Thoughts on the Roswell Incident

As far as I understand it, it really was a balloon. But it was a top secret balloon designed to detect any possible atomic explosion in the Soviet Union. The US government was trying to covertly detect any atomic explosion and naturally the public was not allowed to know. The people who found the wreckage did not know about the secret purpose of this balloon and, alas, came to believe that it was an alien ship from outer space.

It was not a weather balloon, it was a top secret balloon.

Before I got into Armstrongism there was a time I was quite fascinated with stories of alleged contact with extra-terrestrial life. But today I am now persuaded it is simply impossible for alien life to make contact with us and am not worried about this topic.

Tkach Sr.'s Expulsion of Roderick C. Meredith from WCG

The following is from GenuineTruth.com, a web site started up by some ex-LCG members who seemed to leave LCG because they feel Meredith has placed too much emphasis on Jesus. Although I cannot be very sympathetic with their doctrinal reason for leaving LCG I do sympathize with their disillusionment with Roderick C. Meredith. They continue to preach the doctrines of Armstrongism.

But one thing that intrigued me about their website is that it contains Joseph Tkach Sr.'s announcement of Roderick C. Meredith being cast out of WCG. For historical interest I am posting this here.

Dear Brethren,

In light of the fact that a former minister has decided to start his own church, and has sent a letter to many · members of the Worldwide Church of God, I thought it best to briefly restate the Church's position on the overall concepts this newly formed church is espousing.

The Global Church of God, founded by Roderick C. Meredith, has been formed on the premise that the Worldwide Church of God has no business changing or revising any teaching of Herbert W. Armstrong.

Dr. Meredith, choosing to ignore the great, fundamental issues of the New Testament, has focused his attention on every point on which he feels he can disagree with us. Basically, he disagrees with every change the Church has made since the death of Mr. Armstrong.

Dr. Meredith still argues with the biblical fact that the New Testament phrase "born again" refers to conversion.

Also, he cannot grasp the fact that God has called His people to be citizens of His Kingdom.

Further he deceives his readers by inaccurately representing what we teach about Jesus; victory over sin, about the Holy Spirit, about eternal life and about the gospel.

He misrepresents our teaching about divine healing. He misrepresents our teaching about the.  Ten Commandments and obedience to God.

In addition, Dr. Meredith clings to the false idea that human beings will someday be God in exactly the same way God himself is God, differing only in authority.

He also clings to the error that Ezekiel 33:1-7 is a commission to the Church, something taught neither by Jesus nor the apostles. 

In late 1985, Mr. Armstrong told me that Dr. Meredith deeply desired to be pastor general, and warned me that just as Dr. Meredith had been a continual thorn in Mr. Armstrong's side, so he would be a continual problem to me. Mr. Armstrong had himself suspended Dr. Meredith from attending services for about eight months in 1979-80. We have worked patiently and respectfully with Dr. Meredith for the past three years with no positive response on his part.

Well, now Dr. Meredith has his wish. He has proclaimed himself pastor general of his own church.

We certainly do not bear any ill will toward Dr. Meredith, nor toward anyone else who starts a church.

We do, however, need to avoid being deceived by false teaching, and we should take care not to be led astray by emotional or sentimental arguments based on a false loyalty to past teachings.

Our loyalty is to God and his Word first and foremost. Tradition is valuable and important, but it must be shaped by the Bible, not vice versa.

We should pray that God would open Dr. Meredith's mind to the truth and lead him to repentance, so that he will someday be useful in the gospel.

We should also pray for those innocent ones who may be deceived by this tragic effort to turn people's hearts away from the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Ask for understanding

Let's be clear about one thing: We will not change the course Jesus Christ has placed us on simply because some people refuse to read the Bible honestly, refuse to believe the truth and refuse to understand the gospel, which is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).

It grieves me, though, that some few may be deceived by any person's clever arguments designed to get a following for himself.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if you don't understand something, please ask. If you are confused, I recommend that you study what we have actually written and preached, not what someone with his own agenda tells you we teach.

Again I state, as I have continually, that God leads us to be committed to teaching what the Bible teaches, regardless of tradition - our own or anyone else's.

God leads his Church through his Spirit. The Father draws us to himself through his Son (John 6:44, 14:6).

The closer we move toward Jesus Christ the better, because it is only through him that we can be reconciled to the Father (2 Corinthians 5: 18-20).

