PCG's Reliance on Breitbart News

So as part of her presidential campaign recently Clinton made a speech condemning Trump's connections to the alt-right and she condemned his connections with Stephen Bannon, the editor of Breitbart News.

Among other things it has since emerged that this editor was once charged with domestic violence against his ex-wife in 1996.

The Santa Monica, Calif., police report says that Bannon’s then-wife claimed he pulled at her neck and wrist during an altercation over their finances, and an officer reported witnessing red marks on her neck and wrist to bolster her account. Bannon also reportedly smashed the phone when she tried to call the police. ... the case ended when Bannon's ex-wife did not appear in court, ... 

Bannon, through a spokeswoman, said he was never interviewed by the police about the incident. Bannon pleaded "not guilty" to the allegations and was represented by a local criminal defense attorney during the proceedings. (Hadas Gold and John Bresnahan, Trump campaign CEO once charged in domestic violence case, Politico, August 25, 2016.)

It has also been reported that his ex-wife mentioned him as privately expressing anti-Semitic hostility against Jews.

In a sworn court declaration following their divorce, Piccard said her ex-husband had objected to sending their twin daughters to an elite Los Angeles academy because he “didn’t want the girls going to school with Jews”. 

“He said he doesn’t like Jews and that he doesn’t like the way they raise their kids to be ‘whiney brats,’” Piccard said in a 2007 court filing. [A spokeswoman for Bannon has denied this assertion.] ... 

Bannon’s remarks about Jews followed other comments that caught Piccard’s attention when they were visiting private schools in 2000. 

At one school, she said, he asked the director why there were so many Hanukkah books in the library. At another school, he asked Piccard if it bothered her that the school used to be in a temple. 

“I said, ‘No,’ and asked why he asked,” Piccard said. “He did not respond.” 

Piccard said Bannon wanted the girls to attend a Catholic school. 

In 2007, when the girls were accepted at Archer, he told Piccard he objected because of the number of Jews in attendance. (Trump campaign CEO Stephen Bannon denies antisemitic remarks. Associated Press, as quoted in The Guardian, August 27, 2016.)

I wondered if PCG has been reading this media outlet. Let's take a look.

As it turned out PCG's writers have cited this media outlet in twenty articles since 2006. This includes articles by Gerald Flurry, Stephen Flurry, Robert Morley, Joel Hilliker, Anthony Chibarirwe and Sam Livingston. One July 2, 2014 article even mentions Bannon conducting an interview. PCG's writers have never criticized this media outlet. It seems clear that PCG's leaders trust Breitbart Media.

PCG first mentioned this media outlet while condemning a decision by Presbyterians to use gender neutral language to describe the Holy Trinity. Considering PCG does not even believe in the Trinity anyway why would they object to how a doctrine they do not follow is described?

According to breitbart.com,

A panel that worked on the issue since 2000 said the classical language for the trinity should still be used, but added that Presbyterians also should seek “fresh ways to speak of the mystery of the triune God” to “expand the church’s vocabulary of praise and wonder.” 

One reason is that language limited to the Father and Son “has been used to support the idea that God is male and that men are superior to women,” the panel said. (Presbyterians Gender-Neutralize “Trinity”, June 22, 2006.)

Breitbart is mentioned in discussing a drought in Australia.

And in Australia, the problem is not much better. The island continent is in the midst of its “third-worst drought in the country’s history. The so-called Big Dry is affecting the eastern states of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, as well as South Australia and the southern island of Tasmania” (Breitbart.com, July 24). Australia is already a dry nation; and it is growing drier by the year. (Heat and Drought Plague the West, August 2, 2006.)

Breitbart is mentioned in discussing German banks leaving Iran because of various sanctioned imposed on Iran over its nuclear power program.

Breitbart.com reported the Financial Times Deutschland as saying “that European financial institutions feared losing out on lucrative business with the United States if they remained active in Iran, after U.S. officials threatened the banks’ boards with consequences.” (Iran Warns German Banks: If You Leave, Don’t Come Back, August 23, 2007.)

Breitbart is cited to vilify Obama's supporters as being overly devoted to him. Consideirng that PCG insists that their leader is "That Prophet" and the only man through whom their "god" operates among humanity it seems strange that such people should think they can stop people from being too fanatical.

James Taranto printed this collection of news items about people fainting at Obama’s campaign rallies, and Breitbart TV has this clip telling the same story. (Stephen Flurry, The Weekend Web, February 17, 2008.)

Breitbart is cited in discussing the Vatican's disapproval of a certain policy by the Obama Administration.

The Vatican is already on President Obama’s case for his liberal policies. Breitbart reports,

A senior Vatican official on Saturday attacked U.S. President Barack Obama for “arrogance” for overturning a ban on state funding for family-planning groups that carry out or facilitate abortions overseas. (Joel Hilliker, The Weekend Web, January 25, 2009.)

Here PCG scare mongers that the dollar is falling.

Breitbart reports that the dollar hit a new all-time low against the Swiss Franc Tuesday. Earlier this month the dollar hit all-time lows against gold. Today it also hit a 35-year low against coffee. In fact, the dollar has been cascading against virtually all commodities over the past decade and has even been plunging against other paper currencies—down 6.5 percent against a basket of currencies so far this year. (Geithner Vows to Defend Strong Dollar, April 26, 2011.)

At this point PCG stopped citing this media source until January 2014. Then it is mentioned in an article bemoaning the lack of work for Americans.

Making the numbers even weaker was the fact that, as Breitbart’s Mike Flynn observed, well over half—40,000—of the 74,000 jobs added to the economy in December were in temporary employment. (Anthony Chibarirwe, Where Are the Jobs?, January 27, 2014.)

PCG's Stephen Flurry cited an interview Senator Cruz had with this media outlet discussing immigration.

“It is a direct consequence of the president’s illegal actions. The parents think, ‘If I send my child [to the U.S.], my child will have amnesty.’ That’s what the president of the U.S. has said. It is the exact opposite of a humane approach to immigration or to securing our borders” (Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to Breitbart, June 6). (Stephen Flurry, Illegal Immigration and the Transformation of America, The Trumpet Daily, June 11, 2014.)

Sam Livingston cited an interview the executive chairman of the media outlet had made while discussing the immigration situation.

The border crisis is leaving gaps in security, allowing illegals, specifically gang affiliates trafficking drugs, to sneak into the United States. Hector Garza is the spokesman for the Laredo Border Patrol Union. Breitbart News executive chairman Stephen K. Bannon asked Garza in an interview:

Are you saying that because the brave men and women of the Border Patrol are being overwhelmed and taken off their post to attend to the children and teenagers who are coming across the border, that the bad guys, the drug runners, the cartels, the criminals, are able to slip in?

Garza’s reply: “That is correct, sir.” 

Isn’t that the duty of the Border Patrol, to keep these sorts of people out? Garza estimates that “at least 70 percent of our Border Patrol manpower is not patrolling the border” (ibid). (Sam Livingston, Should Border Patrol Agents Be Trained to Change Diapers?, July 2, 2014.)

PCG's Robert Morley cited this media outlet while discussing menacing threats from a militia leader during the Cliven Bundy crisis.

Scott Shaw, co-founder of the Oklahoma Volunteer Militia, which boasts 50,000 members, said they were armed with AK-47s, AR-15s, sniper rifles and other military surplus hardware. He told Breitbart News they were prepared to use deadly force if necessary. (Robert Morley, Outlaws, July 2014.)

Senator Cruz's interview with this media outlet is mentioned again in PCG's recruitment magazine portraying illegal immigration as being used by President Obama to change the demography of the nation. What xenophobic paranoia.

A June 9 Washington Times editorial identified the bigger picture of what this ongoing, solvable-yet-escalating immigration crisis means for the nation as a whole: “The children’s surge is another consequence of the president making good on his vow to ‘fundamentally transform’ America.” 

“It is a direct consequence of the president’s illegal actions,” Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, told Breitbart. “The parents think, If I send my child [to the U.S.], my child will have amnesty” (June 6). (Stephen Flurry, Borderline Breakdown, September 2014.)

Morley cited this media outlet while making an Islamophobic outburst against participants of an anti-extremism meeting that President Obama attended.

