Jonathan Madison, in an article for The Daily Journal, out of San Mateo, CA, mentions the Living Church of God in an article about attacks on places of worship. The mass killings at the mosque in New Zealand spurred on the article.
I am saddened to learn that 50 victims have been identified among those killed in the March 15 terror attacks on two Christchurch mosques in New Zealand. The tragedy marks the single deadliest massacre in New Zealand’s history.
One can only fathom why someone would take the lives of innocent and peaceful members of a congregation engaging in a worship service. It is no wonder why the tragedy has shocked the world and has marked a period of mourning. As shocking the event and its aftermath, history reminds us that terror attacks on religious institutions and congregations are much more common than one might think.
The Roman Empire is notoriously remembered for its relentless persecution since 64 A.D. The empire made terror attacks on believers in Christ a blood sport. These persecutions would occur in public places such as the Colosseum, and also involved floggings, beheadings and crucifixions.
More recently, church bombings and shootings are on the rise in America and abroad. According to research by Charles Chinn, a church security expert, more than 617 innocent victims have been killed on faith-based properties in the U.S. since 1999. These deaths occurred as a result of 18 fatal church shootings in that timeframe. Below is a list of some of the churches in which those fatal shootings occurred. The war on religionHe then goes on to list many of the church related killings in the United States between 1999 - 2017.
Living Church of God is included in this list.
Living Church of God made the news in 2005 when one of its members went on a killing spree in the Brookfield, Wisconsin church. Terry Ratzmann, an LCG member, shot and killed seven people at Sabbath services. Numerous media reports and even LCG members said he was spurred on by the rage filled sermons by Rod Meredith about the end times.
That is the difference between the LCG killings and most of the other incidents reported. It was the aberrant teachings of Rod Meredith that spurred on Ratzmann. His endless bellowing aberrant sermons on the end times, his appalling homophobia, and constant brow beating of members that they were not worthy in God's sight, slowly built up into an uncontrollable rage in Ratzmann. After years of hearing this dangerous concoction of misery, doom and unworthiness, Ratzmann snapped.
Living Church of God, as have most of the other Armstrong Churches of God have still not learned their lesson. How long will it be till a Restored Church of God member, or a recent fired employee goes on a killing spree? What about the Philadelphia Church of God? They are on the verge of fleeing to Petra. How long will it take for a disgruntled member to snap and kill PCG members? Then there is the blithering idiot Ron Weinland and his dingy second witless witness wife Laura. Has the ACOG ever had two more psychotic people in charge than these two? Even Bob Thiel is going to have issues with is little group. Having no control over his African "members", how long will it be till one of his "evangelists" leads his followers into killing themselves like other "Christian" ministers have done in the tribal areas?
Persecution of ACOG members has always come from within. Its top leaders are to blame. They all have mental health issues that they need to get treatment for, and in some cases, committed!
15 comments:
Good observation. LCG mass shooting really didn't belong on this author's list given the facts and circumstances of what we know about the shooting and Terry Ratzmann. Besides the reasons cited by NO2HWA, the other motivation for the shooting was Ratzmann's frustration with not being about to find a wife in the "slim pickins" small true Church cult.
I would have little worries about the followers of blithering idiot Ron Weinland and his dingy second witless witness wife Laura (witnessing everything Ron does). His small group of followers are too brain dead and are the dumbest of the dumb among the tithe slave sheep. By the way, isn't time for Book of Revelation witness Laura to provide a witness/accounting to us all about what Book of Revelation witness Ron has said and done since 2007?
Perhaps Almost Arrested Doubly Blessed Dr. from mail order degree mill Elijah Profit Bobby Thiel can make a cartoon animation about the "War on Religion". Make that would help him realize what a joke he is although the subject is no joking matter.
Richard
It would be difficult to imagine Muslims shooting up their own congregations because of dissatisfaction with teachings and conditions.
In the Armstrong movement, much has been made of future persecution and martyrdom by “the world”. Over the decades, most of the large scale problems and the persecution have come from their own members whom they abused and mistreated.
Welcome to Armstrongism, a movement in which unity is held paramount, yet none can agree.
BB
I believe it damning that members chose to stay in Rods church once it became obvious by his sermons that he was a thug and a Pharisee. His 'sermons' were barely Christian. There were less evil ACOGs to choose from, but members chose to remain in his church.
The scripture 'be equally yoked' has a broader meaning than the usually self serving church interpretation of marrying some church crazie. It means avoiding people that drags one down. It means attending a church that builds up rather than oppresses.
How long will it be that there will security check points and metal detectors , like they have at the airport, schools, or ball games, for churches, mosques , synagouges etc? All of them are soft targets and are vulnerable. Me thinks it is just a matter of time.
Anon 1:36PM - you make it sound so easy. When you have been brainwashed into believing the true church commission is to preach the gospel to the world as a witness, and preach the Ezekiel warning - LCG sounds like the right choice.
