PCG's Christopher Eames Says PCG is Criticized Just Like Israeli Soldiers

PCG's Christopher Eames has written an article ("The Young Soldiers of Israel", January 6, 2015) in which he talks about the soldiers of the Israeli Defense Force, some of whom he met while working in the archeological dig in Jerusalem which PCG sponsors in order to bolster their claim to be the one true church.

At the archaeological dig, I would ask my fellow workers—who were around my age in their early 20s—about what their jobs were while on duty. One, a tank driver. Another, an artillery man. One young woman was a commanding officer for a group of tank engineers. One young man had spent his time jumping out of airplanes as a paratrooper. These were ordinary young people working on the dig site—people who had never met before, but all connected by the common bond of military service. These youth were forced to grow up quickly, and had already experienced during their teen years things most other Westerners would never hope to experience during a lifetime. The experience matured them like nothing else.

My assistant supervisor told me about his military service. Some of his friends, who were conscripted slightly earlier than him, found themselves embroiled in the 2006 Lebanon War. He said his friends still suffer from haunting memories of that devastating conflict.

No doubt the war in 2006 must have been a most harrowing experience.

Eames says their training is like nothing else in the world.

The training process for Israeli soldiers is unique. Oftentimes at our excavation in Jerusalem, large groups of young Israeli soldiers in dark green military uniforms would come by and look in to the dig site from the perimeter fence. The young conscripts take tours around the significant historical sites. Why? So that they can better understand what they are fighting for. What other military does that?

As though Eames would know how to compare what the Israeli Defense Force does with other armies. 

But although Eames writes of these soldiers sympathetically he makes sure to insist to PCG members that taking up arms to defend one's nation is sinful and that PCG members are forbidden to imitate the Israeli soldiers' example.

The battles of those of us in the Church of God are not of this physical world (John 18:36). Should conscription be required in our own countries, it should be confidently refused, and we should be able to unashamedly state the biblical reasons why...

So since PCG members refuse to bear arms then why is it that PCG's leaders constantly call for war with Iran? Every political set back the US government endures is followed with wild denunciations of the supposed decline of America and bellyaching that America needs to be stronger. So often they talk as though they would like nothing better then to see America at war.  Most Americans as not hungry for war as PCG's writers so far often portray themselves.

PCG's leaders often claim to love the Jews and the Israelis. But what will PCG's leaders do to any Israeli Jew happens to think that negotiations and compromise should be more important?

Israel is on the back foot. The EU, papacy, liberal socialist media and certain quisling Israelis are all stacked against them. The Palestinians have world opinion heavily on their side. (Surrounded by Armies, Philadelphia Trumpet, August 2001.)

Why, according to PCG's leaders, such Israeli Jews who want peace are just like collaborators with the Nazis. So we see that PCG's leaders' love of Israeli Jews is actually quite selective. For any Israeli Jews who does not fit with PCG's leaders' ideal image are simply sullenly held in contempt like Nazi collaborators. What an inflammatory and vicious thing to say.

We return now to Eames's article.

Then Eames rather hilariously compares PCG members who refuse to bear arms as being criticized just like the soldiers of the Israeli Defense Force.

Israel’s military is often criticized by much of a media-frenzied, pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel Western world. More often than not, these are just armchair critics who have lived a cushy, privileged life, failing to see a rare army of dedicated teenagers and 20-somethings fighting for the survival and livelihood of their beloved nation.

We receive similar criticism—criticism that doubtless will only increase as time progresses. That makes it all the more important to be firmly grounded in the knowledge of what we are fighting for. So remember your history. Understand what you are fighting for as a young spiritual soldier for Christ.

So Eames speaks of "armchair critics who have lived a cushy, privileged life". Strange, that sounds a lot like PCG's leaders. They very often simply comment on some news articles and insist that somehow from their perch in Edmond, Oklahoma, they know what is really going on. They do not go to talk with the leaders changing the state of the world today they just write about some news articles. Meanwhile they enjoy the adulation, respect and fear of their lay members. They live off of the tithes and offerings of their followers who gave them $19.5 million in 2012. How does that description not fit PCG's leaders?

PCG's leaders often claim to love the State of Israel, but they would never go to war for them. They would just moan that America should go to war and try to incite others to go to war. They would never send themselves.