Wednesday, July 10, 2013

New Poll: How has this site affected you, or has this site been helpful to you in any way?




What kind of impact are we having?

There is a new poll in the right hand column that is a result of a suggestion of a reader. This one allows multiple answers.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I come here for many reasons.

Firstly, it's one-stop-reading for the Splinter groups. Of all the COG blogs out there, and each has their purpose and audience, this one confronts the Splinters head on, and gives NEWS concerning them without shame. It has a "bring it on" attitude that is refreshing, like a cold glass of orange juice in the early morning.

I also come here to learn of the various opinions of people who have been apart or are in COG's today.

Also, I come here because I can't believe the audacity and ridiculousness of COG leaders in this generation.

has this site been helpful? Sure it has. It helps us all see how crazy the whole thing of Armstrongism is. It's one of the few, by the way, that allows comments and focuses squarely on the splinters. Not to say the others don't have their purpose and audience, again - but the interactivity here is pretty good now.

Anonymous said...

Valuable as a source for material I'm writing.

Valuable in bringing down the Cult of Herbert Armstrong.

It's too bad it's viewed as entertainment: This is a record of ruined lives by terrible people.

Anonymous said...

I've learned a lot about the kooks out there that associate themselves with The Church.

I left an organization years ago because they went soft on doctrine, expousing a "come one come all, it's all ok" way of thinking. I seriously doubt that would happen where I am now, but hey, you never know......and from reading this blog I know who to avoid for sure, in the event I have to make another move.

I think the biggest mistake you folks make is in painting all associated with HWA with the same brush. It's obvious that the leaders you write about are in a terrible state of confusion, or are just charlatans....but they definitely do not represent God's way.

There are many people that put HWA on a pedistal, thinking he was an Apostle and could do no wrong. They, in effect, worship him, although they don't realize it.

There is much that HWA got wrong, but some seem afraid to admit that...so sad.

They will have their eyes opened one day (as will you folks here) and that is something to be happy about.

Anonymous said...

This site helps me because I need support and encouragement as my significant other is withdrawn and caught up in the Pack of lies. My marriage is different now that he has been brainwashed and deceived by Dave, it is no longer a good marriage as it had been. Thank all of you who write and comment here, it is like a gift to me. It helps me to know that I am not some lost soul because I don't belong to Dave's cult, it helps me to see how bat shit crazy, mentally ill he is. It is sad that my spouse is such a weak minded person when it comes to Dave's delusion. I am thrilled that Dave has set a date, please stick with that and expose how wrong he is and will be when the date comes and goes. Thanks so much for your site, I need it, depend on it, love it, and I love all of you who care about suffering families like mine.

Unknown said...

I have made $MILLIONS in the stock market,

... increased my libido,

... look 15 years younger,

... found peace and happiness

...discovered Nirvana

... found marital bliss

... was healed of "jock itch"

... and overcame masturbation

THANKS TO THIS WEBSITE! .

Please use me as a free testimonial for when you do infomercials for BANNED on channel 896 at 2 o'clock in the morning !

Luv,
Joe Moeller
Cody, WY

PS- actually , I enjoy the site and feel it provides a valuable service in keeping all aware of dangerous and dysfunctional religion, as well as timely COG news reporting. Thank you for the effort!

Sweetblood777 said...

I find the site very helpful though at times the writers knock Yahweh and Christianity in general and I find that to be a turn off.

I agree that the leadership of the various church groups left over from WCG, stink, and that they abuse members by turning them into their own private ATMs.

I 'know' that HWA wasn't the Elijah to come, but he is referenced in scripture, though many will not believe it; both within the groups nor the critics on this site.

This is the main reason that I have held back writing up this as an article, for I know it will accomplish little, other than emotional rants.

As a bible believer, I believe that the scripture cannot be broken, Jn.10:35 but most writers here no longer believe or never believed in the first place.

The only positive aspect that I can think of, is that members of these groups read this site, and this article will open their eyes from a biblical perspective on what is Yahweh's view of HWA.

They will be shocked to see it in print right there in their bibles of who this man really was.

Anonymous said...

Your site has confirmed my thoughts of WCG/HWA/RCG/DCP..the corruption is alive and well (in their eyes). You and a couple of other sites proves to me that I was right to reject RCG. Armstrongism is here to stay for many years ahead. The blind will lead the blind and it will be like Ellen White of SDA. Paul (Shaul) was disgusted for 3 years and warned the people with tears. So must we! Thank you.

Corky said...

This site would have been helpful to me decades ago - not so much anymore. It's interesting to read the comments of ex Armstrongites and see where they are today. Keeping up with the hilarious antics of the splinter cult meisters makes this site the place to be.

Assistant Deacon said...




















Anon 7:23 said certain leaders "definitely do not represent God's way."

