Autocratic Government and the Church of God's

Checkout this blog Edge Induced Cohesion  It has an entry on autocratic regimes and how the WCG compared to them.

 I have long been a student of autocracy and its workings, as my passionate commitment to egalitarian practices has made me a recognized and determined enemy of tyranny from my youth. Today a conversation about Saudi Arabia prompted me to think on how different autocratic regimes appear on the inside and on the outside. I have already commented about this phenomenon once before from the perspective of solidity [1], but I would like to examine the problem again from a different angle, and offer insights on how autocracy works in practice, and why it is not always recognizable as such to those who are themselves in autocratic regimes.

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However, I have within my circle of acquaintances someone who has lived and worked in Saudi Arabia, and he tells a very different tale. He tells a story of kings and men making decisions by consensus in family councils, of a great deal of freedom in discussion, and a country where he felt comfortable and free. Such a Saudi Arabia is not the image I have when I think of the country. And yet I believe he is telling me the truth. That is because I have enough experience of my own in dealing with autocracies and how they work to understand that they are very different on the inside and on the outside. That is to say that they are a refracted mirror that appears very repressive for outsiders but very comfortable to insiders. The act of being granted inside status in such a regime (as my acquaintance was, by his ability to participate in the consensus-building family councils) itself makes the regime and how it operates feel and appear far less repressive and far less repressive. Indeed, what is autocratic can appear to be very egalitarian without losing its essential core of autocracy in how it appears to outsiders.

How is this possible? In fact, it’s very straightforward. That said, before I go into explaining the case intellectually, I would like to give a personal example that explains why the question interests me in the first place. I was born in the Worldwide Church of God during what was known to insiders as the period when Worldwide was “back on track” in the early 1980′s and what people like myself considered the “reign of the Ayatollahs”. (The relationship between the unholy theocratic autocracy of Iran or Saudi Arabia and that of the Worldwide Church of God, and many of its splinter groups, is not coincidental. Nor is my interest in it accidental.) Largely because of my own horrific childhood, I became driven to understand autocracy and tyranny and how it worked, and how I might avoid being its victim again, when I was able to speak up for myself and do something about it. It should be noted that my intense hostility to abuse of power and authority has tended to self-select me as an outsider when it comes to autocracy, as both those who support and those who rule in tyrannical regimes have tended to view me automatically and instinctively as an enemy.

Nonetheless, I have seen enough of how autocracies operate to realize that they are not what meets the eye. For outsiders to the Worldwide Church of God, the word “cult” gets thrown around a bit too freely. And when one examines the mental images of people drinking kool-aid in mass suicides, that is a bit over-the-top. But in an essential way (shared with, say, monarchies or theocracies in general) there clearly is a cult of personality in a vast majority of the Church of God culture. I do not share it, but I have suffered from it and I recognize it. Some truths cannot be spoken; some doors cannot be opened; some rails cannot be touched. When that is the case, one is dealing with an autocracy, regardless of its form of government. For the form is but the avatar; it is what is inside that matters. On the outside, the Worldwide Church of God (and many of its offshoots) have tended to seem like very barbaric autocracies. Marriages were broken up because someone had made an ill-advised marriage decades before conversion. Communication in sermon messages is, in times of crisis, often in code because some people know what is really going on but those people do not want others to know before their plans are complete and successful. People were told whether they could or could not wear make-up, how long their dresses had to be, how long their hair could be, what kind of sugar or flour they could cook with. Clearly this was an autocratic regime, and so it was.

But it did not appear so to those who were insiders. If you are an insider in an autocratic regime, you do not see the wizard behind the curtain. You do not feel your arms pulled by a puppeteer. Instead, you feel a very friendly atmosphere of meetings, hunting trips, conferences, frequent and friendly dinner conversations, golf outings, and the like. You see promotions through the ranks based on loyal service (which you do because you genuinely support what you feel as your party, your group, your organization). You see yourself supporting a group of orderly, orthodox men against rebellious upstarts or intellectual revolutionaries who want to destroy your order and bring chaos and heresy.

