David, in a previous comment, said:
"When I began questioning the church as a teen I had delusions for around a year where I was convinced that a demon was talking to me and trying to trick me into leaving, as the church ministers had told us as children that demons followed us and watched our every move, reporting our actions to Satan and looking for an opportunity to possess us should we deviate from the church. I didn’t admit verbally for nearly two years that I questioned the teachings for fear that I would be attacked by demons. I am in my mid 30s and still can’t sleep without a light on in my home because the pitch dark makes me feel like something is closing in on me and suffocating me."
This comment is an absolutely significant and honest insight into what life was like for those of us who were growing up within the Worldwide Church of God. Fear was predominant in nearly every facet of the formative years of so many growing up within the Church - especially the fear of demons.
I can remember sitting in the car driving to Church one day as a toddler - probably no older than 3 or 4 at the time. A couple who we drove to the Church was in the car talking about how demons were bothering her, and how they had the power, and we needed to be careful. She refused to stop talking about demons, and so, my parents had to stop picking her up to take her to Church. You can't imagine how this would impression into the mind of a young kid.
I can remember being afraid of demons in my childhood. I was always on the lookout for supernatural things to happen, because that's what was talked about in my house on a nearly constant basis - and feared. Many times in my childhood, I would be told "listen" - we'd mute the TV, and listen carefully - for what was thought to have been a demon lurking and making noise somewhere in the house. When a crowbar fell upstairs in the attic for no reason, we attributed that to a demon. I can remember walking to the separated garage out back for something, and being scared there was a demon in the garage and running back to the house. I can remember not wanting to go down in the basement because I was afraid of a spirit down there. I can also remember covering my head because things I 'saw' I attributed to darkness and evil. (some of what I experienced were normal visual disturbances as a result of extremely low light).
I would sleep with all the blankets over my head, even in 90-degree heat - because of my fears. (My mother would take the blankets off me, but as soon as she left, I grabbed them again). I had dreams about furniture moving by themselves - and woke up thinking it was real. When I got a little older, the fear enveloped U.F.O's, because I was told these were demonic too, and of course, if we lose our protection in the Church for whatever reason, then we're open to "demonic attack", so we were told, because being in the Church meant we were protected and safe from, well, just about everything - so long as we were obedient and compliant to the ministry.
When one of my parents was temporarily removed from the Church for a few times and maybe half a time (lol), the fears got even worse - I was only "half protected", even though the parent who was in the Church tried to reassure me about the doctrine of sanctification and children in the Church. So the fears were escalating and the anxiety was ramping up even more than before.
This was supposedly in the "One True Church". This was supposedly in a "Christian Church". While we made waves upon waves railing against mainstream Christianity and protestants, and Christmas and paganism, and Easter, and Sunday, and ham, Jesus was nowhere to be found in my house. Nowhere. Because any mention of Jesus by anyone not in the Church was deemed "pagan". We would mute the TV when the "Gospel Quartet" from Hee Haw came on. We would mute the TV at any other preacher but Herbert - and when Herbert came on with his telecast, what was it about? Doom. War. Impending destruction soon to come. We would hide from "Demonic influence" when little kids would come to the door on Halloween. And that night was always scary because we were told demons were especially active around Halloween... and again, around Passover.
Of course, demons were responsible for wanting to attack us at every turn. Watch out going to the Feast. Why did the car break down? Demons. Why did this person get sick? Demons. So whenever the Sabbath and Holy Days came around, it's watch your back because "demon activity gets worse this time of year". Where was this Jesus we were said to have been worshipping? Where was God? Where was God's power? Because truth be told, we gave a whole heck of a lot more power to demons then we ever did to the power of Christ! All you have to do is read the old Worldwide News papers to prove this - a WHOLE SET OF ARTICLES was devoted to the power of Satan, on the front page, of the Worldwide news back in the mid-1970s.
This was what was being fed to the children. Intentionally, or unintentionally. Not even mentioning the sermon content of the time. Sermons about demons doing this, or that. And then there were the stories of the other Church members. I can remember one talking about how food would appear on her table during the days of Unleavened Bread to tempt her into breaking the Law. For a kid, this is terrifying. And here's the thing - these are just a few examples of decades of this kind of brainwashing.
I don't say these things lightly, and I say them fully honest and transparent to bring home this point: When a person who grew up in the Church speaks out about the things that happened in the Church and in their lives because of the Church, do not dismiss them, or take them lightly, or think that they (We) are blowing these things out of proportion. We are not. We lived it, and we know it - and we will talk about it, and it is exactly what our reality is and was. And sadly, there are parents and ministers and leaders who continue to perpetuate and fertilize the toxicity of the rampant abuse to the young people through lies, through fear, with chains and shackles destroying so much of their young lives and think they are doing the right thing by doing it.
This is why I will tell you firmly and clearly, right in the eye - that the Churches of Armstrongism are NOT CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. They may claim Christ, they may think they know Christ, they may say they have the only way, they may think everyone else is wrong. As one who lived through it, may I say that the fruits show they are not only not Christian, but the proliferation and embodiment of evil in it's darkest form. I lived it, I know. Others lived it, they know. Thankfully, more and more of us are speaking out; and will continue to do so.
The Children of the Splinters deserve freedom from the oppression of lies and deception. It's the LEAST we can do for them.
