PCG's Ron Fraser Called Shimon Peres a "Puppeteer" (2001)

So often PCG's 1% claim to be friends of the Jewish community, particularly Israeli Jews. But they only seem to like certain Israeli Jews. Shimon Peres was not an Israeli politician they favored. Once in early 2001 PCG's Ron Fraser even called Peres a "puppeteer who pulled the strings" within Rabin's government in regards to negotiations with the PLO. Fraser's terminology about Peres is eerily similar to one anti-Semitic epithet, "wire pullers," which was used by the Nazi regime to demonize Jews. 

Close investigation reveals that Peres is the prime link involved in the negotiations with the Vatican and the EU which are now resulting in the EU seeking to take over as the principle mediator and driving force in the “peace process,” marginalizing U.S. efforts. 

Peres’s bona fides were established with Yasser Arafat’s PLO in a dirty deal which allowed the PLO to dictate the outcome of the 1992 Israeli election. ... Arafat took the bait. ... Ever since, Arafat has sought his pound of flesh in terms of the fulfillment of the promises which Peres made to him. It is no secret that Shimon Peres was the puppeteer who pulled the strings of the assassinated Rabin’s government’s negotiations with the Palestinians. His initiatives led to the exchange of letters between Rabin and Arafat in September 1993 which in turn led to the signing of the “Declaration of Principles of Interim Self-Government Arrangements”—termed the Oslo Accord—signed by Rabin and Arafat in Washington that same year. The Oslo Accord became the foundation upon which the past seven years’ efforts to find a peaceful settlement in Palestine have been built. (Ron Fraser, Muscling Into the Mideast, March-April 2001.)

It is one thing to disapprove of a politician's proposal. But any reasonable argument can be advanced without using such vicious rhetoric.

Bill O'Reilly: Jesus Celebrated Passover a Day Early

Recently I read Killing Jesus by (the now disgraced) Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard, which was released on September 24, 2013. While reading it I found this statement.

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke make it clear that Jesus was celebrating the Passover meal a day early. ... Other scholars resolve the issue by arguing that the Synoptics base their calendar days on the Galilean Method (used by Jesus, his disciples, and Pharisees), from sunrise to sunrise; while John bases his calendar days on the Judaean Method (used by the Sadducees), from sunset to sunset. This resolves the discrepancy, as the different calendars will place Passover meals at different times. (p. 218.)

This is completely different from what HWA's organization so confidently taught. As may be seen in Herman Hoeh's 1961 article, "The True Reason Why the Jews Rejected Christ," they insisted that the Last Supper was the Passover. They insisted that Passover is to observed at the started of Nisan 14. They insisted that the Jewish community are in error by celebrating Passover a day later. They insisted that this alleged error originated from Hellenistic Egypt. But can we really be so sure that HWA's organization were correct on this matter?

It is clear that HWA had little idea of the complexity of the topic of determining dates for the Jewish festivals when he so cavalierly adopted them in his syncretist religion. There is no requirement for Christians to observe the Jewish festivals. We should leave these festivals alone and let the Jewish community enjoy these festivals without the COGs appropriating them for themselves and audaciously insisting that the Jewish community fails to celebrate them properly. We should leave these precious festivals alone.

PCG Promoting Fear of Iran

While listening to Melanie Phillip's lecture at PCG headquarters, which occurred on May 7, 2017, I heard this question from the audience from a man who is likely a member of PCG. It was sad to hear someone who appears to have taken PCG's scare mongering to heart. This question occurs about 1:36:50 in the video.

You have talked about getting to the issue which is stopping people from wanting to kill Jews and eradicate Israel. And you've mentioned several times what's going on with Palestinian Authority. What's going on with Mahmoud Abbas. What's happening in the north with Hezbollah. What's happening in ... with Hamas in Gaza.

How much of this is laid at the feet of Iran? And what they are doing to promote and to push the rest of the Islamic world to hate Israel. These terrorist groups that we mentioned here. We havn't really talked much about Iran but I'd really would like to hear your views on that. And their responsibility in this as well.

