It has always been a long held belief in Armstrongism that babies start being influenced by Satan the second they take their first breath. They learn greed and are selfish. They take and never give. They manipulate and challenge. Armstrongism continues to think this to this day that all babies are demon possessed.
E.W. King, carries on this tradition too.
So “sin” is actions and deeds contrary to God’s law. We must understand that God’s law is “spiritual”, which is to say that it transcends the normal way the material mind functions. When a child is born into this fallen world he begins to “hear” the broadcasts which come from Satan. Like a radio station the fallen nature of Satan is broadcasted throughout this planet and all people [accept true Christians] are tuned into this channel. The child hears this broadcast like a loud horn because the child sees the way that fallen adults act; the child hears the corruption which comes from the mouths of all people around him. The child begins to mimic the thoughts and actions of corrupt mankind.
Apparently children of Church of God members are innocent and pure compared to the children of the pagan filth out in the world. We all know that to be a fact! Especially those that have been around evangelist and ministers kids!
I'm sure the children of all COG leaders and ministers are shining examples of not hearing Satan's broadcast. What's exactly is that frequency, E.W.?
ReplyDeleteYou are lying about what HWA taught. He did not say babies were demon posessed, and everyone who read him knows it. You lose, liar.
ReplyDeleteSpread it thin, loser.
Dave Pack told my sister said my neices, when babies and disrupting his sermons by crying in church were demon possessed. Dave Pack would never think what HWA did not tell him to think.
ReplyDeleteexcuse me... I meant
ReplyDeleteDave Pack told my sister and said my neices, when babies and disrupting his sermons by crying in church were demon possessed. Dave Pack would never think what HWA did not tell him to think.
Anonymous @2:23, I don't quite understand who you are addressing but I didn't read anything about demon possession. From another commenter though it sounds like you are probably wrong anyway.
ReplyDeleteIt has also always been a long held belief in Armstrongism that Satan "broadcasts" evil thoughts, ways, intentions, etc. to every human being (except for "true christians," of course) like a "radio station."
ReplyDeleteWhy? Because of one single verse, Ephesians 2:2 which uses the phrase, "prince of the power of the air."
Now, we all know that the bible is the inerrant word of the one "true" god, and we all know that HWA was the the one "true" inerrant apostle of that god in all the world during his lifetime, and it naturally follows that we all know that his interpretation of that bible are the inerrant and one "true" interpretation. Therefore, regardless of what inane and obviously ridiculous and wrong conclusions he drew from Ephesians 2:2, it has to be THE "truth." Just nod and smile.
So please, let's not question these "time-tested" interpretations, or waste your time putting any of them to the test yourself. Just memorize them all. And keep repeating them ad infinitum for the rest of your life. If you do this, you will be considered a "true christian" by other "true christians," and then, you can keep telling yourself that you are not tuned into the imaginary "spiritual channel" of Satan, and will therefore be guaranteed a place in heaven. But that's not the best part. Yes, we all all know that all this might be the "gospel," but the real "good news" is, now you can treat your fellow man like shit and god won't even notice! I know, right? HIGH-5!
Cute kid, idiot minister.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think Satan (prince of the power of the air) broadcast's his attitudes and ways over all those trash info-commercials the armstrogites produce.
Brethren, it's VILE TRASH I TELL YOU!!!
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What possessed me to write that?
In reality, babies are real. Satan, not so much.
ReplyDeleteahh those sweet little Satanic babies, they want to eat so they won't die. They have to lie there and scream so they won't be forgotten and will be held and loved.
ReplyDeleteHWA did say Satan was broadcasting but he didn't mean that you were demon possessed if you listened to it. He admitted he heard the broadcasting too, was he confessing that he heard it every time a young woman walked by? But that would be jumping to conclusions, and the human race wouldn't have lasted too long if men (even old men) weren't tempted, and babies demanded attention even in long sermons.
Banned By HWA wrote:
ReplyDelete"Armstrongism continues to think this to this day that all babies are demon possessed."
This is a very broad and bigoted statement and frankly RIDICULOUS . In my 40 years in the COG community I have NEVER seen such written or spoken as an idea.
