Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Apostle Pack and "Everything in Common"

 Acts 2:44-47 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the LORD added to their number daily those who were being saved.

I have no idea how "all things common" actually works and translates in Dave Pack's Restored Church of God. It seems a practice, however it plays out in reality, that is kept close to RCG's inner workings. I find nothing of it openly or publicly stated as part of one's RCG experience to come should they affiliate with RCG

But I do understand what it doesn't mean and how it played out in the early Church.   

Dave Pack has, in the past, made it clear that members putting aside any funds for their personal and future needs is showing a lack of faith. From  putting off  giving Dave ones' resources in their Will to a personal retirement, "We need that money NOW!" is more the course demanded by Apostle Pack.

But first, let's remind ourselves what Apostle Dave's over-all attitude about what and how a truly faithful member needs to understand about "sending it in".  No wonder once one has depleted all their assets for the sake of Dave's mistaken visions, they better believe in "All things common"  as they can't pull big triggers and "Send it in" more than once and then what?

Let the Deceiver and "worthless shepherd" speak for himself 

https://exitsupportnetwork.com/expose-of-clarion-call-the-time-is-now/#4

" Will you cling to your substance? …We don’t have many years. We have plans so big going on in this office that it would cause this room to rock and gyrate if you knew what was going on. We just need a lot of money and we need it post haste!"

"We used to have this idea in the church…We would all be asked to go gather all our resources, our assets, tap our savings account, drain the equity from our home, run our credit cards to the limit, maybe were weren’t going to have to pay them back, before we went to the place of safety. We’d cash in our IRA’s, our Pension Funds, cash our stocks; redeem our gold and silver and precious stones. We all talked about this. This was understood. And then we would give it to the church for the last big blast before the Work ended. Thousands, indeed tens of thousands believed that. I did and I taught it many a time....There’s one problem with it— it’s absolutely impossible. It’s not a believable concept and it’s simply unbiblical. It’s not possible... but nobody ever thought about why that’s simply false."

"If you hold those riches, I’m telling you, you trust in them! [chastising voice]…I am charged by God, reading this verse to charge all of you out there in the Work, in the church, who have assets. You have a home that’s paid off? [yelling] Go get a big chunk out of your home and put your money where your mouth is and send it here! And I’m not talking one, two, three thousand either! How about ten, twenty, thirty, fifty, a hundred thousand dollars— Go do it!! Woo hoo, Mr. Pack, you got serious! [mimicking voice] You haven’t heard anything yet— keep listening. [said with haughty attitude]"

" [Voice gets very stern] If you’re not “ready to distribute,” you’re not “willing to communicate” to Headquarters about it then obviously, you don’t care what God says! You have rejected the scriptural charge given! [Says with disgust] Have the courage to admit you don’t believe that God’s government is here. You don’t believe the flow of prophecy. But if you don’t believe the verse, then admit that you are not going to lay up store in time to come except in your earthly treasure house. Admit that. Now I want to summarize again. This is not a special offering after the fashion of the last three. This is announcing the last blast— the Clarion Call as it were, to finish the Work. Whether it’s 4, 5, 7 or 9 years to go, God knows. But what this is, is a sea change in thinking in effect in the 2000-year history of the church. It’s not a call to simply sacrifice from month to month by reducing your cable bill or turning your air conditioner off a little bit. This is liquidating assets. This is going to where you keep your earthly treasure, wherever it is and liquidating it! I have the authority to tell you to do it because I did it myself. I’ll reiterate that again. I have the moral and spiritual authority and ecclesiastical authority to tell you to do what I’ve already done!"

