Sunday, December 23, 2012

Dennis On: "Birthing Skepticism"






Birthing Skepticism

skep·tic also scep·tic (skptk) n.
1. One who instinctively or habitually doubts, questions, 
or disagrees with assertions or generally accepted conclusions.
2. One inclined to skepticism in religious matters.
3. Philosophy
a. often Skeptic An adherent of a school of skepticism.
b. Skeptic A member of an ancient Greek school of skepticism, 
especially that of Pyrrho of Elis (360?-272? b.c.).

Dennis Diehl - EzineArticles Expert AuthorIt is very easy to become skeptical of all the ideas, practices, claims and beliefs that human beings can come up with in the information age.  If there ever was an accurate prophecy it would be that "knowledge shall be increased," and if ever a truer proverb, "much knowledge brings much grief."  Yet, while easier on the stomach and brain, blissful  ignorance is not the solution either. 

Having been a church pastor, in this case for WCG though if not there , for me it would have been some other chosen denomination, I found that unlike other professions, it was not  difficult to become even more skeptical of supposed established truths as time went on.  Having soaked in religion, theology and the Bible 24/7 and seeing not only my/our own lives unfold but those of thousands of others, skepticism came to call.  For years maybe I knew it was there but only looked at it out of the corner of my eye often pretending it wasn't really there.

With the recent tragic and mind numbing events in New town, Conn, skepticism will grow in many.  Skepticism is becoming the new religion.  Whether it is finance, religion or government, it is feeding and growing.  Peace on earth this Xmas means little or nothing to most. Whether it is "good will towards men," or "to men of good will,"  it's rather a joke. 

I and we all know what the Bible says about the chosen ones, the church, the child or the holy priesthood of believers being special, set apart and protected.  We know those promises and verses.  We also know they are rarely correct or at least true in the sense that it is obvious it is just not random chance or luck of the draw as we say. 

I recall sitting in a festival site of thousands where the minister was waxing eloquent and sincere over God's obvious intervention in saving the life of a child in his congregation.  Car wreck I believe.  I cringed and in my head said, "please stop this and move on."  He went on and on.  I know he was trying to inspire thousands that we were all special and had nothing to fear.  I also knew at least five which meant many more families in the audience were dying again inside as "in my house it was not so."  They weren't inspired.  They were recrushed and skepticism grew in that moment.  I talked to the man at lunch and reminded him to please be careful in such a large audience as he had no clue how many were out there being destroyed by his encouragement.

Concerning children, I have stood besides the river as bodies of children and rescuers were brought up.  I spent time asking a man to stop dismantling the tractor brakes looking for some flaw and reason it didn't turn and overturned on his son falling into another river killing him.  I've been to the morgue dragged by the hand to go see beautiful dead teens killed in and by cars.  I've stood by very fine church members as they mom said, "well, I was here when they were born, I will stay with them until you tell me they are dead."  I've been hit as usually the mother screams "why!!!" and then hugged by the same woman who apologized and then said, "I know we don't pray as we should...."   Wrong...but that's another story.  Skepticism grew in these people and over time, 100% of them left the church finding either no relief or encouragement, or lame reasonings that did not help one bit. 

In case you think the Bible has much to encourage grieving parents, you are wrong.  "God will not give you more than you can bare" = "I can't bare this."  "At least you have more children," =  "I want that one back."  "You will see them again in the Kingdom," =  "I want to see them at the dinner table."  "You need to get over it, it's been six months, " (Said by a minister to personal friends) =  "Go to hell you bastard."

I've sat an listened to why one woman, who lost a child and was not helped by her church said she had concluded that Jesus death, in the story, was a mere weekend inconvenience and not a real death. God knew and Jesus knew he was coming back better than ever in a few days.  Her daughter was still dead.  Then she asked, "Shouldn't a sacrifice stay dead!"    Nice question.....and skepticism is birthed forever more.  I could not disagree with her and to this day have no better answer for her.  Her minister told her, "Well, God lost his only child too you know," which set off her deeply thought out theological reaction.  The minister did apologize when she screamed "no!" at him.

I've walked into homes where guns under pillows went off at night.  I even helped not revive a teen who jokingly played Russian Roulette  for the family and was dead before he hit the ground.  I held a piece of his skull on the back of his head while we raced to the ER but everyone knew.  I watched the doctor slam the door yelling "fucking waste of life," as he stormed out. 

