JWs and HWA Sure Sound Alike

I just read this from this article about Michael Jackson's death.

As for birthday celebrations, the Jehovah Witnesses are equally clear. Lesson 11 from their official web site states:

The only two birthday celebrations spoken of in the Bible were held by persons who did not worship Jehovah. (Genesis 40:20-22; Mark 6:21, 22, 24-27) The early Christians did not celebrate birthdays. The custom of celebrating birthdays comes from ancient false religions. True Christians give gifts and have good times together at other times duing the year.

Isn't this extremely similar to how HWA convinced us that birthdays were immoral?

The truth is HWA stole this doctrine from the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Originally the Watchtower Society allowed birthdays, but it was only under Rutherford, around the 1920s or so, that the Watchtower Society added this condition for its members.

Clearly HWA became persuaded by their arguments and imposed this doctrine upon his followers.

Creepy Watchtower Tales

Just heard about a guy who studied with Jehovah's Witnesses thirty years ago and then after a terrible tragedy struck he began studying with them again. ('Schoolroom Massacre—Comfort in the Aftermath,' Watchtower, December 1, 2009.)

In another example I read of this Vietnam War vet who became acquainted with a lady Jehovah's Witness who introduced him to the cult. He had never heard of them before. ('How I Lost My Love for War,' Awake!, December, 2009.)

These stories just chill my heart.

These stories show how important it is to study cults and understand how they operate and understand that organizations such as the Watchtower Society or the Armstrongite Churches of God simply do not have any access to God.

Real Persecution of Christians in Iraq

A film's just come out, Facing Extinction, about the severe persecution that the Christian community in Iraq are currently undergoing. Many have been forced to flee Iraq because of the terrible violence over there.

Profile of a Sociopath

Here an article on the Profile of a Sociopath from ESN that shows the terrible depravity some persons can allow themselves to fall into.

On another matter I've added a link of xHWA's recent blog to my links section.

Some Random Thoughts

Here are some fairly random COG related thoughts.

1) I recall that in Michael Barkun's book, Religion and the Racist Right, it is related that "Christian Identity", a virulently racist offshoot of British-Israelism, has another similarity to Armstrongism. Identity denies that there will be a rapture, just like Armstrongism. I do not know what to make of this.

2) ESN has just released some correspondence from a UCG member and their responses. A typical COG defender who insensitively glosses the extremely abusive behavior that occurs within the COGs.

3) Reading xHWA's article reminded me of something I read. In that booklet Hoeh said that the 1260 years of persecution upon the 'True Church' began in 325. In his (highly suspect) account it is after this Council that 'God's True Church' is driven underground by the 'Beast,' the Roman Empire.

When I first watched Tomorrow's World Meredith mentioned the woman ('God's True Church') being in the wilderness for 1260 days (years). But he said those years corresponded with the revival of the Roman Empire (554-1814) not from 325. So apparently the 'revived Roman Empire' was persecuting 'God's True Church' the entire 1260 years, even though according to their own 'history,' the 'True Church' had since moved to America, far away from the alleged Beast Power, according to Meredith.

xHWA on Hoeh's "Church History"

xHWA has just released excellent research concerning Hoeh's 1959 booklet, A True History of the True Church. You need to read this.

I remember when I first managed to get onto a HWA archival website I the first booklet I went to was that very booklet. I found it mind blowing. xHWA now shows us valuable necessary information about that booklet. I strongly encourage everyone to read, if you have not already.

An Argument for US Health Care Reform

This is not COG related but I just saw this amazing and quite intense video of Keith Olbermann arguing for health care reform. It is a very powerful message.

I may not agree with everything this Democratic-led government does or with Mr. Olbermann's politics, but I really hope health reform is passed to solve the problems highlighted here.

• Transcript

• Part 1

• Part 2

• Part 3

• Part 4

• Part 5

HWA, World Leaders and Who Else?

In HWA's later life he often went to visit with many world leaders.

Beginning with the King of Belgium he began to visit many world leaders. Among those he visited included Haile Selassie, Salvador Allende, Indira Gandhi, Deng Xiaoping, Anwar Sadat, Hosni Mubarak, Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir, Franz Joseph Strauss, Otto von Hapsburg, Emperor Hirohito. This is featured prominently in the introduction for The World Tomorrow TV show.

