For those with long memories, there was a time when AW suggested Mrs Graham would make a fine WCG church president if and when Joe Tkach ever decided to do the right thing and surrender his sinecure. The project outlined in the ad seems a worthy and long overdue one, and the questions Sheila asks deserve consideration.The front and back pages of The Journal are available as a free download. More on this issue of The Journal in a later posting.
10 comments:
I imagine it will be a good book which will show the perspective of women in "The Chuch", and what they went through.
As a man, I have my own perspective, but I know that women had an unfair burden dealing with what the WCG had to offer.
Some of the pronouncements about women in the church, both from the pulpit, and those which I heard (not from the pulpit), make it clear to me that women in the church had an extra hard (and perhaps more insightful?) time of things,- both while in and beyond the cultural environment of the WCG.
Oi, what a topic this will be. The Bovine Pies are about to hit the rotating blades.
Why did no one or few note that the entire New Testament was put together by single men telling women, couples and kids how to be in their relationships when they had none of their own to draw upon?
OF course, God has no female counterpart either (well, she was written out of the text long ago) and lives with his bachelor son Jesus who is married to the Church, but rarely visits.
The Angels, all men in the Bible and all female in gift shops, don't marry and have no relationships so they're pretty messed up too. Do they all live together in an Angel Dorm?
What chance do women have in any fundamentalist approach to Christianity. May as well join the Taliban.
I think it's good idea that Ms. Graham is promoting, I'm just not too sure that it will be as well rounded as it should based on the types of individuals that will respond.
My mother joined despite an unbelieving mate based on the fact that her abusive father once declared Mr. Armstrong to be a pretty smart man. She laid everything on the line for this church and came near to losing her marriage which ended up substantially damaged by her adherence to the church's principles.
She insisted that she needed the discipline the church offered. Even though it ate away at her self esteem and she was never an immoral person to begin with.
I've often wondered if the church became a substitute for her father. If maybe the god HWA promoted could be pleased then she would have finally obtained some kind of self-worth
She doesn't see these issues though and the stories from people like her aren't likely to be known through what Ms. Graham is doing.
I do wish her project well, but I fear that the people like my mother who suffer not only in silence but sometimes unwittingly will not be likely to be represented.
I know that most young women who grew up in the church area, found
boyfriends outside the church and stopped attending services when they left home to get married. So she needs to write a chapter on these women too.
Sheila Graham's book-writing venture is nothing new, and has been in the works for a number of years now. I even received an email invitation from her, when she first decided to do the book and she had asked me to share my horrible WCG-exit experience that would be included in her book. I declined, thinking I may write my own book at some point....
Honestly, I don't see the point of such another book or soap-box to vent about how badly individuals or groups of individuals (women, in this case...) were treated in WCG. Curtis May does his "reconciliation ministry" thing, and has let everyone know how badly blacks were treated in WCG - and, I've heard how badly homosexuals and many others have been treated, etc. etc.
The point is, how many horrible, sickening stories do we have to hear from victims of the abusive cult, to be at peace with the fact that WCG and its splinter off-shoot groups are a huge pile of rubbish that should be officially closed for business?
--CLA
"The point is, how many horrible, sickening stories do we have to hear from victims of the abusive cult, to be at peace with the fact that WCG and its splinter off-shoot groups are a huge pile of rubbish that should be officially closed for business?"
How many? As many as it takes, to officially close them all for business. You answered your own question, CLA. And with Junior and Weazell and Kelly the Snake trying to slippery-slide their way down the greased slope of utter denial with the renaming of the church, that's not likely to be anytime soon.
I, for one, am not likely to give up supporting, showcasing, and telling my own, horror stories of those who were born and raised in the church.
Until such time as the church, and all its splinter groups, ceases to exist.
'The point is, how many horrible, sickening stories do we have to hear from victims of the abusive cult, to be at peace with the fact that WCG and its splinter off-shoot groups are a huge pile of rubbish that should be officially closed for business?"
A million stories are never enough as long as Herbert's Legacy and mutated children still exist and spread his message of filth.
The horse beating will stop and people will "get over it" when Armstrongism no longer exists. Until then.....
The Apostate Paul
Well, I prefer Joyce Meyer. She can hold her own against any of the male preachers in terms of general biblical knowledge, and ability to inspire and encourage.
BB
Hey Bullet-Bob,
I enjoy most of what you write, but honestly....Joyce Meyers?!! She's a member of the "Word of Faith" charismatic/pentecostal cult who spreads heresy everywhere she goes.
I recommend listening to someone a little more grounded in saving faith - such as R. C. Sproul, Josh McDowell, John MacArthur, Steve Brown and many, many others.
--CLA
Sheila Graham is still a WCG member, and given the fact that she's been working on this book for several years now (that I'm personally aware of), I doubt she's getting much feedback. The women inside WCG aren't going to spill their guts because they are, for the most part, still in denial and view their WCG experiences as "character building" that got them to where they are now (still stuck in the cult - LOL!). Women outside of WCG most likely don't care to have their experiences included because (and this is a no-brainer...) they do not wish to be patronized by an "insider" who will most likely tone down their testimonies and not mention any names of any perpetrators (especially the ones who are still WCG ministers).
I say the book will be a dud and not worth giving it a second thought.
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