If Armstrongism Was Compared With an Airline

If Armstrongism was compared with an airline, it would be mighty interesting to behold the thoughts about the announced return of Jesus in 1975 in the booklet "1972 in Prophecy".

Imagine an airplane that had been waiting for 35 years. Pilots and cabin crew would have retired long before the airplane had taken off. Other passengers would have taken other planes - yet faithfuls still extract their belief in a return of Jesus in their remembrance of Matthew 24:48 which says:

But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming

Even the term "last generation" is subject to the understanding of the day. When World War I happened, everyone thought that was the worst war - when World War II came, that was the worst. The war on terrorism is equally damaging for both international relations, but also for our own understanding of privacy...

Now that the Internet is globally available, news is at out fingertips. We know of terrorist attacks on the other side of the globe within minutes from the actual event. Anyone that claims we have peace - viewed as merely the absence of war - would be considered highly naïve.

Isaiah 59:8 said long ago:

The way of peace they know not; and [there is] no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

That has been translated by ministers of Armstrongism into a mindset that tried to get people to believe world leaders were evil. The war on terrorism has shown that nations have come together to FIGHT terrorism.

Who would have guessed that NATO would negotiate with Russia to get the missile system, that was disavowed when Reagan was President, to include numerous former enemies?

The doctrine of Armstrongism has long ago shown it was a failing mindset. Only the most ill-informed could agree with the type of literature emmanating from the offshoots of Armstrongism, and the truth must be said so many more can begin to understand how the world REALLY is, instead of each creating their own monsters.

20 Years Since Proposal of the Internet

It is today 20 years ago that Tim Berners-Lee published the formal proposal of the WorldWide Web - commonly known as the Internet.

Imagine what our information levels were before that wonderful Internet was established. For cult history workers considerable letter writting was involved, and you had to wait for postal services to send things all over the world - sometimes by surface mail, often involving weeks of waiting...

Nowadays, we can download a PDF-file directly to our desktops, and we can start analyzing materials in a matter of minutes from finding new materials.

It is an amazing difference that Tim Berners-Lee has made, and globally we all use the Internet, whether sending mails, writing blogs or creating websites, writing on the Usenet etc.

There is much to be thankful for when people initiate new ideas, and the Internet has really been a source of freedom for us all.

Have a nice weekend everyone. :-)

Ronald Weinland

Ronald Weinland wants to claim divine authority, but before you ever get involved with this guy you need to check out this biography.

Ronald Weinland is playing the ultimate trick in the cult of Armstrongism. He has now written a completion of Herbie's last book "Mystery of the Ages" - and calls it "The Rest of Mystery of the Ages".

For further information about Ronald Weinland, you might also want to check the blog available at http://ronaldweinland.info/falseprophet/

World Freedom Day

Today is the "World Freedom Day", described in the following words on Wikipedia:

World Freedom Day is a United States federal observance declared by then-President George W. Bush to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe. It started in 2001 and is celebrated on 9 November and the year 2009 marked the 20th anniversary of the historic event.

For people who have survived Armstrongism this day is highly relevant since we have also separated ourselves from a cult with exactly the same firm grip on people as the former Russian empire (and satelite nations) had upon their people.

For many the question is still: "Why are memories from those years so strong?"

That is a perfectly legitimate question, and I fully understand where this is coming from. It's one thing to understand that Armstrongism was a cult based upon erroneous theology - but quite another to know that friends are still caught up in the errors of mind control. We have all spent a number of years (and many even decades), and thus built up numerous friendships with a large number of people.

Many of these friends could be helped if only they were willing to listen to facts about their idols. But even in situations where people don't agree, at least the effect of interpersonal relationships could help them realize there IS indeed a world outside "the faithful few"...

That's why the World Freedom Day is rather thought-provoking to many of us.

The Day of Rest

The day of rest, the Sabbath, was instituted during creation week. We all know that from the book of Genesis. In the Worldwide Church of God - and offshoots - that was translated into a day of travelling long distances to come listen to either an audio or a sermon, depending on which country you lived in and whether you had a residing minister.

The idea was that since the faithful were so few in number it was logical that there could not be local congregations but only very few congregations meeting. People felt unique.

That one feeling was CORRECT. But not correct from a Biblical perspective.

People who didn't have cars had to take public transportation, and that means others had to WORK so "the faithful" could get to their Sabbath meetings. The day of rest, furthermore, became a day of burdensome work for deacons (and deaconesses) who were often faced with setting things up before people began coming in...

The team spirit needed to assist was few and far between. I know because I was one of the few who assisted our local deacon at the time, William F Pentecost, with setting things up in Copenhagen. Translators (of which we were three to five in regular attendance) arrived early since we had to set up the translation box so listeners who couldn't understand English got a Danish translation - or vice versa when the local church elder preached in Norwegian, when people then needed English translations.

Don't misunderstand. I am grateful for the experience in direct translation. That part has qualified many of us in the art of translation at a level only few have experienced. But it could hardly be called a day of rest...

That remembrance has also come to mind when I later discovered the many areas of christianity where things are "explained" away. It lies at the foundation of the confusion of which Armstrongism was a big part for the many who were members of either WCG or the offshoots such as PCG and LCG.

A day of rest, as God intended it, is a day of worship of God, rest from work and focusing upon the important things in life. Supporting others that work on that day is hardly letting lights shine in the way the ministry wanted to indicate.

What are your thoughts about your experiences in the WCG or offshoots? You are welcome to comment. :-)

Spanky seeking new markets?

Have you ever wondered what Spanky would want to do with swahili, russian, hindi, hebrew, chinese and arabic versions of his website?

Don't just believe me - believe their footer on their website.



The funny part is that it seems much of it has been machine translated. "Our annual meeting of worship" should have read Feast of Tabernacles - and if they had contacted Victor Kubik from the United Church of God, he could probably have advised them of a better translator.

This is rather funny, actually, because much of the history of the Armstrongite movement has been centered around people being members (through baptism by immersion) before they could perform translations... One has to wonder what swahili and indian members they would have to perform that task.

But, anyway, Spanky is looking for new markets for his brand of Armstrongism. One has to wonder why they hide it at the bottom of their website instead of having flags as they have with the other main languages in the left hand menu... :-)