Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before!
With all the new crazy self-appointed Chief Overseers, Apostles, Prophets, Pharisees, legalists, and outright liars leading various Churches of God today, it is important to hold these agents of deception accountable.
Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders
It has been well known over the decades that there have been some ministers, elders, deacons, ministers sons, department heads, TV studio employees, and others who have been sexual predators in the Armstrong Churches of God. It has been reported upon by Ambassador Reports and numerous blogs and web sites. Many cases have went to trial with leading ministers and church leaders being sent to prison for their heinous crimes. But far too often, church members were/are embarrassed or afraid to confront their abusers and they keep it secret. leading to horrendous pshycological problems with the victims, so much so that some have committed suicide. Who can they turn to when the person that was supposed to be "Christ's representative" is the one abusing them? Are they to wait and let God take care of it later, as some have been told? I say they should immediately bypass all church leaders and go directly to the police! On a previous thread about Kevin Dean, the following was posted:
I AM the girl who escaped from KD when his daughters came back from swimming at SEP. I was working in the kitchen that session. He sent for me and under the pretense of giving me a back adjustment (he went down the front) proceeded to touch me in all the private areas. I was FREAKED out and told no one. Do you know why? Because somehow I knew I would be blamed for it. Took me 9 years before I was brave enough to tell my parents. All of the stuff listed above is true.
My kid sister was 15 when she was raped by a married member of the Armstrong family. (NOT GTA) When it came to light, my mother, a member of over 40 years at the time, and my sister were brought in front of the "council of elders" in the Administration building to stand on the charges of my virgin 15 year old sister seducing this pedophile. My mother sat, very submissive and never stood up for her. My sister, asking to go to the bathroom, left the grounds. I was never told of this story until about 5 years ago. Incredulously, my mother still ashamed and embarrassed, I looked her in the eye and told her that her daughter was RAPED! Until that moment, she had never considered this, as the elders made my sister out to be the guilty person. Did Pasadena harbor rapists and pedophiles? You bet they did.
Just to clarify... when he was with the girl at Imperial, she was at least a Jr, as she was a year younger than me, which means it was going on for at least two years, and started before she was 18. (This is my first time commenting, so many kids at school knew about this affair. We just had no idea what to do about it. Who do you tell when the person in charge is the one breaking the rules?)
Note: I am not posting this to convince anyone on the truth of Evolution. I am not concerned with what anyone believes. I have satisfied myself over the years, through study and observation that Evolution is true. That fascinates me and should not irritate you. Religious beliefs have their own set of needs and reasons for existence. Over the years I have accepted the fact that I am personally evidence based and not faith based. If you can't show it, you really can't know it nor should we trust that one does. They are opposites and while the cause for much debate and argument, I do not personally believe that Science and the Bible are or ever can be made compatible.
The Western world of Bible literalism has gotten stuck in Bronze and Iron Age perspectives in a world that has moved on to the Space Age. There is a price to pay for that. Dave Pack uses the same mistaken notions, scriptures taken out of context and need to believe that which is unbelievable in his theological ramblings. While going to great lengths to appear wise and , as I have been told, incredibly intelligent, he is not. Like HWA and GTA before him, he uses his supposed authority, bluster and a literal view of scripture to not see what others clearly see through studied observation.
I post this to show just ignorant David C Pack is on the topic and how incredibly unqualified and out of date he is to think that he can explain the modern evidence for Evolution away with bombastic and horribly out of date information and speculations as to how religious statements and science fit together. Just as Aron has logically, patiently and accurately taken Dave Pack apart on this topic, any well trained theologian could take him apart piece by piece for his theological ramblings that we all know will simply fall into the same wastebasket those of the Armstrongs have.
Dave has always needed a bit of peer review and accountability for making the statements he does about science and of course theology. He gets his grade card here for not doing his homework in what we now know about Evolution vs what he thinks he has always known.
I know what Dave considers to be his expertise in the topic of Creationism. He claims to have studied it 50 years ago as if 50 years ago was the peak time of knowledge on the topic. We have learned more in the last 5 years about human evolution and that of all life on the planet including the planet itself than in the previous 5000.
