Armstrongism has created a legion of religious addicts. Their lives are consumed by the church and they can't think of anything else. It has infected their souls so much that they are most of the time mentally unbalanced people. These are the ones who will do anything for the church. They are the ones who will stay in an abusive church such as the Restored Church of God or Philadelphia Church of God and think they are doing what God wants them to do. Their lives have no meaning outside the church.
"Religious abuse uses God, a church, or a belief system as an escape from reality, in an attempt to find or elevate a sense of self-worth or well-being. It is using God or religion as a fix. It is the ultimate form of codependency - feeling worthless in and of ourselves and looking outside ourselves for something or someone to tell us we are worthwhile... It is using God, religion, or a belief system as a weapon against ourselves or others.
Religious addicts use the accessory items of religion - rituals, dogma, and scriptural texts - to reinforce the dysfunctional message that all humans are evil, stupid, or incapable of merit. Thus, far from enhancing spiritual development, religious addiction stunts or paralyzes spiritual growth and creates a barrier to a healthy relationship with God." When God Becomes A Drug: Breaking the Chains of Religious Addiction and Abuse
It is sad to watch the mental decline of Samuel Kitchen as he attempts to recapture the long-gone "glory days of the old corrupt Worldwide Church of God. It is an obsession that consumes him 24/7. It is an addiction that is entirely wrapped up in an old covenant theology. Rules and dogma reign supreme.
I am declaring the existence of the Worldwide Church of God. I am alerting the ministry of the dangers, and of the space in the Worldwide Church of God, where they can be restored if they repent.
Because they more than likely sought to protect God’s people too. But Satan is clever, and now what has developed is a landscape of “other churches” and the Worldwide Church of God is lying in waste. Samuel Kitchen
The Episcopalian chap does make a good point, of being thankful to both God, & to the medical team who sets broken bones to begin healing process.
ReplyDeleteAnd he gives a reminder that recovering alcoholics lean on both God, and onto the time & effort they spent in recovery programs.
I think it's important to make a distinction between the balanced and "normal" practice of one's faith, and the perhaps fanatical or obsessive-compulsive applications. Most fanatics do not understand that any strength one has or finds in one's life, when practiced to extreme, becomes a weakness.
ReplyDeletePeople can excel in many ways without having their field of expertise border on or cross into addiction. One can become expert and attentive to detail without completely going down the rabbit hole. The culture of classic WCG was dominated by obsessive-compulsive ones who basically shut everything else in life out. This type of behavior has so much in common with addictive behavior, but we could not see that from the eye of the Armstrong storm. We laughed at the Pharisees who confronted Jesus without realizing that we were the modern equivalent of them, parsing every element of our lives.
It's always sad to watch fanatical types who can know no peace in life due to an acquired mindset given to them by the collectors of people to whom they looked as their leaders.
all good points and its amazing it took us a fair time to work out our stupidity, The fake apostles propaganda was effective of course but we should have been more skeptical
DeleteThere are some drugs that come from a HERB. I guess Herb Armstrong is one of them!
ReplyDelete8.46 am, It's easy to be an armchair critic and lecture about normal and fanatical Christianity. Those who make such comments typically aren't having their feathers ruffled. Serious Christians are front line troops that are continually persecuted by man and attacked by the demonic realm. Please understand if their uniforms aren't clean and their mental state isn't "balanced."
ReplyDelete@ 11:26 ~ Well, alrighty then!
DeleteBeing so cruel and nasty NO2HWA is what keeps you going I suppose. Be careful when you turn that cruelty on yourself.
ReplyDeleteIt may seem cruel to some but the facts are straightforward Armstrong was a corrupted system feeding off falsehoods and twisted doctrines and in the process this alleged apostle lived a life of excess largely off the backs of many poorer people. There were many false doctrines in my view the most blatantly corrupted was the teaching only this alleged apostle taught the true gospel after 1900 years.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that there are some examples of HWA's types and antetypes. In terms of cults, HWA with his big lies was a foreshadowing of Donald Trump. The similarities are just so amazing, and as if we need further proof, it is that so many COGlodytes and even people who left decades ago are glomming on to DJT as the solution to the problems they see in America.
ReplyDeleteHeh heh! Every time I see Lucy Ball's picture, my mind's eye sees her angrily stomping out her cigarette on HWA's "House for God" carpet when an usher told her no smoking.
ReplyDelete