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

Setting the Standard

People who attend the Churches of God have endured an incredible amount of nonsense and it is about time that came to an end.

When we speak of the fruit of the Spirit and the qualifications of an elder, we are speaking of a higher standard, but most of us are not satisfied that the minimum set of standards have been met, in some cases, within the ranks of the leadership and the ministry of the Churches of God.

Sometimes, there have been prosecutable offenses which should have landed some of the men in jail.

Certainly rape and child abuse are among the more serious prosecutable offenses committed by the hierarchy of the Churches, but one must remember that people also go to prison for being accessories to the crime.

For example, if a leading minister commits rape, say, at the Church's College, he should go to prison.  If those over him cover up and / or ignore the offenses, they should go to prison too, because they are accessories, and, hence, participants in the evil deeds.

People committing such crimes should justly go to prison for:

1. possible rehabilitation

2. benefit of society at large

3. protection, justice and closure for the victims where possible

4. notification to society to watch this individual in the future

These and other reasons are commonly known and accepted throughout most societies so offenders don't disrupt society--so there can be peace and order.

People should have a right to have the freedom to conduct their lives without harm and threat.

Not a safe environment

The Worldwide Church of God has not been a particularly safe environment and particularly not safe for children.

There are far too many accounts of pedophiles, rapes and other crimes to be comfortable with the Church of God environment.

The Church had a really screwy set of standards: While Mr. Armstrong was yelling and waving his arms about makeup, deacons, elders, etc, whatever, were accosting children in Church.

Leading people in the Church tried to get it to stop by talking to the minister, but to no avail.

Then they sent a letter to the minister.

Nothing.

Then they wrote to Pasadena.

Nada.

They finally had to commit to just "watching" the person on the Sabbath and on the Holydays.

This was not an isolated incident.

More like a prison than a Church

During a break for a Cultural Diversity Class we were taking at Pierce County, I spoke with a police lieutenant, who was attending the class.

I asked her about our jail where she worked supervising the prison floor.

I knew that there was a hierarchy inside the jail; that there were strong men at the top and people on the very bottom like child molesting pedophiles.

I asked her what the top prisoner who ran things was like.

"Generally," she said, "he is the strongest male there and he has been there a long time; he knows the ropes and knows how to work the system".

The alpha-male has his lieutenants working for him, with others lower on the ladder until those who are considered complete scum on the bottom.

The ones at the top get more of the "perks" and privileges, while those on the bottom have to make sacrifices for those above them.

Except for the name on the door, it's pretty hard to distinguish a prison hierarchy from the hierarchy in a Church of God sometimes.

Overcome Evil with Good

There is no particularly good reason to tolerate criminals in the Churches of God, particularly if they are ministers or administrators of the Church.

We have laws in our country; if you know and can demonstrate that someone has committed a crime, go to the prosecutor, not the superior of the one committing the crime.

Mercy in this case is for the victim, not the criminal.

Let's do good by putting the evil away from us.

Criminals identified on the Internet

The Pierce County Sheriff's Department has a web site where you can identify rapists in your neighborhood, 1.5 miles from your home by entering your address.

The web site is at http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/pc/abtus/ourorg/sheriff/sexoff/sormain.htm

There is a biographical history of each rapist, and for class 3 offenders--the most serious of the offenders--there is actually a picture of the rapist.

Pierce County is one of the first, if not the first, law enforcements in the United States to have put up such a web site, but it's catching on very rapidly.

The Journal--News of the Churches of God at http://www.thejournal.org/ has as its Goal to "help foster communications among the Churches of God".

Here is an excellent opportunity for The Journal: Put up the same service for the Churches of God to identify felons by using the Internet just as Pierce County does.

Attendees of the Churches of God could put in their address and have the web site come back with a list of ministers who are convicted felons within 50 miles of their homes.

They could click on each entry and get a picture and a bio.

This would help generate peace and safety for those who would be godly.

And maybe if The Journal won't do it, perhaps some responsible accountable interested site might take up the challenge instead.

Judgment begins at the House of God

Well, not so far.

I say that to the shame of the Churches of God who have received commands from Scripture to put their own houses in order.

They haven't done it.

That can change.

That should change.

And you can participate in changing it.

First of all, criminals go to prison.

Period.

Accessories are criminals.

Accessories go to jail.

Ministers and administrators who break the law don't get paid.

Period.

Cut them off at the pockets.

Give absolutely no more to support your local criminals.

Publicly mark them so others are not victims.

Do justly, love mercy and walk humbly:  Promote law and order.

You Do the Crime and You'll do the time

If you want to continue your criminal activities in the Churches of God within the province of Pierce County, you find that we will have very little patience or sympathy for you.

I might not be much or have much influence, but if there is sufficient evidence for a Grand Jury, consider yourself dead meat, because I will personally walk down the hall to Mr. John Ladenburg, the Pierce County Executive and former Prosecuting Attorney, and he and I will have a little chat.

I'm sure he can direct me to the appropriate departments to get the ball rolling and may take a personal interest in you as well.

You will learn about process as we go before the Grand Jury, indict you, arrest you, arraign you, try you, convict you, sentence you and put you in prison.

If you think this is a joke, try us.

So come on down to Pierce County: The new jail is open and there's plenty of room for Apostles, Evangelists and Pastors who have committed felonies.

You do the crime and you'll do the time.

Also visit http://www.cultabuse.com

The Missing Dimension: www.missingdimension.com

Last Updated: Saturday, October 30, 2004