In surfing around the Internet tonight I found this interesting thread on Reddit. It is a pretty long thread of different comments by different people who have been tainted by Armstrongism. I grew up in an apocalyptic, utopian, socialist, Christian cult.
I see that the fine folks at SILENCED, Escaping Eden and IRONWOLF also found the thread.
Both joined before I was born. They met at the Church sponsored Ambassador College.
My Dad joined when he was 14 because of HIS dad. Why his dad got into it, I have no clue. I guess I could ask my dad that one of these days.
My Dad's dad got cancer when my Dad was only 17. The church was not supportive of conventional medicine on the whole (I wasn't vaccinated until the school told my mother I couldn't attend unless I got my shots) so my Grandpa died fairly quickly.
After he died, my grandma went a little ape-shit and left her grieving 17 year old son alone in their home in California while she ran off to Montana.
My family has a big problem of running off to Montana when things get tough.
My grandma never bought into the church. She liked to smoke. Wouldn't quit Christmas and stuff. And interestingly, after the death of her husband, who was a fire Captian in LA, she slept with a good chunk of the Los Angeles fire department. I guess she had a type.
The key thing is that The Church really took care of my dad after his dad died. A church family took him in. And he went to the church's college, Ambassador College. That was where he met my mom.
My mom was born and raised in Nova Scotia. She is the middle of 7 children. She was a shy, anxious child and, from what I hear and understand, being the middle child, she was often sort of pushed to the side. She started listening to Armstrong on the radio in the early 70's when she was an early teen. I know she found Armstrong's prophecies and interpretation particularly fascinating. There was a lot of End Times stuff. Very sensational. He was always interpreting news with the Bible and vice versa.
I remember her telling me that, when she was 13, she stopped participating in holidays because of Armstrong's teachings. So imagine a 13 year old staying upstairs on Christmas morning and refusing presents.
When she was 18, she left home to go to Pasadena to one of Armstrong's colleges. Ambassador College