Loyalty to traditions

Some people, sad to say, are more loyal to traditional teachings and explanations than they are to the Word of God.

In their deep longing for personal prestige and power, they are willing to prey on those God has been calling to freedom in his Son, wanting to take them back into the bondage of an impossible salvation by works.

While they falsely accuse us of teaching disobedience to God, they deny the grace of God by refusing to acknowledge the Bible truth: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:8-10).

They try to convince those who follow them that their obedience will bring them God's salvation, falling into the trap Paul warns them against: boasting of their supposed spiritual superiority.

In their spiritual vanity, they fail to understand that God creates his people in Christ Jesus for good works, and that our good works belong to God and bring glory to him and not to ourselves.

They fail to understand that God commands us to walk humbly before him (Micah 6:8) and that God gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5), to those who know their need for him (Luke 18:14).

These are people who set themselves up as the spiritual standard for others, yet cannot see that their own "righteousness" is as filthy rags before God. They believe they can somehow merit God's favor by their "goodness," while they discredit us for proclaiming that salvation is by God's grace toward us for the sake of his Son, whose blood covers our sins (1 Peter 1:18-19).

They believe they obtained the Holy Spirit by their obedience, when Paul condemned such empty, self-righteous reasoning (Galatians 3:2-5). They seek to establish their own righteousness by obedience to the law, making faith in the only One who can save them of no effect.

In so doing, these people miss the true righteousness in the Holy Spirit that comes through faith in Jesus Christ-God's own work in us of spiritual transformation of the inner person, cleansing the heart and mind of the corruption of sinfulness, and producing the fruit of the Spirit.

Instead, they settle for their own religiosity, their outward show of righteousness through their personal efforts at lawkeeping, which results not in the deep recognition of their total dependence on the mercy of God, but rather in their feelings of spiritual superiority over all who do not agree with them and follow them.

God's calling is for eternity

We have a long way to go as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In fact, we are called to a whole lifetime of total commitment to all the things of Christ.

God does not call his people to just "hang on" for a few short years. Nor does he call us just to save us from whatever war, persecution or other tragedy the future might hold.

God has called us to be faithful until death, regardless of whether that comes in times of peace and plenty or in times of suffering and trial.

God's. calling is to enter his kingdom for all eternity. The gospel he has given us is the gospel of eternal salvation in his eternal kingdom; it is not a gospel of saving our physical lives or of getting delivered from persecution.

God will choose to deliver from physical suffering whom he wills, according to his transcendent purpose in our lives - and he hears the cries of his saints.

He often delivers us out of our troubles, but in faith we know that he knows best, and, like Jesus, we want his will, not our own, to be done.

Bu the gospel has to do with our eternal inheritance, and that is something those who "loved not their lives unto death" will receive when Jesus returns (Revelation 12:11, King James Version).

The deliverance God gives us through faith in his Son is deliverance from the bondage of sin, and from sin's result: death. God will rescue those who are his at Jesus' return, changing their mortality into immortality, and they will live forever with him as his glorified children.

Dear brethren, God has blessed us beyond measure, showing us where we have gone off on tangents, where we put our priorities on physical things that took our minds off the great spiritual reality of salvation in his Son.

Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, God has brought us back to his Word, and we should pray daily that we will never cease to follow his lead. Pray for one another, and pray for me, that God will guide me and give me courage in his Spirit. My prayers are continually with you.

Is This Why So Many Legalistic COGs Are Now in Trouble?

I could not help but notice this comment from Byker Bob in Banned by HWA.

I think the stricter adherents to Armstrongism are going crazy, because Herbie's stuff isn't coming to pass, doesn't look like there is any way it can come to pass because the so-called church has been fragged and nothing is happening in Europe, and they're beginning to realize the unthinkable, that they've wasted their entire lives and most of their opportunities and resources. It's not a pretty picture, but all of this became totally predictable after 1975, and should have been underscored by the death of HWA.

I remember when I discovered Armstrongism in early 2000 their idea that the European Union would emerge as a world superpower that would destroy the US and Britain seemed quite plausible to me at the time.

But today with the EU in severe financial turmoil because of their Euro currency to say they will displace the US seems the most absurd and ludicrous idea now.

Perhaps the pressure of seeing events stubbornly refusing to confirm what HWA said is causing turmoil within the legalistic COGs.

Perhaps this is why Gerald Flurry started speculating that PCG members should no longer have children. (Although James Malm seems to think this is somewhat misunderstood and that Flurry was merely speculating, but because of PCG's secrecy it is hard to know what really happened.)

