Let Health Care Reform Come

I really hope the Democratic Party will be able to pass the Health Care Reform this weekend.

I see a Congression Budget Office report has just come out with a report saying that

"CBO and JCT [Joint Committe on Taxation] estimate that enacting both pieces of legislation—H.R. 3590 and the reconciliation proposal— would produce a net reduction in federal deficits of $138 billion over the 2010–2019 period as result of changes in direct spending and revenue" (p. 2).

WCG in the Developing World

Purple Hymnal/AggieAtheist has just released a post discussing WCG in the developing world. It contains links to fascinating pictures of WCG in Kenya and the Philippines.

For whatever reason there seems to be little discussion among COGs and ex-COGs about those who have become involved in the COGs elsewhere in the world.

I remember the kerfuffle that occurred when the late LCG minister Ernst Owino defected to Pack's RCG cult. I also recall ESN discussing a split that occurred in PCG in India.

I also remember once hearing in a sermon Roderick C. Meredith discussing talks with a congregation of some sort in India to unite with LCG.

Pack on the History Channel

So I've finally watched Dave Pack on the History Channel's TV show, The Nostradamus Effect. The episode is entitled 'Satan Army'.

All I have to say is I agree with the reviews, he certainly does not stand out from the other commentators on the show. Unless you knew better you would have every reason to assume that he was just another premillenialist Christian minister and would have no idea that he adheres to this Christian based cult of Armstrongism.

On the bright side he does not stand out.

On the down side this could cause people to assume that he is just another Christian minister when actually he is the leader of a cult that seems to be among the more controlling COGs. His group bans makeup for women for instance.

Ultimately I think it was all rather pointless.

The Video That Brought Me To Tears

Nearly a year ago I wrote a post entitled How Dare You, HWA!

There I related how I was brought to tears after a church service in which I realized that actually many Christians are well aware that Jesus Christ is coming back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But HWA lied and claimed Christians were unaware of this in Mystery of the Ages.

After the service I was brought to tears watching a YouTube video. I did not say what it was so I'll say it now.

It was I Still Believe by Jeremy Camp.

I cried at the image which appears around 3:08.

If you are unfamiliar with this video I recommend watching from the start naturally.

If you can't get the DailyMotion video linked above hopefully you can see this YouTube video, which is essentially the same but the subtitles are different and some of the slides at the start are somewhat different.

Here's Jeremy Camp's website.

Why China Cannot Hurt the USA Financially Despite the Debt

Here’s an interesting article, by Paul Krugman, about China artificially keeping their currency, the renminbi, quite low.

Here’s his take on whether or not China has a stranglehold upon the USA over the foreign debt the USA owes China. (Emphasis mine.)

Here, we have to get past a common misunderstanding: the view that the Chinese have us over a barrel, because we don’t dare provoke China into dumping its dollar assets.

What you have to ask is, What would happen if China tried to sell a large share of its U.S. assets?…

It’s true that if China dumped its U.S. assets the value of the dollar would fall against other major currencies, such as the euro. But that would be a good thing for the United States, since it would make our goods more competitive and reduce our trade deficit. On the other hand, it would be a bad thing for China, which would suffer large losses on its dollar holdings. In short, right now America has China over a barrel, not the other way around.

So even though the USA has a large debt with China (although last I heard the USA owes more to Japan) the USA does not appear at present to be in significant financial danger from China.

Is 'Social Justice' a Code Word for (Marxist-Leninist) 'Communism'?

Glenn Beck recently said that 'social justice' is a code word for Marxist-Leninist communism.

"I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church website. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words." (Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 3 February, 2010, as quoted in Beck attacks social justice, .)

Speaking as one who has read about 20 books about Marxist-Leninst Communism I feel compelled to say the following:

Social justice is not a euphemism for Marxist-Leninist Communism.

Marxist-Leninist Communism was an ideology that called for a change of classes' power in order to create a society in which the industrial proletariat gains power from capitalists.

But Lenin argued that the working class could not change society by themselves, therefore it was necessary to create a 'vanguard' which would tell the workers what to do, and that 'vanguard' became the Communist Party. It cynically used legitimate issues in order to gain power and proceeded to exercise its power in a truly monstrous, bloodthirsty and unfathomably evil manner.

The problem with Marxist-Leninist Communism was that it valued individuals only if that individual could help the creation of a post-capitalist society.

