Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Racism In The Church


This is a first-hand account of a person who grew up in the church witnessed.  This is just the tip of the iceberg as to what went on.
Racism In The Church:

Armstrong was an extreme racist. It was present on up till the 1970's and remained thereafter, to a lesser degree. However, it was only directed toward Blacks. Asians and Latinos could sit wherever they liked in services. Blacks had to sit in a separate section. They used the back door to enter and exit the building. They parked in a separate lot often having to walk through knee high grass if it hadn't been mowed recently by the property owner.
They could only attend the FOT in Big Sandy TX. Some living closer to other FOT sites would drive all the way across country. One family lived only 50 miles from Jekyll Island had to make a 14 hour drive to Big Sandy. 
However, Latinos and Asians could go to any FOT site. A lady I know who attend AC married a Latino with the church's blessing. Another couple which was Asian and Black married in the church too. Then the Asian wife had to sit in the Black section. Before the marriage she didn't.
A sermon was given in the late 60's about Blacks. I will spare you all the details. In a nutshell, Blacks were designed to work outside and do manual labor. They would be gods just like everyone else who qualified to be in the Kingdom. However, they would be in charge of Agriculture in the 1000 year period.
Although, the church finally allowed Blacks to sit wherever they liked they were way behind the rest of society. The church still had a taboo against White and Black marriages.
Some of Armstrong's true feelings could be felt in his writings.
HWA's Autobiography:
"One of the first men I met was a Negro I shall never forget -- whose name was Hub Evans. One of the men in the store brought him around to me.
“Hub,” he said, “tell Mr. Armstrong how many children you have.”
“Thutty-six, suh,” replied old Hub, promptly and proudly -- “hope t’ make it foty ‘fo Ah die!”
I was not merely amused -- but intensely interested. “Tell me, Hub,” I responded, “how many wives have you had?”
“Only three, suh!” Hub was a proud man."

HWA's Interracial Marriage 1982:
"...A white woman wants to become the wife of a black man. Now I don't know of any cases where a white man wants to marry a black woman. Why is that? Answer that for me! I'd like to have someone give me an answer to that. Why is it our white women want to marry black men? Why is it our black men want to marry white women?..."

Of course, there was plenty of White men that married Black woman. Sigh.

reprinted with permission from a COG Facebook page



LCG's Gerald Weston Misses The Irony In His May/June Personal



In Gerald Weston's May/June letter to the LCG membership, he comments about a recent trip he took for Passover and the music he listened to in his car while travelling with his wife.  On his way there he heard songs of Elvis and had this to say:

Dear Brethren, Carol and I recently traveled by car to New York for Passover and the beginning of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, looking forward to joining more than 200 brethren who shared a few days together as one large family. Long road trips are challenging, and to amuse ourselves we alternated between conversation, listening to the one family-oriented comedy station on satellite radio, and enjoying some music. 
A station on the radio devoted to Elvis Presley played a mix of recordings and stories of the deceased “King of Rock and Roll.” There is a mystique about him in the minds of many. His music was part of my early years and I personally like his voice, but the virtual worship of the man and the desire of his most ardent fans to live in the past is a bit over the top. Enjoy his music if you care to, but please—the man was mortal. He is no god! He is dead!
Two guesses as to who else Weston has a "mystique" in his mind about...

The way the LCG hierarchy and some members virtually worship two men from the past is exactly the same as diehard fans worshipping Elvis.  Weston and others look to the past with flickering nostalgic memories of days gone by as the "glory days" of the old Radio Church of God/Worldwide Church of God. Herbert Armstrong and Rod Meredith could do no wrong.  The worship is more than "a bit over the top".  Both are elevated to heights of worship even worse than the Elvis fans.  One has to stop and wonder if both men are still alive!  HWA and Meredith were not God!  They are dead!

I am still looking for Weston and LCG to place Jesus on such a pedestal and worship him, but...