tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post6524671052721784572..comments2024-03-28T13:58:12.329-07:00Comments on Banned by HWA! News and Observations About Armstrongism and the Church of God Movement: Insiders/Outsiders: Its Impact On Church MembersNO2HWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02018654662518613623noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-69042759941417032252018-07-21T19:54:02.478-07:002018-07-21T19:54:02.478-07:00Hi. Please delete my prior comment (published too ...Hi. Please delete my prior comment (published too soon) and post this updated one with grammar corrections. Thank you!:<br /><br />I have been in the church my entire life. I was one of the poor ones and my family was not part of the in-crowd. I remember an in-crowd mother asking me where I got my dress. I told her and she and the other women were silent. They all shopped at the mall’s department stores and we were too poor to do the same. My dress had style though. This mom didn’t want us around her children either. She was snobby. Anyway, they all left. All her kids are educated and do well. But me, I am the one that has the graduate degree, they don’t. I live in an expensive place in CA, they don’t. They live in cheaper states. I make well into six figures. Ok, maybe they are close but my husband makes that too. So our household income is very high. I doubt they come close. Maybe even less than half. I have everything I ever wanted and I’m stylish. I can buy whatever I want. My husband owns a home in a nice area, a super wealthy area. Our house is worth millions and is paid off. The school system is one of the best in the county. I stayed in the church, they didn’t. My blessings overflow. I realized from a young age that in WWCG, there were educated people and the poor, uneducated. I saw this and got educated. LCG brought less off the educated with them. That is what separates the crowds. People are attracted to those that are like them and there is a hidden social ladder in most countries based on education, income, and interests.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-43673574725927699592018-07-19T15:06:43.697-07:002018-07-19T15:06:43.697-07:00The funny thing about outsiders is that, without t...The funny thing about outsiders is that, without them, the insiders would be broke.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.lcg.org/media/Living_Church_of_God_2017_Signed_FS_v180515.pdf" rel="nofollow">LCG 2017/2016 AUDIT</a><br /><br />Looks like the "inside" is shrinking quite a bit over at LCG!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-31238726677532905212018-07-19T13:28:31.597-07:002018-07-19T13:28:31.597-07:00Oh, here's another one....
Oh, Budweiser, be...Oh, here's another one....<br /><br /><i> Oh, Budweiser, be not far from me, <br />Oh, beer, you've got to help me,<br />I've got to give a sermon now<br />help me not to screw it all up<br /><br />I'll drink you down until you're gone<br />I'll drink until the fi-irst sing, <br />I'll drink until I feel like preaching, <br />Oh beer, forsake me not! </i><br /><br /><i> Oh Budweiser, you golden lager,<br />I'll drink you now not later,<br />I'll drink up every drop and then<br />I will drink some more again, <br /><br />I'll drink you down behind the stage,<br />I'll drink you down though I'll be dazed,<br />I'll drink you throughout all the service,<br />Oh beer, forsake me not! </i><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-38780398774296587822018-07-19T13:21:55.126-07:002018-07-19T13:21:55.126-07:00This reminds me very much of something I never not...This reminds me very much of something I never noticed as a child. <br /><br />At the Feast in Dayton, Ohio, at the Hara Arena (yeah, I know), there were two electronic bulletin boards. One to the left of the stage and one to the right of the stage. Both, at about the 9 and 3 locations looking toward the stage from the back. These were the signs that would display messages before services saying things like "Shabbat Shalom" and "Hag Samiah" (sic) and other messages concerning the Feast in bright multicolor 80s style lighting. <br /><br />On each side of these electronic message boards were two large beer advertisement lighted signs. One of them said "Busch". The other one said "Bud". <br /><br />You know, even though we were at a "tabernacle", a "sanctuary", a "holy place", no one dared cover up the "Busch" and "Bud" lighted advertisements on the electronic boards. But if you saw anything at all at even a church FUNCTION, not even related to a worship service, that was remotely either protestant or worldly-church like, or holiday themed - you would not believe how fast the deacons would get out the tarps or the barricades or the cubicle walls or the garbage bags to get those things covered up. <br /><br />I remember once a pastor at the Feast even said at the Pulpit, blaring loud over the Arena sound system, that you should take note "of the announcement which will be displayed on the message boards between the Busch and the Bud." He said it with a pleased kind of tone. If I remember right - the man who said this was a minister at the time who headed up the Dayton Feast by the name of Ray Meyer. I'd recognize his voice anywhere to this very day. <br /><br />You can best believe that if the images on these electronic boards had been anything else worldly at a service they would have been covered up because it was interfering with the holy atmosphere of our worship services. <br /><br />But I guess there was no problem at all with having good old Busch and Bud there through the whole service for all of us to stare at while hearing the monotonous messages blast at full volume during the services. <br /><br />An image of what we saw, taken at a non-COG event years later, after we stopped going there (and when they took down some of the roof for some reason). <br /><br />https://www.w9az.com/dayton99_2.jpg<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-71021707547230243832018-07-19T12:51:21.167-07:002018-07-19T12:51:21.167-07:00Hangovers shall them seize!
