From an LCG source:
From an HWA co-worker letter, May 25, 1972:What organization, church, college or important enterprise is there which does not have a few -- possibly former members or employees, or those who have had some former contact -- who are dissidents, hostile and bitter or prejudiced?
It seems those who, for a sensational story or broadcast, attack this Work, seek out only those very few dissident and bitter enemies of the Work, and are willing to broadcast or print every defaming thing these enemies will say against us without checking the facts. They never seem interested in checking with the 75,000 members and many thousand other Co-Workers. They imply false motives employ clever and deceptive innuendos, and give false and misleading impressions.Did you ever notice that our persecutors attack us from two inconsistent angles? 1) They accuse us of embracing doctrines, so difficult to observe that nobody would ever want to become one of our followers -- so unpopular we would never attract members (and in most cases they entirely misrepresent these doctrines). And yet, 2) they imply we are so very successful, and that we are receiving much money. I'm sure you can see the utter inconsistency of this. Why do they not point out, as our Co-Workers know, how every dollar in this Work is made to go farther and accomplish more than any place we know. HOW do you appraise the VALUE of one human life turned from sin and death to righteousness, receiving the gift of ETERNAL LIFE? The living Christ who heads and directs this Work, reaps a harvest, THROUGH this Work of a few THOUSAND of such every year.
...and then there's Bob Thiel, the Better Bitter!
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ReplyDelete"...and then there's Bob Thiel, the Better Bitter!"
ReplyDeleteDoubly Bitter Bob
Elijah Bitter Bob
Bwana Bitter Bob
Bitter Bwana Bob, the Almost Apoplectic Amos, the Doubly Butthurt Bringer of Petulantly Prophesied Possibilities.
ReplyDeleteHerb Armstrong seemed like a bitter old man because he attacked the Church of God (7th Day) by labeling them "sardis".
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete“What do you do if your friends label you as 'Bitter'?”
Just tell your friends that they would be bitter too if they had been satanically abused in the name of God by Satan's religious frauds like Gerald Flurry or David Pack or ______ or ______ or....
ReplyDeleteWARNING: The future seems to be full of so-called COG people being offended and hating and betraying each other.
Some so-called COG groups are really just full of liars, thieves, destroyers, and murderers from the top on down. Avoid them and avoid a lot of lies, thefts, destruction, death, and bitterness. There might be some very good reasons for all the bitterness in the end.
So are the Jews out of line and BITTER for having things like the Holocaust Museum, and National Remembrance Day, or for having sayings like "Never Again"??
ReplyDeleteObviously the answer is no. Yet, with all of the betrayal, abuse, financial harvesting, molestations, lies, health malpractice, head trips, and mental games, somehow for WCG ex patriates you have to put up with the label "bitterness"
The other sayings that you would never apply to the Jews would be "Get Over It" and "You have a bad attitude". for ache and sorrow caused by the Nazis.
Didn't Armstrongism for the most part attract bitter, beat up and hypercritical people to begin with? Not too much of a stretch for them to be bitter after once again having been burned by another predator, and out on their renewed search for truth and happiness.
ReplyDeleteAside from that, Neil Young just totally rules!
It is a common tactic by tyrants, firstly CONTROL the flow of information and access to information. That way you can control the mind and thoughts of the people. That is why key elements try to control the media. The second tactic, while knowing that 100% control of information is effectively impossible, is to DISCREDIT and UNDERMINE (even if it means lying about them) your opponents and enemies. At the same time there needs to be some type of enforcement and consequence for people who don't follow the rules, secret police etc.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 1/28 @ 4:44,
ReplyDeleteI think that Armstrongism attracted gullible folks who wanted to please God. Most of the people who I've known from Armstrongism were NOT bitter or hypercritical people. Although, most of them were certainly beat-up and abused by the ministry of the Worldwide Church. Likewise, most of the folks that I know who've left have regained their intellectual curiosity and spiritual equilibrium.
Anon 4:44:00 PM PST
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Neil Young is a fine musician, but then I like most of that 70 & 80s stuff. Great era.
