Exit and Support Network has up an interesting letter from a person who points out the similarities between the Church of Scientology and the Philadelphia Church of God. The similarities are striking, not only with the actions going on in the Philadelphia Church of God but with Armstrongism as a whole. Mind you, this is not doctrinally, but with attitudes and leadership idolatry.
Having been a part of the church since the late 1950's, I have seen firsthand the worship of Herbert Armstrong over the decades. People back then would have died for him, without giving it a second thought. In the meantime, people dumped their money into the church coffers without hesitation as they were being called to a final push, even though the church reset the goalposts every six months or so with a new co-worker letter or some screaming sermon from Pasadena was sent out.
Sadly today in 2022, we have people in the COG movement in the PCG and the Restored Church of God who would be willing to die for their leader. That demonstrates how sick Armstrongism is at its very core.
PCG Similar to Scientology in Its Tactics:
April 4, 2022
In re-watching the documentary, “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” its similarity with the PCG is remarkable.
Let me first qualify that in terms of core belief (purpose and doctrine) there is no comparison and Scientology is totally cuckoo. But the tactics of governance and control are incredibly similar. For any ex-PCG members, I dare you to watch it and not immediately make the connection as though you were watching a documentary which could easily be made about the PCG.
To note some of the most obvious similarities:
• Never ending undulation and worship of a dead man. PCG is obsessed with HWA (died January 16, 1986). Scientology worships L. Ron Hubbard (LRH) (died January 24, 1986) as though he is still alive.
• Ecstatic claims made when they won their court battle. Scientology declared “the war is over” as they avoided a billion dollar tax bill. GRF claims divine intervention and prophetic fulfillment because they could print a version of MOA.
• Both have sunk millions in building an exclusive compound.
• PCG’s use of catchphrases like “disfellowship” and “marked” being their version of Scientology’s “suppressive person.”
• “Us versus the world” mentality and exclusivity for members only to be granted eternal positions of power.
• “No contact” rules of PCG being their version of Scientology’s “disconnect” when cutting off anyone who left, got kicked out, or disagrees.• Preventing members from having contact with the world, or reading anything that might criticize the church. Members seem ignorant to what’s going on around them. Questioning the church or its leaders is strictly prohibited for fear of being disfellowshipped. Members must have unwavering loyalty to a man.• Always saying that “time is almost up” and “last minute of the last hour,” to keep members loyal to a carrot on a stick.• Prolific writing where members simply cannot read or digest any other literature. Have a look at the massive list of PCG literature every member is required to read, re-read and memorize. That is added to HWA’s entire catalogue. LRH is credited with the Guinness World Record for most prolific writer because of his years writing science fiction.
• Always pushing for more and more income from its members. Leaders live in absolute luxury while no assistance is ever given to the poor. Just keep milking them.
• As one ex-Scientologist said, “we would have died for the old man [LRH].” This is exactly how most, if not all PCG members would think about GRF. This is what they are being conditioned to think when some crazy announcement is made.
• No matter how cruel a minister is, the finger of blame is always on yourself.• Claiming to have a great positive presence in the world when those who know you think you are a crazy little cult.
As I said earlier, there is no doctrinal comparison between the two, but the blend of worshiping a corpse (HWA vs. LRH) and mad hunger for power (Flurry vs. Miscavige) is remarkably similar. The devil’s tactics can be found everywhere. –B. A.
20 comments:
I knew some people who went from WCG to Scientology. Because they were close personal friends, and in an effort to understand, I actually read Dianetics, which differs from other Scientology literature in that it can be purchased in any bookstore as opposed to the more advanced lit, only available from the church. Later, in business dealings, I met business owners who made no secret of the fact that they were Scientologists.