President Obama said the conference would build upon his strategy of “Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States.” Problem is that many of these local partners are the extremists. Here is how Breitbart described the Boston delegation of Muslim leaders: ... [Quoting a Breitbart article:]" (Robert Morley, Fables About Islam and Destroying America From Within, March 6, 2015.) 

Morley mentioned this media outlet while condemning the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

President Barack Obama is set to push through a new trade deal with Asia. It is called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Will this increase or decrease the trade deficit? Will this increase or decrease prosperity for America? The president’s own party is against it. The unions say it will reduce jobs. Many Republicans say they are for it, yet as Breitbart reported, only two senators out of 54 have read the deal. Remember Sen. Nancy Pelosi’s “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it”? Now Republicans are saying the same thing. (Strong Dollar Pounding Economy as Trade Deficit Soars Says Former White House Adviser, May 22, 2015.)

 This media outlet is cited again while scare mongering about illegal immigrants.

While illegal immigrants account for only 3.5 percent of the U.S. population, they represented almost 37 percent of federal sentences, according to U.S. Sentencing Commission data obtained by Breitbart News. (SocietyWatch, September 2015.)

PCG's leader, Gerald Flurry, cited this media outlet while scare mongering about Iran.

Recent reports also indicate that Iran has established itself in Eritrea. A January 27 Breitbart News report said Egyptian intelligence has found a secret Iranian base built “at the port of Assab in Eritrea on the Red Sea.” (Gerald Flurry, Germany's Secret Strategy to Destroy Iran, Part 1, 2015.)

Stephen Flurry cited this media outlet while denouncing the resignation of the University of Missouri's President after protests by Black Lives Matter activists.

These University of Missouri activists, from Concerned Student 1950, won a major victory, as Breitbart noted it its article “How Cop Killer-Quoting Activists ‘Inspired by #BlackLivesMatter’ Forced University of Missouri President Out.” ... Breitbart said the protesters’ “big victory was shutting down the homecoming parade as stunned onlookers—including many small children—were forced to watch the megaphone-wielding activists scream at the crowd about slavery while blocking now-ex-president Wolfe’s car. At the end, they all [chanted Shakur’s words].” (Stephen Flurry, University of Missouri: Where Racism Merges With Violent Youth Culture, November 13, 2015.)

Robert Morley did so as well.

As Breitbart News wrote on November 9, “Given the hydra of hysterical campus activism that … is springing up across the nation, it’s hard to know where it will end.” But you can know where it will end. The Bible says where it will end. (Robert Morley, Race Riots Coming to a College Campus Near You, November 20, 2015.)

This quote was used for PCG's recruitment magazine.

Wolfe’s resignation marks a major victory for the activists, and the media attention it attracted has spread the frenzy to other universities. “Given the hydra of hysterical campus activism that … is springing up across the nation,” Breitbart News wrote on November 9, “it’s hard to know where it will end.” (SocietyWatch, January 2016.)

PCG's leader Gerald Flurry then used this quote which was first cited by Morley. Morley receives no credit for this.

Breitbart News wrote on November 9, “Given the hydra of hysterical campus activism that … is springing up across the nation, it’s hard to know where it will end.” But you can know where it will end. The Bible tells us where it will end. (Gerald Flurry, The Deadly Path of Higher Education, February 2016.)

This media outlet is cited while discussing the refugee crisis in Germany.

“The Incredible Shrinking Merkel: Sunday’s Elections Could Be the Starting Pistol for Merkel’s Would-be Successors” was one of Breitbart’s headlines after the vote. (Watch Germany!, May-June 2016.)

This media outlet is cited in an article discussing the upcoming local elections in Palestine.

There is another reason to believe the elections will go ahead relatively unhindered. Hamas has said it intends to run technocratic representatives in the elections, rather than its hard-liners. “Hamas already said they wouldn’t run independently, but coalesce with technocrats and local leaders,” commented a worried senior Fatah member to Breitbart News. “[T]hat was always their way to package their merchandise—people can vote for Hamas policies without thinking they’re voting for Hamas.” 

He continued (emphasis added):

They’re experts at it, and they’ve done it with great success in the previous round of local elections when they won virtually every big city, and only after the coup in Gaza the PA disbanded the West Bank municipalities ruled by Hamas. THESE ELECTIONS WILL BE HAMAS’S TICKET BACK TO THE WEST BANK, UNDER THE CLOAK OF LOCAL LISTS THAT WILL IN FACT USHER IN HAMAS’S RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES. (Brent Nagtegaal, The Coming Arab Takeover of East Jerusalem, August 18, 2016.)

And so it is quite evident that PCG's leaders trust this media outlet and have cited this source to their readers. In the ten years they have quoted them they have never had even one bad word to say about them.

UCG and LCG Quoting Glenn Beck

So after seeing how PCG's Gerald Flurry and Robert Morley have quoted Glenn Beck in a previous post let us see if the other COGs have been listening to him as well?

UCG Quoting Glenn Beck

As it turns out Beck has only been quoted in UCG''s writings twice.

In 2008 Darris McNeely wrote a short article criticizing Beck for praising the novels of Stephanie Meyer. He objected that her novels contains "vampires and spiritism."

(Note that Beck's first name is here incorrectly spelled as "Glen.")

Last week I was watching Glen Beck’s popular news program on CNN. Glen is a conservative and engaging and articulate commentator. I enjoy his perspective and his enthusiasm. ... Both Beck and Dobson clearly agreed such violent games added nothing to the social character. Right on Glen. But what struck me was the next guest Beck interviewed and the praise he heaped on her. Next up was Stephanie Meyer, a popular author of a series of vampire books for teens. ... Meyer has been called the American version of J.K. Rowling. What struck me was Glen Beck’s fawning praise for Meyers books. How can you go from criticizing the state of American morality in one segment to praising the fascination for literary worrks about vampires and spiritism? (Darris McNeely, A Confused Glen Beck, May 18, 2008.)

In 2014 Dan Hoosier mentioned that Beck had promoted British Israelism on his program to his listeners. He mentions WorldNetDaily, a far right media outlet infamous for spreading the myth that President Obama was not born in the United States. Nevertheless UCG's leaders tend to trust that media outlet. (See: UCG's Reliance on WorldNetDaily.) One wonders why PCG did not bother to mention that.

More and more people are becoming aware of this profound and fundamental fact of history. Glenn Beck explained this subject quite well on August 8, 2013, on his TV program, The Blaze . ...

Joe Kovacs of WorldNetDaily published a very supportive report on August 29 with his article, “Glenn Beck: U.S. Identified in Bible.” His article began: “Radio and television host Glenn Beck is now going public with his belief the United States is among the famous “Lost 10 Tribes of Israel,” and America today is suffering calamities just as ancient Israel did due to its disobedience to the laws of God.” (Dan Hoosier, The 7 Reasons - no, 8 Reasons - America Became a Great Power, April 2, 2014.)

LCG Quoting Glenn Beck

Beck has been mentioned twice in LCG's online writings. And in the same way that only two of PCG's 1% chose to cite Beck it turns out that among LCG's 1% only one of them has quoted Beck, namely Wyatt Ciesielka,

In 2010 Ciesielka mentioned Beck as warning that America was facing severe economic problems.

Politicians such as Senator Gregg and political pundits like Glenn Beck are right to sound the alarm. But, their warnings are incomplete messages. It is sin that is the root of U.S. economic trouble – not Keynesian versus Austrian economics, or Republican versus Democrat versus Tea Party politics, or FOX News versus CNN News versus NPR analysts! What America really needs to understand and do is repent from breaking God's biblical laws! (Wyatt Ciesielka, QE2 and the Acceleration of America's Economic Demise, November 6, 2010.)

In 2015, four years after Beck lost his television program on Fox News Channel, Ciesielka mentioned him as evidence of peoples' fascination with conspiracy theories. It is too vague to be sure whether this reference is favorable or not.

Secret societies such as the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderbergers, the Illuminati, the Burschenschaft, and Opus Dei, are favorite topics of talk radio, Internet sites, books and movies. From blockbuster movies such as "Enemy of the State" and "Angels and Demons" to "Doomsday 2012: End of Days," from talk radio hosts such as Michael Savage and Glenn Beck to Alex Jones, society is fascinated by conspiracy theories and the clandestine organizations supposedly manipulating the masses. (Wyatt Ciesielka, Satan's Secret Society and True Christianity, February 17, 2015.)