Dave thinks that his one class called Second Year Bible where we all simply had to read and outline The Genesis Flood by Whitcomb and Morris and that WAS the class that settled the question once and for all. That book has been debunked decades ago and wasn't fit to comment on the topic to begin with. No one taught Dave anything about Creationism at AC or why evolution was not true EXCEPT for Church Booklets , A Whale of a Tale, and A Theory for the Birds. Interestingly enough , the clear evolution of both Whales and Birds is clearly and wonderfully understood today making a fool out of Garner Ted Armstrong, who like Dave, used sarcasm and ignorance to not prove a point. We now know that even feathers preceded flying and were not "created" for flight. They were decoration and insulation at first and only later did the aid in flight.
I guarantee you Dave Pack, nor any Church of God minister has read an up to date explanation of the science behind the Theory of Evolution. (And please do your homework on what a scientific theory is before thinking it means "opinion." or "guess".)
And no bullshit about Aron's hair or look please. You simply prove yourself most shallow and divert yourself from the content. . Aron knows more about the real science of evolution and paleontology than ALL the ministry of ALL the Churches of God put together...even Bob Thiel. (That's a joke). I know Aron personally. He has a heart of gold and knows whereof he speaks. A church member or minister would be a fool to try and pull a Dave Pack explanation of why evolution is wrong on him, or just about any science student at a real University.
If the posting does not appeal to you, seems foolish, anti-God, atheistic or just more of my old ministerial self rising up again to tell everyone how it all is because once a Ministurd always a Ministrud, just hang out a couple days and I'm sure you'll have something come up you like more like how your minister in the past agonized over could the air in your car tires be considered leaven because they were puffed up or was baking soda leavening. Important and life enriching stuff like that. It's the time of year for all that foolishness as we all are no doubt aware so there will be plenty of straining at gnats and swallowing camels ahead as The Days of Unleavened Bread descend upon them.
For those few of us here who might find the take down of Dave Pack a sight to behold, I simply offer this one segment for your enjoyment. Aron took the time to do 19 sessions to refute Dave Pack's shallow and incredibly outdated explanations and he put Dave more than in his place. Any young person would benefit from watching the whole series to understand what Dave Pack never has and evidently never could understand about good science done well.
For those who might like more time in the topic of Creationism vs Evolution I would recommend Aron's latest book.
Overview
Religious fundamentalists and biblical literalists present any number of arguments that attempt to disprove evolution. Those with a sympathetic ear often fail to critically examine these creationist claims, leading to an ill-informed public and, perhaps more troubling, ill-advised public policy. As Aron Ra makes clear, however, every single argument deployed by creationists in their attacks on evolution is founded on fundamental scientific, religious, and historical falsehoods–all of them. Among their most popular claims is that evolution is a religion, that there are no transitional species, that there are no beneficial mutations, and that supposedly sacred scripture is the infallible word of God. Yet, as the evidence and data plainly show, each of these claims is demonstrably and unequivocally false. There is simply no truth to creationism whatsoever, and the entire enterprise rests on a foundation of falsehoods. This book explains and exposes the worst of these lies, and should be read by all who honestly care about following the evidence no matter where it might lead in pursuit of the truth.
Or for the more in the know in the Churches of God perhaps Ken Ham's Book will suffice.
Take a look at the United Church of God Wikipedia page if you want to see one of he biggest whitewashes in Church of God history. You will be hard pressed to find ANY connection to Herbert W Armstrong, Armstrongism, the Worldwide Church of God or its connection to any of the hundreds and hundreds of harlot daughter split offs littering the Armstrong Church of God landscape.
Why is it that all of these splinter groups all claim to follow the truth delivered by Herbert Armstrong and yet in their public persona's they scramble as fast as they can to distance themselves from the the man and his teachings.
Talk about hypocrisy!
