April 20th. Two men arrived at our house this evening. I don’t like them. They’re not happy people like we remember mom and dad once were. They are stern and cold. These men are not loving. They tell mom and dad to send us to our rooms. Mom and dad obey and then talk to these men alone for about an hour.April 25th. It’s a Saturday and Becky and I wanted to go play today, but dad said no. Mom said to go get dressed in our best clothes because we were going to a meeting that was ordered by God. We go to the meeting and listen to some men yelling at us. We’re no good, they say, we’re sinners and need to go to God to get forgiven. They alone will tell us how. I’d rather be playing. What’s tithing?May 16th. Dad said that we’re taking these services of God too lightly. We’re old enough, he said, to listen to the speakers who are anointed of God. We can finally learn something from these men about how evil our lives had been, and how we are now learning not to be pagans. What is an apostle?September 12th. Tonight we listened upstairs as dad told mom that their bills were getting too high. He said that tithing and offerings came first, but after all that was paid, there was little left for anything else except food. He said he owed a month’s mortgage on the house. He’s going to sell mom’s car so he can continue to tithe.September 25th. We were sent to bed at seven o’clock at exactly the time when those two ministers came to the front door. I still don’t like them. Becky and I listened, as always, and we heard a lot of yelling from the men. Dad answered a couple of times quietly and mom said nothing. They needed his finance statement, they said, with a list of all the money he spent every week. Then they said that they would show dad and mom how to tithe properly. What does “carnal” mean?October 15th. Today a woman, called a realtor, came to our home and looked around. We heard dad tell mom that the only way we could reconcile with God is to sell the house, and with the little profit remaining, send in that money to church headquarters to pay for back tithes owing. We are going to lose our home. I don’t think I like this God.December 13th. We’ve now started to live in a small, cheap apartment. It’s not all that clean. I don’t like our neighbors because they’re always picking fights with us. Becky and I share a bedroom. Mom and dad are fighting. Becky is crying. I am hurting.
Read the entire story here: A Child Speaks
This is dead on!
ReplyDeleteFamilies are ruined by the C of Gs.
Anointed by God? Anyone who accepts Christ as Lord and Saviour is anointed by God.
But then the church is now teaching that blue is for boys because it symbolizes heaven and authority. The bible says they say using the typical church Eisegesis. And pink is for girls maybe because it reminds them of pink apples! Those evil wenches.
It is an insane nonsense religion based on silly interpretations of the bible.
Yes. You have to consider the fruits. The only people who were truly happy in Armstrongism were the people who did not take everything to the extreme fanatical lengths that the ministry taught and enforced. Parents who were more forgiving, husbands who were kinder and more understanding and compassionate with their wives, families that didn't severely deprive themselves in responding to all of the manufactured financial emergencies of the church.
ReplyDeleteThe people who feel angrier and perhaps even the dreaded "b" word are the ones who made unrequited sacrifice to support a bogus, self-serving system. They are the ones who got royally ripped off, giving what in many cases were actually unable to give.
It's just so good to know what we know now!
BB
This could be a description of my family. My parents were fun to be around as we were growing up, then they joined the church in Indianapolis and things quickly went down hill after that. We were constantly struggling with money in order to make ends meet. My parents became joyless. They were angry all the time and even vindictive when it came to punishments. We became isolated from our neighbors because of the negativity of my parents. When I turned 18 I was out of the house because I could not take it any more. My parents eventually went to one of the splinter groups where they act like mindless zombies most of the time. They make no decisions of their own without first consulting a minister. They even ask if they can have me visit! They are joyless, miserable people who are surrounded by other joyless and miserable people. I lost my parents to this sick religion.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a good and relevant description of WCG "minister-visits-dynamics"
ReplyDeleteBTW, what's the "dreaded 'b' word"?
The most stupid "b" word I can think of is, "biblical"!
Shame, shame, shame.
ReplyDelete"Mar 10:13 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
Mar 10:14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
Mar 10:15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.
Mar 10:16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them."
no cheers from this header
ralph.f
The happiest times of my life were early childhood before religion entered in and the times since I left Worldwide in the mid-seventies. It took a long time for balance and sanity to return, but I got there. My parents weren't to blame for any of it. I deserted them for Armstrongism, but I made the early lives of my own children miserable. I'm glad they've forgiven me.
ReplyDeleteHaving been born into WCG rather than coming in as an adult convert, I can't quite follow how anyone could be meek enough to allow some random "ministurd" to go snooping through their finances and other personal affairs, much less shouting at them in their own house. But it happened in many many cases...
ReplyDeleteO, what terrible things happened in HWA's WCG.
ReplyDeleteThank you John O. for telling us what happened.