And so we see that the other COGs have also brought up Glenn Beck to their readers as well.

Israeli MK Denounces Reform Judaism as a "Fake Religion"

Back in July Bezalel Smotrich, an Israeli MK of the far right Jewish Home party, made a speech denouncing Reform Jews as fake and insisting that their conversions are not to be recognized.

Smotrich told a gathering of his party’s volunteer youth that he was “not willing to recognize Reform conversions and their fake religion.” (The Times of Israel, July 28, 2016.)

Also at about the same time legislation was passed that allowing religious authorities to exclude Jews they do not approve of from using ritual baths.

On Monday the Knesset passed into law a bill that permits regional religious authorities to turn away individuals from using the state-run ritual baths. The legislation seeks to circumvent the Supreme Court’s February 12 ruling that Israel’s non-Orthodox Jewish communities may use state ritual baths for their conversion ceremonies. 

“This is the first time that a mikveh, a place of purity, has become a place of exclusion,” said Yesh Atid MK Aliza Lavie on Monday. The lawmaker said the legislation sends a message to Diaspora Jewry that the State of Israel doesn’t “count you in. Not at the Western Wall, or in marriage, or in conversions, at the mikvehs too — you have no place in the State of Israel.” (The Times of Israel, July 28, 2016.)

Archaeological Excavations Damaging Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

According to Maan News Agency archaeological excavations are damaging Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem. I suspect that the excavations connected with PCG have nothing to with this particular problem but this serves to illustrated how politically charged and disruptive such things can be in Jerusalem. (Watchdog: Israeli excavations in East Jerusalem seriously damaging Palestinian homes, Ma'an News Agency, August 29, 2016.)

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) -- Palestinian residents of the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan have seen their homes sustain growing damage as a result of Israeli construction in the area, a local watchdog reported on Monday. 

According to the Wadi Hilweh Information Center, ongoing Israeli excavations in the neighborhood have caused deep fissures to appear or worsen in homes in the Wadi Hilweh area of Silwan. 

One widow who moved after her ground floor apartment suffered from serious damage, has now seen new fissures appear on the second floor of the same building only months after she relocated there. ... 

Silwan residents reportedly managed to obtain an Israeli court order to stop excavations for 14 months. 

Did that affect PCG's excavations? However it seems some have been able to get around that court order.

However, Israeli settler organizations have since been given permission to continue with excavations “so long as they don’t endanger the residents.” But Qarain said that the ongoing excavations and diggings “do not take into account the safety of the residents.”

One organization cited in this matter is the City of David Foundation, a settler organization which also purchases buildings in East Jerusalem in an attempt to fill up East Jerusalem with Israeli Jews.

Right-wing Israeli organization Elad, also known as the Ir David Foundation, aims to "rediscover and preserve the Biblical city of David," in an effort to connect Jews to their Biblical roots through tourism, archaeological excavation, and "Judaizing Jerusalem" by buying out homes in Palestinian majority neighborhoods. 

The organization began the buy and takeover of Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem in the early 1990s, and later established the City of David Settlement in the Palestinian neighborhood of Wadi Hilweh.

May peace soon come to the Holy Land.

PCG Quoting Glenn Beck

Recently I was listening to a Trumpet Hour broadcast and they ended up talking about Van Jones. And Robert Morley mentioned that Glenn Beck talked about him. That happened back in 2009, seven years earlier.

Although he is far less prominent now since he lost his TV show on Fox News Channel I can well recall the time Glenn Beck arose to prominence. I was recently reminded of those days reading Common Nonsense by Alexander Zaitchik (2010), a critique and biography of him. Among other things he mentions that Beck actually failed to unseat Jones. It was another right wing media outlet, the Gateway Pundit, that succeeded in getting him to resign.

Remembering those days here are the times PCG's writers chose to mention Beck. Indeed they have mentioned him but rather sparsely. Surprisingly only Gerald Flurry and Robert Morley cite Beck. No one else in PCG's writings does so, not even anonymously written articles. Is this an indication that the others in PCG's 1% do not trust Beck as a media source?

Notably Beck is never criticized. This indicates that Beck is trusted by Gerald Flurry, Morley and possibly others within PCG's 1%.

Here are the quotes in which Gerald Flurry and Robert Morley chose to cite Glenn Beck.

***

Glenn Beck began running a television program on CNN Headline News in 2006. PCG's writings first mention him in 2007 in an article by PCG's leader, Gerald Flurry. But he mentions Beck only in order to quote then Israeli opposition leader Netanyahu denouncing Iran. Following Ariel Sharon's stroke in January 2006 Gerald Flurry began to talk favorably of Netanyahu.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Israeli prime minister, may be elected again soon. He is saying that we are already in World War III and likens Iran to Germany in 1938, one year before World War II began. 

That is how he evaluates world conditions today. Here is what Netanyahu said when Glenn Beck interviewed him on Nov. 17, 2006: “Iran is Germany, and it’s 1938, except that this Nazi regime that is in Iran, that’s a religious kind of fanaticism, but it wants to dominate the world, annihilate the Jews, but also annihilate America. Remember, we’re the small Satan. You’re the big Satan. … 

“We’re just the first way station en route to you [the U.S.]. So there is this fundament fanaticism that is there. It’s a messianic cult. It’s a religious messianic cult that believes in the Apocalypse, and THEY BELIEVE THEY HAVE TO EXPEDITE THE APOCALYPSE TO BRING THE COLLAPSE OF THE WEST” (emphasis mine throughout). (Gerald Flurry, Two Minutes Closer to Midnight, January 23, 2007.)

This passage was reused for an article in PCG's recruitment magazine.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Israeli prime minister, may be elected again soon. He is saying we are already in World War III, and likens Iran to Germany in 1938, one year before World War II began. 

That is how he evaluates world conditions today. Here is what Netanyahu said when Glenn Beck interviewed him on Nov. 17, 2006 (I quoted different parts of this interview last month): “Iran is Germany, and it’s 1938, except that this Nazi regime that is in Iran, that’s a religious kind of fanaticism, but it wants to dominate the world, annihilate the Jews, but also annihilate America. Remember, we’re the small Satan. You’re the big Satan.  

“We’re just the first way station en route to you [the U.S.]. So there is this fundamental fanaticism that is there. It’s a messianic cult. It’s a religious messianic cult that believes in the Apocalypse, and THEY BELIEVE THEY HAVE TO EXPEDITE THE APOCALYPSE TO BRING THE COLLAPSE OF THE WEST.” (Gerald Flurry, Two Minutes Closer to Midnight, March 2007.)

***

In 2008 Gerald Flurry now quoted Beck himself in connection with the controversy about Jeremiah Wright as part of the build up to the 2008 presidential elections. Here a call to worship a God who loves African Americans is viewed by Flurry in a negative way and seems to be taken too literally.

It should be noted that PCG has a long history of vilifying African Americans. PCG has long taught that African Americans are fated to launch a wave of riots against the white majority in the future. This is PCG's false prophecy of "race war."

Here is what Glenn Beck said on his CNN broadcast, March 19: “In the talking points page of the Trinity Church’s website, Reverend Wright, in his own words, states that the foundation of his beliefs are in systemized black liberation theology and praises James Cone’s book, Black Power and Black Theology. This is what James Cone, the man who Obama’s senior spiritual adviser looks up to and whose ideas he preaches, states as black liberation theology. Listen carefully and please follow along. 

“Quote, ‘Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill gods who do not belong to the black community. Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in black power which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressers here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.’” 

This is one of the most anti-God, anti-Bible statements I have ever read! The God of the Bible is not about loving black people and hating white people. Christ died for the sins of all humanity. Any Christian should know that. And all humanity is going to be a part of God’s Family, in God’s time frame. Of course, those people who reject that Family will be excluded forever. (Gerald Flurry, The Obama-Wright Tragedy: It’s Much Bigger Than Race, May 2008.)

Note how Flurry uses a right wing source to learn about Obama's (now former) church. Flurry does not appear to have studied that particular church for himself. He is relying on second hand information. Only one other source is cited in this article, namely a New York Times article.

