PCG Failing to Predict Covid-19's Impact on America: Overview of the April 2020 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

Around the end of February 2020 PCG released the April 2020 issue of their recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet. Even though PCG and other Armstrongites insist that they know the future this issue reveals that they were just as surprised and blindsided by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as everyone else.

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

This issue had a circulation of 246,354 issues.

Gerald Flurry has an article discusses the latest settlement the Trump Administration was trying to impose upon the State of Israel and the Palestinians even though the Palestinians made it clear they would not accept it. The article is accompanied with a picture of Palestinian protesters, both with faces covered and one with a sling and a skull face covering. Odds are those persons protesting against Israeli soldiers armed with guns. The Palestinians in the West Bank has always have been clear that they did not want to ruled by the State of Israel. Israeli rule was imposed upon the West Bank in 1967 without their invitation.

Richard Palmer has an article insisting that Germany in 2020 (before the coronavirus) is behaving awfully like Germany shortly before the Nazis gained power in yet another article scare mongering about Germany. Little did the PCG leadership know that catastrophe was about hit America.

Gerald Flurry also has an article denouncing the "dangerous left-wing media" once again showing with his actions that PCG leans very much to the right in regards to political stances. I do not condemn PCG for choosing to be right wing but it is worth mentioning that they are since sometimes they like to pretend they are not right wing even though they clearly are. 

Gerald Flurry also has an article insisting that the Covid-19 epidemic in China (that is how the situation was viewed back in late February 2020) is predicted in PCG's interpretations of Bible prophecy. He fearfully states that other plagues are in PCG's interpretation of Bible prophecy as well. The article contains illustrations of Chinese people dealing with the epidemic. The PCG leadership clearly had no idea that the Covid-19 was just a few weeks away from doing so much damage to the United States. Back in late February 2020 they still thought of it as a problem in China.

Jeremiah Jacques has a side article speculating that the Covid-19 epidemic in China will make Russia more powerful than China. Little did the PCG leadership just a few months later the people of Wuhan, the city where Covid-19 gained attention, would hold a massive water pool party after reopening their economy safely. This is yet another false prophecy of PCG.

Jeremiah Jacques also has an article retelling the making of the Hubble Space Telescope in order to promote PCG's heretical doctrine that PCG destined to become God beings ruling over the entire universe. 

The Infographic is about what the Hubble Space Telescope has revealed.

Richard Palmer has an article insisting that Brexit, the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, was prophesied in (PCG's interpretation of) Bible prophecy.

Jeremiah Jacques also has an article about various failed predictions that certain political pundits have made over the years. And yet PCG members are still expected to take the PCG leadership's predictions seriously despite their many failed prophecies.

Andrew Müller has an article scare mongering about certain leftists and calling them Communists even though the actual Communist Party USA is now utterly insignificant. This is red baiting. Müller cites a surreptitious recording produced by Project Veritas which was made without the interview subject's knowledge. So if that happens to the PCG leadership he has no right to complain about that without looking like a hypocrite. We need to be careful about how we treat other people. Also this article proves once again that the PCG leadership is right wing.

WorldWatch discusses India's military build up; scare mongers about Iran's research into nuclear weaponry before Supreme Leader Khamenei's fatwa against nuclear weapons in 2003; Putin's changes to the Russian Constitution which would let him be president longer which were later passed; China becoming second largest exporter of armaments; swarms of locusts in Kenya and Ethiopia; increased military spending in Europe which is credited to PCG's adored President Trump; more spending by the US federal government (before the coronavirus); right wing extremists in the German army; European attempts to influence events in the Middle East; and the launch of the European Maritime Surveillance Mission in the Persian Gulf.

SocietyWatch discusses the impeachment of President Trump which according to PCG's writers had "deeply damaged America" even though impeachment is allowed within the Constitution; a claim that British police were ignoring sexual abuse among ethnic Pakistanis in Britain; and Time Magazine naming environmental activist Greta Thunberg as person of the year.    