"Others may say that “I’m going to tap my 401K and I think I can get “X-amount.”…Now it may not be convenient to your life to give now. Some will say, “If I wait five more years until I retire I could do a little more, I could leave a little bit more for me.” Here’s what you should say: [shouting] The Work needs the funds now, not when I can maximize personal benefit and help the Work! Now there could be penalties. That’s life! It’s better that the Work gets 75% or 50% of something, as opposed to waiting 3, 5, 7, 10 years, or never getting it at all— but getting 100% of it— which could be 100% of nothing! One percent of something beats a 100% of nothing, or even getting it too late to do anything. “Well, I’ll lose to taxes.” Well, if you die, or all kinds of ways you can outlive the time left, waiting to save on taxes. But even if you die a couple of years before dying, there’s Probating the Will, and then we haven’t time to spend it. [Instructs them on giving some of it in 2007 and then more in 2008 for tax purposes.] Think big! Don’t just squander the money! Or pay penalties as you pull a 401K, or whatever, or other assets— don’t squander! Pull big triggers! Think big! A little bit of planning can help."

NOTE: A personal favorite quote I am sure his bankers and those of the members would like to know.

" [Speaking of Home Equity Lines] The worst that can happen, and I’m prepared for this— is that you run it all the way up, and then you have to amortize it in a term loan after 10 or 20 years. It requires some faith, but not a lot. Now you just have a second mortgage instead of an Equity Line. It’s converted into a term loan, paid over a period of 10 or 20 years, starting in 10 or 20 years. It’s what I’ve done. I’m prepared to do it. And then, frankly, we flee before most of it ever comes due. That’s just the way it is."

"Now let’s talk about Wills. Naming the Restored Church of God in your Will sometimes might cause an individual to think they’re doing the right thing. That’s good, that’s wonderful. But they feel comfortable that they’ve done their part. Think about it. How much faith does that require? The Church gets everything when you die and you don’t need it anymore? Where did you sacrifice anything?? Now again, that’s a nice thought. But all you’re saying is since you’re dead you don’t need anymore financial security. No faith. Get it now— When it requires faith. When you’re dead you don’t need it. We have people who have hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars— some even millions— they’re telling us they’re going to give us in Wills. We’re kind of put in a funny position when you think this through. Do we pray that people die so we can get it? We can’t do that! I’m going to get an inheritance from my uncle some day. I don’t pray that he dies— I can’t do that…Don’t put God in the position where you have to die, where He must say “I need that money” and you won’t turn loose of it now. If you named us in your Will, it could take months or years, particularly if there’s litigation before we have it. Think it through… [talks about the natural “cycle of death” bringing funds to the church]

(1:45:40) We live in a strange, different, final generation—final generation. Don’t look for excuses to hold on to your treasure! We don’t have the luxury of waiting years…Today, leaving everything in your Will doesn’t work!"

And then the all time clincher:

" If you send funds, or a great deal is sent collectively around the world, let’s be careful that we don’t grow a voice suddenly in how it should be spent…When you give, it belongs to God. It’s like tithes. You don’t come after you give and tell God and His servants how to spend it. The church (Note: Meaning "I") has to be the judge of how to do that."

As noted, I personally have no idea how "All things common" actually plays out in practice in RCG.  I seriously doubt that Apostle Pack has opened his home, his cupboards or bank account to the now needy brethren.  I really can't picture now needy brethren calling up others and asking if they can come over for dinner or borrow their car.  So others might be more able to comment on the mechanics of the teaching or expectation Dave has of the membership.

But I do know it is a "It won't be long now" practice and belief and was never meant as a way of life for the members as if the church was now what we might think of as Communist in it's outlook.  All things Common is was a short term practice, doomed to fail should the Second Coming go very long.  With Apostle Dave, Jesus, rather Christ's return has just been about a day, a week, a month away tops. 

  • Friday September 18 in 2009
  • Wednesday September 8 in 2010
  • Wednesday September 28 in 2011
  • Sunday September 16 in 2012
  • Wednesday September 4 in 2013
  • Wednesday September 24 in 2014
  • Sunday September 13 in 2015
  • Monday October 3 in 2016
  • Thursday September 21 in 2017
  • Monday September 10 in 2018
  • Monday September 30 in 2019
  • Saturday September 19 in 2020
  • Tuesday September 7 in 2021
So how did "All things Common" play out in the early church as promoted in Acts 2?