***

Later in 2008 Gerald Flurry condemned the dismissal of Larry Summers and quoted Beck to denigrate "colleges and universities" as promoting leftist ideas. It should be noted that his organization operates an unaccredited "College" so consequently he has an interest in discouraging his followers from going to those educational institutions outside PCG's control.

In 2005 there was a study where 72 percent of college professors admitted to being liberal. Glenn Beck recently made a statement on CNN where he said, “Most of our colleges and universities are only working to spread the political views of some of their professors.” That’s a very condemning statement, yet it rings true in light of the resignation of Larry Summers. He was forced to resign from his job when even most of the students didn’t want to see him go! Now that is some kind of authority. You wouldn’t call that a democracy, would you? You could call it tyranny by a small group of the faculty. And where is it leading us in our education today? Do we really care? With a $34.9 billion endowment you have a hefty influence on the national psyche. That makes it extremely important. (Gerald Flurry, Harvard University’s Hidden Authority, June 2, 2008.)

This was reused in PCG's recruitment magazine.

In a 2005 study, 72 percent of college professors admitted to being liberal. Glenn Beck recently stated, “Most of our colleges and universities are only working to spread the radical political views of some of their professors” (cnn, May 14). That’s a very condemning statement, yet it rings true in light of the Larry Summers resignation. He was forced from his job when even most of the students didn’t want to see him go! That is authority. You wouldn’t call that a democracy, would you? You could call it tyranny by a small group of the faculty. And where is it leading us in our education today? That $34.9 billion endowment gives Harvard a hefty influence on the national psyche. That makes this issue extremely important. (Gerald Flurry, Harvard University’s Hidden Authority, August 2008.)

***

Afterwards Beck left CNN and moved to Fox News Channel with a television program of his starting in January 2009. Beck quickly gained widespread attention for his strident denunciations of the Obama Administration and became a most polarizing figure. At one point he called President Obama a racist and in response a boycott campaign against firms advertising on his television program began leading to many firms boycotting his program.

In April 2010 Robert Morley mentioned Beck as being a man accused by leftists of being close to seditious.

Left-wing political commentators, such as Time columnist Joe Klein, charge that right-wing personalities such as Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck are close to being seditious—that they are instigating insurrection against the government. (Robert Morley, "Killing for the Greater Good", April 20, 2010.)

Later in the article Morley cites a Wall Street Journal article that mentioned Beck as a firebrand of the right.

***

On June 30, 2011 the last episode of Glenn Beck on Fox News Channel was broadcast and his television show came to an end and consequently he was now less prominent as a commentator. But Gerald Flurry was still listening to him citing him in a March 2013 article to accuse President Obama of not telling the truth.

When the president was campaigning for a second term, he said, “You may be frustrated sometimes with the pace of change. I’m frustrated too sometimes. But you know where I stand. You know what I believe. YOU KNOW I TELL THE TRUTH.” 

Does the president tell the truth? IS ANYONE PAYING ATTENTION? 

Here is how Glenn Beck responded to the president’s statement: “This is more a judgment on America and the press. I’ve never looked back and marveled at how many people will fall for and accept, knowingly accept, a falsehood. I’ve never seen it before in my life.” 

That is because times are different! None of us has ever seen anything like this before—because something very powerful and absolutely massive happened to this world in 1986. We are now in the advanced stages of the aftermath of that change. (Gerald Flurry, The Hidden Cause of Society’s Deadly Decline, March 2013.)

These words were then used in his booklet, America Under Attack. In that booklet Gerald Flurry accuses President Obama of being influenced by demons and of being an Antichrist like figure he calls "another Antiochus," comparing him to Antiochus Epiphanes and Tkach. This is a vile, superstitious slur.

When the president was campaigning for a second term, he said, “You may be frustrated sometimes with the pace of change. I’m frustrated too sometimes. But you know where I stand. You know what I believe. YOU KNOW I TELL THE TRUTH.” 

Does the president tell the truth? IS ANYONE PAYING ATTENTION? 

Here is how Glenn Beck responded to the president’s statement: “This is more a judgment on America and the press. I’ve never looked back and marveled at how many people will fall for and accept, knowingly accept, a falsehood. I’VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE IN MY LIFE.” 

THAT IS BECAUSE TIMES ARE DIFFERENT! None of us HAS EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE! You can’t explain this unless you go to the Bible, and realize that Satan has been cast down and that his influence is greater than ever! (Gerald Flurry, America Under Attack, Chapter 3, 2013.)

***

In August 2014 Morley mentioned Beck when he compared a Canadian reporter as being the Canadian equivalent of Beck. Morley brings up Beck even though it had been three years since his TV program had ended. Clearly Morley views Beck favorably. Morley was discussing clashes in protests about the 2014 war in Gaza.

Much of the rest of Canadian media ignored the story until the Sun’s Ezra Levant (who is similar to America’s Glenn Beck) finally shamed them into reporting the disgusting events—although predictably, they mostly reported on how sorry Saima Jamal said the Palestinian community was that a few people acted inappropriately. (Robert Morley, ‘Kill the Jews’ in Canada, August 7, 2014.)

***

Parts of the March 2013 article was reused for a January 2015 article to repeat his accusation that President Obama was not telling the truth.

When the president was campaigning for a second term, he said, “You may be frustrated sometimes with the pace of change. I promise you, so am I sometimes. … But you know where I stand. You know what I believe. YOU KNOW I TELL THE TRUTH.” 

Does the president tell the truth? IS ANYONE PAYING ATTENTION? 

Here is how Glenn Beck responded to the president’s statement: “This is more a judgment on America and the press. I’ve never looked back and marveled at how many people will fall for and accept, knowingly accept, a falsehood. I’VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE IN MY LIFE.” 

Yes indeed, THIS IS A “JUDGMENT ON AMERICA” because of our sins. (Gerald Flurry, America: The Attack From Within Continues, January 2015.)

***

And so it is evident that some within PCG's 1% trust Glenn Beck and choose to listen to him. But curiously only Gerald Flurry and Robert Morley have cited him in their writings. This possibly indicates that the others within PCG's leadership are less enthusiastic about him and do not trust him enough to cite him.

Listening to Trump Supporters

Why was Donald Trump elected as the Republican nominee? Seeking to find answers to this question journalist Alexander Zaitchik went around the country interviewing Trump supporters. This book is not about Trump but about his supporters. The results of these interviews have been released in the new book, The Gilded Rage: A Wild Ride Through Donald Trump's America.

The author meets a veteran who saw hope that the VA would be reformed after seeing Trump insult Senator McCain, a married couple who escape from the hardscrabble life in Orange County, and other persons who share their concerns with this reporter.

It really shows how it came to pass that many chose to put their hopes in Trump. This happened not least because of widespread disillusion with establishment politicians and the removal of manufacturing work out of the United States. It is most important to listen to each other to solve the pressing problems so many face.

PCG on the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty

So PCG has released an article talking about the peace treaty made between the State of Israel and Egypt. (Kieran Underwood, A Bright Light in Diplomatic History, August 26, 2016.)

Let's take a look.

Three decades of war haunted both nations. Attacks, counterattacks and preemptive attacks had delivered little but shed the blood of 40,000 men in the process. One man said he would “go to the end of the world” for peace, and another outstretched his hand to guide him. What precipitated was a bright light in diplomatic history. 

That bright light was Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s efforts to bring peace to one of the world’s most ancient rivalries. To this day, the Jews annually celebrate their Exodus and their independence from Egypt. And on March 26, the Jews in Israel celebrated 36 years of peace with their eastern Arab partner.

Actually there was no ancient rivalry between the State of Israel and Egypt. The state of tensions between the State of Israel and Egypt came into being in modern times. It was only in the 1880s that the nationalist movement to create a Jewish state came to gain enough political clout to bring this dream into reality as it would in 1948. This was partly a response to deadly anti-Semitic pogroms in Tsarist Russia. Nationalism is merely a modern phenomenon.

Sadly, today only a few know of the efforts of these two brave leaders. Most Westerners associate diplomacy in the Middle East with the unending Palestinian conflict and the Iranian nuclear deal. Many wonder if diplomacy can actually be effective in the Middle East.

That seems quite an exaggerated statement.

Elsewhere PCG's 1% insists that diplomacy is useless since (they say) unending conflict and bloodshed is the fate of the world until Christ returns.

