PCG's Joel Hilliker Saying Reasons to Invade Iraq in 2003 "Are Sound" (2002)

In commemoration of the commencement of armed intervention to overthrow the Saddam Hussein regime then ruling Iraq on March 20, 2003 here are some of the posts on this blog that has discussed the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003.

Also relevant to this most painful topic are the following posts:

• PCG's Stephen Flurry Defending President Bush from "Biased" "Antiwar" Media (2004)

• How Bush and Co. Led the US into War in Iraq

• Also worth consulting: Buying the War (PBS).

But in this post I wish to note that in the November 2002 issue of PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet, Joel Hilliker wrote an article entitled What President Bush Doesn't Know. But PCG's leaders are false prophets so they did not foresee that the case to invade Iraq would not withstand later scrutiny. In this article Hilliker assumed the Bush Administration's portrayal of Iraq was sound and correct.

The argument to strike Iraq is compelling, and the reasons are sound. The Trumpet does not take sides in political issues, but an objective look at the facts highlights the very real nature of the Iraqi threat and the potentially disastrous consequences of failing to contain it. Few Western nations contest this, at least in principle.

What is interesting, however, is how isolated the U.S. is in making such brash statements about Iraq. While many nations acknowledge that Saddam Hussein’s regime is a problem, the U.S. is virtually alone in its insistence that decisive action be taken swiftly. In fact, many nations are viewing the U.S.’s confrontational approach with a certain contempt.

Instead of foreseeing that the Bush Administration's case to invade Iraq was highly flawed Hilliker instead complained that Iran was the real threat.

So who is the king of the south? Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has been pointing the finger at one Middle Eastern nation in particular for almost a decade: Iran! ... Within the Middle East, all indications are that IRAN will pose the much greater problem in the long run.  

And what exactly was, to use Hilliker's words, the compelling argument and sound reasons to invade Iraq at that time?

Some indication may seen in an editorial article by Gerald Flurry which was discussed in a previous post which is reposted below (Gerald Flurry on the Eve of the Iraq War (2003)). In this article from early 2003 Gerald Flurry assumes the Bush Administration was correct that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

Here is the post discussing how Gerald Flurry described events on the eve of the start of the Iraq War.

***

Just before the US invaded Iraq in 2003 Gerald Flurry wrote an editorial discussing the immanent invasion. It was entitled Secretary Powell's UN Report: The Big Lesson We Failed to Learn.

For 12 years, Saddam Hussein has made a mockery of the U.S. and the United Nations. After Secretary of State Colin Powell’s report to the UN on February 5, many people still say there is no smoking gun. Those people probably wouldn’t see a smoking gun unless Saddam shot them personally. 

It is now 2014. Who was right? Secretary Powell on that day or those who doubted him?

Most people also refuse to see a connection between Saddam and the al-Qaeda terrorist network. Saddam attacked Iran and Kuwait. He used chemical warfare against Iran and his own people in Iraq. He tried to assassinate former U.S. President George H.W. Bush (reason enough for America to declare war against him). Still people refuse to believe he is connected to al-Qaeda!

Where is our common sense?

The acts that Gerald Flurry cites here does not prove or even indicate that Saddam Hussein was allied with al Qaeda.

Here Gerald Flurry quotes Secretary Powell's report. Alas, it later turned out that Iraq no longer had weapons of mass destruction. Secretary Powell was greatly mistaken here. "That Prophet" Gerald Flurry completely failed to foresee Secretary Powell's mistake.

Iraq is estimated to have between “100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent” (ibid.). Here is another statement from Secretary Powell’s report: “[W]hen Iraq finally admitted having these weapons in 1995, the quantities were vast. Less than a teaspoon of dry anthrax … in an envelope shut down the United States Senate in the fall of 2001. This forced several hundred people to undergo emergency medical treatment and killed two postal workers .…

“Iraq declared 8,500 liters of anthrax, but UNSCOM estimates that Saddam Hussein could have produced 25,000 liters. If concentrated into this dry form, this amount would be enough to fill tens upon tens upon tens of thousands of teaspoons. And Saddam Hussein has not verifiably accounted for even one teaspoonful of this deadly material.

“And that is my third point. And it is key. The Iraqis have never accounted for all of the biological weapons they admitted they had and we know they had. They have never accounted for all the organic material used to make them. And they have not accounted for many of the weapons filled with these agents such as there are 400 bombs. This is evidence, not conjecture. This is true. This is all well-documented. …

“The source [of confirmation of Iraq’s mobile biological agent production program] was an eyewitness, an Iraqi chemical engineer who supervised one of these facilities. He actually was present during biological agent production runs. He was also at the site when an accident occurred in 1998. TWELVE TECHNICIANS DIED FROM EXPOSURE TO BIOLOGICAL AGENTS” (emphasis mine throughout). 

Gerald Flurry then expands on this topic.

One teaspoon of anthrax shut down the U.S. Senate! Two postal workers were killed and others were made ill.

These chemical and biological agents depict a reality of horror beyond anything we can even imagine! ...

Imagine. One drop of the deadly VX nerve agent will kill in minutes! One drop! The Iraqis have four tons! And this report is from the son-in-law who was killed when he returned to Iraq—coaxed back by Saddam. At one time this son-in-law was considered to be Saddam’s replacement. He was in a position to know what was being done in Iraq. 

Maybe that was true then, but when US forces conquered Iraq and inspected things for themselves they found nothing. Turned out the UN inspectors were actually quite effective in preventing Saddam Hussein from maintain such an arsenal. This is all nonsense. "That Prophet" Gerald Flurry completely failed to foresee that.

Gerald Flurry then quotes Secretary Powell to assert that al Qaeda was trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction from Iraq.

Gerald Flurry speaks of Saddam Hussein's alleged link with al Qaeda as something that is most obvious, like saying the sky is blue.

Of course it was later revealed that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction so Saddam Hussein could not give them to al Qaeda even if he wanted to do so. "That Prophet" Gerald Flurry completely failed to foresee these facts.

Powell went on to tell the story of an al-Qaeda operative who is now detained. “This senior al-Qaeda terrorist was responsible for one of al-Qaeda’s training camps in Afghanistan. His information comes firsthand from his personal involvement at senior levels of al-Qaeda. He says bin Laden and his top deputy in Afghanistan, deceased al-Qaeda leader Muhammad Atif, did not believe that al-Qaeda labs in Afghanistan were capable enough to manufacture these chemical or biological agents. They needed to go somewhere else. They had to look outside of Afghanistan for help. Where did they go? Where did they look? They went to Iraq. … And UNLESS WE ACT, WE ARE CONFRONTING AN AN EVEN MORE FRIGHTENING FUTURE.”

It defies imagination to think Saddam would not be connected to al-Qaeda! Look at his history.

And let’s not forget, America is the number-one terrorist target. We have already suffered mightily at their hands. 

In fact Saddam Hussein was not connected to al Qaeda. Secretary Powell was wrong.

Gerald Flurry then ends his editorial by alluding to the second coming which Armstrongites have been breathlessly proclaiming will soon occur continuously since the 1930s.

So much bad news. But look what it is directly connected to—the best news this world has ever heard! Those days WILL BE shortened. The sooner we believe it, the better our future will be!

The big lesson we have failed to learn is that man cannot solve the chemical, biological and nuclear warfare problem. Only God can. When we learn this lesson and truly turn to God, we will solve this horrendous nightmare.

Some "Prophet" Gerald Flurry proved to be. He did not foresee that the US government's case against Iraq was largely made up of nonsense and was soon afterwards proved to be completely wrong.

This proves once again that Gerald Flurry does not have some special insight into world events that allows him to foresee events before they happen. He is just like the normal people who pay the three tithes that PCG's ministers like him live off of. He only pretends to be better then them. Morally speaking he is not.