Perhaps this is why Dave Pack has foisted his false prophecy of August 30 upon RCG members as a desperate denial of HWA's failed prophecies.

Perhaps this is why LCG members have been heroically resisting Meredith's tyranny by not paying as much tithes and offerings as before. They see the EU is not about to rise up and destroy the US and Britain. They are destroying themselves instead. They saw Richard Ames give a crystal to Meredith for LCG's anniversary celebration and concluded they did not need to give as much as before.

It seems painfully clear that the legalistic COGs are struggling to keep their followers enslaved with HWA's false dogmas and false predictions.  

Dave Pack's Twenty-First "Special Announcement"

Dave Pack has released yet another of his rediculous "Special Announcements" claiming that many Armstrongites in other COGs will join Pack's RCG en mass on August 30.

I wish to mention just two strange things he said in this deceptive propaganda.

1) Pack absurdly claims he is not setting dates.

Upon hearing of the timing of Haggai’s prophecy, some have claimed that I am setting dates. I am not—far from it. Knowing the year of this prophecy is in no way comparable to declaring the date of Christ’s Return, which is not revealed in the Bible. In fact, Christ specifically warns not to set a date for His Return since “no man knows the day or the hour” (Matt. 24:36). 

Well, of course he is not now setting a date for Christ's return.

But he is setting a date for a highly unlikely event to occur on August 30. No doubt many RCG members will experience the same kind of disappointment when Dave Pack's false prophesy fails in misery. It would not surprise me if the resulting disappointment will cause a mass defection within Pack's RCG. That is what happened after World War II following HWA's failed prophecy that Jesus Christ would return after the end of World War II, and again after the failure of HWA and Herman Hoeh's prediction that the Great Tribulation would begin in 1972.

It is quite sad and tragic to see how Dave Pack willfully ignores what he is doing to his followers by setting a date for something that simply will not happen.

2) Bizarrely enough, Dave Pack seems to understand that if his prophecy fails those who believe his words could quit everything. But, alas, he uses this fact to instead claim that his August 30 prophecy will surely be fulfilled and uses this as proof 12 that his false prophecy will be fulfilled as he claims.

The readers of the Haggai prophecy announcements (this is #21) who believed them would be the most disillusioned and the biggest candidates to QUIT everything if God did not return His people to one House this year! This would work directly against what God is doing—directly opposite His overall purpose.

It is sad that Dave Pack is so thoughtlessly gambling with the mental health of those who follow him.

Dave Pack is thoughtlessly leading his followers into another Great Disappointment, just like HWA, Garner Ted Armstrong, Roderick C. Meredith, Gerald Flurry, Ronald Weinland and many others. It is terrible that is leading his followers into this terrible dead end.

Here is Banned by HWA's discussion of this deceptive "Special Announcement":

Dave Pack: He's Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Installment 21

Wadsworth's Balaam the Ass Says the COG's Will Be Reunited On August 30

Balaam the Ass (aka Joshua Pack) Says He Possesses the Hidden Code to Understand Scripture

Balaam's Ass Davey Pack Says God Planned For Him To Discover This New Truth 3,000 Years Ago

Balaam's Ass Davey Pack Says God Has Already Disfellowshipped You

Davey Pack: Jesus Was Kicked Out of the Church in 1992

Davey Pack Declares He Is Ready To Give Absolution To Wayward COG Members When They Return To His "True" Fold

Dave Pack: God's Most AWESOOOOOOME Prophet Say There Are Over 30 Reasons Why August 30 Will Happen But Most Are Too Stupid To Understand Them

Dave Pack: 24 "proofs" Regarding August 30, 2013

Dave Pack: Is He Ready To Go To Extraordinary Means To Make His Prophecy Come True?

Davey Pack: They Continue to Ridicule ME(!) as MY god is Getting Ready to Traumatize the COG

Dave Pack needs to repent and stop spreading this madness among his followers.

PCG's Callum Wood Brainwashing PCG Members to Fear Germany

On July 1, PCG published an article by Callum Wood, Why Saudi Arabia Can't Afford to Lose in Syria, discussing the current tragic war in Syria and focusing mainly on Saudi Arabia's perspective.

Syria is Iran’s most important ally in the Middle East. The Saudis understand this, and understand what many nations in the West choose to overlook: that Iran is working to maintain and expand its sphere of influence. 