UCG Feast of Tabernacles observance in Branson, Missouri, 2015
The UCG follows and believes in many of the basic doctrinal principles shared by other Christian churches such as the inspiration of the scriptures, Christ's bodily resurrection, and the three ordinances of baptism,[4] and agrees with Protestant theology regarding the tenets of sola scriptura and that Justification is a gift given freely by God. Like many Christian churches, it also believes in the resurrection of the dead, Millennialism, baptism by immersion, Gap creationism, and is strongly Adventist, believing that the return of Christ is imminent, interpreting current events in the light of Bible prophecy.[4] However, its teachings differ from mainstream Catholic and Protestant theology in a number of key areas:
Belief in Restorationism. Like many churches in the Restorationist movement, UCG believes that a number of today's mainstream Christian teachings resulted from doctrinal corruption under the influence of Greco-Roman philosophy, Gnosticism, Anti-Semitism, and mistranslation which occurred early in the history of the church. Much of UCG doctrine that is distinct from mainstream Christianity is the outgrowth of an effort to separate these influences and traditions from what is believed to be the beliefs and practices of Jesus Christ and the original Apostolic church.[5][6][7] UCG holds that the Roman Catholic church and most Protestant denominations today have mistakenly syncretized various pagan doctrines and practices. For example, UCG teaches that the ancient pagan origins of traditional Christian celebrations (especially Christmas, Halloween, Easter, and Valentine's Day) render them inappropriate for true Christians.[8][9][10][11][12][13]
Nontrinitarian belief, i.e., that the Holy Spirit is the spirit/power of God and of Christ Jesus rather than a separate person in the Godhead. God 'the Father' and Jesus Christ are viewed as two distinct beings in the 'God family,' united in purpose only.[14]
Belief that Christians are begotten as children in the Family of God and will at their resurrection become "spirit-born divine beings who are part of Elohim, the universe-ruling family of God."[15]
Belief that the core of Jesus Christ's message was the coming of a literal earthly Kingdom and that people who are 'saved' will not go to heaven, but will live and rule eternally with Jesus Christ on earth after his second coming, and will subsequently share rulership over the entire universe as part of the 'God Family'. UCG also asserts that the final destination of the unrepentant wicked is not everlasting torture, but annihilation or permanent destruction.[16]
Belief that people of Western European descent, primarily the original British colonies and the United States, are direct physical descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of the northern kingdom of ancient Israel, whereas the historical Jews (and modern-day Israel) are descendants of the ancient southern kingdom of Judah. This belief is not used to assert racial or ethnic superiority, but solely to interpret End Time prophecies which are believed to be directed at the United States and Europe.[17]
Belief that the basic Old Testament law is not "done away with" and is carried over into the "New Covenant" such that certain commandments apply to Christians today, including the Ten Commandments and teachings such as clean and unclean meats, literal observance of Holy Day festivals such as eating unleavened bread during the 'Days of Unleavened Bread', and living in 'temporary habitations' during the 'Feast of Tabernacles'. These beliefs exclude civil and sacrificial temple laws,[18] but includes the literal observance of the seventh-day Sabbath (from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) and the Holy Days of the Old Testament Hebrew calendar,[19] dietary restrictions,[20] and the condemnation of practicing any and all sexual sin as identified by God in the Holy Scriptures.[21]
Belief that people who do not know or understand the truth of the Bible during their lifetimes will be given time to learn these teachings after the "Second Resurrection" to a new physical life. After living again in the Millennial world under God's Kingdom, those who continue to reject God's Holy Spirit and way of life will be annihilated after the "Third Resurrection" along with unrepentant former believers who had turned away from God. They are destroyed in the third resurrection (the "resurrection of fire") in the Lake of Fire, along with Satan and his demons.[22]
Belief in biblical tithing, a donation of 10 percent of a member's income to the church to fund the organization's gospel mission.[23] Members are also taught to set aside a Second tithe, an additional 10 percent for their own personal use in observing the church's annual religious festivals, particularly the Feast of Tabernacles.[24]
Alcohol consumption in moderation is permitted but the UCG does teach against the misuse of alcohol. [25]
