A Portrait of Tensions in Palestine in 1933

Recently by chance I came upon a copy of the 1933 book, This Mighty Hour! The Message of These Stirring Times by Arthur S. Maxwell (1896-1970), a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Later in the 1950s Maxwell would write The Bible Story, a ten volume retelling of the Bible for children.

This Mighty Hour discussed world conditions as they were in 1933. It can be quite useful to see how people of the time viewed events to get a better understanding of the situation. Among many other things he also discussed the situation in Palestine as it was in 1933.

At the time much of the Arab world including Palestine was ruled by Britain and France as part of the (somewhat incomplete) implementation of the Sykes-Picot Treaty of 1916. Like America before 1775 there was widespread resentment within the Arab world at being ruled by foreigners and the Arab people of all religions, including the Palestinians, yearned for independence.

Also the British authorities overseeing Palestine allowed Jews to migrate there and join the Jewish community there which was named the Yishuv (settlement). Since the 1880s there had arisen a nationalist movement which dreamed of creating a Jewish state. It arose partly as a response to the horrors of anti-Semitic persecution in Tsarist Russia. The leaders of the Yishuv dreamed of creating a Jewish state. To fulfill this dream in 1901 the nationalist movement had founded the Jewish National Fund which used donations from Jews in the diaspora to purchase Palestinian land for Jewish immigrants in order to bring the dream of a Jewish state into reality. Among the Yishuv the ideal of self-labor and Hebrew labor arose to encourage the Yishuv to employ Jews. The dream of the Yishuv's leaders would become real after an insurgency against the British authorities and the Israeli War of Independence in 1947-9.

Below is what Maxwell wrote about the situation in Palestine on pages 116-120. He mentions tensions regarding the purchase of land and the 1929 riots.

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ARAB HATRED OF JEWISH ASCENDANCY

In Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Arabia, Trans-Jordania, there have been similar heart-stirrings since the war. Great promises were made to some of the native peoples of these countries as compensation for their services at the front.  Allegiance was purchased with dream-pictures very difficult to fulfill. Here again old ambitions revived and national aspirations blossomed forth. 

In Palestine, however, a serious complication arose. Seeming to forget the feelings of the hundreds of thousands of Arabs already in possession, Mr. Balfour, in his famous proclamation, virtually handed the country over to the Jews. At least, that is what the Arabs thought when they heard the story of the proposed Jewish National Home. And when they saw the Jews begin to pour into their country from all parts of the world, buying up the land and little by little taking possession of it as their fathers long ago took it from the Canaanites their worst fears seemed to be justified. 

They could not resist the tempting offers of Jewish gold, and yet they bitterly resented the wholesale loss of their heritage. Many indeed did not realize what they were doing when they made the exchange. They were glad enough to be paid four or five times what they thought their land was worth; it was in many cases more money than they had ever expected to see in their lives; but they did not appreciate the fact that they could not return to their homes again, that they must drift into the cities or begin to farm again elsewhere. And oft-times their money was spent before a new holding could be obtained, and all that remained to them was a deep-rooted sense of injury. 

The simmering pot of racial and religious passions boiled over in August, 1929, at the Wailing Wall, claimed as a holy place by both Jews and Mohammadans. Following a dispute as to the right of the Jews to worship there, stones were thrown. Then knives were drawn. The trouble spread. For several days the Arabs engaged in an organised slaughter of Jewish families all over Palestine. It was a ghastly exhibition of murderous fanaticism. When at last order was restored an inquiry was held, and it was admitted by Arab witnesses that practically the whole Mohammadan population was united in hostility towards the Jews because of the fear that they were being dispossessed of their country.

A WIDESPREAD REVOLT

A statement made at the time by the Grand Mufti and president of the Supreme Moslem Council is of special significance:- 

"What has happened in Palestine," he said, "will reverberate in every corner of Moslem Arabia. It is not a religious controversy but a national rebellion in which we have the sympathy and support of all the Moslem Arabs of Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and North Africa. British bayonets may impose tranquility for the moment, but ultimate peace in Palestine and Arabia will never be made so long as the Arabs are forcibly deprived of their rights, their land, and their independence." 