The fact that he uses the word "push" to describe Iran's foreign policy is a further indication that this person is a member of PCG. PCG's leaders often use that word to describe Iran and to associate Iran with their misinterpretation of Daniel 11:40.

Ironically Phillips then says that in relation to the State of Israel's relations with the Palestinians that Iran's influence is a symptom of the crisis, not in itself a cause of tense relations with the Palestinians.

Back in 1994 PCG's leader, Gerald Flurry, proclaimed Iran to be the King of the South and ever since then has scare mongered about Iran. This provides a powerful incentive for PCG's leaders to demonize Iran. By bad mouthing Iran they seek to prove that their leader can foresee the future. However PCG's numerous failed predictions prove that there is no need to fear their dire predictions.

Also just before that question Phillips mused that a simple change of signage would be enough to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Now that President Trump has announced that they will move the embassy it turns out that it will take a long time to finalize everything.

Overview of the February 2018 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

PCG's 1% have released another issue of their recruitment magazine to gain tithes paying members for their organization. (February 2018.) Let us see what they have to say this time.

The first thing to mention is the cover's use of the national flag of Saudi Arabia. It is disappointing to see that PCG's 1% have so little cultural awareness regarding that flag. It contains the Islamic declaration of faith, the shahada, which every Muslim is expected to publicly declare at least once in his or her life. It is saying deeply precious to Muslims all over the world. There have been controversies before over the handling of this flag which features the shahada. Didn't anyone within PCG's 1% think to say that this illustration should have been handled differently? And to think that PCG claims that they will rule the world after Christ's return yet they do not even know that using the flag of Saudi Arabia in this way might be a bad idea. PCG should have handled this matter differently.

This issue has a circulation of 248,247 issues. January 2018's circulation was 247,255 issues. November-December 2017's circulation was 246,769. October 2017's circulation was 245,780. September 2017's circulation was 245,925 issues. August 2017's circulation was 255,897 issues. July 2017's circulation was 267,569. May-June 2017's circulation was 263,551. April 2017's circulation was 267,569 (which happens to be the same as July 2017's figure).

The editors for this issue are Gerald Flurry, Stephen Flurry, Joel Hilliker, Brad Macdonald, Richard Palmer, Robert Morley, Jeremiah Jacques, Dennis Leap and Phillip Nice.

Gerald Flurry has a personal article where he seems to suggest that the State of Israel's problems would all be solved in if they just trusted in God.

The threat against Jerusalem was every bit as great as the one facing that same city today. But how did that threat end? “And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses” ... [2 Kings 19:35.] ... GOD SUPERNATURALLY WIPED OUT THAT WHOLE ARMY—185,000 SOLDIERS—IN ONE NIGHT! This is the ONLY way to protect Jerusalem today! (p. 25.)

What a sickening thing to say. He is also taking this passage out of context. 2 Kings 19 is talking about the Assyrian invasion under Sennacherib about 2,700 years ago. It is most surely not a recommendation for what the State of Israel should do today.

Brad Macdonald praises President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. It is insisted with excitement that President Trump's decision will make PCG's prophetic scenario more likely to occur.

Brad Macdonald also has a side article in which the US government's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel is described as an unremarkable decision.

Within PCG's writings it tends to be assumed that the tense relations between the State of Israel and the Palestinians are mainly about Jerusalem. This is a misconception which ignores many other issues, such as the State of Israel's refusal to let Palestinian refugees in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and elsewhere to return to their homes, the imposition of Israeli rule within Area C of the Palestinian West Bank among a population that never asked to be ruled by the State of Israel, the inconvenience of Israeli checkpoints within the West Bank for the Palestinian population, the fact that Palestinian controlled land is surrounded by Israeli controlled spaces thus letting the State of Israel control movement between the Palestinian territories and the rest of the world, the construction of Israeli settlements within the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the objections of the neighboring Palestinians, the disproportionate allocation of resources for the Israeli settlements at the expense of the Palestinian majority, and other issues. PCG's fixation of Jerusalem exposes how terribly limited and narrow their knowledge of this topic actually is.

