Confronting the Rumors about Incest (Final Part)

"David Defense"

Some supporters have acknowledged that HWA had committed incest with his daughter but offer the "David defense" to excuse this transgression and say that it has not impact on the role he played. This position need not be examined further as it neither proves non-consensual incest occurred nor would it excuse it.

Lack of Denials

It would be nice if one could find clear denials regarding these claims by HWA personally, by the church when these claims were first put into print (Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web), and/or by the family members that would have known one way or the other regarding these claims.

Unfortunately, none of these denials were made.

One may find this odd but the lack of denials does not prove that the incest took place. Innocent people do not have to defend themselves against false claims.

Evidence (or lack of it) found on the Internet (and/or shared by individuals)

1. A Nov. 19, 1979, letter from David Robinson (former WCG evangelist) to HWA alluded to the incest and other sexual issues and requested that HWA resign for the good of the church.
[Comments: Some have attacked David Robinson's integrity while others have defended him. I had read (likely in The Journal) that he was an honorable man who suffered greatly for making these claims.]

2. 1981 book Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web (An Insider's View of the Worldwide Church of God) by David Robinson
David Robinson, a former WCG minister and employee in varied capacities, wrote from firsthand knowledge with deep disappointment and has come to agree with Solomon who advised against putting their trust in men. Chapter XX covered HWA and the incest story. This book is available in PDF form here.
[Comments: This book may not have been the most well-written account of the church but much of the material was consistent with other sources and confirmed through personal discussions with ministers that had been at headquarters. The portion dealing with the alleged incest was distasteful but there is likely no way for anyone to address this topic it in an acceptable manner to all.]

3. December 30, 1981 letter from Jack Kessler to the Board of WCG
Jack Kessler was WCG's CPA who worked directly with HWA and Rader and his letter detailing a number of corporate irregularities contained the following references to the charge of incest:

“The human condition is such that it would shock probably only just a few to learn of the moral depravity that is reported commonly among you. Although others, such as Dave Robinson* and Floyd Lochner, apparently thought it might work to their advantage to report Mr. Armstrong's admission (which he's made to several) that he had engaged repeatedly in incestuous intercourse with his daughter during the first 10 years of his ministry, as well as more recent, self-confessed sexual perversity..."

The entire letter available here.
[Comments: Was this letter credible? In a number of areas, yes, such as the abuse of authority and financial mismanagement. It also brought out a second name related to the accusation of incest: Floyd Lochner, who had allegedly taped HWA hoping to get a denial on record but instead getting a confession. Damning evidence... if true. But where is the tape? Who had heard it personally?]

4. Lakeland Ledger May 12, 1984 newspaper article about HWA’s divorce with Ramona mentions an “understanding” the couple reached about Armstrong’s “prior incestuous conduct with his daughter for many years.”

*[Comments: The reference within this article was quite significant to me. This is not the type of comment a newspaper would make carelessly.]

5. 1997 letter from GTA in response to an inquiry about the incest

The Church of God International
Post Office Box 2530,
Tyler, Texas, 75710
Garner Ted Armstrong, Founder
July 28,1997 

Dear Mr. (Name Withheld by Request), 

I'm sorry, but I really have no comment about the very lengthy letter from Jack Kessler. The entire situation is completely moot at this time, of course. My father died at age 93 1/2 back in 1986, eleven years ago, and I certainly have no desire to resurrect a lot of ancient ghouls from their graves and engage in a lot of criticism involving the actions of individuals in that organization decades ago. 

Nothing my father did, negative or positive, matters to my personal salvation, or to yours. 

For the last twenty years, I have continued to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God as a witness and a warning to the world, and I have never engaged in the kind of spiritual "grave robbing" that exhumes ancient sins of fifty or sixty years ago, and attempts to defile and defame the memory of individuals who themselves are long since dead.
Sorry if this proves disappointing to you, but I simply have no further comment. 

Sincerely,
Garner Ted Armstrong

This letter is available here.
[Comments: This letter came across more as "I do not want to talk about it" than as "It did not happen."]

6. 1999 Letter from Bruce Renehan who had interviewed some members of the Church of God 7th Day who reported they were aware of the incest.

"I'm not exactly sure what constitutes proof to everyone. Before I began to author my book, my wife and I visited the Church of God, Seventh Day, both in Bakersfield and in Fresno. That is the church that Herbert Armstrong started attending in 1927. I first heard of the incest from some of their members, two of whom--Israel Hager and John Keiss [correct spelling Kiesz]--had known Armstrong in the 20s and 30s. Keiss, who was Armstrong's closest friend in the COG7 had actually discussed the incest with Dorothy Armstrong who confessed to him. Not wanting to believe hearsay from just one group, I placed a call to a friend of mine (Bob Mizell) in Pasadena. Bob was a very close friend to Joe Tkach Senior and, if anyone would know if the stories were true or not, he certainly would. Bob told me openly that both he and Joe Tkach had known about Armstrong's incest with his daughter and then he quickly brought up the David was a man after God's heart" ploy. "

The full letter is available here.
[Comments: To me, Bruce Renehan came across as sincere and credible but this does not constitute proof that what he said was true.]

7. Statement by Keith Hunt

"Oh indeed, the WCG was going to SUE Ambassador Report a NUMBER of times over the next years, especially over HWA having an affair with one of his daughters way back when, that came to light [and for those who still say it was all slander and lies; I personally heard GTA say he confronted his dad on the matter and HWA admitted it was so, saying, I was not always close to God"]. What was the reply from Ambassador Report to the WCG stating they were going to sue them, it was "Come on do so, will be happy to see you in court." The WCG NEVER did sue Ambassador Report!!"

http://www.keithhunt.com/Hwaexp.6.html
[Comments: I spoke with Keith Hunt in April 2015 and found him to be sincere and credible. A direct confirmation by GTA is significant. Also, WCG never following through on their threat to sue Ambassador Report for repeating these claims is telling.]

8. WCG ministerial confirmations (various dates):

• When asked by various church members, David Antion (related to GTA though marriage) has acknowledged that the incest occurred.

[Comments: Two credible individuals in my church area confirmed this is true as they meet with David's group occasionally and had asked Mr. Antion directly about the
allegations. Generally, families do not want to talk about such things openly (and most don't) but they do tend to know what happened. This is compelling evidence. Another member reported that she had come to the Antion home in the late 1970's, when Dorothy was inside crying about this. She is absolutely certain that it happened.]

• Several individuals have reported that Art Mokarow confirmed that HWA committed incest while in a public setting.

[Comments: After hearing about Art Mokarow's statements from Pam Dewey, I contacted Art in Dec. 2014. He came across as being a very honest and sincere individual that had nothing to gain by lying about it. When I asked him how he knew for sure that the incest had occurred, his answer was clear, candid and direct - he had heard Mr. Armstrong's taped confession that had been recorded by his friend Floyd Lochner. After reading Bob Thiel's "proof that the incest had not occurred" in 2016, I again contacted Mr. Mokarow. We spoke on May 14th and Art did not back away from his statement at all. Yes, he had heard the tape himself. He also had heard Mr. Armstrong confess the incest directly to him and many other of the leading ministers (at what appears to be close to the time when David Robinson's book was released). This is likely why Mr. Tkach, Dr. Albert, and many others felt comfortable in acknowledging this to be fact when they were asked. Art said that the incest had continued well beyond the 10- year period that others had reported. Bob Thiel appears to have misunderstood his conversation with Mr. Mokarow.]

