I Don't Want to Read, Hear or Entertain Anything That Might Lead Me Away from the Truth!
In the past, I have commented about the self-reinforcing straitjacket which Herbert Armstrong devised for his followers. The psychology is simple, but it is also very powerful. It goes something like this: 1) Convince your followers that the majority of Christians are deceived, and that you alone have discovered the TRUE version of that faith. 2) Spoon feed them the cherry-picked Scriptural reasoning you employed to arrive at your system and convince them that they have proven these "truths" from their own Bible. 3) Convince them that their new understanding is the evidence that they have God's Holy Spirit. 4) Instill in them the fear that it is possible to lose some or all of that understanding and/or lose the "inspiration" of the Holy Spirit. This clever, yet subtle, conditioning of his followers allowed Armstrong to imprison his followers in a perpetual state of circular reasoning! "God has revealed his TRUTH to me, and I must hold on to it with all my might and strength." Research, questioning, and testing are no longer necessary - We've arrived at destination TRUTH. Hence, there is no longer any need to investigate or explore! Add to all of this being immersed in a culture of folks who think the same way, and the fact that they are all led by ministers who were trained to periodically remind them about the danger of losing this "treasure," and "abracadabra" you have a closed mind!
Of course, this all brings to mind Christ's Parable of the Talents. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read:
"'For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, [a large amount of money] to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" (Matthew 25:14-30, ESV) Question: What did Christ do to the servant who had protected his one talent (the one who had failed to increase what had been entrusted to him)? Answer: He took away what he had been given!
Moreover, these followers of Herbert Armstrong are WRONG about the evidence that someone has God's Holy Spirit. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ once said: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35, ESV) Likewise, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians of Galatia that "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV) Notice something missing in that list? Understanding isn't in the list! Indeed, Paul told the saints at Corinth that they could have prophetic powers, understand ALL mysteries, and enough faith to move mountains and still be NOTHING. (I Corinthians 13:2) He went on to say that "Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely." (I Corinthians 13:12, NLT) Did you catch that? In the present, WE (Christians) see things IMPERFECTLY! Likewise, in the second epistle of Peter, we read: "you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (II Peter 3:18, NLT) Doesn't that mean that we will always have MORE to learn? What do you think? Is the Armstrong template regarding understanding really consistent with Scripture?
Miller Jones/Lonnie C Hendrix
Over the past 20 plus years on these Armstrong recovery sites, I've had numerous opportunities to observe how Armstrongites process new, or thought-provoking information. Now, first, lets lay the groundwork by pointing out the thought processes of an objective thinker. A statement is made by another blogger. References are cited. The objective thinker wants the answers to several questions, beginning with the reliability of the source. So he Googles several reference points to determine if the source is authentic, propaganda, apologetics, humor passed off as if real, agenda-based, etc. Then he investigates for information which counters the statement. He might run it through a fact-checking site. And he does this, and possibly more, prior to responding to the statement.
ReplyDeleteWhat I have found to be true of certain friends of ours, is that to verify a statement, they will say to themselves, "Hmmm. I wonder what Mr. Armstrong had to say about that." They'll go back into the old WCG literature, maybe visit the Kitchens' library of Armstrongism, and then respond with the particular Armstrong eisegesis for that topic, correcting the rest of us. That is their "research" This is why Lonnie or Scout can write an incredible article, and rather than stimulating deep thought, it gets rejected out of hand, ignoring all the research in the article and in the ensuing discussions.
They do this precisely for the reasons Lonnie has stated. Wise people, when presented with facts, can be educated out of a mindset. The true Armstrongite is no longer capable of this type of education.
According to their dissident sites, the first paragraph perfectly describes the Jehovah's Witnesses, and to a slightly lesser degree, many other denominations. The JWs stand out in that they don't pull their punches. For instance, they claim that God communicates exclusively through their nine man governing body, whereas the Herb splinter ministers imply it. Former members complain about being treated like ten year olds, and being given the same stale material.
ReplyDeleteAll these groups "steal" cult plots from one another, which is how Herb learnt these ploys in his eleven year apprenticeship in the COG7.
There's many books in the secular world that do an excellent job of magnifying God's way. Books on assertiveness, which deal with individual rights are a good read.
