Unrepentant Tares Everywhere
 

Hi John O

 I read with interest your article on the Internet, (Letter To Ed) of which the following is an extract:

 "...I think, if we look honestly and with an open mind, we can see the unrepentant tares everywhere - all over the world. They're in business, in leadership, in the justice system, in gangs, in politics, in the military, and in the church groups. There's no changing these individuals, because if there's no repentance, then there can be no forgiveness. Therefore, " . . . their sin remains." Right now, I'd say there are more tares hiding inside church groups, Christian broadcasting groups, the antics of televangelism, large denominations whose pastors brag of "million dollar Sundays," and in smaller cults like the COG collection.

But, I'm finding this very hard, Ed. You know? I'm finding it hard to rationalize the behaviour of those who have absolute proof of wrongdoing in their hands, and who still choose to perpetrate that wrong and justify it. How does anyone choose to go in an obviously wrong direction when he knows for sure he's doing the wrong thing and damaging peoples' lives as a result? How can we reconcile this intentional evil done and still pass it off as the stupidity of a "hireling?" It just ain't so. This is the work of utter corruption and darkness. It is the work of tares..."

I have been out-of-the-cult for about 3 years...the Painful Truth has been an immense resource for me; I look beyond any "bitterness" and take the facts for what they are.

It was an incredible shock to my system to realize that Herbert W. Armstrong himself had been wrong, and also corrupt. Initially, I had left "Ritenbaugh"s group, because I received no answers to my questions, and also because of behavioral problems.

At that stage, I still believed that there is a "true church", but thought that the whole church had gone apostate, i.e. nobody gave a damn about any body else.

I have since learnt that at least 25 years ago the Herbert W. Armstrong philosophy was unraveled by those who had been part of the system. Recently, I read the book of Galatians, and it positively DEBUNKS HWA- just this one book should be enough, BUT many members are worse off than ever before, BECAUSE as it becomes more OBVIOUS that the HWA system was false, so it becomes MORE NECESSARY to ignore your senses- the splits continue splitting, sincerely believing they are "right"...the splits sometimes number only about 6 or 7, such as Daniel Dawson's group; a "friend" of mine in South Africa still doggedly continues "to keep the faith once delivered"; there are only about 6 or 7 in South Africa who belong to this group.

This friend actually believes that Daniel Dawson is the ONLY true minister of God today....

Anyway, with regard to your extract above, I have the following comments:

1)   we can see the unrepentant tares everywhere - all over the world.

 Since exiting the cult, I attempted to enter the real world... I received a double shock; the world is not interested in accommodating my losses... the irony is that the cult kept my focus FROM THE WORLD, therefore I did not notice the actions and behaviors of the world...once I left the cocoon, I came across many predators, ie outside the cocoon was the same as in the cacoon!

The exact same things that bugged me in the cult, bugged me outside the cocoon!

    The only difference is that outside of the cocoon I can DISCERN, because my mind is now my own.

I have become aware of the incredible self-absorption of this society, ie as I ventured out into the world, and attempted to regain my life and mind, I have found that the world tends to whiz by, relentlessly...people love to make promises, but CONTINUALLY BREAK THEM...yes, we will get together (never happens), yes I will give you that document by tomorrow (takes 6 weeks if at all), if I dare to confront anyone about THEIR bad behaviour, all of a sudden I am rude or a difficult customer etc., etc!!

    Deja vu! Worldwide Church of God all over again!

        Yes, the Herbert W. Armstrong/Worldwide Church of God syndrome is a PART OF THIS WORLD'S SYSTEM; a complete farce, and a failure to recognize problems when they exist, much like wife-battering syndrome...people normally only react once the dam wall is broken, NOT when there are a few holes in the wall...

2)  There's no changing these individuals, because if there's no repentance, then there can be no forgiveness.

Deja vu!