• Other ministers have acknowledged the rumor to be true when asked including Gary Antion and at least one of the current UCG Council members.

[Comments: Although not proof when considered alone, such acknowledgments by ardent HWA supporters do carry weight and may be related to the HWA admission to ministers somewhere around 1979/1980 that Art Mokarow had mentioned in our May 2016 discussion.]

9. 2014 Interview of HWA’s niece Deborah
In a radio interview, Deborah related that the family had kept quiet about Dorothy to protect her. Deborah’s mother had told her it was true. She was also was told by her grandson. Interestingly, Deborah noted that the only thing HWA had given her was a hand signed copy of his “Missing Dimension in Sex” book.
Start at minute 50:00.
[Comments: For someone that would want to attack her credibility, please explain how Deborah would benefit from lying about this.]

10. 2014 Interview of HWA’s grandson Larry Gott
In a radio interview, Larry Gott said that the incest was an accepted as fact within the family and that it had started when Dorothy was 14 or 15. When asked, what kind of character was HWA, he said, “He was tyrannical… He was a person who craved and used authority over other people. That was sort of the essence of him. Nobody was really close to him – ever – including his wife. He was an authoritarian and I would tell people that he was not completely honest with everybody about himself.”
Start at minute 1:01:20.
[Comments: How would Larry benefit from lying about this?]

Conclusion: At this point, I would be more fearful of God for attacking the credibility Art Mokarow, Keith Hunt, Deborah, David Antion and Larry Gott on this topic than by stating that I feel certain that HWA did commit incest with his daughter.

-Kevin

Confronting the Rumors about Incest (Part 2)

RUMORS LIES AND INNUENDO?

False claims against any individual regarding incest are repulsive, vicious, and damning. Such charges never should be made, nor should they be repeated by others who cannot support such claims.

A number of individuals have indicated that the charges against HWA are false and that the attacks against him are unfounded and evil spirited. Two common positions are:

1. NOT GUILTY as the evidence presented would not stand up in court. A good example of such a position will be discussed below.

2. NOT GUILTY as it is inconceivable for a man of God to have done so. This type of defense will also be addressed below.

The NOT GUILTY due to insufficient evidence defense

Bob Thiel is an individual who finds HWA not guilty of these charges due to insufficient evidence. His full, in-depth explanation can be found here.

Bob personally investigated the issue. He determined that not only could the accusations not be proved, but some aspects were actually disprovable. He concluded that the accusers had merely perpetuated the charade with no direct information and that HWA would be found NOT GUILTY in a real court of law.

In essence, he believes all accusations stem from the charges first aired in David Robinson's 1980 book, Herbert Armstrong’s Tangled Web. Significant points Bob made about his own investigations include:

• Art Mokarow would not stand by previous comments about personally hearing HWA's alleged confession in the "Lochner tapes"
• On January 3, 2007, Dibar Apartian clearly and flatly denied the claim that had previously stated that he felt HWA was guilty of incest.

[Comments: If Bob had nothing to gain personally by defending HWA's authority, and If he were widely recognized to be a trustworthy individual, then his statements would carry significant weight. Personally, I do not find Bob to be a credible individual based on some interactions with him in the early 1980's, due to his claims of being a prophet, his misstatements about his religious training, and based on my own conversations with Art Mokarow.]

The NOT GUILTY because "it can't be true" defense

Some (such as the "HWA Library" site or Frank Nelte) argue along the lines of: God only works through men of integrity. God obviously worked through HWA . Therefore, HWA is a man of integrity and these claims must be false. However, circular reasoning does not prove anything.

[Comments: There is a big difference between God allowing someone to do something in His name versus God calling that person and working directly through him. HWA had claimed that he had learned from no man and that he had restored 18 truths to the true church and many give him credit for this. However, a little research will show that most of what HWA taught was not new and that he had copied it from others. For example, a good summary of the HWA's supposed 18 'restored' truths may be found here.

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH OR MORE RUMORS, LIES AND INNUENDO?

A number of supposed "proofs" regarding the abuse accusation will now be examined, moving from the general to the more specific.

(To be continued)

Confronting the Rumors about Incest (Part 1)

When individuals research the history of the Worldwide Church of God, they generally turn to the Internet. The Internet allows individuals to efficiently gather (and discuss) an abundance of facts, truths and insights. At the same time, the Internet is also a rich source of rumors, lies, and innuendo. For most WCG issues, it is fairly straight forward to separate one from the other. There is typically enough documented data for individuals to make informed decisions without buying into lies or relying upon rumor and innuendo.

When it comes to the Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong (HWA) and allegations of incest, however, the situation is more challenging. The act is repulsive, the implications are significant, the burden of proof is high, and yet the documentation is somewhat sparse and hotly disputed. His critics say claim that it happened and is proof HWA was not a man of integrity while some defenders say that it did not happen and attack the integrity and motives of the accusers.

What should one do when stumbling across such an accusation... Confirm, deny or ignore these rumors? Having been associated with WCG and UCG for over 40 years, it made sense for me to disprove the rumors so that this troubling topic could be put to rest.

Incest is a very serious topic. It is also an exceptionally sensitive subject and best discussed as objectively as possible. It may help to begin this sensitive discussion with a definition and some comments from the Christian Courier website:

Incest is defined as: “The crime of sexual intercourse or cohabitation between a man and woman who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law” (Black, p. 685). Incest has been held to be repulsive, dangerous, and illegal among many civilizations — even some of the most primitive. In ancient Rome, Augustus implemented a law against incest, and children born to incestuous relationships were deemed illegitimate. Modern laws against incest appear to be grounded mainly in the Levitical code (McClintock, p. 541).

The effects of parent-child incest are particularly significant and long-lasting. Many women subjected to this type of abuse, never fully recover. In these cases, few would argue with the above assertion that incest is repulsive. Likewise, it seems reasonable to infer that God finds such acts repulsive. This would be consistent with general public outrage regarding priests that have committed similar acts by molesting children and consistent with the majority opinion that such priests have disqualified themselves from being considered as representatives of God.

Incest is reprehensible and so are false allegations of incest. Nobody should have to face false allegations of such a serious nature and we should avoid carelessly buying into rumors about others in this area. This brings us to back to the accusations against HWA. How can one separate the lies from the facts on a polarizing topic like this that is supported with equal passion and implied certainty on both sides? It helped me to remain cautious, rational, and skeptical in order to avoid jumping to conclusions.

Although research takes time, it is warranted when evaluating important topics. Having benefited from the research performed by those in the past, I'd like to 'pay it forward' by sharing my findings with those who may have the same questions in the future. The following information came from various books, websites, and discussion with COG members and ministers (current and former).

(To be continued)

"And his natural powers had not abated"

Those folk who have been plugged into unofficial channels down the decades are well aware of Herb Armstrong's sexual proclivities.

• The famous flog log
• The dildo in the Hermes pouch
• The Romanian sex clinic visit
• Dancing (and other performances) with daughter Dotty
• Prenuptials with Ramona
• Suggestions that Herb occasionally "batted for the other team" when away from home base
• Prostitutes (escorts, floozies) on the GII "flying whorehouse" to amuse his VIP guests

Nothing new here that anyone who's read the late John Trechak's Ambassador Report or Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web doesn't already know. Now Living Armstrongism has posted a reprise of a further allegation that I'd completely forgotten. Herb brought one or two attractive young Filipino women to Pasadena and set them up in an apartment. Holy interracial canoodling! The sources are David Robinson, Albert Portune and Willie Dankenbring. When it became apparent that the ladies weren't keeping themselves unto Herb alone they were sent back home.