Good points. It's so diabolically effective, it almost seems like the COGS are psyop expiriments
ReplyDeleteAnd one day Lonnie will actually learn what love is.
ReplyDeleteI never like the Parable of Talents. I feel like I am the unprofitable servant that would lose his salvation. By the way, I don't get the message that Lonnie is conveying by mentioning this Parable in the article.
ReplyDeleteI already know what love is - We have access to a number of excellent definitions of exactly what love is:
ReplyDeleteJohn 3:16
John 15:13
I John 4:10-16
I Corinthians 13:4-7
This article is racist.
ReplyDeleteThey start disassociating when you point out the cognitive dissonance inherent in their thinking.
ReplyDeleteI agree with 1149, these are good points and diabolically effective. This is one of those posts where the psychology in play could apply to some extent to every person, organization or institution in the world.
ReplyDeleteThe narrative here is directed to the evil churches of God, but could just as easily apply to many situations, like the pandemic! Paraphrasing Lonnie's words,
1. The powers that be shall convince the people that they are in great danger (covid) and we alone have the TRUE solution--masks, social distancing, shut down the country, and the new redefined vaccine.
2. We will spoon feed the people (better described as the herd) doubt and fear, and convince them they cannot survive without our guidance.
3. Convince them that compliance to the vax will not only save their life but is the right thing to do by loving their neighbor.
4. Instill in them continued fear by dragging this thing out a couple of years and that dire consequences will follow if one doesn't comply and play the game. We are living the new normal.
These subtle tactics, the conditioning of the herd, allow the leaders to imprison the people in a perpetual state of circular reasoning.
Research, questioning, and testing are no longer necessary, we've arrived at the solution, we have the science, we are trained, there is no longer any need to investigate or explore!
Sound familiar? It should, we lived through it.
In this world, those in real positions of power and holding great authority, (church leaders, politicians, medical professionals, the ancient pharisees) assume they are superior to the herd and fully expect to be obeyed without question. Any banter against their official narrative will have dire consequences, and labeled conspiracy theory, rebellion, or treason. We've seen it with Dave Pack, Jim Jones, the CDC and the US government, and was tasted by Our Lord and his apostles.
The concept of "beliefs" is both comprehensive and fascinating, and HWA was not the first nor the last to manipulate them to his own advantage. Being diabolically effective, it's what the WORLD does!
10:06 said: "This article is racist."
ReplyDeleteThis is a prime example of how Armstrongism warps people's minds. You just keep on being you, little guy.
The truth including Lev 20:13?
ReplyDeleteAre you still lobbying for the death penalty, 12:17?
DeletePlease note: This post has absolutely NOTHING to do with COVID, Biden, Trump, the Illuminati, the Catholic Church, Jews, or the Masons.
ReplyDeleteThis post is not going to descend down into those rabbit holes as another diversion away from the topic at hand.
Friday, May 31, 2024 at 7:46:00 AM By the way, I don't get the message that Lonnie is conveying by mentioning this Parable in the article.
ReplyDeletethe message is Armstrong taught God has revealed his TRUTH to me, and I must hold on to it with all my might and strength." Research, questioning, and testing are no longer necessary - We've arrived at destination TRUTH. In like manner in the parable people who no longer apply themselves to develop , and stay in the present state, are criticized.
And one day Lonnie will actually learn what love is. Friday, May 31, 2024 at 5:01:00 AM
ReplyDeleteIf the reference is to John 14 v 15 ''If ye love me, keep my commandments'' and the assumption this means the literal ''keeping'' of the ten commandments , that this is the embodiment of love, then the writer has much to learn.
"This is a prime example of how Armstrongism warps people's minds. You just keep on being you, little guy."
ReplyDeleteWell, I was never an Armstrongist.
No2hwa @ 1253 doesn't appreciate truthful comparisons, because many of those subjects he lists DO HAVE relevance to the topic at hand.
ReplyDeleteWhen blame is spread across the full spectrum of the world, it diminishes the effectiveness of an accusation against an individual, HWA.
I guess censorship is the way to go when you don't want to "read, hear, or entertain anything that might lead from one's truth". There's a category for that.
HWA would be proud!
Hey, BP8, we did have one thread to let off steam on all those issues. No need to discuss them on every single one, although there are most definitely commonalities.