Andrew Müller has an article scare mongering that the United States is retreating from its position of global leadership.

Gerald Flurry has an article downplaying the climate change crisis. PCG's 1% have taught for years that natural disasters are signs that their strange parody of the Christian God has cursed the United States.

TO SAY THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS CAUSING ALL THESE VIOLENT STORMS IS REJECTING EVERYTHING GOD SAYS ABOUT THIS SUBJECT. Those who believe in that wouldn’t all say they are anti-God or irreligious. But what they are saying is in direct conflict with what God says. (p. 11.) 

If they admitted that the excess emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane were causing the increasing severity of these natural disasters then those disasters could no longer to used to scare people into thinking that PCG's God is angry with America.

Richard Palmer has an article scare mongering that the US might cause severe economic distress for Germany. PCG teaches that Germany is fated to soon become a militaristic state which will swiftly conquer the United States and take Americans as slaves. PCG says those who follow them will be protected by their God by being taken to a place of safety, namely Petra, Jordan.

Edwin Trebels has an article discussing PCG's distribution of their recruitment writings in other languages such as "Afrikaans, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and now Hebrew." (p. 16.) Even though PCG's 1% recently decided to get a jet plane most of their translators are volunteers.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article discussing the life of a North Korean man who made the harrowing journey out of that land in 1995 and now works to send information about the outside world using balloons. He deserves better than being included in this publication designed to gain tithes paying converts for PCG.

Gerald Flurry also has an article mentioning King Hezekiah's bulla. PCG likes mentioning this bulla since the process of its discovery partly included their contribution. PCG plans to be sending more of their students in these excavations in the near future.

Jorg Mardian has an article condemning the use of cannabis.

Joel Hilliker has an article discussing how husbands can encourage their wives.

Brad Macdonald has an article insisting that the science capable of creating a back flipping robot lacks the ability to create a peaceful world. Only PCG's God can do that, according to PCG's 1%.

WorldWatch talks of the continuing coalition negotiations in Germany; scare mongering about a German plan to prepare for the unlikely eventuality of some sort of collapse within the EU; a Saudi arms firm hiring a German to be its CEO; German fighter planes participating in military exercises in the State of Israel; President Putin telling arms firms to prepare to expand production if war should occur; scare mongering about China's military strength relative to that of the United States; wildfires in California; the affliction of modern day slavery; and a report that some who had fought for the criminal network known as ISIL and had returned to Britain have not been prosecuted.

SocietyWatch talks of elementary school teachers resigning because of violence in school; scare mongering that people are still paying off their Christmas expenses; and complainig that nearly a third of births in the UK were among unmarried couples.

There are letters. Here's one from a person in Georgia who had been reading PCG's recruitment writings since 2003.

I want to thank you for your prompt responses to my questions. The answers you have given me hold true to the biblical account and teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong. When I was first introduced to your Philadelphia Trumpet magazine it was 2003, and I was 22 years old. Now it is 2017, and I am 37 years old. That is nearly 15 years of reading and rereading over and over again to show myself approved of the truths that God the Father has given to me as a gift through you.

Here's a letter from Maine.

Excellent job at the Trumpet. It is my only source of reliable, honest and accurate news.

One should not rely so completely on one source to learn about world events. It would be better to listen to a wide range of views in order to gain many perspectives and compare and contrast differing viewpoints.

Here's a letter from Oregon replies to an earlier article discussing the movement about raising awareness of the problem of sexual harassment. The person who writes the letter complains that it is being talked about too much.