Underwood then talked about HWA's meetings with various persons discussing the Arab-Israeli conflict in the late 1940s.

In “Mt. Sinai, Jerusalem: Now Foreshadow World Peace,” Mr. Armstrong paraphrased his conversation with then president of the Zionist Organization Chaim Weizmann in 1946:

God, he said, had promised this land to the nation Israel. It had always been called “the Promised Land.” It belonged to Jews by divine right. If God ordained that Jews should be there, he, of course, had a well-founded argument. And just about everybody supposed the biblical account did affirm the divine right of Jews to have there a national state.

Then why is it that in previous generations the Jewish community did not arrive en masse to Palestine if it belonged to them by divine right until the 1880s?

In 1292 King Edward I viciously expelled the Jewish community out of England and forbade them to return. It was not until the 1650s that this unjust and cruel anti-Semitic decree was finally reversed. But those innocent Jews did not move to Palestine. Instead they took shelter mainly in the Netherlands and France. Nationalism did not exist in those days so it never occurred to them to create a Jewish state. That is why they did not go to Palestine to set up a Jewish state.

In 1492 the unified Kingdom of Spain viciously expelled the Jewish community out of the kingdom. But again nationalism did not exist so it never occurred to these innocent Jews to go to Palestine to build a nation state. Instead they took shelter in the Muslim world.

It was only in the modern era as Europe modernized itself that people began to view themselves as part of a nation state. Scholars debate precisely when this happen. Some say in Britain after the English Civil War. Others say after the French Revolution. It was only then that people began to imagine themselves as belonging to a nation state. By 1870 Germany and Italy united themselves as nation states. It was only as nationalism took hold in Europe that the dream of a Jewish state began to be conceivable. This dream of a Jewish state only began to take form in the nineteenth century and it only began to become a viable political movement in the 1880s partly in response to deadly anti-Semitic pogroms in Tsarist Russia. But this modern movement is being anachronistically projected into the past when nationalism did not exist.

Underwood then discusses HWA's discussion with the Saudi Ambassador.

Saudi Arabian Ambassador Hafiz Wahba explained to Mr. Armstrong the Arab viewpoint, which seemed equally convincing:

“Do you feel,” he asked me, “that your American people have a right to the land of the United States, including California?” 

“Your people have occupied this country as a nation less than 200 years, and California still a shorter time.” This was said during the San Francisco Conference. “Suppose the Japanese came claiming the land of California by divine right, and demanded they be allowed to move all Californians out and make it a Japanese national state. Would you think their claim valid? Well, we Arabs have occupied Palestine for many times 200 years, and the Zionists want us to move out and turn it over to them.”

Underwood neglects to mention that Ambassador Wahba's fear that the Palestinians would be forcibly moved out in the creation of a Jewish state was fulfilled in the Israeli War of Independence of 1947-9. About 750,000 Palestinians were expelled into the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and elsewhere.

Statistics for refugee figures have been as high as 935,573 according to UNRWA registrations, to as low as 530,000 according to some Israeli sources. The British Foreign Office estimated the total number of refugees to be 810,000 in February 1949 and then issued a revised estimate of 600,000. The UNCCP Technical Office gave a figure of 760,000. The US government estimated a total refugee population of 875,000 as of 1953. [It states elsewhere that the consensus figure is now about 750,000.] (Beyond Occupation, 2011, p. 292.)

The issue of the mass expulsion of Palestinians is never addressed in this article.

Underwood then discusses the peace negotiations between the State of Israel and Egypt.

Sadat dropped the peace bombshell on Nov. 9, 1977, when he told the Egyptian Parliament he would travel to Jerusalem to pursue peace negotiations. It was not in his original notes. Everyone in the assembly applauded, even Yasser Arafat who was sitting out front. The Egyptians loved the outreach: They believed the other Arabs had grown wealthy while the Egyptians had borne the burden of the four previous wars with Israel.

He mentions that the Arab nations were most displeased at Sadat's diplomatic gesture toward the Israeli government.

Israel quickly accepted the invitation, and Sadat was scheduled to speak to the Israeli Knesset on November 20. When he arrived, Syria declared a Day of National Mourning and flags were flown at half-mast. In Iraq, celebrations of the Eid al-Adha feast were canceled in protest. Libya withdrew its recognition of the Sadat government and severed diplomatic relations. Arab newspapers and broadcasting stations described Sadat as a “traitor,” a “capitulator,” a “conniver with the enemy” and an “agent of imperialism.”

Why would Syria be so angry at President Sadat's diplomatic moves? The Syrian government knew that if there was peace between the State of Israel and Egypt then the State of Israel would not be afraid of an attack from Egypt leaving that side of its border secure and allowing the State of Israel to devote more of its military resources towards the other Arab nations, including Syria.

But as it turned out it would be Lebanon that would find itself on the short side of this peace. With the border with Egypt secure from possible attack the Israeli government knew that they no longer had to worry about Egypt. In 1978 Israeli forces bombarded Lebanon. Later in 1982, knowing that Egypt would not attack to restrain them, the Israeli government sent their military forces into Lebanon. Egypt would not be in the way. Thousands were killed in the military advance.

[Sadat in his speech to the Israeli Knesset] talked of the past, with “all its complexities and weighing memories,” but told his audience it was now time to have the “clarity of vision to overlook”

And so Begin and Sadat went into negotiations and came to an agreement.

At the last moment, Sept. 17, 1978, an agreement was reached: Israel would sacrifice the Sinai but keep the West Bank. Egypt and Israel drew a framework for the conclusion of their peace treaty—and the peace has been kept ever since.

The State of Israel had seized control of the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula during the Six Day War of 1967. The international community did not recognize the State of Israel as having any right to rule over the Sinai Peninsula. The State of Israel had no legal right to hold that land. Naturally the Egyptian government demanded it back but the Israeli government refused. President Sadat proposed a separate peace with the State of Israel in 1971 without the other Arab nations but this offer was refused. So in seeking to reclaim its land Egypt launched the Yom Kippur War in 1973. It is horrifying to imagine that the terrible war could have been avoided if the Israeli government had earlier agreed to return land that did not belong to it.

Furthermore Underwood ignores the complicating factor that the West Bank never belonged to Egypt and so Egypt had no right to give it to the State of Israel as is misleadingly implied above.

Underwood then mentions that the peace treaty put President Sadat's life in danger. He also mentions HWA's meetings with Begin and Sadat.

While both Begin and Sadat began their lives engaging in war, they demonstrated it was possible to overlook the past to create a better future. In doing so, they shone a bright light in a sometimes dim history of diplomacy.

The assassination of President Sadat was a most terrible event.

Underwood conveniently ignores that this peace contributed to the State of Israel's decision to advance into Lebanon. The Israeli government accurately foresaw that Egypt would not hinder this military advance because of this peace treaty. The peace contributed to an escalation of war in Lebanon. But what can one expect such a dogmatic organization as PCG?

PCG Radio: Communism was a Plot to Destroy the Family

While many are worried about the latest dictates from PCG's 1% about who is allowed to associate with PCG members or not PCG continues cranking out radio broadcasts promoting themselves even though very few people bother listening to them. PCG's 1% constantly portray the world outside PCG as unutterably horrible consequently distracting their followers from the problems within PCG.

The August 10, 2016 broadcast of The Trumpet Hour contains Joel Hilliker and Jeremiah Jacques talking about the Arab world five years after the Arab Spring. They state that things have gone worse for them since those protests. They once again state that the US government abandoned President Mubarak overlooking how problematic it would have been to defy the will of so many Egyptian protesters. But PCG's 1% seem to have little concern about what regular Egyptian people should think about their own nation.

Joel Hilliker, Andrew Müller and Kieran Underwood talked about the platform of the Movement for Black Lives. It is mentioned that the platform call for the abolition of the death penalty. It is insisted that whites are killed by police officers more often than African Americans in order to discredit their stances. Hilliker muses while asking a question that they are calling for "increasing federalization of these ... prisons and that kind of thing?" Their demand for the abolition of private prisons is mentioned.

PCG constantly denigrates Black Lives Matter protesters and portrays them in a very bad light. This is partly influenced by their false prophecy of "race war."