PCG's Demonization of Muslims Part 1: Before 9/11

Currently PCG constantly demonizes Muslims and portrays them in the worst possible light, often in an irresponsible and inaccurate manner. (This sad fact may be seen here, here, here and here.) But was it always like this? Has this attitude changed over time? If not, when did PCG's leaders harden their hearts against Muslims thus vilifying so many innocent people?

One of the purposes of terrorist acts is to cause the other side to overreact against innocent people thus causing more people to become alienated from the government and join the terrorists' cause. Terrorist acts are designed to provoke an overreaction from the other side. This is the purpose of terrorist acts regardless what ideas happens to motivate the terrorists, whether they are right wing, left wing, racist, secular, religiously based, etc.

How did PCG's leaders respond to the catastrophe of 9/11? Did what they say about Muslims change after 9/11?

But it is impossible to assess how 9/11 changed the view of PCG's elites without first assessing what they said about Muslims before 9/11.

So with these facts in mind let us see what PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet, had to say about Muslims before 9/11.

PCG was more fixated on saying
Germany will soon conquer America.
(June 1998 issue.).

Before 9/11 PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet, paid comparatively little attention to the Middle East.

If anything they seemed to fear monger about Europe and China more often then the Middle East.

Many of these articles discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. PCG's leaders teach that the State of Israel will somehow become alienated from the United States, become desperate to make peace with the Palestinians and a German led European Union will cunningly craft a peace treaty only for the Europeans to suddenly betray the State of Israel and conquer it. This teaching is summarized in Gerald Flurry's 2001 booklet, Jerusalem in Prophecy. Of course these are simply false prophecies bound to fail. But the real purpose of these doctrines is to gain more tithe paying recruits for PCG.

Often those articles about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict fear monger that the Papacy is preparing to intervene in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Israel's eventual detriment. But that is a part of PCG's paranoid views about the Papacy, not about Muslims. It is PCG's assertion that Europe will soon conquer the State of Israel.

There is surprisingly little coverage of the Second Intifada between Israelis and Palestinians.

Surprisingly few of these articles seem to focus upon Iran. In a previous post I listed only one article discussing Iran before 9/11, namely "Merchants of Death" by J. Tim Thompson (August 1998). This suggests that PCG's dogma of Iran being the King of the South was comparatively unimportant in PCG's tapestry of doctrines before 9/11.

So it would appear that before 9/11 PCG's leaders were not as concerned about the Middle East as they are now and were not particularly focused on Iran. This would suggest that PCG's leaders were not particularly interested in exploiting fear about Iran to gain attention from potential recruits. I find this possibility quite surprising.

***

Here follows a list of some of the articles in PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet, that discusses Muslim majority countries before 9/11.

My comments are in brackets ( ).

1998

May

Israeli Pullback Continues

Israel Keeps Courting EU

(Back in 1998 and to this day, seventeen years later, PCG's leaders teach that the State of Israel will somehow become alienated from the United States, become desperate to make peace with the Palestinians and a German led European Union will cunningly craft a peace treaty only for the Europeans to suddenly betray the State of Israel and conquer it.)

August

The Last Crusade by Gerald Flurry

( As seen here and here some Muslims, not properly understanding how marginal PCG actually is in America, have seen this article and spread ill founded assertions that PCG was somehow "in the know" regarding alleged American plans against Muslim majority countries. Of course this is complete nonsense utterly divorced from reality. But this reaction reveals the toxic and dangerous influence PCG's inflammatory writings can have upon people unaware of the true nature of PCG.

This article appears as a chapter in Gerald Flurry's booklet, The King of the South.)

The History and Prophecy of the Middle East by Stephen Flurry.

(Stephen Flurry's article is plagiarized from HWA's booklet, The Middle East in Prophecy. It was later adapted into a booklet.)

Merchants of Death by J. Tim Thompson. 

PCG also constantly fear mongers about China.
(January 1999 issue.)

1999

February

Alliance in Doubt?

(This article discusses tensions between Israel and Turkey.)

Sitting Ducks

March-April

The Other Hussein by Ron Fraser

(Here Fraser exploits the death of King Hussein of Jordan to fear monger about Saddam Hussein. Unlike most Muslims King Hussein was portrayed favorably by PCG's leaders because of nostalgic memories of HWA's association with King Hussein and PCG's doctrine that PCG members will in the future flee to a place of safety in Petra, Jordan. This is a doctrine inherited from HWA's WCG.)

PCG scare mongering about Europe again.
(August 1999 issue.)

2000

February

Once and Future Battlefield by Joel Hilliker

March-April

A toehold in Jerusalem

June

The Shameful Lockerbie Trial by Gerald Flurry

(Here Flurry condemns the trial about the Lockerbie bombing complaining that it would not bring Gaddafi to trial and get convicted. Today PCG likes to portray Gaddafi as a victim of Islamists in order to demonize Libyans as minions of Al Qaeda and thus denying the agency of the Libyan people to influence their own affairs.)

August

Outfoxed in "Desert Fox"

(Here PCG's fear monger about Iraq portraying Saddam Hussein's regimes as extremely dangerous. Clearly PCG's writers had not the slightest idea of what would soon occur.)

November

(Strangely enough PCG's leaders give little discussion about the Second Intifada. Around this time relations between Israelis and Palestinians deteriorated into the openly armed conflict called the Second Intifada. Note how even though armed conflict had broken out between Israelis and Palestinians leading to the deaths of a thousand Israelis and about three thousand Palestinians between 2000 and 2005 how few of their articles discuss it. Some of these articles are devoted to paranoid speculation that the Pope will intervene in a way disadvantageous to the State of Israel.)

How Mideast Violence Will Affect YOU! by Gerald Flurry

Israel's Dead End by Joel Hilliker

Give Jerusalem to God

PCG says that America will soon be destroyed.
By Europe.
(May 2001 issue.)

2001

February

Electronic Jihad by Andrew Locher and Jason Hensley

Year of Rediness

March-April

Muscling into the Mideast by Ron Fraser

Whose Holy City? by Ron Fraser

Devious Alliances by Ron Fraser

Back With a Vengeance by Joel Hilliker

June

Murders in Tekoa by Gerald Flurry

(This article discusses the murder of several Israeli Jews at Tekoa. Sadly their deaths are here exploited to promote PCG's false prophecies.)

August

Israel's Lost Vision by Gerald Flurry

The Last Crusade by Gerald Flurry

(A reprint of the 1998 article mentioned above.)

The Counterfeit Peacemaker by Joel Hilliker

(Here Hilliker insists that the European Union will intervene in the affairs of the State of Israel, at first peacefully, but he insists it will lead to Israel being conquered by a German led European Empire.)

September-October

Turning Up the Heat?

***

Last issue printed before 9/11.
(September-October 2001 issue.)

The September-October 2001 issue of The Philadelphia Trumpet was the last issue published before 9/11.

(At the top of the cover it asks, "Isolationist America?" Clearly PCG's leaders had no idea what would soon occur.)

What happened after 9/11 in PCG's writings?

That is for another post.

To be continued...

PCG Ignores Israeli Election

PCG's thetrumpet.com website portrays itself as a news website. But one thing they have not mentioned is the fact that the State of Israel is currently having elections.

Considering how PCG constantly says they love Israel and how they constantly write about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict it is odd that they seem to have nothing to say about the State of Israel's current election.

Especially considering that there might be a possibility that Netanyahu might lose. Of course I have no idea what will happen in this election but I just find it odd PCG's leaders seem utterly uninterested in it.

Overview of the March-April 2015 Issue of Tomorrow's World

The latest issue of LCG's recruitment magazine, Tomorrow's World, is now out. Let us see what LCG's leaders have to say to try and convince people to join LCG.

This issue reports to have a circulation of 487,000. This is a slight decrease from the January-February issue (492,000). However this figure is still higher than the November-December 2014 issue (472,000), the September-October 2014 issue (458,000) and the July-August 2014 issue (457,000).

