Weston Still Not Woke
woke: (informal adjective) alert to injustice in society,
especially racism.
Why is Weston so "square" when it comes to marijuana? It is as if he has made it his personal mission; his chosen idol to demonize on behalf of humanity (HWA's was mainstream Christianity. RCM's was the homosexual. GEW has chosen the Devil's lettuce). LCG has produced a 33-page booklet on marijuana. There have been several articles on it. Marijuana was part of Weston's winter family weekend message 2 years in a row and additional must-play sermons.
In the latest issue of Tomorrow's World, Gerald has an article titled, "Cannabis: Miracle Cure or Snake Oil?" The faulty logic of "dichotomous reasoning" is on display once again; a mainstay of church of God apologetics. Marijuana MUST be a miracle plant from God or absolute snake oil, brethren. There is no in-between!
LCG has chosen to take political sides on multiple issues over the years (always leaning right) so it should be no surprise that LCG has taken a political position on the war on drugs. In the article, Weston complains about the huge cannabis lobby spreading lies. He asks, "How many know that George Soros has pumped $100,000,000 into the sales pitch?" [I see what you did there with all those zeros for effect.]
Weston actually starts the article with 2 very good questions:
- Why is cannabis controversial?
- Why do people who have no interest in using it, "suddenly" support it?
He starts his argument with a bizarre premise that the cannabis lobby is winning a propaganda war by confusing or ignoring the difference between THC and CBD. I don't know where he has been but this has been widely known and understood for decades. THC was first extracted in 1942 and first isolated from cannabis in 1964. Every child in the "just say no" era to the present learns the difference between THC and CBD in junior high health class and then hears it again once they enter the workplace annually in order for the company to maintain corporate insurance breaks. This, of course, may escape most in the ministry because they never went to public schools and never held a real job in their whole lives.
The Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program lists 21 conditions medical marijuana can be prescribed for but Weston argues that one lone "distinguished member" of the Ohio Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee, Dr. Gary Wenk, is the only voice of morality and reason, who claims any doctor who prescribes marijuana is "ignorant" and "there is no reliable clinical evidence to support the use of marijuana for any of these conditions--none at all." Wenk claims evidence supporting it's medical use is anecdotal and not based on "objective and carefully performed scientific studies." [Amazing how blatant Armstrongists are in cherry-picking science when it serves their agenda and ignore it completely when it does not.] Weston makes another leaping dichotomous assumption by saying, "His (Dr. Gary Wenk) approach stands in stark contrast to so many uninformed enthusiasts, who jump to the defense of marijuana without asking some fundamental questions." So anyone that disagrees with Wenk is a complete and utter fool.
Since Weston's non-political, unbiased, objective, moral high ground, science-backed position is so obviously "right" then what are the answers to his two questions above? How can this even be a controversy at all?
"Follow the Money." That is the subhead and reason in Weston's perception of reality. "A funny thing happened after medical marijuana gained acceptance. Entrepreneurs discovered that there is money in it!"
Wow! That is really amazing. After decades of the seedy underworld in cahoots with the U.S. military and other governmental agencies have made billions of dollars having always controlled the flow and money exchange for drugs, Weston thinks people have suddenly awakened to the financial opportunities in marijuana. This awakening to the sudden prospect that money could be made, caused a wave of pseudo-research to be done in order to claim marijuana was medicinal? So, it couldn't possibly have been that sincere research that showed medicinal properties in marijuana starting all the way back in the 1890's is what then triggered entrepreneurs to desire investing in it? This conclusion can only be made by someone who is either willfully or out of sheer ignorance, not WOKE.
This should not be a surprise as Armstrongism has always been steeped in a peculiar brand of well and not-so-well hidden racism. I think it is both willfully and out of ignorance. Weston actually alludes to it very briefly toward the beginning when he says, "Activists have mounted different public opinion campaigns at different times, such as making the claim that the war against cannabis, and against illegal drugs in general, is racially biased." He quickly lumps this in with other ideas, he deems lies, that the war on drugs is a waste of resources, that it ruins ordinary people's lives and it withholds the medicinal properties of the plant from being utilized. All, of which, is actually true! That is the real answer to Weston's questions of why is it controversial and why people who have no interest in using the stuff (such as myself) support legalization. He literally buries the actual truth in the middle of one paragraph early on and then quickly dismisses it as propaganda, ignorance, hedonism and driven by greed for money.
He would like you to think that the so-called "activists" as he calls them, are all just hedonistic potheads or amoral entrepreneurs. But the true activists are indeed medical professionals, scientists, psychologists, sociologists, judges, lawyers, police officers, social workers, city mayors and state governors and other boots-on-the-ground, good people who live the war on drugs day in and day out. Can Weston be woke? Let's try.
... ... ...
