Leaders Need To Repent
by Wes White
Colin Powell died from Covid complications yesterday. In many ways, he was a good guy.
But let’s talk about Colin Powell in light of repentance. I am not trying to start a debate on race, Covid, vaccinations, conspiracy theories, etc. Again, the issue at the moment is repentance.
Powell was flat-out wrong when he told the UN that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. He admitted this error years later.
Apologists for Powell say that he was stating the truth as he saw it. They say he genuinely believed at the time of his UN speech that Hussein did indeed possess weapons of mass destruction. Let’s assume this is correct.
My question is this: “Why did Powell not eventually apologize for the damage done because of the promotion of this lie?”
Sure, he admitted his error, but I can’t find that he ever apologized. There is a difference between admitting error and an apology. And if he really did apologize for all the damage he contributed to, then I will request that this post be deleted from Banned.
This false claim that he promoted caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. It mentally and physically crippled hundreds of thousands more. It impoverished untold thousands of Iraqi citizens. It cost the US trillions of dollars. It enriched thieves thru graft and corruption. It destabilized the Middle East. It reduced America’s standing in the world. It made Iran stronger.
Now, this is not to say that Powell was SOLEY responsible for all the bad that came from this lie. There are others who bear more blame than he. That’s not my focus.
The point is that Powell should have apologized for his lie, whether it was deliberate or inadvertent.
One of the WCG blog sites has a ministerial Hall of Shame. It lists all the WCG ministers who contributed (large or small) to the damage done by WCG’s unchristian leadership. If a man wants to be removed from this wall of shame, he must apologize for his role in the hurt that was inflicted on innocent people by the WCG. And that is not too much to ask. So this Wall of Shame is a good thing.
Armstrongites have two major problems:
1) They are not willing to hold these ministers accountable for their past actions. They continue to follow these false teachers long after it had been made obvious that they are/were bad shepherds.
2) They are too willing to deify imperfect men such as HWA, GTA, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Churchill, etc. If one is a Christian, the only person who should be held in such high esteem is Jesus — the only one who never needed repentance.
I heard one east Texas minister say that he can never admit he made a mistake. He said such an admission would be taken by his enemies as a sign of weakness. This attitude encapsulates so much of what is wrong with the Armstrongite ministry — past and present. They do not understand repentance. In Christianity, repentance is vital.
Without repentance, Christianity cannot exist. Without repentance, a person cannot be a Christian.
