Guest column:
For years, like many others, I had concluded that Herbert W. Armstrong (HWA) had done well under Loma D. Armstrong's influence but then, after she died, HWA went off track. This made sense as this period after Loma dies is when he began to purchase the real expensive planes and spend much of his time traveling in luxury.However, after reading more of HWA's earlier writings and by re-visiting his autobiography, it became clear that the duplicity went much further back in time and that Loma was in on it too (at least passively). It was clear that even as early as 1947, that both of the Armstrong's were enjoying life at a standard of living far above the average church member. Few members could have afforded a 7 bedroom, 4,169 sq-ft home on 0.4 acres adjacent to Cal Tech, nor could they have afforded a 6-week first class luxury tour of Europe. Most still can't
After realizing how HWA lived while simultaneously claiming one financial crisis after another (even while the income was growing at around 30% per year), comments that I had previously discounted about HWA being largely motivated by money began to make perfect sense.One example:"Honey, I know how we're going to get rich"Gene Scarbrough, who was an elder in YEHOVAH's Church for over forty years, was ordained in 1967, and came out to Pasadena, California, in that year to serve full-time in the ministry. He told me that years ago his daughter Peggy, spent some time visiting with Mrs. Loma D. Armstrong, who took a liking to her. While they were together one time, Mrs. Armstrong reminisced about how the Work and Church began. While reflecting on how the ministry of her husband Herbert and his eldest son, Richard David Armstrong, originally got started, Mrs. Armstrong told Peggy, "They got into it for the money!"This type of candid statement would not be surprising if heard from the lips of an enemy of the Church. But, coming straight from the lips of Mrs. Loma D. Armstrong, it packs a wallop!Another friend corroborates the above story in part. According to his information, Garner Ted Armstrong once told a teacher in the church at Big Sandy and a personal friend that when his father was in the aluminum siding business back in Oregon, he got a call from far away to make a bid on a job. Herbert jacked up the price because he didn't want the job, the location was so distant. To his surprise, the customer said, "When can you get started?" It turns out the customer was the minister of a Seventh Day Adventist Church, and had plenty of money from tithes and offerings. According to Ted Armstrong, upon returning home that evening, Herbert -- who all his life wanted to be considered successful in business and make lots of money -- told his wife, "Honey, I now know how we're going to get rich!"The above comments may be found at the Hope of Israel site:And just yesterday (5/14/16), from Art Mokarow..."We found a gold mine!"While speaking with Mr.Mokarow about how my views regarding HWA had changed after examining his earlier writings, and how I began to question if he had ever been sincere, Art shared the following, "Before GTA was even preaching, HWA had told Loma that 'We found a gold mine!'"-Kevin
