fellow being come to harm or walk into a trap.
Cults r' bad, m'kay?

[Jack Tarlin]

There was talk of a NEW hostel opening in Rutland this year ......does anyone know anything more about this?

[davidderush]

My friends live in the Rutland community that runs the hostel in question. The other night they had THIRTY ONE!!!! hikers there...amazing, really.

They have a couple of people there now who came as hikers for a night; and decided, as mature, grown up human beings, that the life they saw my friends living was worth taking a closer look at...so they have been living with my friends for the last month or so.

This of many hundreds who have simply enjoyed the warm hospitality and moved on as they planned.

Both kinds of people...the vast, vast majority who stay a night or two and move on...and the very few who visit longer...have been treated with fairness, kindness and respect...even love. No one has been "sicked in the back", whatever that is.

If one of these people decide the life my friends are living is what they want...well, good for them!

Wolf thinks he " lost a good friend of 12-years due to the twelve tribes"...but if he was a true friend, he would have been glad to have his friend do what was in his heart to do, wouldn't he?

Some people who claim to be "friends", are a cult unto themselves...if they can't control what their friends do, they don't want them anymore, because they can't use them.

My friends in Rutland really enjoy being hospitable....and the hundreds of hikers who have stayed there this year, in general, tell them that the warmth and love of their community was one of the highlights of their whole hike...one of the nicest places they stayed on the whole trail.

Having been there myself, I believe it.

Wolf should find a new friend, and give his bitterness an honest burial.

Sincerely,
David Derush

[neo]

i stay there last week,its behind the bus station,they operate a very nice cafe there also,i highly recommend staying there,the people there are very warm and friendly,i will stay again when i do the long trail in a couple years neo

[RSWillis]

stayed there a month and a half ago, and while the people are a little odd they certainly are friendly. I would stay there again in a heartbeat. Hubcap

[Wolf - 23000]

My friends live in the Rutland community that runs the hostel in question. The other night they had THIRTY ONE!!!! hikers there...amazing, really.

They have a couple of people there now who came as hikers for a night; and decided, as mature, grown up human beings, that the life they saw my friends living was worth taking a closer look at...so they have been living with my friends for the last month or so.

This of many hundreds who have simply enjoyed the warm hospitality and moved on as they planned.

Both kinds of people...the vast, vast majority who stay a night or two and move on...and the very few who visit longer...have been treated with fairness, kindness and respect...even love. No one has been "sicked in the back", whatever that is.

If one of these people decide the life my friends are living is what they want...well, good for them!

Wolf thinks he " lost a good friend of 12-years due to the twelve tribes"...but if he was a true friend, he would have been glad to have his friend do what was in his heart to do, wouldn't he?

Some people who claim to be "friends", are a cult unto themselves...if they can't control what their friends do, they don't want them anymore, because they can't use them.

My friends in Rutland really enjoy being hospitable....and the hundreds of hikers who have stayed there this year, in general, tell them that the warmth and love of their community was one of the highlights of their whole hike...one of the nicest places they stayed on the whole trail.

Having been there myself, I believe it.

Wolf should find a new friend, and give his bitterness an honest burial.

Sincerely,
David Derush

David, my friend as a member of the twelve tribe, was told for four years her place was under a man. Her place was to do “women chores” , cooking, cleaning, raising children. Her option that she shared with me didn’t matter because it was the men in the community that knew “better” then her. She was told what to wear, what she was to teach the children, even what email account she was to use and finally who she could talk to. As you said, “Some people who claim to be ‘friends’ are a cult unto themselves”.

The twelve tribes is about trying to brainwash others to do their bidding also refer to as a cult.

Finally, I know you can never understand this but true friends don’t give up on one another. I doubt the two of us will ever speak again, so be it but before another person in a low point of their life stays in your community, I think it is only fair they know what the twelve tribes really stand for.

Wolf

[ScottP]

They were awesome. Thier model is a beehive, and they take the good of that life with the bad.

[Israel]

Well, the beehive analogy is pretty good. Bees sound and look great until you are on the wrong side of them.....

Yes yes, I agree that to each their own if they want to live in the TT but disclosure as to their real structure and their real life sure would be good...one need only spend enough time there to learn there is more to the story than they tell you and one need only talk to a few of the ex-members to realize there is a A LOT that goes on that will not be seen until you are there a while.
And yes, I think we all agree the individuals in the community, overall, are very kind people. It is sad to see them so mentally and emotionally enslaved.

Remember the old adage about "if it looks too good to be true...."

So far it sounds like myself and Wolf are the only ones with any real practical experience with the group beyond just being a happy-go-lucky thru-hiker passing through and interestingly enough...we are the only ones putting forth a word of caution in this and the other thread about the TT.

[Marta]

I stayed there last month when I was passing through Vermont. I was the only hiker staying in the women's area that night. The room is lovely and the women's bathroom is the nicest one in any hostel I've been in. It's conveniently located near a big Wal-Mart, so it's easy to get town chores done.

Because of the way men and women are segregated, staying there was a lot less fun than other hostels--I had no one to talk to. Some of the commune members were extremely nice to me; some were fairly cold. A rather awkward situation arose when one member invited me to dinner in the restaurant (it was closed that day) and another one greeted me at the door and said, "We are not in the habit of feeding hikers."

The scary literature sprinkled liberally throughout the place should tip anyone off that their beliefs are not as benign as their smiles might lull you into thinking.

[Tinker]

The young man who talked with me at the pavilion at last year's Gathering was polite, friendly, and insistant he tried to win me over with a few Bible verses which we agreed on, but, when I told him that I believed that God has me in a church where he wants me, he kept suggesting that they had something better. I don't have the time, nor the inclination to move away from my church to try something different. His demeanor reminded me of the "Moonies" from the 1970's who lived down the street from me when I was in college - far away, disconnected look in his eyes and a constant smile.

I was in a cult for a number of years, and they used the Bible very effectively to control us by guaranteeing that God was interested in making life wonderful for us, praying on our selfish lusts. The Bible talks of the trials that are guaranteed to be part of the life of a follower of Christ. I'm reading the WHOLE Bible now, and finding this theme throughout.
From what I've heard of this group, the word of the leader takes precedent over the Bible. Call it whatever you will. Be cautious.

[Rain Man]

From what I've heard of this group, the word of the leader takes precedent over the Bible. Call it whatever you will. Be cautious.

You wouldn't be bad-mouthing the Catholics and their Pope, now would you???

Joking aside, I've yet to run into a religious sect (and that does includes Catholics, etc) who don't think THEIR guy has the direct dial to God.

It's just easy to pick on the newer sects and call them "cults." IMHO.

RainMan

.

[the goat]

why make fun of, or denigrate any religion or "cult"? if one doesn't believe what another group does, who cares?

if one cares enough to make fun or try to bring down another's beliefs, i would suspect it's because their belief structure is seriously lacking.