Dear Dave: Practice Makes Perfect

Greetings Dave

We understand that you will , no doubt, have a tremendous part in the rebuilding of The Third Temple, According to Ezekiel's Visions. Outstanding!  You also are hopeful that you will be asked about whether to start the animal sacrifices. We KNOW you will be consulted in these matters!  You go boy! 

The day will come when we can all say, "We knew him personally!"  

At any rate, we're going to ask that you at least practice a bit in building the Temple and suggest you invest in this excellent Third Temple Kit , complete with real Hebrew words on the box!  It will give you a sense of your growing power and influence in Israel right in the comfort of your own Religious Compound. With all your building experience to date, you can decide if you wish to alter the original design as in-visioned by Ezekiel. He won't care. He's dead!  The Rabbis in Jerusalem will love your ideas by then and will be hanging on every word you utter on all things prophetic and theological. I bet they come to rue the day they ever even bothered with their Rabbinic educations and wish to YHVH they had met you much sooner in their ignorant Jewish  lives. 

$179.95

Cheaper than a plane ticket!

If need be and to get you ramped up, you can start by assembling Solomon's Temple or at least assign your Council of 16 the task to familiarize them with it and agree wholeheartedly with the changes you will no doubt seek their approval on coming soon Third Temple Once they approve as well it will be a piece of Unleavened Bread to sell your changes to the Rabbis of Jerusalem..  They have well advised  you with cautionary diligence in the past  and no doubt will not let you down now. 

As long as we're at it, there is an excellent Balsa Wood kit of the Ark of the Covenant that you can study for possible ideas should you wish to change anything with it. Even comes unpainted just for fun and you can add or delete commandments as you like on the blank Tablets provided!  

Once you get the hang of it you can upgrade to the Lego Model or give them as gifts to your Council of 16!

There is even a kit that teaches the consequences of opening the Ark without PERMISSION!

There are inexpensive ways for the Council to practice transport and hands off as well!

But again, we ask neither you nor any of the Council open it to look inside. Been there, Done that!

Personally, I suggest a Third Temple kick off party to keep it light hearted and able to win over the hearts and minds of the most gullible or skeptical of members who no doubt will be gyrating in their seats once they see all that you have predicted for yourself actually coming to pass. 

May I suggest Ark of the Covenant Rice Crispy Treats?

Remember, only hold them by the pretzel!

All the best! All Jerusalem awaits your coming!!!

But be careful...

The Jerusalem Syndrome is a term used to describe a mental phenomenon whereby visitors to Jerusalem develop religious delusions, believing that they may be God or a famous person from the Bible. Such individuals have believed themselves to be famous Biblical people such as John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul, the Virgin Mary, or even the Messiah. The syndrome only affects members of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, with Jews and Christians comprising the majority of cases. The theory was developed by Dr. Yair Bar-El, a former director of the Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center in Jerusalem, which has claimed to treat an average of one to two Jerusalem Syndrome patients per month. …..

There have, of course, been many cases in which patients developed Jerusalem Syndrome not because of an intense religious experience, but due to a preexisting mental disorder. One man who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia developed Jerusalem Syndrome while in the U.S., and traveled to Jerusalem as a result. He was an American bodybuilder who believed himself to be Samson, the Biblical strongman. He traveled to Jerusalem on a delusional holy mission to move part of the Western Wall. Some speculate that David Koresh, the fallen cult leader of the Branch Davidians, had a Messiah complex caused, in part, by a trip to Jerusalem.

While many in the medical community are skeptical of Jerusalem Syndrome's legitimacy, many take it seriously, nowhere more so than in Jerusalem. Tourist guides, security personnel and doctors in Jerusalem all keep a watch for the symptoms of Jerusalem Syndrome. Once a person suffering from symptoms has reached the stage of wrapping themselves in white bed sheets and proselytizing in the desert, many doctors are trained to play along with the delusions, so as not to further agitate the patient. With the help of time, medical care, and drugs, the delusion often wears off.

(Wise Geek)

Shame On Us For Blaming Men for Being Men (aka Abusive COG Leaders)

Below is a comment that came in this afternoon.  Apparently, it is wrong for us to point out the abusive actions of various COG leaders because they are just being men who are prone to mistakes.  It is OK for them to treat members like crap, they are only doing it for our good and besides, it's in their fallible nature. SO PLEASE EVERYONE!  STOP CRITICIZING THEM!

It is all YOUR problem that you were part of the church.  You all lacked faith, discernment, understanding and above all were NOT converted!  SHAME ON YOU!  You have no reverence in your lives for God's holy men or the church.

The church never hurt you, you hurt yourself!  It is all your fault!  You made the choice to be abused.

