(For the record, AW regards British Israelism in any form as irredeemably fallacious, totally discredited, and intellectually indefensible.)

All2True Editorial

April, 2005

Garbage

You know, enough is enough.

The church of gods has supplied an endless supply of rotting garbage for decades now, and soon, before we know it, a century will have gone by--waste in every sense of the word.

Last year, my wife and I began a project of dumping the garbage. The Plain Truth, Tomorrow's World, The Good News, Worldwide News, United News, booklets, articles, Envoys and many other publications were fed as a steady stream into the shredder and the trash for weeks at a time. Our dumpster will hold only so much. We feel much better now and our heads are clearer. We highly recommend the exercise for those who want to exorcise.

Nevertheless, not unlike finding crumbs during the Days of Unleavened Bread, we still find the odd booklet or article hidden away in a bookshelf or even in a long forgotten folder in the filing cabinets. We dutifully put them away from us and bitterly repent. And we still feel better.

Nevertheless, it's hard to ignore seven murders and a suicide in church. It's something that just doesn't go away, and people's lives are affected negatively for years, even decades, even a lifetime. Imagine a young man explaining to someone that his dad, the minister, was shot to death in church by a member of the congregation during services. Or perhaps some lesser event, where a young woman carries the guilt of being fondled by a seventy year old elder and fearing that she might not have 'a good attitude'. Or making sure that you carry around that court injunction at the Feast so your stalker won't bother you. These things are pretty tough to explain, even to people jaded by the news of their parish priest with the altar boy.

At some point, tolerance just becomes too much of a burden. It's not about God. It's not about Christ. It's not even about religion. It is about the abuse of people in the name of religion as some sort of weird entitlement.

The church of gods is not alone, of course. People have experienced this sort of thing for millennia. But it is only now that the outrageous behavior has been clinically examined and available to the masses. The information becomes a resource to finally escape the garbage and begin to live some semblance of a life away from self-styled Gurus.

One such excellent resource is The Orange Papers. There, you can examine over 89 characteristics of Gurus. Sure, this isn't about Herbert Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God or its offshoots [spit-offs], but members and former members can certainly relate. The issues are familiar. For example, #51 Members Get No Respect. They Get Abused. No stretch there. Or #52 Inconsistency. Contradictory Messages. You'll note that A. Orange is targeting Alcoholics Anonymous, but for the name on the door, you can't tell the difference. And how about a biggie here: #57 The cult leader is not held accountable for his actions. You'd think he was talking about... well, just pick your most unfavoritist church of gods unrepentant minister leader here. And one more, #4 No Graduates. Reminds me of Spokesmans Club under Jimmy Friddle in the Sixties. You might take careful note of the Common Cult Characteristics and see how washed and squeaky clean your brain is. Take note of "Eliciting of Confession". Did we have to sing Psalm 51 every Passover? It's not like we committed adultery and then murdered the husband every year [but it might describe a minister or two conducting the service]. No, wait: Scratch that. Check out #2 You are always wrong.

It isn't like the church of gods haven't had time to prove themselves. They have. They have been found wanting. The handwriting is on the wall. Judgment, if any, awaits. All that is left is the handwringing. And if there are any more murder / suicides to be had or fondling or stalking or any of a dozen other felonies, well... time will tell....

What it will tell is that the unrepentant leadership is immoral, unethical and illegal. They are unfit for duty. It is clear that they don't even know right from wrong. There's nothing like gross incompetence....

It's all Garbage.

Haul it off to the dump and forget it.

Also visit http://www.cultabuse.com

Last Updated: Wednesday, March 30, 2005