Psychological Rigidity: Why Certain People Will Never Admit They are Wrong

 

I believe , by now anyone can rightfully wonder after years of being  wrong about  everything Apostle David C Pack can imagine , "What the hell is wrong with this man? 

 I have heard over the years that "Dave Pack is brilliant."  This is not true. If Dave Pack was brilliant, he'd not come up with such foolishness and take every Sabbath to bring his Prophetic Circus to town basing it on foolishness easily disproven. I did not find Dave "brilliant" in his refutable "Irrefutable Proof of God" series either. Loud, cocky and ill informed, but not brilliant in any sense of the word.  

So then I got to thinking that maybe Dave Pack is clever.  I gave up on that too. It is not a sign of being clever when week after week and month after month, ok, year after year,  the man is badly mistaken in his narrow field of prophetic woo woo and can not once admit he was mistaken. Like the Second Coming, everything is right on track even when there is no real train or tracks going anywhere. Most would be able to see this as mistaken and delusional.  Clever is supposed to have some kind of reward. Dave is not being rewarded for this foolishness available for everyone and anyone with half a brain to observe and evaluate. 

Dave seems oblivious to the fact that he has founded his Church on prophetic sand and that in his own mind, he is specifically spoken of in the Hebrew Scriptures. That is simply crazy talk. Herbert Armstrong played that game as well and Dave has copied his mentor to the harm of all who come within his reach.  Most would call that a sign of mental illness or at least delusional thinking with religious content. Neither bodes well for RCG in the very near future. 

Dave Pack has become over the year, less and less coherent in his speaking. One can listen to his sermons of the past year and simply end up saying "Huh?  What the hell is he talking about?"  That's not a good sign.  Even I know "the simplicity that is in Christ" escapes Dave. I bet if you asked the Sacred Council of 13 to exactly explain what Dave just spoke about or the big picture of what he feels proves this or that, they would not be able to do it. Going along to get along is more their style it seems. I will be the local ministry is even more in the fog. 

So here ,in my view,  is what Dave's deeply embedded problem with himself is and why this Circus he calls the Restored Church of God is pretty much doomed to fail.  But I will let the experts speak to this. 

Why Certain People Will Never Admit They Were Wrong

Psychological rigidity is not a sign of strength.

Guy Winch Ph.D.

(Note: Definition of Psychological rigidity-)

"In psychology, rigidity or mental rigidity refers to an obstinate inability to yield or a refusal to appreciate another person's viewpoint or emotions characterized by a lack of empathy. It can also refer to the tendency to perseverate, which is the inability to change habits and the inability to modify concepts and attitudes once developed. A specific example of rigidity is functional fixedness, which is a difficulty conceiving new uses for familiar objects."

"Mental rigidity often features a high need for cognitive closure, meaning that they assign explanations prematurely to things with a determination that this is truth, finding that resolution of the dissonance as reassuring as finding the truth.^[17] Then, there is little reason to correct their unconscious misattributions if it would bring uncertainty back."  Wikipedia

In other words, when Dave adjusts his mistaken notions to make him feel like he is not mistaken, this is reassuring that he was not mistaken in the first place. Thus every failed belief is upheld and we can know that "the math is absolutely right" and "The prophecy is absolutely on track."  when it is neither. Eventually the end of the line will come when nothing can fix all the mistaken notions and something bad is probably going to happen.  It will not be, "I am sorry, I was mistaken"

The article continues...

We all make mistakes, and we do so with regularity. Some errors are small, such as, “No, we don’t need to stop at the store; there’s plenty of milk left for breakfast." Some are bigger, such as, “Don’t rush me; we have plenty of time to get to the airport before the flight leaves.” And some are crucial, such as, “I know it was raining and dark, but I’m sure that was the man I saw breaking into the home across the street.”

No one enjoys being wrong. It’s an unpleasant emotional experience for all of us. The question is how do we respond when it turns out we were wrong—when there wasn’t enough milk left for coffee, when we hit traffic and missed the flight, or when we find out the man who sat in jail for five years based on our identification was innocent all along?

Some of us admit we were wrong and say, “Oops, you were right. We should have gotten more milk.”

Some of us kind of imply we were wrong, but we don’t do so explicitly or in a way that is satisfying to the other person, “We had plenty of time to get to the airport on time if the traffic hadn’t been unusually bad. But fine, we’ll leave earlier next time.”

But some people refuse to admit they’re wrong, even in the face of overwhelming evidence: "They let him go because of DNA evidence and another dude’s confession? Ridiculous! That’s the guy! I saw him!”

The first two examples are probably familiar to most of us, because those are typical responses to being wrong. We accept responsibility fully or partially (sometimes, very, very partially), but we don’t push back against the actual facts. We don’t claim there was enough milk when there wasn’t, or that we were not late to the airport.

But what about when a person does push back against the facts, when they simply cannot admit they were wrong in any circumstance? What in their psychological makeup makes it impossible for them to admit they were wrong, even when it is obvious they were? And why does this happen so repetitively — why do they never admit they were wrong?