I had a church deacon's son , who found out it was me taking him to the hospital with two broken legs after a day of drinking and putting a trampoline together beg me not to tell his dad.  lol.   Lesson:  If you drink too much beer, you jump too high showing the kids how it all works and when you come down....well never mind.

I think we all know that if the ministry lays hands on the sick, the sick shall be made well.  Um....no.  Or I must have been the Dr. Kevorkian of the ministry.  One of my closer friends said to me once,  "Ever notice how those with colds and flu that you lay hands on get better, but those with cancer die?"   Ummm.  Yes.  I had my own skepticism about such matters even as I performed them.  (Please don't say, "well there you go, you had no faith.")

Sometimes people get very angry with the "stupid ministry" of many and all churches when skepticism comes a calling.  But it is still the Book, the Bible that produces its own skepticism by making promises that it does not keep and portraying God , Jesus and the Angels in ways that they do not act in reality.   The angels may watch over the children, but they don't seem to move fast enough when needed. God, Jesus and Angels get cut some slack but not so much the church or the minister who also thought the Book meant what it said.  "Whatever you ask you shall receive," and "if you have faith as a mustard see, you shall say to this mountain..."  and so on.   Never saw it and never met anyone that could do it.  And so skepticism is birthed.

Skepticism is handled in several ways.  When it actually shows up, some ignore it and bury its reality in "just have faith," or "trust and obey for there is no other way," and sometimes there is not.  Some become aggressively skeptical or passive aggressively skeptical because anger is either ok or not ok depending on the person.  Those that suffer the hard blows directly are never the same and no you don't "get over it."  You put it somewhere in time and it scars up eventually but you don't get over it.  I know two people that never dated again after their very young boyfriend or girlfriend or fiance were killed.  It was too risky and too painful to trust that process again.  Marriage doesn't work or relationships don't work because the last three failed.  Church doesn't work because of last six. 

I don't enjoy being skeptical.  There have been several times that I have been inexplicably saved from death such as missing a plane that was hit by a fighter jet or not having the head on to this day I don't know how I didn't.  I used to believe it was because I was supposed to be a teacher of truth and a minister in the true right sure fine church.  Well I know how that went.  Was I spared to be a massage therapist?  Hope not!   Was I spared to write about being skeptical?   That makes no sense.  Luck of the draw maybe.

If you live long enough, government, banks and religion will eat away at your hope, trust and beliefs.  We either change them or we bury the doubts under a mask of fear and not knowing what to do.  Some just change from the bad experience to the good one.  The bad church to the good one or the bad job to the good one.  And skepticism laughs waiting in the wings to birth it self again. 

Perhaps without a healthy skepticism there can actually be no growth or progress in life.  I believe this to be true.  After all...what is walking but a controlled crash in motion.  We catch ourselves just before we fall on our faces and we call that "walking."  If we keep moving the upper half and don't move the lower, we fall on our faces.  

I wish I did live in the La La land that some seem to have found or re found.  I can't.  I'm a skeptic.  Bells in my world can't be unrung and experiences compared to scriptures and theological promises that don't ring true can't be made to mean something else to get the Book off the hook.  After a lifetime of experiences that were promised and taught to be one way and seeing them not at all that way just does to most what it does.  It makes one skeptical.  It's lonely being skeptical.  It can drive some people out of your life.  It can make you do dumb ass things being penned up might not allow for.  It is no fun on the stomach at times and certainly those niggly chest pains are no sign that all is well in Skeptic City.  But it is what it is. 

Healthy skepticism based on experience is what keeps knowledge flowing and going.  Without it, we'd be in the Dark Ages still.  Without it, we'd not grow in our grace either when we see that things just don't go along as easily or blossom as simply as some would have us believe. 

It would be wonderful to see more of those stuck in their  seats listening to the one man shows of Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry or a Ron Weinland get a little skeptical.  God knows they have enough ammunition and reasons to be!  But as I have said in the past, fear, guilt and shame are powerful glues that keep butts firmly attached to seats.  In my years as minister, I did not find many that thought through the realities of what they were hearing or seeing.  I didn't myself for sure, until I did.   I have to credit finally getting fed up with Gerald Waterhouse speculations for putting me onto the skeptics track.  How many times I sat there listening, sore butted and wanting to go home saying "this is bullshit," and acting like it wasn't.  Argh!  Never again.  Like any seed, skepticism needs time to grow, but when it breaks the surface, you will know.

