Author: James

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.
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Politicians, Priests and Pornographers Part II

Exploring The Common Denominator


Priests.

Just what do you think of when you hear the word “Priest?”

Wiki offers the following description: “Priests and priestesses have been known since the earliest of times and in the simplest societies. They exist in all or some branches of Judaism, Christianity, Shintoism, Hinduism, and many other religions, as well, and are generally regarded as having good contact with the deity or deities of the religion to which they subscribe, often interpreting the meaning of events, performing the rituals of the religion, and to whom other believers often will turn for advice on spiritual matters.“


We will skip the urban dictionary this time around and focus on the profession.

In the Christian religion, the priest (the second grade of clergy) is someone that claims to be called of God, who exemplifies Christ and Christ’s church, and works towards the reconciliation of all people with God and one another. They perform leadership duties in administrating the sacraments, worship services, and serve the membership in the area where they live and work.


Sounds warm and fuzzy doesn’t it? However, there is another side of this coin. Unlike any other profession, the priest stands as an intercessor between you and the Supreme Creator known as “God.” He is the middle man in the equation and claims that he will lead you on the “narrow road” that leads to eternal life.


No politician would boast such a claim, but the priest does. Claiming more power than any government authority on earth, the priest sews his noesis fabric into a set of doctrines that he guarantees as the way, the truth and the light. The crucial main ingredient is faith. The membership are told to have faith in God, and if we look at what the priest is really saying, it is “trust me.” Faith we understand is the confident belief or trust in a person, idea, or thing that is not based on proof. So how do you know if this person, the priest is trustworthy?


To trust one, you put your faith under that persons control. Faith involves a concept of approaching events or outcomes, and is used conversely for a belief system not resting on legitimate proof or material evidence. Informal usage of the word “faith” can be quite unspecific, and can be used in place of “trust or belief.”


Putting your faith in Armstrong-ism.

Generally speaking, in the realm of Armstrong-ism, some of these priestly leaders continue to go through life back-stabbing, back-biting, exhibiting anger and hostility towards others of the same or even different “faiths.” They are not to be trusted by the summation of mentally balanced people. They have few if any true friends. They are the egotistical elite, placing themselves at the center of the world with no direct concern for others.


But our dear priests have a winning formula! Kindly, charismatic, showing outward respectability, loving and caring for their fellow man, their expressed wish of sharing the gospel and leading others to worship the deity they have chosen for us, is all a bit much to stomach. The reality is that some who possess leadership positions in the various churches, use the the membership as if they are ATM machines. Others of the priestly ilk pick and chose from the faithful for sexual trysts. Some desire your children. The truth is, this is an ecclesiastical power structure which is an oases for pedophiles, adulterers, stalkers and even murderers.


The organizational hierarchy co-operates to keep such misconduct from becoming public knowledge. They fail to oversee, educate, investigate or properly discipline the misconduct of the ministers, deacons or elders. They ensure that criminal behavior (not limited to those in leadership positions) is never prosecuted or punished. You have just got to wonder if there is a mechanism of institutional restraint built into the system.


They are wolves masquerading as shepherds. They are what Wyatt Earp was to law enforcement in Americas Old West. Lawless, disgraceful and without a conscious, this ophidian cabal hides behind the facade of righteousness. Where is the righteous rage and singular purpose to prevail over this corruption that is contributing to the mental diminution of both adults and their children within the corporate church?


“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”
—Albert Einstein


The Fox and the Grapes.

“The fox who longed for grapes, beholds with pain
The tempting clusters were too high to gain;
Grieved in his heart he forced a careless smile,
And cried, “They’re sharp and hardly worth my while.”
—Aesop (ca. 620–564 BCE)

This fable is about people who attempt to hold antagonistic ideas while attempting to maintain their belief system simultaneously. As the prophecies that enticed us into Herbert Armstrong’s family business continue to fail, we all have asked ourselves “What makes it worth their while to stay?”


One of the great motivators of all time, used by both politician and priest, is the extraordinary psychological incentive known as “fear.” Following the successful soap salesman, the ministry uses diatribe, Herbert-style lunacy, to its utmost limits. Every despicable word, and manufactured falsehood paints a perfect picture of Armstrong style hysteria and bestowed hebdomadally as they unveil “a lesson for those with eyes to see.”


These lesson are not so much about spiritual issues as they should be, but they are about the core character of these self-satisfied, amateurish doomsday prophets. They consistently voice from the pulpit an extensive treatise whose hypothetical propositions (prophecies) are put forth without a shred of evidence or scholarship. With the catastrophic power of corporate church fascism and with the repression of an authoritarian government, they will never allow the blue ribbon tithe payer to rise up and challenge them as to their agone prophecies. If challenged, they will try to convince you that they are of unstained ethical standards and representatives of an all knowing and loving God. Suchlike the authoritative state, the church and the leaders are never erroneous in their edicts.


The rotting structure who’s foundation is built on the failed prophecies and falsehood of Herbert W. Armstrong can not stand. The door has been kicked in and the structure trembles before the fall. The fable of British Israel-ism has evolve and continues to evolve, all to fit the times we live in. World events present new problems for the Armstrong groups. The world players are changing with antagonistic states or groups rising up and challenging America. Will the membership remember what they hear from the pulpit? Will they demand an accounting from the leadership when their prophecies fail?


History shows us that the minority will continue to follow the repressive, heavy handed mind control groups. What will be left as this structure fails? You will see small groups of people shuffling from one end of the demolished shack to the other end. Like rats, they never leave, just doomed to become religious nomads within the structure of Armstrong-ism.


