Armstrongism, Atheism and Their Shared Predicate

“They never stop, these Stepford wives. They something something all their lives. Work like robots. Yes, that would fit. They work like robots all their lives.” 

― Ira Levin, The Stepford Wives

There is a striking commonality between Atheism and Armstrongism beyond the fact that they are both belief systems.  Though they may be antithetical in their larger purposes, the intersection between these two systems is to be found in their shared anthropology.  In short, both philosophies paradoxically deprecate the value of human beings.  Their deprecation is paradoxical because atheists often tout an impoverished form of humanism. And Armstrongism is highly dependent on human resources for financial viability.   Humans, the objects of their diminishment, are pivotal to both.

In Brief: The Atheistic Materialist Perspective on Humanity

Materialism recognizes nothing beyond the material realm.  It is typical for atheists to adopt materialism as their explanation of reality.  This seems to be a natural pairing.  The Universe to the materialist is a place of physical objects and forces where the credo is written in terms from physics and chemistry and other hard sciences.  Anything that transcends the physical is outside its purview and is denied. 

Materialism diminishes human beings to an accumulation of atoms and molecules.  Consciousness and thoughts, without any compelling rationale, are believed to be merely swarms of chemical reactions.   Humans are thought to be biobots, a kind of biological machine - a pleonastic fallacy.   And the frequent appeal to analogy is that the human mind is like a computer.  This comparison is inapt because non-thinking computers are programmed and operated by human minds.  If we are to go by the physical evidence alone, a comparison of our brain anatomy with that of our primate cousins would indicate that we should be only a little smarter than chimpanzees.  Our excess of sentience is enormous. 

But if a human is just a biological machine that means that he may be repaired, modified, corrected, repurposed and made to march to the drum of someone else’s intellectual pretensions.  To the atheist who is truly committed to the purity of materialism, the faunal human has no dignity. If someone claims that atheism does not deprecate humanity, that person needs to recognize the impact of mechanistic materialism on society: racism, control of lives, brainwashing, sterilizations, eugenics, compassionless survival-of-the-fittest social principles and humans as an impersonal resource. 

In Brief: The Armstrongist Perspective on Humanity

While Armstrongism does not present us with a documented systematic philosophy or a systematic theology, we may induce its attitudes towards human beings by examining practice in regard to the common lay member.   For example:

1.     Herbert W. Armstrong (HWA), based on his own words, had a low view of the lay membership of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG).  HWA saw them, principally through tithing, as little impersonal moving parts of a great machine called “The Work.”  He was the steersman of this great machine.  For example, he one time told the congregations that if they did not help him in doing “The Work”, God would raise up stones to replace them (a mishandling of Luke 19:40).   In other words, they were easily replaceable, like mechanical parts, and their humanity, salvation and theotic potential was not a concern.

2.    Robots require programming or they will be inert.  The programming imposed on church members included Old Testament regulations, New Testament regulations and denominational regulations and norms.   This legalism was like a stringent set of internal programs that made the biobots function as desired and curtailed deemed undesirable behavior, all at the expense of their humanity.

3.    The highly structured caste system of the WCG was also a means of diminishing people to the status of mechanistic modules.  Each module plugged into a carefully defined port in the great machine.  And each module recognized its immutable boundaries – the protocols for mechanistic operation and the attendant loss of human value. 

Thesis and Antithesis

Armstrongism and atheism are alike and unalike.   Unlike atheism, Armstrongism seeks to cloak itself in Christianity.  Unlike Armstrongism, atheism seeks to cloak itself inaptly in the august nobility of the scientific method.  Where they are both alike, the point of synthesis, is in their debasing humanity to the level of the utilitarian machine.  In the case of Armstrongism this is done by treating people like “cogs in a wheel” to induce a backflow of money and in the case of atheism this is done by relegating people to the status of mindless biobots so they can be, I suspect, controlled.  Whatever the purposes, whether apparent or inapparent, the dreadful impact is the same: the loss of the human and the formation of the soulless android.

 “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.” 