I'll take a skeptic over believer any day.  Beliefs are just that.  They often bear no resemblance to the truth of any matter. I can't tell you how many ministers I know who are skeptics but you will never know.  I ask ministers pointed questions and often get the "I know, but if I say that, I will lose my job," far more often than "that is just not so!"   Ministers around here do this year end dance around the Solstice not being Jesus birthday , of course, (news to most pew sitters) but still he was born on Xmas day.  Hilarious doublespeak.  They know.  Bible errors....most know.  Bible inconsistencies...they know.   They have buried their own members, children and teens.  They have seen those with the flu get well and those with cancer die.  The mountains around Greenville have never moved an inch because Bob Jones University is up the street in all its righteousness and obedience and God, Jesus or Angels never really show up when you need them the most, as they promised.

Thus skepticism is birthed....and its OK.   But I don't believe it is OK to see it, then teach and explain as if you didn't. 


Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com


Saturday, December 22, 2012

Europe to Sell Alaska To Russia For Helping To Invade The United States



Craig White, that strange conspiracy ridden man from the southern hemisphere has a new theory about Alaska and the soon coming invading German armies.

We all know that die hard Armstrongites love that the invading Germans who will be setting up concentration camps in the United States in order to torture Americans into repentance.  They seem giddy at the prospect of it happening.

Craig has come up with a new theory about Alaska after reading an article in an Australian paper.

Craig feels that when the U.S. is in a weakened state that Europe will negotiate selling Alaska  to Russia in return for helping destroy the U.S.

I don't know if it will be sold, but as I have been saying for so many years, I do believe that the coming fascistic German-led Europe will negotiate with Russia and offer Alaska back in turn for cooperation when Europe decides to confront the Anglo-Saxon powers.
- Craig

These kind of asinine conspiracy rantings are not isolated cases in Armstrongism. There a hundreds of these idiotic beliefs floating around out there.

That's part of the reason I do this blog.  The Church of God tries to present itself to the world as NORMAL every day Christians.  The problem is the Church of God is anything but normal!  Over 500,000 people have signed on to read about the DAILY weirdness that is Armstrongism.  I am only hitting the tip of the iceberg too!  The Church of God has evolved into an utter mess and is an epic failure in it's religiosity.  It no longer has a vision or purpose and has become irrelevant to humanity.

Friday, December 21, 2012

EW King: December Tornado's Are Because U.S. Leader Is Associated With Harlot Church



E W is bragging today on how accurate his prophecies are.  First it was Thiel and now E.W.   Barf....

Apparently the tornadoes that we had in this country this month was because the President is associated with the Harlot Church.  The King earlier predicted:

I warned in my April and May 2012 prophecy forecasts about strange tornado weather. Since then we have seen record braking tornado counts including just this month, December 2012. On March 21st 2012 I stated:


When this nation supports a leader that belongs to [or a faction of] the Great Harlot church, who follows a false prophet, then destruction is on the way! We have already seen judgments fall on this nation in great out pours in the year 2011. What is coming next will make these judgments look like child's play.
“Let us not forget the tornado swarm of 2011 which started on April 14th and lasted many weeks. Over 200 tornado's! World record! Then the March 12th 2011 earthquake in Japan followed by the devastating title wave. Earthquakes are increasing in power and size and also occurring in new locations. Seismologists record 13,000 earthquakes each day!”

The world's most accurate prophet then states:

On January 6th 2012 I stated: Volcano's are popping up and becoming more active. Strange weather patterns are being measured Earth wide. We are seeing the ice caps melt right before our very eyes. Enormous floods have occurred along with huge hurricanes like never before! Meanwhile 200,000 people starve to death everyday! Are you still sleeping? Fires and wind storms, giant hail....terrorism, wars, outright mass destruction!”
The prophet is also ready for a nuclear device to go off real soon.  Being a Christian will not save your sorry ass though.

