Tonight on Facebook there was a post about Dr. Ward. Like any top echelon leader in Armstrongism, Ward was all about control and manipulation of the students.
I never knew that Ward had banned jeans on the Big Sandy campus. That concept alone is totally absurd since Big Sandy is in Texas where a lot of the population wears jeans with their boots! But I digress, this is Armstrongism after all where NOTHING makes sense!
There is a deeper meaning as to why Ward banned jeans. Like a true COG leader his decision involved sex. No, I am not talking about a pair of tight buns in some tight jeans. It is worse than that!
Ward feared that women and men who would wear jeans would hook their thumbs in the pants pockets which then would cause the rest of the hands fingers to be angled forward and point to the persons genitals.
I kid you not! This is the reason jeans were banned in Big Sandy! How incredibly STUPID can Armstrongism get?
What the fuck???????????? Thank goodness I went to Pasadena where we could wear jeans and not have to worry about if our fingers were pointed towards our genitals. We had our own share of stupid rules, but this one is the dumbest one I have seen yet!
ReplyDeleteBe kinda creepy if you hang your thumbs in the pockets and your fingers point to your sternum. Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaainful!
ReplyDeleteIf you put your thumbs in your nose your fingers will point toward your skull and brain which is much better and indicates a thinking person lives here.
When I got to Big Sandy in 1993, jeans were allowed, but I think this was a new innovation. The big topic in my day was "freestyle" dancing - which was dancing without a partner, like you'd do at a nightclub. I suspect it was too sexy. It was forbidden until shortly after I arrived.
ReplyDeleteSarah...they must have wanted to see you freestyle lol
ReplyDeleteThis is disturbing. Seems Don Ward gave much thought to hooked thumbs and genital pointing. I mean, he must have noticed it in the first place. I wonder if it made him break out in a cold sweat or something, like a perverted priest trying to ignore the new altar boy.
ReplyDeletePaul Ray
Don't lots of pants, including those of many suits, also have belt-loops?
ReplyDeleteBut, perhaps we can buy a pair of jeans as a Christmas(or Valentine's Day?) present for Don Ward, which have neon arrows painted on them, pointing to his "no-no special place"
It must have been exhausting being an administrator at AC, feeling personally responsible for every sin that several hundred hormone-drenched young people might commit -- especially during nights and weekends. It must have been impossible for these guys to get any rest, always wondering what might or might not have transpired while your watchful eyes were closed. Especially when GTA was on campus.
ReplyDeleteHe undoubtedly missed the pot parties and beer busts.
ReplyDeleteProving once again, Armstrongist leaders are totally incompetent and should never, and I mean NEVER, be allowed in a position of authority.
Heck, they probably shouldn't be allowed near people.
Better not tell him about Wrangler's new "moisturizing" jeans:
ReplyDeletehttp://mashable.com/2013/01/17/wrangler-moisturizing-jeans/
All scorning aside, Don Ward was onto something my friends. He was right to exert his dominance in squashing any hint of sexual expression on the campus. Instead of wearing those provocative jeans, which are simply tools of exhibition, those students needed to were proper, modest dress and strap on a great big Bible. They definitely needed to be more submissive – bottom to top. And when a student wasn’t in class or in church services anticipating the imminent coming, he/she could be preparing for his/her future family role, playing recorded sermons, or on his/her knees in a closet. And no, sex is not evil – God made sex, but only for husband and wife who are to be ONE FLESH. Why do you think the male organ is in the shape of a “1”? I think the answer is obvious.
ReplyDeleteBut the sad fact is that the ministers were FAR too lenient, and still are! Why do they still allow neckties to be worn since they plainly POINT directly to a man’s hangy downy. Yes, the churches need to take a long hard look at themselves, and realize that the low standards of the world have fingered their way into the sacred presence of the chosen few. I know that it’s rough, I know that it’s hard, I know that Satan tries to shove his filth down our throats all day long! The devil is not stupid; he will use all sorts of tactics and cunning linguistics to insert assumptions and rebellious thoughts into our inward parts. And it will come out stinking – like it did from those lustful Ambassador students. But we must endure because the crown that awaits us is golden! Shower your minds with the word of the Lord, bind up your loins with good fruit!
Rev. Wyndsyr Knaughtington
Founder and Lord it Overseer
Bible Devotional Stress Management
If Don Ward gives a "thumbs-down" to this blog entry, are we to assume he's wearing jeans?
ReplyDeleteNorm
I remember my father speaking at length in one message about how Mr. Armstrong spent the better part of one year dealing with a major social disturbance in the WWCG.
ReplyDeleteThe social disturbance?
Should a woman wear a skirt the length reaching to the knee or one inch above!
While this was going on, the clock was ticking down to 1972.
These issues helped keep the Churches mind busy not paying attention to the fact that Mr. Armstrong in the mid 1950's uttered prophecies which failed.