The rest of this interesting entry is here:  A Refracted Mirror: Consensus Building In Autocratic Regimes

COG Woman Shocked That Worldly Christians Study the Bible

We have a couple here in Southern California who are being threatened by legal action by their city because they are holding Bible Studies in their home that garner 50+ people in attendance.  It is impacting the neighborhood and people are complaining about it.  They are not upset with the Bible Study part, but at the number of people showing up each week.

This has led to a comment from a conservative COGger who's mind is so small she cannot grasp that people outside the COG study their Bibles.   Obviously in her view anyone outside a COG is a pagan Christian who does not care about Bible Study. She is shocked that over 50 people would show up at this pagan's Christian's home.  God knows only REAL Christians in the COG attend Bible Study! Can Armstrongites minds really be this shallow?

My mom used to have a Wednesday Bible study group at her house (it rotated among the members homes)--There were about 5-8 people. I can't imagine 50 people showing up for Bible Study who are not in a CoG!

Another person responds:

The bible in most people's hands is a dangerous thing. Especially Prostestants who are a bit more whacky than most with their once saved always saved nonsense etc.

Some of this is true when it comes literalists.  However, in this woman's mind no one outside of the COG can understand the Bible.  There are close to 700 splinter groups now with almost 700 different ways of interpreting the Bible, so I would think these Armstrongites would stop throwing stones because their own glass houses have been shattered beyond repair!

Thank God For Evolution

Evolution has always been a hot topic in Armstrongism. Well, at least WE thought it was. GTA was well know to mock the theory of evolution and published numerous books on it.  To the ordinary lay person in WCG this information was all they need to know about evolution and never studied into it further.  If HWA or GTA did not say it they could care less.  Most church members were totally ignorant about what evolution was all about.  

Since almost all the men in the COG's who write about the subject have never received higher education outside of Ambassador College they have no clue what is involved either. They are not up to speed on recent discoveries.  They do not even consider that there is another side to the argument which they have espoused all these years. 

A thinking person would inform themselves about the topic they wish to debate or critique.  They read, and read and read.  The COG leaders and members only look up a booklet about 20 or so pages long and take that as God's final word on the matter. 

Leaving Armstrongism led me to many interesting conversations with deeply religious people who believe in evolution.  It does not shatter their faith or destroy the message that scripture attempts to bring out. 

Here are a couple of books that might interest some here:

 "The earth is old, and animals and plants have changed over time. If you know somebody who doubts these two well-established propositions, this is the book to share with them. I remember, as a teenager, in the early 1980s, reading Duane Gish's "Evolution: The Fossils Say No," as well as the other standard texts of creationism, and Prothero's book would have helped me think through (and past) creationism a lot quicker than I did. Prothero's book might have been aptly titled, "Evolution: The Fossils Say Yes." It is a lavishly illustrated, thoroughly readable, and authoritative dismantling of creationism. Because of the patient work of contemporary scientists writing accessible popular texts on evolution, no thoughtful 21st century young person need be intellectually derailed by creationist literature. Dr. Prothero's is perhaps the best of the current spate of these types of books. I especially liked the chapter on the origins of life, and the chapter on the Grand Canyon. One of the strengths of this book is that Dr. Prothero does not dodge difficult questions, but attempts to address them directly. It is always refreshing to read somebody who does not obfuscate or downplay contrary lines of evidence, and who is willing to say "I don't know" when something is uncertain. The book is thus, in addition to its overt purpose, also an excellent model of sane and measured reflection. A good companion volume to Dr. Prothero's book might be "The Counter-Creationism Handbook," by Mark Isaak, recently published by the University of California Press"

 

A Groundbreaking Perspective

A movement has been growing over the past few decades that takes our common creation story—the epic of cosmic, biological, and human evolution revealed by science—as the basis for an inspiring and meaningful view of our place in the universe. Rev. Michael Dowd, “America's evolutionary evangelist,” is at the forefront of this movement. This well informed, thoroughly researched, and inspired book proclaims a gospel billions of years old. It builds bridges, provides guidance, and restores realistic hope for virtually everyone, regardless of belief or worldview.