Dear old Herb, a pillock of biblical morality. It all fits a well-established pattern. As the oft-sozzled apostle himself stated more than once, "where there's smoke there's fire."

Herb's Baptist Beginnings

Interior of Hinson church, 1933

Gotta hand it to Gary and Dennis over at Banned. The latest post there features a recent photograph of Hinson Memorial Baptist Church in Portland "where HWA was baptized in 1927."

It's one of those factoids COG members tend to overlook. In the Autobiography it reads "It was probably May or June, 1927, when I was baptized. One Sunday evening we [Herb and Loma] attended a service at Hinson Memorial Baptist Church." Earlier he notes: "Next I went to a Baptist minister in Portland [John Marvin Dean], to learn why Baptists believe in baptism. He was courteous and patient, glad to explain his church's teachings. He seemed sincere, though he was later dismissed from his pastorate under accusation of some kind of disgraceful or sinful conduct." Strangely, Herb seemed reluctant to join the dots and come right out and say he had been baptized by a morally dubious Sunday-keeping Baptist. (Quotes from the 1967 edition).

And surely there's got to be some bizarre synchronicity in the mutually tarnished reputations of both Dean and Armstrong.

The Wikipedia article on Herb provides more details:

He was eventually baptized, along with his brother Dwight L. Armstrong, in the summer of 1927 by Dr. Dean, the non-Sabbatarian pastor of Hinson Memorial Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon. It is unknown, however, if he ever joined this denomination. He would later recollect over four decades later that he believed, "On being baptized I knew God then and there gave me HIS HOLY SPIRIT!" Despite his own unique teaching on baptism his own account is noteworthy for the absence of any mention of the process of laying on of hands or a special prayer in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, which were considered fundamental for membership in the Worldwide Church of God and reason for many a new convert's rebaptism.

Hinson church, mid-1950s

What! No laying on of hands? Maybe Dave Pack could explain that away. Or Bob Thiel with the undocumented ThD.

There's a separate Wikipedia entry on Herb's younger brother, hymn writer Dwight. Again, Hinson Baptist is mentioned.

Subsequently, both Armstrong brothers were baptized during the Pentecost season of that year by Dr. Dean, pastor of the Hinson Memorial Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon. In the 1986 edition of Herbert W. Armstrong's Autobiography edited by Dr. Herman L. Hoeh, on pages 416-417, it is suggested that Dwight answered an altar call given by his brother in December 1930 in Harrisburg, Oregon, and was subsequently baptized by his brother.

Does this mean Dwight was rebaptized by Herb? Sadly neither Herman nor the Armstrong brothers are in a position to explain what happened.

And what about Loma?

Joe Tkach - or possibly his ghostwriter - in Transformed by Truth also noted these Baptist roots.

In the midtwenties... was baptized by the pastor of the Hinson Memorial Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Armstrong once said of this pastor, "The man is the most godly man in all of Portland." There is some reason to suppose that Mr. Armstrong attended the Bible school which was associated with Hinson at that time; this Bible school met at the Portland library at the time Mr. Armstrong was beginning his studies.

As the photograph on Banned shows, Hinson Memorial Baptist Church is still there in Portland. One wonders how many members of the congregation today know that "Hogwash Herb" once warmed their pews.

Gold, guilt and lifestyles of the rich and shameless

They will hurl their silver into the street,

    and their gold will seem unclean.

    Their silver and their gold won’t deliver them

        on the day of the Lord’s anger.

They won’t satisfy their appetites or fill their bellies.

    Their guilt will bring them down.

Ezekiel 7:19

Gary has a powerful post on his Banned blog about Herbert Armstrong's taste for the finer things in life.

Much of  the fine art and metalwork were purchased during the time HWA was mailing out letters to the membership demanding that they cut back and send in more money.  The "Work" was always in a state of distress. Many members did indeed sacrifice and mailed in more money.  The result - HWA was on treasure hunting trips to Harrod's in London and other UK locations buying treasures for his three homes and college campuses (St Alban's, England, Big Sandy, TX and Pasadena, CA). 

While Mrs. Armstrong was alive and in the early years of the church they lived in a modest house on Hill Ave (now owned by Cal Tech).  When Loma Armstrong died Herb began shedding his 'simple' life style for the extravagant one.  This was also the time Gerald Waterhouse and Dean Blackwell started blabbering that HWA was an Apostle.  And as you all know from the Bible, Apostles were meant to travel around the world speaking to world leaders, give them gifts of Steuben crustal, and play host to them at extravagant dinner parties at the various campus homes.  Apostles were ordained by God to live lives with the finest the earth and humankind has to offer.  This easy justification lead to multiple millions of dollars in extravagance by HWA,  evangelists, faculty, certain department heads and many ministers.

Sadly for Herb, the alcoholic apostle was unable to "take it with him", and the baubles were sold off after his death. Some legacy.

1963 (Postscript)

Published in 1963, The Inside Story of the World Tomorrow Broadcast never again saw the light of day. No revisions, no reprints, no updates down the decades. That's probably understandable given the changes that quickly dated it. But Inside Story wasn't merely dignified by a slide into obscurity, it was officially withdrawn and the membership was commanded to throw away their copies. Don Billingsley certainly chucked his. On his COG-FF website he has posted a warning to the unwary.

It seems some people didn't get the memo.

It's a fate that, if Don has it right, was reserved for quite a number of other publications.

• Modern Dating (Garner Ted Armstrong, 1969). Really bad advice by a dude who certainly hadn't practiced what he preached.
• Divorce and Remarriage (1953). The justification for the unyielding doctrine that split families apart, but was later revoked.
• Marriage and Divorce. More of the same from 1973.
• The Plain Truth about Child Rearing (Garner Ted Armstrong, 1970 edition). A truly horrid approach to raising kids. (PDF here)
• The Real Jesus (Garner Ted Armstrong, 1972). Jesus recrafted to fit the WCG's paradigm. Later bloated out into Ted's first full length book and released just before he was booted out of his father's church for good. (PDF here)

Alas, these publications survived unto this very day. Herb may have imagined he had prophetic insight, but he didn't forsee the Internet. The embarrassingly inaccurate The Proof of the Bible (1958) was a special case as it was enormously popular. It was supposed to be killed off and all stock destroyed in 1972 but was allowed to quietly fade into oblivion instead. That story was covered in some detail in Ambassador Report. (It appears that this was yet another example of plagiarism with Herb basically rewriting a 1933 Seventh-day Adventist publication called Prophecy Speaks by Earle Albert Rowell. )

The reason these titles are still with us is the devotion of an enduring Armstrong remnant who believe they are still relevant, or perhaps they're just on a nostalgia trip. The reason many of us appreciate their efforts is a bit different, the documentation of a system that would rather not be remembered "warts and all".

Douglas Becker has thoughtfully transferred Inside Story into flipping book format, and it's already (fast work!) available. You either love or loathe this format and, in general, I'm decidedly on the 'loathe' side, but in this case, due to the smaller size of the pages, it works really well, giving the genuine booklet 'feel'. 