If the Party judged that an individual did not help the creation of a post-capitalist society then the Party had no use for them and proceeded to treat them inhumanely.

As far as I can tell that was the problem with Marxist-Leninist Communism and why it became so bloodthirsty.

Social justice is simply a term to describe a more just society which takes better care of the disempowered. It is a term used by people to try and alleviate and improve how society treat the disempowered.

Marxist-Leninist Communism assumes that the creation of a non-capitalist society is a more just society. Hence Marxist-Leninist Communists sometimes use terminology similar to many on the left. This also reflects the fact that Marxist-Leninist Communism is an aberrant and non-democratic part of the left. The same way that 'Christian Identity' is aberrant from the generally non-anti-Semitic (though factually wrong) British-Israelism.

These similarities can cause confusion that makes people assume that 'social justice' and (Marxist-Leninst) Communism are the same. They are not.

But social justice, when applied in a democratic manner, has nothing to do with Marxist-Leninist Communism. It is simply a noble goal to improve society so that we may all gain. Ultimately we all win in a society that knows how to treat the disempowered well.

Marxist-Leninist Communists exploited that desire for a better world. There was nothing wrong with the idealism itself.

I hope no one leaves their church because they believe that social justice is a euphemism for Marxist-Leninist Communism.

There are some good reasons to leave a church. An incorrect assumption that 'social justice' is just a code word for (Marxist-Leninist) Communism is not a good reason to leave a church. And I hope no one will make such a drastic step for that reason.

Did the Time of the End Begin in 1948? or 1957?

In one early LCG article I read was Roderick C. Meredith's When Will Jesus Christ Return? stated that the end times could only have begun in 1948 or 1957.

Here after quoting Scriptures discussing Daniel 8 and the Abomination of Desolation he argues that the 'time of the end' could have only begun in 1948 after the establishment of the State of Israel.

Clearly, then, there must be some sort of temple or altar in Jerusalem at the END of this age where the "daily sacrifice" (v. 11) is being offered. And that is when the final "abomination" is set up. This passage also indicates that the Jews at the time of the END would have a significant presence in Jerusalem. None of this makes sense without a revived state of Israel, a Jewish Jerusalem and a rebuilt temple. So the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, and the 1967 Jewish takeover of the old city and the Temple Mount are very significant events. These already fulfilled indications tell us that we are indeed in the prophesied "time of the END."

Later he presents the possibility of human annihilation to be a sign of the 'time of the end' and suggests 1957 as a possible date for the beginning of the 'time of the end'.

Cosmocide—the annihilation of all flesh—was not possible even during World War II. For although two atomic bombs were dropped to end the war with Japan, there were no more bombs available until months or years later. According to many authorities, it was not until about 1957 that—between the U.S. and the Soviet Union—enough atomic weapons existed to annihilate all humanity.

So with the return of many of the Jews to Israel in 1948, and the degree of atomic weapons proliferation in 1957, we certainly entered the "time of the end" by then—if not even before then.

The reason I find this so interesting is that this serves to effectively erase the facts that Herbert Armstrong had previously taught that 1936 and then the end of World War II would see the coming of Christ.

Those false prophecies prove that HWA was not a man used by God but was just a false prophet who taught his own counsel, not the counsel of God.

This article is yet another example of the COGs rewriting history in order to forget unpleasant facts and keep followers in bondage away from true Christianity.

Will the King of the South Be Secular or Religious?

Interestingly in GTA's 1963 article mentioned in the last entry he speculates that the United Arab Republic (Egypt from 1958-71) would expand, and it was a generally secular state. This is quite different from modern COG portrayals of the future King of the South, which often assume that it will be some sort of theocratic Caliphate. That is how LCG's Meredith portrays it in his booklet, Fourteen Signs of Christ's Return.

5. The Rise of an Aggressive, Fundamentalist Islamic Power

Islamic fundamentalist insurgencies, funded by rogue states and terrorist organizations, are trying to destabilize the moderate, Western-leaning, secular regimes currently in power, and are seeking to replace them with a unified, resuscitated Islamic caliphate (empire)—the prophesied "king of the South." The final leader over these reinvigorated Muslim nations will be a tremendously powerful religio-political false Messiah or "Mahdi" who will draw his power from a confederation of those nations.

