The Kids Got Screwed When It Came To Receiving Gifts!
Is it any wonder that most of the children who have been raised in the Armstrong Churches of God don't stay in the church? For the sake of this post, I won't question the motives of Herbert Armstrong and those who have followed in his apostolic footsteps. Nevertheless, if we take an objective look at the consequences for the kids, we begin to see why they might feel like they got the short end of the stick when it came to receiving gifts from their parents and other family members.
Think about it. There was no Christmas - no gifts under the Christmas tree or in their stockings. There were no birthday gifts, because everybody knew that only wicked folks celebrated birthdays. There weren't many gifts any other time of the year either, because "God's Work" needed every penny they could get (and everyone was supposed to be giving a full ten percent of their GROSS income AND special offerings on all of the high days).
What about festival gifts? The official advice/guidance/directive from the church: "Some members have purchased gifts for their children so that the children might better enjoy the Feast. Gifts for small children at Feast time helps make the Feast special for them — a time to look forward to each year. But in other cases, some people have overdone the giving of gifts at Feast time, sometimes buying expensive items they couldn't really afford. Usually such items are used during the rest of the year as well. This goes far beyond the principle of using the festival funds to provide a joyous, happy Feast." Festival Tithe - Your Questions Answered
And, just in case you might have a little extra money to spend on the kids at the festival, the church said: "it has always been the practice of the Church members who have more than they need to turn in this excess to the Church." (same link) There was also the tithe of the tithe to suck up those extra funds: "Several years ago, because of the considerable expenses of providing the facilities and handling year-round administrative needs for the Feast, Pastor General Herbert W. Armstrong directed all members of the Church to send in one tenth of their festival tithe to cover these costs. This is commonly referred to as the tithe of the tithe." (same link)
Poor kids - they never had a chance! Wonder what they were thinking when they saw all of the gifts that their Catholic and Protestant friends received from their family and friends? Oh, that's right, my bad - they weren't supposed to have any friends outside of the church anyway! Never mind.God Cannot Be Contained
Think about it. There was no Christmas - no gifts under the Christmas tree or in their stockings. There were no birthday gifts, because everybody knew that only wicked folks celebrated birthdays. There weren't many gifts any other time of the year either, because "God's Work" needed every penny they could get (and everyone was supposed to be giving a full ten percent of their GROSS income AND special offerings on all of the high days).
What about festival gifts? The official advice/guidance/directive from the church: "Some members have purchased gifts for their children so that the children might better enjoy the Feast. Gifts for small children at Feast time helps make the Feast special for them — a time to look forward to each year. But in other cases, some people have overdone the giving of gifts at Feast time, sometimes buying expensive items they couldn't really afford. Usually such items are used during the rest of the year as well. This goes far beyond the principle of using the festival funds to provide a joyous, happy Feast." Festival Tithe - Your Questions Answered
And, just in case you might have a little extra money to spend on the kids at the festival, the church said: "it has always been the practice of the Church members who have more than they need to turn in this excess to the Church." (same link) There was also the tithe of the tithe to suck up those extra funds: "Several years ago, because of the considerable expenses of providing the facilities and handling year-round administrative needs for the Feast, Pastor General Herbert W. Armstrong directed all members of the Church to send in one tenth of their festival tithe to cover these costs. This is commonly referred to as the tithe of the tithe." (same link)
Poor kids - they never had a chance! Wonder what they were thinking when they saw all of the gifts that their Catholic and Protestant friends received from their family and friends? Oh, that's right, my bad - they weren't supposed to have any friends outside of the church anyway! Never mind.God Cannot Be Contained
HWA never had anything to do with the members. When I went to AC in 1964, I never saw him fellowship with the members. When he gave a sermon, he came in right before services and left immediately after services. It was all about him. Members were useful as tithe servants.
ReplyDeleteJim-AZ
Tithe of the Tithe. The excuse given was that there was a "cost" for the facilities etc, that needed to be covered.