I have also talked about signs in the “heavens”. On April 10th 2012 I stated: “The Bible warns about objects falling out of the sky and many other strange events yet to come. I do not doubt that a nuclear device will go off. Where? That I am not sure of. The World of Christendom will Not Help!”
E.W. just joins the tail end of a long line of false prophets and liars in Armstrongism.  Not a single one of them has had any accuracy and never will.

Bob Thiel: Armstrongism's Most Accurate Prophet



Bob Thiel, Living Church of God's prophetic voice on prophecy, Mayan gibberish and all things Catholic, is bragging today about his radio interviews over the last couple of days regarding the end of the world on December 12, 2012.

It is interesting to me that he works over time in disproving the Mayan  and Catholic visions of of Fatima while never paying any attention to the false prophecies and outright lies uttered over the decades by Roderick C Meredith, Gerald Waterhouse and Herbert Armstrong.  Literally hundreds of false predictions and prophecies by these men have failed miserably yet these men are raised up as virtuous wise men. Thousands of lives have been damaged and scared by these liars, yet they are given a "get out of jail" card for free.

Despite the utter failure of these men, there is one rising star in the Living Church of God that has a proven track record of his predictions being right.  At least in his eyes. 

Bob Thiel writes about his amazing accuracy:

Since my book 2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect came out in 2009, I have been able to reach millions via radio (presuming audience size estimates I have been told are correct)–world events already have confirmed at least 24 predictions in it, and by the end of this month, apparently at least 27.  Interestingly, my online article End of Mayan Calendar 2012–Might 2012 Mean Something? has had between 500,000-600,000 page views on the internet since it first came out.

While Satan seemingly has plans for 2012 related to false declarations of peace (cf. Ezekiel 13) and getting people to scoff about prophecy (cf. 2 Peter 3), as COGwriter, I have tried to explain to people interested in end time matters that Bible prophecy can be trusted and that it is not possible for today to be TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it).

Bible prophecy uttered by a Church of God minister or member is NOT accurate and CANNOT be trusted!   Every single one of them have been proven to be liars.

From Rakish Queensland Islander To Delusional Prophet


Andrew Martin in the late 1980s; during his years on Middle Percy Island, 
he became increasingly preoccupied with religion.


Here is a news story from Queensland about a man who's life was sent into a tail spin because of Armstrongism and British Israelism.

Religious fundamentalism and isolated, self-sufficient communities often go hand-in-hand, and Martin increasingly saw Middle Percy as a lifeboat in a world "drowning in sin". But how did an educated, carefree adventurer come to embrace such grim notions? Jon Hickling - who, with his wife, Liz, and their two young sons, lived on Middle Percy for 12 years - solves that abiding mystery with two words: egg cartons.

"The story Andy told us," he explains, "was that sometime in the late '60s, the Whites [former leaseholders] sent him over some egg cartons he needed on the stores boat. They were wrapped in a magazine from the Worldwide Church of God, led by someone called [Garner Ted] Armstrong. Andy wasn't religious up to that point, although he grew up in the Church of England, but when he unwrapped that magazine, and read it from cover to cover, he just went, 'Wow!' He felt like he'd been hit on the head by a thunderbolt and had seen the light."

Martin subscribed to the magazine, and became a convert to the church's theory, known as British Israelism, which holds that white races (especially the British) are descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and are God's "chosen people". Before falling from favour for his philandering, Armstrong - described by one US writer as preaching to a "subculture of lonely, frightened, disoriented Americans" - also had a worldwide radio audience of millions, including Andy Martin.

By the early '90s, with his physical health in decline, Martin had become unbalanced. "He believed he was being communicated with directly by God as some sort of prophet," Hickling tells me. "It was very interesting, to say the least."

The Hicklings were practical yachties who'd arrived on Middle Percy in 1989. They built their own house near the homestead - "We couldn't have lived with Andy; others tried and just couldn't cope" - worked long hours improving the island's gardens and infrastructure, taught their sons via distance education, and did their best to look after the evermore erratic Martin.

In 1996, Martin left the island, telling the Hicklings he had to return to England to warn the British people of God's coming retribution unless they changed their evil ways. He promised to contact Queensland's Department of Natural Resources (now Environment and Resource Management) and have the Hicklings named joint leaseholders in recognition of the effort and money they'd put into Middle Percy. But because the latest 10-year pastoral lease was soon to expire, the department declined - a fateful glitch the Hicklings weren't aware of until it was too late.