I remember once he suggested that Elijah also went and visited world as he (HWA) did. I wish I knew where I saw it.

What was his proof? He used 1 Kings 18:10.

"As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord [king Ahab] hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not."

However even he realized just how weak this argument was so he only 'suggested' it. Hedging his statement as is done all too often in the world of Armstrongism.

Here Ahab is looking for Elijah in other countries. But HWA used this Scripture to 'suggest' that Elijah visited these world leaders in the same manner he did. Look at this scripture and you will see it says no such thing.

It is much more reasonable to assume that he was communicating with the authorities of other countries to find where he was, in the same way states today send out information to relevant agencies internationally. This is not evidence that Elijah was visiting world leaders as HWA did.

This "evidence" also conveniently ignored the fact that another religious leader has also done very similar things to HWA in consorting with the great and powerful of the world.

In a manner very similar to HWA, Sun Myung Moon makes it a habit to get into the good graces of the high and mighty.

Sun Myung Moon makes teaches many things that are contrary to traditional Christianity. Some of their distinctive teachings may be seen here, including their belief that Jesus was supposed to marry and have children but failed to do so and Moon did what He could not.

He met with Nixon in 1974.

He even managed to get himself crowned by an American Cogressman in the Dirksen Senate Building on March 23, 2004.

George H. W. Bush has long been linked to this man. He appears in this recent video.

Moon also founded The Washington Times, a publication the prominence of which puts WCG's Quest magazine to shame.

There are many other fascinating connections which this man has established within the American conservative movement.

So we see that HWA's "commission" to the leaders of the world was not unique at all. Sun Myung Moon has also been able to hobnob with the great and powerful just like HWA.

Rick Ross Interview on Cults

Here's an interview of the noted anti-cult activist Rick Ross with The Wittenburg Door made back in 2004. (Update: Dead link.)

It is a fascinating expose of how cults operate. He even mentions WCG when discussing Yisrael Hawkins.

John Allen's Sect and Against the Gates of Hell

Thanks to AW's blog on the Purple Hymnal I ended up writing about John Allen's COG sect.

I ran across his website years ago. It was one of the few other COG websites I visited when I started exploring the COGweb in late 2000.

It was one of the first sites that had a lot of HWA writings that I found. However I soon migrated to another COG website for HWA materials.

I remember John Allen used to have a page that condemned Flurry for 'idolatry' (absolutely correct), and condemned Meredith for using juvenile slang. I'm still not entirely sure what he meant by that.

As far as I know this is the only place you can read Rader's book Against the Gates of Hell online.

There's a reason no one else has bothered to post it online. It is not a good read. I tried reading that dreary book and the first time, I stopped after the third chapter or so. Chapter 2 was just a recap of HWA's early life. Since I already read his autobiography I just skipped it. I don't think I went much further than that.

Later, after I renounced the Armstrongism, I reread it, but I only read the first half, which was about the forced receivership. That account was totally one sided. It's somewhat exciting and dramatic.

But the beginning is strange. He makes sound like everything's fine and happy under his watch, the day is beautiful, flowery language is used to describe the scene. It's like the happy beginning of some camp movie. Even when I was an Armstrongite I somehow couldn't quite accept this description of his.

Now that I am out I can see it is just a self serving depiction of those events. The events are simply black and white. No gray at all. Those supporting him are loyal, courageous, are in the right, etc. Those who are against him are sinister, evil, enemy agents. He even compared some of the receivers and investigators to Nazis.

"persons who were barging in like SS troopers making a midnight raid in Nazi Germany." (Chapter 1, p. 23.)

"When Herbert Armstrong wrote a letter to the Church, the state's Gestapo, in conjunction with collaborating enemy agents within the organization, stopped the mails." (Chapter 7, p. 123).

It is also rather strange that he tries to portray the receivership as effecting church-state relations. This is obviously in order to gain support from other organized churches and make them scared that something like this might happen to them. After years of condemning mainstream Christianity as being the whore of Revelation 17 and her children they then run to them and try to get their help.

To this day I still can't be bothered to read the second half, which was about the AICF and HWA visiting world leaders. I did read the chapter on China but only because China fascinates me.