I received a google alert about this a few days ago and dismissed it as "there is no way Flurry is getting the Air Force to do a military fly over." It was also based upon the long standing pacifist attitude of Armstrongism.
Today I received an email from Jace at the Armstrong Delusion Blog. He gave permission to post his letter to The Edmond Sun newspaper that originally published the story (below letter).
Hello,
I am writing in response to an article you published on your website on June 28th of this year, regarding an F-16 flyover of the Armstrong Auditorium. Here is a link, for sake of convenience.
Via your article, I was shocked and dismayed to learn that the Philadelphia Church of God, the group behind "Armstrong Auditorium" was somehow able to arrange a flyover of their campus.
I find this to be most distressing, for several reasons. First, the church is considered by many, to be a doomsday cult. It's beliefs and policies have damaged numerous families, including my own. It's "no-contact" policy is especially vicious. I was raised in this group and cannot even begin to express the level of damage it inflicted upon my life. The group believes, as did Herbert Armstrong (the auditorium's namesake) that the end is very near, and that the USA will soon fall.
To that end, the PCG and other armstrongite groups have been preaching a steady message of anti-American rhetoric. In fact, I wrote an article about it earlier this year, that links to fifteen separate articles published by the PCG that reek of anti-Americanism. Here is my article if you'd like to check the facts for yourselves.
The real story you should be publishing, is not that the PCG was able to arrange this flyover, but, how they were able to. Doesn't the Pentagon have a vetting process in place to stop this sort of thing from happening? Does this flyover not represent a clear fracture in the separation of church and state? The citizens of Edmond - and all Americans - have a right to know why their tax dollars are being spent on promoting a religious cult. Are we not in a recession? How many thousands of dollars did this flyover cost the taxpayers? And all to benefit a group who believes that military service is wrong, and who's members are forbidden (among many, many other things) from serving in the military in the first place?
Please, ask the hard questions. Investigate this group. It's simply the right thing to do.
Thank you for your time.
F-16s to launch Armstrong Auditorium Independence Day celebration
EDMOND — Armstrong Auditorium’s 2011-12 performing arts series will kick off July 3 with the screaming thunder of F-16s from the 138th Fighter Wing of the Oklahoma Air National Guard. According to OANG’s Capt. Chris Wells, the 138th will perform the maneuver at 7:20 p.m. when four F-16 Fighting Falcons fly over the campus of Herbert W. Armstrong College at Bryant and Waterloo in north Edmond.
Armstrong’s marketing director Shane Granger said he received confirmation of the fly-over from the Pentagon on Saturday.
“We’re thrilled to have such a distinguished fighter wing from Oklahoma as part of our Independence Day celebrations at Armstrong,” he said.
Following the aerial maneuver, Armstrong’s special July 3 concert by Grammy-winning fiddler Mark O’Connor’s American String Celebration will begin at 7:30 p.m. inside the Armstrong theater. The concert, according to Granger, was originally scheduled as an outdoor event but was moved indoors where air conditioning and superior acoustics will make a more pleasant environment.
Granger said tickets for the event have been selling quickly. “We still have some good seats left and we hope families will take advantage of this outstanding opportunity to see such a phenomenal musical group.” He said. “The fly-over is just the icing on the cake!”
Tickets are available at www.ArmstrongAuditorium.org or by calling 285-1010.
Check out Jace's article here about this issue: Praying for Failure? – Armstrongism’s Love/Hate Relationship with America
How does Armstrongism factor into this equation? For the past few decades, HWA and crew have consistently spoken out against the “moral decay” they believe is taking place in America. While the rhetoric of Armstrongism is tame compared to the examples above, it is no less damaging to those who believe it. Admittedly, Armsrongite rhetoric more closely resembles that of Pat Robertson and (the late) Jerry Falwell. But, where one could argue that Robertson and Falwell were speaking out against perceived changes in American culture and not against America itself, it is slightly more difficult to make that distinction for Armstrongism. For a perfect example of this, let us look to our favorite Armstrongite publication: The Philadelphia Trumpet. A quick read through a spate of recent articles (and indeed, many past ones) paints a picture of a group that is seemingly chomping at the bit to see America fail. Perhaps I’m wrong, I’ll let you decide.
