At first he talks about the recent controversy regarding monuments alluding to the tragic events in Charlottesville. Here his ire is reserved for those who argue or call for the removal of monuments that are now out of sync with how society is today.
Greeting from Tyler,In the words "ultimately the Bible" Mark Armstrong links to a WorldNetDaily article from August 2003. Many within the COGs seem to adore WorldNetDaily and rarely criticize that far right media outlet. More on the COGs' reliance on WorldNetDaily may be seen in the posts below:
It is obvious that we live in a nation deeply divided, with most of the media, and now even the sports industry intent on dividing us further. RACIST, white supremacists! It's come to this. There was no doubt, when the “protest” mob began pulling statues and historical markers down, that it was only the beginning. It was all but useless to engage in the discussion of statues of Robert E. Lee because anyone could see it was just a stepping stone. We knew they'd be coming after the Founding Fathers next, then the Constitution and ultimately the Bible, assuming somebody would be left to defend it publicly.
Mark Armstrong's initial paragraph leads up to his main topic in this weekly update: the protests held by the NFL.
Well, they have. Now Americans are being made to choose between their love of football and their love for country. Most have little idea what's going on around the world, other than the devastation of Puerto Rico with blame heaped upon the head of President Trump for not caring. Because there's an unrelenting argument out of every media outlet, as to whether football players should be allowed to express themselves in protest during the national anthem. Commentator Mark Steyn made a great statement the other night. “The national anthem can be a ceremony honoring the American flag and what it represents, or an opportunity for self-expression. It can't be both.”He claims that "Americans are being made to choose between their love of football and their love for country" to make sympathizing with athletes who choose to protest as an unthinkable option and equating it with somehow hating the nation instead of educating oneself about the problems that brought about these protests.
He writes that, "Most have little idea what's going on around the world". What does this statement mean? If he is implying that most Americans have little knowledge of world affairs then that is simply not true. It seems to be a foreshadowing of his later comment about the rise of the far right Alternative for Germany party in the recent German elections.
No mention is made of the fact that the mass protests were in response to President Trump's comments regarding NFL athletes who had knelt during the performance of the national anthem.
Also the lamentable situation in Puerto Rico after experiencing the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria is mentioned to complain about people's complaints about President Trump.
He also complains about racial issues, absurdly demonizes colleges as teaching its students to hate America, condemns environmentalism, and makes the inflammatory accusation that such people are prepared to wage violence even though back in 2015 the far left were responsible for only 1% of politically motivated murders in the United States. White supremacist extremists have been far more dangerous in regards to political violence in America.
People on every side of this issue are all ramped up. Some burning their memorabilia and season tickets, others crying RACISM, Police brutality, and “Trump is a white supremacist!” How this got to be about race is unclear. But what's not, anymore? College kids are being “taught” to hate the United States. They're being taught to hate capitalism on the premise that it's “destroying the planet.” They're ready to destroy property, stab or bludgeon any who disagree with them, and they want the downfall of more than statues. They're going after the Founders, the Constitution and needless to say, the Bible.He says, "How this got to be about race is unclear." The first athlete is knelt during the national anthem was Colin Kaepernick and he did that as an attempt to highlight the problems facing the African American community such as police brutality. It is hard to understand how he would fail to notice that point.
He then excoriates those he disapprove of as condemning the Bible and complains that these controversies over race are making Americans not notice the election of the far right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) in the recent German elections.
As far as they're concerned the Bible is full of hate speech, even the New Testament, because it condemns homosexuality just as directly as in the Old Testament. The “race” rhetoric is so hot now that most have no idea what is playing out across the pond in Europe. As you know, Angela Merkel won re-election in Germany, but the AfD party also won seats in parliament for the first time. That is the anti-immigrant party, but its emergence into government also raises the specter of anti-Semitic German nationalism, and it certainly has Israel's attention and that of Benjamin Netanyahu.The Armstrongites teach that Germany is fated to conquer the United States in the near future consequently they see any advance of the far right in Germany as a sign that Germany's conquer of America is just around the corner even though Americans soldiers are based in Germany to this day as part of the NATO alliance. While it is certainly concerning it is not a sign that Germany will soon conquer the United States.
He mocks the protesting NFL athletes as wanting "government FREE STUFF." Where did that thought come from?
But that's no big deal, because we've got disgruntled football players to worry about! It seems that all involved are in for a revelation. We love our country more than football! The promise of government FREE STUFF is no substitute for the respect we have for God, family, the American flag and all it represents. History is being rewritten and re-interpreted by universities, media outlets and corporations to try to shame us into they’re [sic] socialist group-think. But we already know where we stand, and if they'll excuse us, we're pausing for the Day of Atonement and soon leaving to keep the Feast of Tabernacles!
Later,So he also mentions the festivals that Intercontinental COG is preparing to observe. One particular feature of their Feast of Tabernacles is that followers are expected to attend a yearly conference that lasts for eight days. They call that their Feast of Tabernacles.
Mark
This is very different from the Feast of Tabernacles described in the Bible and observed by Jews all over the world today. Jews celebrate this precious festival by building booths on their property and celebrating the festival in their homes. They do not take their children out for eight days out of school. They celebrate it at home.
But when the false prophet of 1975 adopted this festival, partly influenced by the writings of the independent Adventist minister Greenbury George Rupert (1847-1922), HWA had little understanding of the Feast of Tabernacles so he ignorantly twisted it into an eight day long yearly conference which has imposed many restrictions upon his followers. What a terrible thing HWA did caused partly by his failure to understand this precious and ancient Jewish festival.
He also announced the mailing of the latest issue of his organization's magazine.
P. S. We’ve been getting everything done, all the mailings out and requests filled, so that we can attend the Feast of Tabernacles knowing that we're all caught up. We mailed the new edition of 21st Century WATCH magazine last week. If you've not received your copy yet, we will have them on display and available for your perusal at each Feast site. We bid you safe travel, and God willing, we'll see you there.The Feast is something very different from what Jews observed in the time of the Old Testament and today. Jews celebrate the Feast in their own homes in booths on their property which they build. It is a happy and joyous festival celebrated at home. They do not go to some far away place with their families to attend an eight day yearly conference filled with religious services.
And so we see that Mark Armstrong has given his followers yet another serving of his vituperative polemics against anyone politically standing to the left of him.
My thoughts on several of the issues on which he touched. First, as a motorsports type guy, I had no idea the magnitude of what this kneeling protest was doing to business in my neighborhood until I purchased a pizza yesterday. The store manager stated that she was only having one cook work over the weekend because the normal football crowd was not watching the games, therefore not ordering pizza. People apparently don't want politics mixed with their football. The backlash has apparently kicked in, and it means boycotting the NFL.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, globalism has been what has kept us out of World War III. The minute Donald Trump began running on a platform involving nationalism, speaking of taking the US out of certain long-term alliances and trade agreements, (that the United States had actually initiated) I realized that there would be profound reactions, setting off similar nationalism on the part of other large nations. That this is being set off by the preferred political party of Armstrongism is ironic to say the least! They always used to say that if a Republican president were elected, it meant God had given them more time to finish "the work". And, of course, these days, "the work" is all but invisible.
And last, although the Nazi Steve Bannon has been banished and has gone back to his beloved Breitbart, his influence on his constituency has not waned. The move of many Republican voters away from mainstream and towards alt.right appears to be on autopilot and gaining steam, even as President Trump has reached out to the Democrats whom he needs to move his policies forward.
Looks like we're in for some rough sailing for the near future as American politics has transitioned from moderate to radical. The so-called Tea Party didn't go away. It has morphed into something far worse.
BB