Anyone who has been to Palestine cannot but have noticed the tense feeling that exists between the rival factions. Talking with a Jew in Jerusalem one day, we asked him whether he thought there was any possibility of the Jews recovering possession of the Temple Area and replacing the Mosque of Omar with a modern replica of the temple of Solomon. He replied optimistically, expressing confidence in the power of gold to overcome all religious scruples. The Rothschild millions, he said, might even accomplish this seemingly impossible transition. But we were quickly disabused of this fantastic notion. The sight of an angry mob of Moslems expelling an intruder from the precincts of the mosque was a sufficient answer to such questionings, and convincing evidence that the spirit that burns within the heart of these dwellers in Jerusalem today is the same spirit that burned in the hearts of their forefathers. 

DANGEROUS MOVEMENTS ON FOOT 

The situation all through Palestine is still full of peril. There is little doubt that, but for the presence of the British, there would soon be general upheaval. If the restraining hand were for any reason withdrawn, the Jewish colonists would instantly be at the mercy of a frenzied and fanatical mob, supplemented by Arabs from Trans-Jordanian and elsewhere, who would swarm to their kinsmen's aid to complete the destruction of their hated enemies. 

What happened in 1929 may not, as the Grand Mufti said, have been a religious controversy; but call it what one may, there are certainly all the elements present for a holy war of the first magnitude. And if such a war should ever break out, judging by the temper of modern Mohammadanism, it would be conducted with all the ferocity of the holy wars of old.

These primitive peoples may have absorbed something of Western culture, but at heart they remain as they ever were. They may have cast off their eastern cloaks for morning suits, exchanged the fez for the trilby hat, adopted new methods of eating, installed wireless and other products of European and American factories in their homes; but underneath all this veneer of civilisation the soul of the Arab, the Turk, the Egyptian, remains untouched. There has been no large conversion to Christianity. No people are more impervious to its teachings. The fiery fanaticism that murdered the Jews in 1929 and massacred the Armenians during the war is by no means dead. The appetite for blind savagery is unabated. Beneath apparent serenity glows a veritable volcano which, in its ultimate eruption, must bring incalculable sorrow upon mankind.

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The Balfour declaration was issued without consulting the Palestinian people who were already there. The Palestinians made it clear that they opposed it as soon as they learned of it.

Intriguingly the author makes no mention of Palestinian Christians. Many of the Palestinian Arabs were Christians and this is true today but the author talks of them as Arabs and Muslims. The Palestinian Christians are left unmentioned. Instead the author complains that there had been no mass conversion to Christianity within Mandatory Palestine.

Recently PCG had a British columnist visit their headquarters who downplayed the importance of land in the tensions between the State of Israel and the Palestinians. And yet back in 1933 Maxwell wrote of the Palestinians being worried about those who dreamed of a Jewish National Home "buying up the land," that "they bitterly resented the wholesale loss of their heritage" after their land was sold to the Yishuv, that they did not fully understand what selling land to the Yishuv would mean, that they had "the fear that they were being dispossessed of their country." Just fifteen years later about 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and their land by the forces of the Yishuv. The fear of dispossession proved well founded.

In regards to the sale of land it needs to be mentioned that before the rise of the nationalist movement to create a Jewish state the practice in Palestine regarding farm land was that when the landlord sold it the tenant farmers were simply left to continue farming. The ownership could change but the farmers were secure in knowing that even in such an eventuality they would still be on the land. But when the persons of the nationalist movement began to purchase land using the Jewish National Fund the Yishuv wanted the farmers themselves to be Jews and not Palestinian so the Palestinian farmers were kicked out of their farms. To the Palestinian farmers who were used to having the land change ownership without being personally affected this was a terrible shock.

As Palestinians observed this behavior continuing many Palestinians called for land to not be sold to the Jewish National Fund in order to protect their farms. But as the call went out it also became quite manifest that some landlords would choose to sell the land despite widespread opposition to such transactions among the Palestinian people. Some of those landlords were absent from the land and did not perceive how the Palestinian people viewed these sales.

