The Painful Truth About The Worldwide Church of God
Tkach's Hot Air Balloon Ride
By Dana

 
    In case you missed it, or used it to line your canary cage, here are some excerpts from Joseph Tkach's March co-worker (co-dependent) letter. He starts out with a joke (oh yeah, I'm still laughing.) that is intended to direct us to fundamental flaws with blaming the World Wide Church of God for the brethren's apparent lack of direction. He describes this "joke" as containing "truth" so let's look at it for the truth it contains. In the spirit of "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks," let's try to see what Joseph is really saying to us with this little joke of his, and then again with my response in blue:
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 
   
    While flying his got air balloon a retired businessman became lost. He saw a small town in the distance and slowly lowered the balloon close to the ground until he saw a young man walking down the street. He shouted, "Can you tell me where I am?" The younger man decided to have a little fun and shouted back: "You are in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet over Main Street." The older man quickly responded, "You must work with computers!"
    This time the young man laughed and yelled, "As a matter of fact I do work in information technology - how did you know?" The older man replied, "Because everything you told me is technically correct, but the information is of no use to anyone." Not to be outdone the young man said, "Well, you must be in business administration." This caused the older man to laugh and ask, "That's right. How did you know?" 

    The young man explained. "It's easy. You don't know where you are, or where you're going, but you expect me to help. You're in exactly the same position you were in before I helped you, but now it's my fault." 

    Truth often goes down a little easier with a little dash of humor, doesn't it?...



Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

    While flying his hot air balloon [Okay, Joe is probably here referring to the fellowship of the Church of God being taken for a ride under the direction of that elderly bag of hot air, Herbert Armstrong] a retired businessman [most of the people that remained in the World Wide Church of God are somewhat older] became lost. [due to doctrinal changes that were once thought to be as solid as a rock] He saw a small town [actually the traveler just thought it was a small town, when in fact it was just the palatial residence of Joseph Tkach paid for by the hard earned money of the faithful brethren on the slow, painful path to personal financial ruin.] in the distance and slowly lowered the balloon close to the ground until he saw a young man [Joseph, himself] walking down the street. He shouted, "Can you tell me where I am?" [People naturally turning to Joseph Tkach for spiritual leadership because he is, after all, paid a king's ransom in salary, perks, and benefits to oversee the spiritual needs of those that "God called into the church"] The younger man decided to have a little fun [rather than offer any actual assistance, and as always, at the lost traveler's expense, of course] and shouted back: "You are in a hot air balloon [You are in dead Herbert's spiritual hot air ride going nowhere] hovering 30 feet over Main Street." The older man quickly responded, "You must work with computers!" [You must be Joseph Tkach! The person who wants to run this hot air balloon spiritual tourist trap more like a business!]

   
This time the young man laughed and yelled, "As a matter of fact I do work in information technology [There you have it from the asses mouth! INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY! Joseph W. Tkach does not give a rat's rump about you, or your spiritual well being! He is in the business of information technology and it commercial value. "Information" meaning viewing "brethren" strictly in demographic terms, such as what is your income level, education level, and potential financial output. At the bank, members of the church are merely listed as "financial assets" of the church for purposes of loans. Sadly, that's all we EVER were to these "men of God."] - how did you know?" The older man replied, "Because everything you told me is technically correct, but the information is of no use to anyone." [Because as a true servant of mammon, Joseph, you obviously don't care enough about your fellow man to give him any actually useful knowledge that will guide him on his way through life, unless he orders it at additional cost through that catalog of religious paraphernalia of yours known as the "Plain Truth".] Not to be outdone [Joseph is very competitive] the young man [Joseph] said, "Well, you must be in business administration." [Well, Joseph doesn't really believe this person is in business administration. Here, he is simply lying. He just said that to flatter the lost traveler, so he can tell the lost traveler that it is the traveler's own fault he followed to the tee the flight instructions of Herbert, the now deceased former owner of the hot air balloon traveling service and is now lost. Joseph wants to have the traveler accept the criticism at face value without examining it] This caused the older man [the faithful brethren] to laugh [nervously, as they are FINALLY beginning to suspect that they are being taken for more than just a hot air balloon ride] and ask, "That's right. How did you know?" [Yup! The brethren took the flattery bait, and we are now ready for the all too familiar slam dunk!]

   
The young man [Joseph, have you looked in the mirror lately? You aren't that young, unless you are comparing yourself to Herbert Armstrong at the time of his death.] explained, "It's easy. [Patent, uncaring answers are always easy!] You don't know where you are, [you are spiritually adrift, since I, Joseph Tkach took over the spiritual reigns of your church which is supposed to be the spiritual anchor of your life], or where you're going, [because I don't care anything about you, except for your contribution status] but you expect me to help. [Fat chance, sucker!] You're in exactly the same position you were in before I helped you, [Because, truthfully, Joseph's spiritual leadership is completely ineffectual. And besides, he has already spent any monies that could have been put into the service of bettering your lives on himself and his personal business. But, he does have some self-help books you may be interested in buying.He now accepts all major credit cards.] but now it's my fault." [Oh no, you don't! You're not going to try to blame Joseph W. Tkach for your problems, even though you have been paying him, or his predecessors up to 35% of your gross income your entire adult life for the service of feeding you, spiritually, emotionally, and physically if necessary, as if you were one of God's beloved sheep! No, faithful brethren, sheep are only good for two things, fleecing and consuming. If you don't like being fleeced, blame God for not coming back in 1972 to rescue you like you foolishly believed, NOT JOSEPH W. TKACH!!! He's just fleecing you, because if he doesn't, someone else will!]

    Truth often goes down a little easier with a little dash of humor, doesn't it? We humans do have a habit of blaming others for our dilemmas and problems. It's been that way from the beginning. Adam blamed Eve... [Blah, blah, blah....End of Quote from Joseph Tkach's March 2000 co-worker letter.]
 
           
Well, the letter goes on to reveal more of the real Joseph W. Tkach, but space does not permit.
 

 

 

If you have anything you would like to
submit to this site, or any comments,
email me at:
CLICK HERE FOR EMAIL ADDRESS.
Send Me Email

Back to "Painful Truth" menu


 

Copyright
The content of this site, including but not limited to the text and images herein and their arrangement, are copyright © 1997-2003 by The Painful Truth. All rights reserved.

Do not duplicate, copy or redistribute in any form without prior written consent.

Disclaimer