ReplyDeleteUnbeknownst to the church members was that (as part of the negotiations for FOT locations) that local Chambers of Commerce paid for FOT hall rentals in order to attract the buying power of the event. Consolidated hotel/motel booking by the in-house WCG travel agency, also provided MANY free comped rooms for the ministry as well.
Tithe of the Tithe was an obscene , unbiblical policy that was a total rip off. Scripture says, Deuteronomy 14 -"And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires":
There are no restrictions there, but the WCG wanted limits, (like buying a suit or toys, or replacing your bald tires on the car to be able to drive there) so as to reap the "excess 2nd tithe" as well. Combine that with daily and twice daily long services so as to limit members time to be able to spend as well. There is NO scripture that describes forced "tithe of the tithe", nor conscription of excess second tithe".
The Armstrong Empire, and many if not all splinters, are not based in faith, but based on revenue.
The average kid today, in or out of the church, has more toys by the age of five than I got my entire childhood. And I'm not crying about it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHWA could have allowed for (optional) celebration of Purim and Hanukkah. In my time in a Jewish community, Purim was directed toward children, even when reading the book of Esther in Hebrew, and of course Hanukah is better than Christmas.
ReplyDeleteWe know Jesus observed Hanukkah (John 10) and probably Purim (John 5), but the COG workaround is that they were "national" holidays. And not being mandatory, there was no tithing involved...
The Messianic Jewish rabbi where I have been attending said the only mention in the Bible of Hanukkah is in the NT - I have not checked up on this yet.
ReplyDeleteThe Messianic congregations I have attended are far more tolerant of other Christian groups - the most important thing for them is worshipping Jesus.
I feel like I am following RCM's wish - to get back to Apostolic Christianity which was led by converted Jews.
(I suspect RCM if still alive would not endorse my current understanding. LOL)
I had it both ways, Christmas/Birthdays/Easter before the WCG and nada after. Here's the thing; our parents came into the WCG as ADULTS. They already had their childhoods, their traditions, their family gatherings. What did we have? We had our non church families taken away from us, the anticipation of a holiday, the sheer memories of being normal. And in talking to other child survivors, it's all a kid wants, it's all I ever wanted again. Primal, normalcy, non freakdom. If some kids didn't mind sitting in the hall at school when everyone else was having a party, in 50+ years I never met any. People need to stop trivializing how kids REALLY feel, they're KIDS, immature for sure. We had the Feast, and for 8 days we sat through 2 services a day in the 60's, and schlepped behind our folks with homework to do so we wouldn't face more scrutiny when we got back. It was not fun, it was STRESSFUL and small minds do not grow properly under these conditions. We can't let it go now because it changed our being, who we grew up to be. It sucked being different, it wasn't about the toys. I have rationally gotten over it, I grew up, I am getting old now. So, so what? We don't count still? Don't put me down because how I felt then and still do. Keep your bah, humbug. ;)
ReplyDeleteEven James Malm condemns the tithe of a tithe, calling it money-grubbery.
ReplyDelete"We know Jesus observed Hanukkah (John 10) and probably Purim (John 5)"
ReplyDeletePeople should look up the real meaning of these festivals. It's not what the Jews say. Instead of hating me for telling you the truth, look into it.
Come on people quit being so ridiculous....
ReplyDelete5:14, You said it. The feast wasn't a "fun time" for us either, I always felt a little lost, never knew if we were christian or jewish. Didn't have the benefits of either one. I love christmas because when I went to my friend's houses, their house was warm, welcoming, smelled of cookies baking, decorations everywhere, whereas our house, nothing. As an adult, I can make what I want and I do.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t been in the cult for years, but when I was, it never prevented me from buying my kids stuff. Put up your tree and lights and stop crying.
ReplyDeleteFor those commentators who are incapable of empathy/sympathy, I wrote this post from the perspective of one who had observed this parental behavior in the Worldwide Church and had later practiced it for a couple of years of my own daughters' childhoods. I was hoping it might trigger a twinge of conscience in those who forced their children to endure this crap.