The West choose to overlook this how? How is the West ignoring Iran? They have only slapped so many sanctions on Iran that people there are having trouble getting their medicine.

There is a simply shallow attempt at pretending to be more dramatic than you actually are.

The Saudis fear a rising Iran, which has been increasingly aggressive in establishing its presence across the Middle East and North Africa since the “Arab Spring.”

What about the Iraq War? A horrific war which killed about 4486 US soldiers and over 100,000 Iraqis, and which also led to Iran gaining great influence among Shiite Iraqis who now dominate Iraqi politics.

Recently I was lucky enough to read The Endgame by Michael R. Gordon and General Bernard E. Trainor, an account of the Iraq War, 2003-2012. The book is quite explicit in demonstrating how many Iraqis, especially the Arab Shiites, are very much under Iran's influence. A lot of Iran's push for influence within Iraq occurred long before the Arab Spring arose. I find it strange that Wood ignores that factor in Iran's present situation.
 
Why does Callum Wood think it fine to ignore that terrible war? Why is his thinking about current affairs so terribly shallow he would ignore a war in which US soldiers played such an important role?

Why does Wood pretend that Iran's political moves for influence within the Arab World is only a recent thing? 

A swift end to the conflict is in the interests of the Saudis, who have multiple fires to put out in the Middle East, fires which Iran is doing its best to fan. Embers of the “Arab Spring” still smolder in Bahrain, where protests against the government are occurring, right on Saudi Arabia’s doorstep. The last thing the Saudis want is to be fighting a conflict on their own turf, sapping their ability to counter Iran in nations such as Syria. 

Wood is thoughtlessly repeating the vicious accusation that protesters in Bahrain are agents of Iran. The fact is in Bahrain the government is dominated mainly by Sunni Muslims, but they actually only constitute about 40% of the population. The majority of the population, about 60%, are Shiites, and are left marginalized by the predominantly Sunni government. They were attempting to redress this unsatisfactory situation when they rose up in early 2011.

They were not inspired by Iran in these actions. If anything they were inspired by the protesters in predominantly Sunni neighbors.

These protesters were viciously suppressed by the Bahraini government. In an attempt to demonize the protesters in order to justify their suppression and to maintain their undemocratic state of affairs the Bahraini government spread the lie that they were part of an outside conspiracy headed by Iran.

Alas, because Gerald Flurry teaches that Iran will be the prophetic King of the South, PCG writers will be biased towards believing and spread that vicious accusation. 

For anyone interested in actual information about the turmoil in Bahrain here is Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark, courtesy of Al Jazeera. (Warning: Video contains graphic content. Not for the faint hearted.)

When Europe voted to lift the ban on arming the rebels, it was a clear sign that Europe intends to play a greater role in Syria and thereby the fight against Iranian influence. 

I find it curious how Wood makes no mention of how the US has recently decided to arm the rebels as well.
Wood does this in order to scare PCG members into believing that the supposedly German dominated European Union is on the verge of becoming a hostile superpower that will destroy the US and Britain. Mentioning the fact that the US is still by far the mightiest country in the world, and that they are arming the Syrian rebels as well, does not serve to keep PCG members in mental bondage to PCG's leaders, so it is not mentioned.

Also, as far as I know, Germany is actually very reluctant to arm the rebels. It is mainly Britain and France which wish to do so within the EU. 

The Saudis are incapable of stopping Iran alone. Watch as Europe steps in to counter Iran and the spread of Shia Islam in the region.

Never mind that the Germans actually want to stay out of the war in Syria. Can't let facts like that get in the way of deceiving PCG members so they will keep sending the three tithes and offerings into Headquarters.

How Will COGs Spin President Morsi's Fall?

President Muhammad Morsi has been overthrown. I wonder what the COGs will say about it.

It seems to me some COGs, (I mean PCG) has tried to portray the recent Arab protests as simply paving the way for Islamic fundamentalists to seize power and further frustrate Western interests. PCG seems to have this dismissive assumption that if Arabs were allowed to have democracy they would unthinkingly give power to Islamic fundamentalists. This assumption was no doubt encouraged when the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, Muhammad Morsi, became President.

But now he has been removed.

Will PCG still arrogantly assume that Muslims will hand over power to Islamic fundamentalists or will they instead say they are human beings who sometimes makes choices we would not anticipate?