Thank God for Evolution presents in a lively and accessible manner the reasons why it is now possible to view evolution as a call to deep integrity; how a dozen scientific disciplines reveal evolution to be measurably creative, rather than meaningless blind chance; practical methods for using evolutionary insights to achieve greater joy and personal fulfillment; and how aligning with evolutionary trends can guide activists and others hoping to make our world a better place. As a Christian minister, Dowd especially addresses the concerns that Christians have about evolution, but this book contains insights that will appeal to all people of faith and of no faith. Fun and uplifting, Thank God for Evolution goes beyond the current debate to offer up a whole new way of thinking about science and religion.

As evidenced by endorsements from a long list of Nobel laureates and other science luminaries, including noted skeptics, and by religious leaders across the spectrum, this is a book the world has been waiting for.

Book web site is here with lots of interesting facts:  Thank God For Evolution

Two New Books On Biblicism

The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture

By Christian Smith

Product Description (Amazon)

Biblicism, an approach to the Bible common among some American evangelicals, emphasizes together the Bible's exclusive authority, infallibility, clarity, self-sufficiency, internal consistency, self-evident meaning, and universal applicability. Acclaimed sociologist Christian Smith argues that this approach is misguided and unable to live up to its own claims. If evangelical biblicism worked as its proponents say it should, there would not be the vast variety of interpretive differences that biblicists themselves reach when they actually read and interpret the Bible.

Smith describes the assumptions, beliefs, and practices of evangelical biblicism and sets it in historical, sociological, and philosophical context. He explains why it is an impossible approach to the Bible as an authority and provides constructive alternative approaches to help evangelicals be more honest and faithful in reading the Bible. Far from challenging the inspiration and authority of Scripture, Smith critiques a particular rendering of it, encouraging evangelicals to seek a more responsible, coherent, and defensible approach to biblical authority.

From the Inside Flap

"Many books have been written either defending or detracting from an evangelical view of the Bible. Christian Smith, as a trained sociologist, offers a much-needed perspective: explaining evangelical biblicism as a sociological phenomenon. Smith demonstrates, respectfully but critically, that the type of biblicism that often characterizes evangelicalism cannot account for how scripture itself behaves. Biblicism is retained, however, because of its sociological value for 'maintaining safe identity boundaries.' Smith's analysis of the problem of biblicism and his offer of a way forward are important contributions to the current developments surrounding evangelicalism and the Bible."--Peter Enns, author, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament

"Christian Smith plainly says what so many others have been thinking or implying for some time--namely, that many strands of evangelicalism believe things about the Bible and theology that are simply impossible. Smith exposes the scholastic alchemy that holds this fragile theological edifice together and helps us understand that serious damage is done to the church and its witness when we perpetuate the errors of biblicism."--Kenton L. Sparks, Eastern University

"Smith vigorously presents a compelling possibility: The Bible could be more alive, the church could be more unified, those of us who care deeply about scripture could be less fearful about some collapse of authority and more honest about what is actually in the Bible if we simply began to listen with more humility and openness to what it is God seems most concerned to reveal. A great book for this time in the life of evangelicalism."--Debbie Blue, pastor, House of Mercy; author, Sensual Orthodoxy and From Stone to Living Word

 

 Confessions of a Bible Thumper:
My Homebrewed Quest for a Reasoned Faith


Whether you are a restless evangelical or consider yourself spiritual-but-not religious, you'll enjoy this spiritual memoir and vision for progressive Christianity. Michael Camp was on a tenacious quest for a vibrant and reasonable faith in God. Thinking he found it among evangelicals, he eventually faced deepening doubts and uncovered eight startling discoveries that turned conservative Christian theology on its head—and himself into a heretic among his peers.

