Praising Israel Before World War III: Overview of the September 2019 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

Let's take a look at the September 2019 issue of PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet.

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

This issue had a circulation of 251,694 issues.

Gerald Flurry has a personal article talking about Jerusalem. It is taught by PCG and the other Armstrongite groups that after Christ's return all the world will be united under one government led by Christ headquartered in Jerusalem. Flurry talks about focusing on what Jerusalem will be like after Christ returns. In the article Flurry uses the word vision 36 times. In other words he is calling upon readers and PCG members to be enthusiastic in believing PCG's dogmas.

Christopher Eames has an article discussing an recent alleged discovery of Ziglag, a city which in the Bible was associated with David before he ascended to the throne, at Khirbet al-Ra'i.

Brad Macdonald has an article insisting that the State of Israel will enjoy a temporary revival for leaning to the political right. After Trump ascended to the presidency the PCG leadership has been boasting that President Trump is leading a temporary revival. PCG's 1% are so happy that a Republican is in the White House.

Richard Palmer has an article decrying anti-Semitic bigotry against Jews. While it is certainly good to combat anti-Semitism it is worth mentioning that PCG has some troubling teachings regarding Jews. Traditionally Jews have long feared attempts to make them convert to Christianity. Most Jews consider conversion to Christianity to be a renunciation of one's Jewish identity. But buried within the intricacies of PCG's teachings it is assumed that most Jews will eventually convert to PCG's religion if they happen to live after Christ returns or after a resurrection. Or else.

It is taught in PCG and other Armstrongite groups that God is not trying to convert the vast majority of humanity today. In their teaching most people have been supernaturally blinded by God and left unable to comprehend and believe in Armstrongite teachings. God will not give them a chance to be saved until after Christ returns. After the thousand year reign of Christ on Earth those who had been blinded by God before the Second Coming will be resurrected in an event the Armstrongites call the Great White Throne Judgment. Then they will either convert to PCG's religion and worship Christ or they shall be cast into Armstrongite hell. It is assumed that the divinity of God the Father, Christ and the other God beings predicted to exist by that time will make conversion an easy and happy choice. In Armstrongism it is taught that those who are not saved will be cast into the Lake of Fire and will be annihilated. Those people will have no afterlife after that. Any Jewish person who wishes to maintain his or her religion and not worship Christ or any of the other Armstrongite God beings are doomed to the Lake of Fire in this teaching. Armstrongism pushed the issue of hell to after the Second Coming for non-members but the issue is still there.

It is worth noting that PCG has been producing writings in Hebrew seeking to preach to a predominantly Jewish audience within the Holy Land.

Palmer's article also features a graphic photo of a mass grave at Mauthausen in 1945 on page 13.

Richard Palmer and Daniel Di Santo have an article scare mongering that continental Europe is able to get the resources they need by trading with Africa and Latin America. The fact that the United States has armed forces in continental Europe in fulfillment of their duties as part of the NATO alliance is blissfully ignored in this dogma.

The Infographic props up the article above.

Brad Macdonald has an article telling Americans to be scared of Germany because, he insists, the Germans are the descendants of the ancient Assyrians who conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel. But Macdonald and the other Armstrongites are wrong. The Germans are not descended from the Assyrians. The DNA evidence proves they are not related by descent. Therefore any prophecy that assumes Germans to be descended from the Assyrians is bound to fail.

In this article Macdonald indulges in one again scare mongering about Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. For years now the PCG leadership has often speculated that he is destined to be the military leader fated to lead a German led European Empire to conquer the United States and take Americans as slaves back to Europe.

Who is this modern Tiglath-Pileser III? We can’t say for certain, but for more than 12 years now we have considered former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg a potential candidate. Guttenberg has all the ingredients; he is aristocratic, rich and powerful. He has charisma and communicates with conviction, candor and power. Guttenberg isn’t popular with Germany’s elites or the mainstream media, but many regular Germans adore him. Watch Guttenberg: He could be Germany’s end-time Tiglath-Pileser III! (p. 23.)

Gerald Flurry has an article calling upon his readers to get to know God. However PCG insists that one can only know God by joining PCG. And one of the requirements for PCG members is to pay three tithes to PCG. That is how PCG managed to get an income of about $19.5 million in 2012.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article discussing the mass protest movement in Hong Kong. This anxious event is unfortunately used to indulge in some scare mongering about "Gentile rule" after the fall of the British Empire.

In Hong Kong, the effects of the transition from Israelite rule to Gentile rule are on display in microcosm. No one argues that British imperialism was perfect; it was administered by men, and all men rule deficiently. But when Hong Kongers anxiously brandish the Union Jack and insist that their colonial legacy means “Hong Kong is not China,” they are giving the world an early signal of how dark the times of the Gentiles will be. 

Hong Kong is a bellwether for what Mr. Flurry called the coming “catastrophic storm.” And as Beijing tightens its grip on the territory, it reveals how violent the tempest will be. (p. 27.)

