Blast From the Past. An Inside Report On God’s Work.

Dear Editor,

First off, let me say thank you for this web-sight…which I didn’t even know existed until today!  You are doing a marvelous job…and just HOPE it will keep others from enduring the 25 year NIGHTMARE that I and my wife & three children ENDURED, at the hand of Herbert W. Armstrong, GTA, Imperial Schools, Ambassador College, WWC & all the top-ministers & their wives & children.

Let me introduce myself.  I was a teacher at Imperial School (Big Sandy) for 25 years, & a teacher at Ambassador College (Big Sandy) from the time the Big Sandy campus opened, until 1975.  Believe me….EVERYONE….that everything you have been told & read, in this website…..IS FOR REAL!    And, I COULD TELL YOU …..A WHOLE LOTS MORE

What all you have read here, in THE PAINFUL TRUTH, is only a little “smattering” of WHAT ALL REALLY WENT ON & WHAT ALL REALLY HAPPENED!!!  Being a teacher, in both the Imperial Schools & Ambassador College, I saw FIRST HAND!!!  I worked for Guy Carnes, who was GTA’s brother in law (Guy was married to Jackie Carnes, who was Shirley Armstrong’s (GTA’s wife) sister….so, I had PRIVY to ALL THE INSIDE INFORMATION!!!

The things that went on would CURL YOUR STOMACH, straight down to your TOENAILS!!!!  I don’t think that anyone knows, that Herbert W. Armstrong, at one time, TRIED to get into the “Mafia”….but the Mafia wouldn’t HAVE HIM!!!   They told him that “THEY” had certain standards & integrity & rules, that they obeyed among themselves…and that they (after investigating his past) DIDN’T TRUST HIM to be a member of their organization.  There was NOTHING, in the WWC, that was NOT DONE!  Take it from a first-hand witness.  The book that come out, back in the late 70s I think, “THE TANGLED WEB”, REALLY HAPPENED & I was THERE TO WITNESS IT ALL!!!!   I can’t even begin to TELL YOU of all the CRUELTIES that were ALSO done to me, my family, and other that I actually SAW FIRST HAND!!!  Even MORE happened, than Mr. Robinson related in “THE TANGLED WEB” book!   MUCH MORE!!! 

I could spend HOURS telling you individual incidents, and things that were told to me….from the family members of Herbert W. Armstrong…but it would take the rest of my life!  But, I am writing this, hoping that maybe some other SUCKER will avoid “getting SUCKED INTO” the cult, like I did!  I guess you all know that David Karesh (Waco, Texas) was a direct split-off from HWA!   Many people don’t know that fact!  It was BAD enough, but not nearly as bad as the ORIGINAL “trunk of the tree”, WWC.  I think one of the most despicable things, was the INCEST in HWA’s immediate family…but, that was just one of MANY “VOMIT” situations!  It broke my heart to see the way the congregations suffered….many were very successful upon joining the cult, but were all gradually destroyed.  

The way they treated women and children was UNFORGIVABLE!   The “Hitler” Tactics, that Herbert W. Armstrong & his henchmen-ministers EMPLOYED, really were FOR REAL….and I had them administered to ME, personally, MANY TIMES!!!  I was indeed TRAPPED into the cult, as an employee & couldn’t get out…as anywhere I would go to apply for a job, I had to tell where I had been working/teaching for the past 25 years.  I couldn’t explain to a prospective employee, that it was a cult & I was trying to escape!   So, they would call for a reference….the WWC, Imperial School & Amb. College, would tell them HORRIBLE LIES about me, thus keeping me a PRISONER of the cult-employment crew!  

If time permitted, I could tell you , also, of the cruel things that were done towards my wife and children.   The worst thing that they did to me, however, was never to PAY ME!  Each month I would be told that “the work was down”, so they couldn’t give the employees their PAYCHECKS that month…causing me to have to go deeply into debt, and 25 years later, to have to declare bankruptcy!

   On the few occasions that I DID get a PAYCHECK, I was required to turn MORE than 3/4 of it BACK IN TO THE CHURCH…for BACK 1st, 2nd, 3rd tithes, building fund, tithe of the tithe, building fund, foreign fund, etc.  ( All of which was REALLY going to Herbert W. Armstrong’s & GTA’s & the top minister’s “LAVISH LIFESTYLES”, not to mention all their trips to the Swiss Medical Clinics, to try to cure Herbert W. Armstrong’s IMPOTENCY PROBLEM!  The other funds went for lavish vacation trips, big/fine homes, Lear jets, oil paintings, jewels, clothes, big sports cars, crystal chandeliers, swimming pools….or, whatever their hearts DESIRED!!!) 

There was a well known “DOUBLE STANDARD” in the church, Imperial School & Ambassador College…..the “common folk” got the WHIP, but the children of the Armstrong’s & certain top ministers, were allowed to DO absolutely ANYTHING THEY “WANTED” TO DO….and NOTHING was EVER said or done to them about it!!!

To this very day, I, my wife & children are still suffering many physical problems, because we were never ALLOWED to get help from doctors or dentists.  But, the physical can nowhere COMPARE to the EMOTIONAL DAMAGE that we all suffered!  