Your comment about Armstrongism attracting bitter beat up and hypercritical folks I feel is misplaced on the whole.
Many I am sure, myself included, believed that this was Gods church and did indeed find a home and place within its ‘confines’.
Looking back at the destruction of ‘the dream’, it most certainly may have attributed to many becoming disillusioned and cynical no doubt.
And had a dramatic impact on the faith of many. We have all being tarnished by this experience, good or bad. And many have also grown in wisdom and maturity and in grace. It also revealed the total a***holes within our midst who were hidden in plain view of so many of so that we couldn’t see them. Such is the human condition.
The slanderous attacks on dissidents is the WCOG trying to suppress the natural consequences of their sins. It's like king David murdering Uriah the Hittite to cover up his affair with Bathsheba. Or criminals murdering witnesses to their crimes.
ReplyDeleteSo happy to be out of that cult
ReplyDeleteBitter is a natural reaction to discovering you've been scammed and abused.
ReplyDeleteHow absurd of pervie Herbie to suggest otherwise - however, his followers were so brainwashed they could not perceive this deception.
Every time I hear "Cool for Cats" by Squeeze, I feel this phrase sums up my COG experience:
"I give a little muscle, and I spend a little cash
But all I get is bitter and a nasty little rash"
Bitterness does not last long though, it often changes to relief and thankfulness for freedom, as well as deep concern for those who are still in the cult.
Somehow, I've always chuckled inside over the term "bitter herbs". Kind of says it all.
ReplyDeleteMy own family thinks I am motivated by bitterness. This has been the go-to explanation of Armstrongists for anyone who leaves their ranks and speaks out against their doctrines and practices. By saying that we're just bitter, they don't have to actually confront and/or address the issues we raise. It's much easier to dismiss us as malcontents. By eliminating any possibility that we might be motivated by a desire to correct wrongs or help people whom we consider to be in trouble, they make us unreasonable and unworthy of consideration.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous January 28 4:40 said, "Didn't Armstrongism for the most part attract bitter, beat up and hypercritical people to begin with? "
ReplyDeleteMY COMMENT - Nothing could be farther from the truth than this general statement. For the most part, Herbert Armstrong's World Tomorrow broadcasts and the Plain Truth magazines attracted sincere people from all walks of life who simply were searching for desired answers to life's biggest questions - and Mr. Armstrong seemed to provide the answers people were searching for. Most of those attracted to WCG sincerely saw God behind Mr. Armstrong's work.
My memories of R/WCG people, IN GENERAL, were some of the most kind God loving, God fearing, honest good people one would ever find. If anything, some people were "beaten up" from "the world" before they ever entered the Church.
I cannot let such a gross misrepresentation go unanswered. I would be interested in hearing from this blog's owner Gary if he thought his own mother's bitterness is what drew her into R/WCG. I know none of my family were drawn to it by bitterness.
Richard
Anonymous January 28 at 12:11:00 PM said, "Herb Armstrong seemed like a bitter old man because he attacked the Church of God (7th Day) by labeling them "sardis".
ReplyDeleteMY COMMENT - Anyone who listened to Herbert Armstrong over any length of time would hardly describe him as "a bitter old man". His belief in successive Church eras with the Church of God, 7th Day seemingly at the time being the bad dead church era and his R/WCG as being the good Philadelphia era doesn't make him "a bitter old man."
Sheesh - the book of Herbert Armstrong is complete with all the good, the bad and the ugly there for those of us who remain alive to see. We don't need to make stuff up.
Richard
My perception is that the majority of WCG members were, as Lake of Fire Church of God said, the most sincere, loving, and God-seeking, God-loving people you could find.
ReplyDeleteMany had a playful and intelligent sense of humor and astounding creativity.
However, most developed a weirdly negative attitude toward all that pervie Herbie labeled as pagan.
The WCG also attracted a fair share of very odd and bitter people - who were that way before contact with the cult.
Like any group, there was a mix of personalities.
If you leave the church, you might be quickly labeled as being bitter. If you question something that is taught, you are quickly labeled as having a "bad attitude." It's as if the leadership has a script that they follow. No thinking required.
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