What "way" is that, Anon? The one you learned...from them?

Pretty vicious cycle if you ask me.







Allen C. Dexter said...

I come here everyday right after my Facebooking and updating Craig's List ads to see just what crazy new things are happening in COGland. Some of it is so mind boggling that it helps me be thankful to have gotten completly free decades ago. I don't comment often because my humanist atheist stance leads me to regard some subjects as not worth my time to get embroiled in.

Allen C. Dexter said...

I come here everyday right after my Facebooking and updating Craig's List ads to see just what crazy new things are happening in COGland. Some of it is so mind boggling that it helps me be thankful to have gotten completly free decades ago. I don't comment often because my humanist atheist stance leads me to regard some subjects as not worth my time to get embroiled in.

Byker Bob said...

Everybody pretty much said it all, so I'll just quote Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones: "It's all right, yeah, in fact it's a gas! It's all right! Jumping Jack Flash! It's a gas gas gas!" (Instrumental interlude and guitar solo)

BB

Glenn said...

This site is helpful to me as a way to check on what is happening in the cogs without having to get involved. I personally knew people such as Meredith, Flurry, Pack, Doug Wanail, Robin Webber, Joe Tkatch, Jr., Dan Rogers, and others who seem to be people of note at the moment. I am happy to see the old wcg crumble into a thousand shards. I have no desire to ever be a part of any of that anymore.

I also knew Dennis and Byker Bob back in the day, so this is a way of keeping in touch with their lives at least to a small degree.

Coming here is similar to what I think it would be like to go to an AA meeting on a regular basis. Confirm what I know, encourage and support other people, remind myself to stay out of trouble, get a better understanding of what happened to me, etc. I just need to start making myself a cup of coffee every morning before coming here to read the latest.

Best wishes to all.

Glenn Parker

Anonymous said...

If it weren't for this website, I would have put a bullet in my head.

Or through someone else's head, much as Terry Ratzmann did.

And I mean this literally.

Thank you.

Assistant Deacon said...

My apologies for the 18-minute gap in the post above. I accidentally hit the erase button without realizing it.

mruscan said...

Yes, I really find this site useful. I have to deal with family members and "friends" still in the cult at large. They don't want to search these things out themselves but they are always hitting me up for info. I hope someday the information I find here will help me friends and family.

Anonymous said...

I come here still believing in what I have learned for the most part over the years, but my thoughts are tempered by the wit and wisdom and occasional harangues written here. I appreciate Dennis a whole lot and understand his situation heartily. Additionally, I see where we/I have been in error in some teachings (in my estimation) and definitely in approach.

Anonymous said...

"Anon 7:23 said certain leaders "definitely do not represent God's way."

What "way" is that, Anon? The one you learned...from them?

Pretty vicious cycle if you ask me."




well, I also learned some things from Jack Van Impe (and his lovely wife, Rexella)...but that doesn't mean I think that he's anything special.

like I said, there is a tendency to paint all with the same brush.....

Sane Con said...

Validation that Armstrongism is a crazy religion. Nothing from it is sensible and profitable about. Parasitical to the core.

DennisCDiehl said...

I have deeply appreciated the Blogmeister allowing me to write here as it has always helped me process my own experience but also feel somewhat helpful to those struggling with whether is "ok" to disagree and confront those who take their leadership and Biblical expertise way too seriously and think of themselves much more highly than they ought to think.

I also appreciate the friendships I have made here. I seem to do better with friends when they understand the common past.

Anonymous said...

Woke me up after a 20 or so year stupor of believing everything WCG/GCG/LCG/UCG etc taught as "THE TRUTH" when most of it was and is fantasy!
I only wish the internet and sites like this had been around 20 years ago as it'd have saved me from wasting so much time investing in a belief system that from my own Bible study independent of Armstrongist influence is finally crumbling to its foundations! I can only thank God for His merciful and loving correction in Christ Jesus for revealing to me over recent years the painful truth of HWA, his warped theology and his deviant character--a man whose rip-off of a religion was/is built entirely on sand!

"Better to be awakened by a painful truth than lulled to sleep by a seductive lie"

Anonymous said...

I walked out of WCG a long time ago without any parting shots, just quit cold turkey. It's all behind me, but every once in a while something that bugged me about it simmers to the surface and I wish I had said something back when it would have mattered. When that happens it's nice to have a place to put down those unspoken thoughts for the record.

But for the most part, I just come by to snicker at the latest failings of all the kings horses and all the kings men trying to put humpty back together. I guess it's sort of like disaster tourism.

whatmeworry said...

About 6 or 7 years ago, I was researching a story on the internet about a man from my former local church area who murdered his wife and daughter, then killed himself. On a side bar, I saw several websites such as this one that helped former COG'ers recover from their experiences while in said COG's.

