UPDATED: Monte Wolverton: Newspaper apologizes for publishing his "highly insensitive" drawing

 

UPDATE at end. Monte apologizes

Unlike his father Basil Wolverton, Monte has jumped with both feet into the political quagmire of American politics over the last several years.  While his father had his own unique version of subversiveness, Wolverton wears his on his sleeve. 

Wolverton is also an associate editor of The Plain Truth, Greg Albrecht's version of the old Worldwide Church of God publication.

The article says:

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: The Philadelphia Inquirer has issued a public apology after publishing cartoonist Monte Wolverton's "highly insensitive" illustration that pushed "antisemitic tropes" and criticized Israel's response to the Hamas' deadly attack.

The editorial board for the big city paper put out a piece on October 18, 2023, admitting that Wolveton's cartoon "should never have been published".

Wolverton has been producing drawings syndicated by Caglecartoons for the last 25 years. He is best known for his satiric pages in Mad, his Weekly Wolvertoon website, and his contributions as an associate editor of The Plain Truth.

Later in the article, it says:

Following the outcry, the Philadelphia Inquirer released a groveling apology, stating, "In hindsight, the cartoon depicting an oversized Israeli military boot stepping on Hamas terrorists hiding among civilians in response to the Oct. 7 attack should not have been published."

"Regardless of the interpretation, the illustration reinforces pernicious anti-Semitic tropes about Israeli aggression," the apology continued.

It further added that the board had voiced an "unequivocal belief" that Israel should be allowed to defend itself and had denounced the terrorist assaults days after they had taken place.

"It is clear this cartoon was highly insensitive, particularly at the current moment when antisemitism is on the rise. We hear the outcry and apologize for the pain it caused," the statement added.

The board also pledged to review its processes for illustration selection "to prevent failures like this one from occurring again." 

Twitter also erupted in fury:

 

The American version of The Daily Mail from the UK also ran a story:

Philadelphia newspaper apologizes for 'highly insensitive' cartoon criticizing Israel's response to Hamas' terrorist attack that killed 1,400 people

It never seems to fail that when there is some disaster there is a Church of God connection somewhere down the line.

UPDATE

Monte issued an apology on X/Twitter

I deeply apologize for my recent cartoon depicting an Israeli combat boot poised to crush Hamas. I had intended to show Israel was soon to stomp out Hamas terrorists, but my insensitive choice of imagery effectively cast Israel as a villain. I now realize this caused pain for…

— Monte Wolverton (@montewolverton) October 22, 2023

Picking and Choosing The "Correct" Biblical Hero

Rembrandt, The Baptism of the Eunuch, 1626

 

A comment was made on here today that mentioned the Ethiopian eunuch mentioned in Acts 8 and how we see no one in Armstrongism ever emulated this guy. COG leaders tend to look with giggily adoration on those they see as hyper-masculine men of the old covenant stories. This was when men were men. Manly men of God. 

"The Ethiopian Eunuch was an exemplary character, but who would pick a eunuch as their super hero?"

For those who forgot, the Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch story:

Here we have a man so dedicated to his job of faithfully serving that queen that he is castrated so that no "improprieties" could happen between him and Queen Candice. While he might have been castrated after being taken prisoner at a young age to serve the royal court or willingly did so later on is not mentioned. What is mentioned is how dedicated he is to all that he does.

That dedication is what led him to travel over 1,600 miles to Jerusalem, in a chariot no less, to worship at the temple, knowing full well that as eunuch he would be rejected from entering the temple grounds. Yet, he still went. 

He was not some poor Ethiopian out for a weekend jaunt to Jerusalem but was in a position of power and privilege that gave him access to the Queen and other influential people associated with the Queen/government. Being trusted with the Queen's money means he was not some poor little bookkeeper in the back room somewhere. It took money and dedication to travel that long of a distance through some of the most dangerous places.

He was also a person of such influence and education that he had access to a scroll or papyrus of the Book of Isaiah that he was traveling with and reading. Both scrolls and papyrus were painstakingly detailed books written and painted, not something the regular public had access to.

Here is a man so dedicated that he traveled over 1,600 miles to Jerusalem, knowing he would be rejected, yet went anyway. This is the kind of dedicated man that COG leaders should be emulating, but you never hear them doing such a thing.

Anyway, back to the story. Philip sees him reading the scroll and asks him if he understands what he is reading. He says no he doesn't and asks for Philip to explain it to him. Here is a man of such lofty status yet humble enough to admit he did not understand and asked for help. Imagine a COG leader asking for help understanding the scriptures they claim to know all about. What a sight that would be!

