Overview of the May-June 2018 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

PCG's 1% released their May-June 2018 issue of their recruitment magazine. Let us see what they have to say this time.

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

This issue has a circulation of 262,750 issues. This is an increase from the April issue which had a circulation of 247,749 issues. Suspiciously the March 2018 issue has exactly the same circulation figure of 247,749 issues. February 2018's circulation was 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.

Gerald Flurry has a personal article insisting that if President Trump is somehow removed from office that this would be utterly horrible. Even though Pence would become President if Trump were to be removed from office the possibilities of such an eventuality are casually ignored.

Dennis Leap has a little article insisting that George Orwell's novel, 1984, is actually an exposure of left wing politicians even though Orwell himself was actually a leftist. Orwell was so left wing he even left the Labour Party because he felt they did not go far enough. Orwell's left wing politics are casually ignored by Leap.

Joel Hilliker has an article insisting that the massacre at Parkland should not be used as a call for reforms regarding gun control.

Stephen Flurry has an article bemoaning that there are not enough manly men in American society today. Is he talking about men among the laity within PCG? Perhaps if PCG's 1% were not so controlling towards the lay members they would be surprised with what PCG's lay members are really capable of without being under the control of PCG's 1%.

Jorg Mardian has a little article talking about breastfeeding.

Richard Palmer has an article scare mongering that America is about to enter some sort of trade war with China. While that is entirely likely with recent decisions made by the Trump Administration it must be noted that this article fits in with a pattern of scare mongering that some sort of economic cataclysm will soon strike the United States.

The Infographic scare mongers that some sort of "trade war" will soon arise with the United States, Canada and Britain on one side shaded blue while Brazil, South Africa, India, Japan, China, Russia and various European nations are menacingly shaded red and labelled as being part of a "mart of nations" which will allegedly conspire to impose some sort of economic blockade upon the alleged Israelite nations. PCG incorrectly teaches that the white people of Britain, the United States and certain other places are descendants of the so-called "ten lost tribes of Israel." This idea, a form of British Israelism, is not true.

Jeremiah Jacques scare mongers about Xi Jinping's power within China.

Jeremiah Jacques also has an article scare mongering about Vladimir Putin after he gained another six year term to remain in office.

Richard Palmer also has an article discussing the Italian elections on March 4, 2018.

Joel Hilliker has a little article encouraging people to be more loving to their spouses.

Andrew Müller has a little article which condemn calls to restrict access to deadly guns in the hope of preventing massacres such as the one in Parkland, Florida.

We all sympathize with the survivors of the Parkland mass murder. Their grief is real. Their lives are precious. We should work to prevent more school shootings. But should children be the ones to forge policy? Should a grieving child who falsely proclaims it is easier to buy a gun than make weekend plans be able to attack the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution? Is it morally right for high school students to scream “murderer” at a woman who had nothing to do with the Parkland massacre just because she works for an organization that defends the right of law-abiding citizens to own a firearm? (p. 35.)

When Müller rhetorically asks "should children be the ones to forge policy?" it seems to escape Müller's notice that student protesters are not able to make laws. Legislators do that.

Those protesting against the power of the National Rifle Association are slurred as having a "spirit of lawlessness" and a "spirit of rebellion" thus signifying the disapproval of PCG's 1% toward this protest movement.

While some of the problems these teens protest are legitimate, the same spirit of lawlessness that has overtaken the Me Too and Black Lives Matter movements has also engulfed this movement. This spirit of rebellion threatens to unleash more chaos than it solves. Yet adults across the nation are getting in line behind their children. (p. 35.)

The fact that gun massacres occur far more often in the United States than in any other developed nation is casually ignored.

WorldWatch discusses the coalition negotiations after the indecisive elections in Germany; the Protestant spouses of Catholics in Germany being allowed to take communion; the creation of new command centers for NATO; the tragic war in Syria; the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela; tensions in Ethiopia; and the legalization of the confiscation of farmland without compensation in South Africa.

SocietyWatch scare mongers that San Francisco is filthy; condemning a case before the Supreme Court concerning discrimination against members of the LGBT community; condemning the increase of fathers staying at home to raise their children; and scare mongering about some rich persons buying bunkers to prepare for a possible doomsday like event.

There are letters. Even though PCG's recruitment magazine is mainly intended for an American audience they are quite happy to get attention from anyone they can. Here is a letter from a man in Panama.

Please, don’t underestimate the importance this publication has for me. I’m always on the lookout for the arrival of your much-valued publication. I find your magazine very informative in religious as well as political matters. I would like to request Nuclear Armageddon Is ‘At the Door.’ [A recruitment booklet by Gerald Flurry.] I have, as a child, gone through World War II in occupied Holland and that experience was bad enough in itself. World War III is indeed at the door and inescapable and will surpass World War II in destructive power! Man’s entire history is one of war with peace at intervals in between. Whatever man has invented in weapons of war has sooner or later been put to use. May God bless the important educational work you are doing.

It is awful that PCG's scare mongering about some future World War III have distressed this man who went through World War II as a child.

Here is an email from a person who used to subscribe to The Plain Truth recruitment magazine.

I have been receiving the Trumpet magazine for approximately two decades. I found it in my chiropractor’s office in 1996. I used to read the Plain Truth but stopped after becoming alarmed and bewildered by the changes in the late 1980s. I wasn’t aware Mr. Armstrong had died till finding the Trumpet.

I would advise this person to ignore their writings and, most importantly, do not give them any money.

Here's a letter from Nigeria.

I was watching some videos on YouTube and stumbled on the Isaiah seal archaeological discovery. Having studied history and international studies, it caught my interest, so I decided to watch the other suggested videos. “Why So Much Hatred for Israel” was very insightful and educational. He read from Romans 2:29 to enlighten us on who a Jew is in our current dispensation. Toward the tail end, he introduced me to the organization’s website. He also counseled on the need to subscribe. I would like to receive a copy of that publication. Keep up the good work! I pray for God’s grace and wisdom to guide you and your organization as you serve humanity.

(The writer seems to be referring to a video hosted by Stephen Flurry entitled “Why So Much Hatred for Jews?” which was released on July 24, 2014 during the war in the Gaza Strip that was occurring at that time.)

Regardless of what they dig up in the Holy Land or how pious they make themselves sound when talking about the problem of anti-Semitism PCG's reputation among those formerly associated with the COGs and the other COG groups will remain as abysmal as ever.

And so we see that PCG's 1% has produced yet another issue of their recruitment magazine to gain more converts and reinforce loyalty and awe among those who believe what PCG's 1% say to them. PCG's leader, Gerald Flurry, once boasted of PCG having an income of "around $19.5 million annually as of 2012" and this recruitment magazine seeks to keep that income intact.