This is a subtle and very dangerous way to take the American people’s focus off what is going on in the world—the urgent matters— and instead, focus continually on the petty details and behavior of movie and TV icons, airing our dirty laundry continuously for the world to see! That’s one sure way for the rest of the world to know that our backs are turned, and we’re not paying attention to anything but the trite. Of course, as you say, it is an important subject, but not to constantly be burying our noses in it so that we no longer see what’s happening in the rest of the world and who’s sneaking up on us!

It is awful that so often the testimonies of the victims of sexual harassment are marginalized. This is very unfortunate and fails to address the problem of sexual harassment. The current wave of activism on this topic is a most welcome development.

And so we see that PCG's 1% has produced yet another issue of their recruitment magazine to gain more tithes paying converts and to keep their followers in awe of them as being able to see the future. However since its founding in 1989 PCG has made at least 52 failed predictions. But despite such a poor record of predictions their talk of doom and gloom has gone well for PCG's leadership. Back in 2012 PCG had an income of about $19.5 million according to a booklet by their leader, Gerald Flurry. Even as early as 1996 PCG claimed to have more than $5 million in annual income. Recently PCG has even bought its own plane. It appears that this expensive purchase may be causing financial headaches for PCG's 1%. But PCG's many failed predictions clearly reveal that PCG's leaders are but false prophets. There is no need to fear their dire proclamations. PCG's leaders are but false prophets.

Tragedy in Afrin

It has been very sad to learn that Turkey is currently launching military operations against the Syrian Kurds in Afrin, the same Syrian Kurds who did so much to fight back against the criminal network known as ISIL and who had recently liberated Raqqa city from ISIL's tyranny.

It has long been known that Turkey has been suspicious of the Syrian Kurds because of their links with the Kurdistan Workers Party which has intermittently waged an armed insurgency against Turkey since 1984. But to think that those who had gained the admiration of the world in their struggle against the criminal network known as ISIL now face this military attack is a terrible state of affairs. It is to be hoped that a diplomatic solution that will stop this tragic round of violence will be found soon.

PCG's Ron Fraser Cited 1887 Book to Vilify Catholic Church (1998)

This is pathetic. Back in 1998 PCG's Ron Fraser (1941-2013) cited an 1887 book to prop up his scare mongering of the Pope in the present time. 

In the twentieth century, the strongest evidence of this political influence of the Roman Catholic Church is its drive to support and lead the nations of Europe into a European Union, dominated by its own spiritual influence. Yet this dogged commitment of the papacy to unite Europe has roots which go way back beyond this present century of man’s history. 

“A project is being mooted, which, if carried into effect, will have far-reaching consequences indeed…. It is nothing less than to erect a European Council with the Pope as president. This will be found a great stride towards grasping anew that temporal supremacy of Christendom which the pontiff wielded in the Middle Ages…. This proposal is a very specious one. It has come from the Roman side; it has been ventilated in the London newspapers by way, doubtless, of feeling the pulse of Europe. The object put in the foreground is confessedly a philanthropic one—the saving of Europe from ruinous wars. We are likely to hear more of this proposal in time to come” (Dr. J. A. Wylie, Which Sovereign—Queen Victoria or the Pope?, circa 1880). (Ron Fraser, Unholy Union, June 1998, p. 6.)

Dr. James Aitken Wylie's book appears to date back to 1887.

Many Armstrongite organizations, including PCG, teach that the final Pope will be a miracle worker empowered by Satan to prop up the future European Empire fated to conquer the United States shortly before Christ's return. This gives the COGs a strong incentive to demonize the Catholic Church and the Pope in particular. Fraser was so determined to do so he even cited a book published back in 1887.

Clearly there is no need to fear their declarations of doom and gloom. Let us embrace reality and make the most of it.

PCG's Ron Fraser's Alarmist Articles (1998-2004)

The following is a list of the articles by the late Ron Fraser (1941-2013) within PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet, from 1998 till 2003. His writings well exemplify the harsh manner in which PCG's 1% views the world.

Within the COGs PCG has a reputation of being particularly harsh and authoritarian. Seeing how PCG's 1% seem to insist to their readers that everyone outside their narrow, political bubble are a dire threat one can see how PCG has fallen into authoritarianism among themselves.