WCG people were accustomed to giving away a substantial portion of their income to the church, so the cost of the Scientology courses didn't seem to be a problem for them. While both religions acknowledge the faults of human nature (driven by emotion), WCG had a strict behavioral regimen, acted upon purely by will power, with transformation occurring only in the afterlife. Through the auditing process (which I felt was far too intrusive), Scientology promised the achievement of transformation (freedom from the reactive mind) within this lifetime, making a person fully operational, and able to rise to full potential. I can honestly see where this would have been very attractive to former WCG people, because Armstrongism fell horribly short in delivering any sort of transformation. WCG members had to fight their human nature over the course of their entire lives. Scientology did have a number of procedures and evaluation points, and the business people who were church members seemed to do very well under this sort of guidance.
Like Armstrongism, Scientology had its fictional and fairy tale aspects. "Clear", "operating thetans" (the ultimate condition of the Scientologist) could supposedly project themselves outside of their physical bodies to do such useful things as preventing a violent crime, or taking a walk through outer space. The Scientologists I knew were higher than average in intelligence, and had fairly vibrant personalities. I suppose my friends who got suckered into this pseudo religion were helped in overcomimg many of the damages caused by the WCG. In a sense it was free psychiatry, although Scientologists quite predictably are vehemently opposed to mainstream Freudian or Jungian psychiatry. But, like the WCG, Scientology has a very sizable dissident community, and from them we learn that ultimately, it is just as damaging as Armstrongism. Members must surrender control of their lives to a collective, which never seems to end well.
HWA was a high school dropout; LRH was a college dropout.
Well, the denials will begin shortly...
Both PCG and RCG Quickly Forgot What HWA Had Taught
Neither the Philadelphia Church of Flurry nor the Restored Church of Pack really worshipped Herbert W. Armstrong or what he had taught in the Worldwide Church of God. Both the PCG and the RCG just used HWA's name and photograph to attract HWA's followers and their wallets. Then, the PCG became all about worshipping Gerald Flurry and whatever he made up, and the RCG became all about worshipping David Pack and whatever he made up. Members of the PCG and the RCG were quick to forget all about what HWA had taught and to go along with whatever new nonsense Gerald Flurry and David Pack made up. There was no doctrinal soundness or stability with either of those two false prophets.
Scientology produces Operating Thetans.
Armstrongism produces Operating Satans.
I don't have anything that I feel I need to say about the post. But I was struck by the photo of HWA. I used to be one of his ardent followers. What I would have seen in this photo back in those days is a spiritual titan - a credentialed apostle who brought back the gospel from forced obscurity after eighteen and a half centuries though direct contact with god. Now I see an advertising salesman, down on his luck, who stumbled into electronic media evangelism and the fortuitous credulousness of a few hundred thousand people with a theology based on recycled Millerism that was initiated in the Des Moines Public Library. Out of the total population of the United States, it never, ever involved very many people. It was a tiny movement - a secluded footnote in the history of religion in North America. The church at its largest was .000000007 percent of the then population of the USA - a figure that mathematicians would say is essentially zero. And it was and remains a lenticular printing - what it is depends on the angle of the viewer. What a phenomenon! I am still wondering how I even know about it.
Out of the total population of the United States, it never, ever involved very many people. It was a tiny movement - a secluded footnote in the history of religion in North America. The church at its largest was .000000007 percent of the then population of the USA - a figure that mathematicians would say is essentially zero
Two problems with that. First, at its peak, about 1 in 1,600 Americans were involved with WCG. That's not much, but it's much more than the above estimate. Second, because of The World Tomorrow, which was at one point the #2 religious telecast in the USA, the WCG had an influence disproportionate to its membership. At its peak, WCG got nearly one-quarter of its income from non-member donors and coworkers, and the number of coworkers was something like 20x the number of tithing members. Compare that to today's ACOGs, where there are often fewer coworkers than members.
That headline is especially chilling when we consider that hundreds of ACOG members may end up dying for Flurry or Pack. I suppose we can be comforted in the knowledge that nobody is going to be willing to die for Franks, Weston, Kubik, and most of the other ACOG leaders.
