Recycled Words

When one reads some of LCG's booklets by Roderick C. Meredith a reader who is unaware of their past would be forgiven for thinking that these booklets were new. When viewed that way they seem exciting and vibrant. However most Armstrongite writings are simply regurgitations of old Armstrongite dogma, most of it dating from at least the 1950s. So the messages are in fact at least fifty years old. Now all Armstrongites rely on such old dogmas to some degree, but this particularly evident with the writings of Roderick C. Meredith. In some cases he simply copies and/or adapt his older writings for modern day consumption by those unaware of the terrible history of Armstrongism.

For example parts of LCG's booklet on marriage, God's Plan for Happy Marriage by Roderick C. Meredith, previously entitled Build a Joyous Marriage, comes from his previous articles, ‘What all Husbands Need to Know’, Plain Truth, June 1966, PDF pp. 11-15 & 34, and 'Neglected Keys to a Joyous Marriage', Good News, March 1975, PDF pp. 8-11. Much of the booklet's chapter 'Heartfelt Communication', for instance, comes from the 1975 article.

This recycling is seen again in LCG's booklet The Ten Commandments. While discussing the Tenth Commandment Meredith includes this story that is carefully used to make any believer in Jesus sad:

Several years ago, a prominent religious publication, The Canadian Churchman, ran a sobering article revealing the effect of this material idolatry on young Africans studying theology in the United States and Canada. One such young man said: "Before I came to study here, I was a good Christian. I dreamed someday of becoming a medical missionary. Now I’m an atheist." "Why?" asked the shocked interviewer. "Since coming here," he replied, "I’ve discovered that the white man has two gods. One that he taught us about, and another one to whom he prays. A Presbyterian mission school taught me that the tribal doctrines of my ancestors who worshiped images and believed in witchcraft were wrong and almost ludicrous. But here you worship larger images—cars and electrical appliances. I honestly can’t see the difference." (pp. 68-9).

This story is simply recycled. Here it is as preserved in Pabco's Home Page (1977 edition):

Several years ago, a prominent religious publication, "The Canadian Churchman", ran a sobering article revealing the effect of this material idolatry on young African Christians studying in the United States and Canada. One such young man said: "Before I came to study here, I was a good Christian. I dreamed someday of becoming a medical missionary. Now I'm an atheist."

"Why?" asked the shocked interviewer.

"Since coming here," he replied, "I've discovered that the white man has two gods. One that he taught us about, and another one to whom he prays. A Presbyterian mission school taught me that the tribal doctrines of my ancestors who worshiped images and believed in witchcraft were wrong and almost ludicrous. But here you worship larger images -- cars and electrical appliances. I honestly can't see the difference."

See also The Ten Commandments, 1972, pp. 130-1 at Don Tiger's archive. For whatever reason the word 'Christians', present in Pabco's and Don Tiger's versions is omitted in the LCG version. Now they are relegated to simply 'studying theology' and are now not called Christians.

Now technically, I suppose, there is nothing wrong with using old articles you made in publications you are making today. But Meredith won't tell you, you have to figure it out yourself. I for one always find it disappointing to discover that Meredith's words, which seemed so exciting and vibrant when I first read them, are old, tired, reused words that are actually decades old. It only demonstrates the tired repetitiveness that now clutches Armstrongism. It is today a dying religion that false prophets like Meredith relies on using the same words over and over again.

(Update: The story concerning the former African Christians may be found as early as the November 1960, Plain Truth, p. 9.)