Nothing pushed his buttons more than being referred to as "the church's most effeminate minister". Reportedly, Herbert Armstrong himself said that. In the early 1970's when he was "teaching" a class at Ambassador in Pasadena, he had an absolute meltdown over the fact that many men were wearing Izod pink polos. Only queers wore pink. Supposedly, almost all the men in his class wore pink Izod polos to class the following week. You can just see his red face with veins popping as he had a fit. Delightful!
I am a member of UCG and had a laugh when I read about the rumor of UCG's "Hidden Gay Feast Site." It is disheartening to me that some COG folks would be bitter about UCG's efforts to show compassion toward homosexuals. Showing kindness and respect for people doesn't mean "justifying" sin, as some of these people seem to think.
The UCG upholds the traditional biblical teachings about sexual relationships: Sex in heterosexual marriage is good; all other sexual relationships is sin.
I've survived the harsh COG for 40 years. I remember the terrible attacks and contempt shown for gays during the WCG years from the 70s forward.
I'm so glad that men like Dennis Luker and Melvin Rhodes have been willing to listen and learn about the subject of homosexuality; and have shown compassion and respect to me and others who have struggled with homosexuality for most of our lives.
I live as a celibate Christian man, as a member of the UCG. My survival in the Church is due in part to Dennis Luker being willing to step out and learn about this issue - and also treat me with respect.
I have a story posted on the Internet, if anyone cares to read it. It is at: www.michael9776.com
Sincerely,
"Michael" (not my real name) from "UCG's "Hidden" Gay Feast Site? Hardly....."
Today, James at The Painful Truth site sent me a link to one of his current articles: Alpha male. In it he has a quote from a letter sent to him by a former church member.
My grandparents began listening to radio church of god back in the old days and the rest is history. My parents were both raised in the church and while my dad is no longer in it and hasn’t been for many years my mom and grandma are still deeply involved with different splinter groups. I have attended many different splinters throughout my time in the church such as United, Living, the fathers call, which is led by Brian Orchard, and faithful flock, which is led by Don Billingsly. I can safely say that these last two people are some of the few people in the world that I truly hate.
I put my foot down and refused to attend church anymore in 2016 and it caused a big rift between me and my mom. My Parents divorced in 2009 and I lived as a “spiritual orphan” for most of my life. I’m sure most of you know that divorced women are the lowest lifeform possible in the church and it wasn’t much better for me. Having been out of the church for four years now I’m only starting to begin to understand just how badly it has infected my way of thinking.
To give an example I was unable to acknowledge the fact that I am gay until 2019 and it still amazes me to this very day. It always felt like my worst nightmare growing up and I secretly hoped I would not turn out gay but here I am. I also find it extremely hard to go see a doctor. I have been vaccinated once in my life and while I would like to get more I can’t bring myself to do it. I received a tetanus last year when I was in the hospital for a work related injury.
The article by James then continues on with how hypocritical COG ministers and elders were (and still are) and calls them outright liars (which is true). His first topic is: Reality #1: The Ministers of Armstrongism are liars
He goes on to talk about how hypocritical and abusive church leaders were as they led secret lives of their own while making the lives of members a living hell. From HWA's incest, GTA's philandering with both men and women, to Rod Meredith's bullying.
Alcoholism was rampant in the ministry from Herbert Armstrong down to the lowly church elder. In the 1980's one minister, Dennis Luker, tried to help the ministry deal with this problem. He combined with local Pasadena churches to start a support ministry for alcoholics. I remember the photo taken with him and local Pasadena community ministers and priests on the church steps of a local Episcopal Church. Soon after that, the crap hit the fan. How dare he work with worldly Christian and think that counseling by these unconverted agents of Satan would help COG ministers! How dare he! Even worse, it exposed the COG ministry as having their own issues they were dealing with and the church could not have that happening. Having an infallible ministry was a church priority.
James continues on:
Evangelist Dennis Luker strove to do the honorable thing. In fact, in context, it was an almost impossible uphill battle to make any headway. A minister before him had traveled amongst the churches to tell his story of the journey from alcohol to encourage members to follow suit. The problem is that because of Herbert Armstrong and Garner Ted Armstrong, the free flow of alcohol was permanently embedded within the ‘ministry’ of the Gospel. It wasn’t called the Feast of Booze for nothing. When we look at the history of Armstrongism, it does appear that at least 50% if not 90% of the problems in the cult were a result of Alcohol abuse among both the members and ministers. So… in 1982, Evangelist Dennis Luker issued what he called, “The Luker Challenge”. He said, “If you say you can do without it, prove it!” And that challenge did start many on a positive path to recovery. Unfortunately for Armstrongism, as soon as people left the haze of alcoholism, many of them went on to leave Armstrongism. And why not? Better off in every way.
From that point on many of the top leaders and his fellow ministers had it in for Dennis Luker. He had a target on his back. When he started his ministerial outreach to gay and lesbian church members that target immediately became an enlarged bullseye.
Some people assumed and spread the rumor that Dennis Luker was gay. That is absolutely not the case. He was anything but — Married with two adult children… but then you know very well what church gossip was like. Yes, he was a feminist, but definitely not homosexual. Some are wondering that if that were true, why all the interest in gay men? This has to do with family relationships.
Evangelist Dennis Luker had a close friend in the church who happened to be a millionaire businessman who also was married with children. In due time, Dennis Luker’s daughter married the son of the millionaire friend. It was quite the affair. The wedding and reception was held in a prestigious hotel. There were hundreds of people. The reception itself cost $25,000 and each person attending had the opportunity to have some really good cuts of beef. It would have cost 3 times as much today. His daughter had at least two children. In due time, the Luker’s son married the daughter of the millionaire businessman. They had two children. The children were ‘double cousins’.
In due fullness of time, the Luker’s son finally he admitted he was gay and went off with his male lover. That hit the families very hard and that is why Mr. Luker was so invested in his interest of gays. It is doubly shocking in the context of the Worldwide Church of God. Herbert Armstrong and the administration pretended the whole thing never happened and swept it under the rug, leaving the Lukers to deal with the whole unfortunate situation as well as they could with all the whispers in the background.
The post by James continues on in great detail about attitudes in society, churches, cultures, and much more when it comes to GLBT people. He doesn't give the GLBT people a pass either.
James ends the extensive article mentioning this (referencing Rod Meredith's asinine article above):
A brief comment concerning the Featured Image: The Shocking TRUTH about “QUEER” Men by Roderick C. Meredith…
- It’s completely wrong;
- Promotes J. Edgar Hoover as the bastion of heterosexual masculinity when he was in reality a cross-dressing homosexual named ‘Lois’ whose partner was Clyde Colson;
- Recommends vigorous exercise to “resolve” homosexuality in men, when, in fact it will increase testosterone levels to increase their libido and desire for other men;
- Never even begins to suggest that Jesus living in a gay man through the Holy Spirit will completely transform him into a standard marriageable heterosexual husband and father;
- Implies that homosexuality creates crime and juvenile delinquency;
- Causes weak and sickly men;
- Promotes treason;
- Changes focus from homosexual men to effeminate men;
- Blames homosexuality on the dominating women in male lives;
- Might be prevented by fathers taking sons hiking, camping, hunting and fishing;
- Satan is queer;
- Is a complete embarrassment.
Check out the entire article here: Alpha male