It was ALL about the symbolism. Everything was scrutinized for subliminal messages, most always sexual. Men's neckties were phallic, while bowties were female genitalia. Hair styles like the bun or French twist were also deemed provacative. All meant to keep you off guard and under constant scruitny for transgressions.
ReplyDeleteThere was no love lost between the students and Don Ward. He was intensely disliked. Condescending, arrogant and dismissive.
ReplyDeleteOf course! He was an evangelist. Ahem, sorry. An EVANGELIST. .
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelists_of_the_Worldwide_Church_of_God
According to UCG, Ward states:
" I am serving on the Doctrine, Strategic Planning and Finance and Media Committees. We also serve as pastor of the East Texas, Texarkana, Texas and Ruston, Louisiana congregations. I also edit the Ministerial Journal."
Wonder if any in his congregation can wear jeans now.
BTW. Condescending, arrogant, and intensely disliked are excellent descriptions of most WCG minister types. Most never learned humility, most never understood servant leadership, most had tremendous egos, most were addicted to power. Sadly, the very qualities ministers should NOT have the WCG ministers always seemed to have. One could hardly tell if they were even "Christian". In WCG, "By their fruits you shall know" usually in the ministry was ALWAYS negative.
"I am of the tribe of Levis, serving on the Anti-Beltloop, Anti-Sexgland, and Strategic Anti-Indigo Denim Committees."
ReplyDeleteI remember there was some kind of nonsense about a woman not being able to wear pants that had a zipper in the front. (Only zippers on the side were supposedly ok).
ReplyDeleteI also recall that for some reason, a man was not suppose to "part his hair in the middle".
Talk about majoring in the minors. BUT... there were many Sunday Christian churches in the 50s and 60s, in the South and Midwest that were just as stupid about minutiae.
Religion, (not true Christianity) , often tries to figure out "who is out , and who is in" and enjoys that judgement process. It is one of the most common sins of any Christianity.
Joe Moeller
Cody, WY
Joe said:
ReplyDelete"I remember there was some kind of nonsense about a woman not being able to wear pants that had a zipper in the front. (Only zippers on the side were supposedly ok).
I also recall that for some reason, a man was not suppose to "part his hair in the middle"."
Absolutely correct, both of these are absolute fact. These two of course are just a small sample of the idiotic restrictions placed on church members through the years. There were unofficial things too that were encouraged, I guess, for what could be considered as "brownie points" - like guys carrying a briefcase or wearing those news journalist trench coats. An AC tie clasp or AC lapel pin was always a bonus. Oh, and the coveted "Usher" suit pin that simply said you were an "USHER". What you dressed in WCG DID matter. Sometimes way too much so.
so what's the big deal with genitals?
ReplyDeleteeverybody has them, and everybody knows that everybody has them and where they are located.
last time I read it, the bible says God created man and at that point creation became "very good", and they weren't wearing clothes at the time.
society has so much guilt associated with sex, and it seems even worse in the old WCG (and some of the splinters). maybe it's because sex is probably the most misused/abused gift God has given us.
some people just need to grow up.
ReplyDelete"How Don Ward Sexualized [and Banned] Blue Jeans in Big Sandy"
That is ok. I am too sexy for blue jeans anyway.
"Where were you in '69, smokin' dope and drinkin' wine, just an outlaw!" (Travis Tritt, "Homesick")
ReplyDeleteOne thing I really liked about WCG and about attending AC was that they so focussed on the imaginary badness minutiae that it was always easy to be an outlaw. Grow your sideburns a little longer than approved, wear your pants a skoche tighter, wear your surfer sandals while on the job as a student gardner, and studiously avoid Ambassador speak (ghastly!) or picking up the UAP (Universal
Ambassador Personality) and suddenly you were a rebel or an outlaw. I discovered early on that these things made the student body and faculty wonder about you and not trust you.
During a student body forum, GTA once stated that he didn't understand what the preoccupation with hair was amongst Ambassador men. He stated that if he were a student, he'd be taking advantage of a few years' opportunity to have his hair in a low-maintenance crew cut. Sometime between forum and dinner that evening, numerous student body "leaders" had gone back to their dormitories and had given one another crew cuts! Having seen this example, more students joined them that evening, and by breakfast time, a sizeable percentage of the male students were sporting crew cuts. I will admit, I failed to participate in this! To me, it smacked of cultic conformity, which tends to elliminate the God-given individuality built into each of our personalities. Later, as a businessman, when the Synanon Center was one of my customers, I had to laugh when Ron Detrick issued the same type of edict of his residents, and both men and women at the facility had gotten crew cuts (and had sworn off white sugar!).
I tend to look at things in terms of how Jesus would regard them these days. The Pharisee with the devious thoughts in his mind, but attired in the approved "spiritual" Jewish clothing of his day would have to take a back seat to the dude with the loving attitude in a "radical" pair of Levis. Focus on the physical inevitably facillitates the practice of giving a false appearance of goodness, ie the whitened sepulchre syndrome. AC and the WCG were very good at this!
BB
Don't believe everything you read, and nothing when it is posted by a proven liar.
ReplyDelete