A circulation of 487,000 is a lot more than PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet's current circulation of 310,367 for its April 2014 issue. Back in 2011 in an article which was discussed in a previous post Stephen Flurry belittled LCG for having an income of "about $13.5 million" in 2009 while in 2010 PCG enjoyed an annual income of "$20.6 million". But today it seems that LCG's recruitment magazine has a far higher circulation even though PCG has more money. What on Earth is PCG doing wrong? 

Roderick C. Meredith has a personal article insisting that captivity will soon come upon America because they are not righteous in the way Meredith defines it.

Roderick C. Meredith has an article insisting that most Christians are false Christians. This is stated in order to convince people that they must join LCG in order to gain God's favor. 

Dexter Wakefield has an article discussing Turkey.

But what will actually happen to Turkey and the Middle East in the near future is not speculative. The Bible tells that region’s future history and views the future events from the perspective of Jerusalem. Near the end of this age, a powerful alliance of Middle Eastern nations south of Jerusalem will form and will “push” against or “attack” a powerful ten-nation European alliance to the north of Jerusalem. ... These events are prophesied to occur shortly before the return of Jesus Christ.

The radical Islamist group known as Islamic State is claiming to be the revived caliphate and sees itself as restoring the Muslim conquest of the Middle East and Europe. This may seem like déjà vu for the Europeans, and particularly the Vatican. The ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, claims the title of Caliph, but whether he will be the final “King of the South” is not evident at this time. In any case, a number of Islamist groups in the Middle East and Asia have pledged allegiance to him.

Richard Ames has an article telling people in a reassuring way that they have not committed the unpardonable sin.

Richard Franz has a little article which exploits Saint Patrick's Day in order to promote the nonsense that is British Israelism. As Silenced.co has shown British Israelism is built on a foundation of sand. In fact DNA evidence refutes British Israelism.

Winston Gosse has a little article talking about courage.

John Meakin has a little article fear mongering that Britain is about to tear itself apart.

So the conclusion, and the importance, of all this is that the UK is far from being safe and secure. Powerful political forces are pulling it apart. The coming 2015 general election could well be a watershed moment as to who governs Britain. Will the [Scottish National Party], UK [Independence Party] and other smaller voting groups hold the rest of the UK ransom? Will Britain lose its nuclear deterrent for lack of somewhere to put it and the expense of moving it? Will Scotland once again try to leave the UK? And if the English get their way, will Britain indicate its desire to leave the EU if the 2017 referendum transpires? 

The Q and A promotes the doctrine that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday.

Douglas Winnail has a little article fear mongering about activist Atheists.

Phil Sena has a little article praising the importance of mentors for young people.

Wallace Smith has a little article praising the intricacy of human reproduction. None of which proves that God is in some special way with LCG.

There are some letters. Here's one of them.

I would like to say thank you for the books and DVDs you have sent me. I have enjoyed all, and have found the information very helpful. I enjoy your teaching as they are taken from the Bible, not from man.

Of course this is complete nonsense. Most of LCG's doctrines are heretical nonsense for the most part devised by Herbert Armstrong, and he simply plagiarized many of the ideas he taught from other sources, such as various strands of Adventism such as the Seventh Day Adventists and the Church of God (Seventh Day) and the Jehovah's Witnesses as well as British Israelism.

And so LCG's work of persuading more people to join LCG and pay three tithes to them for the rest of their lives continue.

PCG's Andrew Müller Scapegoating Communists for Ferguson Troubles

Recently PCG's Andrew Müller wrote an article entitled "Communist Agitators Inflamed Ferguson Riots".

As people around the world watched news footage of rioting and looting in Ferguson last summer, most overlooked one disturbing detail: Many protesters carried signs and banners with the web address of the Revolutionary Communist Party, U.S.A. The majority of mainstream news outlets may have ignored the fact.... 

Forget the fact that 93 percent of arrests by the Ferguson Police Department were of African Americans while they merely compose 67 percent of the population.

Forget the fact that 85 percent of vehicle stops by the Ferguson Police Department were against African Americans.

Forget the fact that fines have been used to extract revenue and this money has been mainly taken from African Americans.

Forget the evidence that there some within the Ferguson Police Department have sexually harassed female employees.

Forget all those horrifying facts recently revealed in a report by the Department of Justice which details numerous failings of the Ferguson Police Department. The problem PCG's leaders wish to bring to our attention are Communists.

Now from what little I have heard of this political party they sound like nothing I would want to associate with but it is factually bizarre to blame this marginal political party for the current turbulent situation in Ferguson. 

While it would be exaggerating to claim that the Ferguson protests were masterminded by Communist activists, it is certainly true that the Revolutionary Communist Party has played a role in further inflaming tensions. Renowned educator Herbert W. Armstrong proclaimed for decades, based on Bible prophecies, that race war is coming to America. This war, however, would not be the result of any inherent superiority of one race over another. Instead, it would be deliberately stirred up by the organized planning of political leaders. 

Here is PCG once again making their bizarre claim that African Americans are plotting to riot against the white majority. This is clearly designed to make the predominantly European descended membership of PCG in fear of sinister forces from outside PCG instead of addressing the problems within PCG.

Whenever race relations in America or even Britain have gone through tensions such as this PCG has claimed that this is a sign that the end will soon occur. They have done so since Chapter 5 of Gerald Flurry's 1992 booklet, The Ezekiel Watchman, which exploited the deadly Los Angeles riots of 1992 in this way.

PCG's Kiall Lorenz Falsely Accuse President Obama of Meeting with Muslim Brotherhood Leaders: PCG Slander Exposed

PCG's Kiall Lorenz released an article entitled "President Obama’s Secret Meeting With Muslim Brotherhood Leaders". The Muslim Brotherhood referring to an Egyptian political party which has recently been banned as a terrorist organization as part of an ongoing campaign of repression which has been ongoing since the Muslim Brotherhood was deposed from power in 2013.

The title is very misleading as will be detailed later.

Here Lorenz complains that President Obama met with "American Muslim leaders". Where's the Muslim Brotherhood leaders?

American Muslim leaders met privately with United States President Barack Obama at the White House last week. President Obama entertained the 14 leaders for more than an hour behind closed doors. The president initially refused to report who the Muslim leaders were.

For less than a week.

Also this article cites The Washington Times, a newspaper which happens to be owned by a very controversial religious group.

Lorenz then mentions some American Muslim organizations and individuals.

A couple of those hosted by the president have very checkered pasts and disturbingly close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood (MB).

Wait. The title of Lorenz's article said President Obama met with "Muslim Brotherhood Leaders". But here Lorenz only mentions President Obama meeting with (according to Lorenz) "disturbingly close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood".

Lorenz only cites one individual from that meeting. The individual leads an organization that Lorenz says was founded by the Muslim Brotherhood but Lorenz makes no attempt to say the individual in question is with the Muslim Brotherhood. So it is seems safe to assume the individual in question is not in the Muslim Brotherhood at all.

In other words President Obama did not meet with Muslim Brotherhood leaders at all.

The title of this article violates the Ninth Commandment PCG claims to love so much.

Lorenz has given false witness against President Obama. 

Lorenz should apologize to President Obama.

Now later on Lorenz does mention that the State Department held a meeting with actual Muslim Brotherhood representatives. But that is not the same as President Obama meeting with Muslim Brotherhood leaders as the article's title falsely alleges.

The president’s private meeting came hot on the heels of the State Department’s meeting with representatives from the MB. Included in the delegation were two of the top representatives within the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. The MB is considered a terrorist organization by our Egyptian allies. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stated, “The Muslim Brotherhood is not a political party, but according to the Egyptian law, which must be respected, it is designated as a terrorist organization.”

The White House refutes this claim: “We have not seen credible evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood has renounced its decades-long commitment to non-violence.” Meanwhile, INTERPOL has issued arrest warrants for 40 senior Muslim Brotherhood figures.

