Monday, September 26, 2016

Mark Armstrong's Vicious Rant Against People Accepting of Muslim Refugees

Every Friday Mark Armstrong, leader of the Intercontinental Church of God, publishes a weekly update which is often quite stridently polemic and condemning of political movements and people he does he align with. Sometimes they can be especially vicious. His June 3, 2016 weekly update was particularly venomous as he scare mongers about illegal  immigrants, Muslims and those who wish to welcome asylum seekers.

He scare mongers that society can easily fall apart. To support this scare mongering he cites protests against Trump.
We're seeing how quickly civilized society can be turned ugly and violent, especially when the police stand back and watch!  Illegal aliens now believe they're impervious to any and all authority, and they can assail citizens, stomp police cars, burn American flags and wave the flag of Mexico.  Oh, but that's just because of the divisive rhetoric of a political candidate.  He made them act out like this!
Incidentally around that time Trump visited his golf course in Scotland and some people there who are not planning to migrate to the United States chose to fly a Mexican flag to signal their displeasure at him. One wonders what Mark Armstrong would have thought of that.

He then shrilly and nonsensically insists that (somehow) America 's "entire economic system" will be destroyed based on current behavior because of immigrants getting social welfare.
Would that it was true.  In fact, they have ensconced themselves throughout American society, taking advantage of what was intended to be a temporary "safety net" for the poor.  But there's nothing temporary about it.  Government "programs" have become a way of life for those who would invade American society.  Whoever is credited with coining the phrase it certainly has merit in this case, and it goes like this, "You can't have open borders and a welfare state at the same time."  The reasons are obvious, and the eventual collapse of our entire economic system are absolutely guaranteed on the current trajectory.  Guilty as we Americans are, we're expected by the current administration and the many in the mainstream media to accept what will inevitably befall us, realizing we had it coming.
What nonsense. The United States is the most powerful nation state in the world by far. It is absurd and ridiculous to insinuate that the United States' "entire economic system" could collapse because of some immigrants.

His rant then takes a disturbing turn. So often Armstrongite leaders exploit certain views about peoples' sexuality to keep the lay members under control.

He then talks about the refugee crisis in Europe. He describes two incidents, one in Norway and another incident concerning a Facebook post in Germany, to condemn those open to letting refugees migrate to the United States, Germany, Norway and other Western nation states.
The line of logic is reminiscent of several true stories reported out of Europe.  There are two cases in particular where "refugee welcome" volunteers helped Muslim refugees by allowing them to stay in their homes.  One volunteer was a woman, the other a man in completely separate incidents.  Both (yes, even the man) were raped by their Muslim guests, and in the case of the male volunteer, the attacker was deported.  The man who was brutalized went public with his sympathy for the deported Muslim, saying it was the unfairness of Europe to the Muslim culture that was to blame.  We've heard of turning the other cheek, but that's beyond bizarre.  The woman also expressed her sympathy for her rapist, and blamed the cultural clash.
This is just awful. To accuse people one disagrees with as somehow being sympathetic with rapists is just awful and terrible. That is not a debate but a vicious demonization of those of a differing view. What a frightening, vindictive and vicious thing to say.

The first link in this paragraph is to an Al Jazeera America article discussing volunteers helping refugees in Europe.

The second link is to a WorldNetDaily article. That article does not describe any of the victims as volunteers supporting refugees.

WorldNetDaily is a far right media outlet. It is about as far right as one can get without becoming an actual extremist. The COGs have a history of tending to cite that far right media outlet. Infamously it played a leading role in spreading the nonsensical rumor that President Obama was not born in the United States.

The third link is to an article from Shoebat.com which quotes the Facebook post but says nothing about her hosting refugees. Also, based on the translation provided in that article, it is not an apology to the rapist in any way.

Shoebat.com was founded by Walid Shoebat, who is an individual connected with what some have called the Islamophobia Network.

Strangely the articles linked to in that paragraph quoted above do not contain the much of the information he describes. Where did he get this information from? Apparently from another article from WorldNetDaily. That WorldNetDaily article mentions people hosting refugees but the woman who made that Facebook post under discussion is not mentioned as hosting refugees, The details appears to be confused in this weekly update. One wonders why he did not link to that article?

Also the information about the male victim is also present in that WorldNetDaily article. On that matter it cites Breitbart, a right wing media outlet described as part of the alt-right. Elsewhere in the weekly update Mark Armstrong links to Breitbart's web site. Its editor was recently hired by the Trump campaign and has recently been the subject of concern.

The details appears to be confused in this weekly update. One wonders why he did not link to this article?

Let us now return to the weekly update.

He then ridicules education at Universities as "anti-American brainwashing".
This is the attitude we're all expected to adopt, under the philosophical logic underlying the current administration, and the anti-American brainwashing that now passes for education at most universities.
He states that he and like minded individuals will not follow the attitude that he condemns. He somewhat amusingly describes himself and like minded individuals as "us bitter clingers".

The weekly update then takes a disturbing turn. He makes a reference to holding on to "the means to protect our property and families." This is possibly a reference to using guns.

He also makes the paranoid claim that the federal government will make people like him a minority insinuating that mass arrests or even mass violence will soon be unleashed by the federal government against people like him.
Some of us bitter clingers aren't letting go.  We're hanging on to our Bibles, our true history and the means to protect our property and families.  But we may well be in the minority.  If not, it won't be long before the taxpayer-sponsored invasion makes sure of it.  We don't know if somehow there'll be another gasp of sanity for the United States, or whether we've strayed so far from God's way of life that it's almost over.
Such talk is frightening. How can one debate with others while making such hysterical claims? This is a toxic attitude that makes it impossible for one to live in peace with people who views things differently.

No good can come from this paranoid and hostile attitude present within this organization.

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