~<:-)—€——<=Hangovers shall them seize!<br /><br />~<:-)—€——<=<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-28799328779126740332018-07-19T12:24:50.060-07:002018-07-19T12:24:50.060-07:00" Amazing how many basketball players ended u..." Amazing how many basketball players ended up being sent into the field."<br /><br />Well. That explains 6'7" Pack, doesn't it..........<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-82709652795630784812018-07-19T12:10:11.911-07:002018-07-19T12:10:11.911-07:00@ 9:43 AM wrote:
Rod Meredith's Opening Night...@ 9:43 AM wrote:<br /><br /><i>Rod Meredith's Opening Night Message was just another installment in his "get over it" series. He was really into the idea that people should just not complain about anything.</i><br /><br />Meanwhile, Rod Meredith complained over and over about anyone and everyone who would not kiss his ass sufficiently. Even though his son David was working his way up at LCG HQ, despite the disingenuous assurances Rod gave to HQ employees.<br /><br /><a href="http://armstrongismlibrary.blogspot.com/2016/05/rod-meredith-writes-letter-to-executive.html" rel="nofollow">RCM Letter About David Meredith</a><br /><br />By FOT 2011, insiders had to acknowledge that Rod had lied about his plans for David, but Rod didn't want to hear about it. If David Meredith didn't like you, you had no chance of being accepted into Rod's "insider" group, but if you dared to point out David's ongoing rebellions against the standards that applied to everyone else (especially the outsiders), you were quick on your way to becoming an outsider yourself.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-52687137787714077852018-07-19T10:57:40.490-07:002018-07-19T10:57:40.490-07:00Ah, yes! In Pasadena, we lowly weight lifters wou...Ah, yes! In Pasadena, we lowly weight lifters would also hear GTA holding court in the faculty locker room with yet another set of insiders, the basketball players! From the vents in the student locker room, we could hear enough to realize that beer was involved. Amazing how many basketball players ended up being sent into the field.<br /><br />BBByker Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15602697337552385535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-23644507622839762362018-07-19T09:50:22.683-07:002018-07-19T09:50:22.683-07:00". Lay members dwelt in outer darkness while ...". Lay members dwelt in outer darkness while the sons of light quaffed suds in their own private Sports Bar."<br /><br />Yeah, they loved their suds so much I hear that they moved that private sports bar into the Admin Building at Mt. Pocono. <br /><br />Would you all pick up your beer stein and rise. <br /><br />How cold and how sudsy<br />for ministers to drink.<br /><br />O How love I thy Bud. <br /><br />Thee will I love O Heineken. <br /><br />Behold the Belch will Come.<br /><br />Slurred and Happy Is the Drunk, who shall Always Walk Astray...<br /><br />Turn Thou From Coors Light, Drink What Is Good....<br /><br />Like A Drunk In Some Poor Service, I Can't Believe My Ears.....<br /><br />Why Do the Pastors Drink Beer In Vain...<br /><br />O how Love I Thy Beer.. It Is Ever In Me.... <br /><br />Pour, O My People, and I'll Drink, Oh Budweiser by Name....<br /><br />Blue Ribbon Pours Most Beautiful... The Joy of All The Men....<br /><br />Glorious Things of Beer are Spoken... Golden City of The Ordained...<br /><br />Twas Not A Foe.. Who Hath No Beer... In Gulps Great They Guzzled Down....<br /><br />O Pity Me, I'm Such A Drunk....<br /><br />Unless the Pastor Pours A Beer.. The Weary Pastors Speak in Vain....<br /><br />The Cold Beer's White Foam Pours High Above, It is Mighty, It Is great......<br /><br />I will Drink Thee, O Budweiser, I will drink down all thy foam.....<br /><br />Drink the Beer, Let Belches Hear... For the Cold Beer's now In Hand......<br /><br />How Looooooooovely Are Thy Beer.... All the Beer within Thy Hands....<br /><br />How excellent in allllll the beeer.... Bud, Oh Bud, is thy name.........<br /><br />;)<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-59807639800752199132018-07-19T09:43:59.883-07:002018-07-19T09:43:59.883-07:00A lot of this discussion reminds me of the Feast 2...A lot of this discussion reminds me of the Feast 2011 in LCG. Rod Meredith's Opening Night Message was just another installment in his "get over it" series. He was really into the idea that people should just not complain about anything. He had no recognition of the fact that legitimate grievances existed outside his own inner circle. To him, it was all just "murmering", complaining like Israel in the wilderness. That opening night just set a nasty tone for the whole thing. Not for the in-crowd, though, I'm sure.