The author is rather vague about what happened in the riots of August 1929. 133 Jews and 129 Palestinian Arabs were killed in that terrible paroxysm of violence.

One reason for the start of the riots was tensions over arrangements at the Wailing Wall. Among Palestinians there was the fear that the Yishuv wanted to build a Third Temple. And then in 1933 Maxwell happens to talk to a man of the Yishuv who was optimistic that such a thing could be done. Who this man was is left unmentioned. Most likely he was unimportant but it is saddening to see that the author would choose to mention a man saying such inflammatory and unrealistic things in writing this book.

At one point the author talks of "Jewish gold." He also states that this individual in Jerusalem talk of the "Rothschild millions." Such talk is regrettable. We must always guard ourselves against reducing peoples to simplistic stereotypes. It is wrong to stereotype people.

The last paragraph is quite regrettable reading it today with his dire view of Arabs, Turks and Egyptians. In a sense he was foreseeing the advent of decolonization but he viewed it as something to be feared and loathed even though his own nation had gained independence after fighting the military forces of Britain. As the colonized peoples of the world gained more education and experience many yearned for independence. It proved untenable to maintain colonialism once the colonized perceived that they were fully capable of managing their own affairs for themselves and that they did not need the colonizers to rule over them.

Reading this book from 1933 reminds us that the tensions in the Holy Land have been ongoing for a long time. The length of this problem makes a solution producing lasting peace even more urgent. We must not lose hope that such a thing cannot be made and just accept this bloodshed and turmoil as a fact of life. Peace is possible. May peace soon come to the Holy Land.

Overview of the August 2017 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

PCG has released another issue of their recruitment magazine (August 2017) in an attempt to gain more tithes paying converts. Back in 2012 PCG had an income of about $19.5 million according a booklet by their leader, Gerald Flurry. Even as early as 1996 PCG claimed to have more than $5 million in annual income. Recently PCG has even bought its own plane.

Let's take a look at what PCG's leadership are saying this time.

Even though Republican legislators are trying to pass a healthcare law which, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will cause 23 million Americans to lose their health insurance that weighty matter is ignored. Instead the issue argues that one should be worried about nuclear war.

The editors are Gerald Flurry, Stephen Flurry, Joel Hilliker, Brad MacDonald, Richard Palmer, Robert Morley, Jeremiah Jacques, Dennis Leap and Phillip Nice.

The circulation for this issue is 255,897 issues. July's circulation was 267,569. May-June's circulation was 263,551. April's circulation was 267,569 (which happens to be the same as July's figure). March's circulation was 271,949. February was 273,591. January was 267,992. November-December was 277,131.

Gerald Flurry has a particularly bitter personal article condemning the Paris Climate Accord by denouncing it as an attempt to undermine and control America. He also moans about former President Obama for supporting the Paris Climate Accord even though he is no longer president. He defends President Trump's decision to withdraw from it. 

Andrew Müller has an article insisting that there is no scientific consensus that climate change is happening because of the excess emission of greenhouse gases by humans. He implies that concerns about climate change is an attempt "to frighten people into surrendering their freedom to centralized government." (p. 6.) However the vast majority of scientists say that climate change is real and it is being by human activities.

Jorg Mardian has a little article extolling the health benefits of enjoying laughter.

Richard Palmer has an article denouncing the leaders of Britain's Labour Party as "Communists" even though such heated rhetoric has clearly failed to stop the Labour Party's strong electoral performance in the last election. It also includes a side article by Richard Palmer blaming the youth for the Labour Party's increased share of the vote.

Brad MacDonald has an interview with the German journalist Niklas Frank discussing Germany and the journalist's infamous father, Hans Frank.

Stephen Flurry has an article insisting that America is propping up the supposed rise to power of both Europe and Iran. He excoriates Obama for making the nuclear power deal with Iran and Trump for calling on Germany to spend more money on its military.

Kieran Underwood has a little article discussing what would happen if European nations increased their military budgets.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article bemoaning that in his opinion China has succeeded in establishing control of its claimed territory in the South China Sea.