ReplyDeleteFolks, it's time to acknowledge we made a mistake - a serious error in judgment. DNA has proven that Herbert Armstrong was wrong about Anglo-Israelism. Time has proven that he got it wrong about prophecy. The fate of his organization has conclusively demonstrated that he was wrong about church government. Subsequent research by numerous individuals has demonstrated that Armstrong presented inaccurate (I'm being charitable) information about history (both church related and secular), tithing and the human potential. And, finally, revelations about his own character flaws have demonstrated that it is incomprehensible that God would choose such an individual to resurrect his one true church. The first step on the road to recovery is to admit the mistake.
Yes, my family has celebrated the Feast of the Dedication and Christmas for years, and we are very happy that we do. Nevertheless, I still feel for those who are trapped in the time warp of Armstrongism - for those who cannot bring themselves to acknowledge that they were duped and have wasted so much time and energy in error.
Exactly, Armstrong was wrong on BI, wrong on prophecy, wrong on church government - the proof is in the results over the years. What was he right about? It is sad that his followers have taken the position that they will conitinue to hold on to EVERYTHING he said until each and every position gets proven wrong. Then, maybe, they will believe he wasn’t inspired - but only after everything he said has been proven wrong.
DeleteMiller
ReplyDeleteYes HWA was dead wrong on a lot of things. Yet he set me on a course to recognize that the spreading of dna was very close to what wcg taught through its esoteric sources.
Just one example (thousands of years off hwas biblical interpretation) yet extremely accurate as ever if you allow for a particular outlook on the history of man. I already adressed the middke eastern ancestry of irish stone agr farmers. There is a distant ring of truth an echo of truth in all wcg taught on the topic.
Nck
nck - I am a mix of Ashkenazi Jewish and English - my wife has no Jewish descendants. Both of us are what WCG considered as Ephraim or Manasseh. The DNA connection does not show a recent linkage.
ReplyDeletePlus the 7 times "prophecy" - if you look at without bias - is not a prophecy - it is an escalating series of punishments - several 7 times in the escalation.
Certainly a rational, logically thinking and objective individual can observe and understand the unique contributions of various races without supporting them either with HWA's superstitions, conspiracy theories and timelines, or alternatively, by explaining them in terms of alleged racial superiorities. Cultures rise and fall.
ReplyDeleteI believe that in future decades and centuries, with increased immigration, travel, and mixing, as all humans begin to look like Mariah Carey, unique contributions and social problems will still exist. That is of course if humanity can act in concert to acknowledge and combat the inconvenient existential threats which have emerged and exist during our times. Thus has always been the history of mankind.
BB
TLA. My posting is actually an acknowledgement if your posting.
ReplyDeleteI indeed did make a point that disagrees with anything anyone has ever written. I forgot to post the link om which I based a completely alternative rendition of all theories.
https://www.archaeology.org/news/7178-181203-scotland-ava-genome
I post it here. Not to prove anything. Just to emphasize my point that ancient lore, folk stories or ancient written books based on oral tradition MIGHT just ECHO truthful (his)stories that we are only discovering to be true EXACTLY through the science of DNA.
In this case proving a point about black haired scots instead of the fair maidens that grace the heather of our imagination.
Like the stone age middle eastern settlers found in irish graves
Completely different from the BI theory YET exactly fitting the narrative of lore.
Nck
TLA
ReplyDeleteTo fully comprehend my posting of course the link I provided is important. Also it must have occurred to you that as president of the flat earth society I would be able to state emphatically that we have members all around the globe.
nck
nck - you cannot have flat earth without turtles supporting it all the way down.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe in the Big Turtle?
DNA - I am waiting on a more comprehensive map. The USA has immigrants from all over which makes it hard to believe it is primarily Manasseh.
I found my 75% English ancestry is actually 50% - one of my grandparents was a mix of German/French and northwestern European (a catchall for that part of the world).
Our DNA can have unexpected results.