Living Armstrongism: HWA's Exploitation of the Feast of Tabernacles

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

HWA's Exploitation of the Feast of Tabernacles

It is terrible how HWA exploited the Feast of Tabernacles to cause his followers to revile all Christians as false and under the influence of Satan. The Feast of Tabernacles is a beautiful festival that is precious to Jews all over the world. It is terrible how HWA exploited this festival to make his followers think his organization was the only true religion on all the Earth.

HWA barely knew anything about the Feast of Tabernacles and he mangled it beyond recognition. Among the Jewish community it is a joyous festival that is spent at home or visiting relatives and friends. They build sukkot (singular sukkah), an outdoor enclosure on their property, in their homes in memory of the wandering in the wilderness and joyfully celebrate the Feast together in their homes.

But HWA did not understand any of this. Getting his followers to build sukkah in their homes and meeting with family, friends and follow believers of the Radio/Worldwide Church of God would not help HWA. The members focus and resources would be spent on each other and not HWA's leadership. So he turned it into an eight day annual conference. Instead of being in a tent like sukkah he got his followers to assemble together and twisted this joyous feast into an eight indoctrination session and annual conference.

Many churches and organizations have an annual conference of some kind. Usually they only last for a weekend. But HWA imposed an eight day annual conference upon his followers. What can possibly be done in eight days that cannot be done in a weekend? This is a terrible burden HWA imposed on his followers.

HWA committed a shameful act of cultural appropriation exploiting this beautiful Jewish festival for his own narrow sectarian ends. It is shameful what HWA did to this beautiful festival and twisted it into an unnecessary burden that serves to more effective control his followers. It is terrible what HWA did to this beautiful festival. We should have respected this beautiful Jewish festival and left it alone, leaving it the Jewish community.

There is no need for a Christian to observe this festival. We should leave this beautiful Jewish festival alone.

(Also relevant to this discussion is the following post: HWA's Error Regarding the Feast.)

1 comment:

AnonymousSeptember 15, 2016 at 8:07 PM
Herbert Armstrong's vision of the Feast has been particularly hard on the family. I spent part of one Feast in Squaw Valley helping to tutor a student in math who was growing up in the church. Children typically had to spend most of the Feast doing homework. Maybe the adults could go out and party (we'll get to that in a minute), but it could be quite a miserable time for the children. Yes, they may have gotten a special 'Feast gift' some sort of toy as a palliative substitute for xMass gifts, but on top of being disrupted from the regular flow of school, the children were trapped in travel -- sometimes exciting and sometimes 'are we there yet?'. Some of the children were treated to fast food which is really terrible, as many studies have shown.

But it was also stressful for the adults. First, the expense is absolutely terrible. 10% of your annual (gross) income? (On top of the tithe.) Changing diets (to something really bad for your health), uncomfortable accommodations and often too little sleep. And these days, Feast goers are treated to disease -- and some of them quite serious. And without inoculations, the problems could be aggravated.

And then there's the booze. Armstrongism by its very nature attracts a sizeable number of alcoholics -- and some don't know that they are alcoholics because they did not drink before coming into the church -- then suddenly, they are introduced to alcohol and begin their downward spiral of alcoholism. This is an extremely unacknowledged problem which is also devastating. Moreover, the Armstrongist congregations form social groups which actually exist only because of social drinking. At the Feast, where so much money is spent on booze, it spirals out of control. And of course, Herbert Armstrong, along with GTA, were alcoholics who promoted alcoholic boozing.

What has been referred to as 'post Feast letdown' may be more like a hangover. It's not a good sign when a person returns from the Feast and instead of being inspired with new vitality believing that they are closer to God, are tired, effete and drained of energy, groggy from entirely too much corporate conference partying.

Yes, Herbert Armstrong is the very last person in this world to have ever taken any example from as to living a Christian life.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Fall of Berlin Wall NOT Proof HWA was Right

It is often asserted that the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 proved that HWA was right and he really did see the future.

This of course is nonsense. Herbert W. Armstrong said that Christ would return within twenty years in his book Mystery of the Ages. (PCG has since deleted those words so someone in there knows HWA spoke nonsense.) How convenient for them to forget this.

Also Herbert W. Armstrong never said the Soviet Union would collapse. He thought it would survive intact until a few years after Christ's return. It shows how biased some many in the COGs are that they never seem to notice this. This inconvenient truth is just tossed into the memory hole.

It is true that HWA said that some Eastern European states would break away from Moscow's orbit and join the European Empire he said would arise at any moment. But he never talked of the Soviet Union collapsing. He did not teach that. Also he portrayed the rise of the European Empire to be far quicker then what has actually happened. In Mystery of the Ages Christ was supposed to return by 2005 at the most.

So assertions that the fall of the Berlin Wall somehow prove that HWA was right is just complete nonsense spread by people who, for whatever reason, are still in denial that HWA was a false prophet who merely talked out of his own "human reasoning".

Truth about Roderick C. Meredith

What sort of man is he? A man who could say things like this.

"Mr. Armstrong has reminded us again that we are to disfellowship any members who attend GTA's [Garner Ted Armstrong's] campaigns, church services or other meetings. Some of our weaker members apparently do not realize that this man is in direct rebellion against God and His government! We must not allow them, or ourselves, to rationalize about this matter, to try to "help the underdog," or in any other way lend support to one whose gross immorality, whose long standing "play acting" and hypocrisy, and whose direct insubordination to the Government of God has long been and is now a source of confusion and DIVISION among God's people. So, as per Mr. Armstrong's instruction, I charge and exhort every one of you faithful ministers of the living Christ to explain this in no uncertain terms to your members, to warn them about this cause of division and then to disfellowship any who consort with GTA or any of his fellows." (Roderick C. Meredith, Pastor's Report, May 21, 1979, pp. 1-2.)

See here for this statement's context.

David Robinson on Roderick C. Meredith

WCG minister David Robinson had this to say about Roderick C. Meredith in a letter he wrote to him on September 19, 1979.

"During the ten years I have been an employee of the Worldwide Church, you have been poorly spoken of by most of the ministers and employees I have known. I vividly remember the absolute unbounded glee that was openly expressed by a good number of respected men in the church when you were first "shanghaied." [In 1972.] I could begin by naming names, which I am sure would shock you. I was one of the few who stood, where possible, for you. Your tenure as superintendent of ministers, as I believe the office was then called, was looked on as nightmarish. While you held office during the years of growth, most of those whom I know gave you very little credit for that growth. Almost everyone whom I know, whether they be former friends of yours, or continuing foes, recalls insensitive and terrible things you have done. Without exception, at least among my acquaintances, they all credit you with an unbridled lust for power and list you as one who is willing to pay the price of gaining that power, no matter what. I have, through many of the last few years, believed you had principles you would not violate. Many a man of experience in the church assured me of my error. Events have proven me wrong and them right. Mr. Armstrong has himself been widely quoted as saying of you that you were so righteous that you were so "righteous you were unrighteous." " (David Robinson, Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web, Chapter 16, p. 207.)

Of course it is impossible for me to personally verify these assertions but people deserve to know what this knowledgeable man had to say about him.

Living Armstrongism

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

HWA's Exploitation of the Feast of Tabernacles

1 comment:

If You are new please read this

Fall of Berlin Wall NOT Proof HWA was Right

Truth about Roderick C. Meredith

The Truth About Europe and Prophecy

Followers

Truth About The Key of David's Gerald Flurry and his PCG

What is this?

Email

Blog Archive

Labels

About Me

COG Links

Remembering The Persecuted Church

David Robinson on Roderick C. Meredith

My Blog List