Armstrongism often viewed British colonialism as the will of God. This is connected to PCG and Amrstrongism's teaching of British Israelism. And because they think the British Empire was the will of God they have a hard time understanding why it collapsed. Those who are conquered do not want to be ruled by conquerors.

WorldWatch discusses Bastille Day celebrations to scare monger about Europe's military power; complaining about the European Union seeking to persuade other nations to conform to EU rules regarding data protection on the Internet; a report indicating some German police officers have been aligning themselves with the Alternative for Germany party; fear mongering about the EU organizing their air defenses; four Russian warships taking a stop in Cuba; Russia placing fortifications in Crimea; fear mongering about President Putin meeting with Pope Francis; an attempt to integrate pro-government militias in Iraq into the Iraqi armed forces; and Iran choosing to retaliate against President Trump's breach of the nuclear agreement by making more enriched uranium than was agreed to under the agreement President Trump threw away.

SocietyWatch frets about homeless people and diseases in Portland (which seems quite low); condemning curricula in California that treats the LGBT community as normal people; and condemning advertising standards in the United Kingdom that seeks to discouraging limiting gender stereotypes which, with typical hyperbole, is condemned by the PCG leadership as "part of a larger attack on biblical sex roles." (p. 31.)

Alex Harrison has an article encouraging children to be close to their grandparents.

Joel Hilliker has an article discussing the horror of the illegal sex trafficking of underage persons in Portland. It is a rewrite of a December 2010 article.

Here is a passage from the September 2019 article.

The human mind can only take in so much. And in this information-saturated age, news of people mistreating their fellow human beings comes in such a torrent that we can easily grow numb to it. And—truth be told—we are helpless to do anything substantive to stop it. These blights are painfully endemic to the human condition, resilient against virtually all efforts to stop them. 

There is one, however, who has seen it all, who has never succumbed to apathy—and who absolutely will put a stop to it.

Here is the same passage from the December 2010 article. Only one word has been altered.

The human mind can only take in so much. And in this information-saturated age, news of people mistreating their fellow human beings comes in such a torrent that we can easily grow numbed to it. And—truth be told—we are helpless to do anything substantive to stop it. These blights are painfully endemic to the human condition, resilient against virtually all efforts to stop them. 

There is one, however, who has seen it all, who has never succumbed to apathy—and who absolutely will put a stop to it.

This points to a larger issue: Armstrongism keeps repeating itself over and over again. But it is still as false as it was in 1934.

PCG calls upon their followers to keep PCG's vision of the future in mind. But PCG has made many false prophecies since its establishment in 1989. There is no need to give heed to them. These false prophecies prove that they are but false prophets.

Cheerleading for Trump and Barr: Overview of the August 2019 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

Let's take a look at the August 2019 issue of PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet.

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

This issue had a circulation of 252,593 issues.

Gerald Flurry has an article denouncing the Mueller investigation which he views as attempts to remove President Trump from office and praising William Barr for writing a memo condemning the Mueller investigation. Flurry even believes that "God's hand" was in Barr's memo.

Barr loves the Constitution and understands it as few men do. During his confirmation hearing, he said he reveres the law. It has been a long time since America has had someone like this in the Department of Justice. It is refreshing to have someone praise and uphold the law at a time like this! This should be uncontroversial—but in a way, it has challenged the whole government structure in Washington! 

Barr is very concerned about what Obama-era officials did to Donald Trump. He sees that something terribly wrong has been going on. He wants to understand why government officials were spying on an incoming president. He wants to know why the DOJ withheld information from the president regarding what the Russians were doing and regarding its investigation of him. Mr. Barr chose ... a prosecutor ... to look into the origin of the Russian investigation. That has a lot of people on the Democratic side nervous, as it should! When you begin to apply the law, as Barr is, lawbreakers get nervous. 

On June 8, 2018, William Barr sent a 19-page memo to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that stunned the Mueller team. It is a masterpiece about American law. And I believe God’s hand was in it. (pp. 4-5.)

And Flurry seems to see a lot of significance in Barr using the word "divine" at one point in this memo.

[Flurry quotes Barr:] “To establish guilt, all that remains is evaluation of the president’s state of mind to DIVINE whether he acted with a ‘corrupt’ motive.” ... These men think they can “divine” whether Trump acted with a corrupt motive. That is a well-chosen word William Barr used, and it really is appropriate for what they are doing. It means “to prophesy, to guess, to find out by intuition.” ... 

Another definition of divine, as an adjective, is, “of, like, or from God or a god.” That too is appropriate, because these men are acting as if they are God! Do you really want to be ruled by someone who thinks he can sit there and act like God, telling you that you have a corrupt motive? Do you want these men with corrupt minds judging you? (p. 26.)

It is clear Barr was not talking about God in the memo. Why Flurry wants to bring up another definition of the word "divine" out of context in this article is perplexing and strange.