Andrew Müller has an article denouncing the various murders of white South African farmers. As is well known South Africa presently has a severe problem with violent crime which harms everyone of all races and all socioeconomic classes.

Gerald Flurry has an article promoting (PCG's edited version of) Mystery of the Ages insisting that it can reveal various religious teachings about the nature of God.

Joel Hilliker has a little article encouraging readers to manage stress by being healthy. This would be easier to do if a certain proposed legislation, which if passed will cause 23 million Americans to lose their health insurance, gets rejected by the Senate.

Abraham Blondeau has an article scare mongering that the European nation states are a "hidden superpower." The Infographic shares the same theme.

WorldWatch mentions that Germany will establish a military vase in Jordan; NATO is to conduct military operations against ISIL; Lebanon presenting a request for $12 billion in aid from Europe; a spokesman of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps announcing that they will continue to develop their missile capabilities; speculation that Iran has copied a submarine design from North Korea; a thaw in relations between Iran and Hamas; North Korea's test launch of a Hwasong-12 missile on May 14; scare mongering that states and cities bear more debt than is generally acknowledged; and speculation that the newly elected South Korean Prime Minister Moon Jae-in may ease relations with North Korea.

SocietyWatch mentions gang violence by MS-13 criminal gang in order to condemn President Obama's supposedly soft stance regarding immigration (even though more people were deported under President Obama than any other president); that 36% of respondents in a Gallup poll said that pornography was moral; and citing the murder rate in Baltimore to insist that the murder rate was caused by the riots of 2015 that occurred after the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. PCG has a long history of condemning Black Lives Matter protesters and insisting that their grievances are wrong and illegitimate.

There are letters. Only four of them this time. Here is one letter from Huntsville, Alabama from a person who used to read HWA's recruitment magazine and seems to be unaware that there are hundreds of COG splinter groups which all teach many of the same things that PCG teach as well.

I used to be hooked on Herbert Armstrong’s magazine. I’d go and find them in the stands everywhere and read them. But then I stopped finding those stands. But when I took my mom to the doctor here in town, low and behold, I found the Philadelphia Trumpet—only this is by Mr. Gerald Flurry. And if you can get the word to him, tell him he is doing a wonderful work. I sure do appreciate it. I have a lot of questions, and none of the other denominations answer them, but Mr. Flurry sure does.

Here is one letter from Phoenix, Arizona from a person of German background insisting that the situation in Europe is worse than what PCG has said. No wonder PCG's writers picked this letter to publish.

I really like getting your magazine! It talks a lot about Europe, and I have a German background, so I’m very interested in what’s going on over there. Your magazine is true. What’s happening over there is far worse than what they are publishing here. I agree with what you say about it.

Here is one letter from Florida.

I am a permanently disabled combat veteran, and I read the magazine every month. I agree with most everything it says, and I don’t agree with much these days.

It is certainly to be hoped that one who had sacrificed so much will be looked after and be blessed with a happy and prosperous life.

For whatever reason there is no mention in this recruitment magazine of the controversy surrounding President Trump's firing of the director of the FBI.

PCG's writers insists that there are so many threats directed toward their audience and yet they make no mention in this issue of the proposed legislation now heading to the Senate which if passed will cause about 24 million to lose their health insurance. No doubt that would include thousands of those who read this recruitment magazine. And yet PCG's leadership says nothing about that in this issue.

And so we see that PCG's 1% has produced yet another issue of their recruitment magazine seeking to gain new recruits and to keep their followers overawed towards PCG's 1% by thinking that they can see the future. They cannot. Since its founding in 1989 PCG has made at least 52 failed predictions. Getting a British columnist to talk at their headquarters cannot change that fact. Clearly PCG's leaders are but false prophets. There is no need to fear their dire proclamations. PCG's leaders are but false prophets.

Banned by HWA: African Children Starving Because of Dietary Restrictions

Recently Banned by HWA had a post noting that some children in Africa are starving because their parents are following various dietary restrictions introduced to them by various Adventist churches, It is so sad to hear that things like this are happening. There is no need for Christians to observe such dietary restrictions.