A personal MEMBER of Herbert W. Armstrong & GTA’s FAMILY “sat in my very living room”, and LAUGHED about….”God NEVER “called” HWA!  He even admits that he had always wanted to be a rich millionaire & had tried several other businesses…banking, newspaper, selling stainless steel, etc.   Then, one day the ole man got the bright idea to write & sell TRACTS!  He advertised them in the newspapers, and the response came POURING IN!   He came in one day, dragging 2 stuffed mail sacks behind him, yelling…..”LOMA!  I’ve just found out WHAT the FAMILY BUSINESS IS GOING TO BE!!!!   A RELIGION!!!”  (This was told to me by a BLOOD RELATIVE of HWA’s!!!)  After that, this same relative told my wife & me, that HWA went through COUNTLESS RELIGIONS….Mormons, Judaism, Seventh Day Adventist, Jehovah’s Witness, etc…..extracting parts from EACH RELIGION (that would PROSPER HIM FINANCIALLY), and then PUT THEM ALL TOGETHER, and started his OWN RELIGION…claiming that GOD HAD CALLED HIM to be THE ONLY TRUE PROPHET ON PLANET EARTH

   Another LIE, was the one about god’s showing LOMA about the SABBATH DAY!   (Don’t make me THROW UP!)

Another incident was also related to my wife & me, by another blood-family-member of Herbert W. Armstrong.  It involved an incident, where HWA was eating out as a swanky East Texas Restaurant (Johnny Cases, in Longview, Texas) on the eve-night of “Day of Atonement”.  He was having the most expensive steak-cut & most expensive champagne in the restaurant.  This relative (who also ATE on that night) entered the restaurant, and upon seeing HWA, said to him…..”Aren’t you AFRAID you’ll be SEEN….out EATING on Day of Atonement?”   To which Herbert W. Armstrong replied, “Oh, NO!   All the DUMB SHEEP are home FASTING!  They will never know, and if they were told, they’d NEVER BELIEVE IT!!!”

Well….I could go on & on & on……25 years in the Herbert W. Armstrong CULT would take YEARS to “tell about”!   But, you can see, that I DID have a FIRST HAND ACCOUNT of the “so-called” Worldwide Church of God, and it’s leader, Herbert W. Armstrong, and relatives, and all the so-called TOP MINISTERS/FACULTY!

I would appreciate it if you did NOT print my name on your web sight….I KNOW there are A LOT of DANGERS out there, even yet, from the CULT, and many murders (that I also knew about personally!), DANGEROUS THREATS, etc….and my family has already suffered enough.   But, feel free to USE this information all you want, on your website, or however.. to keep some OTHER poor “FOOL” from having to suffer like I did!  Just sign it…if you would….”A VICTIM of the HWA NIGHTMARE CULT”! 

Keep up the GOOD WORK & don’t get discouraged!  You can be sure that you will get LOTS of negative feedback, as there still remains a lot of IDIOTS out there, that STILL BELIEVE, that Herbert W. Armstrong was REALLY “CALLED OF GOD”!!!

Blessings on you & yours.

Name withheld….former Imperial & Ambassador College teacher  (Big Sandy, Texas)

6/27/00

Reply:

 Thanks for the info.

This is the kind of stuff we need to be able to see the hypocrisy of the whole bunch of money hungry crooks. Helps to see how very stupid we were to have ever trusted and virtually worshipped these all too human men. Keep them coming and if your kids want to get it out of their system, this is the place. Kids were affected like we never were. They do not recall a previous life, pre-cult. Their whole life and memory is the cult. They were probably brainwashed worse than we were because it was from early in their lives.

Editor

Dear Editor,

Thanks so much for your reply.  There was so much, of course…but, I will think about it & see what else I can supply.   Most of it is just the same-ole, same-ole….the same insidious & cruel things that happened to most everyone that were not in the “top echelon”!  I am presently taking some graduate courses, here at the U. Of Texas, and have  limited time, but if/when I think of other things, I will write.  

A lot of things, I would have to name names….sometimes of the innocent….so, wouldn’t want them to be hurt anymore!   ( my 3 children…now grown…said, “tell the editor that we could tell plenty!”  of course, they still hold bitter feelings….feel that their youth was completely stolen, from being in the cult…but, I want them to get over it.  However, I guess we all will carry “lifetime scares” in some respects! 

However…I, personally feel that it is important to not “just try & forget the past”…as it was the past that has created the present ; and it is the present that creates the future!!!  So, we all must, painful though it be, remember the past, in order to not “repeat it”…and, also to warn other unsuspecting victims!!!) 

I can, however, tell you one interesting thing…..I had to decorate ( I am an artist & before the cult, was employed at Dupont, in Savanna, Georgia….so, had lots of experience in the field of art, decorating, etc.) For all of the imperial school & ambassador college events…..dances, graduations, festivals, weddings, etc.   In order to do all this, I had to enter the sacred ground (the minister’s dining room….there in the back of the big steel building, on Ambassador. College grounds, in B.S.).  There was never, never a time that I went in, that drugs (of all kinds) weren’t being used!!!   ( I discussed this at length, once, with my very dear friend…but don’t repeat him name, please…..Bill (last name withheld). (Bill was a fellow student & good friend, when I attended ambassador college, in Pasadena in 1956-1959.)  Bill later was ordained to the ministry, but wasn’t at all happy about it!  Later on, he just walked out of the ministry, and the whole thing.   He, like I, was absolutely mortified at the “going ons” among the ministry!  