TOXIC FANDOM happens in many arenas.
It can be sports, or entertainment figures, religious cults, movies or TV franchises , obsessive fascination with virtually anything. There is an underlying psychology behind it, that all of us need to be aware of.
Here are a couple of sites that explore this...
https://reelrundown.com/misc/5-Factors-that-Can-Cause-Toxic-Fandom-to-Arise
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-toxic-fandom-5214499
People who call Mr. Armstrong an apostle aren't the ones who put him on a pedestal. God is the one who put Mr. Armstrong on a pedestal when God made Mr. Armstrong God's End-Time Apostle.
7:13,
.04% or .0004 or 1 in 2500 of people in U.S. I’m basing on around 100k attendees in the United States with 250 million people in 1990. Still very small amount.
My perception of his picture past and present is similar to yours, but I also see a more corrupted person in light of his relationship with his daughter, his extravagance, ego, and delusion.
(laugh react)
"Neither the Philadelphia Church of Flurry nor the Restored Church of Pack really worshipped Herbert W. Armstrong or what he had taught in the Worldwide Church of God. Both the PCG and the RCG just used HWA's name and photograph to attract HWA's followers and their wallets. "
Fortunately, there's Stephen Gilbreath on COGTV- his ministry is a true bastion of authentic Herbolatry.
Where else can you go to watch reruns of HWA every Sabbath?
Awesome, as Ron Weinland would say.
Anonymous 7:55
I calculated it again and my calculator gave me completely different results. Not sure what happened. I should have gotten .05 percent. Still a very small number of people. Essentially, zero but a bigger zero.
.000000007 percent was the number of people who actually kept the Sabbath as the Law of Moses required.
At the time of HWAs death in 1986, the population of the USA was 240 million. About 400,000 people had been baptized into his church over the years. That makes it one in 600.
At the time of HWAs death in 1986, the population of the USA was 240 million. About 400,000 people had been baptized into his church over the years. That makes it one in 600.
No legitimate religion has more ex-members than it has current members. WCG in the late 1980s had Feast attendance close to 150,000, of whom around 100,000 were baptized members. Even among the larger splinters, only Flurry and Pack come close to having WCG's 3-to-1 ratio of ex-members to current members.
4.19 PM
The debate as I understand it is whether Armstrongism was only a "tiny movement." I was a member at it's peak, and I had members tell me at that time that when they looked at their spokesmans' club group photos, only one is three were still attending services. So the claim previously made on this blog that up to 500,000 had been baptized into this church doesn't seem unreasonable.
And wouldn't call that number tiny.
Anon @ 7.55,
You are right regarding the mass media influence of WCG. In the 60s and early 70s, the Plain Truth(PT) was very known among high school students in Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines through WCG's Readers' Digest(RD) ads. It was a FREE magazine, so it attracted many readers' attention who asked for it. Some of these PT readers became Co-workers and then members of WCG. Many of you may not even know where Malaysia was back in the 60s and 70s and I bet some of you are still are. This shows how powerful HWA's work was back then.
When I first made the computation, I was only trying to establish that the number of WCG members at any given time was small. I had heard once that there were around 140K members but another 150K had gone out the revolving doors. I would be surprised if current membership ever exceeded 150K. This compared to 40.5 million Methodists in 138 countries. The WCG was diminutive. That so few people took the bait is a good thing. It had outsized clout for an organization of that size because of the funds generated by a draconian tithing system. It was still diminutive. The problematical experience of 140K people cannot be regarded without sympathy. It was still diminutive. It was big to HWA and it was big to us because we believed in it but that was a self-congratulatory perspective. To people who were familiar with the size of mainstream religions, it was diminutive. That's all I was saying...
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@anon 8:32:00 ,
HWA may have been called an apostle but by making perdictions that where untrue since they did not happen when he said they would HWA discredited hisself according to what the bible says.
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