Stephen Flurry has an article calling upon people to study history like Winston Churchill did. PCG adores Winston Churchill not least because he was right wing while America had a left wing president back in those troubled days.

Joel Hilliker has an article moaning about Speaker Pelosi ripping up her copy of President Trump's state of the union address in public. It is strange to see the PCG leadership responding to a superficial act that changes no laws.

And so we see the PCG leadership had made yet another issue of their recruitment magazine seeking more tithes paying converts. It is also strange to see how unprepared they were to imagine that this coronavirus would have such a terrible effect in America and throughout the world.

Making Reality Conform to Dogma

Recently listened to the following radio broadcast produced by PCG: Trumpet Weekly #528: Week in Review: Battered America—Hurricanes and Burning Cities, and Much More (August 28, 2020).

At one point Richard Palmer is discussing the wildfires in California and he says that with all the weather events that have occurred lately clearly something is happening. A little ten year boy quoted in The Guardian as expressing concern that people need to turn to God in the wake of these weather disasters. Their implication is that these events are being caused by PCG's God. But they cannot admit that these weather related events are being exacerbated by human made climate change. Shame on the PCG leadership for minimizing the ongoing climate change crisis.

In another part of that segment Richard Palmer discuses PCG's booklet about this topic, Why 'Natural' Disasters? Palmer talks it up at length and discusses it with Joel Hilliker. It was Joel Hilliker who was originally credited as the author of that booklet. In the current edition of it no author is listed.

They talk to Brent Nagtegaal and talk about the anti-government protests in Lebanon following the tragic explosion of August 4, 2020. The protests are simplistically presented as protests against Hezbollah even though these are other parties, some of them Christian, that happen to be aligned with Hezbollah in that particular government. Is a protest against Lebanese Christian political party aligned with Hezbollah part of PCG's interpretation of Bible prophecy? Lebanon has always been quite politically diverse. At any given time in Lebanon several political parties will be aligned against other political parties. The fractiousness of Lebanese politics is nothing new. It is disheartening seeing how the PCG leadership rationalizes messy reality to conform to their (ever failing) predictions and speculations.

Andrew Müller and Joel Hilliker talks about coronavirus restrictions in Australia. These restrictions are presented as being too harsh. Müller cites an article written in a non-PCG source as saying that Australia been turned into a convict nation. And yet Australia death toll from that awful disease is far less than that in the United States.  

Listening to this radio broadcast reminds the rest of us that it is so good to be free from Armstrongism and live in freedom.

Terrorist Sentenced to Life in Prison for Mass Shooting in Mosques

CNN reports that the terrorist who murdered fifty-one people and injured forty people in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 15, 2019 has been sentenced to be imprisoned for life.

We need to be ever vigilant against racism and violent extremism.

LCG's Douglas Winnail's Tirades at the Changing World

If anyone needed any reminder of just how limiting and narrow minded Armstrongism is one would only need to look in the November-December 2019 issue of LCG's recruitment magazine, Tomorrow's World, and read an article by Douglas Winnail, entitled "The Rise of Modern Paganism." At first glance it is a polemic bemoaning a supposed rise in paganism in the West.

The cover boldly declares, "The Rise of Neo-Paganism." The photo is actually a stock photo from Abode.

But for anyone who would actually read Winnail's article they will also find Winnail condemning the supposed mass adoption of pagan practices after Constantine's embrace of Christianity and alleging that the Protestant Reformation did not reform Christianity enough. He also condemns the enlightenment and atheism. It appears to be a condemnation of many things he disapproves of.

Winnail condemns the enlightenment as the work of neo-pagans.

Like their ancient pagan predecessors, the “neo-pagans” of the Enlightenment focused on the natural world, and they rejected the idea of one supernatural God who intervenes in human affairs. ...

The creatively destructive leaders of the Enlightenment and their modern disciples are Satan’s unwitting accomplices... (pp. 28-29.)

Furthermore Winnail insists that things that are "progressive" are actually a form of paganism. Thus progressive concepts are demonized as being like paganism.

