Ramona Martin and the Memory Hole

It is truly astonishing how the human mind is capable of ignoring things it does not want to believe or focus on.

Here's one example of this in the COGs concerning Ramona Martin.

My first encounter with a non-COG description of HWA's WCG mentioned the Three tithes, which some COGs deceptively hide from potential recruits, and also mentioned that HWA was divorced.

None of the COG portrayals of HWA which I encountered while I was a believer in Armstrongism mentioned that HWA was divorced.

Because they did not mention it I actually managed to convince myself that the non-COG page was just making it up that HWA divorced.

Then I read the Autobiography of HWA and indeed it mentioned (in Chapter 81) that indeed HWA did remarry after Loma's death to Ramona Martin in 1977.

It also mentioned how she saved HWA's life when he had a heart attack in 1978.

But there was no mention of a divorce.

In all that I read there I came across no other mention of Ramona Martin at all.

This was not mentioned in LCG's 'Church History' booklet.

PCG never mentioned it. In this 2002 Philadelphia Trumpet article, The Legacy of Herbert Armstrong, no mention is made of the divorce. (The careful reader will also note there is no mention of the failed 1972 prophecy.)

I do not recall ever seeing any mention of her in Bob Theil's website. If you look for her name you will find nothing here and here.

I avoided this thought, even half believing that they must have stayed together, (but there was no mention of her at his death as one would expect if they were still together).

It was not until I read the Ambassador Report that I learned the truth.

HWA indeed did divorce.

It was very messy as the original non-COG webpage described it.

I saw that it was HWA the Apostle himself who applied for the divorce. It says so right here in Time Magazine.

Ramona Martin has been sent down the memory hole and the COGs act as though she never existed.

It should also be noted that HWA dedicated his last book, Mystery of the Ages, to Loma with these words:

I would like to dedicate this book to the memory of 50 happy years, Loma Armstrong.

When I was an Armstrongite believer I thought this was a beautiful expression of HWA's love for his (first) wive.

Now I view it as HWA's final vindictive jab at the wife he divorced, Ramona Martin (nee Crittenden).

It is amazing how the COGs have excised her from their collective memory.