The State Department is not President Obama. Why has Lorenz's mixed up these two meetings to falsely accuse President Obama of meeting with Muslim Brotherhood leaders? Is Lorenz seeing things?

It is clear that Lorenz has violated the Ninth Commandment by falsely accusing President Obama of meeting with Muslim Brotherhood leaders. Even if President Obama sympathized with the Muslim Brotherhood as Lorenz portrays in this article it is still bearing false witness to say he met with Muslim Brotherhood leaders when he did not.

However considering how some of PCG's leaders such as Joel Hilliker and Gerald Flurry have presented even Muslim children as being threatening how can one rely on PCG to properly discern the nature of such groups?

They woefully ignore several pressing realities: that the Palestinian children of which the president speaks are being raised on virulent Jew hatred... (Joel Hilliker, "Obama in Israel", March 23, 2013.)

Think for a moment about the people within Islamist culture today. They are raising their children—from the time they are little babies—to hate, even to murder. Those young people constantly hear that message of hatred, and they become more evil as they grow older. They say they want to wipe Israel (biblical Judah) off the face of the Earth! What is the solution to that problem? God has a plan for them. He will resurrect them into a world that has been transformed into a paradise by keeping God’s law of love! He plans to educate them and give them all the love that they never received in this evil world today! (Gerald Flurry, The Former Prophets: How to Become a King, Chapter 2, 2014, p. 30.)

Even the Muslim children are filled with hatred and to be feared according to PCG's leaders. So of course any American Muslim organization is going to be portrayed as evil and sympathetic to people PCG despises.

I have no idea if Lorenz shares the views of Hilliker and Gerald Flurry presented above but he takes his orders from them.

This article and its transparently false accusation against President Obama only shows once against the PCG's writings are not to be trusted. Considering how they can get something so transparently wrong how can anyone trust them to know the secrets of the universe and see the future?

LCG's Richard Ames Lashing Out at Coverage of Brookfield Massacre (2005)

Shortly after the massacre of seven Living Church of God members in Brookfield, Wisconsin Richard Ames wrote a commentary entitled "Brookfield and the Critics". (Please note: It is from a certain false prophet's website.)

So soon after the darkest days for LCG what did Ames say about it?

In the case of the Brookfield tragedy, the police had a responsibility to determine the immediate cause. Some of the media quickly attempted to invent or find "sinister" practices of the Church. The police concluded that Church practices and sermons were not the cause, but that the killer himself was the cause.

Of course the killer was the cause. Without question he bears the blame for the massacre. The murderer is responsible. No other person within or without LCG bears responsibility.

But this leads to another question: Why did he decide to murder people? What motivated him?

Considering how seven people died it is only responsible that the media try to determine what lead to or contributed to his decision to commit murder in order to keep the public (and not least the victims) informed about the circumstances surrounding the massacre.

So what is the media supposed to do when they discover that LCG is a strand of a religion called Armstrongism that has often been described by others as a cult for decades?

Naturally they try to determine what motivated the murderer. When they hear that apparently the murderer was frustrated at not having a wife and then they further learn that Armstrongism has a long history of telling members to only marry within the church they happen to be in, and that these groups (including LCG) do not have that many members, how could one not at least bring up the possibility that restrictions regarding who can marry whom might have contributed to the murderer's atrocious decision? Of course it is impossible to be sure because the murderer killed himself to evade justice.

As far as I can tell the media did not even uncover the whole story. As far as I know no one in the media even mentioned Roderick C. Meredith's role in imposing HWA's draconian rules on divorce and remarriage that were enforced until 1974 and caused numerous marriages to be torn apart for no good reason. The media never even uncovered that sordid horror from Armstrongism's history with which Roderick C. Meredith was intimately involved. 

What is the media supposed to do when they learn that Armstrongism has a long history of preaching that the end is near and yet it always fails to happen? Who would not get frustrated and resentful about such things? 

Even so, some critics, within and without the Church of God, have tried to blame the Church. Church members have been quick to discern where the media have been in great error, misrepresenting the doctrines, practices and history of the Church, and getting many facts wrong in their rush to report quickly. Yet even some who wisely see the error of the media’s rush to judgment have themselves rushed to judgment regarding the reason for the Brookfield tragedy. Some assume that the Brookfield tragedy is a specific sign that the Church is receiving correction for specific infractions, though the critics disagree among themselves as to what those infractions are.

What are these "many facts" that the media have got "wrong"? What "practices and history" of LCG are supposedly being misrepresented?

It is true that Armstrongism has a long history of trying to control who may marry whom. It is true that Armstrongism has long preached that the end is near and yet it never happens. None of this justifies or excuses what the murderer did in the slightest. Rather people naturally yearn to have answers about why such a monstrous thing occurred. If some these lines of inquiry appear to reflect badly upon LCG's leaders maybe LCG's leaders should address these issues instead of moaning that people are making stuff up when, as far as I can tell, that is not generally the case.

This is an issue of life and death. Frankly people cannot afford to worry about upsetting LCG's leaders while trying to determine what led to the massacre.

Yet even some who wisely see the error of the media’s rush to judgment have themselves rushed to judgment regarding the reason for the Brookfield tragedy. Some assume that the Brookfield tragedy is a specific sign that the Church is receiving correction for specific infractions, though the critics disagree among themselves as to what those infractions are.

What heartless individual has said that LCG deserved the massacre? I have no idea. It would not surprise me if some silly Armstrongite might say something callous and immoral like that but I do not know who Ames could possibly be talking about here. I cannot help but wonder if this is another straw man? I would love it to have anyone who said such a terrible thing named and shamed but I am unable to do so. 

One problem with most of these criticisms is their dogmatism and absolutism. Each critic is totally convinced that his or her identification of a specific cause is absolute. Such an approach is, to say the least, arrogant, and fails to understand the breadth and depth of God’s approach to human suffering. There may be many reasons for a tragedy, all of which cannot be identified by any single person...

This is a straw man. As far as I can tell coverage of the massacre was neither dogmatic or absolute. Many high demand groups love using a black and white mentality to justify controlling their followers lives. Ames is letting this black and white mentality fool him into thinking people are just attacking LCG when what they are really doing is asking questions and trying to find answers.

Ames ends his commentary with the following words.

This event also encourages us to mourn, to examine ourselves, and to humble ourselves. Thus the Church will fast as a body on April 9, 2005. At the same time, Christ is opening new doors for the gospel to be preached. He is the judge, not self-appointed critics. He has corrected the Church and will correct the Church. He uses His faithful servants and saints to go forward in faith to do His Work and His will.

I find myself disappointed to see that in this commentary Ames chose to lash out at people saying uncomfortable things about LCG's doctrines and practices instead of listening to this criticism in order to reform LCG into a more wholesome, less dogmatic and more loving group.

One thing that can be said about Richard Ames is that he certainly knows how to present himself in a more genteel manner than Roderick C. Meredith. But here we see him lashing out to protect the power and privilege he enjoys within LCG.

Although many people have been badly affected by Armstrongism a few people, a numerically small elite, have had the time of their lives with Armstrongism and have gained power and privilege from the movement HWA created. One of them is Richard Ames.

Ames went to Ambassador College. Armstrongism gave him a wife, who happened to be Roderick C. Meredith's sister. Armstrongism gave him a living to provide for his family. After HWA's death he got to be one the presenters of The World Tomorrow. He was in HWA's place presenting The World Tomorrow. To rise up in the ranks must have been professionally rewarding and fulfilling. As Meredith's brother-in-law he was perfectly positioned to join Meredith in creating the Global Church of God and later following him into LCG.

But then this massacre occurred. Suddenly many people who ordinarily ignored LCG were asking questions and looking for answers to explain this massacre. They started talking about things that presented LCG in a bad way. Ames clearly did not like this. And that would seem to be why he wrote this commentary.

Ames complains that the media was misrepresenting LCG thus presenting them in a bad light. But his commentary well succeeds in making LCG's leaders look terribly short sighted regarding the massacre and of peoples' attempt to understand what happened.