Many concepts viewed as “progressive” in our modern society are actually part of the reemergence of pagan ideas that stand in total contrast to the teachings of biblical Christianity—and those ideas have consequences. (p.13.)

This exposes the right wing tendencies within the LCG leadership. They tend to be slightly less blatant about their political stance than PCG or Mark Armstrong but it is easily discerned. I do not condemn the LCG 1% for choosing to be right wing but it is worth noting that they are. This helps to describe some of their behaviour.

 

This article demonstrates the narrow mindedness and scorn against things things one does not understand that is unfortunately so common within Armstrongism. We should seek to understand the world that is instead of carelessly moaning about the world outside one's own social scene.

Condemning the Impeachment of Trump

Back around early February 2020 the PCG leadership released the March 2020 issue of their recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet. Let's see what they had to say this time.  

PCG constantly claims to know what will happen in the future yet they did not foresee that the coronavirus would do so many terrible things within the United States and throughout the world. 

This issue had a circulation of 246,437 issues.

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

Gerald Flurry has an article condemning the left for oppossing his beloved President, Donald John Trump. Even though Obama will not be president Flurry mentions him by name 39 times in an article about 7,500 words long.

Andrew Müller has a side article making the ludicrous claim that "communism" is conquering American academia. He has indulged in promoting McCarthyite fear mongering for years.

Joel Hilliker has an article complaining about public schools funded by the taxpayer while saying his organizations provides a school that protects children from leftism in classrooms. And what are these children suppose to do when they realize most people do not view things the way people within PCG are taught?

Jorg Mardian has an article encouraging people to keep moving their bodies.

Richard Palmer has an article about Prince Harry's withdrawal from the British royal family.

Brent Nagtegaal has an article speculating about what Iran will do after the killing of Omar Solimani.

The Infographic details some events of the 2010s.

Gerald Flurry has an article scare mongering about President Macron as being a harbinger of a future European Empire fated to conquer America just before Christ's return.

Gerald Flurry has an article about PCG's doctrines about the Biblical Israelites. It promotes PCG's altered version of HWA's severely flawed book, Mystery of the Ages.

WorldWatch discusses Germany's export of armaments; the Trump Administration's attempt to stop an oil pipeline between Russia and Germany; the widespread fear of President Trump among Germans; ethnic division in Ethiopia; a pipeline connecting the State of Israel, Cyprus and Greece; the opening of the Marmaray tunnel in Turkey sponsored by China; security arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz; the wildfires in Australia; the level of global debt; the construction of Chinese naval ships; and Malaysia's purchase of four warships from China.

SocietyWatch discusses a children's book about demons; civil partnerships in Britain; British children struggling with anxiety; and obesity in the United States, namely the coronavirus.

Joel Hilliker has an article encouraging people to make their marriages better.

Richard Palmer has an article about Pompeii contemplating the fragility of human civilization. 

And so we see PCG continuing to try to get more tithe paying converts for their organization. However they were unaware of the catastrophe that would soon the United States, namely the coronavirus. 

Mark Armstrong Displays Shocking Ignorance About the Coronavirus

It is becoming increasingly clear that despite widespread public discussion of this topic Mark Armstrong, leader of the Intercontinental Church of God, has a dreadfully abysmal understanding of the coronavirus. He is listening to bad advice.

It is well known that many people who get the coronavirus only have mild symptoms and some have no symptoms at all but they are still spreading it to other people who are vulnerable. Consequently they are isolating themselves and informing people they had been in contact with in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. 

But Mark Armstrong ignores these vital facts and promotes his ignorance among his followers.

But who knows what's going on with these 99.9% accurate tests? We don't give medical advice, but possibly the worst thing one could do, from the standpoint of retaining any modicum of personal freedom, is to go get tested. 