In the West it is relatively easy to adopt such practices but among the poor in Africa this may not be at all possible. It is terrible that ideas such as this are adding yet more suffering to such people.

Bobby Fischer and Armstrongism

Banned by HWA has highlighted a fascinating website (http://vindication-of-bobby-fischer.co/) by Sharon Mooney discussing Bobby Fischer, the great chess player who back in the 1960s and 1970s was a member of HWA's WCG.

Mooney presents the possibility that Fischer's eccentricities in his later life were caused by his association with Armstrongism. I will state here that when I learned of some of his eccentric behavior in his later years I could not help but wonder if HWA's ideology had done that to him. I suspect everyone who had encountered Armstrongism and got out of it would have the same chilling thought. And as far as I know no one has looked into that issue concerning Fischer in so much detail as Mooney.

SDF Advances onto ISIL Held Raqqa

The Syrian Democratic Forces are advancing into Raqqa, the de facto "capital" of the criminal network known as ISIL which has been present in that city since 2013 and has enjoyed exclusive control over it since January 2014. The criminal network that has inflicted so much pain and misery throughout Iraq, Syria and the world now has its main stronghold under attack by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

One wishes that ISIL would simply surrender to spare the added suffering that the battle will cause but it is clear that the criminal network will not do that.

May peace soon come to Syria and Iraq.

ISIL Destroys 845 Year Old Mosque in Mosul, Iraq

ISIL has destroyed the al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul which dates back to 1172. It was centuries old even when the first Europeans arrived in what is now the United States. ISIL claimed it was destroyed by a coalition airstrike but this appears to not be the case.

How awful it is that yet another historical monument has been destroyed by this fanatical criminal organization. It is so terrible that so many people have been victimized and murdered by this criminal organization which is justly so loathed all over the world.

May the day of ISIL's fall soon dawn.

The Foul Fruit of Islamophobia

Recently two incidents of deadly violence against Muslims have occurred showing the danger of promoting Islamophobia, a practice which is all too common among the COGs today.

One 17 year old Muslim woman from Virginia has been murdered with her body found in a lake. A suspect has been arrested.

In London a terrorist drove a van into a crowd of Muslim worshipers leaving a mosque killing one and injuring others. The suspect has been arrested.

We must not demonize categories of people in general. It is shameful that some in the COGs have promoted fear of a vulnerable minority instead of encouraging the best in humanity. Shame on them.

North Korean Regime Claims Another Victim

So saddening to learn of Otto Warmbier's death due to injuries while he was held as a prisoner in North Korea. The family's statement made be read at heavy.com.

So awful and sickening.

There is No Need to Live in Fear

Recently I listened to an episode of The Conversation in which two women who had gotten out of destructive cults discussed their experiences in the cults and getting out of those destructive life styles. At one point in the conversation of the interviewees mentioned that for years after leaving the cult whenever the words judgment or last days, the apocalypse, end of world, etc, she would be distressed at such talk.

With about seven and a half billion people on Earth it is safe to assume that at any point in time something rather bad is happening somewhere. Watching the news bad things have recently occurred. The fire in Grenfell Tower in London. The mass shooting in San Francisco. The attack against Republican legislators practicing for the congressional baseball game with Representative Steve Scalise still in a critical condition. An Israeli border guard was killed in an armed attack in East Jerusalem.

There are many things that can be said about such harrowing events but these events certainly do not provide any evidence that Herbert Armstrong or any of his imitators know what will happen in the future. Herbert Armstrong and his imitators have made many predictions that have miserably failed.

From 1953 onward Herbert Armstrong, Herman Hoeh and the 1% of the organization taught that the Great Tribulation would begin in 1972 and end with Christ's return in 1975.

In 1985 Herbert Armstrong wrote in his book, Mystery of the Ages, that Christ would return within twenty years, that is by 2005. (That passage has since been removed in copies of that book published by Gerald Flurry's Philadelphia Church of God after acquiring the copyright in 2003.)

