Armstrong's splinter groups see have a long, sordid history of this. After the Worldwide Church of God imploded in the 1990s, former members felt freer to drag their cases to the police and courts. That led to scores of COG ministers and members being arrested, prosecuted, and sent to prison for child sexual abuse. But not so with the Philadelphia Church of God (PCG). Like clockwork, they cover up molestations.
This came from a Facebook source (paraphrased and corrected for clarity):
A couple of years ago, a creepy K.J. (who used to edit The Trumpet) horribly molested and raped a mentally disabled girl. They suspended him for two years... and suspended her indefinitely. But shhhhhhhh! Don't talk about it, and it will all just go away!
Oh, how convenient. Because nothing says "God's true church" like protecting the predator while punishing the victim. Sarcasm aside, this pattern isn't shocking—it's systemic.
Why the Cover-Ups?
In these authoritarian, high-control groups descended from Herbert W. Armstrong, the priority is preserving the organization's image, authority structure, and cash flow (tithing, of course).
Reporting abuse to "the world" (i.e., police) would:
- Expose the "one true church" as just another flawed institution full of sinners.
- Damage recruitment and member retention.
- Undermine the leaders' claim to divine authority (how can God's apostle-appointed ministers be pedophiles?).
- Risk lawsuits that drain the precious building fund or whatever lavish project Gerald Flurry is funding next.
Instead, they handle it "internally" — a nice way of saying sweep it under the rug, counsel the victim to forgive, maybe shuffle the abuser to another congregation, and enforce silence with shunning or disfellowshipping threats. This mirrors patterns seen in other insular religious groups, where protecting the "work of God" trumps protecting children.
The PCG, under Gerald Flurry, has a reputation for being especially controlling and litigious among Armstrong splinters. Ex-members have documented various abuses, including heavy-handed discipline and failure to properly address predators. When the broader WCG broke apart, other COG groups saw more accountability through lawsuits and arrests. PCG? They doubled down on isolation and secrecy.
If your church's response to a child being raped is a two-year timeout for the rapist and indefinite suspension for the disabled victim, plus a gag order... that's not a church. That's a cult protecting its own at the expense of the vulnerable. Real justice involves police, courts, and zero tolerance—not "don't talk about it." Victims deserve better than this hypocritical, self-serving farce dressed up as biblical governance.
“PCG: Two Year Sabbatical for the Rapist, Lifetime Ban for the Disabled Victim – Just Another Day in God’s True Church!”
ReplyDeleteDefinitely sounds like the PCG.
The mold in an Armstrongite setting is quite different from the mold in most environments throughout the civilized world. In a COG, sins are repented of, and forgiven, as a rule, sometimes with additional stringencies such as suspension, counselling, etc.. I don't know if this is still done, but back in the day, I had heard of members being annointed for alcoholism. Matt. 26:41 was one of those well known, "go to" scriptures known to all Armstrongites: "Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
ReplyDeleteThe Armstrongite model for dealing with such things may well work with your garden variety sins. However, HWA and those whom he trained, did not acknowledge that humans in a fallen world can be born with pathologies or orientations that are not really understood, and are very harmful to vulnerable ones around them. These are much deeper and more powerful than simple "sins". They are also more intense than any of a list of common fetishes. Because they do not accept the latest information from behavioral scientists, Armstrongite leaders have set themselves up for failure by persisting in their well-intentioned, but naive policies regarding predators. They should be quarantined, and not allowed to come within a well defined distance of any children.
Even if they took a doctrinal approach insisting on these proclivities being caused by elements of an individual's environment during childhood, they must surely realize that by the time one becomes an adult, they are hard-set. They Re part of a person's nature. Statistics on recidivism alone prove this. It's not in any shape or form similar to quitting smoking, or a heterosexual or homosexual practicing celibacy. Something is deeply and fundamentally wrong.
The problem is, once a bad act occurs in your local church congregation, authorities will undoubtedly want to investigate and find out who knew and could have prevented it from happening. They are quite right in assigning culpability, which would most likely land on the shoulders of the minister himself. And, that is why these incidents get swept under the carpet. In a culture which annoints the sick for a totally curable ailment, and watches an individual die instead, without experiencing the slightest twinge of guilt, how might we expect these ministers to react? Bingo! Steerike! CYA all the way! Wash, rinse, and repeat. Solvable problem never gets solved! It's systemic.
PCG suspended a rapist for two years.
ReplyDeleteWCG elevated a rapist (and an incestuous one, to boot!) to the rank of Pastor General (and Apostle) for a lifetime.