1963 (Part 3)

Moving right along...

Let's take a peek at the Herbaceous office back in 1963.

Nice.

"Now, at last, new executive offices have been completed for Mr. Armstrong and his son. They are very beautiful and modern - and afford a stunning view of the city of Pasadena with the Sierra Madre Mountains in the background... On the south end of the roof - just outside the main offices - is a terrace and sun-deck arrangement for sunning, visiting in the fresh air and table tennis. Many of you readers will be interested to learn that Mr. Armstrong is an avid athletic fan of many sports, but has found that table tennis - combined with much walking - suits his schedule and requirements to keep him in good physical condition for doing God's Work."

Herb was a ping-pong aficionado?

Even by today's standards, this was pretty swank. Not sure where the drinks cabinet was, but you can bet there was one. Rod assures us that Herb's office was bigger than Ted's, so all was right in the world.

Rod also assures us that the radio studio was where "Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Ted Armstrong spend many hours of labor in a grueling responsibility."

"First of all, let me say that there are many hours of preparation put into each broadcast! BUT - these hours are not necessarily put in just before or right at the time of making the broadcast. Rather, these are hours spent in earnest, personal prayer - fervent Bible study and meditation - the constant study of world news, and conditions, and alert thinking about how God's Word and the prophetic revelation of the Bible really affect and apply to the lives of us all in this twentieth century."

Translation: they winged it.

It's a great source for historical perspective. As the years went by the executive offices got bigger and the Bullgeschichte machine more outrageous, but the basic ingredients were all there in spades back in 1963.

You can download your own copy of Rod's "Inside Story" here.

Herb Armstrong's Sickening Racist Fantasies

Thanks to Pam for pointing out the audio file of a sermon Herb Armstrong gave - probably in the last year of his life - on interracial marriage. It is, simply, horrendous, salted with threats of the Lake of Fire. Includes appreciative clapping from the mindless sycophants in the congregation. It fairly drips with racist rhetoric. God destroyed Noah's world because only he and his family were racially pure and, therefore, worthy of saving ("Noah was perfect in his generations"). He was the only man left who was "pure white". Segregation is good ("God's way is geographical [yells] segregation! And integration is not the way of the Eternal God!"). The Canaanites were black.

As usual for Herb's sermons, he rambles all over the place (Adam, two trees, give/get...) before getting to the point, but the point - when the old goat finally gets to it - is painfully clear.

The audio (a little scratchy) is available here. It lasts just under 69 minutes.

Just so you can keep your disgust fresh.

Yesterday's Wonderful World Tomorrow... tickets expired

The lion shall lie down with the lamb, and Herbert will be God's right-hand man.

The Wonderful World Tomorrow: What It Will Be Like went through several editions. My 'favourite' is the original 96-page version which rolled off the presses way back in 1966. It begins...

Where will YOU be, ten years from now? You can know what is going to happen. In this booklet you are going to take an astonished glimpse into this world as it will be - in just ten or fifteen short years.

Astonished indeed, as a little mathematics demonstrates. 1966 plus ten brings us to 1976. Add on that 5-year safety margin and you're at 1981. Bear in mind that you'll need to subtract three and a half years for the Great Tribulation. Clearly time was of the essence.

It's GOING TO SOUND INCREDIBLE to you - yet it is SURE! This advance news of Tomorrow is accurate! It is as CERTAIN as the rising of tomorrow's sun! 

Incredible is understating it. That was fifty years ago.

The other interesting thing about the 1966 version is that it bears two names as joint authors, both Herbert W. Armstrong and his then anointed heir Garner Ted Armstrong.

Subsequent editions, beginning in 1973, airbrushed out the date-setting. Date setting? Who, us? And Ted quickly disappeared from the credits never to reappear.  In 1979 Everest House released a hardback version, and by 1982 it was back in booklet form, revised with a new cover.

(In 1999 Scott Lupo, a former member, wrote a paper entitled The Wonderful World Tomorrow: Herbert W. Armstrong's Vision of Life After the Apocalypse. It was subsequently published in the Journal of Millennial Studies, and is still available.)

But, of course, imitations were bound to follow. To mention just one, The World Ahead: What Will It Be Like? by the ever-original Roderick C. Meredith in 2008.

I'd venture to say that in 1970 Roger Whittaker had a better handle on the 'world tomorrow' than Herb, Ted and Rod put together.

Everybody talks about a new world in the morning
New world in the morning so they say
Now, I, myself don't talk about a new world in the morning
New world in the morning, that's today
And I can feel a new tomorrow comin' on
And I don't know why I have to make a song
Now everybody talks about a new world in the morning
New world in the morning takes so long
I met a man who had a dream he'd had since he was twenty
I met that man when he was eighty-one He said too many
folks just stand and wait until the mornin',
Don't they know tomorrow never comes
And he would feel a new tomorrow coming on
And when he'd smile his eyes would twinkle up in thought
Now, everybody talks about a new world in the morning
New world in the morning takes so long
And I can feel a new tomorrow coming on
And I don't know why I have to make a song
Now, everybody talks about a new world in the morning
New world in the morning takes so long.

More perceptive by far, you could whistle or hum along, and he didn't need 96 pages to say it.

Rambling Rod - and Herb's reading problem

Herbert Armstrong died thirty years ago on January 16, 1986. On that anniversary this year Rod Meredith, now 85 years old, recorded a tribute honouring Armstrong. It is available on YouTube and runs for one and a quarter hours. Curiously, audience shots appear to have the wrong aspect ratio and have the feel of something filmed on a much earlier occasion then spliced in. One wonders why.

Rod appears frail, as you might expect, but the fire of his zealotry still burns bright. This last living lieutenant of Herb Armstrong seems to be reliving old battles.

Though the topic is 'honouring Herbert Armstrong', Rod not unexpectedly ranges far and wide, up hill and down dale. The key message is a much-repeated exhortation to stay with the 'truth' no matter what. Christ's return is probably, you'll be pleased to know, somewhere between eight and twenty years from now. Not that Rod will have to worry.

One intriguing comment, made in passing (beginning around 24:00), concerns the role Loma Armstrong played in assisting Herb with reading tasks. Rod states that Herbert was a slow reader and had Loma read him "whole sections of books". Rod confesses he is a slow reader too, and that Herb would "read slowly and mumble". Loma was the one who could skim read and then direct him to the important parts. This is decades before the failing eyesight of his latter years when he resorted to a large magnifying glass.

Was the early difficulty visual or what might today be called dyslexia? Richard Nickels recalled, "I wrote an article especially for HWA using an ORATOR giant type size so he could read it with his one weak eye." Perhaps it was both.

Rod gives no clues, and perhaps the distinction never occurred to him. Could it be that, for whatever reason, written position papers were simply a waste of time when trying to convince the End Time Apostle? Documents like the STP were irrelevant, it was really about who had his ear at the time. Rod gives an unintended example at around 43:00, the change from a Monday to a Sunday Pentecost.

Which gives one pause to wonder at the oft-told tale of all those hours spent all by himself at the Portland Public Library acquiring "the equivalent of a college-level education". It might also help explain his aversion to scholarship.

The blind leading the blind? Armstrong's visual impairment is rarely factored into accounts of his life. It was clearly a limitation on more than one level.

As for Rod's disinterest in reading, it explains a lot too.