It did not take long for the more wealthy Greeks who came into the church with the alleged masses to quickly no longer abide sharing their personal wealth with the indigent members to consume.  The longer Jesus Second Coming was put off, the more unwilling the temporary state of giving all grew increasingly unpopular if not impossible and waned.  I suppose if the Church was to ever receive any further support from the more affluent, they learned to accept that and not push the issue.  

All things Common is a direct function of Jesus coming back really really soon. No soon? No need to keep up all things common.  It is just that simple. 

Once the more wealthy Greeks infiltrated Paul's church, conflict arose over unequal distribution of charity and sharing . as "there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because THEIR widows were neglected in the daily ministrations."  I can see this murmuring quietly going on in the fearful of Apostle Pack even today. Of the seven chosen to address this problem, five were men with Greek names. 

So what we can see from this is that the "sharing all things common" was soon abandoned and that charity was limited to the needy widows and even to them insufficiently.  Secondly we learn that the distribution was allocated on racial grounds whether intentionally or just due to favoritism. And thirdly, Greek gentile converts only put up with this for a short time.  We don't hear of this practice again.  It died almost as quickly as it was born. 

As a side note, we see the example of Peter's nasty rebuke of Annanias and Sapphira, two church members, who said they would do one thing and give all they had in the sale of a property to the Church, but, in fact, held back a bit for themselves.  Bad move!


Ananias and Sapphira  Acts 5:
1Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
3Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”
5When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
7About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”
“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”
9Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
10At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Couple of things.  I don't believe this actually happened. But perhaps the pressure to appear to share all things common was more than seeming not to.  So they opted for fudging a bit out of fear of taking care of themselves incase they needed some personal funds.  The truth would be eventually that they would but we don't hear of those stories in the scriptures just as we don't hear about couples who didn't marry because time was short and lived to regret listening to Paul on this or other issues relating to his idea that to be like him was better which it wasn't. 
Great fear probably came on all because they also were fudging the concept of "all things common".  
On the other hand, the tale may have no connection to all things common but rather is a joke the author of Acts, who was pro-Paul and anti-Peter was making.  Here we have the Great Peter, killing off two members for saying one thing, "we gave all" and doing another. "We held back" who HIMSELF said one thing, "I will not deny you Jesus" and did another, "Denied Jesus".  The point of the author being, "Follow Paul. Don't follow Peter".
But back to Apostle Dave.  You can't unring a bell.  If members gave all in the past and "sent it in", they certainly can't do it twice and yet Dave seems to think members have endless resources to send him year after year.  All things common, however it plays out in RCG, is doomed to fail as time goes on. That is not a lifestyle. It was a practice because Paul was sure that his Christ was coming soon, shortly and just around the corner. He was mistaken.  
When members finally figure out just how mistaken Apostle Dave Pack is, it will also fail. Perhaps this is why, to prevent this, Apostle Pack has to dangle the eternal carrot of "my math is right. It can't be any later than....."   
But it can and will be.  Dave has taken enough from his followers. It is past time for them to take care of themselves as this foolish shepherd  blathers about his cherry picking  and never before me understood journey through the scriptures as if he knew...which he has proven time and again he doesn't. 
Any comments on those who might actually know how this works or doesn't in RCG much welcomed.





26 comments:

  1. Dennis, the only thing I agree with in your post is the last comment about the people not going along with this all things in common non-doctrine. Everything else is a misunderstanding of what and why was going on at the time. And, didn’t you say you were a wcg minister for 25 years? Surely you know what was taught about this situation. and, if what you wrote about Pack is correct, then he doesn’t know either.

    Your misunderstanding of this event doesn’t sit well for writing such an article as this. On the other hand if Dave Pack also believes it means the same as you do, then you both are up a creek and no paddle.

