Ambassador College never previously allowed black men to apply until after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and even after that, the church only allowed married black men to enroll to keep interracial dating from infiltrating the campus.
–Silenced
There have also been multiple instances of the few interracial couples there are in the COG being required to split themselves between different congregations to avoid being seen together by the churchâs racist membership. Of course, COG pastors have for decades refused to marry interracial couples within the church.
Will God destroy the world for crossbreeding animals?
The Plain Truth magazine was trumpeting these teachings to hundreds of thousandsâŚmaybe millionsâŚof readers right during the 1960s Civil Rights Era. Herbert insisted he wasnât âtaking sidesâ in the Race Question that was the greatest problem of the dayâŚhis magazine wouldnât be promoting the demands of the Negro, nor would it be endorsing the approach of the segregationists of the Deep South. It was, he insisted, just telling the âPlain Truthâ about what God thinks of it all, about what the Bible says about it all, and about what the Bible predicts for the future.
The reality, of course, was that Armstrong did, indeed, âtake the sideâ of the white anti-integration southerners. Often using some of the same arguments, the same âscripture quotationsâ that showed up on their protest signs. âGod hates race-mixing.â âGod is the author of segregation.â –Myth America
HWA not a racist?
Herbert replies in a sermon to a letter written by one of his followers:
“Today I want to speak on what may possibly be the very next attack that Satan will use against this church […] interracial marriage.” “It was stated that the blacks in God’s Church are dissatisfied with such doctrines that are not in keeping with the current social trend in the world [civil rights movement] that are a part of this nations background. […] And this letter also says that they are trying to line up a group of blacks to give ME AN ULTIMATUM, that I get on the side of the social trend of this world, or else! I’ll tell you what I’ll give them, I’LL GIVE THEM THE ‘OR ELSE!’ (church audience laughs) I WON’T COMPROMISE ONE MILLIONTH OF AN INCH! And if you will, you can go into the Lake of Fire if you want to. […] Some are saying that we have to to have racial balance at ambassador college. […]”
Interracial marriage is going to lead to the end of the world? Really?
“Genesis 6:1; And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, Genesis 6:2; That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of ALL WHICH THEY CHOOSE.”
“That’s what they want to do today. A black man wants to take a white woman for a wife, THAT’S WHAT HE CHOOSES. […] Now I don’t know any cases where a WHITE MAN wants to marry a black woman, WHY IS THAT? Answer that for me! Why is it only BLACK MEN who want to marry white women?”
“Now I don’t know any cases where a WHITE MAN wants to marry a black woman…”-HWA
But wait, there’s more!
Now let’s look to the SOURCE of right understanding-the BEGINNING of knowledge-the WAY to wisdom! Does GOD teach integration? Does GOD condemn segregation? Does GOD approve mixed marriages?
Absolutely ludicrous rant!
Today, the world around, there are movements everywhere to UNITE! The spirit of UNITING is in the air! The nations of Europe are trying to UNITE-starting with the Common Market. Nasser is trying to UNITE the Arabs-with himself, of course, as ruler! The new Pope is carrying on his predecessor’s fight to UNITE all religions-under his iron-clad supreme authority, of course. The Communists are trying to break all color barriers, and, by intermarriage between races, UNITE all humanity as ONE color, and ONE race, with Communist leaders ruling over them.
So where do we go from here?
The Bible.
Acts 17:26Â and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation…
This single passage from the Bible renders the term “race” meaningless, since if all humanity descended from one man, then what is a race? Once a Christian understands all humanity descended from the same two parents, then we must abandon any belief in race as a meaningful distinction between people (much less view race as just cause for discrimination).
Whatever physical differences may exist between any two people on earth, those differences are no more meaningful than the differences between a brother and sister from the same nuclear family. We are all literally from one family, the Bible says. Therefore, it is both illogical and unbiblical for a Christian to hold prejudice against another person because of a difference in physical features (e.g., skin color). Any Christian harboring hateful or discriminatory thoughts toward another person for any reason is sinning and should repent.
–Verse-by-verse-ministry
This is the problem that the ACOG’s have. They take this scripture and others to use as proof that God hates interracial marriage. The article above is well worth a read, especially if you are still in a ACOG.
The same logic can be applied to divorce. The bible God says He hates divorce but allows it without the threat of wiping out mankind for this simple transgression. Just because the bible doesn’t spell it out for you, doesn’t mean that it is condemned. Don’t take your gurus word for it. Think for yourself. Have the capacity for rational and intelligent thought.
The boundaries of their habitation.