Brookfield Massacre Left Unmentioned in LCG's Tommorrow's World Magazine in 2005

I remember that when the massacre at LCG's congregation in  Brookfield happened in 2005 I was somewhat surprised to note that afterwards LCG's recruitment magazine, Tomorrow's World, made absolutely no mention of the massacre at all.

Take a look for yourself.

March-April 2005 issue.

This issue has articles condemning abortion and Easter.

May-June 2005 issue.

This issue condemns evolution, promotes the God family dogma and bemoans Britain supposedly becoming irreligious.

Meredith's personal article mentions the tsunami of December 26, 2004. 

July-August 2005 issue.

This issue has an article by Richard Ames entitled "Is Sex Sin?", fear mongers about resource wars and talks about the dangers of nuclear weapons.

Meredith's personal article boasts that LCG is devoted to "restoring Apostolic Christianity". 

September-October 2005 issue.

This issue talks about the United Nations, poverty and media bias.

Meredith's personal article insists that catastrophe will soon occur.

The world will experience shocking events over the next five to ten years [2005-2015], yet most people are not even remotely prepared. The vast majority of Americans and Canadians—even most professing Christian ministers—will be profoundly affected and deeply hurt by what is to come.

Why?

Because the God of the Bible is unreal to them, and the inspired prophecies of the Bible are either unheeded or totally misunderstood. 

The massacre is never mentioned in the Tomorrow's World magazine.

Now the massacre was mentioned in Living Church News and their Weekly Updates but hardly anyone gets that, certainly far less than Tomorrow's World.

Back then I was a deceptively recruited believer who incorrectly thought God was with LCG. I was somewhat surprised that this catastrophe was left unmentioned in the Tomorrow's World magazine.

Anyone reading Tomorrow's World magazine would have had no idea that this catastrophe had occurred and that LCG was going through its darkest days.

I only knew about it because I read (the current false prophet) Bob Theil's blog. Otherwise I would have had no idea that the group I loved so much at the time had seven of their members murdered.

What is to be made of this refusal by LCG's leaders to mention the massacre in their flagship publication?

The fact that the Tomorrow's World magazine made no mention of the massacre in their midst shows clearly that the real purpose of the Tomorrow's World magazine is to get more people into joining LCG. And amazingly they won't even let a massacre of seven of their own members get in the way of that.

Ten Years Since the Massacre in LCG's Brookfield Congregation

It is now ten years since the massacre in which seven LCG members were murdered on March 12, 2005 in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Randy Gregory

James Gregory

Harold Diekmeier

Gloria Critari

Bart Oliver

Richard Reeves

Gerald Miller

(Source: The Painful Truth. Hat tip: Banned by HWA.)

The victims of this atrocity will never be forgotten.

Reading PCG's Booklet, The Ezekiel Watchman

Let us now take a look at Gerald Flurry's booklet The Ezekiel Watchman. This booklet was published in 1992. However in 2002 it was superseded by an expanded booklet entitled Ezekiel: The End-Time Prophet.

Here Flurry teaches that "the Ezekiel watchman" is PCG as a whole warning America and Tkach's WCG (this later applied to the other COG groups) that they need to join PCG or else endure the Great Tribulation. As is very common in Gerald Flurry's early booklets he spends a lot of time condemning the Tkach changes and insisting that in order to be loyal to HWA's God one must join PCG.

Flurry also discusses in Chapter 5 the deadly riots in Los Angeles in 1992 which killed fifty three people. That catastrophe has occurred just months before the publication of this booklet and the strong memory of those terrible events would been very strong when this booklet was first published. 

This cover is illustrated by Steve Wilkins. This is not acknowledged in this booklet but it is revealed in the original 2000 version of Gerald Flurry's booklet, Micah: God's People Rise Up As His Enemy.

Let us see what Gerald Flurry has to say.

Chapter 1: An End-Time Message

HWA though the end of Israel would occur in his lifetime. He was EXACTLY right about the prophecies, but his timing was off a few years. (p. 2.)

That is complete nonsense. HWA's WCG made numerous false prophecies. The fact that HWA was simply wrong shows that God was not speaking through him. HWA merely spoke for himself.

To cite one of many instances HWA confidently predicted that the army of two hundred million mentioned in Revelation was the Communists of Russia and China attacking the European Empire.

The sixth of these punishing plagues will be a military invasion of Europe by the Communist forces from Russia and the Orient. By that time, the Red Armies of Russia, China and allies will number TWO HUNDRED MILLION!  (HWA, 1975 in Prophecy, 1956, p. 25.)

Today Russia is no longer Communist and China has changed into an economy heavily integrated with the world economy. There is no Red Army in Russia at all. Why it is this supposed Apostle did not foresee these things?

So Flurry's denial that HWA's prophecies failed is complete nonsense. HWA was not just off with his timing, he was 100% wrong with many false prophecies.

(Also, contrary to what Gerald Flurry has said elsewhere in actual fact HWA did teach that Christ would return in 1975.)

This warning to all Israel by the Philadelphians is probably going to be a very short work. Israel is collapsing very fast and their enemies are rising equally fast. (p. 3.)

Twenty three years and two economic bubbles later America is actually recovering from the economic crisis of 2007-8. 

But the watchman group is going to be on the scene when it all happens--just like Ezekiel was! (pp. 3-4.)

And of course "the watchman group" is Flurry's PCG.

Flurry states that PCG's emphasis is on warning about the Great Tribulation.

The emphasis in Ezekiel is to WARN. The emphasis is not on preaching the gospel to the world, or restoring all things, or building the family. HWA often warned Israel while preaching the Gospel. But the emphasis was on the Gospel, not on the WARNING. The emphasis is on the WARNING in the PCG message.

God personally set the watchman there to warn .... If people can't detect what God has done and is doing, THEN THEY CONDEMN THEIR OWN CONVERSION! (p.4.)

Flurry describes the supposedly coming Great Tribulation as a holocaust that is soon to occur.

When the holocaust comes, (p. 6.)

There is no such holocaust coming to America.

Chapter 2: Warn--or Die!

Flurry says that Ezekiel's true message is to be sent by PCG.

God has given the PCG a watchman responsibility. (p. 9.)

Flurry insists that great rewards await those who respond to what he says in this booklet, namely getting to a place of safety.

It's ticket to a place of safety. (p. 10.)

Twenty three years later PCG members are still waiting to run to Petra.

Chapter 3: Laodicean Ministers

Here Flurry condemns Tkach's WCG for discontinuing publication of The United States and Britain in Prophecy which taught the discredited doctrine of British Israelism.

The U.S. and Britain in Prophecy was the MOST REQUESTED BOOK IN THE WCG. That means it probably did more to build the WCG than any other book they hve ever published! ...

AS SHOCKING AS IT MAY SOUND, THE CHURCH THAT HERBERT ARMSTRONG FOUNDED HAS DISCONTINUED THAT BOOK AND REJECTED HIS UNDERSTANDING OF PROPHECY! ....

The WCG has stopped printing that book. ... God REVEALED this book to HWA so he could seek the lost nations of Israel! The US&BIP was by far the main tool he used. Now the WCG removes this book from print in wicked defiance toward God. WITHOUT THE US&BIP EVERYONE IS IN THE DARK ABOUT THE 1/3 OF THE BIBLE THAT IS PROPHECY! That is how serious the WCG sin is.

This means they are not doing God's WORK OF WARNING. THE WHOLE BOOK OF EZEKIEL IS ABOUT WARNING ISRAEL OF A COMING NUCLEAR ATTACK AND ENSLAVEMENT! BUT IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHO ISRAEL IS, HOW CAN YOU WARN THEM?! (pp. 13-14.)

America is not Israel. That is a nonsensical doctrine developed in Britain that gained a certain following in Victorian Britain but today we now know there is no link. In actual fact admitting that British Israelism is wrong allows people to face the truth that there is no such ancestral link.

