Continuing on the previous post on the importance of remembering what happened to us under Armstrongism, here's a (non-COG related) article some may find intriguing which shows why it is so important to remember even that which seems to be very well known.
It's a column from The Times, No, Fritz, We Won't Stop Mentioning the War by Mr. Dominic Lawson. (Note: The Times will be payer only from June 1 thanks to Rupert Murdoch. So you might want to copy this.)
What I find fascinating about this column is that it shows how events that occurred so long ago still have such an effect upon us.
It tells of one wealthy German philanthropist, Alfred Toepfer, who was perfectly respectable, until someone noted that he used to collaborate with the Nazis, being a sponsoring member of the SS, and about attempts today to convict a man suspected of participating in SS massacres in the Netherlands, and the sale at auction of a 1931 letter by Hitler sent to a British journalist.
This article, I feel, shows clearly how absurd and ridiculous it is for some Armstrongites to insist that we should just 'get over it' concerning the abuses we suffered because of these Armstrongite cults.
Sometimes we imagine that the past can be viewed as being radically separate from the past. I don't view it like that. The present is but the continuation of the past.
Because our pasts continues to effect us in such a way as that, that is why I have done what I did and made this humble blog.
Thanks for this post. Although I have been free of Armstrongism for five years now, I have kept several pieces of the literature to refer to so that I never forget why I left (as if that were possible...). And that's why I started my own blog on the subject, all this time later. We all have our own ways of processing the experience, and we can only hope that it will help others to be able to do the same...
ReplyDeleteMaybe we won't be truly free until we "get it all out of our system," but it's part of the process. But minimizing it or pretending it never happened would never make it go away.
Am I bitter? Yes. I spent half of my life in a state of superstitious, judgmental, "us vs. them" mentality, supporting a system full of liars, thieves and hypocrites -- fully believing that I was going to be spared from the worst of the worst simply because I payed, prayed and kept the right days. I sincerely believed that I was going to one day "rule with Christ," although I shunned the very idea of practical experience in the here and now -- no voting, no military service, no contributing to real humnitarian causes, etc. But as long as we didn't smoke, eat pork or watch Friday night tv, we were "good Christians," and God was going to give us the opportunity to throw the book at all those heathens in the "World Tomorrow."
The "Church" has been "sighing and crying" and praying "Thy kingdom come" for over 70 years, since the beginning of Armstrong's "ministry" -- an entire generation of human beings has lived out their lives since his "conversion" -- and yet, the world goes on. Since my de-conversion, I have wondered what exactly is the point of praying, "Thy will be done"? If there is a god, he is going to do what he is going to do whether his followers pray for it or not. And if they have been praying, "Thy kingdom come" for all of this time, what is he waiting for?...
Armstrongists love to say that things are worse in the world now than they have ever been. But people one hundred years ago could have said the very same thing from their own perspective in time. To quote a one-hit wonder from the 80's, "The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades..." The world is full of problems, but simply paying and praying isn't going to solve a single, solitary one of them. The COGs declare that contributing to humanitarian efforts is akin to "putting a band-aid on cancer." To which I would say, "Give me a band-aid over a 'Plain Truth' any day..."
Thank you for your comment.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it.