    This situation where all were to share all in common was caused by a special event. You, of all people should know what is was, and how the solution should be applied. Dave is just as ignorant on the story if he is doing what you claim.

    No wonder the claims of critics are so over exaggerated. A sad state of things indeed.

    If you know, as you should, the explanation of why the disciples declared the all in common event, then clear up your mistaken implications, please. Would look much better if you corrected yourself.

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  2. Dennis,
    A case could be made 'for all things in common'.
    Most contributors to this blog have 'in common' a dislike for Pack.
    Which brings me to another point, sites such as this are important in exposing these individuals.
    'Christianity' is sadly awash with these types.

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  3. SING ALONG TIME! -- Sing to the theme from the TV SHOW - PETTICOAT JUNCTION

    https://youtu.be/XRhi8Tk9nNE

    Get off of Pack's train
    That is rollin' OFF the tracks
    Called Dysfunction (Pack"s Dysfunction)

    He's a nut upstairs
    It s no time to relax
    With this Dysfunction (Pack"s Dysfunction)

    On your Nerves, , you bet!
    Even more, when you get
    His Instruction!...
    Pack's Dysfunction!

    He's a real dumbbell
    Running a super mess
    With Dysfunction (Packs Dysfunction)

    It is not run straight
    Never be his guest
    At Dysfunction (Pack's Dysfunction)

    He's rolling in the dough
    But he's thinking kind of slow
    With Dysfunction
    ( Pack's Dysfunction)

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  4. Well, I don't know the inner workings; it's not...common...knowledge.

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  5. I have personal experience with this, my husband gave the inheritance given to him by his father to the church instead of his kids, which they were entitled to. I have Pack's writings in which he said, "Don't tell your spouse, children or other family members what you are doing, because they wouldn't understand." So my husband lied to me about what he intended when I found out, he lied to me about what he was leaving to his kids. The church not only sent several emails but they were also calling our house, wanting to know when they were going to get the money. Fortunately for me, I pushed the matter of our house, was his half mine if something happened to him? By law it should have been but he said no, where would that leave me? I had to buy his half from him and get the property put entirely in my name. He sent the majority of it to the church for common and again he lied to me about sending his kids a nice chunk. My husband has recently passed due to covid complications and now, I don't worry about who is the other owner of my house. My husband thought nothing of lying and manipulating to get what he wanted and all in the name of God and Pack. He would not have ever thought of doing anything like this until he joined RCG, they gave "permission". Pack told the members if they didn't pay common then they don't have salvation, I also have that in writing. He has a lot to answer for along with those who just went along with it.

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  6. TLDR. Theoretically this would matter chiefly to the folks that Pack is fleecing. Unfortunately, they will take Dave's word over Dennis's until Dave is no longer able to make any false prophecies. COGlodytes would fail to recognize Jesus if He were to try to warn them against their leaders.

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  7. Sorry Dave. I gave all my "excess wealth" to Rods "one last push."
    Now I'm flat broke.

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  8. Anonymous 7:01 PM

    Very Very sorry You and Your Kids were cheated and then lied to!

    The same late husband who obviously ignored the 10 Commandments(Ex 20, Duet 5) also did not provide for his own..(I Tim 5:8) . . . Did he ever read the Bible or Just Davey's books?

    And for Dave, never occurred to him that "Common" means helping the poor not putting up more Fancy Trees and Flowers?? Wonder how many Widows he shoves away for landscape??

    Your Late husband was following a False god and his False Minister.

    The REAL God is still out there, HE would NEVER have done this to you....

    And the REAL God will call out your Late Husband AND Dave

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  9. eh, Pack perverts the "all things in common" just as he does everything else....those folks had come to a holy day gathering, and stayed over for a good period of time after that.
    they weren't prepared for an extended stay so they pooled their resources so everyone would have what they needed....it was temporary, never meant to be a permanent thing.

    it baffles me how anyone would be associated with Pack....

