The Kool and the Krazy

Each day on TV, the proverbial soaps dish out their own brand of romantic mush. One of them, I recall, is called "The Young and the Restless." It's renowned to be one of the typical soaps. Similar to this one, most soaps have the scenario of involving all the characters continually getting into the most awkward, tacky situations, getting out of them, and getting into others, etc., etc. The viewing soap audience must ask: "How can anybody have so much mayhem, debauchery, confusion, chaos, erotica, infidelity, backstabbing, corruption, hostility, and aberrant behaviour in their lives, and still look so outwardly, gorgeously glamorous - all in one lifetime of existence?" But art really does imitate life. Why not check out Worldwide Church of God?

If any screenplay writer ever considered re-writing "The Never Ending Story," it might be a good idea to start with Worldwide Church of God+. This continual soap opera screenplay might be titled: "The Kool and the Krazy." Why? Because that's exactly what a cult is. Certainly we have the brethren who are basically deceived and then exit when they learn the truth, but there are others too. There are those at the top, or the cultmasters. And they are either cool, or they're crazy. The "cool" ones are the planners and the business people, but the "crazy" ones are the enforcers. Both are dangerous.

THE KOOL
There have been innumerable examples on the site showing that cults, and especially Worldwide Church of God+ are nothing more than businesses with no one having any spiritual qualifications (or seemingly - ethics) by individuals at their helm of their organization, or any of their offspring. By now, most readers have realized that Worldwide Church of God was formed with multiple tithpayer's money and possibly questionable shareholdings. A.C. didn't just suddenly spring out of God's miraculous, chosen benevolence. There were no miracles here. It was simply a business that Herbert W. Armstrong was involved in, and all that business took money. If investors were solicited over the years, then investors must eventually be paid. The question still remains, who are those investors, and are they now getting a piece of the A.C. profits when the college is sold?

Over the years, many hirelings had seen the corruption and wrongdoing within the Worldwide Church of God leadership, and they elected to leave. They usually left because of conscience or because they challenged the cult leadership over one point or other. Across the years, the pastoral administration had also changed hands more times than a juggler's bauble. Since each administration obviously did NOT agree with the past one, then why didn't the new administration try and make some sort of reconciliation to the departed (and now "marked" and "disgraced") ministers? Since there were ministers who'd left in the previous admins and therefore departed from the "bad" administration, then logically, why didn't the new one - in the spirit of Christian fellowship - try and regain the services and fellowship of the departed hireling? If a minister had honestly been ejected by a flawed administration, then surely, the "new-improved" administration ought to correct the problem?

The facts are that the later, incoming pastoral leaderships, never did try and regain the services, trust, love, or friendship of any hireling who left. And the reason is simple. The ex-hireling KNEW what was happening, and the leadership KNEW that the hireling KNEW. So, it was pointless to try and rehire someone, who knew of the leadership corruption and gross error, or any who had departed the cult for that reason. For the cult leadership, it was more profitable to simply brush-off the departed hireling, and brand them as "bitter, disloyal, conspiring, and angry ex-ministers, and /or members," and then concoct ugly stories about them. That type of propaganda seemed to satisfy most of the current brethren who would not think for themselves. And no one ever sought to question the nonsense. Why?

The fact that NO new administration sought to regain the services or fellowship of departed ministerial staff ought to prove that the new administration was no better than the last. Only the names had changed.

If the departed ministerial men KNEW of the improper antics in the upper echelon but were never contacted again for any type of discussion, then this was due to the fact that the new leadership had been clearly exposed by their own improper doings. Namely, whatever that new leadership was doing was still wrong. After all, if the new-improved leadership had changed and repented, shouldn't they have sought out "the lost sheep?" Since that never happened, then the upper cultmasters had now I.D. themselves. They were corrupted too. Different staff . . . that's all.

After their initial avalanche of hate propaganda, threats to the brethren about following anyone "marked," and doing their best to blacken any ex-hireling's reputation, the KOOL upper echelon usually became quiet, and their religious business went back to normal. Fortunately, that was it - in most cases, and if the ex-hirelings (myself included) could withstand the libel (I have letters), and the reported slander, then that's the last we'd all probably hear about it. Ex ministers and members were anathema, and headed for the Lake of Fire, so why worry about them?

But there was another thinking within the cultmaster echelon, and this other brand of cultic mentality was far more dangerous.

