Overview of the August 2016 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

The August 2016 issue of PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet, is now out.

Let's take a look.

HWA's quote on the cover is from his 1956 booklet, 1975 in Prophecy. These words may be found under the heading, "What Communism Really Is." From 1953 onward HWA taught that Christ was destined to return to Earth in 1975. That booklet is never mentioned by name in this issue.

The editors are listed as Gerald Flurry, Stephen Flurry, Joel Hilliker, Brad MacDonald, Dennis Leap, Robert Morley, Jeremiah Jacques and Phillip Nice.

The issue's circulation is 278,357.

Gerald Flurry has a personal article discussing the massacre in Orlando. He blames Satan and the terrorists and murderers of ISIL even though the available evidence indicates the murderer had little to do with ISIL. It seems likely the murderer had nothing to do with ISIL but simply used them to make himself seem more intimidating.

Richard Palmer has an article which discusses Brexit. Currently PCG (and the other COGs) are ecstatic at Brexit and are trying to exploit this event to insist that HWA was a prophet sent by God who could see the future. This conveniently ignores the many false prophecies he made over the years. In one passage of his last book, Mystery of the Ages, HWA asserted that Christ would return by 2005. PCG has since removed that inconvenient passage.

Richard Palmer also has an article which discusses what may happen within the European Union after Britain's withdrawal. Since the 1930s HWA and his various imitators have insisted that the United States will soon be conquered and taken into slavery by a powerful military force from Europe. At first HWA said Mussolini would accomplish this. Then he changed his mind and made it Hitler. After the victory against Nazism HWA continued to insist that Germany would conquer the United States later. For a time he ludicrously insisted that Hitler had survived and would regain power over Europe.

Gerald Flurry has an article vilifying the Obama Administration. It is insinuated that the current administration is being maliciously influenced by Satan the Devil. It ends with advertising for a booklet by Gerald Flurry which insists that President Obama is under the influence of Satan the Devil.

Jorg Mardian has a little article discussing diabetes.

Andrew Müller has an article scare mongering that China has a long term strategy to gain dominance by 2049. PCG has a long history of scare mongering against China. It is accompanied with a little article remembering what happened under Mao and scare mongering that similar things may soon occur within China.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article remembering three men who died during the initial attempts to stop the radioactive emissions from Chernobyl after its meltdown in 1986. The purpose of this magazine is to get more members for PCG. It is terrible that their names are being exploited on a recruitment magazine like this. Furthermore PCG has a long history of scare mongering against the other nations including Russia.

David Brandon has an accompanying poem dedicated to the three men.

The Infographic discusses the state of the Arab world five years after the Arab Spring. It is presented negatively.

Andrew Müller has an article glorifying Abraham as a scientist and astronomer. Similar things used to be written in Radio/Worldwide COG writings in its earlier days. There is nothing original about these claims in the world of Armstrongism.

Anthony Chibarirwe has an article bemoaning the current situation in Venezuela. PCG's leaders lean far to the right so they have an incentive to exploit the current situation in Venezuela to denigrate the left.

WorldWatch discusses the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as the Israeli defense minister; bewailing Iraq's advances into Fallujah to defeat the terrorists and murderers of ISIL as a sign of Iran becoming more powerful; China pursuing their border claims in the South China Sea; accusing President Obama of being apologetic in a speech at Hiroshima; proposed changes to the curriculum in Taiwan; claims that Russia is not disarming as many nuclear weapons as they were supposed to; the opening of a train line from India to Russia; claims that the State Department lied about the negotiations with Iran; scare mongering that ISIL had infiltrated Homeland Security citing the murderer in Orlando even though it seems that murderer had nothing to do with ISIL except a few scary words; and a condemnation of the proposed TTIP.

The fact that PCG's leaders have to address the controversy surrounding Lieberman is not a good sign. Max Blumenthal discussed Lieberman at length in his 2013 book, Goliath.

It seems as though PCG hates Iran even more than ISIL. In 1994 Gerald Flurry proclaimed Iran to be the King of the South so PCG has an incentive to demonize Iran in order to "prove" that God is with them. But with ISIL now running amok PCG's leaders are squirming that it is harder to scare monger against Iran while so many people are focused on the terrorists and murderers of ISIL.

President Obama did not apologize at Hiroshima or elsewhere. The accusation that he did an "apology tour" is not true.

SocietyWatch discusses the high proportion of American men who are unemployed or incarcerated; condemnation of concern regarding the shooting of a gorilla to save a child's life; and Islamophobic scare mongering about Australian Muslims being held in prison in Australia.

Joel Hilliker has a little article encouraging people to look after their dwellings.

Joel Hilliker also has a little article complaining that the mass murder in Orlando has made many people pay attention to the issue of hatred against gays.

A Muslim jihadi mass shooting proves the imminent threat of … Christians? ....

Some talking heads bizarrely insisted that blaming [the murderer]’s religion was scapegoating Islam to deflect blame from Christian homophobia.