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  10. Anonymous 11/2 @ 7:01,

    The Pharisees also used donations to the Temple to avoid their obligations to their own families. And this has been a problem within Armstrongism throughout its history - all the way back to the days of the Radio/Worldwide Church of God. They may not have called it "common" back then, but the notion of "give until it hurts" was present in so many of HWA's letters to his flock. Unfortunately, there are a great many families within this movement who have witnessed their inheritances being given to the Church.

    My condolences on the loss of your husband, and I commend you for working to provide for your children. And, having lived through what you experienced, I sincerely hope that you are finished with Pack and company. Lying, overt deception and working to snatch "the food out of your baby's mouth" is NOT Christian - It is NOT truth! The children of Armstrongism have been royally screwed by this system: NO birthday or Christmas gifts, vacations that are consumed with long, boring church services and giving any extra money to the Church. and often experiencing the indignity and hardship of having their parent's and grandparent's accumulated wealth handed over to the church (and they die with a clear conscience!). SAD, very sad!

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    Replies
    1. 5.46 AM
      The song was "give until it hurts, then give some more."

      Delete
  11. "It’s better that the Work gets 75% or 50% of something, as opposed to waiting 3, 5, 7, 10 years, or never getting it at all— but getting 100% of it— which could be 100% of nothing!"

    Dave realized that the turnover rate of his church was so high that most who wrote his church into their wills would wise up and leave, and rewrite their wills, with Dave getting 0%.

    He never mentions the bible verses mentioning being wise stewards, saving for the future, leaving your children and grandchildren an inheritance. If I remember correctly, the old WCG tithing instruction and indoctrination booklet said that after you faithfully tithed, the remaining money was yours to do with as you see fit, not Dave's money. Maybe that is part of the reason that he demoted HWA, and put himself into the title of Apostle.

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  12. At the time of Christ, a third of the inhabitants of Rome were getting government handouts. Meaning that socialism was considered an ideal by many of that generation. So the brand new Christians in Acts projected this faulty attitude into Christianity. But common isn't really bible based.
    The bible teaches that "a workman is worthy of his wages," ie, ownership is by production rather than need.

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  13. To 5:33, Wow, finally someone who knows what they are talking about! And, so rare on this site.

    Surely, a former 25 year minister could remember something so simple. But, there’s no deception, or axe to grand with that, right?

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  14. Anonymous 11/3 @ 7:20,

    It is true that food was distributed to the jobless poor in Rome, but it was seen as a political device that would accrue to the benefit of those in power. Like the mass entertainment venues of the colosseum and circus maximus, bread for the poor was used to curry favor with the mob and keep them distracted and under control. The poor outside of the great city were mostly SOL! In other words, it really wasn't intended to help the poor or lift them out of poverty.

    On the other hand, the sharing of wealth and food that went on within the First Century Church was intended to help disadvantaged Christians. In those days, there wasn't any such thing as a social safety net (at least not in anything approaching our modern conception of that terminology). As a consequence of this intense poverty and suffering (folks in such circumstances simply died most of the time without much notice from those around them), Christians tried to imitate the behaviors, instincts and teachings of the founder of their faith - Jesus Christ. Toward that end, Scripture informs us that even the apostle to the Gentiles (Paul) took up offerings to help the poor Jewish Christians in the mother Church at Jerusalem.

    Socialism is a relatively modern economic construct, like capitalism. And, although Rome and Judea certainly exhibited some of the features of both modern systems, it is a major anachronism to assign either system to those people. Greed, exploitation, compassion and kindness have existed in different measures throughout human history. However, in both the Old and New Testaments, the responsibility of God's people to help each other in times of need is made very clear. And, finally, while Scripture endorses love, kindness, compassion, forgiveness and empathy, there is NO Divine endorsement of capitalism or socialism (both are flawed human constructs).