After food, water, and sex, humans spend all of their resources seeking altered states of consciousness. These states of ecstasies can be divided into 3 categories:
- Flow states, or "being in the zone"
- Contemplative and mystical states
- Psychedelic states
These states occur when we establish S.T.E.R. This is a sense of Selflessness, Timelessness, Effortlessness, and Richness. It is opportune moments to leave the cares of the daily grind of our minds. These states have led to the production of all great art, music, literature, inventions, science, technology and general complex problem solving throughout the existence of mankind. The human quest to harness the benefits of ecstasies and minimize the risk is as old as civilization itself. Religions, including Christianity and Armstrongism, is steeped in this quest whether Weston is willing to admit it or not. This includes everything from observing the Sabbath, song services, prayer, meditation, 72-minute lectures, and fasting, to the use of alcohol, coffee, high fructose corn syrup, prescription drugs, naturopathy, chiropractic, unlicensed massage parlors in Tyler Texas and cold showers followed by vigorous toweling after an evening with one's daughter.
The often more extreme and dangerous methods involve the use of substances that operate in the realm of producing psychedelic states. What Weston fails to understand or acknowledge is that no one has really argued that marijuana and other illegal drugs are safe. But that is the straw man argument Weston chooses to make. LCG's booklet, "Marijuana: What They Aren't Telling You" is 33 pages of government-sanctioned research, often exaggerated but generally true about the dangers, that "they" have been repeating for decades in elementary school health class. The booklet brought absolutely nothing to the discussion that hasn't been said since (for me) the '80s. And it completely ignored the arguments made as to why it is even controversial today. Makes for a completely worthless booklet that has actually done nothing but kill LCG's credibility on the subject. So openly biased and out-dated, the young people in the church they are hoping to persuade are laughing at their sheer ignorance. By making such a monumental piss-poor argument, intelligent young people who know how to function seamlessly in this Information Age are doing what I have done; actually getting informed on all of the arguments that have legitimately made marijuana controversial.
Weston is partly right. It is about following the money but not in the way he thinks. The story is also about governmental power and racism. When governments seek to exercise increasing power over their citizens, they inevitably seek to control that which drives us in our daily lives. So it should be no surprise that our own government, in its slide toward a police state, turned its attention to drugs. But it was not in the way you would think or for reasons you would hope were altruistic.
In the roaring '20s, Americans were having a great time. It was a period of unprecedented wealth in America to that point. Hey, drugs and alcohol flowed freely, even in the decade of failed prohibition. Nothing to complain about until the music stopped, giving way to the Great Depression. The Great Gatsby era was over and millions of people began to suffer. When people suffer, they need a scapegoat and a growing Darwinian eugenics-oriented white aristocracy was all too willing to give them one. One such priestess to provide demons was Margaret Sanger. I think most people know by now that Planned Parenthood was started to "destroy the Negro and all undesirables from America" as she put it. These undesirables also included Mexicans and other non-whites and poor whites not fit to live because of handicaps or abnormalities. Another, not-so-known, high priest of progressive thought was Harry Jacob Anslinger.
Harry Jacob Anslinger was the first Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, serving from 1930 to 1962. After WWI, he served as a prohibition agent in the Bahamas. As the prohibition years of 1920-1933 were winding to a close as an abject failure, Harry was given the first commission of a new bureau thanks to his wife being related to the uber-rich Mellons. Andrew Mellon was Treasury Secretary and the prohibition department was under the Treasury.
When Harry was born in 1892, every kid in that generation (Herb's peeps) grew up in a time when drugs were legal and easily accessible around the whole world. Heroin and cocaine were available in every American pharmacy. They were in popular cough mixtures and even Coca Cola. Heroin and cocaine were outlawed in 1914 but with alcohol nearing legal status, Anslinger knew there was not enough narcotic usage in the country to justify much of a budget for his new department and before long, he could be out of his post. Then he began noticing racist headlines across the country where Mexicans were losing their minds and going on killing sprees after using marijuana. Stories of black men that were fraternizing with white women after using marijuana and going on violent raping sprees. Harry was no stranger to marijuana and was already convinced long ago that the plant was neither addictive nor induced violence. But he changed his mind overnight when he realized it could provide money to his department, more governmental control and power and to use that power on people he already despised, along with much of white America, so it seemed. Newspapers all over the country were producing the scapegoat and so Harry ran with this opportune moment.
And that is how it was indeed about money, governmental power, and racism. He preyed upon the fears of racist whites across America who believed Mexican immigrants and African Americans were the most dangerous people in the nation. To sure up his argument, he rounded up 30 scientific experts but to his dismay, they all (but one) told him what he already knew; marijuana did not cause violence and insanity, the racist stories in the press were lies and it would be wrong to ban it. Harry, of course, ignored the 29 and used his one expert to start a nationwide campaign to demonize marijuana and the blacks, Mexicans and immigrating Asians on the west coast. When he was pressed to fund independent studies by medical professionals around the country, he obstinately declared he would not, nor would he ever. In fact, he spent his decades in office spending much of his time threatening and silencing scientists, medical researchers, doctors, and care-givers with his growing department resources.
