Armstrongite Trolls

Every once in a while I get some self righteous Armstrongite that sends me 'love notes' on how wrong we all are here.  Dennis seems to bring out the best in them....  :-)  How dare we make fun of HWA and Armstrongism!  "Mr. Armstrong was God's anointed and you will be thrown into the lake of fire for daring to  mock him."  "Mr. Flurry is set apart by God to do a MIGHTY work!"  Others can't be printed here.

I found a great video that makes plain how those freed from the sanctimonious drivel of Armstrongism feel about their comments:

Dennis Says: "I think we need a new kind of God"

Biblegod Sounds All Too Human.

For the last 4000 years, our Western concept of God has been based on the God that evolved out of the Old Testament theocracy of ancient Israel. That God came into His own as an evolution from earlier gods, all of whose individual traits, the True God Most High was given. It is this God that we have come to "love" in some way, though it seems mostly a one way street in practical human experience. It is this one true God of the OT that we read is a jealous God, never thinking that in that context, He was jealous because there were still other gods a lingering and it was not that He was the only one, but just needed to be the top one. Therefore, "you shall have no other gods, BEFORE ME." The others are lesser types and don't forget it. "I am a jealous God."   In short, the text should read, "You shall not bring any other gods into my presence because I would be jealous of them."  Even as a kid, I wondered why the only God was jealous of no other gods that existed, until I learned that when the Decalogue was given, they did exist. I guess they have since moved elsewhere.




The Bible God is everything from a consuming fire (hmm, the Sun?), to the Bright and Morning Star, to a loving Father. He created humans, then didn't realize how nasty they could be, so he wiped them out drowning them all, save 8, like rats and left humanity the unending quest for the original ark and a way to explain badly the origins of everything from dinosaurs to the Grand Canyon. That one story has slowed the progress of human critical thinking probably as much as any. A few weeks ago headlines asked "Has Noah's Ark Been Found," (again) but it turned out to be a pile of rocks.


This one true Bible God scattered humanity so they couldn't talk too much to each other in one language and advance the cause of science too quickly. They built a tall mud building which scared the Bible God into thinking man thought he could ascend to heaven. No scientific understanding that mud bricks could only take so much pressure and go so high. They obviously haven't seen the Sears Tower from the air. Hard to spot down there on the approach to O'Hare.


The Bible God lived in an obscure land, in obscure mountains and choose to wander around in the desert with an obscure people for a time in an effort to get them to worship him and Him only. He got the group out of Egypt by an Exodus of hundreds of thousands, which neither history nor archaeology can find, but non-the-less, it happened. If you have ever seen the start of the Boston Marathon, you would get an idea of what that might have been like with those in the back jogging in place for days until the mass of humans moved. In exchange for this, and at the exclusion of everyone else on the planet, He would make them the greatest and their kind as the sand of the sea and the stars of heaven. Oi...if this is the greatest humans can be, we need another plan. So for a couple thousand years, this Bible God threatened, punished, exiled, warned, spanked, abused and gave up a couple times, save for that one guy that was worth saving. Seems the Bible God had flawed plans.


Along the way, this Bible God, the same God who is the loving Father now of Jesus and the Christian Faith, but of whom there is precious little known since Jesus has taken all the attention away from Him for the last 2000 years, slew the masses for the benefit of His people. Any nation that ended in "ite", like Amalekites, Hittites, Jebusites...got slaughtered if they got in the way of the people of the Bible God. I guess if you wore "tites" you were history back then. Ok, the Stone Tablets said "Thou Shalt Not Kill" but that only meant "Each Other." It was not binding on the "ites" that got in the way, including the born and unborn children of women who just happened to be not born of the true Bible God people. Those poor souls got their heads smashed, bellies ripped , burned and generally routed in various and hideous ways.


All tolled, the OT portrays Bible God as slewing 1, 238,000 plus while Satan only gets direct credit for 10, Jobs kids.


The Bible God loved meat during this time and millions of animals ended up on the alters and in the pots of a Priesthood working the Temple shifts day and night for a thousand years. That's a hell of a lot of precious wildlife going up in smoke to appease the Bible God. Between Roman arenas and the BG's love of animal flesh, it's no wonder there are few impressive animals left in the Middle East. The Turtle Doves went to Rumania just to recover their numbers since the Romans, at least, didn't send Turtle Doves into the arena.