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    Replies
    1. 4.36 PM
      No, socialism is not a relatively modern economic construct. The ancient Spartan's were super egalitarian. Their houses were identical and they didn't even use money. When Christ in Luke 19:25 handed the one talent from the person who buried his talent in the ground, and handed it to the person who had ten talents, someone relied "but Lord, he already has ten talents." This is a socialist attitude. Socialism has always existed in human history, but since nations were very poor prior to the industrial revolution, it could not be fully implemented.
      Btw, Even in the early 1800s England, people were walking off the land because of sky high taxes to distribute to your "disadvantaged."

      Delete
  15. "Any comments on those who might actually know how this works or doesn't in RCG much welcomed."

    Are you sincerely asking Mr. Diehl, or do you already know?

    This isn't just a simple questionable doctrine. This was a calculated ambush on the mind of the member which overwhelmed them mentally with a convergence of scriptural malfeasance, forced obedience (via fear mongering), and guilt shaming.

    I could spell out exactly "how this all works", but I won't, because there are enough evil minds out there who would love to have the template to execute the same shameful atrocity on others.

    I will though, comment on the parallel narrative that happened right along with this large ongoing infusion of money which was dedicated to the poor.

    The first thing that the poor needed was for the "apostle to the poor" to have a kingdom built for him and of course there was a urgent need for a very expensive gate for him to live behind.

    The bravado of we paid cash for a 9 million dollar building was something the poor desperately needed to hear.

    More importantly was the message that this church will not have one week where it will not advance forward in all metrics from this time (2015) forward.

    The poor didn't know it, but soon they were introduced to the most unexpected biblical character of the bible. Not only was the true end time Elijah revealed unto them, "That Prophet" was also introduced unto them. Now the poor had the ultimate bible figure - a super trinity of an, apostle/Elijah/That Prophet all wrapped into one very very special man.

    This unbashful man proclaimed to the poor, "that there would have to be very soon, a worldwide announcement of just who I am."

    The poor were then presented with the grandest message ever given (still ongoing)titled "the Greatest Story Never Told" - a message for the church and the world detailing specifically with dates of the events upcoming in the lead up to the mustard seed Kingdom and then on into the second Kingdom.

    The poor were then bombarded with multi hour wild and bold predictions: A grand reconciliation of the greater COG movement in a day no less, with raided treasuries - "Common" coming from every where - tithes and offerings pouring in daily. There then would be a forceful angelic force which would coerce the Jews the world over to bring "trillions" of dollars unto the RCG treasury.

    This money would then be used to build the last temple and the poor were assured that it could only be built by one man on earth - the tri-hero himself.

    The poor were then given the news they were waiting to here; Jesus Christ would return to his spiritual temple first, inhabiting a giant pillar of fire on the grounds of the Wadsworth campus.

    The poor were then given the grand news that they would join their spiritual leader and the column of fire Christ (but of course, would not be allowed to talk to him) and would inhabit giant mansions on the property.

    This now super power infused prophet assured the poor that the now all physical Son of Man Christ would be fully protected as he led him to Jerusalem unto the newly constructed temple. There would however be much resistance, and the super prophet proclaimed that he and "six of his fellows" would have to kill 2.5 million Jews and 7 million gentiles to establish the Kingdom.

    For the poor, this was the new gospel message they were told, and if any were still on the fence and hesitating about "buying in" with their "Common" they were given one last admonition.

    "In the world you have to pay if you want to play - why should it be any different in God's church. If you want to play, YOU HAVE PAY.

    Well, Mr. Diehl, I kinda went around the periphery of this subject, but in the end, that is really how it all works.





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  16. Look at the communist countries in Africa. The hyper rich own the media and everything else and control the government with their money and media. Everyone else is poor. These countries are really plutocracies. That was the goal of communism all along. It was never about equality. The average Journalist is an IDIOT who knows nothing about communism. This is the direction Biden it taking America and it is THE PLAN. Sleepy Joe isn't stupid. He's Marxist. Communism actually goes back to Moses. I'm not surprised it's in the Bible.

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  17. "I am not a Marxist" -- Karl Marx. Communism is a HOAX purporting to bring equality.