Here is one example of Ron Fraser's vicious view of the world outside of PCG's social bubble.

A recent decision by a British court will have Britain’s enemies all over the planet in stitches of laughter. In May, the court upheld a case brought against the Ministry of Defense by the parents of a British soldier who died of heatstroke on the battlefield. 

Thus, the nation once renowned for the code of honor within its regimental tradition and the lion-like bravery of its fighting forces in battle is reduced to the image of a silly dove .... 

One has to wonder if such a judicial attitude had prevailed during World War II—in which British soldiery often entered battle grossly underequipped—whether the rule of the tyrant who could have overwhelmed Britain would have produced results any worse than the present tyranny of the feminist, homophile, politically correct thinking that dominates the British judiciary. (Ron Fraser, 'Human Rights' in Warfare?, August 2009.)

The articles written from 1998 until 2004 by a man who say something as dreadful and vile as that may be seen below.

******

1998

March-April: The Third Way, pp. 23-26.

Anti-Catholic screed.

May: EMU Takes Off, pp. 19-23.

Scare mongering about the European Union as the euro was being prepared to become a currency in 1999.

June: Unholy Union, pp. 6-12.

Virulent anti-Catholic screed. Fraser even quoted a book from the 1880s to imply that the Vatican was somehow plotting to seize power within Europe. What vicious fanaticism.

July: Terror Triumphant!, pp. 11-13, 24-25.

Bitter scare mongering about the conflict in Northern Ireland. Strongly implied that it would fail.

July: Killing Off America, p. 28.

Here Americans are denounced as being like Nazis in the Holocaust for allowing abortion to be legal.

August: Africa: A Continent in Crisis, pp. 20-24.

Dire portrait of the situation in Africa, with particular attention towards Nigeria and South Africa and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

September-October: Crisis Point of Western Leadership, pp. 18-21.

Here the Kosovo War is presented as evidence that the United States is losing its power.

November: System Failure!, pp. 2-6.

Scare mongering about the Asian financial crisis of 1998.

December: Australia: The "Luck" Runs Out, pp. 9-13, 25.

Here he bewails the state of the land of his nativity, Australia. The topics mentioned in this article were discussed in a previous post.

1999

January: Facing the Dragon, pp. 2-7.

Discusses the border dispute regarding Taiwan.

February: "The Gates of His Enemies...", pp. 2-5, 12-13.

Bewails the handover of the Panama Canal to Panama.

March-April: The Other Hussein, p. 5.

A denunciation of Saddam Hussein.

March-April: Papal Call to Arms,  pp. 22-24.

Scare mongering about the Pope.

May: What's Behind the Crisis in Foreign Relations?, pp. 2-5.

In this article Fraser inaccurately implied that sexual promiscuity in the West was responsible for "giving birth" to HIV/AIDS. The disease originates from SIV, a disease that infects the Central Chimpanzee, which developed a strain capable of infecting humans sometime around 1908-1933, possibly in the Congo region, from whence it spread for decades until it was detected in 1981.

May: A Matter of Honor, p. 13.

Here he condemns President Clinton for his antagonism with Milosevic.

June: Divided We Fall, pp. 5-11.

July: Return of the Old World Order, pp. 2-6.

August: Return of the Old World Order: Part 2. Article.

August: The Search for a Compromise. Article.

September-October: No to NATO. Article.

November: Can the Blind Lead...? Article.

November: The Bear's Headache. Article.

December: Religion's Clash of the Century. Article.

December: Trials and Errors. Article.

2000

January: China's Three Card Trick. Article.

January: Israel's Wound. Article.

February: Atlantic Rift. Article.

February: Remember. (Written with Stephen Flurry.) Article.

February: Is a World Dictator About to Appear? Article.

March-April: Goodbye Friday Agreement. Article.