His hatred of blacks carried over specifically toward black jazz musicians. Convinced it was devil music, he harassed them mercilessly, hoping to put them all behind bars. Many believe his harassment led to the death of Billie Holiday, as he was absolutely fixated by her and hell-bent on destroying her. He made wild accusations to the press that drug addiction was near 100% among "the Negro people." He was not shy about using the N-word and if a black agent ever complained, he was fired. He promoted wild stories coming from police departments around the country. One, in particular, was an incident in North Carolina where an officer supposedly shot an out-of-control Negro, high on cocaine, directly in the heart and he didn't even flinch. Stories of black superhuman beasts on drugs led directly to police all across the South to increase the calibers of their guns.
He also promoted stories about Chinese immigrants who were coming over to steal white jobs and white women. Stories claimed they would lure white women into their "opium dens" and enslave them for "unspeakable sexual depravity." The endgame was to strike the white race down and gain command of the world. This led to mass raids on Chinese homes and businesses. They were driven off lands, shot, hanged and even burned alive up and down the west coast.
Harry eventually conscripted the whole world into the war on drugs. As he destroyed the lives of scientists and doctors in the United States who opposed him, he also went after Mexico's chief of Alcohol and Narcotics, Dr. Viniegra. His 14-year study showed the truth about marijuana, the failure of prohibition and the need for the legal status of drugs and state control because they are dangerous. Dr. Viniegra knew this would reduce the power in the criminal underworld and corrupt government officials, and free up resources for education and rehabilitation. Harry demanded Mexico fire him. Mexico complied and the cartels blossomed in just a few short years. When Mexico then began providing rehab as a result of rising addictions, Anslinger cut off all opiates needed for pain relief to all Mexican hospitals. Mexico had a choice: writhe in agony or join the war. This policy was put on wash and repeat, bribing every nation in the world to join the war on drugs or lose American aid.
The war on drugs at its genesis was never rooted in science, compassion, or to protect children from addiction. The war on drugs was a war on minorities waged by white supremacists. And that included all the ones across the country hiding behind the badge, the printing press, business tycoon board rooms, political offices, church lecterns and everyday working people who wanted to believe that the answer to all social ills was to simply support a war on plants and those non-whites who use them.
The war on drugs is the truest example of institutional racism. Harry Anslinger is long gone and his story is not known by the average citizen today. But his legacy remains intact. Unsuspecting people around the country without a racist bone in their bodies enter the institution every day with ideal hopes of helping and serving all people. So many are quickly disillusioned and they don't quite know why. But many of them are waking up. The reason marijuana is so controversial is that people are asking why we have such a broken criminal justice system and a supposed war on drugs with no end in sight.
Statistically, drug use is equal among all races, classes, and walks of life. As I mentioned before, after water, food, and sex, it is a resource that provides what all humans seek. 1993 statistics showed while only 19% of drug dealers were black, 64% of drug dealers arrested were black. 943 whites per 100,000 get jail time for drugs while 4,919 blacks per 100,000 get jail time. Drugs are being used just as often at parties in white neighborhoods but it is black, Mexican and poor white neighborhoods that get raided. The police admit they are easy targets and that raiding affluent white neighborhoods would not go over with the local Mayors, judges, politicians and wealthy donors; just as Dr. Viniegra said would happen.
Weston claims all reputable sources prove marijuana is a gateway drug and that drugs are addictive. These so-called reputable sources are the same ones Anslinger put in motion decades ago. If you want funding for drug research in the United States, it must be in support of the war on drugs...period. But there are more and more reputable sources coming out of other countries and statistics from nations that have already ended their war on drugs. The facts are in. Marijuana is no longer considered a gateway drug. The only gateway marijuana provides is a prison cell for blacks. And addiction? It is now being realized globally that addiction is predominately caused by childhood trauma and not drugs themselves. Drugs provide relief from the torture chambers some poor souls endure in their minds. This does not make them criminals, subhuman, or animals worthy of imprisonment. The solution is to stop demonizing the addict as a sub-human criminal and start recognizing addiction as an adaptation to the cages we live in. Criminalization needs to be replaced with compassionate rehabilitation. All of the money wasted fighting a war on drugs would cover the costs of addiction rehab and still have vast resources left over.