<br /><br />Of course this was only for the "little people". The insiders could complain about the pettiest things and you better believe it was going to get dealt with. Outsiders being genuinely mistreated were "murmering", or "just got their feelings hurt".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-53745528120711344482018-07-19T09:18:37.924-07:002018-07-19T09:18:37.924-07:00" This is where the great, Millerite, spiritu..." This is where the great, Millerite, spiritual titans collected on Sunday afternoon to watch the Dallas Cowboys and drink beer (HWA departed from Miller here and gave his people beer. This is how we know that HWA was a more advanced thinker)."<br /><br />I don't think it had anything to do with being an advanced thinker. <br /><br />HWA just liked his alcohol so much he couldn't bear anyone being banned from that. ;) <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-14299706274977320952018-07-19T06:34:12.438-07:002018-07-19T06:34:12.438-07:00A historical and linguistic note: At AC/BS there...A historical and linguistic note: At AC/BS there was a term that was used to make the first, coarse sort between outsiders and insiders. The term was "balanced" or "unbalanced." If you heard a high-caste student refer to another student and say that he is "not balanced" that meant he was an outsider - someone who was "not one of us" - one of the Untouchables. If this ad hominem criticism caught on, it could be a devastating condemnation that would follow a student throughout his four years at AC and result in no job after graduation - which was the point. <br /><br /> When someone was said to be unbalanced it was usually not accompanied by any explanation as to why. It was presented by the inner circle people as something that should be understood intuitively. And using this term is different from saying "he has a bad attitude." People with "bad attitudes" form a loathsome subcategory of people who are unbalanced. <br /><br />What this term really means is that the unbalanced person does not conform to a collection of unwritten and mostly unspoken standards. Let me try to give you the sense of how wrong this is. The person who exemplified the ideal of Balance at AC/BS was Ron Kelly. He was referred to by some of the students as the "Oldest Living Ambassador College Senior." GTA, the Millerite Apollo, as a model, was beyond the reach of most. I will not further characterize Ron Kelly but the degree to which someone departed from his controvertible example was the measure of the lack of Balance. <br /><br />An AC education was about an unfortunate and ungodly Caste System that evolved within the WCG. The Insider-Outsider issue and the use of terms such as "unbalanced" simply fit into this Caste System implementation.<br /><br />And what fruit did it bear - much in many ways. One outcome that is easily understood is the Holy of Holies. This Holy of Holies is the faculty (men only) locker room at AC BS. This is where the great, Millerite, spiritual titans collected on Sunday afternoon to watch the Dallas Cowboys and drink beer (HWA departed from Miller here and gave his people beer. This is how we know that HWA was a more advanced thinker). The average church member who paid for this luxury would never be permitted to set foot inside. Lay members dwelt in outer darkness while the sons of light quaffed suds in their own private Sports Bar. <br /><br /> Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08487906691943831671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-39749366025120630852018-07-19T03:54:30.246-07:002018-07-19T03:54:30.246-07:006.11pm thanks for writing what you did. I think w...6.11pm thanks for writing what you did. I think we must have struck a raw nerve for him to have replied in such a nasty and immature way. It's important to write about what you experienced in wwcg. It might give some of the sbusive people an opportunity to wake up. I feel sorry for people looking like Nck who blindly support and endorse a nasty toxic environment. If he's so sure he's right then I wonder why he doesn't post under his real name. If he's on the payroll of one of the cogs today I'd like him to say who he is and come clean. <br />I wish you (original poster) all the best in your recovery from what you've been through. Sometimes I can't believe that we all let ourselves be treated so badly. We just st thought we had no choice. I'm so glad I woke up to what was happening and got away.Tessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10398552429633664308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-61647003223312987592018-07-19T00:05:27.468-07:002018-07-19T00:05:27.468-07:00Sometimes you have to invert all of the old Armstr...Sometimes you have to invert all of the old Armstrongite cliches and turn them back on them. They had a favorite all-purpose scripture “Let the dead bury the dead”. Well, they themselves are in most cases the dead. So you walk away, and let them bury one another. Obviously there are exceptions whose decency and sense of humanity didn’t get killed off by a toxic system.