"The Most Significant Book of this Century"

British Israelism is surreal in and of itself, but the hard sell, the 'talking up' that accompanies it is, well, just bizarre. Former ad man Herbert Armstrong pulled out all the stops. He took an almost forgotten 60-year-old book and essentially rewrote it, without a word of credit, republishing it as his own. What he added were a series of over-the-top claims and predictions. Those claims were meant seriously and were taken seriously by his followers. It's incredible that some people even now still think he was essentially right.

This article was written several years ago but has not appeared here before.

***

It seemed every time Herbert Armstrong wrote a book, he lauded it as the most important ever written. The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy, issued in 1967 and later retitled The United States and Britain in Prophecy, ran true to form. Plagiarized from a turn of the century British-Israel classic, J.H.Allen's Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright, this volume contained some brash predictions.

To put it in its context, in 1967 Armstrong was anticipating the "Great Tribulation" just around the corner. 1972 was to be the beginning of the end. 1975 was the anticipated year of Christ's return. This little bit of date setting was the result of, among other things, his teaching on something he called "19-year time cycles". Simply put, he was convinced God had given him two 19 year periods to preach a warning message before history came crashing to a close. This was a distinctive Armstrong doctrine, unlike the tortured logic he used to "prove" that the United States was actually the tribe of Manasseh and Britain the tribe of Ephraim (he simply lifted those elements straight out of Allen's book). But 19-year time cycles? That was a uniquely Armstrong flourish.

Herbert Armstrong would later attempt to dig his way out of accountability for his "prediction addiction", claiming he never set dates and was just overly enthusiastic. But the embarrassing statements in the 1967 edition were there for all to see. Needless to say, the offending bits were laundered out of subsequent editions.

Here then are some choice bits from the introductory sections of that volume.

The Obituary Dilemma

It's one of those things that gives you pause for thought. What do you say when someone like Herbert Armstrong shucks off this mortal coil? It's polite to put on a show of generosity if only to show empathy for the family. Words like influential, philanthropist (more pist than philanthro really), prolific (make of that what you will). If things get desperate you can fade to nonsense; always well manicured maybe.

Armstrong has of course long since gone to his eternal reward, but a generation of his imitators are now lining up to enter the pearly gates and 2016 could see several take the final journey to join their master. How does one handle the etiquette of the big goodbye when the dearly departed has been, not to mince words, a complete tosser?

When Herb died in 1986, Australian columnist Phillip Adams decided to pay his own special tribute, which was published in The Weekend Australian. Adams was doubly blessed, for Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard conveniently popped off at the same time. Adams used Hubbard as a warm-up before launching out on Herb. You could say he pulled no punches. Could this be a precedent for the days to come?

The Journal - 181st Issue

The latest issue of The Journal is now out, dated February 29. One of the most prominent articles features a previously unpublished account by the late John Kiesz of the early days of the Adventist movement and the formation of Sabbatarian churches. Included are his recollections of Herbert Armstrong's early ministry.

I well remember the time when Herbert apparently was as much against worldly pleasures as I was: such as attendance at the movies, dancing, drinking. card-playing, and the wearing of excessive jewelry... but now all these things are permitted in his groups.

And later.

I knew him as a humble man. But things have changed over the years. He grew too big for his own or anyone else's good, as far as spirituality is concerned.

The majority of his adherents have been thoroughly brainwashed, and there is nothing anyone can do for them anymore, as far as directing them into the right channels is concerned.

Kiesz, an elder in CoG7 in the 1930s, passed away in 1993. It's quite a fascinating look at COG history from a different perspective.

Also featuring in this issue is an article by Noel Rude that's sure to set the feline among the avians. Rude asks "can the virgin birth be the mother of all heresies?"

The road to the Trinity began with the virgin birth. Preexistence and incarnation followed. The virgin birth was... the mother of all Christological heresy.

Rude cites sources like Rudolf Bultmann and Helmet Koester along with a variety of ancient sources. The position he advocates is an adoptionist one; that "Jesus became a son of God, not by Eternal Generation and not by a virgin birth. Rather, his sonship was declared by a resurrection of the dead..."

Which, I think you'll agree, should generate (though not perhaps eternally generate) a lot of comment.

There's more of course. Editor Dixon Cartwright even includes a short item in the 'Notes & Quotes' section about the reappearance of AW.

The issue can, as always, be accessed in PDF format. A number of recent back issues can also be accessed from the sidebar, and more will be added as time permits.

Herbert Armstrong - music, makeup and crass racism

(This article by M.A.M. appeared some years ago on one of my earlier websites.)


In the June-July 1981 issue of The Good News, there is an article titled “After 50 Years – Christ’s Apostle Still Ahead of His Time!” Like just about everything else published by the Worldwide Church of God about Herbert W. Armstrong, this is a lie. Herbert W. Armstrong was a man whose feet were firmly planted in the past. Within his church, Armstrong tried to re-create the world of his youth.

We can see the theme arise again and again in his writings. In Mystery of the Ages, Armstrong wrote:

“I have lived through the horse and buggy age, the automobile and industrial age, the air age, the nuclear age and now into the space age. I have seen America live through the agrarian age when farmers walked behind their horse-drawn ploughs singing happily, and into the urban age when Midwest American farmers are groaning and fighting for more government subsidies to prevent the extinction of farm life. (page vii).”

For farmers at least, the past was better than the present.

Armstrong’s love for the past surfaced again shortly after the murder of John Lennon.

“In disgust, I left TV, but at 10 p.m., I tuned in for the LOCAL news. It was all eulogizing the ‘rock’ ‘musician.’ A local Tucson crowd of 2,000 had flocked to Reid Park bandshell to leave roses, and mourn for their dead idol. The local station had a lot about the ‘man and his “music.”’ (I had never thought of it as music, but a loud raucous SQUAWK and SCREAM with a fast beat - just an irritating noise.)

“Pardon me, please! Perhaps I never had any musical education, although I have played the piano since 8 years old. I must have been terribly misled, for I supposed that the singing of a Caruso or a Galli-Curci of my father's time or a Pavarotti or Beverly Sills or an Arthur Rubinstein of our day produced music. I guess I'm terribly out-of-date. I have heard roosters make a loud raucous squawk when being captured for a Sunday dinner when I was a boy, but I just never had been ‘educated’ to call that ‘music.’

“When as a boy I worked one summer in a flour mill, to the constant ‘beat’ of the machinery till it nearly drove me crazy, I somehow never realized that was ‘music.’

“Please bear with me in my ignorance.”

I'll try, but it isn't easy. At least here he was being truthful. Armstrong was ignorant of popular music. A strong beat has been a characteristic of popular music since the rise of jazz, right after the first world war. Apparently, Armstrong was unaware of anything that occurred outside of the opera house since Caruso's time.

“I do remember, when I was in England at the college just before the mid-'60's, the Beatles were breaking into public notice. The had a new ‘way-out’ style, with an idiotic mop-topped hairstyle, with hair covering the forehead to the eyebrows, the ears and longer hair in the back of the head. The forehead is the seat of intellect - the mark of intelligence instead of animal nonintelligence. They started the style of male hairdo to turn evolution into reverse - man was becoming a dumb brute animal.”

From the original AW: "Hic"bert W Armstrong

A short item from oAW... includes some interesting quotes about Herb and his booze addiction.