Brent Nagtegaal has an accompanying side article discussing Jeroboam II as a king who brought about a revival of the northern kingdom of Israel. The PCG leadership often compare President Trump with King Jeroboam II of Israel as fated to bring about a temporary revival of fortune for the United States before the Great Tribulation occurs. They are so happy that a Republican is in the White House.

Brent Nagtegaal has an article speculating if war may erupt with Iran. PCG often scare mongers about Iran in response to Gerald Flurry's dogmatic proclamation in 1994 in which he identified Iran as being the future King of the South. Most other Armstrongite groups tend to assume the King of the South will arise from within the Arab world. And originally HWA taught the King of the South was Ethiopia.

Jorg Mardian has an article discussing chronic inflammation.

Jeremiah Jacques discussing the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon to promote the Armstrongite dogma that after the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment all of remaining humanity will by this time be God beings as fully God as God though of a lower rank and they will go throughout the Universe and change all the countless planets into paradise worlds. Maybe they should try to heal the world we live in now that is currently under threat from the ongoing climate change crisis.

Richard Palmer has an article discussing various far right parties in continental Europe.

Andrew Müller has an article insisting that American farmers are about to experience catastrophe on their farms. While many American farmers are clearly suffering because of President Trump's trade war with China it is not a sign that World War III will soon occur.

Gerald Flurry has an article telling his readers that they need to read HWA's last book which was published in 1985. In that book HWA falsely predicted Christ would return by 2005. (PCG has removed that passage in their copies of that book.) HWA condemned interracial marriage while discussing Noah's flood. HWA cited history books out of context to promote his insistence that the "true church" was suppressed for nineteen centuries from AD 53 onward. HWA's book is terribly flawed.

Richard Palmer has an article insisting that a "Nazi underground" continued operating after World War II. Palmer is imitating HWA. During World War II HWA assumed the war would end with Christ's second coming. After this expectation failed and the Allies triumphed over Nazi Germany HWA desperately tried to update this teaching by insisting that the Nazis had simply gone underground and would soon return to power to conquer the United States in World War III. This allowed him to continue scare mongering that a German led European power would soon conquer the United States. In 1953 HWA and Herman Hoeh decided that the Great Tribulation would begin in 1972 with Christ returning in 1975. HWA promoted this idea of a "Nazi underground" in his 1956 booklet, "1975 in Prophecy." This is the original context for HWA's talk of a "Nazi underground."

While it is certainly unfortunately true that some Nazi war criminals escaped accountability before the courts of justice they did not mange to launch a nuclear war against the United States by 1972 as HWA taught. Nevertheless PCG insists on reviving this idea even though so much time has since elapsed since the defeat of the Nazi regime.

WorldWatch discusses that Germany has increased its budget for its military; Germany sending soldiers into Syria; Germany hosting a conference of foreign ministers from Latin America and the Caribbean; Sebastian Kurz losing the chancellorship of Austria; Iran leasing the commercial port in Latakia, Syria; Netanyahu's decision to call for a second election in the State of Israel; Modi's victory in the election in India; North Korea launching more missiles in tests; and Chinese-Japanese relations.

SocietyWatch discusses millennials being poorer then previous generations; bewailing the US debt; bewailing colleges as left wing; and tensions over attempts to restrict abortion.

Joel Hilliker has an article calling upon readers to find "the true church" by studying PCG writings to later be told that PCG's teaching that they are the only "true church" in the entire world. And once a potential recruit is convinced that PCG is the one, true church such a person is also taught to pay three tithes to PCG. This is main source of income for PCG and a major reason why PCG could gain an income of about $19.5 million by 2012.

Brad Macdonald has an article condemning environmentalists by saying that at least some of them are "anti-family" for encouraging people to have fewer or even no children. Grousing about birthrates is not going to do anything to solve the ongoing climate change crisis caused by the excess emission of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Hurricanes such as Dorian are now more powerful than they were in the past because climate change has made the oceans warmer. And shamefully the PCG leadership insists to their followers and readers that climate change is not a problem. PCG's 1% are climate change deniers.

While PCG continues to peddle their views and insists that they know what happen in the future in fact PCG has made numerous false prophecies which simply has not occurred thus proving that the PCG leadership does not see the future.

Fear, Fear Everywhere: Overview of the July 2019 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

Let's take a look at the July 2019 issue of PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet.

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

This issue had a circulation of 252,373 issues.

Gerald Flurry has a personal article in which the adopting of an EU law named the General Data Protection Regulation is hysterically portrayed as a German plot to control the Internet. Flurry uses this issue to scare monger about Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg as he has often done since 2009. PCG's leaders have often implied that they suspect he will be the future dictator fated to lead a German  led European Empire to conquer the United States just before Christ's return.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article complaining that other nations are excluding the United States from trading.

Gerald Flurry has an article commenting on the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal. While discussing that topic he goes complains about President Trump being under the scrutiny of the Mueller investigation.