Jim Brown said he originally started playing football [This is in no way an endorsement of Bob's Super Bowl doctrine] because he hated white people and it provided the only avenue for a black man to hurt white people and not only get away with it but get paid for it. I have a gay cousin who used to post articles about Catholic priests and Christian pastors that would get exposed for molesting boys. I asked him if he did this to expose Christian hypocrites or homosexual child molesters? (He stopped posting them) My point here is that whenever someone desires to commit acts unacceptable to polite society, they will often gravitate to places that give them access to do what they desire. Sexual deviants and pedophiles become teachers, coaches, and pastors. Jim Brown found a safe outlet to express his racism. And white supremacists join police forces all around the country because it gives them an outlet to terrorize black neighborhoods and be protected by the badge. The war on drugs provides these Klansmen in disguise, a legal and protected outlet to carry out their vicious fantasies. Several police officers have told me when you decide to transfer from one department to another, you do your research because one of the things you want to know is if the department is either run by or at least friendly to white supremacists. [Save all the comments running to the defense of police and pastors. It's stupid I have to add this caveat but here it is: of course, most police officers and pastors are good people] This is to show how a system originally established under racist pretense still provides an outlet for racists today to get away with evil acts.
Jim Brown said he originally started playing football [This is in no way an endorsement of Bob's Super Bowl doctrine] because he hated white people and it provided the only avenue for a black man to hurt white people and not only get away with it but get paid for it. I have a gay cousin who used to post articles about Catholic priests and Christian pastors that would get exposed for molesting boys. I asked him if he did this to expose Christian hypocrites or homosexual child molesters? (He stopped posting them) My point here is that whenever someone desires to commit acts unacceptable to polite society, they will often gravitate to places that give them access to do what they desire. Sexual deviants and pedophiles become teachers, coaches, and pastors. Jim Brown found a safe outlet to express his racism. And white supremacists join police forces all around the country because it gives them an outlet to terrorize black neighborhoods and be protected by the badge. The war on drugs provides these Klansmen in disguise, a legal and protected outlet to carry out their vicious fantasies. Several police officers have told me when you decide to transfer from one department to another, you do your research because one of the things you want to know is if the department is either run by or at least friendly to white supremacists. [Save all the comments running to the defense of police and pastors. It's stupid I have to add this caveat but here it is: of course, most police officers and pastors are good people] This is to show how a system originally established under racist pretense still provides an outlet for racists today to get away with evil acts.
Police officers began noticing when they arrested rapists, incidents of rape went down. When they arrested racists, race-related crimes went down. But when they arrested drug dealers, murder went through the roof. The reason is that the illegal drug trade is so lucrative that when you remove a dealer from his territory, a war breaks out for that territory. Police began realizing there would never be an end to the war on drugs unless something different was done. They recognize as well as a growing number of sensible Americans truly informed, that:
- Drugs are dangerous and is exactly why they should be legalized, controlled, regulated and distributed under government controls.
- Illegal drugs fuel the violent economy of a criminal underworld.
- The prohibition of drugs in this country is rooted in racism and has left in place, a criminal justice system that is inherently racist and provides racists with an outlet to do evil.
- Criminalizing drugs only serves to enrich criminals, while abusing the poor and traumatized in our society.
There is a growing number of police officers, judges, lawyers, prison officers and other criminal justice professionals joining a group originally called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) but renamed Law Enforcement Action Partnership. Founded in 2002, they now have over 150,000 members and supporters. These are the "activists" Weston brushes aside in his article expecting you to assume they are pothead rabble-rousers. They are dedicated to ending the drug war so they can bankrupt the drug gangs, replace a 90-year-old racist criminal justice system and provide compassionate rehabilitation to the marginalized in society.
Adolph Hitler showed the world what the endgame of Darwinian Eugenic philosophy looks like after learning it from America. So you see, Weston, this has nothing to do with how inherently dangerous a plant is. It's about how dangerous it has been for minorities because of how racists have used a plant against them. Weston doesn't want to hear that there are better solutions to the drug problem. So he doesn't listen for them and he doesn't tell you about them and he certainly doesn't provide the evidence that they are working in other countries. What "activists" have done for America over the last couple decades is make headway in slowly steering the colossal bureaucracy of the United States government in a better direction. The question is, can a church with an ungodly governing structure not held accountable to its providers, be brought to a Jesus moment on this? Or will the Jim Crow Church of God, founded by a racist and incestuous pedophile, continue to ignorantly and willfully refuse to be woke?
Adolph Hitler showed the world what the endgame of Darwinian Eugenic philosophy looks like after learning it from America. So you see, Weston, this has nothing to do with how inherently dangerous a plant is. It's about how dangerous it has been for minorities because of how racists have used a plant against them. Weston doesn't want to hear that there are better solutions to the drug problem. So he doesn't listen for them and he doesn't tell you about them and he certainly doesn't provide the evidence that they are working in other countries. What "activists" have done for America over the last couple decades is make headway in slowly steering the colossal bureaucracy of the United States government in a better direction. The question is, can a church with an ungodly governing structure not held accountable to its providers, be brought to a Jesus moment on this? Or will the Jim Crow Church of God, founded by a racist and incestuous pedophile, continue to ignorantly and willfully refuse to be woke?