We know from numerous anecdotal stories and reports that a lot of people test “positive” who aren't sick, haven't been sick and don't plan on being sick. Once somebody tests positive, they're liable to lose whatever freedoms they thought they still had. You'll likely be told (not asked) that you must take yourself out of circulation for ten days to two weeks. Official state agencies may try to contact you, demanding to know every place you've been and everyone with whom you've had contact. They're called “contact tracers,” by media. We have other terms. Surely the information being gathered isn't going into some politically-oriented database? (Mark Armstrong, Weekly Update, August 7, 2020.)

Who is he listening to? Mark Armstrong's sources of (mis)information have left him badly informed about this topic. His followers would be well advised to ignore his scare mongering.

Mark Armstrong is playing with fire choosing to ignore the seriousness of the current crisis and to indulging in partisan mud slinging instead of helping people to get through these trying times. 

One-man Rule PCG on Government: Overview of the February 2020 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

Around the start of the year 2020, just as the world was beginning to notice this virus which was called a coronavirus had broken out in Wuhan, China, PCG's 1% released the February 2020 issue of their recruitment magazine seeking more tithes paying converts.

PCG's leader, Gerald Flurry has often promoted "one-man rule" within his organization and they expect that after Christ's return the entire world will be placed under the "one-man rule" of (PCG's version of) Christ. Armstrongites have been promoting this idea since the 1930s and they are still waiting.

The magazine celebrates the publication's anniversary after having been published for thirty years. In PCG and other related COG groups birthdays are forbidden. But a birthday is merely the anniversary of one's birth. And yet appears to be permitted within PCG to celebrate the anniversary (birthday) of their recruitment magazine.

This issue had a circulation of 247,024 issues.

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

Gerald Flurry has an article boasting of the recruitment magazine's birthday.

Joel Hilliker has an article on how it is so difficult to have properly functioning government.

A series of short articles follows.

Stephen Flurry has an article about Britain.

Richard Palmer has an article about continental Europe.

Andrew Müller has an article about Latin America.

Brent Nagttegaal has an article about the Middle East.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article about China.

Longer articles now resume.

Stephen Flurry has an article about the United States.

The Infographic discusses

Gerald Flurry has an article insisting that (PCG's interpretation of) Jesus Christ will soon return to impose a utopian government upon the entire world for eternity.

Joel Hilliker has an article insisting that all will be well in the Millennium.

WorldWatch mentions that President Trump appointed a judge onto the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal; Pope Francis condemning the possession of nuclear weapons; Germany exporting $8.2 billion worth of arms in January-October 2019; a multi-nation air force exercise in Israel in November 2019; Secretary Pompeo announcing that the US government no longer viewed Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank as illegal; an allegation of Iran trying to gain an ally in 2014; Russia and China opening up an oil pipeline; Russia and Belarus getting closer to each other; and elections in Hong Kong on November 24, 2019.

SocietyWatch discusses the widespread concern regarding Prince Andrew's previous associations with Jeffrey Epstein; complains that more unmarried couples are living together;  bewailing a poll that said 47% of evangelicals condemn abortion; and scare mongering about attempts to include more LGBT characters in TV shows.

Philip Nice has an article telling readers how to respond to governments today.

Joel Hilliker has an article insisting that all will be well after Christ returns.

The letters section contains this letter which showhow different the world was before the epidemic.

I disapprove of the e-mail you wrote about Donald Trump, trying to tear him down when he needs more support these days than ever. ... Therefore, I am cancelling my Trumpet subscription, having lost faith in its words by your spewing words against my president. I don't have enumerate all the pluses that have happened under his leadership, like the booming economy, less unemployment, the IRS giving individual deductions of $10,300 off singles' income tax, more blacks employed than ever, etc. Had Hillary been elected, the U.S.A. would have gone down the drain!

PCG responded in the following manner.

What you say is true. Our intent is certainly not to tear down the president. But we have a responsibility to show how his actions fulfill biblical prophecy. Where this requires exposing sin, we do so ... .

And so we see that the PCG leadership has once again produced yet another issue of their recruitment magazine to gain more converts. PCG's writers often insist that they have an outline of what will happen in the future but readers will see no sign of the approaching crisis here.