Andie Redwine: What Happens on May 22?

Andie Redwine reflects on "The Day After May 21" and her experience with the same kind of lies when Herbert Armstrong made a similar prediction.;

Forgive my cynicism, but I’ve been through this before.

I grew up in a church where I was scared to death of Jesus coming back at any moment. Luckily, members of my church were going to be whisked away on the wings of angels to a place of safety while the rest of the world wished that they had heeded the voice of Herbert Armstrong, my cult leader.

I was always afraid that I wasn’t going to be among the faithful. And at six years old, this can be a pretty paralyzing fear.

The people involved in my church weren’t monsters. They weren’t unkind. They weren’t unintelligent. They had just been duped by a false prophet who used fear and mind control techniques to recruit and sustain a large money-making operation. In the name of God, Herbert took well-intentioned seekers of Christ and turned them into devoted followers. Followers of Herbert.

 This was before the Internet, but Herbert’s game before religion had been advertising. He created a magazine called The Plain Truth, he had a television show, and he was a prolific author (although a great deal of his work was allegedly plagiarized). And because this was before the Internet, there was very little ability to fact check any of Herbert’s ideas or background. 

And he was convincing as hell. In its heyday, Herbert’s Worldwide Church of God centered in Pasadena, California had congregations all over the world. New York. Sydney. Brussels. Bangkok. Amman. Chicago. Philadelphia. London. Paris. He was a go-getter.

Herbert was also an end-times prophet. Growing up under the threat of nuclear war, Herbert offered people a way to escape the coming apocalypse. His way. God’s way.

One of my earliest memories is of sitting in a rented hall listening to Herbert Armstrong. I thought he was God. His voice would be booming through speakers from a cassette tape, but I would be looking at the podium with an empty microphone and just know that God was speaking to me. Everyone around me gave the podium their undivided attention, and so I did likewise. I figured if the adults were taking notes and flipping through their bibles when this man spoke, he must be God.

Jesus didn’t come back the way Herbert had thought. And it was the fault of the congregation. It’s because we weren’t ready. The church had to get back on the right track. We were off course. Sinners in the hands of an angry Herbert, who could direct his ministers to throw us out of God’s church.

We were terrified of this. All of us. Terrified. It was the fear that Herbert created in us to hook us, and it was the fear that kept us coming back for more. If we left, we’d be obliterated. There would be no hope.

Read the rest of her story here:  What Happens On May 22?

Andie recently released a movie about life in a cult, Paradise Recovered 

Philadelphia Church of God Summer Camp Horrors

Summer camps should be a time of fun and learning for kids.  It's the first chance for many to be away from home and be alone with their peers.  It can create life time friendships.

However, there are Church of God summer camps where theological indoctrination is trumpeted out as truth.  The worst of these cult camps is Philadelphia Church of God's summer camps.  Imagine having your kinds indoctrinated at summer camp chanting all summer:
"Next year at the Rock, Next year at the Rock, Next year at the Rock." (referring to Petra)  That kind of deviate behavior is just as sick as Harold Camping's lies.


I am reposting the following blog comments from Michael Maynard concerning how his kids were treated at a Philadelphia Church of God Summer Camp.  This is the kind of BS that Gerald Flurry and his cult are indoctrinating kids with and how they are being treated.

Some people never check out the comments sections of posts, and this deserves wider viewing.

Michael D. Maynard said...

I had first hand experience with the utter incompetence at the PCG summer camp in Guthrie, OK in 1996 when my son and daughter attended. When we arrived there a day or two before the camp ended we visited with the campers and staff and spoke to Gerald Flurry at length. We were appalled at what we found. My daughter had second degree sun burns covering on her face her lips were seared and infected from being forced to play sports activities for many hours in the scorching sun without being offered any sun screen. My daughters knees had been damaged from these same marathon sports activities. They were treated like they were seasoned atheletes and run into the dirt. My daughter had pain from her injuries form many years after that. She related how they were all forced to go mountain biking in very steep hill country around dangerous boulders and cliffs. At one point they were forced to ride down an extremely steep hill which terrified my daughter who grew up in Florida and never rode on any hills. One of the girls lost control of her bike during this part of the ride and body slammed a huge bolder at a high rate of speed. It was a wonder she was not killed. My daughter said she had a bruise that covered nearly her entire side.

