The reactions have been swift at the latest photo's of the demolition of the Hall of Administration. This meme was done by a child of the church (an actress) who's life was screwed up because of it. Others have been moved to tears at seeing the debris because they have been hurt so much by the church, yet still identify with it.
Broken families and marriages, suicides, and mental disorders have been a result of the church and its teachings. Some have been scared for life by the church and so many want to sweep it all under the rug and act like nothing bad ever happened, and if it did, it was the person's fault for being weak and not the church.
On the Banned Facebook page and the FB pages the following comments have been made:
Reminds me of the destruction of The Temple signifying the end of the Levitical Priesthood and the daily sacrifice and how many still insisted on living in OT OC times. The splinters are in denial of this being a significant sign, Armstrongism is dead...
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I fight very hard not to be bitter because it is counter productive. That said, after a 50 year exposure to that hot mess, I can't help not be angry. It was bad enough being raised in it, but now, in my early 60's, I have no hope of ever retiring, a still live paycheck to paycheck. After all, we should be in the Millennium, right? Who needs IRA's and Social Security when we are all now in the Wonderful World Tomorrow!
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Many lives and careers are a pile of rubble just like that. it is not so easy just to sweep away the damage done to children and marriages. I contributed thousands of dollars and there it is in a pile of trash.
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I'll say it again. That pile of rubble was what was stolen out of our mouths as kids, was stolen of our backs. That building, was built and paid for by people like my parents with the thousands of dollars they didn't have to spare which they sent to Pasadena every paycheck. It seems a waste to see a beautiful building that my parents in part paid for laying there as a pile of rubble. I don't miss the organization but to see the sacrifice decimated is a hard pill to swallow. Just my thoughts and feelings on this.
12 comments:
Sitting in a SC airport waiting to hear home to Portland thinking "nothing lasts" and how happy I am to be free of all the drama, personalities and the shallow and non critical life examination promoted by mere bible reading theologians falsely so called. I feel I've personally made peace with my past sincere but mistaken choices. Live n burn...
I have no complaint about tithing since God blessed me in my workplace, and other areas of my life. But what really ticks me off is the third tithe. I find no mention of it in the NT, and my minister would have never approved one cent be given me if through misfortune, I ended up in a wheelchair. My minister was vile, and he only favored members similar to himself.
Dennis,
You do realize that a computer is sending a posting like that to a cublicle in Baltimore right now?
Safe journey.....and travels,
nck
PS I am grateful as well that of the 35 or so family and extended family members in WCG , 3 full time pastors, 2 fathers as Local Elders, everyone else a deacon or deaconess save for the second generation who got out early, none of them are associated with the splinters and slivers. My parents went full circle from their Presbyterian roots , thru WCG and out the other end back to the very same wooden pews in the very same Presbyterian Church where I sat when my feet couldn't reach the floor. It's a story I guess but the story is not who we are in reality. In many ways, it's just a story that could have been another story just as easily, with all its other dramas, personalities and experiences, with a few other decisions along the way. Many roads not taken I suppose. I could have passed on this one however had I understood more when younger.
In the end, it is the land that contains the value. Buildings and things built by men are always a depreciating asset, and require new investment and cash flow each year to maintain. Or, when they become obsolete, to simply discard.
However, the land is still there, and the creative destruction of using it for its "highest and best" economic purpose is being done right now. New structures will occupy the land.
So where did the value of this property go? I still think it ridiculous that one Joe Tkach Jr. sits on an unaccountable sum of money obtained by liquidating the church's assets. Its not even being used for or by the WCG/GCI general church membership.
Again, one the most diabolical and clever heists and criminal masterminded schemes I have ever witnessed. Nothing can be done legally, but it sure would be nice to see some sort of documentary expose' on this.
Sing A Long Time-
Sing to the tune "THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_ksYL26lZE
Virgil Caine is the name, and I tithed to the HWA food train...
'Till Tkachs's cavalry came and tore up the church again...
In the winter of '95, we were spiritually hungry, just barely alive...
By May the tenth,the old doctrine had fell, it's a time I remember, oh so well...
The night they tore old WCG down, and the bells were ringing
The night they tore old WCG down, and the people were singin' they went
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she called to me...
"Virgil, quick, come see on Banned, there goes the W-C-G
Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good...
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest,
But they should never have taken the tithe of the very best...
The night they tore old WCG down, and the bells were ringing
The night they tore old WCG down, and the people were singin' they went
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
Yep. It's almost an after thought for me, too. I would argue that the people who are currently in some of the splinters are suffering far greater damage, because in their desperation to see the Armstrong false prophecy mold fulfilled, or let's face it, just retain credibility, some have amplified Armstrongism, claiming power as Apostles, prophets, and even the two witnesses. They've become more intrusive, more authoritarian, and more demanding of the finances of members. And yet, the growth is either negative, or statistically negligible. Key things that were used to prove one another in circular logic have broken down. The response is a more angry, growling "gospel" that begets an assortment of mean spirited attitudes. Their world view is hopeless as is the kingdom view, as the oppressors are thought to still be in charge in the kingdom enforcing Armstrongism as the government o God for all eternity. Living under that is supposed to pass as one's reward.
The demolition of the physical plant that supported the empire creates just a little more optimism. The tithes and offerings that I contributed were from well before I reached my peak, and although there was some hardship, and embarrassment over inability to pay some bills, at least when I began to make some good money I knew the value of budgeting, and delayed gratification. It is difficult to even begin to comprehend the plights of faithful employees who did not pay into the Social Security system right up until the final demise. Not everyone remains healthy and able to work right up until the day they die.
There are many heart-rending stories to be told, and most of them don't have happy endings.
BB
Hi Connie, your rendition of that song is absolutely hilarious.
"Broken families and marriages, suicides, and mental disorders have been a result of the church and its teachings."
Speaking of suicides, when Hitler took power the suicide rate in Germany went way down. The "democratic" Weimar Republic was killing people with despair because they were so inept. Kind of like America today. So be careful what standards you judge by.
"Others have been moved to tears at seeing the debris because they have been hurt so much by the church, yet still identify with it."
Moved to tears? Really? Who?
Connie, if it was purely a heist, Tkach would not have abolished tithing. His 'mission from God' was to dismantle the church, in which he has succeeded admirably. Nice lyrics to the song.
12:59
Yes I believe so too.
Even when hwa was over 90 years old Stanley Rader insisted that he did not believe hwa would have a successor. Now this was probably the most educated person in the church speaking about a 90 year old man.
Of course tkach was always Raders lieutenant receiving sufficient compensation for the execution of the business plan and dismantling of the organisation.
nck
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