The Worldwide Church of God during the Armstrong years had an extremely permissive attitude toward alcohol quite out of place among other Adventist sects. There was no precedent for this in the Church of God (Seventh Day), the group from which Herbert Armstrong split in the 1930's. Yet conspicuous consumption of alcohol was a definite feature of the WCG's Feast of Tabernacles celebration. Those who preferred not to imbibe were regarded as "weak in faith". The sad reality was, however, that many of the WCG's leading ministers had alcohol problems. Herbert W. Armstrong was no exception.
Holly Ruiz, wife of Enrique Ruiz, the church's office manager in Mexico, made this statement about HWA when asked by Mary Jones of Ambassador Report whether she'd ever seen him drunk:

I've never seen Herbert Armstrong sober after 8:00 at night. I used to notice this when I stayed in his home during conferences and on trips. He would fall asleep in his chair, and (Stanley) Rader would have to take him to bed. His daughter (Beverly) once told me never to call Herbert after 8:00 because he was always in a stupor by then.

John Tuit, writing in 1981, quoted Herbert Armstrong's grandson Mark:

"His liver is pretty bad, you know. He's got whatever it is you get from drinking too much wine and cognac. Boy, that's a real problem with him. He tells the Church people to drink in moderation, and for years he's been getting himself smashed just about every night... I've even helped carry him to his bed when he was just plain wiped out from too much booze."

Al Carrozzo, a minister who left in 1974, quoted Garner Ted Armstrong: "They have to pour my dad into bed every night." He stated: "I have seen him drunk on many occasions" (William Hinson. Broadway to Armageddon, p. 96). David Robinson, writing in 1980, told of Armstrong's slurred speech over a bottle of fortified wine (Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web, p. 76). Armstrong himself admitted to excessive drinking as a young man, but "not at all even the fraction of the volume of an alcoholic" (Autobiography, p. 240, 1967 edition).
In Tangled Web, Robinson relates how HWA pressured him to name "liberal ministers" so he could fire them. By this stage of the conversation the "Apostle" had begun to slur his speech slightly because of the Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry. "To name names in this context over a bottle of wine", wrote Robinson with a droll sense of humor, "seemed at the time to be injudicious" (pp. 75-76). He remained tight lipped.
Robinson commented on HWA later in his book: "Solace and sleep, such as it was, had to be induced by drinking much wine."

HWA - Guilty as Sin

Over on Stan's AR blog you can find this intriguing quote, which I assume comes from John Trechak's original Ambassador Report.

Four ex-WCG members - C. Wayne Cole, Ron Dart, Guy Carnes, and Benny Sharp - testified favorably on Robinson's side at the Tulsa trial. Benny Sharp, for one, was personally aware of the incest, as he was in the room when the legendary "I will destroy you" last meeting took place between HWA and GTA.

In final settlement of a legally dubious, WCG pre-publication lawsuit against Robinson for exposing Armstong's Tangled Web, the losing WCG plaintiffs who sued had to write David Robinson a check for $25,000!

HWA or the WCG never challened the factual, plain truth about Armstrong's incest itself in court, which would be in the preferred legal strategy to stop publication, or get a retraction to set the record straight. But in order to get that public retraction, Armstrong had to have the real truth about the guilt of his repeated criminal incest on his side to win, which he didn't.

The new Living Armstrongism blog fits many of the pieces together in an impressive summary, and reaches its own conclusion. It's an excellent piece of writing.

As the years go by, collective amnesia sets in. Those who left in the eighties were often hard pressed, for example, to tap into the experiences and research of those who'd left in the previous wave of 1974. The Internet has changed all that, and rose-tinted glasses are bound to be shattered.

If the sordid tale of Herbert Armstrong's private life is a threat to anyone's faith, one could only ask whether this is a valuable - perhaps God-given - opportunity to change the focus of that faith. A very long time ago - 1979 to be exact - Tanya Bryan wrote this poem as the result of the upheaval in the church at that time. It appeared in Internews, an early publication of CGI.

HEROES

I am not old
Nor smart
Nor rich
But now I know
There is only one hero.

I've seen promises broken
With no explanation
Words spoken
But not upheld.

I've seen horrendous acts
In the name of religion
People crushed
In the name of God

All the pedestals we place them on
All the blocks we set them on
There is only one we can really count on.
Christ is the only hero.

Living In Denial

It gets tedious when the defenders of Herbert W. Armstrong demand proof for his incest. What kind of proof would they like? It was a family affair long hushed up. Among those who knew were HWA (deceased), Dorothy (deceased), son Ted (deceased), and a variety of insiders with good reason not to rock the boat. When David Robinson brought the allegations out into the open there were no denials. Not from HWA, Dorothy, or Ted... all of whom could have given the lie to it. Then there's the Ramona Martin legal settlement, which mentioned the incest and was widely published. The allegations are long past the point where they could be pursued in a court of law, and so, with cult-like logic, the naysayers maintain there is no proof, and therefore, abracadabra, it didn't happen.

The weight of evidence however is overwhelming. The following material appeared in the April 1984 issue of Ambassador Report.

HWA Confesses to Incest!

Many readers will recall that when David Robinson's book appeared in 1980 it contained numerous allegations shocking to even some of HWA's longtime critics. No accusation was more startling than that found in the book's last chapter. There Robinson charged that HWA had maintained an intimate sexual relationship with the younger of his two daughters for a period of approximately one decade beginning in the early 1930s.

The Armstrong organization, through surrogates, attempted to use the courts to block distribution of the Robinson book, but failed miserably (Ambassador Report, Sept. 1980). It is most remarkable, however, that in attempting to block distribution of the Robinson book, never once was it asserted that the incest allegation was untrue. Nor did Dorothy Mattson, HWA's younger daughter, ever come forth to deny the incest story (and she has repeatedly refused to respond to queries from the Report regarding the matter). In spite of all this, it seems there are still some who prefer to believe that the incest story was fabricated. Let us briefly review the facts.

In 1971 Garner Ted Armstrong paid a visit to his younger sister Dorothy. He had long been suspicious of the kind of relationship his father and sister maintained during his youth. They chatted over a few drinks and then Ted told her bluntly of his suspicions. She did more than admit the allegations. With candor she related detail after shocking detail.

For a number of years GTA kept the information to himself. But Dorothy did not. She divulged the same information to many others including David Antion (GTA's brother-in-law) and Lois Chapman (who had been married to the late Richard Armstrong, Ted's older brother).

Dorothy's story as related to Ted and others was that Herbert had begun fondling and heavy petting her in 1933 when she was thirteen years old - around the same time that HWA now claims God was using him to found the modern era of the only true church. But he did not begin to go "all the way" with her until three years later. One day Dorothy returned home from a date with a young bank teller to inform her father that she had just been "half-raped." To her surprise, Herbert was actually "elated" over the news. Herbert decided it was time to show her how it was really done. From then on Herbert went "all the way." The year was 1936; Dorothy was 16 years old. Strangely, Dorothy has claimed that Herbert later went on to become a good friend of the bank teller.

The incestuous relationship went on for years, but it was apparently not mutually enjoyable. Dorothy has related to friends how on one occasion in a hotel room she so strongly protested Herbert's abuse that the manager knocked on the door and asked what the reason was for all the noise. Herbert was quick to inform him that his "young bride" was a bit uncooperative due to inexperience. Satisfied with the alibi the manager left. Dorothy has claimed that Herbert then overpowered her, and after tying her to the bed and gagging her, proceeded to rape her. It's a pity Herbert neglected to include this incident in his book God Speaks Out on the New Morality.