Maybe in some sect somewhere, but the WCG never taught that, and the LCG and the UCG do not, nor have ever.
There are enough factual things for this blog to pick on without having to make up crap. The concept of babies being demon possessed is a fantasy of yours and cannot be attributed to "Armstrongism".
Your loose use of the term "Armstrongism" is as prejudicial as saying "NIGGER" to apply to all black people. There is a broad continuum of Sabbath Keepers who were once part of the WCG, and many are not backwards, dysfunctional ignorant spiritual hillbillies with mental illness.
There are many Sabbatarians who are well adjusted, enlightened, progressive and great citizens and contributors to society.
Cool it with the broad brush strokes. It adds nothing to your credibility.
Joe Moeller
Cody, WY
Hey, all I know is that when I first heard the Armstrong "gospel" at about age 8, I immediately wished I had never been born. My reaction had nothing to do with Satan or his influence, it was just a logical mental reaction to pure toxicity. Over the coming decades, I fought my own mind, assuming that my mind had betrayed me and had actually rebelled against something good. But, in 1975, it finally all became very plain to me. Herbie had done his sales job as most skilled salesmen do, by taking control of the situation, painting an unwarranted melodramatic picture making it appear that the only way out was him and his little pissant church.
ReplyDeleteBB
Actually Joe WCG DID teach it. I heard in in the Dayton church growing up in comments by Carn Catherwood, James Young, Jim Doak, Jim Chapman and others over the decades. It was in the literature. GTA talked about it. HWA talked about it. Meredith did, Blackwell did, and on on the list could go. I heard it in Pasadena countless times over the years from the pulpit in the auditorium.
ReplyDeleteThis was not something that King, Flurry, or myself pulled out of the air.
Cody-
ReplyDeleteI used to attend with UCG, and I can vouch for the fact that technically, you're right, they never taught that babies were specifically "possessed" Exorcist style. However, I think it's pretty obvious that was not meant literally in the original post, so, prbly no need to over-react?
Question for you, Cody. Do you attend with LCG or something? You don't mind ridculing Bob Thiel, but UCG and LCG are off-limits? Are your comments against Thiel really just a defense of LCG? Thiel is only very slightly kookier than Meredith, Luker, or any of the other former WCG cronies in all the other splinter cult clones of WCG that make up the universe of "Armstrongism."
As for tarring all WCG splinters with the same broad "Armstrongism" brush, I'm having some difficulty identifying your point. You say "prejudicial" in this case like it's a bad thing? Maybe you didn't previously notice the use of the word "Armstrongism" in the bannerhead of this blog?
When it comes to "Armstrongism" I am just fine with my "prejudical" status. It isn't my blog, but I think of it as a public service, creating a memory and public record to warn unsuspecting people that any contact with "Armstrongism" may be dangerous to one's mental health. All the various cults of "Armstrongism" can sometimes turn relatively normal people into "backwards, dysfunctional, ignorant, spiritual hillbillies with mental illness." Somebody ought to at least warn them that it isn't worth the risk. Besides, a prejudice against all of "Armstrongism's" many cults might prevent others from having to learn the way I did, from painful experience. A healthy thing, I think.
Let's all agree to drop the term "hillbilly." It is no longer acceptable. The politically correct term is now "altitude-enhanced person."
ReplyDeleteThe term applies to those who, like me, grew up in the Ozarks, but not just to us. It is also an Appalachian appellation.
Joe, minus a little exaggeration for effect, the folks here are not making this up. "Demon possessed" is a little hyped, but the COGs teach that babies are born neutral but quickly are influenced by Satan to adopt the selfish, sinful ways of the world. It seems to be how the COGs get around the basic assumptions of the Original Sin theory, which is probably part of the reason they preach the craziness that people can develop the holy righteous character of Jesus Christ. I've actually been reading about this the last few weeks myself. Check out UCG's booklet on Transforming Your Life and, if you can stomach it, the Incredible Human Potential somewhere between pages 130 and 150.
ReplyDeleteOh, and of course they would include the concept of broadcasting wherever they could. It was HWA's obsession and trickled down to all true sheeple.
ReplyDelete