According to this theory, industrial carbon dioxide emissions have warmed the air and ocean water, ultimately creating stronger storms. Is this theory accurate, though? Is the widespread, popular belief of climate change and global warming factually sound?But PCG insists that humanity is not causing climate change. Instead they insist that weather related disasters are signs of (the Armstrongite) God's wrath against humanity. In this article Davis cites a British columnist named Melanie Phillips who is greatly adored by the PCG leadership and who has been quoted numerous times in PCG's recruitment writings since 2000.
According to accomplished author and journalist Melanie Phillips, the community promoting climate change has a history of manipulating the data to make it fit its hypothesis. Why would it do such a thing? Because the evidence does not back up its claims!Unfortunately some Armstrongite organizations such as Gerald Flurry's PCG and Mark Armstrong's ICG have a motive in denying climate change. If they admitted that the increasing severity of hurricanes is an unfortunate side effect of dumping so much carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than those Armstrongites can no longer insist that storms and other weather related problems are signs of (the Armstrongite) God's anger against sin.
These COGs say that if one obeys (the Armstrongite) God then they shall be protected from later disasters and even get taken to a place of safety to escape the alleged persecution which is said to occur during the Great Tribulation. But if they admit climate change is real than how can they offer protection to members from an unfortunate side effect of dumping carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere?
They're right about data being manipulated. It's just that this is being done by the other side, the bought and paid for shill-scientists who have been comandeered by big business. When the president puts a gag order on NASA, that should be very telling even to the most recalcitrant amongst us.
ReplyDeleteWhether metaphoric, or real characters, God told Adam and Eve to be good stewards, and to dress and keep the garden. They were eventually expelled from the garden, but their offspring didn't have the collective power to destroy planet earth until the peak of the Industrial Revolution.
HWA taught an existential threat in his version of prophecy. It was his ultimate recruitment hook. The Bible, and actual life experience teach us that mankind often brings punishment upon himself, through making the wrong choices in exercising free will. That is perhaps the most powerful teacher known to man, Yet, the ACOGs won't even consider the possibility that another existential threat, man-induced climate change, could be part of what they taught as God's plan, that in the end as man realized the error and futility of his own ways, he would logically turn to God for the right answers. You can blame the bomb on a demented or aberrant leader or two. But, destruction of the planet happens as a result of all of our own personal daily activities. Every human on earth is a participant! That's a powerful lesson, but doesn't fit into Armstrong theology because it has nothing to do with the sabbath, the holy days, tithing, alleged forgotten identity, or punishment.
Some of us on these sites are mavericks. We can't believe the Armstrong prophecy mold because its timeline has failed, and vital elements have been proven untenable or fallacious. However, we can't join in with the majority of former Armstrongites in believing that there will never be a global economic meltdown, or that no alternative existential threat could destroy planet Earth, or that others than the Germans could initiate a thermonuclear war. I get that. When someone has been manipulated and extorted by a fearsome "hook" for either years or decades, it's nice to have respite from that all. But, we live in an era of multiple existential threats, any one of which could alter or curtail our lives. It's time for Armstromgism to move away from the same old failed mucus which they've been trundling out since the 1950s, and to move into the new realities. A more honest approach would be to acknowledge reality, and to concentrate on Christian living, ethics, and morality, instead of seceding from the human race to practice "save your ass" Christianity. They should also begin teaching good stewardship as part of their life philosophy.
BB
In my mind PCG abandoned (the spirit of) most teachings of HWA/WCG.
ReplyDeleteWasn't the original teaching that "unless those days were shortened" by God, through his benevolent intervention MANKIND would destroy itself.
As some vividly remember the "fearsome german pictures" in the literature, the thing that got to me were the pictures of dead fish in the rivers and the continuous quoting of "club of rome" statistics.
HWA's God was a humanistic, secretary general of un type of god, uniting all nations in peace with global consciesnous solving problems, creating new worlds and turning desserts into agriculture, while pcg's god is an ancient caananite sender of lightning and thunder, fire and brimstone, placing yokes on the germs that are mankind an abomination of his own creation.
nck
That is also my impression of what was taught while I was involved in Armstrongism...
DeleteBut who can be surprised. In the PCG, no one ever understood the truth behind their so-called pastor general being an alcoholic and even those who saw the police report released by Ambassador Report denied it even after seeing the facts.
Some people want to be fooled, and those who remain in these offshoots of Armstrongism are willing to do whatsoever to keep the illusion of being among the "faithful few" at any cost to them, both financially and/or health-wise...
This is one of the key reasons why this year I am going to make a special point out of voting. I plan to vote for the Democratic congressional candidates in my state. Hopefully, we can get some checks and balances restraining this anomaly of a president.
ReplyDeleteBB
WARNING GRAPHIC EMOTION
ReplyDeleteI bumped into news today that on an emotional level reminded me of GTA starting his own church in 1978.
http://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/arizona-news/6-year-old-tucson-boy-hoping-for-birthday-wishes-after-no-one-shows-up-to-party
nck