During those years, besides taking her on supposedly church or ministry-related business trips, it was not uncommon for Herbert to take Dorothy out dancing on Friday nights. On one such occasion she asked him if he ever worried that one of his church members would see them. He told her no, because, in effect, they were too stupid to be out dancing on Friday night and that he had them well-trained (in keeping the Friday sunset to Saturday sunset Sabbath).

These incidents were but a part of the awful truth Dorothy related to Garner Ted and others. In spite of church upheavals, arguments with his father, personal emotional problems and considerable notoriety about his own sins, Ted said nothing about his father's shameful past. Not until 1978.

That year, during a heated argument between GTA and his father, HWA threatened to "destroy" Ted through making public certain information about his personal life. But Ted responded in kind saying he could destroy HWA with the information he had. Ted charged his father in no uncertain terms, yelling: "You fucked my sister!" Herbert, shocked at Ted's knowledge of the incestuous relationship, could only reply, "Well there have been times in my life when I have gotten far away from God." The conversation - overheard by GTA associate Benny Sharp - was the last face to face meeting between the two men. And Ted has since related how the hateful look he saw in his father's eye made him suspect they would never see each other again.

As was covered in great detail in our 1977 issue, during the early '70s Garner Ted Armstrong became highly infatuated with an Ambassador College coed. The resulting affair caused great confusion in the higher echelons of the WCG. Former WCG evangelist David Antion recalls how, at the time, he discussed the problem with HWA. Antion was for years perplexed by the almost Freudian analysis offered. HWA told Antion that Ted was simply fantasizing the younger woman as being his own daughter. The statement made no sense to Antion until years later. (As an aside, it is interesting how Ramona [HWA's second wife] has claimed that HWA has been, over the years, very jealous of GTA's supposed sexual prowess.)

The last meeting between GTA and his father in 1978 was not the only time HWA confessed to the incest allegation. In 1980 Henry Cornwall, then an aide to HWA, read the Robinson book soon after it appeared and asked HWA directly if the chapter on incest was accurate. HWA told him it was. He then instructed Cornwall that his wife Ramona was not to see the book or learn of the incest story. Unfortunately for Herbert, Ramona already had a copy of the book and was in the next room listening to the Cornwall-HWA discussion. Shortly thereafter, she too confronted HWA about the incest allegation. And once again, Herbert admitted it was true, but begged and pleaded with Ramona not to let this fact get in the way of their marriage. The cause of the problem, he said, had been Loma, his first wife. Considering the perversity of Herbert's past, is it any wonder Ramona's love would begin to wane?

One can only speculate on how much Herbert's first wife Loma knew of what had transpired for ten years between her husband and her younger daughter. but some individuals who were then close to the Armstrong family did notice that toward the end of her life Loma was not on good speaking terms with Dorothy and that during the last year or so of her life she appeared to have lost almost all will to live. She died in 1967 after an illness that many say could have been cured by medical science, had she availed herself of that help. It is interesting to note also that HWA's great preoccupation with world touring began right around that time.

Ramona has reported to friends how the Robinson allegations preoccupied HWA's mind for a considerable period. She has also reported seeing a typed statement intended for Dorothy's signature. It stated that she (Dorothy) had never had a sexual relationship with her father. The document was, and we'd be willing to bet still is, unsigned. Dorothy undoubtedly knows that to sign such a statement would prove financially costly, removing any leverage she still possesses over her father. (On a recent trip to Big Sandy, Texas, HWA was quoted as saying his daughters show him very little affection and care only for his money.)

Dorothy has stated that her sexual relationship with her father continued into the early forties. In 1943 Herbert officiated at the ceremony in which Dorothy was married to Vern Mattson, who soon afterward was to serve overseas in the U.S. Marines. We have no information that the incestuous relationship continued beyond that point. However, Dorothy has related to friends how, around the time of her engagement, Herbert told her that her marriage need not put an end to their own special relationship.

Shortly after Vern's discharge from the military, Herbert was able to provide him with employment within his growing organization. Although Dorothy drifted away from her father's church by around 1951, Vern continued his association. He was the organization's business manager before the Albert Portune era.

Even William Dankenbring is convinced!

A friend of mine, when he learned of these allegations years ago, went directly to Mr. Vern Mattson [photo], who had married Herbert Armstrong's younger daughter. He was a golfing buddy and friend of Mattson, so he asked him point-blank if the accusations and rumors were true. Mr. Mattson sadly informed him that they indeed were factual. In fact, when Mr. Mattson himself learned of the truth of Herbert having had sex with the woman who later became Mattson's wife, he was furious, and in a rage took a pistol, and burst into Herbert Armstrong's private office, waving the pistol around. Herbert, shaking like a leaf, apologized profusely and promised to never do such a thing again.

Sadly though, none of this will convince the idolatrous faithful, for whom Herb is the unassailable Apostle and vehicle of truth.

Finally, here's a brief excerpt from Robinson's 1980 book, Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web.

Incest is a terrible and unnatural crime, an extreme perversity. That is why I was shocked beyond measure to hear that Herbert Armstrong was, himself, guilty of this vile sin. I learned of this in the summer of 1979 from members of his own family. The story, sordid beyond imagination, was told in awful detail.

One family source was Garner Ted Armstrong. Last summer, as HWA attacked his own son in such savage fury, his son was in the depths of despair. His emotional mix included anger and deep hurt. In such a state he told family secrets that otherwise would have been locked within him forever. He said he had learned in 1971 of his father's incredible conduct during the '30s and '40s. The story came directly to him in lurid detail, but he kept it sealed in his own consciousness for all those years. But, in the spring of 1978 while in his father's house for the last time, his father had threatened to "destroy him." Ted, in response, replied, "Dad, I will destroy you. I know about you and -----." (He was speaking of the younger of his two sisters.)

His father had been on a high-handed autocratic binge. But at that comment he sat down quietly and responded, "Well, Ted, there have been times when I have been very far away from God." (Admittedly, this was a strange turn of events in the relationship of the two whom HWA had likened to God the Father and Jesus Christ!)

Ted has told many people that there was a look in his father's eyes he had never seen before. Ted knew his father was now determined to totally destroy any credibility he might have...

None who have objectively heard the incest story in its awful detail doubt it. This is a vital chapter left out of HWA's autobiography. This sin occured over a long span of years, a decade after his ordination to the ministry, according to his own family members...

Many of us have wondered why HWA was so forceful in covering up Ted's sins for so many years. Ted then seemed to be an extension of himself in his own mind and was not even a separate entity. It was like covering for himself. But when finally he knew he must cut his son off, he had to go all the way. It was either destroy or be destroyed...

... thousands who look to HWA, idolizing him as if he were God himself, must come to understand how dangerous such a view is. Thousands around the world have been hurt by blindly following this man. Now people must be given enough information to make an intelligent decision on whether this is the man who is going to lead them to safety during the "crisis at the close"...

"A Sound SPANKING of what she so brazenly displays"

My first real life encounter with the WCG was attending a mid-week Bible Study at the invitation of John Comino, then pastor of the Hamilton, NZ church. I was probably about 18. As I recollect it, the meeting was in a rented upstairs room in Victoria Street, the city's "golden mile." Comino was surprised by an unexpected standing room only attendance, which it turned out was the result of a mix-up with a local AA group. I can still recollect his off the cuff remarks about realizing his nose was a little red, but...