12 comments:
Appareantly, Flurry is as good a deceiver as HWA was. I hope the objections put a stop to this travesty.
I was in the cult until 1974. I just don't recall anyone by that name being known to me. I'm going to do a Google search to find out what I can.
"I was in the cult until 1974. I just don't recall anyone by that name being known to me"
Allen, if by that you mean my name, you wouldnt have heard of me. I wasnt alive when you left WCG. If you mean Flurry himself, by all means, have fun googling!
Love the internet. I just wasn't all that interested to look Flurry up before.
He wasn't prominent when I opted out. He's just a year younger than me, so he doesn't have an unlimited future, but apparently a son who will likely take over, if he's smarter and/or luckier than Herb was.
As long as there are enough deceived fanatics (suckers) out there, he will probably prosper.
It is not uncommon these days for certain in military high places to tend towards apocalyptic thinking as a military option. You know, God, guns and guts.
Perhaps there is a part of the Ok. air guard that finds comradary in such a doomsday group for Jesus to offer a fly over.
M.T.Cockpit
The Super Bowl fly over, that no one inside saw because of the closed roof (they got to watch it on screens), was $450,000 dollars. Surely Six Pack was not stupid enough to pay that amount! Oh wait, he is! God told him to spend tithe money for this event!
I did a search for rates on fly overs and F-15's cost $10,000 an hour and F-16's cost $5,000. What the minimum charge is I have nto found yet. I can't believe this stupid little man would waste tithe money on such a foolish endeavor!
Then there is this (to give you a sample of costs)
"A spokesman estimated the cost of sending the six F/A-18A Hornets from their training home in El Centro, Calif., to Glendale, Ariz., and back at $36,000.
Flyovers, once unexpected moments at major sporting events, are now almost the norm, expected parts of pre-game festivities. But an Orlando Sentinel investigation has found that you don't have to reach a very high bar to get one.
At a time when the United States is fighting a war, fly-bys provide feel-good moments for fans, for sports leagues and even for athletes themselves - a spectacle that gives any sporting event added prestige and excitement. But are flyovers worth it, or are they a high-priced folly?
"For the publicity aspect of it, I'd say it's definitely well worth it when you consider the cost to advertise during the Super Bowl," Blue Angels press officer Capt. Tyson Dunkelberger said. "The more people see our blue jets and recognize the Navy, the better it is for us."
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds will perform a similar fly-by before Sunday's Daytona 500. An Air Force spokeswoman said eight F-16 Fighting Falcon jets will fly from Nellis Air Force Base outside of Las Vegas to Day-tona Beach and back at a cost of $80,000. For the flyover itself, six jets will be in the air for 40 minutes, at an ap-proximate fuel cost of $6,000."
Read more: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_761b5e22-77a5-5e5e-a2f5-3d003fc23a52.html#ixzz1RBAZKltl
I would remind you that Stanley Schmidt commented about how disturbing Flurry is in an editorial in Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine.
If it's Flurry's money, I'm still not for it, but it softens the blow a lot more than if tax dollars went into it.
How does this work in to Flurry prophecy? That these same Air Force Jets will bomb Ambassador Auditorium?
"I can't believe this stupid little man would waste tithe money on such a foolish endeavor!"
Little man yes, stupid no.
I read that Sociopaths are not insane just have no conscience. And there is no cure.
Well, it's X number of dollars they have which won't get spent directly on spreading their false gospel.
I'm also reminded of the time Jerry Lewis caused a great furor while substitute hosting the Tonight Show. This was at the height of the Civil Rights movement. He said he'd recently fulfilled a lifetime goal by using the bathroom while flying over Mississippi. Let's hope the USAF cuts loose with some "blue ice" while flying over HWA Auditorium.
BB
I do believe the President said he would like to see accountability in his government organizations. Perhaps you can contact the Office of Accountability and ask how much this "flyover" cost the U.S. taxpayer, if anything. I would think as Commander and Chief he would have the final say so. The Flurry's by-the-way are related to the Cox's. At least the one's out of Mississippi and Texas.
Who owns these "jets" anyway???? Who paid for them.
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