The Summer Camp From Hell

Philadelphia Church of God is running it's latest summer indoctrination  camp for the church youth.  According to PCG the kids are there to learn how to be perfect in all things and to live lives of perfection.

I feel sorry for these kids that their lives are stripped of fun at this camp from hell. Talk about sucking the pleasure of summer camp out of  a person!

I went to SEP Orr, in 1971 and had the time of my life.  While there was some churchy stuff, it was not the main focus of every single activity.  Theological indoctrination was usually relegated to Saturdays and that was minor.  Of course this was during the time GTA had been banished to Orr for sexual indiscretions and the time the church was going through major upheavals because of Rod Meredith's hatred of GTA.

PCG writes:

Director Wayne Turgeon kicked off orientation by presenting a camp theme that would unify the sports, classes, activities and dorm life of PYC 2012: “Focus on perfection.”

Of all the people to be discussing perfection, it should not have been this butt kisser. Oy! 

They continue on with this fun sucking agenda:

Campers said they found the theme reinforced in every type of activity they participated in, from flag football to campus improvement to Bible and leadership according to camper Mahariel Rosario. Instructors found the theme applicable to their activities as well. Preaching Elder Ryan Malone, who oversaw speech class and the Jeremiah musical, said, “The camp theme applies to pretty much anything, whether you’re thinking about archery or prayer.”

The focus on perfection gave a very clear direction for Mr. Malone when approaching speech class. His instructional lecture focused on James 3:2, and used the example of entrepreneur Steve Jobs’s focus on perfecting his presentations.

Sports instructors also zoned in on the focused effort towards perfection. Assistant softball instructor Jessie Beezley said that the staff emphasized the importance of “not just getting through it, but to focus on the game, and pay attention.” Campers were taught to “think ahead, know where the play is going, what is happening next and what to do.”

On the archery range, perfection was a crucial part of the class. “Most of the other sports deal with several different skill sets,” said archery instructor Mark Jenkins. “Archery is about taking one isolated skill and perfecting it,” he said, adding that “making your shot perfect and repeatable” applies to other skills as well.

Counselors took the camp theme and Mr. Flurry’s message to encourage their campers in the dorm as well. AC junior Tabitha Burks, the counselor to dorm 3G, said that Ecclesiastes 9:10 and Matthew 5:48 were two key scriptures that she reinforced with her dorm, to show them the effort it takes to reach perfection. Campers Focus on Perfection

All that's missing from this picture is the PCG ministers running around in bike shorts like they did a few years ago.

Toby Maguire to Play Bobby Fischer in Upcoming Movie

Toby Maguire will be playing Bobby Fischer in an upcoming movie.  It will be interesting to see if they portray Fischer's involvement with Armstrongism.  The Worldwide Church of God used this guy and exploited him for all they could get out of him.  The more money he gave the better they liked him.

I wonder if the movie producers realize that the very buildings that Fischer played chess in are now vacant and can be used for the film.  It would certainly add more authenticity to it all.

Given the numerous articles and books that tell the story of Fischer's involvement with Armstrongism and if the movie producers us it, the church will not be portrayed in a positive light.

Tobey Maguire To Star As Troubled Chess Prodigy Bobby Fischer, But Who Was He Really? 

The movie will look at Fischer's career in the 60's (which started at the age of 13) through the '72 match from a script by Steven Knight ("Eastern Promises"). Spassky was the Soviet Chess champion twice while Fischer was the youngest grandmaster at the age of 15 1/2, and would be going head-to-head with a player six years his senior. I can almost see the sports movie trajectory it could take, "Miracle" on a chess board (although Fischer had a pretty flawless win record, so a montage of him always being good at chess might be a bit of a drag).

It's Fischer's life after the win that's ripe for exploration. He stopped defending his chess title officially after a dispute with the World Chess Federation in '75, and later got in trouble with the IRS over unpaid taxes from his winnings in a '92 rematch against Spassky. Here's where it gets rocky: Fischer, a Chicago native, never returned home to the States, living as an expatriate in Hungary, the Philipines, and Germany, among other countries while becoming increasingly prickly and reclusive.

What Zwick and Knight will be missing out on in confining the story to the '72 match is the impact the sudden rush of fame and success had on Fischer and how it effectively broke him in later years. In the few interviews you can find with him in his later years, he not only becomes critical of his home country but outright anti-American, and laced through all of that is a weird strain of anti-Semitism (he actually disavowed his own Jewish roots at one time, and you can read an interview where he discusses discovering the doomsday evangelical sect the Worldwide Church of God here).

Sabbath Restaurant Eaters are "...pathetic, self-serving, childish..."

Apostle Malm has some stern warnings for those of you that dare to eat in a restaurant or get a coffee from Starbucks on your way to or from church:

When you are paying someone to work on the Sabbath, you are responsible for them having done so. Whether they would do it anyway or not is immaterial. The fact is that you, by your action have become the root cause of them doing it. You have encouraged them and suborned them to commit this sin. Therefore, you are guilty of that sin. If they are adulterers: Will you join them; because they are going to do it anyway? The idea that they are going to sin anyway somehow justifies us joining in with them: Is a pathetic self-serving, childish self-justification. And it demonstrates that such people; really want to join in this sin, and DO NOT want to truly keep God’s commandments.