Joel Hilliker and Andrew Müller had a very bizarre, strange, ahistorical discussion of how Communism was a plot to destroy the family. It is entitled "Nationalizing the Family." Müller took a rather theoretical book y Engels about what it would be like for a society to not have family units and have ignorantly exaggerated its importance. The destruction of the family is portrayed as the natural result of "socialism" (whatever they mean by that buzzword). 

Does Müller imagine that the various people who participated in the various Communist parties over the years were motivated by destroying the family and replacing it with some kind of collectivist thing? What nonsense. But what can one expect from a McCarthyite like him?

At one point it is stated that the Soviet Union initially legalized homosexuality as part of this plot to destroy the family. The facts are quite different from this bizarre paranoia peddled on PCG's radio station.

Through the abolishment of old Tsarist laws, the Russian Communist Party effectively legalized no-fault divorce, abortion and homosexuality. The initial Russian Soviet criminal code contained no criminalization of homosexuality as the subject was omitted. 

Yet, the legalisation of private, adult and consensual homosexual relations only applied to Russia itself. Homosexuality or sodomy remained a crime in Azerbaijan (officially criminalised in 1923), as well as in the Transcaucasian and Central Asian Soviet Republics throughout the 1920s. Similar criminal laws were enacted in Uzbekistan in 1926 and in Turkmenistan the following year. ... 

in the 1930s, along with increased repression of political dissidents and non-Russian nationalities under Stalin, LGBT themes faced official government censorship, and a uniformly harsher policy across the entire Soviet Union. Homosexuality was officially labelled a disease. (Wikipedia.)

Of course the worst thing about this ahistorical nonsense is that it obscures the actual terrible and severe problems that occurred in the Soviet Union during the dictatorial rule of Lenin and Stalin.

But Hilliker did not express any doubt about Müller's bizarre fantasy. Instead he seemed quite moved by this paranoid drivel and in the last segment used his discussion to denounce "socialism"  (whatever he means by that buzzword) as being the polar opposite of "God's government" which is portrayed as being better.

Celtic Fans in Scotland Supporting Palestinians

The COGs love to use the tragic situation in the Holy Land to scare monger about a clash of civilizations between the Muslim/Arab world ("them") and the West ("us"). But is there a clash of civilizations occurring?

Recently at a soccer match between Celtic, a Scottish club and Hapoel Beer Sheva, an Israeli club, many fans of the Scottish club flew Palestinian flags.

It is quite doubtful if anyone in the COG's 1% will try to look beyond their preconceived ideas to understand this event.

Listening to Trumpet Hour (August 19, 2016)

PCG continues to deliver their message of dire news once again in the August 19, 2016 broadcast of PCG's recruitment radio broadcast, The Trumpet Hour. It is hosted by Joel Hilliker.

Here Richard Palmer talked about the US government handing over control over certain aspects of the Internet to an international organization. PCG so often seems fearful of any other nation managing to get ahead.

The child in the ambulance in Aleppo, Syria is mentioned briefly but their main concern about Syria concerns Russia now using Iran as a launching pad for their airstrikes in support of the Assad regime. PCG constantly scare mongers about Iran because of Gerald Flurry's proclamation in 1994 that Iran would become the "King of the South." It is also stated China will now start helping the Assad regime.

Jeremiah Jacques also talked about China reclaiming land from the wetlands in order to build more industrial areas.

Richard Palmer also talked about Germany resuming arms shipments to the Kurdish peshmerga in Iraq. PCG constantly scare mongers about Germany. PCG teaches that Germany is fated to soon conquer the United States, an absurd and false prediction.

It is mentioned that a think tank has warned that US nuclear weapons in Turkey may not be safe. It is mentioned that during the recent failed coup US military personnel were forbidden from sending any flights during the crisis.

The shooting of an African American by a police officer in Milwaukee is mentioned. It is mentioned that the police officer under discussion happens to be African Americans and yet those discussing it on this program act as though they are surprised and dumbfounded that African Americans should complain about it while a few sadly choosing to riot over it. The thought that a human being had been violently killed and that people would get angry over that seems to escape the comprehension of PCG's leaders discussing these things. The riots that occurred are mentioned. Andrew Müller calls the riot a "race riot." While it is perfectly proper to condemn rioting it should be noted that PCG's 1% has a long history of scare mongering that African Americans will in the near future launch a wave of riots against the white majority in PCG's false prophecy of "race war." Consequently any difficulty in race relations tends to be portrayed in a most alarmist manner by PCG's 1%.
 
At one point Müller cites a spokesman of the New Black Panther Party talking about why the situation was still so severe even though an African American police officer killed the man in question. PCG's 1% would be better informed by not paying attention to a group known to have rather inflammatory views and instead listen to the majority of those who protest against violence. But what can one expect from a McCarthyite? like Müller. He also talked about a feminist who condemned marriage in the discussion.

And so PCG's 1% has made yet another radio broadcast trying to convince people that the leaders of this organization have some special insight into the future even though 52 false prophecies by PCG proves otherwise.

Listening to PCG's Trumpet Radio Live (August 19, 2016)

In the August 19, 2016 broadcast of PCG's radio program, Trumpet Radio Live, the hosts talked about the changing media landscape.

They also discussed recent hacks against the Open Society Institute, an organization connected with George Soros. Citing an article from Investor's Business Daily it is insisted that the mainstream media are ignoring these hacked emails. The hosts denounce this as a "media blackout." It should be noted that for about a decade if not longer certain sections of the political right have tended to often vilify George Soros. The mere allegation that George Soros had funded some person or organization is used by some rightists to discredit the person or organization in question.

It is mentioned that Seattle is offering a class on "white fragility" in discussing how to talk about and handle the discussion of racism and racial issues. The hosts are clearly unimpressed. But considering PCG's false prophecy of "race war" it is clear that PCG's 1% are quite ill suited to judge on this issue. But they end up mentioning that one of them had recently visited Seattle. He said that people there are entertaining and quite willing to share their views.

They also talk about coddled children.

PCG Propagates Fears of a Militarized Japan

PCG has a long and shameful history of demonizing Japan. This tendency of theirs continues in the August 6, 2016 issue of PCG's Trumpet Weekly.

Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has dominated its nation’s politicians since 1955 [sic], only giving up leadership two times in the past 61 years. Its name may seem an enigma to some international viewers, given it sits in the center-right camp and appeals greatest to Japan’s older generation. Nevertheless, it has been highly competent in rebuilding a pacifist Japan from destruction in World War II.

Well, pacifist for now. (p. 8.)

Even though Japan has been a close ally of the United States since 1945 and despite the painful memories of what happened up till 1945 PCG has consistently scare mongered that Japan is destined to remilitarize itself. PCG insinuates that Japan will ally with Russia and China and become a threat to the United States. The many years of Japan's alliance with the United States since 1945 are ignored and overlooked.

PCG often scare mongers about China and North Korea. But many others are also concerned about China and there is a lot of concern about North Korea. Consequently PCG's talk of those governments are not that unusual. But PCG's hostility towards a long standing ally of the United States reveals the lack of goodwill that PCG's 1% have towards people they regard as not being Israelite based on the discredited dogma of British Israelism.

More information regarding HWA's WCG and PCG's demonization of Japan may be seen in the following posts:

Armstrongite WCG's Demonization of Japan.

PCG's Demonization of Japan.

PCG's Continuing Demonization of Japan.

PCG Still Spreading Fear and Hostility Against Japan.

PCG Moaning About Independent Women

In the real world men are privileged compared to women. Men get paid more. Men get promoted while women tend to be left behind. Women tend to be subject to violence by men far more than women against men as the following sobering fact reveals.

In 2013, more than 1,600 women in the United States were murdered by men. Of those women, 94% knew their murderer. The most common murder weapon was a gun—and women are most at risk when they leave their abusers (and begin to regain their power). (Alternet, August 12, 2016.)

But despite such things PCG's 1% seems content in trying to convince their male readers that independent and empowered women are some kind of threat to their manhood as may be seen in the cover for the March 2013 issue of their recruitment magazine. It accompanies an article by Joel Hilliker.

This cover is designed to make male readers feel "victimized" by empowered women. The independent women is portrayed as a threat to the man. This is a terrible message to men.