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  18. Anonymous 11/4 @ 7:58,

    I'm perplexed by your reference to Sparta's egalitarian nature. Isn't that supposed to be a feature of capitalist democracies? Don't most of the folks on the right usually characterize socialism as being tyrannical in nature - guided by an unresponsive elite? As for the Parable of the Talents, Christ was trying to illustrate that someone who only tries to preserve what they've been given without putting forth any effort to multiply it, or use it to some advantage, will end up losing it in the end. Likewise, the person who had done the most with the resources entrusted to him/her would be rewarded accordingly. From a Spiritual perspective, in terms of the fruits of the Spirit and God's Kingdom, we should all readily be able to see that the folks who have developed the most love, compassion and service for others would receive the greater reward. And, we must also remember that Christ also said that the poor widow's mite was a much greater gift than the tithes and offerings that the wealthy folks were giving (because she had given all that she had to give, not her excess). BTW, that final statement of yours makes you sound like you don't have a heart - You may wish to reevaluate your language or engage in a little introspection?

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  19. 3.28 PM
    In the parable of the talents, people are given different amounts of talents. Note, there is no equality in this regard. Then people achieve differently with said talents. Again, there is no equality in this regard either. Egalitarianism rejects both of these to various degrees depending on their "denomination." The Spartan's went for an extreme type of egalitarianism which involved every person having the same amount of talents. Since those low in intelligence cannot be lifted up, the only "solution" is to dumb down every one else. Which, btw, is what's happening in today's educational system. So the picture painted in the "300" movie of a superior national leader is false. It's because of their lack of diplomats and good leaders that the Spartan's engaged in needless battles in territories taken from Greece. Because of this, their enemies eventually worked out their military tricks and the weakness in their phalanx formation This resulted in a disastrous military defeat where they lost 4000 of their only 10,000 man army. Their enemies then followed them to their homeland and destroyed them.
    This type of equality is a false god, and is rampant in today's society.

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  20. "You sound like you don't have a heart."

    Miller Jones, since you missed it, God gave half of Europe to the commies at the end of WW2 to prove or disprove your point. While East Germany was producing Lada cars, the West Germans were turning out Mercedes-Benz cars. Which system most benefited the poor?

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  21. Anonymous 11/4 @ 9:12 & 11:31,

    The United States was founded on this premise: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created EQUAL, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." This from arguably the greatest bastion of capitalism on the face of the earth! Hence, your hostility to the concept of equality is perplexing.

    Jesus Christ was once approached by a wealthy young man who asked him what he should do to receive eternal life. Christ replied that he should keep the commandments, which the young man promptly replied that he had, and then asked what else he should do. You know the rest of the story: "Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” (Matthew 19:16-24)

    Now, regarding the two HUMAN economic systems known as capitalism and socialism (which is not synonymous with communism), there are features/principles inherent in both systems that are flawed and which seem to reward some of the worst instincts in humans. There are, however, features/principles which are a part of both systems which are supported by principles in the Bible. Personally, I'm thankful to be a citizen of the U.S., and the experiences of the East Europeans, Cubans and Venezuelans have not escaped my attention. Nevertheless, I look forward to the day when God's system will replace both of these very flawed systems of humankind.

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  22. Anonymous 11/4 @ 9:12 & 11:31,

    The United States was founded on this premise: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created EQUAL, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

    No it wasn’t….this nation was founded on the tobacco crop in Jamestown. I can take you to the historical marker not far from where I live.

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  23. Miller Jones.
    God's moral code entails some aspects of equality, one being the right to life, ie "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Another being equality before the law, ie, the same laws for everyone, as well as equal punishments for whoever breaks these laws.
    But as the parable of the talents points out, there is no equality in the genetic lottery of natural gifts, or what people achieve with their gifts.

    The young rich man would have probably lost his wealth had he followed Christ, so Christ confronted with this trial beforehand. I'm not sure what other conclusion/s you expected me to make.

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