Flurry complains that WCG ministers and members are being coerced into accepting the Tkach changes.

The Laodiceans are not being HEALED because of a watered down healing doctrine. Ministers have gotten the peoples' minds off FAITH. The WCG has discontinued HWA's healing booklet and replaced it with a very deceitful booklet with no focus on faith. This new booklet is destroying the faith of the WCG members.

It takes faith to be healed! (Write for our free article on healing.)

Verse 4 says the leaders have ruled them with FORCE AND CRUELTY. Why? They aren't just leading them away from God--they are DRIVING them away from God with doctrinal changes! Those who honestly disagree are dealt with unmercifully. One minister was demoted to a layman because he wouldn't preach the new healing doctrine. Other ministers and members are intimidated into supporting the healing change and other doctrinal changes.

Write for our free Doctrinal Changes booklet--it will explain the many changes in detail. (p. 15.)

Frankly I have little sympathy for anyone who wishes to continue believing in HWA's deadly anti-medicine superstition which caused so many WCG members to die or permanently impair their health. It is a doctrine of death that has caused so much harm to Armstrongites. It is extremely irresponsible for Gerald Flurry or anyone else to continue promoting this deadly teaching as is revealed in the words above. 

Flurry says WCG members have drunk from polluted waters fouled by changed doctrines imposed upon members by WCG ministers.

God asks some very hard questions of His ministers. Is it a "SMALL THING" to have the "GOOD PASTURE" and the "DEEP WATERS" and then turn from it? God is saying this is a gigantic, monumental SIN. It's not a SMALL THING. We ministers must take note!

 WHICH PEOPLE IN THIS END TIME HAVE HAD THE "GOOD PASTURE" OR GOOD SPIRITUAL FOOD, AND THEN POLLUTED IT?!! This could only refer to the WCG members in this end time. ...

 God is not talking about worldly religions here. They have never had deep spiritual waters! ...

THEY DRINK WATER THAT WAS "FOULED" BY THE MINISTRY! GOD PUTS THE BLAME SQUARELY ON THE MINISTERS! (pp. 18-19.)

Chapter 4: "A Stormy Wind"

This chapter is mainly focused upon the parable of the untempered wall. This parable is used as a prophetic sign that Tkach's WCG is doomed to be destroyed in the Great Tribulation. In contrast Flurry boasts that his PCG has the happy fate of escaping to a place of safety in Petra, Jordan and to rule the world after Christ's return.

They are being told it will be 30-40 years [2023-2033] before these prophecies will be fulfilled. And they are tragically wrong! The book of Ezekiel will illustrate that truth as we go along. (p. 23.)

We are so much closer to 2023-2033 then we were in 1992 when this booklet was printed. This is yet another false prophecy Gerald Flurry has made.

Flurry then talks of an outer court and this is done to reinforce Flurry's doctrine that WCG members are the outer court doomed to endure the Great Tribulation (pp. 23-24). Later this doctrine was used to demonize and discredit the other COG groups that arose as a consequence of the Tkach changes.

Flurry then says that Tkach's WCG is built on a faulty foundation of false doctrines. "We are getting extremely close to the end" Flurry confidently asserts. He cites the Tkach changes as evidence of how close the Great Tribulation and the return of Christ is to occur.

The work of the Philadelphia Church of God is going to be like a strong wind--a sudden short-lived outbust. We are going to expose this great leadership betrayal in God's Church! Through the PCG, God is going to reveal to those with an open mind what is really happening to all of the WCG members. (p. 25.)

Flurry complains that the leaders of Tkach's WCG call upon WCG to pray for peace in the Middle East. Flurry condemns this move.

The WCG leaders ask their people to pray for peace in the Middle East negotiations. But Bible prophecy says there is going to be an explosion of bloodshed until Christ returns. They are preaching contrary to Bible prophecy. (p. 26.)

Flurry boasts that PCG is part of (PCG's) God punishment upon Tkach's WCG that will only grow worse and worse until the Germans come and conquer and enslave America.

The Philadelphia Church of God is only the beginning of a far greater storm. This earth is going to see storm, after storm, after storm. Then Jesus Christ is going to return and give the earth 1000 years of fabulous weather!

Mr. Tkach, his son, and Michael Snyder have frequently explained how the WCG is building on the FOUNDATION laid by HWA. That is false and GOD IS GOING TO EXPOSE THEM TO THE WHOLE WORLD! (p. 26.)

Here Flurry says that PCG's God "is intensely emotional" about the Tkach changes.

God's wrath is inflicted on the wall. God is intensely emotional about what is being built in His name! He is going to CONSUME the wall in His wrath. Then the leaders will no longer seduce God's people. (p. 26.)

Twenty three years later Tkach's WCG is still here and thousands of people continue to follow them It is a following far larger then any of the COG splinter groups including PCG. This is clearly yet another false prophecy of Gerald Flurry.

Chapter 5: L.A. Riots--Only the Beginning!

Here Gerald Flurry exploits the Los Angeles riots which had just occurred earlier that year in 1992. Fifty three people died in those terrible days and here their deaths are exploited by Gerald Flurry to insist that America is on the verge of social collapse and that far worse riots are just about to occur. (Of course no such riots occurred. Thankfully no riot that deadly has since blighted America.)

Flurry claims to be neutral about the riots and says he refuses to take sides.

There is deep racial division and hatred in America. The Philadelphia Church of God doesn't take sides. We teach God's prophecies. (p. 27.)

So how does Flurry talk about the white majority?

"The whole head is sick." God is saying the power structure (primarily white) that leads Israel is sick. ... Neither the leaders nor their followers have the WILL or the STRENGTH to deal with their problems--especially violent rioting! (p.28.)

How does he talk about the African American minority?

California has been staggered by economic recession and it is getting worse. Thousands of black males are unemployed in Los Angeles. Many of them vented their wrath and frustration with the system by taking an active part in the riots. They see the incredible of people in Beverly Hills and Hollywood; and, as the economy worsens, so will their anger and frustration. These strong emotions will lead to more riots. More U.S. cities are going to burn!

The Los Angeles police and National Guard did virtually NOTHING--rewarding the rioters with stolen goods and an opportunity to commit violence--even murder! Other angry minorities seeing this lack of forceful intervention will be greatly encouraged to riot elsewhere in the future! This is the truth that no one wants to admits! (pp. 29-30.)

One black Milwaukee alderman has threatened for years to start a violent revolution in that city in 1995 if conditions for the blacks don't improve. (p. 32.)

Many blacks want peace, but they often have little control of the situation themselves. A caravan of blacks in Los Angeles was going from area to another throwing fire bombs and doing much of the burning. ... Many of the black people had their own property destroyed by such criminals.

After the riots some of the most racist blacks were invited to appear on talk shows. More and more inflammatory statements are being made. Some of these criminal leaders know how to play public discontent like a fiddle. The news media helps spread their destructive messages. (p. 34.)

In other words Flurry criticizes whites for not forcefully dealing with African American minorities to his satisfaction. And Flurry blames the African Americans as being the cause of the riots. And he even insinuates that other minorities are just waiting to start a riot like what happened in Los Angeles in 1992.

Other angry minorities seeing this lack of forceful intervention will be greatly encouraged to riot elsewhere in the future!  (p. 30.)

What on earth is Flurry talking about? This is a frightfully inaccurate and simplistic view of race relations in the United States. It is appallingly divorced from the facts.

So it is clear that Flurry's sympathy is very much with the whites. He simply wishes they were more forceful against rioters who happened to be a different skin color to Flurry's.

There is nothing wrong with wishing for people who do commit unlawful acts of violence to be brought to justice. But that is not what Flurry does in this booklet.

It seems from this chapter that Flurry is greatly fearful that racial minorities are just waiting for an excuse to riot and go on a rampage against the white majority. This is a bizarre fantasy. The truth is the racial minorities simply wish to live with peace and dignity just like anyone else.