Rather empowered women are vitally necessary and women deserve to be treated and respected as equals. Empowerment for women is something that needs to be embraced and celebrated. It is wrong for the empowerment of women to be portrayed as some kind of emasculating threat to men.

Women deserve to be treated and respected as equals. It is honorable for men to give women the respect they deserve as equals instead of leaving them in some kind of subordinate position.

PCG Minimizing the Violence of Apartheid (2013)

After the death of Nelson Mandela, the man who did so much to bring to an end the racist system of Apartheid which had kept the black majority trodden underfoot, PCG made an article discussing those who try to imitate the boycott against Apartheid South Africa by calling for a boycott of the State of Israel. (Callum Wood, Sanctioning Israel: the Next South Africa?, December 17, 2013.)

Here is what this article has to say about Apartheid forcing the black majority to be lorded over by a numerically small white minority.

Apartheid officially became law in South Africa in 1948. Unrest flared up in the 1950s, but the idea of sanctions hadn’t started to take hold. In 1962, the UN called on members to “separately or collectively” break diplomatic relations with South Africa and begin trade embargoes. Multiple trade and arms embargoes ensued, including Resolution 181, which saw—with U.S. approval—the cessation of arms shipments to South Africa from Europe. This law became mandatory in 1977, largely as a result of the heavy-handed crackdown on protesters by police.

Wood writes of "the heavy-handed crackdown on protesters by police" within Apartheid South Africa. What a sanitized way Wood describes the deadly repression Apartheid caused.

Astonishingly Wood makes makes no mention in this article of how about 176 people were killed in 1976 during the Soweto uprising by the Apartheid regime's attempts to repress protests in Soweto by people who yearned to free from Apartheid. Somehow such frightful bloodshed is casually ignored in this article.

Also what about the widespread racial discrimination that the black majority were forced to endure? While so much of the world moved away from racial discrimination Apartheid South Africa insisted on imposing various racist measures against the black majority. Such racial discrimination was reason enough to sanction the Apartheid regime even if the mass killing in Soweto in 1976 had never occurred.

It is shocking that Wood and the editors of PCG should dare to ignore the racist oppression that the black majority in South Africa were forced to endure for so long. No mention is made in this article of the deadly violence that the Apartheid regime unleashed against the black majority to impose white supremacy.

If PCG's leaders should treat the violence of Apartheid in South Africa in such a way it should be no surprise that PCG's leaders today choose to harden their hearts at the African American protesters who protest alongside allies from the white majority against police violence and who yearn to live without fear of violence at the hands of those who are supposed to protect them.

If PCG's leaders can minimize the killing of 176 people in the Soweto uprising of 1976 as merely a "heavy-handed crackdown on protesters by police" then PCG's leaders will choose to harden their hearts at the current problem of African Americans enduring police brutality.

It is shameful that PCG's leaders should dare to minimize the horrors of such a racist system as Apartheid in this article. It is a terrible wrong against those who were victimized by that racist regime for so many years.

More on PCG's sympathy for Apartheid South Africa may be seen in this previous post.

Israeli Blockade of Gaza Tightened in July

The Israeli blockade of Gaza was more strict in July according to recent figures.

New data released by a United Nations agency and an Israeli NGO has confirmed that Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip actually tightened during July.
UN OCHA’s monthly update for July reports that the number of crossings at Erez was 15 per cent below the 2016 monthly average, and just 30 per cent of the monthly average in 2004. ...
Meanwhile, at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, a total of just 157 truckloads of goods exited for sale outside of the Gaza Strip, down on the average for the first half of 2016 – and just 20 per cent of the equivalent figure in 2005. (Israeli blockade on Gaza tightened in July, new figures show, Middle East Monitor, August 16, 2016.)

May peace soon come to the Holy Land.

Netanyahu Says He Cares More for Palestinians Than Their Own Leaders

So Netanyahu stated that he cared more for Palestinians more than Palestinian leaders.

Netanyahu: I care more about Palestinians than their leaders do https://t.co/TSghOUVjFx

— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) August 11, 2016

(Hat tip: Christians United For Israel.)

If this is so then why don't the Palestinians vote for his party?

The Palestinian citizens of Israel vote for parties that caters to them. Also there is an unwritten convention that the parties catering for Israeli Jews do not join up with the parties of the Palestinian citizens of Israel in negotiations to form a government. This excludes the parties voted by the Palestinian citizens of Israel from the possibility of participating in an elected government. This unwritten rule was only broken once during the last premiership of Rabin. So the Palestinian citizens of Israel rarely vote for Netanyahu's party.

The Palestinians of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are not allowed to vote in Israeli elections. When the State of Israel gained those territories in the 1967 Six Day War they were not annexed by the State of Israel thus leaving those Palestinians in a legal limbo. Although they were ruled by the State of Israel through COGAT they were excluded from participating in or voting in Israeli elections. And at the same time the Israeli government built settlements for Israeli Jews in the territories but these Jewish citizens of Israel are allowed to participate in and vote in Israeli elections. So the Palestinians in the territories have no ability to vote for Netanyahu's party even if they wanted to while nearby the settlers are allowed to vote anyway.

The Palestinians who had been cast out of what became the State of Israel during the Israeli War of Independence are also unable to vote for Netanyahu's party even if they wanted to. From the moment of their expulsion they insisted on returning to their homes in the 1949-67 borders of the State of Israel but the Israeli government refused to let them return to this day. In other words they are restricted from participating in or voting in Israeli elections.

If Netanyahu cares for Palestinians more than their own leaders maybe he should let those Palestinians he says he cares for more than the Palestinians' own leaders to freely vote in Israeli elections.

Meredith Said Causing Church Division Worse Than Murder

Among those who did not depend on Roderick C. Meredith his reputation for authoritarian behavior was already rather known. But as a result of the lawsuit brought by the Scarboroughs against LCG it is now known that Meredith made the following shocking and outrageous denunciation of "church division".

Meredith also said that “causing church division is worse than murder or child molestation”. Ironic since he’s formed two churches through division himself and we never caused or urged a single person to leave LCG. (Elizabeth Scarborough, Banned by HWA, August 7, 2016.)

Banned by HWA and Ambassador Watch have discussed this dreadful comment from Meredith.

What an outrageous thing to say. It is terrible that he should dare to talk of murder and child molestation in such a careless and casual manner.

What a frightening thing it is to see that a person who wields such power as Meredith within LCG should harbor in his heart such skewered and self serving priorities.

He has long ago sold his soul to maintaining and perpetuating his power over his followers.

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

It has recently been reported by Exit and Support Network that PCG has made their infamous "no contact" policy even more onerous and restrictive than it was already was before. And now PCG has released another issue of their recruitment magazine. Let's have a look and see what they say at this time.

The issue opens with a vile cover made to incite Islamophobic feelings. PCG very often demonizes Muslims and tells people to be scared of Muslims. It is very rare that any Muslim individual is portrayed in PCG's writings as simply normal people with feelings, concerns and hobbies like anyone else. Instead Muslims are crudely stereotyped as violent terrorists. One wonders how many Muslim individuals PCG's 1% have ever actually met and associated with?

Note how only locations in Europe and America are highlighted in red. This implies that the terrorist attacks elsewhere are of less concern to the makers of this recruitment magazine and testifies to their patronizing assumption that the audience will agree with this assessment of those terrorist attacks.

This is one reason why PCG's 1% are able to order their followers to shun family members. The followers have been taught that other people outside PCG are threats such as Muslims, Germans, the Chinese government, etc, are to be feared so the PCG members are less attentive to any threat to their interests and lives from PCG's 1%.

The circulation for this issue is listed as 282,121.

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

Gerald Flurry has yet another race baiting article insinuating that African Americans will soon launch a wave of violence against the white majority all over the United States. Somehow. This once again promotes PCG's false prophecy of "race war."

Richard Palmer exploits the various terrorist attacks connected with the terrorists and murderers of ISIL to scare monger that PCG's prophecies will soon be fulfilled. That is nonsense.

Palmer also suggests France or Europe needs to throw Muslims into walled off ghettos.

Even now, amid an immigration crisis spiked with horrifying outbursts of terrorism, giving up free ideals for safety remains anathema to modern Europe. But what other choice does it have? Marseilles, Brussels and Barcelona are all about one third Muslim. Malmö, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Rotterdam are about a quarter Muslim. Muslims heavily populate big cities across Europe. Literally walling off these populations would be difficult; it would prove much harsher to local Muslims than Israel’s West Bank barrier, and it would literally run massive divides through the land of liberté, egalité and fraternité. (p. 6.)