<br /><br />I don’t have time for arrogant or abusive people. Those are the kinds of people who get the absolute minimum from me. Of course they will be treated fairly, but no extras, and they never get to be left inside of my protective barriers. Only the kind and trustworthy are accorded that privilege. Good people will receive value-added services from me, not the arrogant tyrants.<br /><br />There is another thing which is very important to remember. People who bully and lord it over others are often compensating for their own feelings of inferiority. Tough to deal with if they are your minister, boss, parents, etc. In many cases, their repulsive facade is very fragile. You can level them sometimes so that at least you can have a tolerable working relationship with them, but caution is wise because there can be consequences for the leveling.<br /><br />BBByker Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15602697337552385535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-45200413104618534932018-07-19T00:02:26.280-07:002018-07-19T00:02:26.280-07:006:11
NEO speaks wise words.
I find it encouraging...6:11<br /><br />NEO speaks wise words.<br />I find it encouraging that you are irritated perhaps even maddened and that you have persisted in engaging my posts.<br /><br />You have come futher than you may believe. And yes Big Beak was the ultimate outsider.<br /><br />Just sing a song.....whenever you think youre not good enough...<br /><br />Ncknckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580008070423402328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-19588914080672137022018-07-18T21:08:16.396-07:002018-07-18T21:08:16.396-07:00NEO:
Yes, I am making a serious effort to reproce...NEO:<br /><br />Yes, I am making a serious effort to reprocess this - professionally. This is a process of "reprogramming" that entails far more than just this one issue. That's why it takes so much time and effort. As you can see, I'm not there yet. There is much more work to be done, I admit. But the fact is, I'm making the effort. Those that may laugh at me - that's their problem, not mine. <br /><br />I do take great comfort in those in this thread that confirmed exactly what happened to me was not isolated, and was a constant issue with many who grew up in the church. Bullying was, and is, a huge issue in the church. No matter how under-the-rug it was made out to be. <br /><br />Heck, even BIG BEAK was the outsider among the insiders. ;) <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-9162000775319488072018-07-18T20:16:43.270-07:002018-07-18T20:16:43.270-07:00"Then there were the rest of us. The shy, the..."Then there were the rest of us. The shy, the loners, and the children of the poor and quite frankly, the weird and wacky. I was one of those."<br /><br />To the author of the above: From this statement it is clear that the inner circle people got you to believe that you were a human discard. They won! You still believe that they were cool and you are in the unwanted dork class. <br /><br />They were not cool!! They were arrogant, self-centered, lacking in respect for other people and morally impaired. You were a sincere person trying to do what was right but without the social position that money can purchase. <br /><br />You need to go over this again in your mind and process it. They were the little monstrosities - you were not. If they read what you have written, and some of the no doubt did, they are laughing at you. How funny those people who exited Armstrongism are in their minds. <br /><br />I just looked at a UCG newsletter a few days ago. It contains a nice picture of a guy who I knew from AC. He was a paragon of arrogance and disrespect for other people. Now he is a minister of some rank in UCG. People who did not know such ministers as students think of just the smiling face, the expensive suit and the ordained position. When I flip through the pages of these publications, what is I see a rogue's gallery of pathological people that you really would not want to ever set foot on your lawn. <br /><br />All I can recommend is that you make a serious effort to reprocess this or these people will have you enslaved to their inhumanity for the rest of your life. