double click on picure to enjoy the gruesome details
There is nothing to compare to growing up as a child in the Church of God. As a small child I had to sit and listen to Rod Meredith, Carn Catherwood, and others wax eloquent on the soon coming imprisonment of the United States, Canada, England, Australia and New Zealand. Lengthy sermons were preached about concentration camps where we would be strung up on meathooks by the Germans if we failed to make it to Petra.It was sermon after sermon on famine, pestilence, war, and Germans as we would sent off to be their slaves in Germany and elsewhere.
Who in their right mind would preach this kind of crap when kids are represent? It takes a sick warped mind to do such a thing.
One of the sermons I remember vividly was the one about the brazen bull that Christians would be put in and slowly cooked to death. This idiocy was told to us as we were were small children.
Meredith, Malm, Flurry, Pack and others still preach this kind of crap.
What child needs to hear this in church? What adult needs to hear this kind of stuff?
17 comments:
There's no doubt that they exploited every fear avenue possible. How sincere would a conversion based on such fear actually be? To say nothing of being way off mainstream, and causing psychological problems later in life.
I've recently become aware of a new book, a new psychological model, "The Narcissistic Family, Diagnosis and Treatment" by Pressman and Pressman. In this case, the term narcissism is expanded to include anything of a personal nature pursued by the parents which makes them focus primarily on their own wants and needs, and preclude them from focussing on the primary functuon of a family, which the nurture of the children. Obviously, Armstrongism falls into this category, as it caused the parents to be detached and emotionally unavailable to their children on any meaningful level. The kids are made into little robots to enable the parents' personal programs.
Symptoms, especially if undiagnosed or unknown, can follow the children of such families throughout their entire lives, often leaving them wondering how they became as they are. The children become a reflection of their parents expectations, and are deprived of the opportunity to become unique. Identity confusion results. Anger, depression, poor self-confidence, chronic dissatisfaction, and PTSD are also present. There is the chronic desire to be liked by everyone, to be a people pleaser. Failed romances, and difficulty in trusting others are additional hallmarks. It's got even greater implications if you consider the church to be your family, and the ministers its spiritual parents.
If you were raised in Armstrongism, and wondered why you have had one or more of these symptoms, this book may be of great help. There are action items in the book, capable of helping one address and recover from the symptoms. These have the potential of getting people up and running on the adult level.
Anyhoo. Check it out. It's pretty enlightening!
BB
The church used prophecy as a tool to keep members psychologically cowed, and hence tolerate appalling mistreatment. It's like Satan who was a murderer from the beginning. Tear people down to fulfil ones power lust.
Comment was made: "...Meredith, Malm, Flurry, Pack and others still preach this kind of crap..."...that "soon coming imprisonment" stuff.
Did the phrase "love one another" get buried under all those lies?
To be succinct, that phrase is mentioned at least 12 times in the New Testament.
If/when practiced it really does work.
Only question might be: what is the source of that "love?" If it is the right source, then it ought to be a done deal...some good news for a change!
John
I grew up Catholic, and the nuns were always terrorizing us with the fact that we might be called upon to die on the cross, too. The bishop, who conducted the ceremony, gave each child a slap on the face to symbolize our new commission as "soldiers for Christ." We studied all the grizzly details of the early Christian martyrs' deaths. And we also listened to incredible stories of miracles that looking back, were not only unproven, but absurd fiction, at best. Jewish kids grew up being terrorized that in the middle of the night, there could be a knock at their door, even though WWII had long since ended.
Fast forward to joining the WCG. More of the same, but with a different slant. Fear is an immensely powerful force and it is how religion maintains control over their membership.
It could have been worse -- it could have been scary sermons about demons.
Four year old to ACoG parents: Mommy, daddy, what's a homosexual?
Real uplifting stuff.
Just the sort of milieu one expects of an alcoholic organization with no boundaries (teach your children to drink! -- remember that one in the Good News?).
Boozing alcoholics are generally also narcissists.
It is a little odd that WCG never really delved into demonology, as fascinated as they were with blaming everything on demons. I guess HWAs Quaker roots wouldnt allow for that.
oh but RSK you are wrong, WCG did delve into demons. Of course there was a big warning not to get too involved and also not to allow ourselves to be hypnotised or do drugs as we would lay ourselves open to demon possession. There was even a minister/faculty member at Bricket Wood who wrote some kind of thesis on demons. Now did he get his doctors designation based on this? I am not sure. I was just about 12 years old and my dad gave me one of this Dr.Wainwrights papers to read. It was about demon possession. My dad got a copy because my mom who was mentally ill was supposed to be demon possessed. Long story, but my whole childhood I believed our house was haunted and my mom demon possessed and left as soon as possible for the safety of AC.
I remember stories about how GTA could tell if someone was demon possessed just by looking at their photo, and he went through AC student applications which had to have a photo attached. Based on the photo I heard someone was declared demon possessed and not accepted. Of course demons were always trying to infiltrate both the church and Ambassador College.