People today don’t want truth. They love deceits. The media are so intent on bringing down the president that they will not accept the results of a two-year investigation into whether President Trump colluded with the Russians. Robert Mueller’s team of Trump-hating lawyers spent two years and more than $25 million doing everything possible to find the president guilty—and found nothing! There was no collusion, which means legally there could be no obstruction of justice. But Mueller said he didn’t exonerate Mr. Trump in that area—to help the Democrats keep this thing alive. They will not stop attacking! They discard the evidence and keep hammering away at all the supposed crimes and terrible conspiracies the president is involved in! 

Most of the mainstream media are like robots. They all say the same thing, exactly what the Democratic Party directs them to say. And they are walking in lockstep toward a cliff, and are about to walk right off! (p. 9.)

Having read the Mueller Report for myself it is clear that Robert Mueller was persuaded that President Trump should have been indicted for obstruction of justice but he chose not to do so because he decided that he was required to follow a legal opinion of the Office of Legal Counsel that meant the Department of Justice could not indict a sitting President.

Andrew Müller returns to his McCarthyite roots by making an article claiming that about 67,000 Democratic Party members have taken over the Democratic Party. Behold this strange word salad of his while discussing organizations in which seemingly any connection between them is presented in the worst light.

What makes the Justice Democrats unusual is that it has partnered with Our Revolution, the largest Marxist front group in America. Claiming more than 100,000 members, Our Revolution acts as a front for the three most influential Marxist organizations in America: the Democratic Socialists of America, the Communist Party USA, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. 

Most of the leadership of Our Revolution comes from the Democratic Socialists of America. Some are members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization or Communist Party USA. Communist Party USA leader John Bachtell explained their strategy for hijacking the Democratic Party in an online webinar on May 23, 2018, when he told an audience of activists that they must campaign for openly socialist candidates within the Democratic Party to challenge President Donald Trump. (p. 11.)

Müller even quotes an article by HWA from 1969 to make his case. The spirit of McCarthyism is alive and well among the PCG leadership. No good can come from this.

Joel Hilliker has an article saying that those liberals are plotting to discriminate against white, heterosexual Americans by favoring African Americans, women, gays and transgender people. Incidentally that reveals that this article is mainly trying to appeal to white, male Americans. And once again Hilliker shows that PCG's leaders are quite partisan towards the Republican Party.

Radical leftists don’t want people to become diligent, disciplined, driven, resourceful, persevering people who take responsibility for their own lives. After all, if more people judge themselves and others not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character—what would they need the Democratic Party for? (p. 14.)

Democratic Party voters want to be lazy? But if that was the case then surely PCG's preferred political party would have no problem defeating them in elections. This sounds like a crude caricature, not a reflection of reality.

Jorg Mardian has an article discussing smells.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article discussing the geopolitical tensions concerning the Arctic Ocean.

The Infographic reinforces the article mentioned above.

Brent Nagtegaal has an article of the discovery of a bulla that appears to date from the reign of King Josiah. It is sad to see discussion of these precious artifacts being used to prop up a recruitment magazine trying to get more tithe paying members.

Richard Palmer and Brent Nagtegaal have an article fearfully announcing the arrival of a new Arab Spring following mass protests in Algeria and Sudan by people determined to try and improve society themselves instead of waiting for some Armstrongite reinterpretation of Christ to return and solve everything for them.

Gerald Flurry has an article discussing PCG's interpretation of Armageddon. PCG and the other Armstrongite sects teaches that Armageddon refers to a massive battle at the time of Christ's return in which the forces of the European Empire (and possibly other political forces) will assemble in Megiddo (Armageddon) and advance south to Jerusalem and there try to fight the returning Armstrongite Christ. It is taught that the armies of the European Empire will be routed by the Armstrongite Christ and afterwards the Armstrongite Christ will rule over the world for a thousand years.

WorldWatch discusses the fire at Notre Dame in Paris; a xenophobic statement against Muslims from a Catholic Cardinal; the rise of far-right parties in the Netherlands, Finland, Spain and Germany; power cuts in South Africa; Russia sending soldiers to Venezuela; the US State Department designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization; floods in the Mississippi River; China's control of rare earth minerals; and the installation of Carrie Lam as Chief Executive of Hong Kong on April 18.

SocietyWatch discusses the rise of underground bunkers; the increase of people with no religious affiliation in the United States; and cites a study saying that young people are unhappy because they are not getting married, having less sex and not being religious.

Joel Hilliker has an article calling upon readers not to be hypocritical or deceptive.

Stephen Flurry has an article bemoaning the problem of homelessness and drug addiction in Seattle. He thinks the problem is all about religion.

Isaiah 1:5-6 describe our nation: sick from top to bottom. We lack strong leaders taking bold action to eradicate these problems (Isaiah 3:1-3). The cause of this sickness is transgression (Daniel 8:12). We are breaking God’s laws—laws that specifically protect us from such disasters—and are reaping the consequences.