The answer is related to their ego, their very sense-of-self. (Note: Dave believes he is spoken of in the scriptures. There can be no more false sense of self than this.) Some people have such a fragile ego, such brittle self-esteem, such a weak "psychological constitution," that admitting they made a mistake or that they were wrong is fundamentally too threatening for their egos to tolerate. Accepting they were wrong, absorbing that reality, would be so psychologically shattering, their defense mechanisms do something remarkable to avoid doing so — they literally distort their perception of reality to make it (reality) less threatening. Their defense mechanisms protect their fragile ego by changing the very facts in their mind, so they are no longer wrong or culpable.

As a result, they come up with statements, such as, "I checked in the morning, and there was enough milk, so someone must have finished it." When it’s pointed out that no one was home after they left in the morning, so no one could have done that, they double down and repeat, “Someone must have, because I checked, and there was milk,” as though some phantom broke into the house, finished the milk and left without a trace.

In our other example, they will insist that their erroneous identification of the robber was correct despite DNA evidence and a confession from a different person. When confronted, they will continue to insist or pivot to attacking anyone who tries to argue otherwise and to disparaging the sources of the contradictory information (e.g., "These labs make mistakes all the time, and besides, you can't trust a confession from another criminal! And why do you always take their side?").

People who repeatedly exhibit this kind of behavior are, by definition, psychologically fragile. However, that assessment is often difficult for people to accept, because to the outside world, they look as if they’re confidently standing their ground and not backing down, things we associate with strength. But psychological rigidity is not a sign of strength, it is an indication of weakness. These people are not choosing to stand their ground; they’re compelled to do so in order to protect their fragile egos. Admitting we are wrong is unpleasant, it is bruising for any ego. It takes a certain amount of emotional strength and courage to deal with that reality and own up to our mistakes. Most of us sulk a bit when we have to admit we're wrong, but we get over it

But when people are constitutionally unable to admit they’re wrong, when they cannot tolerate the very notion that they are capable of mistakes, it is because they suffer from an ego so fragile that they cannot sulk and get over it — they need to warp their very perception of reality and challenge obvious facts in order to defend their not being wrong in the first place.

How we respond to such people is up to us. The one mistake we should not make is to consider their persistent and rigid refusal to admit they’re wrong as a sign of strength or conviction, because it is the absolute opposite — psychological weakness and fragility.

Dave Pack: I know the EXACT day God the Father returns

 

Dave Pack: The entire fate of mankind hangs in the balance if Israelite families aren’t fixed [by RCG members and ministers].

Yes, JC, it is true. 

I am the ROD of Isaiah 11:1 

and you are just the branch.

 

From an RCG source. Comments on Dave's sermon 286. 

There is so much to comment on here, but I will let the message stand by itself.

So after a roughly 19-day hiatus, Dave has had time to rethink and retool his prophecy series since Christ failed to show up at the last predicted date. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of new material in Part 286, as these “newly revealed truths” were largely already taught in 2018 and 2019. He is back to foretelling a physical Kingdom, led by himself and RCG members that will rule the world prior to the return of Christ and the Father, which then kicks off another 2 kingdoms down the road.

Since the picture is changing radically from a few weeks ago, he decided to start giving short messages every day for the next week to update the church on his new prophetic speculations. Dave has largely given up on providing reasons for why he gets his predictions wrong, (even though they are coming from God) and chooses to rely on the old trustworthy, “God needed to show us more.” However, in a move reminiscent of Ron Weinland, he declared that RCG members made it to the 1,335 and they are now counting down to additional end times events.

From Wikipedia:

In 2008, Weinland wrote that "the final countdown has begun, as the 1,335 days before the actual day Jesus Christ returns began on Tuesday, September 30, 2008."

Perhaps the most striking revelation from Part 286, is that in order to be “locked in,” one must believe, accept and embrace his latest teaching on the 1,335. Forget historic Christianity’s founding principle that one must believe in Christ to be saved, it would be better to just trust Dave’s newest revelation. So much for Acts 16:31!

A few highlights (usually a paraphrase, except for where quotes are used)

0:40 - “Those who waited to the Sabbath of 2 weeks ago, reached the 1,335 and that math for many reasons cannot be undone. Now just think of us as at “1,321.” In my excitement and exuberance, I didn’t see that it just said, “blessed is he that waits and comes to this date.” It didn’t mention the Kingdom of God, Christ, or God, or Salvation, but the assumption was [to be clear this was Dave’s assumption] that that’s what it was, since we were “waiting.” But the reality was there was more to learn and no one saw that. The “bucks stops here,” I didn’t see it, but now we understand it. So we are done waiting for the 1,335, we are at the 1321. April 3, the Last Day of Unleavened Bread isn’t gonna change it's not gonna move. So the question is how much longer do we wait [until the first kingdom starts].”