PCG's Brad MacDonald is Wrong: IRS Did Not Target Conservative Groups

In a previous post I highlighted how PCG's Brad MacDonald used several events to cunningly deceive readers into thinking that the US is on the verge of catastrophe. One of these events is the supposed targeting of right wing groups by the IRS.

Turns out this "scandal" does not exist in reality.


So IRS Didn't 'Target Conservative Groups,' After All.

Back in May the media was in a scandal frenzy, echoing a right-wing lie that the IRS was "targeting conservative groups" that applied for special tax status. ...

But anyone who actually spent the time to read the official report on this "scandal" would have learned that was just not what happened. The IRS is supposed to scrutinize all groups applying for special tax status to make sure they are not violating tax rules by engaging in political activity. Because of Citizens United and typical underfunding the IRS couldn't check every group so they tried to find shortcuts to pick potential political groups. ne of those shortcuts involved looking for political sounding names of organizations. That is the entire "scandal" - they let some groups out of the usual scrutiny, but still looked for groups that might be engaged in politics. ...

In the report was a chart showing that ony 1/3 of the scrutinized groups were conservative,...

It took two months, but now we know for a fact that "liberal" names were also used. ...

So ... no "targeting" and no scandal. And no "broadening" of the scandal, as the corporate media is now trying to claim.

Brad MacDonald, get your facts right!

Meredith's Reaction to 1979 Gun Massacre: Satan Trying to Stop People Going to WCG Meeting

I found Roderick C. Meredith making this astoundingly stupid and arrogant statement on page 2 of the April 30, 1979 Pastor's Report.

Probably you have all read about the gunman who shot two women, injured fifty people and then killed himself back in San Antonio -- right near the site of our campaign this Friday night! It almost appear that Satan is up to his old tricks again -- trying to discourage people or hinder them from wanting to come out for such a meeting!

The two women were murdered. Their names are Amelia Castillo and Ida Dollard. 

Here is an account of that tragic shooting.

the 64-year-old veteran of World War II [Ira Attebury] drove a motor home packed with guns and ammunition to the intersection of East Grayson Street and Broadway. He parked in front of Burggraf Tire Co., where he sat through the night and waited for the crowds.

Later, they would call him crazy. He was an addict of PCP and occasional inmate of mental hospitals. He was paranoid, driven mad by merriment. At some point, however, he was preparing, removing plugs from shotguns to fit more shells inside, loading dozens of handguns and rifles and armoring the walls of the Winnebago with rolls of paper towels. ...

Then something started popping. Nagy thought someone was tossing firecrackers at him. There was no pain, only the sensation of something slamming into his legs. He turned to his fellow officers. All of them were gone.

Nagy watched a ring of smoke drift toward him. It touched his chest; it rose and dissolved. He tried to take a step. He fell onto Broadway, flat on his face.

Four other officers were on the ground, all riddled with shotgun pellets.

No one could find the shooter.

Moment of grace

For about 30 endless minutes, Attebury reigned.

For about 30 minutes, he plunged a day reserved for citywide joy into one of sudden terror. He planned and committed a bloodbath years before mass shootings would puncture the national consciousness. Two people would die and at least 50 would suffer injuries, including more than a dozen children.

But police say it could have been worse. A moment of grace saved lives. (Source.)

Eventually a police officer heroically approached the shooter and shot him preventing him from inflicting further harm upon the innocent populace.

Also here is an eighteen minute video from a TV reporter who was there, 1979: Sniper fires into Battle of Flowers crowd. 

What insensitive arrogance Meredith displayed!

Here Meredith learns about this horrendous incident in which a mentally disturbed man murdered two women and caused astounding suffering during his random thirty minute shooting rampage, and the thought that enters Meredith's mind is, "It almost appear that Satan is up to his old tricks again -- trying to discourage people or hinder them from wanting to come out for such a meeting!"

Meredith complains that this massacre gets in the way of WCG's speaking engagement.

Meredith thinks this terrible massacre is all about "God's Church".

Everyone else are unsaved people who has been blinded to the truth until they are resurrected in the Great White Throne Judgment. The massacre can't be about them.

Also note the promise of great expansion for WCG soon Meredith also made in this issue.

We are not growing rapidly yet. But I definitely sense a feeling in the vast majority of the ministers and brethren that we are getting back to the "Gideon's army" type of attitude, that we are "turning the corner," and that real progress and GROWTH is coming up soon on the horizon! 

What actually happened was that the man HWA chose as his successor decided to convert and took the organization with him destroying the work HWA had created and led. Meredith did not see that coming.