But PCG claims to be the only religion to know the will of God and the vast majority of those unfortunate people know nothing about the peculiar doctrines of Armstrongism. Waiting for the Second Coming does not help such unfortunate people now.

PCG's leaders say they are confident that this and that will happen in the future. However PCG has made numerous false prophecies since its establishment in 1989. That fact proves that PCG does not see the future. There is no need to live in fear of their predictions of doom and destruction.

Condemning Disagreements with PCG's Dogmas: Overview of the May-June 2019 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

This is the 2300th post for the Living Armstrongism blog. I wish to thank you, the readers, for encouraging me to continue with this blog.

***

Let us take a look at the May-June 2019 issue of PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet. In this issue PCG's leaders insist that left wingers are waging a war on truth and reality. But it needs to be understood that in the social milieu of PCG "truth" often only means PCG's teachings.

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

This issue had a circulation of 251,999 issues.

Gerald Flurry has a personal article promoting PCG's unaccredited Herbert W. Armstrong College as promoting proper religious living.

Christopher Eames has an article praising various archaeological discoveries in the Holy Land.

Joel Hilliker has an article condemning calls to address climate change by insisting that climate change is not happening and condemning the transgender community by delegitimizing their gender identity. PCG denies that climate change is happening contrary to the evidence presented in numerous scientific studies. Also transgender people are not a new thing. For instance among Samoans there are the fa'afafine. Among Indians there are the Hijra. Transgender people deserve to be treated with respect and civility. It is terrible that PCG's leaders chose to instead stir up hostility and fear towards transgender people. Furthermore the article even has a picture of Adolf Hitler in this polemics against environmentalism and transgender people to stir up hostility among this article's readers.

Richard Palmer has an article promoting PCG's dogma that continental Europe will soon unite as a military power fated to conquer the United States. Various incidents of warfare involving the Roman Empire, Emperor Charlemagne, the Hapsburgs, Spanish warfare against Native Americans, Napoleon and Nazi Germany are mentioned to insist that similar acts of war will soon be unleashed against the United States by a future European Empire. This article also features a disturbing photo of an innocent Jewish man about to be shot to death during the Holocaust.

Andrew Müller has an article scare mongering that the US dollar may lose its status as a reserve currency. Armstrongite COGs have constantly insisted that economic catastrophe will soon occur.

The Infographic insists that the US dollar will somehow soon collapse.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article speculating that differences between languages can affect how people view certain things. He notes how some languages use cardinal directions to describe left and right. He also talks about the Japanese word mokutatsu but for some reason the word is misspelled five times with an extra s as mokustatsu. One of those instances is from a quotation which shows that no one among PCG's writers bothered to check that it was written properly. Thousands of people trust PCG to gain them God's favor and to protect them from the Great Tribulation and yet PCG's writers do not even know how to write a Japanese word correctly.

Jacques speculates that the use of mokutatsu helped cause President Truman to decide to use atomic bombs against Japan. Or maybe it didn't.

Jacques also promotes the idea that after Christ returns to rule over all humanity we shall abandon their languages and switch to using a single "pure" language. While stating this Jacques promotes the Islamophobic idea that Muslims lie about their religion to non-Muslims.

An Arabic speaker might ask: “What is the term in this new language for taqiya—the word meaning it is permissible to lie to someone as long as that person is an infidel?” This individual would be shown that this concept is false. He will be taught that the thinking that led to the coining of that word was polluted, and that there is no equivalent for it in the pure language. (p. 22.)

Taqiya (or taqiyya) refers to a Shia Muslim teaching that allows them to deny their religious identity in cases of persecution. Taqiya is a desperate act to save oneself in a dangerous situation. It is not a license to lie about one's religion as is often assumed to be the case among Islamophobic demagogues. It is shameful that PCG promotes this degrading and untrue stereotype against Muslims.

Brent Nagtegaal has an article scare mongering that Iran has conquered Iraq and will soon try to conquer Jerusalem. PCG demonizes Iran on a regular basis ever since Gerald Flurry proclaimed Iran to be the "King of the South" back in 1994.

Gerald Flurry has an article promoting the Armstrongite doctrine of the Great White Throne Judgment. This teaching is also taught by many of the splinter groups descended from HWA's WCG.

WorldWatch discusses the Munich Security Conference while scare mongering that the world is turning against America; the opening of a new headquarters building for German intelligence on March 8; President Macron encouraging citizens of the member states of the European Union to vote in European elections; pro-Russia forces building an observation tower in South Ossetia, a territory internationally recognized as belonging to Georgia; friendly relations between Russia and Belarus; accusations of industrial espionage against Huawei; condemnation that the Palestinians have more control over the Temple Mount which is located in east Jerusalem which the international community legally and diplomatically views as occupied territory because it was gained by military force in 1967; and more scare mongering about Iran.