Stoned Stephen Society
40 comments:
You aren't wrong about many things, but being "woke" is form of mind slavery to the current popular "trend" of thinking. It's not original, it's not special, it's whatever the leaders of "being woke" say it is.
Woke is mob justice... an odd contrast to it's claim against racism, which historically was often carried out by mobs.
Gerald Weston isn't good or right, but being woke certainly isn't it either.
Using the term was a matter of poetic license, not an endorsement of from where it has come from. But, excellent point. Thank you for making it.
A person cannot understand the current relentless rise of China without understanding how the East India Company and its supporting banks like the one of the (New England skulls and bones Bush family (Prescott) used Opium against them to make BI come true.
Having said that at European SEP's legal ages, for staff alcohol use would be the countries of origins respective ages varying from 18 upto 22.
I mean the Americans couldn't handle "fair consumption" of alcohol and Swedish teen in bikini. Because they were not accustomed to exposure to those items and rather applied restricted and uptight feelings in their dealings and might have even felt provoked for what others felt mundane by regular exposure.
I guess a pastorate in Birmingham UK though is not the best place to learn about the regular ways of the world as it is a huge city, in fairness to Weston.
As our pastor sermoned. "It's not that all things "natural" are holier or healthier, I mean cobra poison is from a natural source."
I heard marihuana is giving some positive results in treatment of depression. But I have not studied the topic.
Nck
The American government is the biggest drug runner there is. The CIA has been funded by black ops including drug running throughout its history. Barry Seal, Mena, the Clintons, the Bushes, Iran-Contra, Oliver North, the Mob, etc. it’s all connected and it’s all to protect the elite and their wealth.
Marijuana is just a lethargic, euphoric buzz.😒 While it heightens the sense of taste, touch, and hearing, it doesn't make you see God, or open the door to Satan and the demons. Unfortunately, if you use it regularly, it eventually slows the mind, and causes paranoia even when you aren't high. These symptoms go away once you cease using it.
It's by no means a good thing, although it can be therapeutic in getting down from a repressive, uptight religious system. You can debate the gateway thing until the cows come home, but many of the people I knew who smoked it did also try pills like white cross, valium, and vicodin, or halucinogens, coke, and in extreme cases heroin. I knew only a handful of people who only smoked reefer.
There are probably any number of people in Weston's cult who used it in the past, and could write truthfully about it, based on personal experience, but apparently Jerry must feel that he can write an effective diatribe without really knowing anything about it except what he has read in right wing sources. People looking to make life-decisions are affected more profoundly by the real life experiences of others rather than rants from know-nothing poseurs.
BB
You are a outrageous liar Stoned Stephen society. Part writer, part blogger, part activist and full time UCG PASTOR of high rank.
So do you use your UCG position as a early retirement top up?
How do you look yourself in the eye every time you shave with your deceptive life ? You push out true believers with great cruelty and then open your UCG bought lap top with your car outside on your drive with UCG paid for petrol in and live your double life on the internet.
You must need to smoke pot to chillax from your hetic double life.
Liar and hypocrite.
Marijuana was legalized in Oregon during the time I was there. It was common to want to get into the business for anticipated demand but one needed to be cautious too. My landlord's family was in the testing and selling business but they opted not to because of all the rush by the many to open a business. They were smart. Many a shop came and went and no, people were not lined up out the doors to get on drugs. It was more like stopping at the grocery store on the way home.
My experience was that when you demand something be illegal, it goes underground and becomes a problem. Open it up and it becomes something one can do if they wish so maybe do and maybe don't and mostly don't. When in Kentucky, I was in a dry country. The alcoholism was out the roof and the reason that even members had stills or made runs to Lexington for trunk loads of product to sell back home. Even the country where Jim Beam was made was dry and you could not even get a sample at the distillery as one might at a winery elsewhere.
Most of the shops aplenty are a combo of classy Jewelry stores and an apothecary shop of old. The young staff really knew their products. They would inquire as to intent. Depression, recreation, relaxation, sleep, anxiety? etc. Edibles came in amazing varieties. Not able or willing to smoke, I opted for edibles and they did nothing but leave me with the thought "this is it?" LOL. I gave up after a few endeavors on that. No biggie. Curiosity and a better sleep aid hunt cured. The occasional client came in with the classic pot fragrance in the air and they were the easiest to get along with!
The clinic where I work sells CBD products and I'd probably like to have it in my massage lotion but I personally did not find it very effective for sleep or anything much. It is very expensive and probably needs a touch of THC to be so.
I'd rather have a pot smoker on the table than a drunk.