Philip took the Old Covenant scriptures he was reading and applied them to Jesus, so effectively that the eunuch desired to be baptized.

Much like the thief on the cross story at Jesus' crucifixion, nowhere is there any mention of the eunuch repenting of any sins he had committed. He understood the story that Philip told him about Jesus so well that he desired to be part of the "Jesus movement" that was sweeping the land at that time. He had faith and believed.

One would think that COG leaders like Gerald Flurry who has dumped millions of dollars into stage plays emulating Old Covenant prophets would see this as an amazing story about the salvational work of Jesus and the faithfulness of a "less than" man. But, that would involve Jesus, and that dude is not exactly welcome in most COGs today because beating people over their heads with the law or dancing some jig is more important.

Besides, the COG today is led by such mighty masculine men who supposedly still possess their testicles that to emulate a eunuch opens the door to women having a position of say in things. Since women also do not possess testicles and have menstrual periods that make them "supposedly" unclean, this is used against them. I remember one minister from Pasadena (now in UCG) making the statement that because women had menstrual periods and that scripture considered them unclean when that was happening, that was the reason they were unfit to preach or teach. Could you trust their words being spoken if they were having their unclean period?"

There are many men and women of faith in the Scriptures that the "men" leading COG's today could set up on pedestals as examples of faithfulness, but you never see these "men" do so. It is always more about them than anything else.

To be like the eunuch is to have humility and be teachable. This is what has led men and women of faith for centuries. People who are filled with wonder and desire for something bigger and greater than what they see around them instead of the crap spoonfed to them each week in canned sermons. 

The Church of God needs more faithful Ethiopian eunuchs in its midst than the current crop of emasculated leaders we currently have in too many of the more vocal COG's today. Today church leaders are faith killers. They have stripped wonder and inquisitiveness from people's lives by force-feeding them their answers to everything. Good people of faith need to leave these emasculated impotent men behind and step out in freedom. It's pretty cool out here!

LCG: Oh Noes! Time Is Short! Again...There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth

Members and co-workers, time is short. 

By that I do not mean that next year, or the year after, 

will begin the three-and-a-half year period the Bible calls 

the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord, 

but stage-setting troubles can and will come at any moment.

Oh, Noes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

It is always a pleasant surprise to see Gerald Weston speak about uplifting things instead of war, disease, famine, and widespread death and destruction.

Oh, wait! Wrong article.

Never fear though, you can write for a free booklet on British Israelism and then feel all warm and comfy as you know that by joining the one true church your salvation is assured. Eternal life...here we come!!!

Dear members and co-workers, those who have eyes to see can recognize that world events, as outlined in Scripture, have sped up dramatically. Many troubles—too many to list here—are converging during this most dangerous time in mankind’s history. Israel’s government has been severely divided for several years. The United States left behind billions of dollars in military hardware in its disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal and is dramatically depleting military supplies over the war in Ukraine. Many question the cognitive state of the president and wonder who is really in charge calling the shots. On the other side of the political aisle, Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his position as Speaker of the House of Representatives—a first in the nation’s history—effectively putting all business on hold during this critical time until a new Speaker can be elected. It appears that if anything can go wrong, it will. 

 

Referring again to my “2023 in Bible Prophecy” telecast, recorded in November 2022, I stated: “Yes, when you think it can’t get any worse, 2023 may once again prove that notion wrong. The United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, and other British-descended peoples are on a downward spiral, and unless we turn back to God—and we see no evidence of that—no elected leader will save us. We will have ups and downs, but the trend will continue down.” 

 

Members and co-workers, time is short. By that I do not mean that next year, or the year after, will begin the three-and-a-half year period the Bible calls the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord, but stage-setting troubles can and will come at any moment. The time of Jacob’s trouble (see our booklet The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy) could descend on us sooner than we might expect. However, God gives us fair warning: “But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:48-51).

Nevertheless, let us never forget these words of Jesus Christ: “By your patience possess your souls” (Luke 21:19). Nor, let us fail to remember these encouraging words: “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (v. 28).

Yes, there is good news. Christ will return to stop our insanity (Matthew 24:21-22). He will set up a world-ruling kingdom, and He will be “King over all the earth” (Zechariah 14:9). Nations will “beat their swords into plowshares” (Isaiah 2:2-4). And there will be a lasting peace under His rule when adversarial nations will work together in harmony (Isaiah 19:24-25). 

 

Thank you, dear members and co-workers, for all your support in this Work of the living God. Life on this earth is short, but there is a reward for those who put God first in their lives, and that reward is eternal life. That is the reward that truly matters.

Sincerely, in Christ’s service,

Gerald E. Weston