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08487906691943831671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-67974024062265086542018-07-18T18:11:48.056-07:002018-07-18T18:11:48.056-07:00". I'm so sorry for what the original pos...". I'm so sorry for what the original poster went through. It was nasty and I believe him. I'd rather have known you than the people who mistreated you. "<br /><br />Angela:<br /><br />Thank you for your kind words. If I had at least one or two people back in those days that even tried to have known me, perhaps I would feel differently today and would not have to generalize the way that I did. Thanks again. <br /><br />NCK Said (concerning Angela's statement about NCK):<br /><br />"A) Angela Storey is a nutcase."<br /><br />Really, NCK? In the very next statement you go on about how flagrant generalizing is unacceptable in argumentation, yet just above that statement all you could do is make an extremely general slam on Angela's observations by just calling her a "nutcase"? Unbelievable. But about what I would expect from your typical Armstrong Apologist. <br /><br />The truth is, there is nothing nutty about the reality of the statement that Angela made and the way that you are responding with your posts. The way you are responding with your sarcasm and judgements towards others (and half-reading before you respond ) is pretty classic how people who ARE enablers of abuse act. The fact that all you could say was "she's a nutcase" is the lowest form of what is unacceptable in argumentation. <br /><br />Concerning your response. If you walked in my shoes, you would have seen that the "generalizing" that I did was accurate. I am not attempting to over-generalize here, or make something worse than it was. I am describing it exactly how it was. I'm not going to name names. I could. But I'm not lowering myself to that level. I stand by my assertations, regardless of how "flagrant" it is to you. <br /><br />Also. I do not care how "naive" you think it is about my premise that church kids would be different. You do not have enough information about my life, or my history, or how I was "reared" as a child to even begin to make such an assumption. My reasons for thinking so were very solid, and were real to me. This is how I thought it was. <br /><br />Finally. The sarcasm that you have described in the last point - hoping that I have found a sanctuary where "the lions eat grass" and "all youth are kind" is yet another cold response without compassion. I'm finding myself growing increasingly irritated by how judgemental and sarcastic you continue to be. Remember. I was only a child at the time all of this happened - an extremely impressionable child who happened to believe everything I was told about "the church" and what it "would be like" if I went and joined in the Y.O.U.. Of course I understand the way things are now, and of course I know better. <br /><br />Look. You are entitled to your opinions and your right to post as much as I am. But all you have done is convinced me, more than ever, that those who are apologists to the church as it was are some of the most judgemental, cold, and unfeeling people you'd ever meet. Again. I could not care less about what you "agree" with or "don't agree" with, or what you have "found" or "not found" about my post. This was my reality. If you do not agree with it, or find it "wrong" in your view? The only thing I have to say to you? <br /><br />Tough. Freaking. Shit. <br /><br />Thanks again Angela for your kind words. They were much appreciated. <br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-38231543703690368292018-07-18T17:12:00.112-07:002018-07-18T17:12:00.112-07:00All good, 6:18. Just wasn't sure if there was ...All good, 6:18. Just wasn't sure if there was a missing section in your post.RSKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06427255805476848046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-36389753976657263012018-07-18T17:10:29.023-07:002018-07-18T17:10:29.023-07:00"At SEP, my disconnect was even furthered whe..."At SEP, my disconnect was even furthered when I saw two high school workers totally making out full face and all that in one of the activity rooms when no one else was there."<br /><br />Sorry about that. That pastor's daughter just couldn't quit jocking me. (Well, there were a couple of pastor's daughters like that, but no, I wasnt at SEP.) RSKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06427255805476848046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-50058856523476418432018-07-18T16:43:55.653-07:002018-07-18T16:43:55.653-07:00A) Angela Storey is a nutcase.