The other thing that remains with me about that first meeting, many years ago, was the dress code for women, who really stood out from the fashions of the time with their low hemlines.

Which leads me to this bit of history, recently mentioned on the WCG Alumni group: a GN article from the pen of Herbert W. Armstrong. Although it dates from the 1960s, it obviously had a half-life of at least ten years to still be normative in the mid-70s, and the legacy apparently still lingers even today in groups like Flurry's.

Here's that article, notable not only for the blatant misogyny, but also the reference to spanking of children, a church-mandated practice that produced much bitter fruit over the years ("Any and every child needs spankings. It is a vital, integral part of his positive teaching and training." GTA)

WHY does the Word of God confine His instruction regarding modest apparel, and the adorning of the person with clothes, to the WOMEN?

Did God desire to discriminate--to make women uncomfortable--to show partiality to men? Does God intend for men to show off themselves in ornamental and gay attire, while He commands women to make unsightly scarecrows of themselves?

Of course we know better than that. There is nothing in God's instruction to make women appear ugly, or to make them uncomfortable. On the contrary, many, if not most, women will suffer any amount of discomfort in their worship of the goddess Dame Fashion.

God's REASON

God never shows partiality. He never discriminates against individuals, sexes, races, or whoever. Yet God's Word does carry specific instruction for women to be modest in their dress--and no corresponding instruction for modesty in men's clothing is given. WHY?

There is a reason! I think, candidly, that the girls and women in God's Church know the answer. And for that very reason some of them seem to want to violate Gods' instruction!

What I am going to say applies only to a few. Women in God's Church are different from those of the world. But a very few need severe correction.

I do not mean that even these few go to the extremes of ridiculous fashion so commonly seen in the world. You won't see any member of God's Church wearing artificially striped hair, green eyelids, and a purple mouth, decked out in outlandish dress design and overdone wacky jewelry. But, in the category of too short and too tight skirts, and in excessively low-neck dresses, some of you women and girls need a sharp rebuke from God's ministers!

Now WHY does God's Instruction Book contain admonition regarding modesty in women's dress, and not regarding men's?

In both colleges--Pasadena and Bricket Wood, England,--I personally teach a class in Principles of Living. This class includes God's instruction in regard to sex and marriage. Sex responses operate in the mind, and the male mind does not react in the same manner as the female mind in relation to sex. Sex consciousness, and arousal, in the male, is brought about much more quickly than in the female, and is stimulated by sight, or even by imagination, in a manner that has little affect on females.

God made the female body to be attractive to the male. This attraction may be, and should be, one of sheer beauty. But also it may be, and under many circumstances often is, a stimulation of LUST. Especially when certain parts of the female figure are emphasized, such as the hips and buttocks by tight skirts, the low neckline exposing portions of breasts, or too-short skirts exposing more than is modest of the female leg.

I am quite aware that it is the current fashion, in the world, to wear short knee-length skirts extra tight around the hips. But the women in God's Church have come out of the world, and are different--or else they have not been put into His Church by God. God's daughters do not find it necessary to conform to this world, going along in its extremes of daring, or wrong, styles.

Candidly, when I see a female with a skirt tight enough to call attention to the shape of her hips, especially when tight below the hips and under the buttocks, I know that she is either careless and needs sharp admonishing or else she is wearing it deliberately to attract male eyes and arouse lust toward her in men's minds.

Do you want to know my personal reaction when I see such an example? It makes me feel that such a girl or WOMAN needs either a good lecture driven home by a sound SPANKING of what she so brazenly displays, or to be classed as a fallen woman and a common prostitute.

THAT IS PLAIN LANGUAGE! I mean it to be plain, and I want the women in God's Church to know it is coming from God's Minister, who speaks by Christ's authority!

Recently some of our girls and women have been wearing skirts that are entirely TOO SHORT! Often I have felt I ought to speak personally to some of you. If this article does not quickly correct this evil--AND IT IS AN EVIL!--God's ministers will be instructed to begin speaking personally and in a manner that ought to cause a deep sense of shame and produce a very red face on any girl or woman who invites such sharp rebuke from a Minister of God!

When many of you women wear skirts as high as the knee, and which completely expose the knees when sitting, your skirts are an abomination in GOD'S eyes. I wonder, frankly, if God doesn't blush when HE sees you! Are you women who do this, deliberately trying to tempt men into breaking the spirit of God's law against adultery? Are you trying to make yourselves adulteresses? Are you not breaking the very spirit of that law, yourselves?

In our instruction to parents in proper child rearing we teach that when you spank your child, it must be sufficiently severe to impress the lesson painful enough that he will not want to cause it to be repeated very soon. In this instruction to the spiritual children in God's Church, your Pastor is making this correction to those who need it, I sincerely hope, plain enough and painful enough that it shall not need repeating!

Neither Extreme

God's Church does not teach, nor does God's Word when rightly understood, that women should go to the opposite extreme of wearing ill-fitting, overly loose skirts that drag the dust and pick up germs. I am not saying that your neckline must be so high that all the neck is covered. God is not the author of UGLINESS, any more than of confusion or evil. God is the Great Artist who has designed all the beauty of nature.

Consequently, in conformity with the Word of God, God's Church encourages women to dress neatly, pleasingly, attractively within the bounds of proper modesty and good taste, and even with sufficient becoming style to express personality and individuality. God Himself expressed perfect artistry in beautiful design in nature--in the lily--the rose--beautiful trees, shrubs and plants--in prize-winning livestock--and even in the beautiful human body, when healthy and not degenerated.

For women to dress becomingly yet modestly, there is no need to disguise the human figure by grotesque ultramodern styles that make them look like lampshades, T-squares, or triangles. The world goes either to that extreme, or to the extreme of undue emphasis on breast, hips, and legs.

But it is in this latter category that some--yes, too many--or our women offend.

More than once I have seen a few of our women, in evening dress, exposing entirely too much female breast--with neckline cut so low as to show a goodly portion of breasts, with a crease in the middle. On one or two occasions, I have instructed Mrs. Armstrong to speak to such women, telling them plainly that their necklines are too low.

Women's breasts, in plain language, were designed by God to nurse babies--not to be flaunted immodestly to arouse lust in men.

In the matter of too-tight skirts around the hips, the excuse often is that the girl has taken on weight--and she protests that she cannot help it. But she can help it, and if she is to remain in God's Church or enter God's Kingdom, she must--one of two ways: either don't remain overweight (fasting and proper diet will cure that quickly), or let out the seam.

We want our women to be beautiful--naturally beautiful, pleasingly attractive, in good style, well groomed--but not artificially so, and this may be accomplished WITH FULL MODESTY.

It is the over-emphasis of lust arousing portions of the female body that MUST BE CORRECTED.

Dinner with Herb

I am NOT responsible for the following video. All credit goes to the person (whose identity I don't know) who found this classic propaganda clip and added a new music soundtrack. Revel in the splendor of the Herbal table, the godly elegance of the furnishings and the priggishness of the carefully selected student guests. But don't just view it here - click across to K-Scribe's splendid, elegant, godly (but decidedly unpriggish) website for more.

Actually, I think the original version, with Herb plonking a Chopin etude (?) would be every bit as Monty Pythonesque...