I feel sorry for this site owner, wasting his life blaming God for men being men, blaming Mr. HWA for what men have done to his legacy. No one forced anyone against their will to do anything. Are you also blaming your Mum and Dad for having you? Nobody forced them to have you did they. Is your lack of Faith, understanding, discernment and lack of conversion and godless works due to non reverence and lack of godly fear now make you and expert on your so-called Armstrongism. Who hurt you so much that you ruin your life in this way; was it not you, yourself, for your choices that you had made that you now blame others for and have become an accuser of God because of your total ignorance of the things of God and human nature. Who told you, you were naked! Take note oh wise one, if you had lived in the NT era and all the Apostles had died and Christ had not yet returned, you would have done the same as you do now, for such is your character trait; accusatory, self righteous, carnal, bitter and obviously an ignoramus of the things of God, having never been truly called of God, but a plant, fifth columnist, a sleeper agent of Satan having waited for the right time to be released to do your destructive work on the the True Church of God; not the cogs but the truly called out ones in whom dwells the Holy Spirit that are scattered in the winds of whom are only known by God Himself. You demand perfection from everyone else except yourself, as you regard yourself the saviour of the dubbed, taking delight in those who you believe you liberated from bondage, and being energised by those who agree with you in tearing apart Mr. Armstrong and attacking fallible men. Yes, I know individuals like you, and I know you, above all men to be pitied. I know also you will not post this comment, as others like you have not posted them, for you are all cowards. So, I dare you to post this comment if you are truly sincere. For I myself boast of my calling under Mr. HWA, through whom God dragged me out of the mire and has since been full of blessings in every way, with all goodness lacking nothing physically and spiritually as my family and I walk in the WAY of Christ, full of Faith, Hope, trust, patience and Love of God and all His ways and for His purpose and plan for the salvation of all humanity, starting with the first fruits, which you will obviously not be partaker of it. 

with great sorrow for you
Photonic 

Dave Pack: I Will Soon Convert the Entire Nation of Israel

Just when you think Dave Pack cannot get any crazier, along comes this...

Dave was unable to convert four of the largest Churches of God four years ago.  No one joined him from those groups.  Their leaders did not die.  So how does he expect convert the entire nation of Israel?

PCG: Hezekiah and His Irish Dancing Buddies

Armstrongism has been filled with men over the decades who latched on to crazy ideas and then exploited them as fact.  No group is better at this than the men at the Philadelphia Church of God.  In their ongoing quest to ignore Jesus and what he taught, they are forever looking at Hebrew scriptures for some kind of a hero to come along and save them and to preserve the law that reigns more supremely than Jesus ever will in their lives.

Every year, the goateed self-appointed King and prophet of the PCG has commissioned oratorios on some hero or heroine out of the Old Testament.

PCG's most recent one was all about Hezekiah.  Their interest in him was sparked by the recent discovery of the seals of Isiah and Hezekiah that their students dug up in Israel. They see this as a sign from their god that it is using them to legitimize their standing as the one and only true church.

Besides the absolutely cheesy and sometimes pathetically sad music that is played and sung during these oratorios, every single one of the includes Irish dancers in the production.  Irish dance apparently is the one true holy dance that David must have danced, therefore PCG will dance it too!

Of course, it also showcases the grandkids of Flurry who are Irish dancers that regularly compete for awards.  The PCG is so infatuated with Irish dance that they now teach it to their kids and have them perform at various church functions through the year.  They have even built a studio for this with members tithe money on the cult compound.  After all, the elite kids of PCG deserve the best while all the dumb schmucks spend months peddling fruit to their neighbours in order to send Flurry a $100,000 check as the Pacific Northwest PCG members did recently.  Gerald Flurry's grandkids thank you!

Commentary: On Blackface

On September 28, 2018, I submitted a picture here to Banned of an incident that happened at Ambassador College back in the 1950s - of four early Students at the College who were wearing heavy blackface in a Quartet parody. 

Here are the comments that came on the board: Emphasis/bolding is mine:

" let's not go overboard."

" It was simply a different mindset than we find today."

"blackface in its heyday was morally neutral; "

" we can only speculate as to whether these students were honoring or mocking Black America. "

" There does seem to be an element of respect involved,mwhich is probably why this custom has been allowed to continue, while acting in blackface has fallen into disfavor."

"A different era. "

"Blackface, like cross dressing, was once used in theater as a form of comedy. Obviously, times have changed"

"Personally I don’t care what color you are and if you paint yourself a color of another race! Just like I don’t care if you wear a burqa or hoody or turban or dress or kilt or whatever! It’s your choice. I think context is important though. "

"And so if Americans find something “offensive” in Australia or Sweden or wherever it’ll spark “controversy” even though the context like our history or social and cultural attitudes is completely different to yours. For example Mark Knight’s recent cartoon of Serena Williams caused “offense” to some Americans online even though Knight’s reasons for his depiction of Williams and Osaka were completely satisfactory and not racist or sexist at all imho"

........