I have tried the diplomatic way in the world, and many other ways, but when an adult is inconsiderate, there is NO CHANCE that he/she will change, because he has already chosen to be a certain way- he blocked out the reality that there are others in the world...much like Worldwide Church of God, a de-sensitizing process has taken place within the world, whereby IT HAS BECOME A HABIT to be rude, break promises, lie, cheat, steal, push and shove...so much so that WHEN CONFRONTED, there is absolute denial of any wrong-doing, and one becomes a victim : "why are you so negative ", "why are you so critical" etc., etc.

Even if I would like to be an ADVOCATE OF SERVICE, I am often seen as "negative"... ie people ACCEPT POOR SERVICE, PEOPLE ACCEPT BEING ABUSED, because after all, no one was killed in the process, or "it's not that bad" etc., etc.

Since we in the cult were told to have OUTGOING CONCERN, this was commendable, however, there is not a lot of it around anymore, anywhere.

3)  I'm finding it hard to rationalize the behaviour of those who have absolute proof of wrongdoing in their hands, and who still choose to perpetrate that wrong and justify it

Yeah, this is everywhere... people HATE TO BE CONFRONTED... I am convinced that mankind causes his own destruction, because he refuses to admit that he practices "suicide by installments"...the statistics of the world show incredible abuses, BUT it is rationalized away...especially when there is an easy opportunity to rectify the situation.

4) In my day to day experience, I HAVE BEEN UTTERLY AMAZED at the blindness of people!

A while back I was visiting an associate and his wife. The world cup soccer was on TV. This was IMPORTANT.

My associate's daughter (5) was continually ignored and told to "be quiet". When the scores were leveled, "Mommy" told said daughter to point the scores out on the TV set...she did thusly, and received a swift crack from "Daddy"....the confusion of the child was obvious...to me at least, but nobody else... and it became obvious that there are severe problems brewing in the family, because of such things as "THE WORLD CUP SOCCER IS IMPORTANT...more important than family members...???

A small thing perhaps, but multiply it by millions of occurrences daily....it really peeves me off when I realize that I lost a lot due to Herbert W. Armstrong experience, and those who HAVE, waste what they have and prefer A COUNTERFEIT activity such as world cup soccer, or whatever else is the priority at the time...

That's my 2 cents worth for now.

Andre

Reply

Hi Andre:

Thanx 4 your mail.  Amen to your comments. 

What we experienced in WCG, and others in WCG+ cults, are no different to that which is propagated in the world around us.  When crazy Herbie screamed about the corrupt world around us, he was actually talking about himself and his entourage of money loving whores who were like the “ass-kissers” of the world.  They pleased the boss who approved their paychecks, and these brown-nosers continued on to stay loyal, and – as was stated – they stayed loyal even tho’ they KNEW what they were doing was wrong.

Lemme tell U a story.  In our last days in HI, we had a previous friend and minister come over to visit (and, as I was later told, his actual job was to spy on me).  Naturally, like a dummy, I asked him to give the sermon.  He did.  And he justified everything that Herbie’s Gestapo was doing.  Many of our congregation were getting up and walking out.  I couldn’t understand why my previous friend was doing what he did.  I accepted his invite to dinner – at his expense, of course.  I wanted answers. 

During dinner, I asked him WHY he defended the insane antics in Pasadena.  He was silent – like most cowards.  But when his wife (who was a gutsy lady), openly and stiffly challenged him as to why he preached a bunch of lies, the man’s true character came out.  He said:

“But you can’t tell them what’s REALLY happening  . . . ”  His wife was angry at him because of his behaviour.  She told him off – in front of my wife and family.

This guy was a insurance agent who had many Pasadena  “church” clients as his customers.  Need I say more?

Tares?  Sure.  They’re oodles of them.  And they’re in every walk of life, and that includes religion.  Especially religion.  “Prove all things.”

And now – according to one source – there are about 250 such offspring’s of Apostle  Herbie’s cult. 

Many of these dumb offspring must KNOW that they’re wrong, but their love of mullah and glory, and the leaven of their own ego is far more important to them.

Thanx again for the letter.  Best.  John.

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