We know it is tough being the most incredible Church of God leader to ever get it all right since Peter and James fought and bickered in Jerusalem over who had it right.
It has to be tough that sooooooooooooooooo many consider you a blabbering buffoon and fail to acknowledge your divinity as a double-blessed self-appointed leader of the church. We regret we have been led astray by your detractors in the Living Church of God who still mock you to this day.
We regret we do not believe your nightmares dreams that you claim are from from your god. But, given the track record in the church over the last 80-some years of an endless stream of men who dreamed up their authority to rule over others, it's really hard to take you seriously. We apologize. We will try harder.
It has to be hard sitting in your position of privilege in Arroyo Grande as you have to contend with such bad representatives in Africa whom you have no control over. We regret that they are using you just for your money, computers, Bibles, and free seeds. We are also sorry you had to be caught up in the church-hopping routine of African church leaders who are constantly looking for the next handout from gullible Americans. That has to be a hard piece of unleavened bread to swallow.
Bob, rest assured that we are here for you anytime.
All the time.
We will make sure no one ever forgets who you are.
But hey, you keep on being you!
I met Bob a couple of times when he and I were in LCG.
ReplyDeleteWhat I remember most is that even when he was talking with me, it was clear he was talking AT me, and not listening to me or to others. He was lost in his private fantasy world where he was the special one, the center of attention, the only voice that mattered. He is probably the most narcissistic person I have ever met.
He will never be able to admit that Herbert Armstrong conned him. But if you read his stuff carefully, you'll see that he has had to admit that Herbert didn't get everything right. So Bob is on the same tightrope as Dave Pack, requiring HWA to establish his legitimacy but needing room to rewrite the script to make himself the only truly correct centerpiece of prophecy.
It would ruin Bob to admit that he has wasted his entire adult life on a lie. But it would probably ruin him worse to admit that he isn't the most important man alive today. His only hope might be to be hospitalized for some condition unrelated to his narcissism, but then to be medicated to restore any physical imbalances that may be feeding his delusional state. But if that happened, I expect he would need many years of therapy to restore any sense of normalcy to his life.
Unless Bob can readjust his private fantasy world in a way that would make him the world's most important cult-buster, he isn't going to let go of his religious delusions. But I suspect he is too far gone to ever relinquish his delusions of grandeur. He might be the most important prophet today, or the most important cult-buster today, or the most important naturopath today. But if he can't consider himself the most important SOMETHING, he won't be able to cope.
The thing is, any time he wants to repent of his Armstrongism and all the baggage which comes with that, he could come here and we'd welcome him as one of the guys. But it would need to be true and sincere repentance, with no residual arrogance. We could laugh together about how gullible and lacking in common sense we were to have been hornswaggled by HWA , wasting years of our lives and finances on it, and how it's so wonderful to be able to make donations to the people who are bringing pure drinking water and clothing to the people in Africa! We might even sit down with Bob over beer and chips to enjoy the Superbowl.
ReplyDeleteI can see Bob and Dennis discussing naturopathic medicine, Bob and Scout sharing info about the Mayans, Bob and Lonnie having awesome, encouraging discussions about the New Covenant, and Gary sharing amusing anecdotes about the times when he was working in HWA's house!
Bob, I don't think we'd make this kind of offer to Dave, or Gerry. They're too far gone, and even if they saw the light and kicked HWA to the curb, they'd still be a couple of Adam-Henries ('scuse the police jargon!). We're waiting for you here! I mean, come on, you already post as "Anonymous" from time to time. What are you waiting for?