Conclusion:

Fear is the apical motivator that keeps people involved.

Fear of the ministry.

Fear of losing a fictional crown.

Fear of isolation by the current membership after leaving.

Fear of learning what is behind their cognitive dissonance.

Fear of change. Like the fox who could not obtain the grapes, they quit and renounce the objective goal. These are the real losers in the crumbling Armstrong empire. They will live in fear, unable to achieve their personal goals, in or out of the church. To these I say “Stay. You belong in tinfoil-hat land.”


“Armstrong-ism may have been conceived in philosophical theory, but it quickly degenerated into meretricious Lysenkoism.”
—James

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Politicians, Priests and Pornographers

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Exploring The Common Denominator

(*) Notes

The Politician.

 

What just is a politician? If we look this term up in a dictionary we will see that a politician is one who is a “member of a governing body that decides public policy or influences public opinion.” Another definition is “a seeker or holder of public office, who is more concerned about winning favor or retaining power than about maintaining principles.”

Then we have the “Urban dictionary which defines the politician rather colorfully, if not with regretful accuracy.

  1. A person who practices politics. “Politics” is derived from the words “poly” meaning “many”, and “tics” meaning “blood-sucking parasites.”
  2. One who has perfected the art of lying.
  3. A highly paid yes-man.

Sound familiar? What we have here is a group of people, mostly lawyers that are going to decide what is best for all of us. In the course of their duties these folks go about day after day trying to work out the best deal for their constituents and/or themselves. They will spend your money on the most inept concepts, useless pet projects and use the same old tired cliches about family, education and safer streets. Lest we forget, manipulative psychological techniques over honest discussion.

But it has not always been this way. There was a time when these animals in office served for the betterment of the nation. A time when the course of a nation and its people was decided on using the principle and ethics that represented the majority of the populous. Tantamount was the goal of preserving individual liberty and the advance of the general welfare of the people that they represented. To the discerning, it seems those days are the bygone of a time long since past.

In the course of a lifetime all of us have encountered various figures, both public and private that have their hand out trying to convince you that they have something you “need” or “must have” presenting you with a sales pitch that tries to convince you to buy into a product, a service, or a philosophy. Walk down the main street of Las Vegas and the panhandlers hand you sex cards trying to entice you to rent a whore. Turn on the TV and you have so called preachers trying to prostitute Jesus to you for a price. Vote for a politician and he will betray you for the benefit of some lobbyist as he hikes up your taxes once again.

In politics, if you chose to participate by voting or by running for office, you will have a front row in observing the unbridled greed and uninhibited excesses that run throughout the human genome. The nefarious, obdurate and simplistic politicians intend to keep us, the constituent, blissfully ignorant of the facts. Their mouths teem with useless and distorted information, their undertakings and grandiose plans are inefficient and doomed for failure. The people are pawns to be used and manipulated. If you listen to the politicians sing-song, chances are you won’t even notice his hand as it goes into your pocket. Only later, after you realize you’ve been robbed, will you truly understand that life isn’t fair. But support them we will. We must keep the “faith!”

Yes faith! Faith in the politician with his “new” ideas that will make your life better and solve all the social injustices in the world! Lets call this the American version of hegemony cultural change. *(The term was coined by the Italian philosopher and communist, Antonio Gramsci.) The eventual dominance (war of position) of one social group over another where the ruling class has come to be seen as the norm within the society as a whole. The hard reality is that these ruling class whores are experts at manipulating, dividing (totalitarian world view) and fleecing (debt) their constituents. They claim to represent the “people” but serve the needs of themselves and/or the special interest groups.

The Politician..
1. …tells you he is not going to raise taxes on the middle class. Instead, he’s going to raise corporate income taxes as means to get rich corporations to pay their rightful share of government. *(What really happens? The corporation raises the price of its products, lower dividends and lays off its workers.) Who pays the price for this deception? We do. Politicians of this ilk are intellectually and morally deficient. In defending their ideas, they promote injustice, poverty, and grinding despair. The chance for further prosperity is now foregone, unrealized and concealed.

2. …never responds to a problem by letting go of his power.

3. …controls the media in order to control the information the masses ingest.

4. …creates an atmosphere of fear where the masses surrender their freedom for security.

5. …creates illusions. *(They cite the sins of foreign rulers, and then ask us to join in killing their downtrodden subjects. The federal government was formed to protect Americans (defensive posture) and not foreign rulers and their subjects. Today we have a strong national offense, but a very weak national defense. America is surrounded by two oceans that protects the nation from invasion. What is needed is a missile defense that will repel a nuclear attack, and a border patrol that will protect us from those foreigners when they make their mad dash across the border.)

6. …offers the solution for problems he created.

7. …exploits situations such as a disaster for a photo-op and speech.

8. …most valuable skill is the ability to lie convincingly.

9. …panders to those who can help him, such as special interest groups.

10. …is always in campaign mode.

11. …is not what he says he is. One example would be a spendthrift liberal running as a fiscal conservative.

12. …comes into office with modest means and leaves office a millionaire.

In any case, I cannot believe how many actual, physical, breathing, thinking citizenry have fallen for the politicians subterfuge. Because of them, we are now observing the change in our society’s philosophy and values from freedom and justice to corruption, decay, cynicism, and injustice. All of these “values” are artistically incorporated within American politics.

Next post: The Priest.