― George Orwell, 1984

submitted by NEO

Resignation of Gary Gibbons from RLDEA

Resignation of Gary Gibbons from RLDEA

By Wes White

Dear Banned, 

Thank you for your inquiry regarding the resignation of Gary Gibbons from the board of RLDEA.  

            Gary explained his resignation as follows:

            “While serving as a member of the Board, I have seen much growth in this ministry and I am truly satisfied with the progress we have made.  I feel that my contribution as a Board member has met its limit and that it would be beneficial to the organization and myself if I were to step down.  In doing so, I will be able to spend more time with my home duties, other volunteer services and my part-time business.

“Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be a part of such a strong and dedicated organization.  I have no doubt that Ron and Allie would be proud of our accomplishments and I look forward to hearing of the continued success of RLDEA.”

I am still close friends with the Gibbons.  Almost since the first day after Allie asked me to help her out by doing volunteer work at CEM, the Gibbons and I have been close.  Nothing in that regard has changed.  We still have lunch on a regular basis.  We talk and text and email regularly. 

            And, perhaps most important, Gary is still doing RLDEA’s commercials, voice overs, and other audio work.  So he is by no means gone from RLDEA.  

            I will always be appreciative that Gary did what he promised Allie he would do. He pledged to get RLDEA set up and moving in the direction that she wanted with a strong social media presence. Gary has met his obligation and is moving on with other things in his life.  He will receive a reward for his service. 

Personally, I will be forever grateful for his work on RLDEA because I certainly could not have gotten things this far without him and Cathy. 

            Which brings me to my next point:  If the goal of the Gibbons was to “take over RLDEA” and “get all of Allie’s money,” they are going about it backwards.  Until Gary’s resignation, the Gibbons had two votes on the board and I only had one.  They could have removed me from RLDEA.  They could have made decisions that I disagreed with.  They could have done things that would have forced me to resign for reasons of conscience.  (Yes, I have heard all the rumors.)

Well, now that Nancy has replaced Gary on the board, the Gibbons no longer have what other people call “control” of the board.

            And actually, this whole idea of “control” is absurd because the Gibbons and I have been in agreement probably 99 percent of the time as to what RLDEA needed and needs to do next. 

            There has been so much said about the Gibbons “getting” Allie’s money.  The Gibbons didn’t “get” any of what Allie’s will left to RLDEA.  I know how every penny of RLDEA’s money gets spent.  In fact, as the guy who hires staff and contracts jobs out and makes purchases, it is Wes White who actually spends RLDEA’s money – not the Gibbons.  

And I am proud of what we are accomplishing in the one year that RLDEA has been active.  We’ve only just gotten started.   We’ve got a lot more ideas for things we can do to accomplish our mission of preaching the Gospel and feeding the flock thru the terrific works of Ron. 

            All those who have falsely accused the Gibbons of being “snakes in the grass” might have to re-think the evil things they say about them.  In situations like this, the true colors of people come out in the end.  Gary’s departure from the RLDEA board is a demonstration that the Gibbons are people of high moral character – something I have been saying for years.   They have no desire to “control” RLDEA and, thereby, “get” Allie’s money. 

            Further, I hope there is at least some small degree of appreciation of the fact that RLDEA is transparent regarding its board.   Some of the Armstrong offshoots’ boards are NOT open about who is on their boards.

Even their members and donors have no idea who is running the organizations they support. 

            As soon as Gary resigned and Cathy and I replaced him with Nancy, we updated our website for the world to see. 

            We are a transparent organization, so please let me know if you have any more questions and I will be glad to answer them.  

            Wes White

            Wdwhite49@yahoo.com

Why did the Church use demons as a threat to its children?

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 have to tell you at this point how psychological and mentally abusive this was by the Church and the harm that this caused to myself and to hundreds and thousands of other youth who grew up in the Church just like me. It was a syndrome - and it was devastatingly harmful. This is not something that anyone can just "get over". It is just as bad as living with the fear of an abuser, only this was an abuser twenty times more powerful and completely invisible. It was like a never-ending horror movie mixed with Monsters, Inc. (if you've ever seen that movie). 

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. 

Submitted by SHT