ReplyDelete"Hey, BP8, we did have one thread to let off steam on all those issues. No need to discuss them on every single one, although there are most definitely commonalities."
ReplyDeleteI agree! Give it a rest. The next few months are going to be hell so no need to be reminded of it in EVERY FRIGGING thread here. Go talk about it on Bob Thiel's page.
Right on cue, this brought out our resident FemiNazi antisemite. He had to put down the magnifying glass he has been using trying to enlarge his shrinking manhood. Same foul Nazi crap. Dumber than hell. He is aways good for the daily laugh.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to knowledge, HWA over-promised and under-delivered. It was inevitable. He saw salvation as a qualification contest. Peter Enns wrote the following in his book titled “The Sin of Certainty” (It’s about the error of believing if you have prefect knowledge then you have salvation):
ReplyDelete“Trusting God with all our hearts is a complete surrender, a life decision to be all in all the time rather than relying on our own “insight,” our ability to understand, to fathom, to solve, to figure out. Trust remains when our reason betrays us, when we don’t understand the mysteries of God and faith, when we don’t see what God is up to…”
HWA relied on the Bible for knowledge. But the Bible was curated by human beings. And human beings still read it and come up with very different interpretations. God let his children tell the story. The idea that the Bible can be understood literally and perfectly by some human being poisons trust in God.
Figuring out what role knowledge plays in soteriology is non-trivial. The topic that Miller has broached is profound in case you haven't figured that out. It seems like to me that some categories of knowledge are inputs to the process of salvation and other categories are outputs. Don’t get me started.
Scout
I read and reread the article, and even with an overly sensitive electron microscope, fail to see any racism, or even racial bias. Now, if somehow, instead of foolishness, or lack of common sense being applied to the different characters in the parable of the pounds, ethnicities or racial distinctions had been made, one might accurately comment as to racism, but there was none there or even implied.
ReplyDeleteClarifying further, if Jesus had cited a Jew as being the one with the five talents, a German as being the one with the two talents, and a black or brown person as the individual with the one talent, yes it would have been racist, which is why Jesus would never have implied such a thing. ZOG and the Mud People were not part of the gospel lessons, or harbingers of the Kingdom!. That may be the way in which the ancient Greek translates into the Aryan Nazi language, and with the Jew being greedy and dishonest, and the person of color being lazy or of low IQ, but Nazi Boy's Aryan Standard Version is, alas, totally not inspired!
There have been many ways of paraphrasing time honored principles throughout history. I don't know who the thinker, or talking head was from our modern times who paraphrased the parable of the talents, but someone once said that if you took all of the world's wealth, and you redistributed it into equal portions amongst every living person on planet Earth, in a relatively short period of time, those who were wealthy prior to the redistribution would once again have most of the money, and those who were poor would have lost it. It is a mental or spiritual condition, a condition of the soul, and not one of luck or chance, and that is the point of the parables, the proper condition of the mind of a converted person. Love is always part of that equation.
BB
You are correct 504, "there are most definitely commonalities", and that's the point of many of my comments. I take Armstrongism back to its source of inspiration, this WORLD.
ReplyDelete" They are of the world, they speak of the world, the world hears them", 1 John 4. A fitting description of Pack, Flurry and the boys is it not?
I believe my comments are very much in tune with the purpose of this blog. Here, we expose Armstrong for his cultic behavior and actions. But we should all know by now that his movement is just a small fish in a big pond. He's not the only one to advocate, as Lonnie's brilliant post points out, "research, questioning, and testing are no longer necessary"! It's not an accident that we see Armstrong's tactics and methods used everywhere we look in society. It's how this world works, which makes it difficult to separate the two.
As John 7:7 illustrates, exposing worldly works and biases make people uncomfortable and can generate a lot of emotion. This site thrives on that, which makes it interesting and entertaining.
Well, the basic concept of presenting a supposed problem or question and then feeding the audience carefully curated "proof" or "evidence" (whether or not is actually is) is at least as old as written polemics, if not oration in general.
ReplyDeleteThe Armatrong model Lonnie describes adapts that further in a religious sense.
But what Lonnie really goes on to describe is what my wife calls "the calcified brain", where one decides that everything is fixed, set and properly categorized.