Psilocybin in mushrooms, also created by the Almighty, is another story altogether. It has great potential for PTSD and the inner work and insights that many seek. It is not recreational. Ayahuasca, and the experiences with guidance that go with it are also something that has potential but "Shrooms" are on the verge of legal, from what I can see to treat many needs. The "miracle" of psilocybin is that it seems to be effective after ONE experience for years and in a positive way for depression, PTSD and those in the last stages of terminal illness. It seems to effect the fear of dying and gives insights that must be in us but are masked by our fears of so many things.
Anyway, Gerald probably grew up having to watch "Reefer Madness" between movies as a kid which now seems hilarious and terribly mistaken.
Old fuddy-duddy Gerald Weston gives a
speech on marijuana.
This website has become a parody of itself. You are supossed to offer a honest examination of the past yet you repeatedly recently allow absolute lies about the present to be posted. You allow a high ranking UCG elder to deceptively pose as Stoned stephen society blogger. He and his wife who uses various names as concerned sister never went to the COGWA WFW. They arent even in the same country.
Yet you allowed their post to go on your website. Im grateful you allowed my comments calling it lies.
But why should ordinary church members either ex or current trust this website.
You seek to tell the truth of the past yet in the present you are deliberately allowing a high ranking UCG Elder and his wife with their own selfish agenda to write whatever lies they want.
To repeat what others write this will not end well.
Is Weston already losing power within LCG? Their latest magazine had a Feast article written by Tomorrow's World presenter Rod McNair. McNair's article included photos of two other presenters: Dick Ames and Wally Smith. The article neither named nor pictured Weston. Is Weston so irrelevant to LCG, so forgettable, that McNair would omit him by accident? Or is he such an embarrassment that McNair, second in command in LCG CAD, prefers to mention other LCG leaders while ignoring Weston?
This is the worst article that I've come across on Banned. First we had Nazi guy, and now we have drug guy. The war on drugs is a war against minorities by white supremacists?? The war on drugs is klansmen in disguise acting out their vicious fantasies?? This is demonic garbage. It's like Christ being accused of healing using Satan's power. Drugs destroy the body and mind. There are before and after pics on the web that show young people aging 20 - 30 years after using the drug Ice for 4 - 5 years. It literally melts peoples bones. The gum line begins to recede and peoples teeth begin to fall out.
Whitney Houston looked and sounded like an angel in The Bodyguard movie. After becoming addicted to a cocktail of drugs, she looked and sounded like a hag on her death. An evil article.
I know who you really are Stoned Stephen society.
How do i? Because i have sat and listened to your sermons for 20 years. Sermons, sermonettes, announcements, general talking not to mention your writing. Church wars and Church splits so i recognize you. But you've never been in LCG, COGWA or PCG.
Oh i carn't stop you, not really stop you. Only God can do that.
But if i can recognise you it leaves the question can others ?
Maybe Jerry should stick to problems found in the Bible like sex abuse, child abuse, and alcohol abuse.
Plus positive subjects like loving your neighbor.
If sss is a high ranking ucg elder then good for him.
I wish all the COG leaders would submit here even if they stay anonymous
Let them express what they really think and feel
TLA How can it be good. Sss is lying to himself and lying to the Church and lying to this website.
I agee 100%
I'm wondering about the allegations that have been made in the comments above. If the author of the "Stoned Stephen Society" articles is in fact a high ranking elder in UCG, we should be permitted to know that. I don't care necessarily to know his or his wife's names, but just to have verification of their occupation. We should know this to properly interpret the articles and comments. That is just basic good discernment.
BB
Looks like a COGWA twit is still smarting from my last post. LMUCGAO
Re "seeking altered states of consciensenous"
The only prophet whose "set of rules" are actually really being played out as we speak, like "concentration and centralization of capital" also said that religion IS the opium of the people.
Who in their right mind is actually lumping mariuhanna together with the horrible drugs one of the posters is mentioning.
Nck
It appears to me that the information being posted here and the world today is causing people personality problems that are confusing and difficult define. It doesn't matter what a person says the responses may be interpreted in different ways. In reading some of the postings and comments it is difficult to understand the objective. In reviewing scriptures, I find The Epistle of Jude paints a historical picture. The ending statement indicates that only God through Jesus Christ can protect those who are believers in all ages
Preachers sometimes condemn the use of alcohol and other mind altering chemicals, yet they do love their comfort foods (mind altering) and they don't condemn the use of prescription anti depressants, and other drugs that are in our bloodstreams 24 hours a day. I guess for some, having "the joy of the Lord" isn't enough. But they only allow their choice of chemicals and condemn the choice of others. A bloated Baptist at a church picnic, stuffing his pie hole with thousands of calories of food might look across the park and see a trim, athletic vegetarian puffing on a pipe of one kind or another, and look down upon him. Do some people have absolutely no insight into what they are saying or how they appear to others? RCM was a mean spirited, power hungry, nasty human being, from what I saw at AC in 72 and 73. So little fruit of the Spirit, but, at least he didn't eat pork!!!!