When you realize the actual Church commission is to preach the gospel and make disciples and that the Ezekiel commission was never given to the Christian Church, then you finally wake up, and start looking at what else you missed in the Bible and science.
Plus LCG has a fair amount of local latitude which means each group is dependent on the tone of the local leadership.
Anon 1:36 PM, LCG members eventually learn to stop thinking. Just look at their latest sloppy attack on Darwinian evolution:
1,000 Top Scientists Disagree with Darwin's Evolutionary Model.
Darwinian evolution may or may not accurately describe reality. Strictly speaking, even most of today's prominent evolutionists don't describe themselves as "Darwinian" evolutionists, preferring at least "neo-Darwinian" or other labels to reflect 150 years of scientific progress beyond Darwin.
That article, however, points out that 1,000 scientists are skeptical of Darwinian evolution. If LCG now believes that a minority of skeptics are sufficient to overrule the scientific consensus, then it's a short voyage to anti-vaxxerism, flat earth, and all sorts of other conspiracy nonsense.
And, yes, these 1,000 scientists are a ridiculously small minority of modern scientists. Consider the 11 who report affiliation with Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Out of many thousands of Ph.D. degrees MIT has granted, just 11 are listed here as skeptics of Darwinian evolution. Even of those 11, some of their degrees are in fields such as Mechanical Engineering, Instrumentation, or Computer Science, which don't impart specific expertise in the biology behind evolutionary theory.
If this article is enough to convince LCG members that evolution is bogus, it is conclusive proof that LCG members are brain dead.
I knew Terry Ratzman but not very well. It was well known by several church members that he had anger issues even when he was still in the WCG. I never seen him angry but others have. I think that Terry was a victim of the constant abusive nature of the WCG/LCG. No one knows the specific reason why he made the horrible decision to kill these people but I think he just snapped from the emotional abuse that made him constantly fell condemned to the lake of fire. I think he felt that he had no hope for salvation and he irrationally lashed out at his own friends.
This is a little off topic but RCG people are expecting to get raptured tonight. I was told that it isn't guaranteed but highly likely. Anyone else hear of this?
You can’t always tell by the outward signs who is going to snap and do major damage, 5:43. Over the years, I’ve known some highly successful people with very mercurial personalities, some of whom would get lit with their anger, blow, and then their anger was released. They were good until the next cycle or provocation, the periodic release never allowing their anger to reach critical mass.
There are also passive-aggressive types who will appear to take everything into stride, the nicest person on the face of the earth with the proverbial patience of Job. Everyone is shocked when they completely and unexpectedly explode, sometimes targeting someone who is convenient, but totally uninvolved.
The best course, should anyone have a problem with anger, is to either resolve the situation which causes the anger, or to remove oneself from that situation. You nailed it in that the problem in an angersome ACOG is that the angry person is not permitted to negotiate with the authority figure who has caused the anger, and he is also artificially prevented from removing himself from the situation by the false belief that that’s God’s one and only true church and leaving it will put him in the Lake of Fire. He is perpetually trapped, with no relief, left to believe that he himself is the problem and must just deal with it. You just can’t hold people in such a situation without there being eventual consequences. It’s really a wonder that there aren’t more Terry Ratzmans.
About ten years ago, one of the nicest guys we had known decades previously when working with him at AC Press repeatedly stabbed his wife, resulting in her death late one night. The following morning he calmly called the police, later pled guilty to murder, and was sent to prison, where he has presumably been since that horrible event. While it’s tempting to assume that there is an Armstrong factor, we really don’t know.
BB
"It would be difficult to imagine Muslims shooting up their own congregations because of dissatisfaction with teachings and conditions."
while there have been a few shootings, they generally prefer to blow them up....if you paid attention to the news you'd know that. (I don't think any have occurred in this country, but overseas, many have)
We have been part of most of the larger COG's. We never went with Global or LCG due to RCM. He just never seemed like a humble servant of God. Unfortunately, most of the COG's have left their members physically and spiritually bankrupt.
Unstable people can't handle all of the drama and B.S. that goes on. Many of us stay at home and are watching things continue to spiral out of control. It's not going to get any better and will probably get worse.....
The Muslims do not destroy their own groups. The homicidal groups are the biggest enemies of other Muslims - they kill far more Muslims than non-Muslims.
In the Middle Ages, the "Christians" were good at killing each other for religious reasons, but fortunately that does not happen any more - homicidal maniacs have taken over that role.
Correcting my earlier post, the following sentence should have read , "Besides the reasons cited by NO2HWA, the other motivation for the shooting was Ratzmann's frustration with not being ABLE to find a wife in the "slim pickins" small true Church cult.
Richard
RCG people are expecting to get raptured tonight
Interesting, considering RCG had a booklet "disproving" the rapture teaching. Or did Dave change his view on that too?
OK, apparently the “rapture” was several nights ago at this point? Anybody have any RCG members in their family who have disappeared?
BB
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