I gradually walked away from the WCG around 2004 or so, after being exposed and entombed from 1958, when my mother joined up. "Logically", I followed suit and was myself baptized in 1977. I say logically because it seemed like the logical thing to do. I had friends in the church and wanted to raise my kids in it as well. But with all the "changes", and sniping and unrest, it ocurred to me that it was all a bunch of smoke and lies. I left on good terms, but no one asked me why, not even my mother, who now lives with me and still attends GCI.

So when I happened upon this blog, at first, seeing the truths in print, I have to say, it was a little painful. Memories, real memories I had blocked out came back in technicolor. One blog led to another, then another. And I saw it was all true. I was flooded with memories I had buried, physical and sexual abuse. I started resenting myself and my decisions. What had I done to my kids? What had my mother done to me and my siblings? I'll say it was an evolutionary process, an awakening. I got really pissed off that I, a pretty smart person, could be so totally duped! I had to stop reading for awhile, I was overwhelmed, saturated. I couln't psychologically absorb it all, but I know that I am completely free from that bondage. Thanks to you all, and your collective postings, I have made peace with myself. Thank you for putting your lives out on the clothesline for us all to see. It is comforting to know we are not alone, and I'm grateful, thank you.

Byker Bob said...

I also like to look at future potential for this awesome blog. Wouldn't it just be awesome if some of the spiritual predators, after reading here, recognized themselves for what they are and have been, repented of that, and actually signed the ministerial apology page at the Painful Truth website? Shades of Charles Dickens!

It is encouraging to realize that if this sort of thing can happen for "us", it can also happen for "them". Sometimes all it takes is a bit more information added to the equation. The key difference, and the fortunate element for most of us, is that we peons and pawns didn't have the loss of career, pay check, authority, and stature issues to factor against our enlightenment.

BB

Anonymous said...

Enormously helpful !!

I wish it was around 30 years ago though, when I had questions and doubts and no where to turn for answers.

How easy it is to be brainwashed and not even know it. Fear was such an enormous component that it takes a site such as this one to go from fear to understanding.

Anonymous said...

I came to this site many years after I left HWA remnant church here in the Philippines, remaining loyal to the core doctrines until slowly one by one, those teachings crumbled before my very own eyes. COG are just as selective of verses as the other churches are, to suit their core beliefs. Sabbath? Proper Sabbath keeping should not light any fire. All those COG claiming to be Sabbath keepers are violating the Sabbath unless they follow the Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem where everything in their home is quiet and dark as early as 3 pm. Clean and unclean meats? It is very clear that even the knives, plates, spoon and fork should not touch unclean and where on an ordinary market here in the Philippines will I find such kind of meat? Armstrongites are never taught that even if they eat clean meat, it is still ceremonially unclean. Prophecy? HWA is definitely wrong in identifying Roman Empire and its seventh derivative government (Germany) as the beast because the Book of Daniel clearly identifies the fourth beast and where it shall come from. There is no mention of Roman Empire. The fourth beast was clearly identified. That's the problem when one just plagiarizes other's understanding. WCG remnant churches do not know where the beast shall come from because they just rely on HWA plagiarized articles. Read the Bible and not HWA writing, or any of those of Meredith, Pack, Thiel, Flurry and a host of other HWA taught ministers. They don't know from what country the fourth beast shall come from because they keep on reading Rome when you won't find this world in the book of Daniel and other prophetic OT verses.

I never look back since I left Armstrongism. I do come to this site to laugh at my own self, how vulnerable I was to mental and behavioral manipulation of professional marketing strategists like HWA then and how I should have been open to other religious publications rather than close my mind on anything except WCG teachings. I have only Colin Adair then regional director here in the Philippines to blame for telling me to stop reading other church literature and I have only myself to blame for listening to him and being one sided. I should have kept my sanity and common sense by being open minded rather than being closed minded to a particular [church] teaching. Fortunately I am a scientist (special science student in high school when I fell into the HWA trap) and took an agricultural science degree at the University of the Philippines Los Banos. I never lost that scientific training despite HWA's condemnation of the scientific method to all endeavors of life, and its relevant application to my religious beliefs.

There is no point to regret those wasted more than 30 years of WCG membership. God kept me from evil. I maybe dead by now or dying of sickness were it not for those years that God kept me in the shadows of WCG. I had good friends and good church memories but I don't want to go back even in memory lane and I don't want to have WCG people in my Facebook friends list. If this site is just rehashing WCG teachings,I won't waste my time opening this site. I love this site's critical look for the way we were then, and how much we have grown in grace and knowledge; while those WCG remnants have remained spiritually and mentally stunted in their Bible understanding despite their regular attendance to church services every Sabbath and Holy Days.