The BG loved blood as well as the smell of burning flesh. The more blood the better and even the Christians figured out that "without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins." Always blood...blood, blood, blood. The life might be in the blood as the Bible God tells us, but getting it from the body onto the ground seemed to be more of the goal. From redemption by blood sacrifices we went to redemption by execution of the Lamb and the shedding of human blood once and for all. Whew..at least that stopped all the slaughter...well ok , it didn't, but we can say it did in Church and feel better. Actually, history has shown us that after Jesus shed his blood once and for all, a whole lot of human blood was going to be spilled over the next couple thousand years by those that love Jesus and want everyone to see and experience the love of Jesus as they do, and come under his once and for all blood sacrifice. Go figure.


So up to this point, we have a Bible God that is pretty scary, vengeful, jealous, bloodthirsty, clannish, has no wife or consort, surrounds himself with male angels by the millions and seems to think and teach that women are just one rung above animals and other household possessions. Ever ask why ALL Bible Angels are MALE and ALL gift shop angels are FEMALE? Oh well, nuther story. This BG has tons of laws about human sexuality and the consequences of not abiding by the rules, but seems to Himself only be a God from the waist up, even though we are told he has hands and feet.


So in time, the BG gives up on a people of his own with those methods and sends His Son, for about a year of human history, to tell us everything we need to be and do or not do. After the Romans, yes it was the Romans and not the Jews, sent him back to heaven, it's been pretty much a big mess of confusing and conflicting beliefs and "isms" that have brought us to near extinction. Even as a kid I wondered in Sunday school why The BG giving His Son was such a big thing for him to do. He knew he would get him back in three short days, so it's not like Jesus would never come home. I have buried lots of kids that never got to go home and see mom and dad again. I got to try to encourage parents who had lost them, but had no immediate hope of return. I also wondered why it was such a big sacrifice of Jesus for me, when he also knew his death was just more or less an inconvenience to him personally. He didn't have be afraid because he knew he'd be resurrected. He also only spent, according to the account, about six hours on the cross designed to kill one slowly over days as tens of thousands before him and after found out. So it was pretty quick compared to what others had happen to them who had no hope of a quick turn around time. Maybe I think too much. I know it's not encouraged in church or some would not say, "You don't pray in my school, and I won't think in your church." I like that one!


At any rate, I think we need a new kind of God. I know that god's evolve slowly over time, but we don't have much time at the rate we are going. I'd like to make a few suggestions as to the kind we evolve to next with the hope it really does make us spiritual over religious and more universally tolerant instead of tribal and cultic.

1. We need a God that teaches all of us are one and same save for a bit more or less melanin and spot on the planet of origin. This way we might not be so freaky about borders, incursions and "the enemy." I say genetically test all people in the Middle East to prove it's a family feud and they all the same people. Then test in the Far East and West, put the darn genome thingy on TV and point out what a real human is and how they relate.


2. We need to evolve a God that is non-judgmental so humans can't get a hold of all His laws and wring the life out of humanity with them to their personal gain. This would stop the proliferation of thousands of sects, denominations, organizations, cults, "isms" and One True Churches that suck the soul out of people by separating them from the world of real people. We gotta stop majoring in the minors...


3. We need to evolve a God that endorses equality across the board for humans. There are no better humans on the planet than others. No better colors, types, sizes, looks or ways of being. We are what we are and since humans seem to divide up into 16 basic temperaments, we need to recognize that as part of our spirituality and worth. Humans have 16 basic ways of being wired and it's not a spiritual problem to not be wired like someone else! The wealthy just have more and a responsibility to share and teach while the poor have less for reasons that usually relate directly to their government, opportunities and whether they live in sand or soil.


4. We need to evolve a God that appreciates sensual and sexuality. Whoa...la la la la la, I'm not hearing this. Bible sex usually get's you killed for it. Couples rammed thru together with a spear. Women stoned to death. Or mostly just not spoken of. Whoever sneaked the Song of Solomon in must have gotten himself put outside the camp. The Church took the obvious intent and turned it into an earthly story with a heavenly meaning about Jesus...but whew. I think not. BG has no sexuality. Jesus may have, but we don't speak of it and deny it or burn those that suggest it. The disciples were just a group of disconnected men with no women allowed. Original "He Man, Woman Haters Club" I guess. They had the "power to lead around a wife" but that is not very romantic or intimate.


"Power" and "Lead" are not words most women respond to these days in the world of the open hearted and enlightened...few as they relatively be. The Apostles were womanless save for getting their feet washed and supper cooked for them by women. Some women gave them money, so it's not a bad set up. But no sex. Uh uh....no no no. And of Paul..well forget it. He thought all should be like him, which was virginal. I think this hides the fact that he was a troll of some kind, or just not the kind of guy any woman would want to live with romantically. One could suspect other orientation for Paul, which is what he wrestled with in that Hellenistic/Hebraic world, but who knows. I just know a man that "beats himself and keeps himself in subjection" sounds like a troubled guy. We need a God that would help him relax and not be so difficult on this topic. For better or worse, Paul's ideas have made millions think they were the same as God's ideas. They weren't. Jesus said to marry and Paul said, better not to. Someone is wrong.

