Javier Milei told the World Economic Forum in Davos that freedom is the key to prosperity. In his address, he recounted the history of the past centuries, mapping freedom to prosperity. When people were enslaved, they were poor. As freedom rose, they became prosperous.
This is as true individually as it is nationally or internationally: Liberty is necessary to achieve prosperity. When men, in particular, are enslaved or are resource starved, they perform poorly. When they have the resources they need, they can branch out, build and create.
Herbert Armstrong in particular built a fascist corporatist environment which enslaved people to drain off their resources so he could buy the attention he needed to satisfy his narcissism. He needed to be noticed and engage with “important people” — leaders, kings, prime ministers: Any one who could satisfy his lust for greatness. He took 10% of gross income of his followers off the top, followed by another 10% where they could blow it once a year to eat and get drunk to keep them enslaved. Then there was another 10% for third tithe year, which was supposed to go to the poor, fatherless and widow, but never really made it there. Then there were offerings. On top of that there were calls for money to build useless but beautiful campuses as a showcase to those important people to impress them, wine and dine them. Expensive gifts were involved. Donations of up to $100,000 were often given away just for some narcissistic photo op — a sum which generally represented one person’s tithes of a lifetime.
Men were subdued by demands of service and activities demanding their time. Sabbath Services, Bible Studies, Spokesmen Club, helping people move, setting up and taking down sites for feasts. This bondage subdued men into submission while leaving them to try to cover all their responsibilities to their own families, businesses or jobs. Resource starvation meant that something had to give. Maybe the wife and children had to go without food and clothes to cover tithes. Maybe the wife and children were neglected for all the other activities in terms of time. Often the men would be short sleep. Many would get into financial trouble because the demands were impossible.
People had to submit to the ministry — who often demanded impossible things. There was an air of superiority around those who held higher rank than the rank and file. People were robbed of peace and respect. The ministry spied on the people and turned over findings to headquarters which could then blackmail the ‘rebellious’ to conform. Liberty was restricted to the ‘family’ of the church (which was nothing of the kind) — and outside contacts were discouraged: A common methodology of cults. All that ‘sin’ made the people feel guilty and had no peace, not recognizing that for the most part those of rank had bigger moral problems than the rank and file could even imagine.
Herbert Armstrong appealed to many people who thought that he could bring them liberty. He brought them slavery. Different people came to the cult of Herbert Armstrong seeking very different things. Here is a list of some of the things people looked for:
- To truly change the world for the better
- A place of safety
- Prosperity
- Become powerful
- Become relevant
- Overcome faults and sin
- Be a better person
- Find companionship
- Find a spouse
- Learn hidden secret things
- Hear prophecy
- Engage Science Fiction
- Learn how things work
- Help people
- Live in a future utopia
- Get revenge
- Satisfy narcissism
- Live off of others
- Solve problems
- Get healed
- Perform magic
And so many other things. It doesn’t matter. It was bait and switch. It’s like gambling: The House always wins. Herbert Armstrong got most of the things people wanted by getting them to pay for it. In short, he was just like every carnal conman salesman politician who ever lived.
After all that is said and done, it is on you to make your life. Transformation is a do it yourself project.
The biggest lie, of course, is that you could never do it on your own. You were incapable of change. You had to repent by changing yourself, and then you could receive the Holy Spirit to change you from the inside out. That makes no sense, of course, and it’s quite unscriptural. The seven basic doctrines in Hebrews 6:1-2 tells us:
Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
It’s repentance from dead works. It is NOT repenting of who you are. It is works, not existence. In fact, in the Christian paradigm, the transformation comes from Jesus Christ living within you. The Herbert Armstrong repentance could never happen because repentance comes before baptism and the receipt of the Holy Spirit. So He was so very wrong.
Even worse, he never acknowledged that change by the Holy Spirit was even possible. We were all admonished that we needed to keep God’s law and follow external practices to be in good graces. Getting rid of leaven during the Days of Unleavened Bread pictured getting sin out of our lives. The rituals were all important. His take on things: You can’t get there from here. You have to change from the outside in and someone else has to do it for you.
That’s so offensive.
It’s especially offensive when you begin to realize that millions of people have changed significantly without ever even hearing about Jesus, let alone Herbert Armstrong. People have overcome alcoholism, porn addiction, drug addiction, adultery, lying, stealing, cheating, assault and abusing others by themselves. Thus they have achieved liberty from their bondage. They have shown us it can be done. It has been done. We aren’t weak and helpless. We have what we need to change. It does take energy, effort, resources and determination, but there are so many things we can do alone, even when there doesn’t seem to be any possible hope.
On the other hand, Herbert Armstrong was never able to change. He was always in bondage to his deficiencies. Honestly, he was an incredibly fat man. It’s a good thing the ministry and membership never much questioned his deadly sin of gluttony. He liked nice things.
Do you need proof? We’ll give you proof, with one caveat. Men have several developmental steps which are transformative. Testosterone during the teen years is certainly that. Just as important are the ages of 17 through 25 where the human male has a growth spurt in his prefrontal lobes. In 7 years, he becomes a totally different person. He’s not the same at 25 than he was at 17: He’s changed significantly. This period sets the will and purpose of the male to prepare him for the rest of his life. This all stabilizes and sets the man up for the rest of his life from the age of 30 or so. The years just prior is the refinement of the skills and resources that will serve for life. It’s biology.
So let us look at one such transformation to liberty. In this real life video, “From Meth to Netflix”, we learn of one man’s transformation. This in the context of programming for those who have the talent. If any of you have used Netflix, you’ve seen his work:
Let us celebrate our liberty, both on a national and personal level, for with freedom comes prosperity with the peace and respect that men need.