Another of my fellow instructors, was George (last name withheld)….and later on, one of my dearly-beloved student, George (last name withheld)….they both had worked in the financial offices (both in B.S. And Pasadena)…they related to me how HWA, GTA, and all the top ministers…..Rod Meredith, Dibar Apartian, Ron Kelly, Dr. Hoeh, the Coles, the Blackwells, Gerald Waterhouse…and on & on & on…..would just waltz-in….and take money out of the so-called “third tithe”, to go buy whatever they wanted!   Once, GTA had to have money to buy himself a cabin cruiser-boat!   Well…they did some unthinkable things to my wife, Suzanne (formerly Suzanne (last name withheld)….she was a professional opera singer…had sung 14 years with the new Orleans opera co., before going out to Ambassador, Pasadena).  If she will allow me to, I will write later on, and tell you about all the horrible, horrible. nightmare things (similar to Hitler’s concentration camps!), that were done to her, at the hand of Herbert W. Armstrong & his staff!!!

 But, enough for now!   Just know that you have my full support in your efforts to expose the whole slimy “group”!  I would have liked to have done exactly what you are now doing, but I just didn’t have the “means” (after giving all my money to HWA for 25 years), or the know-how to do so!  So, you & your staff just keep up the good work!!!   I pray for your safety & blessing, in this most distasteful task, that you have chosen to undertake.

 More later & have a good day,

Warmest regards,

This is a P.S. to the other, longer, message that I just sent you a few minutes ago.  I wanted to add, that I never, however, got *****paid******, not one red cent, for all the decorating that I did.   neither did I ever get paid for teaching English lit., all those years at ambassador.  

I also was called on to evaluate most all of the Spokesman’s Clubs (since I had had extensive training in Toastmasters Int., while with Dupont) for the church, Ambassador, & Imperial Schools.   I also was the editor of the Imperial School’s yearbook, “The Diplomat” for years & years, and also did the lay-outs, for the Ambassador. college yearbook, the Envoy (for the B.S. campus segment) for years & years.   But, I was told that I was supposed to “do all that” for god! 

However, when I started teaching at Ambassador, I had already been in Big Sandy for many years, teaching at the Imperial grade & high school.   They shipped my wife & I down to B.S. in the autumn of 1959, to teach in Imperial, when it was just a beginning school, and Mr. Lockner was the head principal…it was then conducted in the old redwood building…with no heat, I might add!  but, later, when ambassador college was started in big sandy, and I was told (not asked) that I would be an instructor at the college.

I was told by Dr. Charles Dorothy & Mr. Torrence & Les McCullough, that I would get an additional salary for teaching in the college!  for two years, I never received a penny!   then, later on, when I went in to talk & ask them why I wasn’t , at least, getting paid for being a college instructor, I was told, that they had decided not to pay me extra for teaching in the college…that “the work was always down”, and anyway, I was making a salary (all of $6,000.00 a year….and I would get a paycheck, sometimes…about every 3 months!!!!) teaching at Imperial School…and all the rest that I did, I was supposed to do free, for ******God (???)*******!!!!!!

Over the years, I have known & or, taught, nearly everyone that was in the top echelon of the ministry, faculty or staff…of both Ambassador College & Imperial Schools.   I used to teach both Aaron & Kevin Dean. In fact, my wife and I knew them when they were only 3 & 4  year olds, and their mother was forced to get a divorce from her husband, by the church, and they were kept so poor, and moved to Big Sandy.   I am truly, indeed, so very sad, at the “way” Herbert W. Armstrong ****used**** those two boys, and the way they have turned out….thanks to HWA & WWC!!!   They were precious little boys & young men, but guess they just didn’t stand a chance!  

Years later, I talked personally with Kevin (though I’m sure he would deny it, now), and he told me plenty!!!!!   About both GTA…but mostly about Herbert W. Armstrong’s ***great alcoholism, use of drugs, adultery, fornication, using all the 3rd tithes, incest, and homosexuals!!!   Said that he was the one that had to “put HWA to bed”, after his escapades…. That HWA had to have pink satin sheets, changed three times a day, & that he would be so drunk, that he would always throw-up on the pink satin sheets!!!   Said that Herbert W. Armstrong was insulted if he ever had to use a bar of soap twice…and that he wouldn’t use laundered sheets or towels, or shirts, or soap, etc.   that everything, every time, had to be brand new, for HWA!   and, later on, heard that GTA demanded the same treatment!  

Kevin told me about “all” of HWA’s “little boys”!!!    Said that he loved women, and having sexual relations with members of his own family….but, that most of all, Herbert W. Armstrong just ……*******loved******** “having “sex” with tender, young  !!! boys!!!!

Well…enough said & I have probably told you way / far  ***too much*** already!

Goodbye again.