The Lifton Criteria Vs Armstrongism

Below is a quote from one of Herbert Armstrong's letters where he screams at members who were getting sick of HWA's incessant begging for money by accusing them of being like his his wife's blocked bowel.

HWA Co-Worker Letter April 1967:

Many professing to be Church MEMBERS say, when a Co-Worker letter arrives, in a grumbling, complaining disgust: "Oh, that's another of Mr. Armstrong's REQUESTS for MONEY," and many don't even read the letter!

Are YOU one of those? If so, LET ME BURN YOUR EARS before the Almighty GOD burns YOU in the Lake of FIRE! If that has been YOUR attitude -- if YOU are only on the GETTING side, and SHUN helping, and giving to the cause of GOD, then I say to you ON AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHRIST, if you don't REPENT and QUICKLY, and change that hostile, despicable, detestable attitude, you DO NOT BELONG in GOD'S CHURCH! You are some of the ROTTEN, PUTRID, spiritual WASTE that has been PLUGGED UP INSIDE OF THE SPIRITUAL BODY OF CHRIST'S WIFE, just as physical waste is plugged up in my dear wife's body! And the living Jesus is just as able to EXPEL YOU from the spiritual Body of HIS WIFE as He is to expel this physical waste from my wife's body!

And if THAT doesn't make your ears tingle, and AWAKEN you, then Jesus Christ says to YOU through me, YOU are in danger of the Lake of FIRE!...

Below is the Lifton Criteria, a list of ways that cults control devotee's.  This is exactly what the Worldwide Church of God did. This is also what Gerald Flurry, Dave Pack and Bitter Bob Thiel are doing.

We are always aghast as to why so many members stand by Flurry, Pack and Thiel's sides when they KNOW for a fact that they are being abused.  Here is why they do it.

Dr. Robert J. Lifton's Eight Criteria for Thought Reform

1. Milieu Control.  This involves the control of information and communication both within the environment and, ultimately, within the individual, resulting in a significant degree of isolation from society at large.
2. Mystical Manipulation.  There is manipulation of experiences that appear spontaneous but in fact were planned and orchestrated by the group or its leaders in order to demonstrate divine authority or spiritual advancement or some special gift or talent that will then allow the leader to reinterpret events, scripture, and experiences as he or she wishes. 
3. Demand for Purity.  The world is viewed as black and white and the members are constantly exhorted to conform to the ideology of the group and strive for perfection.  The induction of guilt and/or shame is a powerful control device used here. 
4. Confession.  Sins, as defined by the group, are to be confessed either to a personal monitor or publicly to the group.  There is no confidentiality; members' "sins," "attitudes," and "faults" are discussed and exploited by the leaders. 
5. Sacred Science.  The group's doctrine or ideology is considered to be the ultimate Truth, beyond all questioning or dispute.  Truth is not to be found outside the group.  The leader, as the spokesperson for God or for all humanity, is likewise above criticism. 
6. Loading the Language.  The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand.  This jargon consists of thought-terminating clichés, which serve to alter members' thought processes to conform to the group's way of thinking. 
7. Doctrine over person.  Member's personal experiences are subordinated to the sacred science and any contrary experiences must be denied or reinterpreted to fit the ideology of the group. 
8. Dispensing of existence.  The group has the prerogative to decide who has the right to exist and who does not.  This is usually not literal but means that those in the outside world are not saved, unenlightened, unconscious and they must be converted to the group's ideology.  If they do not join the group or are critical of the group, then they must be rejected by the  members.  Thus, the outside world loses all credibility.  In conjunction, should any member leave the group, he or she must be rejected also.  (Lifton, 1989)
   
   

Another version is here with more points:

1. Control of human communication.
2. Totalist environment seeks to control external information (that which a person sees, hears, reads, writes, experiences, expresses) and the inner life of a person's thoughts (communication with himself).
3. This milieu control can't become absolute, there will always be "leaks".
4. The leaders are considered the source and dispensers of truth and knowledge so they try to create a rarefied environment in which only this truth exists.
5. To be engineers of the human soul, the leaders must bring it under full observational control, monitoring information and thoughts.
6. Person is deprived of both external information and inner reflection, which are crucial for testing realities.
7. Strivings toward new info, independent judgment, and self-expression are thwarted.
8. A person who experiences a reality outside of the group will negate the experience by not considering it legitimate since it is outside the milieu.
9. A hampering in the human quest for that which is true and relevant within and outside a person.
10. Us/them mentality keeps outside information from being processed critically
11. Person's entire frame of reference becomes the group, has no independent reality or information against which to test the verity of the information the group is giving him.
12. Separation from family and friends who represent the outside.
13. Control of books read, movies seen, music listened to.
14. Communal living further controls the milieu.
15. Activities are limited because time is dominated by group. Even if a person wanted to hear another pastor there wouldn't be enough time to do so.
16. Intense indoctrination seminars or retreats.
17. Information for making decisions supposed to come from "seeking counsel" or consultation from leaders.
18. Anything that is not the sacred science (see below for explanation of sacred science) is rejected as evil.

This list came about because of the authors book on the following subject on how China brainwashed the minds of American prisoners and their won people.

Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China is a non-fiction book by psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton on the psychology of brainwashing and mind control.

Lifton's research for the book began in 1953 with a series of interviews with American servicemen who had been held captive during the Korean War. In addition to interviews with 25 Americans, Lifton also interviewed 15 Chinese who had fled their homeland after having been subjected to indoctrination in Chinese universities. From these interviews, which in some cases occurred regularly for over a year, Lifton identified the tactics used by Chinese communists to cause drastic shifts in one's opinions and personality and "brainwash" American soldiers into making demonstrably false assertions.

More can be found here by a man who was deprogrammed from a religious cult in Santa Barbara.

Proof That Polish Cherokee Is The True COG Leader: He Played Dress Up in 1970!

From  Welcome to COGSR

The great Polish Cherokee Indian, Latter Day Prophet, and Church of God Leader Eric King posted a picture over the weekend as proof that he is the legendary Koga of the TRUE Church of God who's lineage has directly descended from the bloodline of King David through the Cherokee female line of Nanye-hi Hialeah (Goes About Beautiful Meadow) the wife of the great warrior Degataga Gawonii (Standing Together He Is Speaking).

The last part is made up, the picture is not.  The problem with "Little Koga" above is that he never received that name till he started playing Cherokee dress up as an adult.  The rest just illustrates the idiotic logic that COG leaders come up with to justify their standing as a leader.  Little Koga is now writing about how the Cherokee traditions are compatible with Christianity.

Watching the mental melt down of Eric King, David C Pack and Bitter Bob Thiel is a fascinating experience.  Sadly what we are  witnessing may only be the tip of the iceberg.

Bitter Bob: Relax My Children, Hillary Clinton is NOT The Antichrist!

Whew!  I am glad Bitter Bob has set the record straight on Hillary Clinton!  Who knew!

Bitter Bob writes:

Some with Protestant ties have claimed that she is or will be the final Antichrist.

Is this true or even possible?

No.

The final Antichrist will be a man (cf. Revelation 13:11-18).

Bitter Bob fails to mention that there are many in Armstrongism who believe she will be the Antichrist too.  Armstrongism is always looking for the next boogeyman who will lead the world into damnation.  They seem giddy with anticipation that war, enslavement, pestilence, famine and a host of other calamities might be coming.  None of them ever seem to have the balls to do anything to stop a coming tragedy.  If they did so it would mess up their plan of salvation and how they think things should be.

The only thing we have witnesses so far are nut job Armstrongites who are leading people into thier own damnation.

Memorial Day: Never Forget

Bitter Bob: I Am In The Highest Ordained Position Possible! The Time For All Humanity To Now Follow Me Is At Hand

Bitter Bob lays it on the line for all humanity.  If all humanity rejects him then they will not be protected when everyone is whisked off to Petra.  The delusional demons that have taken over Bitter Bobs mind are growing more and more restless every day. Are we witnessing the mental break down of Bitter Bob?

Many will read this post and ignore it as they feel that they personally will not be affected by this or they will figure out prophetic matters on their own in the future.  That will be a mistake:

1 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together,
O undesirable nation,
2 Before the decree is issued,
Or the day passes like chaff,
Before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you,
Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you!
3 Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth,
Who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
It may be that you will be hidden
In the day of the Lord’s anger. (Zephaniah 2:1-3)

Those who do not ‘gather together’ to support the one with the highest ordained position who is truly a faithful Philadelphian leader will not be protected.  The time for all to humility is now and not hope to wait until later as that will not work.

Bitter Bob: More Proof That I am A Prophet

Bitter Bob is apparently having an identity crisis.  He is desperately trying to "prove" he is a prophet. Everything he does has some miraculous scriptural meaning to it.

Bitter Bob say that when he told LCG where to stick it with the job they offered him, he did so on faith.  Scriptures proves this is what he had to do....and you are supposed to accept it blindly and without any prejudice whatsoever.

When I told LCG I would not be back on 12/28/12, I did so without having lined up groups to support me.  Would not a prophet truly walk by faith and not by sight (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:7?  That is what what happened and believe that this should be considered as another proper fruit.

Bitter Bob is also attempting to let us know he does NOT take a salary from the improperly named Continuing Church of God.  That would be pretty hard considering the overwhelming majority of his listeners do NOT send him any money.  What ever is left over he wants you to believe that is 100% funneled into his outreach.  Not one single dime goes to Bitter Bob or any member of his family.  If Bitter Bob expects us all to believe that he has never taken a dime for his own benefit or his family's then I have a campus in Pasadena I could sell him.....

Next Bob starts taking about himself and has to drag in Rod Meredith yet again

The Apostle Paul admonished Christians to pray for the gift of prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14:1-5.  For decades, I obeyed that biblical admonition.  On October 3, 2008, Dr. Meredith (Presiding Evangelist of the Living Church of God) called me and said to me, “God may consider you to be a prophet.” Notice that this came from a long-time evangelist and did not first come out from me. It was Dr. Meredith who first brought up the topic about Bob Thiel being a prophet. I had never mentioned my prayers related to this prior to that telephone conversation, and when I did then, he concurred that I had been doing what the Bible said to do.