3:30 - “The 1,335 calculated for us the year of creation, it’s an amazing story. I can now tell you what no one else knows, I know the year of creation and the ministers know it and they are affirmed to secrecy.” [then jokes about stoning the ministers in the snow if they tell anyone].

9:00 - I want everyone to be absolutely clear. I am going to take various component parts, that are very different from what we learned before and bring them together...It’s been about 19 days since I spoke, I thought the kingdom would come 5 days after that, and well here we are 2 weeks after that, and we are nowhere close to learning what will happen next… We need to drive home “bite-sized” pieces that I will give you over the next few days. We will only go 90 minutes and I will stop mid-sentence if I need to and we will pick up tomorrow. [Dave went 106 minutes, in Part 286)

10:00 - There is no way the Kingdom is coming before Monday! But the ministers, if they all stood up and I asked them to a man, “Is the Bible clear which day the Kingdom of God is coming?,” they would all tell you, yes they know. That's “candy,” that’s “the desert,” at the end of these messages.

21:57 - Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet, that’s the “Messenger” before the coming of the dreadful “Day of the Lord,” we know that’s the Last Day of Unleavened Bread, thats April 3rd, lets say it very plainly, the Father is coming on the “Day of the Lord,” so is Christ, They are both coming after the 7th head. All Israel is back before the Father and Christ.

24:00 - There is a kingdom of some reach and power, when 4 billion Israelites are resurrected and live on Earth. We will need to fix Israelite families! The entire fate of mankind hangs in the balance if Israelite families aren’t fixed [by RCG members and ministers].

27:30 - I am certain of these things now, I am going to speak every day for an hour to an hour and a half, except Sunday) so you can have a clear picture of things that are so similar, but so different.

37:40 - The “master of the house” is the Father, not Christ! This is irrefutable, there is not one soul outside this room who knows or thinks the master of the house is the Father!

1:03:00 - RCG now teaches you need to accept Dave’s teachings on the 1,335 to be “locked/saved.”

“If you embraced, and accepted, and you believe the 1335, you understand it, then you were "locked" [saved] two weeks ago. You may see some people leave, very few as, as you've heard in the sermons and all the messages. We're growing, I think faster than we have in about a decade and in every conceivable statistic we're doing wonderfully well, but you'll see it, an occasional foolish person will drop out. Pray for them, cause they're coming to a VERY BIG RODEO and everybody's going to get included. You'll see how this all develops. Those people obviously didn't believe the 1335. You couldn't have believed it and believe it. It was basic math, and with some science and understanding of the calendar, it's fairly basic. If they believed it, they're settled. If you see people leave, they're being ejected because whoever's here "last" is going "first." If people leave, they're being expelled by God, there could be more, they're going to be expelled because they're not going to go first if they didn't believe it. Now, I just thought I'd clarify that.

1:10:20 - An attack is leveled at everyone who has ever been at RCG and left. One could ask, if over 140 people were employed at HQ and left, are they the problem, or is RCG?

“And there was one era of God's church [Restored over the last 22 years] that had to work in this murderous, wicked environment. Where people among us would attack us, lie to us, lie about us, steal from us. We've had criminals, heretics, every vile person, every kind of ax grinder, heretic, opportunist, rebel you could ever imagine has been in this work over the last 22 years. Mr. Armstrong saw as many and worse, but it was a longer period of time, in a smaller church. We had to do the work in the Laodicean age. And we had to build this campus, with very few of us pulling really hard, selling all that we had. And God says, you honor those people because they lived in the rotten generation. The one I'm going to punish in the Day of the Lord, you put them at the head of the line. They're different.

 They came through almost their own fire before the fire. They're going first. That's the only way you can understand it. Since we're all going to receive the Kingdom at the same time, there's no other way to understand it. And having been in the ministry, for I'm going on almost 51 years now, I've watched the world change and I've watched God's people change. We're not doing the work in the age of brotherly love and the Philadelphian era. Again, people come lie to us, lie about us, sow division, come looking for jobs. God will sort it all out. "I wish them all well." (publically Dave will say this in sermons but privately, in conversations, to the ministry, etc… he viciously attacks these people.) Let them go. If they're still there and invited, they're not going first, but don't rule them out. Judge nothing before the Lord comes, I Corinthians 4:5. So I wanted you to understand once and for all, why we go first.”

1:39:57 - Dave claims he is the “Rod” of Isaiah 11:1 and that Christ is the “Branch.” Virtually every Bible commentary (Christian and Jewish) understands this to be Jesus Christ or the Messiah. However, Dave claims that verses 1-10 actually apply to him personally when the “first Kingdom” starts in the next few days/weeks.

It is quite obvious from any translation that Isaiah 11:1 refers to the same personage, not two different ones. As near as I can tell, if you claim to be a Christian, then taking one of Jesus Christ’s roles is blasphemy and something of a position one wouldn’t want to be in.

• NASB - Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

• NLT - Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.

We could ask, when this year comes and goes with no return of Christ and no fulfillment of these days as predicted, will Christians who claim they follow the Bible do the right thing and leave the work of a false prophet?