Jesus as Mussolini

It's election year and the Good News has trotted out the usual tired old articles. What is the Key to Real Leadership? Collaboration? Nope... Ours is a tradition that values ego-driven nutcases parading as servant leaders. Did Herbert Armstrong embody "real" leadership? Does Meredith or Flurry, Hulme or Pack? What about dear old Joe Tkach, touchy-feely New Age-Evangelical Pastor General of WCG? Let's get real, isn't it apparent that these dudes want to play the five-star Pastor General and servanthood is what others do for them and their great cause? (Which is, naturally, identical with what God wants, right?) Do Clyde Kilough and United's COE embody "real leadership?" Jerold Aust has produced an article that is mind-numbing in its inanity.

Howard Davis delivers part two of the four-yearly waffle with a variation on "Who would Jesus vote for?" called Could Jesus Christ be elected President?

I mean, just how dumb is the question? These guys wouldn't know "real leadership" if they tripped over it in broad daylight.

Howard of course doesn't believe in democracy, if I understand his argument. He's got his heart set on a facist super-state. Howard's Jesus is a celestial Mussolini who'll make the trains run on time.

When Christ comes there will be no need for a democratic process to elect the nations' top leadership. (page 9)

Somehow, I don't find that comforting. Leadership in the UCG millenium? DO AS YOU'RE TOLD.

Sorry lads, but that "ideal" doesn't do much for me. I wonder if Jerold and Howard wouldn't be a lot happier living in North Korea or Saudi Arabia?

Another take on the Ten Tribes

Call it a blind spot, but how come nobody pays much attention to Jewish views on those Ten Tribes? I mean, don't you think they of all people might have some interest in the history of these long-separated brethren?

Here's a link to a guy - Mendel Kaplan - who's a Lubavitch Rabbi in NYC, with a 90 minute lecture on the questions that have exercised a good many folk in the COG tradition. Worth a listen? Well, it's got to be fresher than anything Rod, Gerry or Big Dave could come up with.

Wonderful World Ahead?

Few WCG publications have had the torturous history that The Wonderful World Tomorrow: What It Will Be Like has had.

The first edition came out in 1966 at just under a hundred pages, co-authored by Herbert and Ted Armstrong. It was to gain infamy from its opening paragraph:

Where will YOU be, ten years from now? You can know what is going to happen. In this booklet you are going to take an astonished glimpse into this world as it will be - in just ten or fifteen short years.

Of course, fifteen years later it was 1981. Whoops.

There was a revised edition in 1973 (shown in the photograph above), but the next hard copy I have in my files is from 1979, published in hardback by the church imprint Everest House. The title has been slightly altered: Tomorrow... What It Will Be Like. By this time Ted had been expunged - the "cultural revolution" of 1978 had broken over the church like Hurricane Katrina, leaving one senile, unpredictable, imperious megalomaniac as supreme figurehead. Herbert's name now stands alone. This was the version that appeared in US bookstores, destined to lie in unsold heaps, little more than a "vanity publication."

By 1982 the WCG was reissuing it "... not to be sold. It is a free educational service in the public interest..." Educational? In the public interest? Do tell... The text is virtually identical with the Everest House edition, but the title has been restored to its original form.

I have no idea whether it made it off the presses again before Armstrong's death. PCG undoubtably now owns the rights to this "masterpiece."

But fear not little flock, if you missed out on the earlier versions, and can't stomach the thought of crawling to Gerry for a copy, you can secure an "almost the same thing" genuine imitation. Earlier this year LCG released a colorful 35 page clone entitled The World Ahead: What It Will Be Like, authored by none other than your favorite "leading evangelist" and mine, Roderick C. Meredith. While the word "joy" isn't the first one I associate with Rod and his "three to five years" gospel, it figures prominently in the sub-heads: "JOY Under God's Government" (arbeit macht frei?) and "Teachers of JOY!"

I guess you could call it the Ren and Stimpy "Happy happy joy joy" rewrite.

A Chrome Herring

The difference between a good blog and a bad one is focus: know your audience and stick to the program.

Alas, I feel a slip coming on. A red herring.

Make that a chrome herring.

As we all know, the Evil One, the Adversary, Lucifer, Satan is revealed as Microsoft's Internet Explorer, the browser of the Beast. Yes, I'm fully aware that some of you - more than will confess and repent of it - are enslaved even now to this vile demonic entity. IE was a murderer from the beginning, and the blood of the righteous Netscape still cries out from the ground!

Until now the forces of light have gathered around Firefox, the Web's best hope. Safari and Opera are lightweights by comparison, but each user who switches from the Empire of Darkness lights a small candle of hope, and now there's a new front opening in the battle for the Gates of the Enemy: Google Chrome.