Even today Meredith still makes these empty promises of real growth coming soon any minute now. He told WCG members in 1979, he tells LCG members this today.

They are worthless promises. Meredith cannot deliver.

Syrian Turmoil in 1979

While looking around I found the July 30, 1979, Worldwide News and I found this article in it, 'Syrian instability makes Germany nervous', written by Moshe Ben-Simha, about the Islamist uprising that was happening in Syria at the time. This insurgency later led to the infamous Hama Massacre in 1982 in which about 20,000 civilians were murdered by President Assad's forces.

new problems are emerging in Syria where the Ba'ath socialist regime of President Hafez al-Assad, who is firmly in the Soviet orbit, is being rocked by religious tensions.

President Assad belongs to the minority Shia Alawite sect of Moslems. The majority Sunni Moslems are now engrossed in a religious upsurge, largely inspired by Sheikh Ahmed of Mecca, guardian of the holy places in Islam's most sacred city, who has been prophesying jihad [holy war] against Israel and the day of judgment within the year.

Inflaming the purist Sunni Moslem Brotherhood in Syria is the fact that President Assad has had close links with Shia Moslem holy man Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran.

Terrorist Attacks

As a result, Syria has been rocked in recent months by a string of bombings and assassinations. Most of the victims claimed by these anti-government attacks have been members of the Alawite community and close supporters of President Assad who control key posts in the government, the party and the armed forces. In mid-June, a gang of Moslem Brotherhood terrorists gunned down some 50 young officer cadets in a military academy at Aleppo, Syria.

June 3, the Egyptian Middle East News Agency (MENA) claimed that Syrian security authorities had recently foiled a coup against President Assad's government. The MENA report added that the security situation in Syria was rapidly deteriorating following the assassination of three more ranking members of Mr. Assad's Ba'ath party. (p. 8.)

Considering the tragic civil war presently raging in Syria caused by the Assad's regime bloody suppression of initially peaceful protesters it is fascinating to see these events described.    

Flashback: Roderick Meredith Disfellowshipping of Mr. John Ouvrier and Mr. Richard Prince (1979)

While reading John Tuit's book I found the April 23, 1979, Pastor's Report, which contains Roderick Meredith announcing that he had disfellowshipped two WCG ministers.

One unhappy note was the situation in Hawaii. We had to switch our previously announced plans and send Mr. Dennis Luker to Hawaii because our minister there, John Ouvrier, had been carefully "programming" our brethren against God's Work and against His apostle, Mr. Armstrong. In spite of Dennis' best efforts, it looks like 2/3 of the Honolulu church has defected to John Ouvrier and his disloyal, heinous, back stabbing tactics.

It is my sad duty, therefore, to announce that John Ouvrier is out of God's ministry and has been officially disfellowshipped from God's church. I am here marking him as one who has caused GREAT division and confusion in the area of Christ's ministry over which he was responsible. I feel it is necessary to mark him here so that all of you ministers can warn any of your brethren going to and from Hawaii about this situation. (pp. 7-8.)

The Painful Truth has an article, The "Plain Truth" about Hawaii, written by John Ouvrier, that describes this courageous mass liberation of WCG members in Hawaii from HWA's tyranny.

The following is Meredith's announcement of his disfellowshipping of Mr. Richard Prince.

Another sad situation that has just come up is that of Mr. Richard Prince -- former pastor of our church in St. Joseph, Missouri. Mr. Prince "vomited" on the St. Joseph church a week ago Sabbath -- spilling out to Christ's "little ones" all of his frustrations, misunderstandings, and personal animosities about Mr. Armstrong and those assisting him and his upsets over all manner of programs and policies with which he personally disagreed. The area coordinator, Mr. Ray Wooten, reports that Mr. Prince has also "programmed" the church so that we may lose quite a number of brethren from the St. Joseph church.

Therefore, it is my sad duty also to mark Mr. Richard Prince as one who has been aggressively causing DIVISION and great hurt within God's Church. I have had to ex-communicate him from the body of Christ for his reprehensible conduct and he, too, must be avoided by those who are loyal to Jesus Christ. (p. 8.)

Those two ministers are heroes for standing up against HWA's tyranny. Despite the great fear they must have had they still dared to resist HWA's tyranny.

This serves as a remainder of the terrible dictatorial abuses that Meredith unleashed upon WCG during those dark and terrible days.