WorldWatch also condemns of a ruling by the United Nations for Britain to withdraw from the Chagos Islands which is the site of a US-UK military base. After those islands were placed under British rule in 1814 people moved to those islands and built up a community there. However they were expelled from their homes and farms back in 1967-73 by the British government in order to build this military base. PCG posted an article about this matter which was written by Jeremiah Jacques. They discussed this matter again after the United Nations General Assembly condemned Britain on this matter in an article written by Daniel del Santo. Behold how PCG's leaders choose to view people who lost their homes.

SocietyWatch condemns Democratic Party leaders for calling President Trump a racist; cites a report saying that anti-Semitic attacks are rising in Britain; and cites a report that death rates in the United States are rising.

Joel Hilliker has an article calling upon readers to live by God's law. Here Hilliker alludes to one of the issues that caused Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of PCG's parent organization, to alienate his followers from mainstream Christianity, namely the Armstrongites' insistence that Christians are required to observe Jewish religious laws.

Here is another statement that has, remarkably, grown controversial in today’s world: God’s perfect way of life is spelled out in the law of God. Many people, including Christians, have been taught to think of God’s law as a burden or a curse. But it is actually “holy, and just, and good” (Romans 7:12). King David wrote, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Psalm 19:7-8). 

That law can be summarized in one word: love (Matthew 22:36-40; Romans 13:8, 10). Jesus Christ said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18). (p. 33.)

When HWA began to teach himself religion in the 1920s he chose to ignore the fact that early Christians long ago concluded that one did not need to observe the Jewish law to be a Christian. This may be seen in the controversy over circumcision which is mentioned in Acts 15 and Galatians. Once early Christians agreed that non-Jewish converts to Christianity did not need to be circumcised to be a Christian this also meant that non-Jewish Christians were not obligated to follow Jewish ritual law. This is no need for a Christian to observe Jewish religious law. Consequently there is no need for a Christian to observe the Jewish Sabbath or annual holy days as HWA, PCG and related sects teach today.

HWA himself initially thought that worshiping on the Sabbath was not as important as he later taught. HWA wrote in a letter to his grandparents in 1928 that "...it's not disobedience to not keep the Sabbath. The Sabbath is not necessary for salvation." And yet HWA ignored this and later taught otherwise to his followers for decades. It is tragic that the Armstrongites continue to promote this misunderstanding regarding Jewish law to rip people away from mainstream Christianity, evangelical Christianity and other religions using misconceptions and badly thought out ideas that HWA devised. 

Brad Macdonald has an article complaining that children and teenagers are disregarding parental authority. He condemns Greta Thunberg and her activism raising awareness about the ongoing climate change crisis, a crisis that the PCG leadership insists is not actually happening contrary to the long established scientific consensus.

Meanwhile while many people all over the world are justifiably afraid of the ongoing climate change crisis and yearn to do something about it PCG's leaders enjoy millions of dollars of income from tithes by PCG members and donations from "co-workers," namely non-members who chose to donate to PCG. Once Gerald Flurry chose to boast that PCG enjoyed an income "around $19.5 million annually as of 2012." And if any readers of this recruitment magazine choose to start tithing to PCG after reading Joel Hilliker's promotion of tithing on page 33 ("God’s Word commands tithing," he writes there) PCG's income will further increase. Such new recruits will probably be unaware that PCG has made numerous false prophecies proving that there is no need to fear their predictions of doom and gloom. There is no need to follow PCG.

PCG Claims France is Descended from Reuben

Back on September 8 PCG's Christopher Eames hosted an episode of PCG's recruitment program, Watching Jerusalem, in which it is claimed that the French are descended from Jacob's eldest son, Reuben.

In his seminal work ... Herbert W. Armstrong established that the United States and British Commonwealth represent the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim, respectively. While his book focused primarily on those two birthright tribes, Mr Armstrong did make passing references to the French as the modern descendants of the tribe of Reuben.

HWA was wrong about France being descended from Reuben. He was also wrong about the United States and Britain being descended from Joseph. British Israelism is wrong. Also any prophecy that assumes British Israelism to be true will also be wrong.

Israel Prepares for Elections

History is about to be made as the State of Israel prepares to hold elections on Tuesday, September 17.

Here is an overview of the political parties participating in this election.

The leaders of the COGs will be so disappointed if Netanyahu loses.

Fearing European Allies: Overview of April 2019 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

Let's take a look at the April 2019 issue of PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet.

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

This issue had a circulation of 269,785 issues.

Gerald Flurry has a personal article hailing the "prayer rock" his organization acquired several years ago as a symbol of the throne of David.

Joel Hilliker has an article restating PCG's condemnation of abortion. Considering that many other churches hold a similar stance regarding abortion PCG's anti-abortion stance does not provide a reason for anyone to follow PCG instead of any other church that happens to promote that stance.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article scare mongering about the positive relations between Russia and China. He complains that Russia and China have military exercises together. The fact that the United States has the most powerful military force the world has ever seen is ignored. PCG dogma takes it for granted that the United States will somehow magically collapse any moment now.