I think some of that demon research got swept under the rug, perhaps some more enlightened people found it embarrassing.
I heard that sort of thing too, but even with the speculations about angelic ranks, Nimrod and Semiramis, BI and the rest, you never heard of named demons, ranks, attributes, and the like... the usual stuff of demonology. You say a Wainwright had a thesis along those lines?
Narcissism is everywhere. We humans are naturally skilled in it.
Sacha Slone
***for entertainment purposes only!***
engulf them!! lol
DBP
She couldn't be subtle to save her own life!
These things were (are) preached because they need to be said. You all sound like people who want to be taught "smooth" things (Isaiah 30:10), or only "pleasant" and "feel good" stuff. Encouragement is certainly necessary, but God also tells His ministers to “Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1). You all can act the fool and deny what is happening on the world scene as He foretold thousands of years ago in His written words, but God does want your attention on these matters - because He loves you. Hopefully you'll remember what you were taught these many years ago and make the changes He wants you to make before the time is to late to do anything about it.
anonymous 6:53. These ministers that are crying aloud and lifting their voices like trumpets.......are they the same ones who live in comfort off peoples tithes and keep their rebellious children in comfortable jobs associated with this lifting of voices?
Sad. Why would anyone listen to them? They are cracked trumpets, alcoholics, mentally disturbed, child abusers, abusers of people in their churches, grown fat from rich living. If there was anyone halfway decent out there some of the old members might be interested. But who wants to be told what to do and what to think by imbeciles and narcissists?
"...tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1)."
Maybe better start by correctly identifying "the house of Jacob"? DNA has conclusively disproven the false idea of British Israelism, so it ain't Anglo-Saxons.
"These things were (are) preached because ... blah blah blah ... God does want your attention on these matters - because He loves you. Hopefully you'll remember what you were taught these many years ago and make the changes He wants you to make before the time is to late to do anything about it."
If Zeus wants my attention, he can talk to me himself. Until then, there is ZERO reason to believe any celestial beings anxiously want my attention or anybody else's. I've got no reason to suspect that a human being has ever spoken on behalf of any celestial being at any time in history.
Christ did say to do as the Pharisees taught me the ten commandments. They were corrupt just like today's religous teacher. I follow the instructions of gardening books irregardless of the moral failing of the authors. The same with corrupt ministers. Success is an individual endeavour. You seem to be using these ministers to justify your own inaction.
anonymous 10:10, perhaps you should define "inaction". I would guess that most of the former members are not living depraved lives. Many are more genuine and law abiding than the corrupt leaders in their former churches. So.......ok maybe you mean the Sabbath? That would be easy if I saw a reason for it, now I spend the Sabbath following gardening instructions primarily, enjoying gods creation. What else? Should I be actively running around warning my neighbors they are about to be fried and enslaved for their sins? I leave that to the Jehovah Witnesses and the various maniacs out there. So we just wait and carry on with our lives and try to be good people. I refuse to be scared shitless by people who want money.
As far as visiting the sick and those in jail and taking orphans into their homes. I know people who do that too, and they are not religious at all. So what does the angry god require - prostration and worship?
"...tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1)."
RCM has, on multiple occasions, contradicted himself by quoting this scripture and claiming that LCG is crying aloud and sparing not. But, many times he has said, often in the same sermon, "We can't speak out as strongly as we would like on television about subjects like homosexuality and abortion." Well, Dr. Meredith, which is it? Are you going to cry aloud and spare not and show people their sins? Or are you going to hold back on the fear you might get kicked off some stations? It would appear to be a contradiction between what God commands ("cry aloud and spare not") and RCM's mission ("preach the gospel to the world as a witness'). So, how should this be resolved? It's easy. RCM's mission is something Jesus never told the church to do. So, RCM ought to speak the full truth about abortion and and homosexuality, and trust in Jesus Christ, as Head of the church, to take care of the rest. But this would require faith, of which Dr. Meredith has little, so he decided to hold back instead. After all, if he got kicked off of multiple TV stations, that would diminish his place and his power. Can't have that. Better to compromise on what God commands.
That said, a recent TV message from Gerald Weston spoke powerfully against abortion. There is hope that this long-held position will be abandoned, in spite of RCM!
LCG Expositor
"I grew up Catholic, and the nuns were always terrorizing us with the fact that we might be called upon to die on the cross, too. The bishop, who conducted the ceremony, gave each child a slap on the face to symbolize our new commission as "soldiers for Christ." We studied all the grizzly details of the early Christian martyrs' deaths. And we also listened to incredible stories of miracles that looking back, were not only unproven, but absurd fiction, at best. Jewish kids grew up being terrorized that in the middle of the night, there could be a knock at their door, even though WWII had long since ended."
I know where you're coming from.
As BB said, God never had anything to do with it!
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