And gun control but Hilliker does not mention that aspect of the public discussion in this article.

Did Hilliker just admit that other non-Armstrongite churches are also Christian as well? PCG teaches that it is the only true church in all the world and all Christians outside of PCG are deceived by the Devil. In PCG's loaded jargon "Christian" applies only to PCG members and to no other church.

Hilliker also compares gays to a "horrid beast" so soon after those 49 innocent people were murdered.

Back in 1987, two activists laid out a strategy to erase the stigma of homosexuality, called “The Overhauling of Straight America.” They advocated a restrained, gradual approach, keeping the discussion broad and abstract while downplaying actual homosexual behavior. “First let the camel get his nose inside the tent,” they wrote—“only later his unsightly derrière!”

Those men can congratulate themselves. Today the whole horrid beast is in the tent. There’s less and less room for an individual to freely live according to the teachings of the Bible. And anyone unwilling to pretend the camel is just one of the guys is being told to get out.

How utterly shameless.

In a booklet published in 2013, Redefining Family, Joel Hilliker cited that 1987 article and absurdly presented it as though it was some sort of master plan by gays to gain acceptance in mainstream society. In fact such activities had long predated that 1987 article. It is absurd to act as though it was some sort of master plan. On the other hand PCG is a centralized organization. Perhaps he was inadvertently projecting PCG's authoritarian tendencies upon other people.

There are letters.

Here's one letter written by a marine offended at the last issue's cover of Chinese sailors raising the Chinese flag in a manner similar to the famous photo of the marines who raised the American flag at Iwo Jima. It was alluding to China's construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea.

I saw your magazine (July 2016) in the doctor’s office and being a Marine, I was disgusted by your cover. By using the Chinese flag and sailors raising their flag like the Marines did on Iwo Jima during World War II is an insult to the Marines and those who died on that island. I showed this cover to the other patients in the office and the nurses; they all asked me to get rid of this garbage. Of course, you don’t give a hoot if you insult a great moment in American history as long as you sell your magazine.

The recruitment magazine's managing editor, Joel Hilliker responds.

Joel Hilliker, MANAGING EDITOR: I can appreciate and respect your response. Yours was the only response of this nature that we received, and to be honest I wish more Americans reacted along these lines. Certainly I wish more Americans were alarmed and offended over what China is doing in the South China Sea and elsewhere: It is extremely dangerous and hostile to America’s interests. Step by step they are undoing the work that America, including its Marines, has accomplished over the last several generations, and it is leading to more war. Yet most Americans are indifferent. I believe someone with your experience can see better than most people just how much more volatile and dangerous the world is becoming as America pulls back and allows nations like China to fill the gap. The cover image was intended to show at a glance how the world order is being flipped upside down. We did not intend it to be an insult to Marines, although I can see why it can be taken as such and do apologize for the offense. Incidentally, we do not sell our magazine; it is free. We are simply trying to draw people’s attention to what we believe to be the most important trends in the nation and in the world today, as a public service.

It is free in order to attract new members to join PCG. Those who join PCG are required to pay three tithes. Do not be fooled be the fact it is given away. It is given in the hope that a few will start sending money to them and even pay them tithes.

One reader from Canada complains about a social studies teacher saying socialism was in the Bible.

I wish every high school student could read this! I still remember a teacher in social studies even saying that socialism is something that was taken from the Bible narrative!

One reader from Florida inaccurately bewails that the United States had not won a war since World War II. Quite likely this individual has long been a follower of Armstrongism.

What an excellent and sad article. This is no longer a country that can or will win any wars. History is proof of that. No wars have been won since World War II. All the singing of “God Bless America” will not mean a thing if He is not!

One reader from New Zealand complains about PCG's negative view of Donald Trump.

May I ask why you are so anti-Trump please? .... In my very humble opinion, the world and the U.S., for once, has a very strong politically right- minded person running for the presidency. So far, all his planned policies make perfect sense to bring order and stability in a world that is rotten to the core by the new world order leftists and the establishment.

PCG's leaders thought a letter complaining about "new world order leftists" was worth publishing? The phrase "new world order" is often used by persons inclined to view public affairs in a paranoid and conspiracist manner.

Actually until around January 2016 PCG's writers tended to view Trump rather favorably. But for whatever reason around March PCG's leaders turned against him and wrote of him quite unfavorably. However because PCG's leaders lean so far to the right it is inevitable that whenever Trump gets into conflict with the left PCG's leaders will be inclined to support Trump despite their misgivings about him.

At present it is not possible for me to know why PCG's leaders turned against him. Perhaps they perceived that they had no way to influence him if he should gain power. They can't dependably use him. So they do not like him anymore.

And so we see that PCG's leaders have produced yet another issue to convince their followers that God is with PCG and that they know what will soon happen in the future. However PCG's leaders have made many false predictions over the years. They cannot see the future. There is no need to follow them or to give them any money.