Stephen Flurry has an article scare mongering that France and Germany are forging ties of cooperation closer than ever. Armstrongism has been shrilly insisting for eighty years now that some sinister, Catholic European military power will conquer the United States and yet this prediction has never been fulfilled.

Gerald Flurry also has an article insisting that Christ will soon return.

Brad MacDonald and José Michaels have an article scare mongering that the European Union is building up its military power.

The Infographic once again scare mongers about Europe's economic and military resources. The United States has military forces in Europe. How can war erupt between America and continental Europe while the US have military forces stationed in Europe? If Washington were to decide to go to war with Europe (which is very unlikely at present) the US have military forces to call upon against Europe.

Brian Davis has an article calling upon readers to repent and turn to God. But there is a catch. PCG insists that all other churches are false Christians and God will only favor you if you join their organization and no other.

Christopher Eames has an article insisting that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha have been discovered. Sadly this topic is used to stir up hostility and anger towards the LGBT community as is so common among the COGs.

Today’s world is fast approaching—or has already surpassed, in many cases—the saturation point of sin prevalent in Sodom and Gomorrah, especially in sexual sin. ... Never in history has sodomy been so openly celebrated. 

Homosexuality does go beyond affecting those who directly engage in it. Your Bible says society’s sins are leading to another “fire and brimstone” event—this time worldwide. This coming calamity is going to be “greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom” (Lamentations 4:6). 

Not only does the Bible present a witness of fiery judgment for sin, so too does archaeology. Perhaps these recent discoveries are actually an omen of what is soon to come upon us. (p. 27.)

WorldWatch discusses President Tump's discarding of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty; the expansion of Chinese naval forces; Iran's test launch of the Hoveizeh missile; scare mongering about the possibility of war over Taiwan; the ongoing crisis in Venezuela; scare mongering about EMPs; and peace negotiations with the Taliban.

SocietyWatch fear mongers about the Democratic Party shifting to the left; scare mongers about social media use among young people; and bewails women being appointed as CEOs of military-industrial corporations.

Women run the military-industrial complex 

Men no longer dominate the United States defense industry. As of January 1, women lead four of the nation’s five biggest defense contractors: Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Boeing’s defense division. The U.S. military’s top weapons buyer, the government’s top arms control negotiator, and the chief overseer of the nation’s nuclear stockpile are also women. ... 

Major news outlets are enthusing over the trend. In the past, some scholars, such as Francis Fukuyama and Steven Pinker, have argued that women filling such positions could make the world more peaceful. This hope will prove illusory. Bible prophecy reveals that female dominance in military industry will do nothing to prevent impending conflict. (p. 31.)

Stephen Flurry has a little article calling upon his readers to "serve God with passion." But PCG insists that that it is the only true church therefore they say one can only serve God with passion or otherwise within PCG. These pious seeming statements are attempts to gain tithe paying converts.

Stephen Flurry also has an article in which various unwelcome political developments are presented as "evidence" that Satan and his demons are influencing American politics. In other words Stephen Flurry favors the Republican Party and condemns the Democratic Party.

For all the words used to discuss politics and religious beliefs the main purpose of this magazine is to recruit more tithe paying converts for PCG. Also PCG have made many false prophecies since this organization was established in 1989. There is no need to fear the dire predictions of PCG or any other COG organizations.

Photo of Roland Robidoux, Leader of Infamous Baby Staving Cult in Attleboro

Above is a photo featuring Roland Robidoux. The photo was taken as part of a ten year anniversary celebration for Concord, New Hampshire on November 13, 1976. (Worldwide News, January 5, 1977, p.5.)

Robidoux would later leave WCG but he would lead his family in Attleboro, Massachusetts, as a sort of small COG splinter group that called itself "The Body" of Christ. In time his son, Jacques Robidoux, arose as a leader of this splinter group.

The group gained infamy after it was discovered that Jacques' one year old son, Samuel Robidoux, had been starved to death in obedience with an alleged revelation from God, passing away on April 25, 1999. Jacques Robidoux was convicted of first degree murder and remains in prison to this day.

Roland Robidoux died on May 16, 2006.

More on this terrible event may be seen in a previous post as well as this previous post.

PCG's Empty Comfort for 9/11 Anniversary

Commemorating 9/11 PCG's Joel Hilliker has authored an article discussing that terrible act of mass murder so many remember with such sorrow (Joel Hilliker, 9/11 and Beautiful Humility, September 11, 2019). Let us see what Hilliker has to say on this painful topic.

Why did God allow 9/11 to happen? ... God is addressing the fundamental cause of our suffering—not just in 9/11, but all suffering. He is trying to turn us from our evil!