Thoughts on the History of the King of the South Teaching

It is taught that the Arabs will unite themselves together under the King of the South.

This article, Seeing the World through Islamic Eyes, is an early introduction of the end time King of the South doctrine, written in 1979. It was around this time that the entire world's attention focused on the Iranian Revolution.

Now at first HWA said the King of the South was Ethiopia. This can be traced way back in 1939. When he developed this doctrine it was made with the understanding that Mussolini is 'the Beast' who will fight Christ at his coming.

Even after his prophetic framework completely disintegrated with the Allies' victory, he still retained various ideas from the discredited prophetic narrative. He still believed that Ethiopia was the King of the South, but only until it was conquered by Mussolini.

Even though Haile Selassie was restored as Emperor of Ethiopia, HWA no longer regarded him as the King of the South, insisting that his prophetic role had already been fulfilled. So there is no King of the South now. HWA's post-WWII understanding of this doctrine may be seen in his booklet, The Middle East in Prophecy

LCG apologist Bob Theil has an article all about this topic, Is there a Future King of the South?

Here, in order to support LCG's teaching that the Arabs will later become the King of the South, he argues that HWA's WCG taught a future fulfillment of the King of the South. He cites a 1974 article by Raymond McNair which says Danial 11:40-45 will have a future fulfillment.

Thiel also cites a 1963 Garner Ted Armstrong article, which taught that an expanded Egypt would later become the King of the South. At the time Egypt was called the United Arab Republic, because from 1958-61 it was united with Syria, and Egypt retained that name till 1971. Even though Syria got out of it in 1961 GTA was still insisting that it would later expand into the King of the South two years later. This assertion, like many others he made, would fail.

So it is clear even as early as 1963 some were trying to update this prophecy and provide it another interpretation that could be used to frighten the eternally abused flock.

But what on earth links the Arabs with Hellenistic Egypt?

This is the explanation HWA gave to link Ethiopia to ancient Hellenistic Egypt. Egypt was destroyed by the King of the North so they were a part of Rome. Then the mantle of King of the South passed to Ethiopia because they had escaped Roman rule. Much later Ethiopia is conquered a revival of the Roman Empire, reunified Italy, even though Ethiopia soon regains independence it is now no longer King of the South.

[Daniel 11] Verse 42 says Egypt shall not escape, proving Egypt is not now the "king of the south." Verse 43 says the Libyans and Ethiopians (observe that after its conquest by Mussolini, Ethiopia is not again referred to as the king of the south) shall be at his steps — and he will then control them. Italy lost control of Libya and Ethiopia after the war. (HWA, The Middle East in Prophecy.)

So by this standard the King of the South is gone. There is no one to pass the baton to. HWA said there was no King of the South. However this written before 1972. HWA expected WWIII to start in 1972. Once 1972 came and went this doctrine was left alone for awhile.

So again, how are the Arabs linked to the King of the South?

I do not know.

When I first read HWA's booklet I thought that Ethiopian interpretation made more sense than the modern Arab interpretation because HWA created a link with Hellennistic Egypt, which is taught to be the original King of the South.

Interpretations which assume that the Arabs will produce the King of the South do not have a similar link with Hellenistic Egypt. But I believed LCG's was where God was working so I believed them. And besides Meredith had assured us that the time of the end could only have begun in 1948 with the establishment of Israel or even 1957.

Now because there was no Ethiopian King of the South this doctrine was now useless. But how can you use this to scare followers about the future?

You cannot, so the prophecy needs to be changed. So this idea needed to be somehow updated to be used in modern times.

HWA had originally made no allowance for the possible revival of the King of the South, assuming WWII wold lead to Armageddon, but such a hindrance had never stopped them before.

So it was updated to say the Arab Muslims will unite together.

Now the King of the South which followers had thought was passed away was now revived again, pushed back into tomorrow, where it could be useful in scaring the ever abused flock. Even as early as 1963 this idea began to be fostered upon members, but it was only after 1979 that this idea gained potent life and became a prominent part of COG eschatology.

Members thought the King of the South was passed away, now they were told to be scared again. When the fear was thought to have passed, it came back again with a vengeance. The King of the South had been resurrected. It is a maneuver done with depressing regularity.

World Vision Suspended in Pakistan

World Vision has suspended its work in Pakistan after their offices in Mansehra, North-West Frontier Province were attacked by militants, killing six people.