The Painful Truth-Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God
Understanding the psychology of religious seduction and spiritual abuse.
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there was a king who ruled unjustly over his self-made kingdom. The king had a son who lacked moral fortitude and dignity. These self proclaimed teachers taught the great people how to honor and worship the God that was said to be looking over the domain of this mighty empire.
Introduction.
King Herbert was a greedy man, very much fond of money, who cared about nothing but the wealth he could extort from the citizens of his kingdom. His son the prince who was more popular than the king, had a reputation of stealing the citizens daughters and wives and use them for his own personal sexual gratification.
Two Wrong Choices.
Eventually the innocent citizens were to be forced into an inescapable predicament by the two men who rule over them. A choice must be made. The choice of continuing to follow the king or to forgo him and follow his son the prince. The people are trapped in a prison, but treated as an honored guest as they are courted by the two competitors.
They ask themselves ‘Shall I remain being a servant of the kings house, or should I chose the kings son Prince Ted as my protector and mentor?’ As the war between father and son escalated it seemed that the kingdom was going to be split apart! Prince Ted declared that his father the king had lost his way and no longer followed the precepts of the god he proclaimed for all the years behind him.
One side said the prince had no right to rule for his sexual sins were many. The other side proclaimed the king had grown senile and increasingly corrupt. Brother was pitted against brother, a father against his own daughter, a son against his whole family. The kingdom was hopelessly divided. Was there not another way? Was there no one among all the governors or citizens that the people could chose from that might lead them into the ways of righteousness? The solution for unification was not to be found, for the people had little moral direction.
Two Kingdoms.
In time the people made their wretched decision and the domain in which they all had dwelt was torn asunder. Those who followed the senile king and those who wished to intercourse with the son went their own way with weeping and bitterness. The kingdom was divided. Would it stand?
After some years, the governors who ruled over the districts grumbled among themselves. King Herbert it had been said, took a child decades earlier saying ‘For God has given her to me. Hence forth she will be mine to use as I wish’. This was a point of contention among the governors and much was made of it until they considered that the king held the purse strings that provided themselves with subsistence. Once again, the lack of moral direction stood out as testimony against them. For they once again forsook their God and embraced the ways of a evil man. For they also had little moral direction in which to steer the kingdom.
In the princes kingdom, King Ted (as some have called him) and those who thought of themselves as being on the correct side of the argument, embraced the new founded empire. It was to be blessed by the God of their realm they were told and it was declared all over the land ‘God is pleased’.
Over time the new king changed some of the doctrines that his father held so affectionately. Once again, some did not think that he should change the former kings doctrines as to the God of the new nation. The controversy was soon to be overshadowed by a outrage of epic proportion. One that would oust the king and replace him! But that is another story….A story of greed, lust and sexual sins unworthy of one who calls himself a leader of men!
Child Sacrifices.
King Herbert sought to increase his kingdom and its wealth. But how shall he be able to increase that which he has not? One day a Fairy came to Herbert and said:
‘Oh mighty King, I have that which you seek. Give me the first born children of your citizens and I shall have them serve you. You shall become wealthy beyond measure! Tell your servants that their children will be placed into the hands of the almighty God for His service. Then you shall spin the people and turn which is not yours into gold’.
And the king agreed to the terms of the deal. The Fairy sprinkled Herbert with pixie dust and all that he asked for was granted.
This pleased the king and he gave a decree to all those of the kingdom saying:
‘Your children are mine, the gold and the silver are mine, thus saith the Lord’.
The people blind with loyalty obeyed and dedicated their first born children to the God of the land. All those of the land seemed pleased with the kings decree and felt that their God shall richly bless them and repay them for their sacrifice. However, little did they realize that their sacrifice was a confirmation of a vow, one their king gave…one which the people were unaware of. The children were to be handed over to Moloch, not the God of the land.
Becoming God as God is God.
The king was greatly delighted to see all the glittering treasure pour out from his spinning wheel. Beyond his wildest dreams cash was dropped at his door. Investing wisely, the king saw his empire greatly increase in size and scope. It was time to travel and feast. For the workers are many and the fortune is great. And as the king enjoyed his good fortune, a fortune made secure by the Fairy and the vow he gave, great fanfare, glorious cheers and pompous declaration began to be heard all over the land. Some began to call the king āApostleā and others called him the new āElijahā that was to come. Indeed, there was never before such a man as this one the people thought. For he is a prophet of God!
The king had a particularly cruel method for financing his kingdom. He cleverly developed a tithing system which had never existed before in all of history. The people of the kingdom were told that God required them to give as much as 30% their income, plus generous offerings seven times per year to the kingdom. Threats of being cursed by the God of the kingdom if one did not comply. For what was to became of the gold and silver no one knew the full truth of the matter. It was by faith they were to live!
Social Problems in the Kingdom.
After a time, social problem developed in the kingdom. Children were left in the forests in droves or orphaned on the streets. There was little money in circulation within the kingdom for the king had become greedy beyond measure and hoarded much. Even the widows mite was not enough for him.
Some of the governors in their district began removing children from their parents using force in order to insure that they are raised āproperlyā. Others told their district citizens to abandon their crippled children and allow heathens who followed not the āgodā of the kingdom, to raise the little beasts, for these had little to none to offer. The nation was in disarray for the governors began to push loyalty to the limit by harshly ruling over the people of the kingdom.
This produced a domino effect. Husbands domineered their wives. Parents would likewise treat their children sternly with strict discipline. The people of the kingdom had learned this behavior from their leaders. Those they looked up to for guidance. And they felt justified in their evil behavior toward others. The vortex was beginning to churn!
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