THE KRAZY
"Yes," Jesus once said, "the time will come when they who kill you will think they do God a service."

It's a strange thing with some zealots, that when they think they have "righteousness" on their side, they'll do almost anything to prove it. This is the product of a totally ego driven and misled human nature plus irrational thinking. We see this all the time overseas with the "Islamic Jihad" factions - or "Holy War" groups - ("Jihad" = Holy War) and we've all seen the more recent, sordid terrorism against people in the U.S., for NO other reason that we do not believe as they do.

This is not a condemnation against anyone who lives in peace. I once worked with a buddy, George, who was a Muslim. He was kind, considerate, generous, and peaceful. He told me a worthwhile story. "I came from Tehran," he said. "There are people who live there who are just the same as us. They live in suburbia, they work each day, There are the white and blue collar workers, and they raise their children - just like us. And that is how about fifty percent of the population lives. Normal. But," he added, "the other fifty percent . . . well, they're crazy."

It only takes a few zealous nuts to start a Jihad, and unfortunately, too many of those are roaming the planet's surface. But with Worldwide Church of God+, do we have any of those who would start their own "Jihad for Jesus?" Or better still, a "Jihad for dead Herbert?" Are there those in the cults, Worldwide Church of God+, who are so zealous they'd do harm to others to justify their religious position? This is a question, please - nothing more. Crazy things have happened over the years, and nut cases always abound.

Since there are those people in cults, who try and retaliate against departed members, to what length would they go? I've personally seen it where current cult members will go to any number of lengths to harm or destroy a departed member's income. I've also seen it where current cult members have done their best to blacken a departed member's name and reputation (mine included). Again, I have the paperwork.

All this is done, simply because a current member or minister may feel he/she has the "right" to do this and PUNISH someone who does not conform to their personal cult thinking. After all, they reason, if God is with us, the who can be against us? And so, they attack. Then they brand the ex-member as angry and bitter, when they themselves are drenched in the spirit of hatred and bitterness toward any who do not believe as they do.

On the PT site, many of us have written our own true stories, shared opinions, and made observations. While our stories are true, based on our own lives and personal experiences, our opinions and observations are based on our own ideas and the right of Freedom of Speech, which is a part of the 1^st Amendment to our Constitution. True, not all will agree with what's said on any site and in every place, and that's why we discuss things (leaving the channels open), we sometimes disagree, and reach our own conclusions. Many times we'll agree to disagree. And that's good. That's healthy. That's democracy.

But threats of violence are something else. A threat, coming across the Internet, violates not only Federal U.S. law, but international law as well. A threat of bodily, physical, psychological, material, or emotional harm violates our Federal U.S. laws. This threat may be direct, it can be implied, or it might be perceived. In any case, it's a violation of Federal law, and as such, it falls under the jurisdiction of the FBI.

If any would like to research the subject further, then let me suggest going to the FBI site at: http://www.fbi.gov/ , and if any would like to chat to an agent in your specific area and about any legal question on the aspect of Internet threats, then the site address is: http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm , and any specific FBI field office agent will be happy to enlighten anyone on the ramifications of Internet threats, and what it may mean to the perpetrator. The FBI is now the largest police force in the world - like it or not. It is everywhere on the globe, and it's technologically advanced more than any other law enforcement agency on the planet.

Most of us know what "cookies" are. But cookies leave crumbs. Sure, we may eliminate them from our computer, but the trail is still present in the carrier's programming deep within our individual servers. All that doesn't simply go away when we turn off the system. Everything is accessible to the FBI. Any and all threats made on the Internet can and are usually tracked down by the FBI. The perpetrator/s WILL be apprehended, and the necessary action taken.

If the instigators of any proverbial "Jihad for Jesus" etc., etc., start to flex their threatening muscles, then we can always be assured, they will be found out, charged, and prosecuted. No mercy with the Feds. And the FBI is watching.

So, in recapping, we have the two cult divisions in the upper Worldwide Church of God+ church managements. The KOOL, who react to their "business" badly when people leave, and the KRAZY who go righteous crazy when people leave. The former have their business to protect, and would rather dismiss the departing member if there's no business damage done. But the other, the crazy group . . . well, they could be a problem. Who knows what they do, but in any case, all threats are being monitored.

In either case, this whole scenario would make one helluva soap opera. Wadda U think?

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