Without running into the arms of angry atheists or throwing the baby out with the baptismal bathwater, Camp reveals a vision for an open, broad-minded faith in Christ, ironically based on a fair exegetical reading of the Bible and the history of the early church. His conclusions are eye opening, yet rarely stereotypical.

 

You can read an excerpt here:  Pub Theology

 

 

*WARNING: Camp’s heresies are hard to detect. He critiques
both religious and secular dogma. He actually thinks for himself.
What a concept. While deploring the Religious Right, he
is also known to good-naturely mock Richard Dawkins fans
who buy A-is-for-Atheist pins and is sympathetic to intelligent
design theory. Besides Jesus (and gay activist Mel White and
author Frank Schaeffer), one of his heroes is another brand of
atheist—Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Somali champion of Muslim women’s
rights. Go figure. (Hint: she’s better looking than Dawkins).
Then go read his screeds and forthcoming book.

The Happy Heretic

Esteemed LCG Scientist Speaks Out

Who knew LCG had any scientists in their midst.  Take a guess as to who one of these scientists are.  It is none other than our esteemed Chiro/naturo/Eschatology-wizard/2012 authority/Author Bob Thiel!

He writes:

As a scientist, I have long known that proponents of evolution treat the subject more like a religious view than a scientific theory. This is somewhat also what the Ben Stein movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed revealed (see Ben Stein’s Expelled).

Which was?

Scientists who challenge too many claims associated with evolution are shunned by many academic institutions, as there is a tremendous amount of pressure at most “leading” academic institutions to squelch research that is not in support of evolution because it will affect their beliefs.

Evolution, as the explanation for the origin of life, is unscientific and false. It also requires students to accept a belief that violates other known laws of biological science, and it develops a scoffer’s attitude towards truth.

Perhaps I should add that when the world does not end in 2012, around December 22, 2012 I expect scoffers to abound related to prophecy (2 Peter 2-3).

This was all in response to a LCG article on the Tomorrow's World web site The Real God: Proofs and Promises, by Doug Winnail.  I had Winnail as a biology teacher while a student at Embarrassing College.  Talk about one INCREDIBLY boring man!


Winnail writes:

It may come as a shock to you, but our modern, sophisticated, well-educated world has been deceived when it comes to life's biggest questions! The truth about the real God has been perverted and suppressed—not just by atheistic philosophers and secular scientists, but by misguided theologians! This may sound like an outrageous statement, but it is exactly what the Bible revealed would happen, and it is verified by historical facts, as we will see in this booklet.

Winnail needs to look no further than LCG to find "misguided theologians!"  LCG is filled with theologically bankrupt "theologians."  I cannot call them real theologians because none of them have any real degrees in theology..

Winnail continues:

Today, many practice a superficial "consumer Christianity" or "cafeteria religion"—that is, people pick and choose what religious tenets they wish to believe and reject those teachings that do not appeal to their interests. For many people, religious beliefs are often personal, vague, generalized and casual. Levels of confidence and conviction are often rather low. Doctrinal specifics are usually fuzzy. Each person tends to believe what seems to be right in his or her own eyes. This is part of the legacy of the Protestant Reformation—where the individual, not the church or the Bible—becomes the sole authority (ibid., pp. 61–62). As one teenager responded when asked by a reporter about what she thought about God: "God is everywhere. God is in me. I am God." These are, as we shall see, sadly misinformed opinions!

Well if that's not calling the kettle black I don't know what is!  Look at the people who picked and chose what they wanted to believe when they helped for GCG (while on WCG payroll) so that Lord Meredith could move into his new church after WCG had finished defending him in court for his flapping loud mouth.

Doctrinal specifies have changed so many times in LCG it would take numerous posts to list them all.  Like all the various harlot daughters of the great mother church - WCG- LCG looks outside the Bible for much of it's authority.

Check out the article above if you want to read all about the evils of evolution and to be astounded at the awesomeness of LCG's mind boggling knowledge.