I have no idea what LMUCGAO means. Perhaps it's a pot smoking druggie street talk. Most definately not becoming of UCG Ministry. You do UCG no favours AGAIN.
But i see you cannot successfully deny who you are.
I wonder how many anonymous comments this explains?
Isn't it funny that people like Gerald Weston think the fact that we don't want "man's government" or "god's government" or anyone else sticking their nose into other people's private lives is "supporting" something.
If you don't want to do something, then don't do it. Fine. Nobody's forcing you.
But in the same breath, don't make others not do it. Stop trying to force others.
While I don't personally like the term "woke," because it has a connotation of extremism, I don't understand why people don't understand what's wrong with trying to enforce their personal preferences on everyone else all the time.
I also don't understand why people can't understand the difference between not outlawing something for everyone, and being forced to partake of it yourself. Just because someone else might want different things than you do, that doesn't mean they're forcing you to live like they are, and it doesn't mean they're persecuting you.
I don't understand why people can't tell the difference between that and how when they want to outlaw everything they don't personally want to do, that is literally forcing everyone else to live like you.
The golden rule says do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If people like Gerald Weston don't want others controlling their private lives, why do they have such a hard time with not doing that to others? It's almost like they think the golden rule doesn't apply to them.
I agree 100% BB.
It has always fascinated me watching various COG leaders moan about the government encroaching on citizens' lives and yet as leaders they institute some of the most bizarre, life-altering and ungodly rules imaginable.
nck, I didn't see the worst drugs lumped in with pot by any poster. There have been so many developments on the drug scene since the '70s, and none of the news has been good. Angel dust reared its ugly head in the late '70s, turning abusers into supermen that even the cops couldn't control. People started doing Sherms in the '80s, dipping their cigarettes into PCP. Meth became popular as a cheap snort. About the time of Richard Pryor's fire, people became aware of freebasing cocaine, and smoking crack. There have been Vitamin E (Extacy), Ice, Oxycodone and the other opiates, and bath salts, all of which became trendy at one point or another. Many of these drugs cause nearly instant addiction, or early and irreversible permanent damage. It is altogether fitting that there would be a war against such drugs. They are indeed the worst.
As a frequent concert-goer, I noticed at some point that the only factor which finally controlled all of the pot smoking at concert venues was the total banning of cigarette smoking, period. Pat-downs had never been successful in controlling that, because people stashed little baggies of contraband in the front center of their underpants. I did get busted for contraband once in Orange County, but it involved the two sportsmans' flasks of Jose Cuervo Tequila I had in my cowboy boots as I entered a Skynyrd concert. They got 'em. So, I had to buy their $4.00 cups of beer. Oh well!
I have some friends who are looking forward to retiring and getting their medical marijuana cards. They think that's going to be a good life. The stuff destroys short term memory, and frequent users end up coating the synapses of their nerves, slowing down brain processes. Sounds like a ticket for exacerbating the progression of old age to me. If someone had cancer and were dying anyway, I could see using it.
Know what? At first, I thought that the name Stoned Stephen Society was based on the example St. Stephen set with his martyrdom. That might have actually been commendable. This is something altogether different!
BB
Ice?
Ice is a purer form of meth that is either smoked or injected. It is known as the most dangerous, most damaging, most addictive drug available.
BB
I dont understand why you think you can lie and deceive and your outraged when anyone plucks up the courage to stand up to you. What you want is lawless chaos. But you funnily always remain in charge.
Marijuana is a gateway drug to hard drugs. The little leaven thingy.
BTW, marijuana noticeably lowers reaction times, making it dangerous for drivers.
My only point is that a or the war on drugs is complete nonsense if the reasons for drug use from the consumer base are not addressed. The same goes for penalizing anyone or million of black Americans without addressing the reasons instead of the solutions.
Imprisonment, "wars", prohibitions, can only be temporary measures to contain a growing evil for a short while.
For any prohibition an Al Capone will rise if there is a demand.
Most people besides the lying and ignorant fox News are aware that examples exist where pot use is close to legal but the local population is hardly interested in using it, smoking itself is greatly reduced and the people consider themselves amongst the happiest on earth.
I agree. Stay away from drugs and smoking, always and forever.
I do realize a lot of the white communities and Trump voter base face drug problems akin to the Chinese opium addiction forced upon them by foreign cartels.
Any repression however can only be temporarily successful. Education and better alternative lifestyles AND affluence (Although I have seen the cocaïne problem in that segment) are better long term solutions.
In all of my postings I have pointed at institutional causes of problems raised. Perhaps in the future I will address personal weaknesses of individuals, but my fetish are institutional, systemic problems rather than individual sinning, since I have been raised in an environment where the mantra was "government (and the education provided by that government) is everything".