What does Hilliker's words above mean? That America's "evil" caused 9/11 to happen? Does this mean Americans must the blame for this act of mass murder instead of the terrorists who committed the mass murder themselves?

Hilliker insists that PCG's God allowed 9/11 to occur to make Americans turn away from evil.

God could just forget about us and leave us to the suffering that evil brings to ourselves and everyone else. He could let us live out our lives of wallowing in our own vices and gratifying our own selfishness until we become individuals and a society that is beyond all hope. 

Or He could correct us, force us into a stark clarity, and bring us to repentance of our evil.

Hilliker reassures his readers that many more catastrophes 9/11 will soon descend upon the United States.

If 9/11 won’t do it, God will proceed to harder punishments. And the Bible prophesies that this is what will happen. ... This world is about to experience a time of unprecedented chaos. Hundreds, even thousands of 9/11s piled high.

Instead of helping to bring comfort to his readers Hilliker shrilly insists that much worse things will soon occur. Here he tries to make the reader fearful and afraid.

Now imagine not just a handful of terrorists—but world powers unleashing warplanes, warships and ballistic missiles with chemical, biological and nuclear warheads! Imagine nuclear blasts hitting city after city! Imagine the death toll rapidly climbing into the hundreds of thousands, even millions! 

The trauma of that destruction would be unfathomable—indescribable.

Actually it is not unfathomable or indescribable. Such things are happening right now. Returned US soldiers suffering from the ravages of poverty or mental illness and their families and friends suffering from their pain. The wars raging in Afghanistan since 1978, in Iraq since 2003, in Syria since 2011, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the 1990s, the thirteen year old drug war in Mexico and other wars elsewhere. But by getting his readers afraid of what is supposedly going to happen in the future these ongoing catastrophes are ignored and minimized.

While ignoring these ongoing catastrophes he insists these future thousands of 9/11s are necessary in order to make Americans teachable.

As traumatic as the events of the Tribulation will be, it will also serve a tremendous purpose—one that would not be accomplished with anything less. 

9/11 briefly changed the way Americans think and view their daily lives. The coming Tribulation will have such an effect worldwide, and magnified in severity by hundreds or thousands of times! 

That taste of sobriety and humility that Americans displayed after 9/11 will be far outdone by their attitudes after the Great Tribulation. That suffering will create within the whole world—all who survive—a beautiful teachability for what will follow.

Why didn't this happen in Cambodia? From 1975 until 1979 Cambodia was ruled by an astonishingly brutal and blood thirsty regime under the Khmer Rouge. By the time their rule ended about a quarter or even a third of the population had been killed off. Did the long suffering Cambodians become teachable after that? Did they overcome "human nature" after enduring such frightful horrors and change into a nation of saints?

Of course not. They are human beings like the rest of us. Peace eventually returned. The Khmer Rouge were replaced by a Communist government supported by Vietnam. It was changed into a constitutional monarchy in the early 1990s. The Vietnamese later withdrew. And despite inflicting such horrors upon the nation the Khmer Rouge were able to maintain itself as a viable guerrilla force and waged an armed insurgency to overthrow the government until they were finally defeated in 1998.

If the Cambodian people remained as ordinary human beings after the atrocities of Khmer Rouge rule why should anyone expect anything different to occur with Americans even if a nuclear World War III were to occur in the future?

One could substitute many other wars or disasters for this argument. For example the troubles in Northern Ireland, World War II, World War I, the American Civil War, the English Civil War, the Thirty Years War, the Black Death, etc.

If human beings did not change after those events then it is a vain hope to imagine that people will miraculously change after the supposedly future Great Tribulation.

But failing to see this problem with his assumption that human beings will suddenly become teachable after the Great Tribulation Hilliker continues to fantasize in a similar vein.

Those horrors will have softened their hearts, and they will finally be ready to listen to God. That is all God ever wanted—for their hearts to be turned to Him. It is nearly impossible to grasp the severity of the chastening required—but in the end, God will reach them! 

Even those who have been killed (both in 9/11 and in the 9/11s to come) will be resurrected. Even after they have succumbed to physical death, their loving Father will eventually resurrect them and offer them repentance. And the great majority of them, too, will be willing! 

Imagine seeing the injured, the traumatized, the broken and the emaciated coming out of the Tribulation or perhaps the resurrection. They have seen terror. They have felt horror. Yet finally they will be willing to submit to their Creator! And their unhealable physical and mental trauma, He will heal.

Today many people are striving to heal from various traumas they have had to endure. It is absurd to imagine that the suffering that will supposedly occur in this future Great Tribulation is somehow different from the various traumas people suffer today.

Humanity has constantly endured catastrophes throughout history and yet human beings are still human beings. It is absurd to expect people to suddenly change because of some future suffering when so many human beings, each as precious as any other human being, are suffering today.

Let us not wait for some future utopia. Let us not send tithes to people with such flawed expectations. Let us improve our own societies today.