5. We need to evolve a God that doesn't need to be adored, worshipped, tithed to, sacrificed for and feared. We've had enough of that and all it does is grow abusive organizations and churches that use that to fear, shame and guilt the gullible into submission. We need a God that doesn't need money to build temples and houses to Himself. Like the denomination I came from. They taught that "God liveth not in houses made of stone...." and then set out to make, and dedicate one to Him, made of marble from some godawful expensive place, where He could live if He wanted to, which He didn't. They later evicted Him and sold the House for God to another Church that invited Him back, but He'd already left town by then.

6. We need to evolve a God that we now lies in each one of us and expresses Itself/Himself/Herself, the real Holy Trinity, in the individual who is appreciated for that... different but equal and ok. We don't have all be little yellow pencils for God, Jesus or The Trinity Broadcasting Network. We need a God where truly there is neither male or female, bond or free, black or white, from Yale or the Tech College down the street. Each human is who they are, where they are, being what they are and it's ok. He certainly doesn't require the one true folks to slay the untrue or non-compliant ones.


7. We need to evolve a God that respects the truth of Science and inquiry. No more repressing scientific reality by some church, organization or mind set that is bogus and based on myth and deceit. You keep your God out of my stem cells and I'll keep my God out of your face...we might say. We need a God and spirituality that allows for humans to appreciate their long journey from Africa to Consciousness and understanding the nature of reality is not what we might think it is based on our limited five senses.

In short, we need to grow up and become these things ourselves and a new God will emerge in our souls and we can do better than what we see going on today with the misery one people brings upon another, day in and day out...world without end.

Dennis C. Diehl

DenniscDiehl@aol.com

"Matches In The Gas Tank" by Carla Powers

I bought this book when it first came out.  It is an excellent book detailing what the Radio Church of God/Worldwide Church of God was like back in the 50's and 60's.  While I never had a father such as hers, the descriptions she has of life in the Church are spot on.

Carla Powers is a self made woman who is proof that there is a life after Armstrongism.

She finished Baylor Law School and passed the bar at 22. Five and a half years later, Carla became the first woman partner in a 100-lawyer Houston firm. For the next 15 years, she tried cases, was an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center, wrote articles, and gave speeches. In 2000, she joined a major multinational energy company and three years later became worldwide head of litigation. But success didn’t make Carla happy.

When an inner voice awakened her in the middle of the night and told her to start writing, she realized that she’d found a calling: sharing the transformational power that comes from acknowledging life's difficult experiences and breaking away the walls of shame that keep us from our true purpose.

Matches in the Gas Tank, A Memoir by Carla Powers

Carla Powers was Daddy's princess back in Arkansas in the late 1950s. Then Daddy got religion.
That religion, based in the teachings and deprivation of narrow-minded, punitive ministers, tormented her dangerous alcoholic father and her entire family. Growing up, Carla never knew a woman could do anything more than she was asked—or demanded—to do. She definitely never imagined that other worlds would open up to her and she would rise to become a powerful attorney.

Matches in the Gas Tank tells the story of life inside the Radio Church of God and the influence of Herbert W. Armstrong, the Church's founder and prophet. Under his influence, Carla's family moved away from relatives and friends to Big Sandy, Texas, an enclave in which everyone lived by strict and unforgiving rules arbitrarily determined by Armstrong. His vision of how to get to "The Kingdom of God" and avoid a sea of flames consisted of unending lists of rules covering everything from food consumption, to financial responsibilities, to sexual behavior.

The only way to rise above the poverty level was to become a minister, and the only way to become a minister was to continually police your neighbors for sin. Ministers were allowed to barge in a home any time of the day or night to inspect everything from the cleanliness of a family's kitchen to the contents of their tax returns.

This is the story of how Carla escaped the control of the church and found a way to deal with the legacy of abuse and shame left to her by her father. As she embraces her difficult childhood, she comes to understand that while those we love have the power to hurt us, they can't destroy us. We can find strength in unexpected places.

Anyone who has had a less-than-perfect family, has struggled with the faith of her fathers or has gone through recovery from abuse, perfectionism, or any cult of personality will connect with the power of redemption in this moving memoir.

Check out her site here:  Carla Powers: Purpose Beyond the Power Suit