Exit and Support Network has this beautiful, bitter sweet story about one man who fell into Garner Ted Armstrong's spell.
Enter Garner Ted Armstrong
at this time. Boy, was I a prime candidate for a cult! I was searching
at the time for some kind of meaning, some role model, someone and
somebody to feel connected to or accepted by. ...
I was on the Church of God International tape list and after a few
months I had boxes of sermon tapes by GTA. I used to listen to him for
hours every day. I'm not kidding. I am a janitor and I can listen to my
walkman all day if I want. I listened to GTA everyday at work. I could
hear up to 5 or 6 tapes during my shift. It didn't stop there. I
listened to him at home, cutting the lawn, washing the car, diving
around, while I was shopping at the grocery store. All I listened to or
read was the Bible, world news and Armstrong. I had allowed Armstrong to
pretty much take up residence in my mind. ...
I met GTA on two occasions and spoke to him on the phone. We corresponded
through the mail. I wasn't a member of the GTA cult because the
[Canadian] group of the CGI met downtown and that was too far for me to
go every Saturday.
One day his wife, who did not approve of Garner Ted Armstrong, handed him a newspaper.
The story that was highlighted was about GTA and a masseuse in Tyler, Texas and a lawsuit.
I could not, would not, believe that GTA did the deeds that he was
being accused of. But one very sad day in my life, I watched one of
these trashy, daytime news type talk shows and they played the Video
that the masseuse from Tyler had secretly taken of GTA. I tell you, as I
sat there in my TV room, watching this tape of GTA doing his perverted
acts and going after a woman who was not his wife, I broke down and
cried. I felt like an absolute fool. Everything spun out of control for
me mentally and spiritually.
You can read the whole story at the link above.
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