Although Flurry notes that resentment over social and economic inequality contributed to setting off the riot he makes no attempt to address this issue. One might have thought that would be a good place to suggest constructive, lawful ways for dealing with such inequality. However Flurry makes absolutely no attempt to suggest constructive ways to deal with the issue of social and economic inequality and just presents ethnic minorities as very scary for the white majority which most Armstrongites identify with.   

We now cover other aspects of this chapter.

At one point in this chapter Flurry notes some the threats against America.

We talk about Japan-bashing today. We fear that the European Community is going to shut the U.S. out of more and more markets. U.S. agriculture has already been hit hard. And, as the U.S. and Britain becomes less and less competitive worldwide, unemployment will steadily increase. (p.29.)

Unemployment has not steadily increased. Yet another false prophecy by Gerald Flurry.

It also should be noted that PCG has a long history of demonizing Japan.

Here Flurry in an alarmist way insists that riots will get worse and spread. Flurry compares it the pestilence described in Revelation 6.

The "pestilence" or plague of violence will cause many health problems that lead to FAMINE. Sewage disposal will be disrupted. Gas lines will be broken. Jobs will be lost. Society will unravel and panic will bring a STOCK MARKET DISASTER! IT IS GOING TO GET SO BAD THAT RIOTING AND FAMINE WILL TAKE MILLIONS OF LIVES!

The Los Angeles rioting IS JUST A TYPE OF WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO MAJOR CITIES IN THE WHOLE NATION! IT IS A STARK PROPHECY OF OUR FUTURE! The rioting and burning is the main thrust of the "pestilence" mentioned in Ezekiel 5. And this rioting is going to spread to other Israelite nations--unless these people repent! God is going to get our attention, one way or another. The worse the rioting and burning becomes, the worse the famine will get. The worse the famine becomes, the more intensive the rioting will get. It becomes a vicious cycle. (pp. 30-31.)

Here Flurry dogmatically proclaims that California is cursed because the State of California imposed a forced receivership on WCG in 1979 and because the headquarters of Tkach's WCG is located in California.

California is the only state that ever attacked and tried to destroy HWA and the Work he was leading as the end-time apostle of almighty God. God crushed that effort. Now California has serious economic problems and is suffering from riots and the whole state is trembling with earthquakes. Many people anticipate the "big one," as quake violence increases. Coincidence? (p. 31.)

Yet another false prophecy. It is Flurry who insists that there is a connection between these earthquakes and that Tkach's WCG happens to be located there. Flurry is seeing things that are not there.

Flurry not only can't see the future, he even gets past events wrong as well. The forced receivership imposed by the State of California in 1979 was an attempt to investigate improprieties regarding WCG's finances. There was no attempt to dissolve WCG or seize control of WCG's assets for the State of California. It was an investigation to discover if there was any financial improprieties.

The receivership was initiated by six ex-members of WCG who were trying to save the church from corruption within its Headquarters. They had grown disillusioned with the authoritarian rule of HWA. They perceived that WCG had become a vast money making operation dedicated to letting the leaders live in the lap of luxury and fund the personal expenses of church leaders. These six members perceived this financial exploitation of WCG members to be a breach of trust with WCG members and co-workers who funded WCG that needed to be exposed and punished in the court of law.

It was also partly a desperate effort to resist Stanley Rader, who as a close confidant of HWA had gained great power and many within WCG were worried that Rader had a hold on HWA and was trying to take over WCG. However eventually in 1981 Rader somehow fell out of favor with HWA and retired. But even then WCG continued to pay a generous retirement package to him even after the Tkach changes until his death in 2002.

Flurry says, "God crushed that effort." That is not true. What actually happened was that WCG lobbied the legislators of California to pass a law making it impossible for the State of California to prosecute WCG in that way. WCG simply persuaded legislators to change the law for their benefit. Stanley Rader was instrumental in lobbying for this law. Even Stephen Flurry is forced to mention that bill when talking about the receivership crisis in a 2002 article.

Flurry says "Israel" (meaning the United States) will need to be attacked with nuclear weapons to turn to God. 

The cities were not laid waste in ancient Israel! This is referring to a modern-day nuclear attack! THIS IS WHAT IT TAKES TO TURN ISRAEL TO GOD! (p. 36).

Flurry also fantasizes that after the Germans conquer America the Germans will learn of PCG's prophecies through the slaves from America they acquire.

The last third of Israel will be taken captive and made slaves around the world. Israel will tell their captors about the PCG prophecies! The Gentiles will learn about God from their slaves! So we see that even Israel's slavery serves God's Work. (p. 37.)

That is complete nonsense based on the inaccurate and false dogma of British Israelism. As Silenced.co has shown British Israelism is built on a foundation of sand. In fact DNA evidence refutes British Israelism.

This chapter set in place PCG's dogma that riots will be a part of America and Britain's collapse culminating in conquest by a German led European Empire. But PCG's leaders do not talk about just any kind of riot. Rather they fear monger that there will be what they call a "race war" in which African Americans and other ethnic minorities will rise up against the white "Israelite" majority. This terrible fantasy is repeatedly told to PCG members and readers of PCG's writings whenever PCG's leaders find a convenient excuse to bring up this bizarre and terrible idea.

However thankfully the United States has not had to endure riots of such severe violence since that time. So Flurry's fearful proclamations that riots would spread all over the nation has been proven to be nonsense.

There is nothing wrong with wishing for people who do commit unlawful acts of violence to be brought to justice. But that is not what Flurry does here. I wish I could say he discussed the riots in a responsible way but he did not. Instead Flurry says that the white majority should be scared of ethnic minorities.

(It is worth noting that in the expanded 2002 booklet, Ezekiel: The End-Time Prophet, parts of this chapter is to be found in Chapter 4: "Terrorism and Race Riots". However in this original 1992 booklet there is absolutely no mention of terrorism by violent extremists of any sort anywhere in this booklet. Gerald Flurry completely failed to foresee how terrorism by Osama bin Laden and his ilk would arise to do so much harm to the world.)

Chapter 6: How Near to the End?

Here Flurry mentions WCG Evangelist Ronald Kelly's "Fun With Prophecy" sermon which he delivered on June 2, 1990.

A well-known WCG evangelist tried to prove that lie in his sermon"Fun With Prophecy." The truth is, the prophecies HWA taught are being fulfilled THIS VERY MOMENT! When people are trapped in the great nuclear holocaust they won't think it's "fun"! (p. 42).

Flurry says that Tkach said Christ may not return after World War III. 

Mr. Tkach has said that we could have another World War and it still may not be the end! He has made several similar statements about end-time prophecy. (p. 43).

Chapter 7: "Begin at My Sanctuary"

Flurry says that the use of the number 70 in the Book of Ezekiel is a sign that WCG ministers met with God (pp. 48-49).

Flurry talks of an end time Jaazaniah.

This simply means a good beginning and a tragic ending when you apply it to God's Church in the end time. It started and flourished under HWA. During the 1970s and after HWA died, there was a turning away from God's law. (p. 49.)

Flurry then links Jaazaniah with his doctrine of the end time Joshua destined to turn away from PCG's God. Of course Flurry means Tkach.

Actually it is widely known that many of the ideas within Malachi's Message were plagiarized from The Letter to Laodicea by Jules Dervaes, written December 1986-January 1988. It was sent to 237 WCG ministers including Gerald Flurry and John Amos. In fact on September 26, 1990 Jules Dervaes sent a letter to Gerald Flurry in which he denounces Malachi's Message as "a direct and clear plagiarism" of his work.

Flurry says sinister forces had bided their time and are now (in 1992) taking their covert plans out into the open.

These men are those liberals who have been in hiding. ... They hide these abominable practices. ... Many of God's own people in the WCG are kept in the DARK about doctrinal changes away from God [as taught by HWA]. You urgently need to understand. These sinning ministers are changing God's own doctrines [actually HWA's, many of which were plagiarized from other sources] and then they say doctrines remain virtually the same. (p. 50.)

