Around mid-April 2020 the PCG leadership released the May-June 2020 edition of their recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet. Now the PCG leadership, like the rest of us, witnessed America getting ravaged by this dreadful disease, namely Covid-19. What did the PCG leadership do in the wake of this supreme crisis? Insist that their doctrines are correct.
The cover portrays President Trump as wearing a face mask and yet President Trump made a show of refusing to wear face masks. Nevertheless he has been known to wear them sometimes. It is now widely accepted that wearing face masks helps to protect people from getting infected with Covid-19. At present it is not possible to have herd immunity from Covid-19 but the effect of herd immunity can be enjoyed right now if everyone wears face masks. We need to conduct ourselves so as to keep everyone else safe from this terrible disease.
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 244,874 issues.
Gerald Flurry has an article insisting that prophecy is proof of PCG's God. Here is Gerald Flurry talking about himself. "Watchman" is one of numerous titles he has taken for himself to bolster his prestige within PCG.
God is saying that a WATCHMAN MUST WARN! He gave prophecy for a REASON, and He commands His people [PCG] to tell the world of the dangers that are coming! If we don't then we are as worthless as a slumbering watchdog. (p. 1.)
Brad Macdonald has an article telling his readers that (PCG's) God is in charge even though many people are suffering and even dying because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Zechariah 6 shows that God Himself--through these four angels and their legions--IS CAREFULLY ORCHESTRATING WORLD EVENTS. Some might think it preposterous to say that God monitors world conditions using angels. Some will find it hard to visualize angels crisscrossing the planet, keeping tabs to ensure events unfold according to Bible prophecy. [Such objections are dismissed by Brad Macdonald.] (p. 5.)
Richard Palmer has an article insisting that PCG's dogma that Europe will soon conquer America will be fulfilled even though much of Europe has been badly affected by Covid-19. Here is Palmer's dire prediction of the future European Empire fated to soon conquer America according to PCG dogma.
This is a united European superstate, ruled by kings, not elected representatives, and united under one overall strongman. This is exactly the direction the coronavirus crisis--just like earlier crises--is driving Europe. (p. 9.)
They make this dire prediction despite PCG's record of numerous failed prophecies.
Stephen Flurry has an article insisting that the Democratic Party and CNN are using the Covid-19 pandemic against President Trump. He also condemns governmental stimulus measures. Also he insists that lockdowns do not work. He cites one study from Imperial College that forecast a high death toll in the United Kingdom and then Stephen Flurry complains that the high death toll did not occur. The high forecast would only have come true if the UK government did nothing. But the government and the people rallied together to fight Covid-19 and so that dire prediction did not come true. Unfortunately Covid-19 still killed about 41,500 people in the UK which is the highest death toll for a nation in Europe. This is still a catastrophe.
Richard Palmer also has an article insisting that various financial stimulus measures made to protect people from financial collapse caused by Covid-19 will lead to a future economic collapse. With this article people are to be anxious over governmental attempts to help people during this supreme crisis.
The cycle [of governments burrowing money] continuously builds up more debt. In the long run it is unsustainable. Step by step, choice by choice, we are creating conditions guaranteed to produce an unprecedented, world-altering crash. (p. 16.)
Even though PCG and other Armstrongite groups insist that a future European Empire will militarily conquer America they still scare readers with other topics of dread such as an economic collapse.
Joel Hilliker has an article insisting even worst disasters will soon occur. He even calls the Covid-19 pandemic a "comparatively minor crisis" at one point.
You need to know how to react, physically and spiritually--because even more-serious [sic] crises are coming. ... [Speculation by experts] is creating a lot of hysteria. Most of the shocks to stock markets have not come from existing problems, but from fear of possible problems.... Bible prophecy says far more and far worse crises are coming. ... Witness people's behavior in this comparatively minor crisis. The world has never reacted to a pandemic as it is reacting today. (pp. 16-17)
Gerald Flurry also has an article condemning the Democratic Party. Even as America faces the supreme crisis of our time he still found time to condemn the major political party he does not like. He talks about Obama, Hitler and also cites Newt Gingrich in a Fox News interview to scare monger that civil war is approaching even though most politically motivated violence in America is committed by far right extremists. This article also proves that PCG happens to be right wing in its political stances. I do not condemn PCG for choosing to be right wing but they sometimes profess to not be right wing even though many of their writings plainly reveal otherwise.
Jeremiah Jacques has an article speculating that constitutional changes in Russia have turned President Putin into a dictator. Meanwhile PCG operates with a "one-man rule" system of managing themselves.
WorldWatch discusses the possibility of increased migration into Europe due to the ongoing Syrian Civil War; the making of a facial recognition database in ten nations within the European Union; Pakistan test firing a cruise missile; the possibility of the Israeli Jewish center-left allying with Palestinian citizens of Israel to form a government without Netanyahu's Likud Party (which did not happen); Iran producing more enriched uranium after the Trump Administration refused to abide with the JCPOA agreement; Russia upgrading its nuclear weapons; the argument between Russia and other OPEC nations over how much oil to export; and various flu viruses in Asia. While discussing these flu viruses the following tone deaf comment is made:
Unlike African swine fever, H1N1 bird flu can infect humans. Though this is rare, it has a human mortality rate of about 60 percent. (Coronavirus has a mortality rate of 1 to 2 percent.) (p. 28.)
For most people it is not that important that the H1N1 bird flu is so deadly since the world now has to deal with the terrible Covid-19. Also Covid-19 is not a flu, it is a coronavirus. This difference is not mentioned. Covid-19 is related to certain strands of the common cold. And Covid-19 has the ability of infecting many people at once thus overwhelming the health care infrastructure of society. We must be careful not to minimize this ongoing pandemic.
SocietyWatch is absent in this issue.
Joel Hilliker has an article in which he talks about the practice of quarantining people to try to make people curious and determined to take advice from (PCG's interpretation of) the Bible in physical and spiritual matters. It is an attempt to proselytize his readers.
The letters section has one short letter from a person in Rhode Island.
I'm addicted to the Trumpet.
It is unfortunate that this person is in all likelihood unaware of the many problems concerning PCG.
The letters section highlights a PCG article entitled, "The Wuhan Coronavirus and the Bible's prophesied Disease Epidemics." Many people have objected to having this disease called that as offensive and even racist. Instead of helping and encouraging victims of the coronavirus this name stigmatizes the people of Wuhan.
Richard Palmer has an article saying that one must trust in (PCG's) God and that it is impossible to trust human experts.
And so we see that PCG produced yet another issue of their recruitment magazine seeking more tithe paying converts for their organization. They continuously assure their readers that they know what will happen in the future but in fact PCG has made many false prophesies that have simply not come true. There is no need to listen to the PCG leadership to get saved from an alleged future event or to gain God's favor.
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