May: David Meets Goliath. Interview with Adrian Hilton. His 1997 book, The Power and Principality of Europe, has been promoted within the some of the COGs to promote fear and dread of the European Union. Meredith's LCG has also cited this book in their writings.

May: Europe Marches South. Article.

May: Spain Surges Right. Article.

June: Fascism Revives! Article.

July: Fascism Revives! Part 2. Article.

August: Fifty Years of European Union. Article.

August: Where is the "Third Way" Taking Us? Article.

August: Third Way (n.). Article.

September-October: Britain's Final Decline. Article.

November: A Cautious Relationship Builds. Article which scare mongers that Germany and Russia will ally against each other against the United States.

November: Taking Stock of Globalization. Article.

December: Yugoslavia Comes in from the Cold. Article.

2001

January: Disunited Kingdom. Article

January: Winners and Losers. Article

January: An Empire in the Making. Article. Interview with euroskeptic activist Rodney Atkinson. PCG first made contact with Atkinson during the time of the Kosovo War (1998-9).

January: Whose Holy City? Article.

February: The Denial of History. Article.

February: An Empire in the Making. Article.

March-April: Devious Alliances. Article.

March-April: Muscling into the Mideast. Article.

March-April: A Nazi Vision Realized. Article.

May: At the Crossroads. Article.

May: America's Colombian Folly. Article.

June: Is Russia Finished? Article.

July: The Politics of Energy. Article.

August: Lying Spirits. Article.

August: The Final Pieces Fall into Place. Article.

September-October: Is America Becoming Isolationist? Article.

November: The Battle Lines Broaden. Article.

November: Germany Moves to Front Lines. Article.

December: The Power of Religion. Article.

2002

January: The Coming World Crisis. Article.

January: The Rise, and RISE, of Europe. Article.

March-April: The Reality of God. Article.

March-April: Up for Grabs. Article.

May: The Grand Design. Article.

May: Anti-Semitism Revives! Article.

May: Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Mother. Article.

May: What is Happening to the Middle East? Article.

June: How Deep a Wound? Article.

July: What was Missing at the Jubilee? Article.

July: A Frightening Equation. Article.

August: America The Cursed. Article.

August: Rising in the East. Article.

August: Return of the Royals. Article.

September-October: Shades of Hitler. Article.

September-October: Power of the Merchants. Article.

September: All That Glitters. Article.

November: The Demise of Democracy. Article.

November: Silence the Critic. Article.

December: Odd Man Out. Article.

December: 'It Won't Work Anymore.' Article.

December: Aftereffects of an Election. Article.

2003

January: 2002: The Real Stories. Article.

January: Can God Save the Queen? Article. (Written with Gareth Fraser.)

January: All Roads Lead to... Article.

February: A Union of Church and State. Article.

February: Japan's Place in the Future. Article. (Written with Gareth Fraser.)

March-April: World War Déjà Vu. Article.

May: From Communism to Catholicism. Article.

May: Apocalypse Now. Article.

May: Failing to Bring Peace. Article. (Written with Eric Anderson.)

June: Out of Chaos, Opportunity. Article.

June: The Polish Connection. Article.

July: The Gatekeepers of Europe. Article.

July: “Faster … Quieter … Deeper.” Article.

July: Retooling for War. Article.

September-October: The Lie That Broke Britain. Article.

December: Space Wars!, pp. 4-7, 28.

2004

January: 2004: A Look Ahead, pp. 24-26.

February: The Other America, pp. 11-13.

March-April: The Basest of Men, p. 37.

May: The Spanish Connection, pp. 8-11, 17.

May: Return of the Religious War, p. 37.

June: The Brink of the Unthinkable, pp. 13-16.

July: The Return of Imperialism, pp. 4-10.

August: The Latin Link Revives, pp. 7-10.

November: Land of the Free and Home of the Hated, pp. 2-5.

And so 2004 ended and the year 2005 began. Ron Fraser continued writing his articles for PCG's recruitment magazine.

To be continued...