Addendum: The Governor of Virginia has recanted his admission to being the person in the photo which appeared on his Yearbook Page. Therefore, it cannot be stated definitively that this was the Governor of Virginia in the controversial photo. This does not make the photo - or any photo such as this - any less revolting and racist.

The overwhelming consensus of the comments seemed to indicate that, at least among the COG crowd, that the "Blackface incident" at Ambassador College back in the day was really not that big of a deal. 

Currently, at the time of this writing, there is a large controversy with Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who recently was discovered in a college yearbook at 25 years of age wearing blackface in 1984. This was the impetus that has caused me to write this article tonight. The similarities were/are glaring. 

  There is tremendous outrage that this happened with the Virginia Governor- because the person - back in 1984 who was 25 years of age - became Governor of Virginia. The consensus of the majority of the governing bodies of North Carolina are not giving Ralph a pass over the situation, and neither are the majority of the citizens of the United States of America. 

Regardless of whether the Blackface happened in 1957 with Ambassador College - or in 1984 with the Governor of Virginia - it was racist, it was unacceptable, it was wrong, regardless of the time and of the place. Yet, when I look back at the comments that followed my original photo that was sent back in September - and the "apathy" or "acceptance" of such practices at AC - as well as the lack of outrage among the commentators - what does this show? What story does this tell? 

Is it going "overboard" to condemn blackface by a religious college back in 1957? 

Is it acceptable that it was once a "form of comedy" and that it was simply a "different era" or "different mindset"? Are we excusing the behavior because of cultural reasons? 

Has blackface ever been an "element of respect"? Ever? Is this even outrageous to even suggest this? 

Is blackface "morally neutral"? Has it EVER been "morally neutral"?

And then there was this comment, which I will repeat again: 

"Personally I don’t care what color you are and if you paint yourself a color of another race! "

Is this the general state of mind and opinion of a majority of the ex-members OR current members of the Churches of God? Is there such an apathy to racism and such an acceptance of blatant racism that people are simply neutralized emotionally to racism within the Churches of God? Is it OK not to care? 

Personally, when I first saw the comments when they first came out, I was appalled, but I did not re-strike the conversation - until tonight. Because it needs to be brought up back into context in the Churches of God. 

It does not matter that this happened in the 1950s when culturally, for a myriad of reasons, there was an abundance of racist activity. It does not excuse the Church for practicing blackface, nor does it excuse any other group at the time for practicing blackface. At this period of time, racist activities including segregation and outright discrimination were widespread within the world and within the Church, as has been recorded in history and reported by this blog over and over again. The Chicago South congregation was especially created for the enforcement of racism within the Church, and racist policies and procedures were widespread within the structure of the Church in nearly every aspect of life, and was widely enabled by Herbert Armstrong - especially because of the racist doctrine of British Israelism which was the foundation of the culture of racism within the Church - a culture of white superiority under the supposed backing of the United States and Britain in Prophecy, supposedly God giving the anglo-Israelites favor over all other races, and the "inferiors" of the anglo-Israelites relegated back to whence they came forth from. 

Perhaps with that background, it should not have surprised me of the apparent apathy and ho-hum, whatever, no-big deal attitudes of those who saw the picture of the Blackface incident at Ambassador College. Perhaps it should have been expected. It does not change, however, the fact of the matter that the racist attitudes of the 1950s were wrong, worldwide, and in the Church. It does not change the fact that racial discrimination within the Church - and segregationist doctrines within the Church - were inappropriate and unchristian in every stretch of the word. It was just as wrong then as we have all come to understand how wrong it is now. 

When we look back at the history of the Church, and we see examples of blatant, intentional, unabashed racism within the Church, when we look at the clear white supremacy that was fully enabled within the Church clear up to doctrines of coming segregation in "The World Tomorrow". when we see the clear attitudes of lethargy when it comes to racism then, and apparently, in some cases, even now, it should be a wake-up call. A wake-up call that extends beyond the membership or ex-membership of the Churches of God, a wake-up call that extends beyond even the Governor of Virginia- but a wake-up call that acceptance of stereotyping culture or racist behavior in any form cannot be acceptable in any way, shape or form. The attitudes that were fostered by Herbert Armstrong - a clearly documented pro-porter of racist doctrines and policies and enabler of racist propaganda - only serve to perpetuate an attitude that is by no means morally neutral, but wholly and categorically unacceptable in a morally conscious generation - especially in the society of organized religion. 

This picture deserves only condemnation, not rationalization. It's appalling that the response was as lethargic as it was - but I should not have been surprised. This is the culture that we all were told was normal and acceptable. 

And for some, probably still is. 

These opinions belong solely to the author, SHT