B) 1:21 I do not f...A) Angela Storey is a nutcase.<br /><br />B) 1:21 I do not find much that I disagree with in the 1:21 post.<br /><br />EXCEPT for the flagrant generalising (which is unacceptable in most argumentation but perhaps true in your case that "98% percent of campers were nasty)<br /><br />And I find your entire premiss that kids in the church would be different naive. Making my point on the evils of home schooling by not socializing people for society.<br /><br />It is doctrinally unsound also for churches teaching baptism at later age. That was the whole point of "the special blessing" to "protect" the non baptized "until" the time and age of their discernment. <br /><br />I agree about the "worldliness" of "church kids" and met some nasty pk's in my lifetime. There are songs about "the son of a preacher man" even.<br /><br />I hope you have found your sanctuary where "everything is different from the world", all youth are kind, the lion eats grass, a world without homeschooling for perhaps your kids if you have been blessed to not repeat mistakes of the former generation.<br /><br />Ncknckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580008070423402328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-919838455597002042018-07-18T15:25:20.618-07:002018-07-18T15:25:20.618-07:00Notice a few typos in my post. Did it on iPhone an...Notice a few typos in my post. Did it on iPhone and couldn't check it properly. Re Ncks posts he seems to be an enabler of abuse. Seems to misread what others write and defend the old guard no matter what. Minimising and denying the abuse of another person adds to their suffering. I find this very nasty. Tessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10398552429633664308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-50007184779394606802018-07-18T14:27:18.970-07:002018-07-18T14:27:18.970-07:00There were some nice people in the church but the ...There were some nice people in the church but the overall atmosphere was extremely toxic. Proud nasty people scrambled for supremacy and mistreated others. Herbert created the framework Christ said we were not to lord it over others as the Gentiles did and of course Herbert ignored this. Herbert practised the way of Take and people worshipped money and success. It was disgusting. Herbert made a fortune by preaching certain laws of god which are right but ignored all the urging of Christ for us to love people and look after the poor. Making people who had no real increase brought shame and lack on many. Herbert was so greedy for money he didn't care. God is generous and doesn't want people to tithe on their wages and be unable to look after their families. When Israel went into the promised land god gave them houses and farms with crops and trees growing already. He gave them an abundance. Tithing did not beggar them. God doesn't want people to tithe on low wages and to deprive their families. God is Kelly me generous and good. The church was not. If a farmer bred ten animals he could tithe. If he only produced nine he didn't. So not everyone who works earns enough to tithe. It's not about tithing on everything you earn as Herbert taught. I'm so sorry for what the original poster went through. It was nasty and I believe him. I'd rather have known you than the people who mistreated you. Tessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10398552429633664308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-16866892167801010612018-07-18T13:21:34.845-07:002018-07-18T13:21:34.845-07:00NCK
Yes. You are correct that this happens much m...NCK<br /><br />Yes. You are correct that this happens much more often than it should. Yes, it happens in high schools. Yes, it happens in pretty much everywhere you find teenagers. <br /><br />*I* did <i>not</i> expect it to happen in the set apart world of the only people set apart by the One True God in the One True Church. This is the point I am really attempting to drive home to you. I was always told that I would be able to get AWAY from the "world" in the Church. No. The "World" came at me *in* the church. Full force. Exactly, as you said, like would have happened had my parents had allowed me to go to high school. <br /><br />There was NO DIFFERENCE between the Kids of "the world" and the kids of "the church". Not one iota of a difference. <br /><br />It did not matter that they went to church on the Sabbath. It did not matter that they kept the Holy Days. It did not matter they were said to have been "set apart". Whatever the kids did "in the world" they did "in the church". Anyone who thought otherwise was living in as much of a delusion as the adults who were thinking their utopia was going to come in two to three years. At SEP, my disconnect was even furthered when I saw two high school workers totally making out full face and all that in one of the activity rooms when no one else was there. There was the way it was supposed to be. Then there was the way it was. There was truth not only to the "feast flings" but the SEP Birds n' Bees. I found this out only through the school of "Armstrongism Expectations vs. Reality 101." <br /><br />Regardless of these explanations. Yes. I know it's all the same everywhere. The point is - and understand this clear - <br /><br />IN THE ONE TRUE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD, SO I WAS TOLD, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN TOTALLY DIFFERENT. I should have felt like God was there, and that people - even the kids - would take on some kind of Christian Goodness at the very least. This was not the case. The Church youth, divided into Groups A and B, were absolutely as carnal as any kid in the world - and in the theology that Armstrong taught over and over and over again, IF he was correct, THIS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN. The only thing you have proved over and over again in your posts through this whole thing is exactly my point. <br /><br />There was NO difference between the World and the Worldwide Church of God. <br /><br />I've renamed it in my own mind:<br /><br />"THE <b>WORLDLY</b> CHURCH OF GOD."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226103369043606765.post-51860248540763872462018-07-18T04:54:56.764-07:002018-07-18T04:54:56.764-07:00Anon says, However, the Winnails have their own ki...Anon says, However, the Winnails have their own kind of insider status that lets them get away with minor rebellions that would get an ordinary member kicked out of the church."<br /><br />That would be because the Winnails have enough insider info to sink the ship.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com