He joined the Restored Church of God, moved to Wadsworth, Ohio and went to work for the cult. He was underpaid and not only worked 40 hours per week at manual labor (“They work you to the bone”), but was expected to do volunteer work for nothing (“Rather, they tell you what to do, to make it look like you’re volunteering”). “It would run its toll on anybody.” He describes what one woman working in the compound headquarters on the third floor went through: She missed a Sabbath because she was tired from the overwork and all the stress, lack of sleep — she got sick — and that’s just one example (of many). Another young man was sick from the work, the stress, the lack of sleep — the supposed ‘urgent work’ we always had to do, because it was this ‘big operation’. One member admitted that he had been there four months and moved 4 times because they made him move. Because you were on their property, they treated you as their property. Often people were given one day to move. Benjamin moved 3 times in two months. Everyone there was so tired. Deep down, they knew they were not in the right place. This was just obsessive. Ministers were intimidating. “It’s all about breaking you down.”
He describes the Restored Church of God as an abusive cult.
There is a place on earth today which well represents what the world would be like if David Pack becomes god and rules the world; it is brought to us as a documentary by the BBC:
“People scavanging in mud.”
“… feels like a doomsday cult.”
No doubt, the people will live in poverty, the leaders will live in sumptuous luxury and there will be monuments to the god king, David Pack.
Excessive, unconstrained power makes people feel over-confident, blind to risk, inclined to treat other people as objects, tunnel-visioned, narcissistic and protected from anxiety. These are all real effects, as biologically driven as those caused by any powerful drug.
David Pack has been proving what sort of person he is and he is looking more and more every day like Kim Jong-un.
Forward: In Part One I wrote about spiritual communism and the useful idiots that support the idea of a one world government. This theocratic “New World Order” is represented by the “Churches of God” and are to be ruled by a king that descends from the heavens above.
Part Two
Armstrong-ism. A Parasitic Leech.
Mark Armstrong, the grandson of Herbert Armstrong, wrote an article entitled“The Misappropriation of Herbert W. Armstrong’s Name.” In this article he laments the constant misuse of his grandfathers name for the benefit of not so few in the ministry. Mark writes “News came to me this week that is sickening. That is, that one of those claiming to have inherited “the authority of Herbert W. Armstrong” has told his congregation that they should liquidate any holdings and send in their money.”
“How many abuses will be committed in the name of my deceased Grandfather? And how long will some poor abused people remain in a state of deception, or worse, mind control?”
Mark tells it like it is. I have lost count as to how many of the “Churches of God” have proclaimed the authority of Herbert W. Armstrong as if he handed them personally the keys to his “thiefdom.”
(Mark, have your eyes been closed and ears plugged as to the abuses of these self proclaimed apostles and prophets?) These parasites have been using your Granddad’s legacy and family name to impoverish people, and undermining their financial security for decades! They are just following the successful corporate model that Herbert Armstrong implemented.
“While the communist is busy beating his people to death and they are dying of hunger…”
“It was communists who a century ago came up with the idea of Income Tax… it was intended to fleece the rich of their wealth and to level everyone to the ground.” Likewise, the “Churches of God” have been successful in using the resources of the “people” in order to build and support their theocratic New World Order. The tax was a tithe, or two, and in some years, three. The squeezing (extorting) money from the membership kept committed and submissive sheeple in line. Like in a communist society, rebelling meant sure death. Now the Armstrong churches might not shoot you in the head, but they claim the authority of God almighty to have you thrown into the lake of fire! It is this alone that kept you and I in line and submissive to their authority. The end game was about money and power.As one article in particular pointed out on the Painful Truth, the organization existed for itself alone. There was no love, mercy or compassion, only contempt!
Earth-bound.
Within the closed totalitarian society of Armstrong-ism lies the seeds of its own destruction. Unable to grow exponentially and unchecked, the information age has decreased the survivability factor a thousand fold. Potential members who never heard of Herbert Armstrong will find umpteen web-sites and articles that offer information on the man and the organization he administrated. Few web-sites are supportive of his efforts and rightfully so.
The unscathed mind will articulate the deception with a click of the mouse! With incredible ease one can decipher this insane notion that America and Britain are the decedents of some lost tribes of ancient Israel. The belief that modern Israel is the result of a promise made to Abraham, and that prophecy cannot be understood without this knowledge, is the Achilles heel that will bring down the movement. It is just unbelievable how many hoops one has to jump through to come to the conclusion that America and the Brits are heir to the promise made to Abraham. The necessary twisting of the scriptures alone is enough to drive the discerning mind far from the grasping hands of the COG gurus!
The “Churches of God” just stunt their growth with all their nutty ideas. They undercut their ability to grow and prosper, to change and move forward. They bash communism, and at the same time express their love for free market capitalism. If they were capitalist they would allow the free expression of the membership in choosing the next generation of leaders. But that is not how they work. Free expression is the enemy of the totalitarian gurus. It is the deathblow to the organization and the power of the upper-class who rule over the regime. If there is to be change it must come from free-thinking individuals who are committed to the free expression of ideas within the confines of their church. The problem is, just how do you open minds in a heavy handed religious regime without being sacrificed on the alter of dissent?