That is a vile and shocking thing to say. What a frightening attitude of anti-Muslim bigotry such words expose. This vile proposal really shows the extremist nature of PCG. What filthy words they are. Shame on Palmer for saying such a frightful, bigoted and Islamophobic thing. What if he said such a thing about Jews or African Americans? It is inexcusable.

And shame on the editors of this recruitment magazine, namely Gerald Flurry, Stephen Flurry, Joel Hilliker, Brad MacDonald, Richard Palmer, Robert Morley, Jeremiah Jacques, Dennis Leap and Phillip Nice, for allowing these dreadful words to be published.

Palmer also scare mongers that Germany has various military forces. Germany is simply not able to conquer the United States as so many within the COGs insist will happen. It is nonsense.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article scare mongering about doctors supposedly being reluctant to undergo medical treatment when they near the end of their lives. Armstrongism has a long and shameful history of promoting deadly anti-medicine superstitions. PCG continues to teach this doctrine of death to this day as may be seen in Gerald Flurry's booklet, The Last Hour.

Brent Nagtegaal has an article complaining that the attempted military coup in Turkey had failed.

Jorg Mardian gives some advice on how to get healthy food.

Joel Hilliker has a little article saying people outside of PCG are inclined to be sinful.

The Infographic insists that Black Lives Matter activists are wrong in saying that African Americans need to be protected from police brutality. It appears that PCG's leaders are unmoved at African Americans' cries for protection from violence and their political mobilization to peacefully advance their interests through political participation and social activism like any other group of people.

Christopher Eames has an article insisting that China is conquering New Zealand. It is accompanied with a ridiculous illustration by Gary Dorning of a panda eating a New Zealand flag. Pandas are not generally portrayed as threatening.

David Vejil has an article scare mongering that China may become a superpower.

... we forecast that it will play a major role in waging economic war that will devastate America. (p. 22.)

Even though PCG says Europe will conquer the United States they still wish to appeal to those who fear China as well.

The selection from their indoctrination course insists that there will be no peace until Christ returns.

Joel Hilliker gives advice on how to remember things.

Phillip Nice complains about the political system in the United States.

And so PCG once again has produced a magazine designed to keep their members in awe of PCG's 1% and to reinforce the implanted conviction that PCG's various prophecies will soon finally occur just in time to introduce further attempts to get PCG members to shun even more people and keep PCG members even more isolated from mainstream society than they already are.

(Update: August 12. Links to the issue under discussion have been added. Like every other issue it has a WorldWatch article and a SocietyWatch article. The last page of this issue also promotes Gerald Flurry's newly released booklet, Great Again.)

When Loma Armstrong Saw Palestinian Refugees (1956)

Many authoritarian religious groups like to tell simple stories to their followers and teach them to view the world in black and white. This is true with how the COGs discuss events in the Holy Land. They tell a very simple story. One side is good. One side is bad. One side is one of us. The other side are not a part of us. One side is viewed as white like most of the members of the COGs. The other side is viewed as not white.

Recently PCG reprinted HWA's Autobiography (with a few additions of their own). One wonder how many of them noticed that it contains a reference to the Palestinian refugees who fled from the forces of the State of Israel during the Israeli War of Independence of 1947-9.

In 1956 HWA and Loma Armstrong went on a tour of the Middle East. During this tour they visited Syria and witnessed just a few of the approximately 750,000 Palestinians who had been expelled by the forces of the State of Israel. The Palestinians yearned to return to their homes but by 1956 the Israeli government refused to let them return. To this day the vast majority of Palestinians are not allowed to return to the land that they were expelled from in 1947-9 while at the same time the Israeli government allows any Jewish person to migrate there and quickly gain citizenship.

Here is Loma Armstrong's account of seeing some of the Palestinian refugees in Syria in 1956.

We were then driven by an Arab to a refugee camp-the most miserable place we had yet seen. We saw one-hundred thousand Arabs living in huts made from old oil cans or anything else they could find. The dust was thick under our feet and the people were filthy and sickly and ragged. They were covered with flies. Most of them were beggars. 

We were told that they had been driven out of Palestine by the Jews but Palestine does not seem large enough to hold the thousands of Arab refugees we saw in all the different places which the Arabs claim were driven out by the Jews from Palestine. America had an “Atoms for Peace” display in Damascus while we were there but there was any thing but a feeling of peace toward Americans or English. The clerks in the Hotel were sullen and very unfriendly as were those in other cities of the Middle East. (Loma Armstrong, Mrs. Armstrong's Diary, Plain Truth, November 1956, p. 12.)

(Warning: The November 1956 issue contains Holocaust related imagery that some readers may find disturbing.)

Loma Armstrong referred to these Palestinian refugees as Arabs. But the Palestinians are not interchangeable with any other Arabs. They are not Syrians or Lebanese or Jordanian or Iraqi. They are Palestinians.

Lome Armstrong writes, "We were told that they had been driven out of Palestine by the Jews" absurdly implying that the fact they had been expelled by the forces of the State of Israel might not be true.

Furthermore it is simply not true and it is a crude stereotype to say "the Jews" had expelled these Palestinians into Syria. The forces of the State of Israel such as the Palmach, the Irgun and the Lehi had done this mass expulsion. Many Jews in fact disagreed with the idea of making a Jewish state from the moment this nationalist dream became a political movement in the 1880s partly in response to deadly anti-Semitic pogroms in Tsarist Russia. Many Jews had nothing to do with this mass expulsion of Palestinians. It is morally wrong to write as though all Jews bear responsibility for this. Simple justice shows that is simply not true.

Astoundingly she seems to want to believe that there were too many Palestinians implying that they were somehow fake refugees. This is bizarre nonsense.

Let us take a look to note just how many Palestinians who been expelled outside of the 1949-1967 borders of the State of Israel during the Israeli War of Independence of 1947-9.

Statistics for refugee figures have been as high as 935,573 according to UNRWA registrations, to as low as 530,000 according to some Israeli sources. The British Foreign Office estimated the total number of refugees to be 810,000 in February 1949 and then issued a revised estimate of 600,000. The UNCCP Technical Office gave a figure of 760,000. The US government estimated a total refugee population of 875,000 as of 1953. [It states elsewhere that the consensus figure is now about 750,000.] (Beyond Occupation, 2011, p. 292.)

How could Loma Armstrong say that the land that used to be Mandatory Palestine was too small to contain all these Palestinian refugees. It is astonishing that she should say something so ridiculous and fanciful. It is little wonder that some editor in WCG got rid of this absurd statement of hers in later printings of this work.

Here is the relevant passage in the 1987 version of HWA's Autobiography.

We were then driven by an Arab to a refugee camp -- the most miserable place we had yet seen. We saw one hundred thousand Arabs living in huts made from old oil cans or anything else they could find. The dust was thick under our feet and the people were sickly and ragged. They were covered with flies. Most of them were beggars.
America had an "Atoms for Peace" display in Damascus while we were there. (Volume 2, Chapter 65.)

It is strange to see how certain parts of the original narrative had been sanitized. The absurd claim of Palestine being too small had been removed by some editor in WCG.

Of course those Palestinian refugees yearned to return to their homes. Even today they wish to return to the land they or their ancestors had been expelled from in 1947-9.

Sadly today many of those Palestinian refugees in Syria have no doubt been afflicted by the ongoing Syrian Civil War that has been raging since 2011 after the regime launched a violent crackdown on an initially peaceful protest movement that provoked a full scale insurgency which was later exploited by the terrorists and murderers of ISIL to seize power for themselves in large parts of Syria.

One suburb of Damascus is Yarmouk which has long been a focal point of Palestinian society within Syria. Since December 2012 Yarmouk has been besieged by the regime after rebels seized control of it. For years aid had been blocked from getting into Yarmouk. In April 2015 the terrorists and murderers of ISIL attacked rebel held Yarmouk and gained control of about ninety per cent of rebel held Yarmouk. The situation is most dire and terrible in Yarmouk as well as all of Syria. May peace soon come to Syria.