Have you been vacillating? Held in thrall by fear of the unknown, mindlessly worshiping at the temple of Microsoft? Now is the moment! Break free! Call on Providence to strengthen your resolve and download Chrome. Do it now... NOW is the hour of salvation!

There - that's the closest I've ever come to issuing an altar call. Sorry about the absence of sawdust, but I couldn't find any at short notice. And remember, even if Chrome isn't for you (it's still in Beta), there are still others who have yet to bow the knee to Bill/Baal. Hush, wipe away that tear, as well as Chrome your free Firefox download is waiting, calling, softly and tenderly...

Amen and amen.

Poor old Ron

Ron Weinland has the dubious distinction of predicting the End of the Age and being stood up at the Apocalypse. Others have gone this way before, but few as clumsily.

While Ron and his Church of God PKG are minnows in the puddle, Ron has the distinction of attracting more Internet attention than his more successful peers. Blogs on Weinland abound, and now there's a new one with the intriguing title Radio Free PKG.

Poor Ron. The IRS are going through his bank accounts and the plebs are revolting. Does Rod Meredith get this kind of flak? Is Gerry Flurry subjected to this level of scrutiny? Has Dave Pack had to endure these torments. Oh the pain, the pain!

The Burning Issues

The latest issue of The Journal is out, both in paper format (yesterday the May 31 edition arrived in my mailbox here in the more distant latitudes of Her Majesty's Dominions) and via electronic media (the June 30 edition - just in time for 1 September!) Here's the rundown of what's in that June 30 issue.

One God: Another Westby debate, this time in Seattle. I'm not sure why the "one God" thing attracts as much attention among the post-COG faithful, but it does. It'd be interesting to know how many folk Ken has influenced away from classic COG binitarianism. I feel a poll coming on...

Jamaican Pentecost: Ian Boyne toots his trumpet on local CGI attendance. There's even an invitation for Dennis Diehl and myself to wing our way to Jamaica and debate the great (grate?) issues of COGdom with Ian. ["We would allow Ambassador Watch webmaster Gavin Rumney and former-minister-turned-Bible-skeptic Dennis Diehl to present if they would come! (This is an open invitation.)"] Thanks Ian, no offense - and Jamaica is an alluring destination - but I'll be giving that a miss.

Bleak Knight Over Babylon: Another installment of - IMHO - ill-informed, offensive, speculative piffle from a COG7 author whose qualifications are... ??? That's without mentioning the tie-in anti-Catholic ad in the Connections section... sheeessh.

Knee Jerks: Dear Lord are there only Republicans in COGdom? Reactionary commentary from Dan White who, I think one can confidently assert, won't be barracking for Obama. After laying down the cover fire, he then moves on to the holy virtues of home schooling.

UCM: Wesley White reports on the UCM Women's conference in Alabama.

Den Again: Amidst the gloom, Dennis Diehl arises with another column that goes a long way toward washing away the aftertaste of some of the other articles.

The most striking news? The heathens of Harvest Rock in Pasadena have painted the egret scupture in front of the auditorium white. Is there no end to Pentecostal deviance?

Across in the Connections section my favorite ad is headed up: Is William F. Dankenbring really a true "Apostle" of God? The author? William F. Dankenbring!

Having said that, I'm a big fan of The Journal and proud to be a paid subscriber - even if only, to cadge a phrase from a certain esteemed resident of rocky Gibraltar, "to keep our disgust fresh." To check out the PDF of the front and back pages click here.

Cult botch?

Cult watch groups are a bit like Contrary Mary: when they're good they're okay but when they're bad they're worse than useless. The least credible cult watch groups are those that hide behind a nifty URL but provide no information about the sponsors - individual or corporate. Those dudes could have variable competence or a wacky agenda, who's to know?

Consider this entry at www.cults.co.nz.

Worldwide Church of God (New Zealand). Under investigation. We have been informed that the Worldwide Church of God in New Zealand is turning away from the teaching of Joseph Tkach and is returning to Armstrongism. See Worldwide Church of God (United States) for more information about the WCoG's reformation away from Armstrong's false teachings.

Uh? Well, that's a surprise. But does this information have credibility? Who or what is cults.co.nz anyway? The person responsible is Ian Mander, but in our eagerness to contact him AW ran up against a minor problem: no email address. Ian seems to be well regarded among his peers, and has got himself some publicity with his views on a group called "Gentle Wind." There is supposed to be a contact form but - wouldn't you know it - "the feedback form/survey is offline at present."