Flurry condemns Tkach's WCG's changing the born again doctrine. 

The change in the born again doctrine was one of the biggest in the history of the WCG. Suddenly their"new" doctrine was shared with millions of so-called "born again" Christians. Still, Mr. Tkach said this f the born again doctrinal change: "OUR DOCTRINE REMAINS EXACTLY THE SAME" and "IT DOES NOT EFFECT DOCTRINE AT ALL"! (p. 50).

Flurry talks of Tammuz, Ishtar and Easter, as well as what he describes as the negative influence of women within the ministry of Tkach's WCG which Flurry blames as propelling the Tkach changes.

Tammuz was the youthful lover of Ishtar--from where we get our word Easter. This is the worst kind of paganism. Tammuz and Ishtar date back to Babylon, 3000 B.C. That is the kind of paganism God's people are going back to in this end time!

This is the INNER TEMPLE where only true ministers are supposed to serve God and yet we see some WOMEN are there having a wrong influence on God's ministry today! It is God's way of saying women are having a sinful and damaging affect on the Laodicean ministry today! (p. 51.)

Flurry says a great slaughter is coming of those who follow HWA's teachings but have not joined PCG.

Flurry says that one must sigh and groan about the Tkach changes (pp. 54-55).

Flurry says that some wanting to join PCG want no confrontation with Tkach's WCG and the other COG groups but Flurry insists that such would be PCG members must drop this conciliatory attitude in order to be in PCG.

We occasionally get letters from people who want to be in the Philadelphia Church of God, but don't want any fighting or confrontations. These people must repent in order to be a part of the PCG. There is no NEUTRAL ZONE. God has called us to warn spiritual and physical Israel. Almost all of them are about to be slaughtered! God always warns His people. If we really know the Ezekiel slaughter is coming and we have God's love, we must warn them!

THOSE WHO THINK IT'S WRONG TO WARN HAVE A SELF-RIGHTEOUS ATTITUDE AND VERY LITTLE LOVE FOR THE SLAUGHTER VICTIMS! (p. 55.)

In other words, agree with everything Gerald Flurry says or else be kicked out of PCG and get thrown into the Great Tribulation.

Chapter 8: The Marriage Covenant

This chapter is largely devoted to PCG's dogma that PCG members will be transformed into God beings as fully God as God is God upon the return of Christ.

But even more it is further taught by PCG that those saved before PCG members flee to the place of safety in Petra, Jordan will be of a higher status then any humans who later become a member of the God Family after fleeing to a place of safety and after Christ's return. This idea has been present in Armstrongism since the 1950s.

THAT MEANS OTHERS WILL COME INTO GOD'S FAMILY, BUT NOT ON THE WIVE LEVEL! Those who come into God's family later will be daughter churches--or likened to children in God's family. THEY WILL NOT BE ON THE WIFE LEVEL AS THE FIRSTFRUITS ARE! ... NOBODY ELSE FOR ALL ETERNITY WILL BE ON THE WIVE LEVEL! (pp. 70-71.)

Some wonder why PCG members stay there despite the many problems within it. Partly they stay in it because they think that they will get glory such as this if only they stay within PCG. They think they are making a great decision staying in PCG. They think they will get glory humanly unattainable. But to get they must stay inside PCG despite the many problems in it. And unfortunately enough of them choose to do so.

Unfortunately for Flurry's followers this God Family doctrine is heretical nonsense. (It also happens to be quite similar to what is taught in Mormonism.)

Isaiah 42:8: "I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."

Isaiah 43:10: "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me."

Isaiah 44:6: "Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God..."

Isaiah 44:8: "Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any." (From Mike of Mike's Enlightenment Page.)

Here are some other posts that discuss the God Family doctrine.

• The God Family discusses how I first learned of this doctrine and how Roderick C. Meredith claim it was 'revealed' to HWA's group.

• A Problem in the God Family Doctrine discusses how HWA taught that humanity was simply Plan B for God. According to HWA God originally intended to have Angels govern the Universe but Lucifer's rebellion forced God to create Humanity instead. This aspect of HWA's God Family doctrine is never discussed in Stephen Flurry's booklet.

• Called to the Truth? Will all in the God kingdom be Equal? discusses how the COGs teach that those who become God Beings at the return of Christ will be superior in rank then all other people who become God Beings afterwards, even though all are supposedly as fully God as God is God. The COGs nevertheless teach that there will be ranks and that the God Family will be divided into an elite (the deified church) while the rest will be inferior in rank. This aspect of the God Family doctrine is never discussed in Stephen Flurry's booklet.

• Why I no longer believe in the God Family doctrine (and never will) (offsite article by Felix Taylor Jr.) discusses how the God Family doctrine is simply not in the Bible.

• Reading PCG's Booklet, God is a Family discusses Stephen Flurry's booklet (1995) which teaches the God Family doctrine. It also discusses how Stephen Flurry misleadingly uses a Protestant commentary to insinuate the Bible teaches the God Family when the author of this commentary never taught the God Family doctrine at all.

The God family doctrine is nonsense.

We now continue to look at other aspects of this chapter. 

Flurry says that even the children of the other COG groups are doomed to endure the Great Tribulation because their parents did not join PCG.

The Laodicean children must go through the Great Tribulation--mainly because of their rebelling parents! WHAT A HORRIFYING PENALTY for God's people who had the truth and rejected it! (p. 66.)

This is crude emotional blackmail. How many WCG members joined PCG because they were worried their children would endure the Great Tribulation unless they joined PCG? It is a sobering thought to think that some WCG members joined PCG because of such crude emotional blackmail. That is shameful conduct.

Flurry ends his booklet with the following words.

The firstfruits must be preparing fervently now for their marriage to Christ. We must have the vision to see beyond the marriage. OUR GREAT WORK ISN'T THE ENDING WHEN WE MARRY CHRIST--IT'S JUST THE BEGINNING! (p. 71.)

This is a clear imitation of the ending of HWA's book, Mystery of the Ages.

Advertizing

On page 73 is an ad for Malachi's Message.

On page 74 is advertizing for PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet.

It contains a photo of the June 1992 issue which shows a burning building and is about the L.A. riots. Very likely Chapter 5 of this booklet is based on the article in that issue.

It also contains a photo of the July 1992 issue which shows the original cover of Gerald Flurry's booklet, Nahum: An End Time Prophecy for Germany. Very likely that booklet is based on an article in this issue. The article is entitled "Germany in Prophecy".

On page 75 is an ad for Gerald Flurry's 1992 booklet Worldwide Church of God Doctrinal Changes and the Tragic Results. It is strange that PCG spent so much time condemning the Tkach changes to attract new recruits but today the booklet which described the Tkach changes in the greatest detail among PCG's booklets is no longer printed by them. That strikes me as strange, bizarre and inexplicable. I wonder why PCG no longer prints this booklet.

***

And so we see what Gerald Flurry was saying in 1992 in this booklet.

• It is filled with false fear mongering that World War III will soon occur. (We are still waiting twenty five years later.)

• Exploits the deadly riots in Los Angeles to promote a bizarre view of ethnic minorities just itching to riot against the white majority in America. (Which is complete nonsense.)

• Tries to emotionally blackmail WCG members and the members of the other COG groups to join PCG by threatening that their children will suffer the Great Tribulation because they did not join PCG. 

• Promotes HWA's deadly anti-medicine superstition which have lead to the deaths of so many who have followed HWA and his various imitators.

• Is largely based on the false doctrine of British Israelism. As Silenced.co has shown British Israelism is built on a foundation of sand. In fact DNA evidence refutes British Israelism.

• It says many inaccurate and wrong things.

So there is no need to have any fear that Flurry's dire proclamations in this booklet can possibly come to past. Flurry speaks only for himself, not for God. His many prophecies have failed miserably. There is no need to fear his words.