Silly COG Publications

I honestly don't think the editors of this sad little magazine realized how silly this headline looks with the picture they included.  Are they implying that the Ambassador Auditorium Lake is the fountain of Living Waters?

We have  had a lot of fools over the years that attributed all kinds of sacred things to the building.  We had the story promoted by a minister that the invading armies of Germany would be so awestruck with the Pasadena campus that when they invaded Pasadena they would use the College as the German HQ for the occupation.  They would be so frightened by the Auditorium inscription and the other 'godly' things on the campus that they would be afraid to damage any of the property. Therefore, God's House would be preserved into the millennium and HWA and crew could come back and use the campus as the HQ for the restoration of the bombed out United States as they instituted the 1,000 years of rule by COG members who were now gods.

Then there was the fool that claimed the egret fountain was going to come alive. Four of the egrets would fly up to each corner of the Auditorium and pick it up.  The fifth egret would fly in front of the Auditorium as they flew it to Petra. People actually left the church and started following this fool.  Now the egrets have been painted white and are the mascot of a Charismatic Pentecostal personality cult.  Some things never change......

Spinning Scandals

Here is a great post on Stuff Fundies Like about how fundamentalists (and we can include legalists) can spin church controversies by trivializing the problem, claiming the leader is a good man with years of good things to look upon, that there is more hidden information to emerge that will change the situation tot he better, and then circling the wagons by blaming others for the problems.  Of course, this does not sound like ANYTHING that ever went on in Armstrongism, does it?

I think this is the unwritten creed of Armstrongism and all legalistic fundies out there.  If it weren't, then we would not have men like Flurry, Meredith, Pack, Coulter, Weinland and others leading the 600+ harlot daughters of Armstrongism.  But, since it is a vital part of Armstrongism, it allows these men to still function and lead their little cults.

Spinning Scandals

 

(I wrote this in the comments for the last post but I figured it really deserved its own post)
There is a proven four-step method to spinning any scandal that arises in fundamentalism. Observe these well and no scandal is too large, no outrage to unbearable, no offense is too great to be withstood.

1. Admit the problem in terms that make it seem trivial.  Concede that "everything wasn’t perfect” or that “yes, we have a few problems.” That problem may be anything from grand larceny to a double homicide but hey nobody’s perfect, right? We all have our little mistakes. AND YOU’RE NOT PERFECT EITHER!

2. Defend the man involved.  He’s a good man. He’s God’s man. He’s a great man. He’s our man. Quote his years in the ministry and the personal impact he’s had on your life as you’ve spent your whole life knowing him. (If the man in question happens to be a woman you won’t be defending her anyway so the point is moot.)

3. Claim that there is more hidden information yet to be learned that will cast this situation in a totally different light. “There are facts about this that have yet to be made know, and once they are that child porn found on our pastor’s computer will have a perfectly reasonable explanation.” Do this even if the rock solid evidence so far is completely damning. Even if this alleged information never surfaces assure everyone that you know someone who knows someone who knows there’s more to the story.

4. Circle the wagons. Invoke a defense of the faith, God, Liberty, and the American way. Make defending your man an issue of defending against liberalism, communism, and everything evil. Insinuate that everyone who doesn’t defend him is 1)bitter  2)jealous or 3)a member of the Illuminati.

Note these steps well. These arguments happen the same way every single time.
Posted by Darrell

Darrell's post is tied in to a story he has been following about a Baptist fundamentalist preacher who raped a women and then committed suicide in jail.  He has a link to the story here, then he has a link to another story here written by another man white-washing the minister and the crime he committed by giving him a glowing review (just like Armstrongism).

Links to articles: IFB Preacher Charged With Raping Woman in Texas  and here Spinning Scandals Redux