So God gave the races a land of their own. The scripture says nowhere that they are not allowed to leave this habitation and leave elsewhere. God made the white man, according to the bible, and they took the blacks out of Africa and made them slaves. Soon after the races began to mix. Where was God that he allowed this to happen? Did He not foresee that the races would join together and produce offspring?
The Old Testament laws and principles don’t have validity today. There is a historical flow in the Bible that accounts for why some things were both commanded, and permitted earlier, that aren’t now.
Notice the words “..had their own social and picnic” Apparently the Negro’s were not allowed to mingle with white people. The Good News. Nov-Dec-1968
But Armstrong missed something very important about the law: there’s a difference between what’s considered legal and what’s moralâbetween the practical need to deal with the current reality of the times and the idea of past practices. He chose to meet the problem half way. A cowards choice no doubt, but also the choice of a business man who knew that a outcry by the public could decimate his religious empire. He allowed blacks into the church as second class citizens, and mandated that they were to sit in the back rows. They were not to associate on a dance floor, or participate in dating another race. The Negro brethren would hold their own socials, segregated from their white’s. There was to be no mixing of the races.
Racism from the pulpit. HWA’s Sermon on interracial marriage.
This soundtrack was edited to bring all the racist rants forefront. If you have the stomach to listen to the complete sermon, go HERE.
The HWA fan club, those who have read his works, and defend his views, experience contradictory beliefs without realizing it. They expound that he wasn’t a racist, but was following the bible. God’s so called mandate to keep the races apart. Having read his works, and knowing the times, these people deceive themselves or are incapable of rational thought.
Motive
It doesn’t take a Harvard degree to realize Herbie was a racist. Just some self honesty. When you look carefully at the context, these black folks were segregated from the white folks. Its like the old man told them to get to the back of the bus. So when your guru says to ‘pay no attention’ to HWA’s critics, ask yourself, what do they have to hide and why?
Humans today are evolving to be smarter, taller, and to even live longer than their ancestors. According to a recent study published in the journal Nature, the notable shift in height and intelligence throughout evolution may be linked to the genetic diversity of offspringâs parents.
Sexual reproduction is essential to maintain genetic diversity within the human species. It combines the parentsâ genetic material, resulting in offspring that possess a unique set of genetic blueprints that increase their chances of surviving and thriving compared to a population with limited genetic variability. This encapsulates Charles Darwinâs theory of natural selection, where individuals with characteristics that increase their probability of survival will have more opportunities to reproduce, according to the University of California, Berkeleyâs Understanding Evolution. As a result, their offspring will benefit from the variants, which will spread throughout the population.
Overall, it seems that mixing the DNA of the races is good for the continued evolution and survival of the human race. Science vs. religion. Who are you going to believe? The scientific evidence, or your religious guru’s interpretation?
I’d venture to say that God made mankind to be fruitful and multiply. Even with other races. He wrote that into our DNA!
The Worldwide church of God attempted to annihilate peoples personality, individuality, will, and character. The stranded souls that hitched their wagon to this organization unknowingly supported a power-hungry pharisaic and fastuous authoritative cult leader and his son, Garner Ted Armstrong. For all the alarums and excursions, the fact remains that without knowing it, we nurtured these two ungrateful incubi's. For that I can only ask for forgiveness.
After my WCG experience, I went to college to educate myself so I would have a greater understanding of the world about me and to understand why I ever fell for HWA's scam religion. This lead me to the conclusion that the appropriate action to take, in my judgment, is to provide people with opportunities to learn, develop, and exercise their potential as human beings, by freeing them from men who exploit and abuse them. This website and others are my vehicle to do just that.
This is the type of teaching which has caused the blindness which leads a few people today to believe that the individual tribes of Israel are intact today, and lost only in the sense that they and all around them have forgotten their identities. The truth is, the tribes were assimilated into other groups over thousands of years, the largest assimilator being what is called today “the Jews”. A further fact is that interracial marriage causes more, not less, diversity.
It is in keeping with one of the basic laws of the universe in which all orderly systems progress with the passage of time towards a random state, or entropy as it is also known.
This stuff is so disgusting. I canât believe i went along with this nonsense in the 70âs. Was i stupid!
Unfortunately, we still have ministers and members in the COGs who continue to promote HWAâs racism. I have heard:
âI am against interracial marriage because I believe God likes diversity.â
âWhy do black people have to come to our church? Why canât they start their own church?â
âBefore the Civil War, blacks were content to be in slavery. After they were freed, many stayed with their masters.â
May God forgive us.
âWes White
Your not the only one who feels stupid. I supported a church (wcg) who pushed this shit onto all of us, along with the general public.
And yet some of these so called prophets and ministers still parrot a dead man and his racist views decades later, thinking they are doing the work of God.
Complete nonsense. They are doing the work of their master, which according to the bible, is Satan.