My son's ankles were both so badly sprained that he could barley walk from this marathon of sports. They still wanted him to play in the final softball tournament without any medical attention. We forbade it and made him sit it out. If we had not arrived when we did no telling how bad his injuries could have been. When we first arrived at the beginning of the camp to drop our children off my wife and I were shocked and my daughter very embarrassed at the first sight we observed. Dennis Leap, the camp coordinator, came riding up on his mountain bike next to where we were unloading or children's gear. He was wearing spandex riding shorts that are skin tight. He was carrying a little extra weight so to start with the sight was bad enough, but what was worse was his "package" and you know what I mean, looked like he was very happy to see someone. To be kind it was repugnant, to be honest it was just LEWD. My wife and daughter spun around away from him while he was greeting them and froze wide eyed staring at me. After he left my wife and I had a private discussion out of our children's ear shot and actually had reservations. I had a strong feeling, which I wished I had heeded, not to leave them there for the camp. But we talked ourselves into leaving them because we knew how much both of them were looking forward to this and many of their friends were there. We found out also that the monitor that was in my sons dorm was an immature boy who had no control over his dorm. There were vicious hazings and my son fell off a porch roof and could have been injured though he just had minor scrapes. It took many months before my son could walk without pain in his ankles. My daughter still has slight scars on her face from the severe sunburn she suffered. But that was not the end of it. When we were loading my son and daughters gear into our motor coach for the return trip to Florida all of the campers were crying, hugging, saying their good byes, and all saying something like a slogan they learned from camp. I couldn't quite make it out so I slid a window open to hear better. I usually don't write this kind of vocabulary, so forgive me if you are offend, I apolgize in advance...BUT I was PISSED when I realized what the slogan was...PISSED! "Next year at the Rock, Next year at the Rock, Next year at the Rock." was what they were chanting as they said their good byes. Those worthless BASTARDS had used the two week camp to indoctrinate and brainwash our children into Gerald Flurry's insane prophecies about FLEEING TO PETRA. And told them there would not be a camp next year because they would all be together in PETRA. That is when I fully realized what a 'BOWL OF SPIDERS" the PCG was. When we got back to Florida I started my exit strategy and did not send another dime to them, and I was a rather large contributor. I know they saw that right away and that was a large part of why I was disfellowshiped so rapidly by the regional pastor that I wrote about earlier. My mother-in-law and brother-in-law are still in that group, just as blind as they can be. At least I only wasted two years there. Michael

Michael's TTDOCF Blog

Spiritual Deviate Camping Has Disappeared

The London Daily News and IBTimes, San Francisco are reporting that Camping has deserted his followers.  Camping is in hiding after his dramatic, worldwide., public rapture failed to occur. Devastated followers are now taking the brunt of Campings' lies.

Disillusioned: Robert Fitzpatrick, who spent his $140,000 life savings on ads to spread the word of the Rapture, believed that it would happen at 6pm on May 21, but unfortunately for him it didn't

...as 6pm came and went around the world and nothing happened, they were forced to confront reality.'I don't understand why nothing has happened,' baffled believer Robert Fitzpatrick said as he gazed at his watch in New York's Times Square just after 6 pm.

 

'I did what I had to do. I did what the Bible said.'
The 60-year-old retired transport worker bought $140,000 worth of advertising to help spread Camping's message of doom.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389727/Rapture-Baffled-believers-face-jeers.html#ixzz1N7Ca8XMk

IBTimes News Story

The Human Face of Harold Camping's Cult

The look like a normal family.  A mother and father with beautiful looking children.  The also appear to have some intelligence and education.  Reading a few blurbs about them in the Daily Mail (London) you see a mother and father who believe so deeply in Camping's nonsense that they have the ability to tell their children that they are going to be left behind to suffer through the apocalypse while they (mommy and daddy) are whisked off to heaven for eternal bliss.

One U.S. family in particular will be stunned that the Rapture failed to happen.

Two years ago Robert Carson and Abby Haddad gave up their jobs to preach for the Family Radio church at the centre of the May 21 Judgment Day campaign.

They even told their three children - Joseph, Faith and Grace - that they were going to die.

Speaking to the New York Times, 16-year-old Grace Haddad said: 'My mom has told me directly that I’m not going to get into heaven. At first it was really upsetting, but it’s what she honestly believes.'

Another dedicated follower is Michael Garcia.

After spending months travelling the country to put up Judgment Day billboards and hand out Bible tracts, he planned to spend Friday evening with his family at home in Alameda, near the Christian media empire's Oakland headquarters.

'We know the end will begin in New Zealand and will follow the sun and roll on from there,' said Garcia, a 39-year-old father of six. 'That's why God raised up all the technology and the satellites so everyone can see it happen at the same time.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389481/Rapture-The-world-DIDNT-end-6pm.html#ixzz1N5Y9uQm2

Their beliefs are exactly like the silliness that permeates Armstrongism to this day.  Armstrongism still looks at the idea of fleeing to Petra for a final training to be god's and goddesses.  Parents of unbaptized children will be made god's while their kids will be left in Petra to continue to live as mortal human beings.  Unless of course, they have not been killed by the invading armies that hate the true church so much that they nuke the place.  Oh wait, the stupid pagan's can't even do that!  Petra will be covered by a cloud that makes it invisible to airplanes.  That cloud will scramble the radar of planes so no one will ever be able to find Petra.  Sound stupid?  You bet!  That was actual teachings of Armstrongite ministers!

Even the callousness of the parents telling their kids they will not make it is exactly in line with Armstrongism.  We proclaimed the same thing.  Your child's only chance was to have had a prayer said of him/her at the Blessing of the Children service.  If that happened then they at least had a chance!  Otherwise they were doomed.  And, god forbid if you child did not get baptized by 18.  They were immediately destined to the lake of fire.

One WCG minister who left during all the changes wrote a book about his journey out of Armstrongism and into Lutheranism, Misery Synod.  He also made the same claims about his kids.  Because they had not converted to Lutheranism, Misery Synod, they were not going to make it into heaven. Eternally damned, lost, beyond redemption.

What a sad, impotent little god that would cause parents to make such comments to their kids!