Clearly there is no need to fear or give any respect to the dire proclamations of Herbert Armstrong or any of his imitators. There is no need to live in fear.

Reading Mark Mendiola's Article, The Ten Commandments: A Sacred Law for All Nations

The sixth issue of LCG's recruitment magazine, Tomorrow's World (May-June 2000), featured an article by Mark Mendiola entitled "The Ten Commandments: A Sacred Law for All Nations." (pp. 14-18.) This was the sixth of several articles Mendiola would write for this recruitment magazine. Here he makes a political tract condemning the political left and lawyers for requiring publicly funded facilities to not post religious displays, namely the Ten Commandments. One reading this article by itself would have no idea that it is from an organization which teaches things that the vast majority of Christians do not teach.

Let's take a look.

Lawlessness and violence sweeping across the western world have brought the Ten Commandments to the front pages of today’s newspapers. Courts and legislatures contend over public displays of the commandments. Are the Ten Commandments sacred laws for all nations? The Bible’s answer may surprise you.

While the article's title may make the reader think that this is a devotional article it actually reads more as a tract defending attempts to display the Ten Commandments in publicly funded court houses. Instead of a song of praise to God the reader gets a political tract denouncing rulings by federal judges concerning the public display of the Ten Commandments on government property.

Mendiola shrilly claims that the Ten Commandments have been outlawed by federal judges.

Yet, today many want to completely remove the Ten Commandments from public view or consideration—in effect outlawing the greatest, most sacred Law ever given to mankind!

What nonsense. Anyone who wishes to observe the Ten Commandments in the United States is free to do so.

It is ironic and almost unthinkable, but in United States courtrooms American lawyers and judges are hotly debating the legality of displaying the Ten Commandments. This is the very law on which Judeo- Christian principles and civil laws have been based in the western world for hundreds of years. 

And so does this individual  who is not a lawyer or a judge presume to know better than them?

Mendiola proceeds to denounce a Supreme Court ruling in 1980.

... the Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that the Ten Commandments could not be posted in public schools or taught to the nation’s children in public classrooms. In that Stone vs. Graham ruling, the Supreme Court decided that posters of the Ten Commandments displayed in Kentucky schools promoted religion and could not be allowed.

In other words this ruling is the law of the land. We are under no obligation to like this ruling but it is there and has to be adhered to.

Justices on the highest U.S. court also shockingly concluded, "If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments." Apparently, the justices believed this was an undesirable outcome! 

It was about the separation of church and state. There is a debate about whether or not it is appropriate for religious displays to be present in publicly funded buildings considering that some tax payers funding such buildings happen to not share Mendiola's religion. This debate is reflected in the various legal cases concerning this issue and the judicial rulings on this topic. Regardless of how the Supreme Court may rule on this issue if one wishes to observe the Ten Commandments then such a person is free to do so.

Mendiola bewails the legal cases regarding the separation of church and state.

Many state officials also continue to challenge an aggressive attempt on the part of the American Civil Liberties Union and others to remove any display of the Ten Commandments in courthouses or on government property. 

There have been legal clashes in California, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah where government officials have defended the right to display the Ten Commandments. In fact, Alabama’s governor in February 1997, threatened to call out state troopers and the National Guard to protect a carved rendition of the Ten Commandments in a judge’s courtroom! 

Mendiola insists that the Ten Commandments will lead to wonderful prosperity for the people of the United States even though he taught elsewhere that the United States is destined to be destroyed.

For the United States or any nation to draw near to the Living God and reap His blessings, the Bible is plain, we must carefully observe His law and commandments and teach them to successive generations. That is how we can obtain wisdom and understanding. 

Mendiola insists that not adhering to his religion is causing all kinds of problems for American society.

By rejecting or breaking God’s Ten Commandments, the United States and other nations are bringing curses on themselves. If the first four commandments that teach respect for God are not kept, the last six also are held in low esteem. The U.S. and other countries are witnessing an outbreak of social problems as a result of violating God’s commandments. It is not well with our nations!