First solve systemic errors. I do love crazy Michael Moore's movie about Michael seeking successfully implemented programs in foreign nations to solve America's woes. Only in a strange twist of plot to find out that ALL of the successful social programs for better social cohesion were actually sparked or invented in the USA but rejected.
Nck
Good points, nck.
I believe that the war on drugs is a worthy cause, but that it should be applied equally and fairly to all, and not in a racist manner. There is certainly adequate data out there to prove that minorities have been targeted unfairly. And then, racists point to the comparative rates of incarceration to trash the minorities whom they despise in general.
I personally don't use marijuana for the reasons I cited above. But, it would seem that it is here to stay. It amazes me that major companies and their insurance carriers are having such an impact on controlling the tobacco use of employees, while there is a public clamor afoot to legitimze marijuana which causes every bit the same amount of damage to the lungs, if not more. I can just imagine an SNL comedy sketch in which a school principal calls in the parents of some kids who were caught smoking, and then reassures them not to worry because it wasn't tobacco, it was "only" marijuana!
BB
When I am old and sick I will likely use booze and drugs to ease my pain. God allows for this.
But marijuana is just drunkenness in a different guise.
Stephen, if you truly believe God read about drunkenness in the bible. Its really really bad. The least of not which it perverts justice. A horrible thing.
If you are sick and dying or homeless or destitute God allows alcohol as a method to ease suffering as well.
But if are none of these then you have deceived yourself and are attempting to deceive others. And that is a really bad thing to be partaking of.
Where in scripture does God indicate that anon 11:47.
Proverbs. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
I Cor 6 nor drunkards shall inherit thebKingdom of God.
Rom 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting (drunken partying) and drunkenness.
Eph5. And be not drunk with wine, wherein isvexcess, but be filled with the spirit.
There is a serious danger and a strong case for the use of drugs being a gateway to the Occult. Is dabbling in the Occult the real problem here?
Oh, meth. Been through many eastern KY towns blighted by it.
A while back a couple in my area apparently got their score and couldnt wait to shoot up until they were home. Found them passed out in their car at a red light near the house. Sad situation all around.
I think the issue of the occult has already been resolved, 2:15. You must surely realize that in over 20 years of these internet discussions, just about every angle has been explored. There were posters on one of the old pre-blog forums (different format) who, in their efforts to get to the bottom of the Armstrong mess, actually tried to get in touch with Satan! Their foolish thinking was that if you could prove that Satan existed, it would also prove that God existed. Satan didn't answer. (this was not autobiographical; it wasn't me!)
The occult is imaginary. Of course it is a very negative concept to begin with, one that only twisted people would explore, and therefore it does bring negatives into its practitioners'' lives. I once knew a Wiccan lady, actually she was a Wiccan minister. I don't believe that she used any drugs other than alcohol. We had a lot of nice conversations, but I wouldn't ever let her do anything on my behalf. She had even offered to realign my chakra at one point. Wiccans are not occultists, they are basically earth religionists, working with earth forces. Apparently it's a Celtic thing. White witches. They sometimes call themselves pagans. But anyway, she told me about different types of spells. As a Wiccan priestess, she would only do positive spells. She said that casting negative spells on people brought very negative energy back on the caster of the spells. Whether or not these spells actually work, positive or negative, is most likely up to the believer. Just as people are often healed through their own positive thoughts, the human mind is capable of bringing things they intensely desire to pass.
The loadies I knew were not into the occult. Some were partiers, and others waxed philosophical about the secrets of the universe. Some were casually into Eastern religions. I don't believe there is any sort of direct correlation between drugs and the occult.
BB
Many would disagree BB. But thanks for your thoughts.
Yes, I knew that when I wrote it, 12:17. It is a fact that alcoholics and drug abusers bottom out on their diseases, and a huge number of them seek Jesus Christ when that happens. So, the pattern is that rather than being led into the occult, their abuses actually leave them with nowhere to turn except Jesus. Surely, you can see my problem in presenting that to an audience consisting mostly of atheists, and Armstrongites. Atheists don't believe in the supernatural whether that involves good or evil supernatural beings. Armstrongites don't accept that anything has led a fellow human to God or Jesus unless they are led into an ACOG. The poor addicts sit in a meeting beseeching Jesus, He helps them with their addictions, and He lifts them up. But, the Armstrongite believes that they have only found Christianity falsely so-called, which to the Armstrongite mind is just as bad as the occult. No matter that lives have been changed for the good, and people made whole again.
After so many years on these blogs and forums, I can know in advance how each of the three primary categories of people here will process what I share. I left the mainstream Christians out in my explanation above, but you can be sure they are praying for the addicts in recovery, and praising God for those whom He has rescued.
BB
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