Bitter Bob then dropped to his knees and started praying deep prayers.  He expected God to make him a  prophet.  Then Gaylyn Bonjour had to stupidly open his mouth and doubly bless Bitter Bob.  Bitter Bob then tells us that if we do not believe he prayed for this happen then we are not willing to let God do his work in Bitter Bob.

Furthermore, although at least two LCG ministers told me that I did not need to have hands laid upon me to be a prophet, I was not convinced.  So, I prayed that if I was a prophet that God would arrange something to happen in Charlotte, NC on a trip I was going to make there in mid-December 2011.  God answered that prayer in a manner that I did not expect when LCG minister Gaylyn Bonjour anointed me and unexpectedly prayed that God would grant me a double-portion of His Spirit (cf. 2 Kings 2:9-13).  Later that day, LCG’s top three evangelists told me that they would correct the issues that I had been bringing up to them for years (some in accordance with Matthew 18:15-18).  Yet, they did not resolve matters when they said that they would.  What kind of fruits were they displaying?
Do you believe that answered prayer can be the fruit of a prophet?  If not, then consider that you might not be willing to understand how God often works.

Next the Bitter man says that all prophets have dreams and that he had a dream, several in fact, and they ALL came true!  Not only does he "dream prophetic dreams" he also has a 100% accurate prophecy rate.

The Bible says that prophets will sometimes be given a dream by God (Numbers 12:6).  And I had a dream that was confirmed.  So did another who also became part of CCOG.  Also, there was a third dream from another who became part of CCOG in 2014 that I expect to report about as well.

As far as prophetic fruits, I have made hundreds of prophetic statements and explanations that have been confirmed by subsequent events. 

Bitter Bob has 33 confirmed prophetic utterances that have come true.  Is Bitter Bob now wearing his 33rd Degree Masonic ring?  Or is he trying to sound like Jesus who died when he was 33? Nothing is off the table when it comes to Bitter bob!

There were also at least 33 associated with my book 2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect

 Bitter Bob then gets in another dig at LCG for ignoring his prophetic status.  He is placing himself as an equal to martyr Stephen and that current COGs will reject him particularly when it comes to Rod Meredith.

Those in Jesus’ day expected something other than Jesus.  Jesus (Matthew 23:29-35; Luke 11:49-50) and the martyr Stephen (Acts 7:52) made it clear that people who thought that they were God’s people repeatedly have not accepted God’s prophets–even though they thought that they would (Matthew 23:30).

The fact that I have correctly explained various aspects of end time prophecy that LCG originally agreed with me on but changed  is another prophetic fruit.

Bitter Bob feels rejected by soooooooooooooooooooo many in he COG and it clearly annoys him.  He has to equate his rejection with the rejection HWA received.  Since Bitter Bob is an equal to HWA it all must be true!

Notice something from the late Herbert W. Armstrong:

PERSECUTORS HAVE CALLED me a “false prophet.” Now how would you KNOW whether the accusation IS true- or false?…

Actually, it probably is not very important to you to know whether my persecutors are right or wrong, when they call me dirty names, hurl epithets, resort to innuendo, impute sinister motives, strive to discredit, attempt character assassination. What is important to YOU is whether what you read in The PLAIN TRUTH really is the truth – whether what you hear over The WORLD TOMORROW broadcast is true- not whether I , as an individual, am true or false.

Bitter Bob: Is He Now Pretending to Be Sinless Bob?

Bitter Bob writes today that he has never been "convicted" of sin.  I guess we need to start calling him Sinless Bitter Bob now.

Sinless Bitter Bob preaches no biblical heresies.  He has made and will NEVER make any false prophecies like all the other impotent weaklings in the various COG's do:

The fruits are there.  And those fruits are there WITHOUT THE DOCTRINAL HERESIES AND FALSE PROPHETIC PRONOUNCEMENTS OF OTHER COG GROUPS.

If I had been willing to compromise doctrinally while in LCG, I could have accepted a salary I was offered by Dr. Meredith on at least two occasions (it was not specifically predicated upon me being willing to compromise, it is just that I felt that unacceptable compromise would have been required if I was an employee of LCG).  I did neither.
In terms of character issues, notice something that Jesus taught:

45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.  46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?  47 He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.  (John 8:45-47)

Yet again, Sinless Bitter Bob lashes out at Rod Meredith tying to prove he has not sinned any major sin.  Its all Rods fault that Bitter Bob had to start another splinter personality cult.

No one ever “convicted me” of sin in that type of context.  Instead, like David was falsely accused of pride by an envious brother (1 Samuel 17:28), I, too, was on 12/28/14 in a letter from Dr. Meredith, and like David, I denied it (cf. 1 Samuel 17:29; Roderick C. Meredith’s Accusatory Letter to Bob Thiel).  It should be noted that in violation of Matthew 18:15-17, Dr. Meredith made that accusation publicly despite the fact that neither Dr. Meredith nor my local minister had EVER raised that subject with me or made that accusation.  Which of us had the proper fruits?  The one who tried to comply with Matthew 18:15-18 or the one who did not feel he was subject to those scriptures?