Reading the article just started to remind me of all the bullshit my father was telling at the dinner table. But what struck me more about the blatant racist ideas was that only the chosen ones (from the 12 tribes of Israel) would get all the best places when the kingdom of god would return. That only those who actually lived on that day would get the even better places. That all other races would only get the scraps from the table. He truly thought he wasnât racist since the bible and itâs teaching according to him didnât put all of humanity on an equal basis. The three remaining races would only get a lower position in gods new world. Therefore he wasnât being racist from his perspective. It only goes to show how shallow some people get.
The other item you could remind some of the older members about is that the WCG between the 60s and early 70s was telling its congregation they would be packing their bags very soon the going the promised land before armageddon would come. My father lost most of his business during those years not being able to work on Saturdays. We went from a normal well off middle income family to a social welfare family. Added to this what was left of his money was being sent to the church. That left even less for the dinner table at night.
As long as humans continue to want to believe, they will also be let to believe the wrong things and as a result hurt themselves and others.
Yes, Herbert Armstrong (and the organization which he founded) was clearly racist. However, as with many sins, there is no self-awareness with this one. Trump is a good example of this phenomenon.
I remember as a child one of my Southern grand aunt’s saying that she wasn’t prejudiced against Blacks (and she didn’t use that moniker) – as long as they stayed in their place (whatever that was). She simply could not see that there were any problems inherent in such a view – she was BLIND to it.
It is interesting to note that some of the same arguments which were employed in times past to discourage interracial relationships are now employed against homosexuals. God intended for only men and women to love each other in that way. We won’t compromise with God’s standard one iota! It’s not discrimination or wrong if we’re following God’s law. I’m not prejudiced against homosexuals – as long as they stay in their place!
This is the type of teaching which has caused the blindness which leads a few people today to believe that the individual tribes of Israel are intact today, and lost only in the sense that they and all around them have forgotten their identities. The truth is, the tribes were assimilated into other groups over thousands of years, the largest assimilator being what is called today “the Jews”. A further fact is that interracial marriage causes more, not less, diversity.
It is in keeping with one of the basic laws of the universe in which all orderly systems progress with the passage of time towards a random state, or entropy as it is also known.
BB
This stuff is so disgusting. I canât believe i went along with this nonsense in the 70âs. Was i stupid!
Unfortunately, we still have ministers and members in the COGs who continue to promote HWAâs racism. I have heard:
âI am against interracial marriage because I believe God likes diversity.â
âWhy do black people have to come to our church? Why canât they start their own church?â
âBefore the Civil War, blacks were content to be in slavery. After they were freed, many stayed with their masters.â
May God forgive us.
âWes White
Your not the only one who feels stupid. I supported a church (wcg) who pushed this shit onto all of us, along with the general public.
And yet some of these so called prophets and ministers still parrot a dead man and his racist views decades later, thinking they are doing the work of God.
Complete nonsense. They are doing the work of their master, which according to the bible, is Satan.
Reading the article just started to remind me of all the bullshit my father was telling at the dinner table. But what struck me more about the blatant racist ideas was that only the chosen ones (from the 12 tribes of Israel) would get all the best places when the kingdom of god would return. That only those who actually lived on that day would get the even better places. That all other races would only get the scraps from the table. He truly thought he wasnât racist since the bible and itâs teaching according to him didnât put all of humanity on an equal basis. The three remaining races would only get a lower position in gods new world. Therefore he wasnât being racist from his perspective. It only goes to show how shallow some people get.
The other item you could remind some of the older members about is that the WCG between the 60s and early 70s was telling its congregation they would be packing their bags very soon the going the promised land before armageddon would come. My father lost most of his business during those years not being able to work on Saturdays. We went from a normal well off middle income family to a social welfare family. Added to this what was left of his money was being sent to the church. That left even less for the dinner table at night.
As long as humans continue to want to believe, they will also be let to believe the wrong things and as a result hurt themselves and others.
Yes, Herbert Armstrong (and the organization which he founded) was clearly racist. However, as with many sins, there is no self-awareness with this one. Trump is a good example of this phenomenon.
I remember as a child one of my Southern grand aunt’s saying that she wasn’t prejudiced against Blacks (and she didn’t use that moniker) – as long as they stayed in their place (whatever that was). She simply could not see that there were any problems inherent in such a view – she was BLIND to it.
It is interesting to note that some of the same arguments which were employed in times past to discourage interracial relationships are now employed against homosexuals. God intended for only men and women to love each other in that way. We won’t compromise with God’s standard one iota! It’s not discrimination or wrong if we’re following God’s law. I’m not prejudiced against homosexuals – as long as they stay in their place!