And seventeen years later the United States is as powerful as ever. The possibility of America being conquered by Germans is as distantly remote now as it was back then.

Even though Christianity is the predominant religion of the United States Mendiola bewails that the Ten Commandments are held in contempt.

Yes, God wants our children instructed in His Ten Commandments. Yet, how many young people, let alone adults, can actually recite them at a time when they are held in such contempt?

Mendiola cites various politicians past and present to say that Christian morality is essential to how American society operates. Then he talks about how (LCG's) God expects the Ten Commandments to be taught to children which is freely permitted since the legal argument over publicly displaying the Ten Commandments in court houses is about the separation of church and state. That argument has nothing to do with restricting anyone from observing the Ten Commandments should he or she choose to do so.

One distinguishing feature of LCG and the other Armstrongite organizations is the insistence that the Old Testament laws are to be followed by Christians today.

Ministers who claim Christ did away with the law and that the Ten Commandments are no longer in effect are hard-pressed, however, to explain the Apostle Paul’s plain statements in his epistle to the Romans praising the commandments and God’s law. 

Paul was raised a Jew. Christianity was first taught and adhered to among Jews. Among those early Christians it is reasonable to believe that they continued to adhere to Jewish rituals and practices as part of their culture. But when Christianity began to find an audience outside of the Jewish community the question arose, Must one be a Jew to become a Christian? The church concluded and then taught that it was not necessary to for non-Jews who had converted to become a Jew. Paul strongly taught against this idea as may be seen in Galatians and Acts 15 when they talked about circumcision to become a Jew. Later Jewish religious authorities proclaimed that Christians were not Jews. There is no need for a Christian to keep the Jewish law to be a Christian. HWA was wrong to teach otherwise. Unfortunately Mendiola continued to promote that misunderstanding with this article.

Mendiola cites various figures from the New Testament to praise the Ten Commandments. While mentioning the Apostle John he mentions a fear inducing prophecy of LCG's to insist that terrible times await for his readers.

John describes Satan the devil launching an all-out attack on God’s Church and true saints at this end time.

Armstrongites have continuously insisted since the 1930s that terrible catastrophes will soon occur. And yet the doomsayers of Armstrongism have always been completely wrong. The evidence is clear. The Armstrongite doomsayers are but false prophets. We do not need to fear them.

Mendiola insists that since American society will not adhere to his understanding of the Ten Commandments all sorts of frightful things are happening in the United States.

It is no coincidence that as God’s commandments and law of love are rejected in society, criminal acts of indescribable hatred and violence are breaking out throughout the land.

Mendiola then insists that a new world will soon be established in which the Ten Commandments will be obeyed by everyone and world peace will finally be a reality.

Oh, that there were a heart in all of us that we would read, meditate upon, venerate, obey and keep all of God’s Ten Commandments, that it might be well with us, our children and grandchildren forever! Think of how much different our nations would be if no one broke the commandments against killing, stealing, cursing, lying, coveting or dishonoring our parents or our God. Society would be radically transformed almost beyond comprehension. Then, lawyers, judges and legislators would not need to debate whether the Ten Commandments could be posted in public places or taught to our children.  

Such a wonderful utopia is coming and will be established on earth when Jesus Christ returns as the Great Lawgiver and King of kings in Tomorrow’s World.

HWA and his imitators have always insisted that they had advance knowledge of what will happen to the world. But since the 1930s HWA and his imitators have made so many predictions that simply have not occurred. They clearly cannot see the future. These words cannot be trusted.

And so this political tract comes to an end. Mendiola kept complaining about the Ten Commandments not being allowed to be displayed in publicly funded government buildings such as courthouses following a decision by the Supreme Court in 1980. But regardless of whether the Ten Commandments can be displayed in courthouses or not there is freedom of religion in the United States so Mendiola is free to teach his religion to anyone who is interested. And yet in this article he seems to not notice how much leeway the federal government gives to all religions including his own.

In September 2006 Mendiola left LCG and joined Dave Pack's Restored Church of God. Around 2008 he left RCG and joined Don Billingsley's Church of God-Faithful Flock.