Understanding the psychology of religious seduction and spiritual abuse.
The PLAIN TRUTH
A Magazine of Understanding
BOX 111, Pasadena, Calif. 91109
HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG, Editor
November 24, 1967
Dear Friend and PLAIN TRUTH Subscriber: My son, Garner Ted Armstrong, whose voice you hear on The WORLD TOMORROW, has written a personal letter offering you something (FREE of course) he believes you will want.
Continue reading “WCG History. “Herbert W Armstrong On Communism””
Forward: In May 1868, General John A. Logan, the commander-in-chief of the Union veterans’ group known as the Grand Army of the Republic, issued a decree that May 30 should become a nationwide day of commemoration for the more than 620,000 soldiers killed in the recently ended Civil War. On Decoration Day, as Logan dubbed it, Americans should lay flowers and decorate the graves of the war dead “whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.” LINK
General Order Number 11
General Order Number 11 of the Grand Army of the Republic was the document that established Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as it has been also called, as a nationwide observance.
On the 5th of May 1868 as commander in chief of the Grand Army of the republic, I issued to our comrades throughout the land the following order:
“Head quarters Grand Army of the Republic. Adjutant Generals office No 444, 14th Street Washington, D.C. May 5th 1868.
General Orders No 11.
I. The 30th day of May 1868 is designate for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades, who died in defense, of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every City, Village, and hamlet, church yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but Posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us for the purpose, among other things ‘ of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings, which have bound together the soldiers, sailors and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion.’ What can aid more to assure this result than by cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their hearts a barricade between our country, and its foes, their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom, to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance, all that the consecrated wealth and toils of the nation can add to their adornment and security, is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice, or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present, or to the coming generations, that we have forgotten, as a people the cost of a free and undivided Republic.
If other eyes grow dull, and other hands black, and other hearts cold, in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light, and warmth, of life remain to us. Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains, and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of Springtime: let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor. Let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us, a sacred charge upon a nation’s gratitude the soldiers and sailors widow and orphan.
II- It is the purpose of the commander in chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year, to year, while a survivor of the war remains, to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to call attention to this order, and lend its friendly aid in bringing it to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith.
III- Department commanders will use every effort to make this order effective”
By order of John A. Logan. “ Commander in Chief”
The Scopes Trial, formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case in July 1925 in which a substitute high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee’s Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he purposely incriminated himself so that the case could have a defendant.
Hello. Former Armstrongist: WCG 1988-95; UCG 1995-2000; ICG 2000-01. Below is a link to a progressive writeup I’ve been doing with an objective debunking of the Armstrong “True Church” claim. Basically, it points out that they can’t trace the ordinational succession back beyond Armstrong himself. I have gotten some very negative responses from practicing Armstrongists, so I know I am making a point with it. I hope you will look at it and perhaps use it on here.
Thank you.
Well, look at that—the Worldwide Church of God didn’t just fade; it face-planted into obscurity so hard that entire generations have no clue who Herbert or Ted Armstrong even were. The Plain Truth? The World Tomorrow? Sounds like a bad retro band no one’s streaming. Those of us still haunted by the memory are creaking well past middle age, hobbling into—dare I say it—geezer territory. Gross.
Anyone with half a brain and a pulse ditched this circus ages ago. But some, bless their nostalgic little hearts, couldn’t resist the sweet, sweet lies of the tithe-hungry vultures who spun up knockoff ministries faster than you can say “cult.” These sad little factions come in two flavors: the snooze-fests and the straight-up wackos.
First, the snooze-fests: UCG, CGI, COGWA—yawn. They’re not quite deranged enough to be one-dude ego trips, and they’ve got some flimsy guardrails to keep their wannabe dictators in check. But, oh honey, they’re trapped in a 1950s fever dream where women knew their place, gay folks were a myth, and evolution was Satan’s PowerPoint presentation. They’ll slap their dinosaur dogma on a shiny new website, though—because nothing screams “relevant” like preaching to a demographic that’s literally dying off. Spoiler: nobody under 40 cares, and their numbers are tanking faster than a bad sitcom.
Sure, some of these folks are sweet, trying to do good in their own deluded way. But, like, good luck with that, grandpa. No one’s buying.
Then we’ve got the loonies, and oh boy, what a clown car. LCG is the “sanest” of the bunch, which is like saying a paper cut is better than a chainsaw wound—it is still nuttier than a fruitcake. And it only gets worse from there: Weinland, Pack, Flurry, Thiel—pick your poison on the crazy scale. These are the self-crowned kings of their own sad little lunch tables, running one-man fiefdoms that’ll probably implode the second they keel over.
To anyone with a functioning brain, these groups are a cosmic joke—too bad the punchline’s on the poor saps still tithing. They’re too dense to get it.
Victims? Pfft. If you’re still here, you’re choosing to drink the Kool-Aid, and after decades of blatant corruption, manipulation, and hypocrisy, sympathy’s in short supply. Cry me a river. The only ones worth a shred of pity are the kids stuck in hellholes like PCG, raised in these soul-crushing pigsties. Most of ’em will bolt the second they can—Armstrongism’s never been good at keeping the young’uns from running for the hills.
This whole mess’ll be a footnote, if it’s lucky. Good riddance.