These happened all too often. The 1977 book Broadway to Armageddon by William Hinson mentions many of these kinds of things.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/98286232/William-Hinson-Broadway-to-Armageddon
Ralf, I don't get your conclusion. I remind you that scriptures are written such that they have levels of depth, and can be viewed from different 'angles' giving slightly different meanings. So how about doing the heavy lifting, and telling us your interpretation of your quoted scriptures?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThe COG Advertisement: Give us your miserable life full of unsolvable problems and we will make it happy, fun, and fulfilling. We know the way that leads to every good thing that everyone wants.
The COG Reality: Give them your happy, fun, fulfilling life and they will make it miserable and full of unsolvable problems. They know the way to every bad thing that nobody wants.
ReplyDeleteThe COG Advertisement: Meet true Christians with the Holy Spirit and make good friends for life.
The COG Reality: Meet some real demoniacs and be harassed and slandered by these perverts for life.
ReplyDeleteThe COG Advertisement: Understand Bible prophecy for today.
The COG Reality: Get strung along by 82 years of wrong prophetic guesses, and still counting.
ReplyDeleteThe COG Advertisement: Tithe and be blessed and prosper.
The COG Reality: Get conned, robbed, cursed and shrivel up.
ReplyDeleteThe COG Advertisement: Get your child to respect you by reading GTA's Plain Truth About Child Beating booklet.
The COG Reality: End up with someone like Byker Bob. Eww. They might never forgive you!
ReplyDeleteThe COG Advertisement: Each splinter leader claims to be HWA's true successor who just wants to humbly hold on tightly to everything that HWA had taught.
The COG Reality: Each splinter leader wants to get his greedy hands tightly on the money of some of HWA's followers so he can start his own money machine, give himself many grandiose titles, build himself a nice mansion, and change what HWA had taught in some really perverse ways to totally screw his followers.
LOL! Good one, 7:16! I'm positive GTA was not visualizing some future rebellious rock n roller blasting around on motorcycles having been spawned largely by his doctoral thesis. Goes to show, one size does not fit all!
ReplyDeleteBB
on May 23, 2016 at 3:33 PM
ReplyDeleteAnonymous wrote:-
"So how about doing the heavy lifting, and telling us your interpretation of your quoted scriptures?"
I guess my comment was off the cuff, so to speak, and I should have spent more time in review.
It is simply that I adore (2 : to regard with loving admiration and devotion *adored his daughter*-from Merriam-Webster) little children. As an old aunt of mine once said "Children are our future" They are gifts from God and should be treated as such, nurtured and cared for and not deprived by complying with some now non existent Biblical law.
'IT', tithing of any kind was 'finished','disannulled' long, long ago.
"Heb 7:18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
Heb 7:19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God."
WRT vs19 I believe this refers only to the law of tithing which, in any case, was on 'increase' and never on income.
For a definition of increase see "1Co_3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." GOD (Yehovah), not your employer or the business you conduct.
What you earn 'by the sweat of your brow' is yours to keep and do with as you will. Always has been the case.
cheers
ralph.f
In the PCG you have to counsel who you can room mate with, what kind of job to get and you even have to counsel if you want to visit a friend in another congregation. I was told that both ministers have to give their blessing! Whuh???
ReplyDeleteParis Turgeon tweeted this weekend that her Dad Wayne really liked their server where they were all dining and he pushed Paris to give them a Trumpet magazine! Good grief! He's such a dumbass!
Good way to burn bridges in our little Edmond town.
7.49PM thanks for the suggestion. We can all start our own churches, and retire early. How about the BB church of God, or the Ralf church of God, the Retired Prof church of God etc, and not forgetting the TradingGuy church of God.
ReplyDeleteCheers TradingGuy.
Ralf your 'what you earn is yours to keep' is laughable. In Australia where you live, if all forms of taxation are added up, it comes to a 50% taxation rate. And this doesn't include the ridiculous federal debt. It's called socialism or 'pass the wealth around' as Obama puts it. The government views, and feels that it owns all of your money. In their generosity, they let you keep 50%.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete10:02 was deleted
ReplyDeleteon May 24, 2016 at 1:39 PM
ReplyDeleteAnonymous wrote:-
"Ralf your 'what you earn is yours to keep' is laughable. In Australia where you live, if all forms of taxation are added up, etc...."
WRT the second part, too true. So it would be a good idea to set your will to "render unto Cesar", that is, if you don't want to go to prison or whatever. Otherwise, follow what you think is best for you.
On the other hand, if you don't pay "tithes" to anyone I believe I can guarantee you won't go to prison or be continually burned up in a lake of fire! Or whatever your thoughts might be on the latter.
cheers
ralph.f