My advice to Ian (apart from fixing the contact thing) is to simply pick up the phone and give Rex Morgan a ring. Rex is a decent fellow and has a reputation for being an honest bloke. I'd be very surprised if he was leading any charge back into the herbal fog-bank.

Oh yeah, it took years to get around to it but - behold - WCG-NZ finally has a web presence. Congrat's Rex, but ya gotta do something with that church news page...

Climb the Wall

Remember Ron Wallen? The one-time minister headed up a WCG faction that decided to hang tight in the church till God set things back to right, which means returning to the pure herbalicious flavor of Armstrongism. The Wallen crowd continued attending WCG (because, despite it all, it was still God's True Church, wasn't it?)

Time passeth, and Ron shuffles off to join Herb in the great pre-resurrection waiting room. But the faithful remnant - presumably a rapidly aging remnant - holds fast. They refuse to split away, remaining attached like barnacles to the rotting Tkach hull while also doing their own thing. No bank account, no formal status...

So where do you send the money to? This recently received email (slightly edited) sums up the problem.

The "Wallenites" (originally formed by Ron Wallen who died a few years back) believe that WCG was and is God's one true church. They are Armstrong worshippers and consider themselves "the remnant" holding on to the original teachings of HWA. They have their own services, holy days, mailing lists, literature, pastors, etc. but refuse to incorporate into a "church" because somehow they think that act of putting a name to their organization would make it a sin because God doesn't want them to start a new "church". Apparently they tell their followers to remain in WCG to "help others see the light" unless they are unable because the local congregation no longer worships on the Sabbath.

I've been told that since they are not formed as an official organization they simply tithe by writing checks directly to their spiritual leader based in Lakeland, Florida. I know they attract about 600 to their feast site so while they are very small and scattered that is potentially a fairly decent revenue stream.

The correspondent goes on to wonder about IRS details and suchlike. While we're not suggesting malfeasance, you'd have to say writing personal checks in this way, if that's what's happening, hardly seems "best practice." Anyone out there able to clarify?

For those interested, the good folk who adhere to Wallen's position have a website with the incongruously appropriate URL http://climbthewall.com/. A list of Sabbath venues (dated January) is available here.

House built on tithes

We've had a peek at the Weinland house already. Now, whose modest home is this?

According to an unconfirmed posting on an LCG board, this is the abode of Dr. Roderick C. Meredith, Presiding Evangelist of the Living Church of God.

Nice.

It's good to know that the Eternal is taking good care of his faithful commander-in-chief.

If you'd like to contribute to the upkeep of the gardens, remember, Rod's meager stipend is made possible through your generous, sacrificial tithes and offerings.

Update: For details on the Meredith domicile - all from publicly available records - click over to the Mecklenburg County Real Estate Lookup System, enter Rod's name in the search field and, ta-da! Click on the photo link at the top of that page and you'll find that the picture is indeed genuine (though perhaps a little dated.)

Looking for Darwin

Intelligent Design is nothing less than Creationism in Drag: it is an attempt to pass off Creationism as a science, without ever mentioning the word God. The principal modus operandi of its proponents is to attack what it perceives as the two main weaknesses of the Darwinian world-view. Namely, (i) the fossil record is imperfect, and (ii) it’s impossible to conceive how really complex organs like eyes could be the process of an apparently random and uncontrolled biological process like Natural Selection; that is, half an eye, by its very nature, would be as useless as half a kidney: so how could these complex structures have been constructed as a series of steps as evolutionists seemed to be suggesting?

Except that the Creationists’ arguments are a superficial and nonscientific treatment of the evidence. Indeed, there are gaps in the fossil record, but the fossil record is nothing if not supportive of the Darwinian view of evolution – where one form can be seen to change over time, where simple can be seen to become more complex. Similarly, with complex organs such as eyes, it is being at best mischievous to suggest that the Darwinian view of evolution implies such structures came into being all at once (the Creationists are fond of likening the probability of evolution producing an eye as being similar to the probability of a tornado going through a junkyard and assembling a bus). But that’s just ignorant bluster: evolution doesn’t happen as a single event (in contrast to Creation), but as a long series of steps – some small, some big – that occur over long periods of time. And, yes, it is possible to discern a series of steps whereby simple light receptors have been modified in succeeding groups of animals, culminating ultimately in the vertebrate eye.

Of course, the telling thing for supporters of Intelligent Design, for proponents of so-called Scientific Creationism, is that they have no testable hypotheses, nothing they can hold up and potentially test to validate their view of the world. They lack that basic requirement of any science. They are, therefore, left believing in God and his ability to create the world in six days as an act of faith. Call that intelligent, if you will.
Lloyd Spencer Davis
I've just finished Looking For Darwin, a fast-paced mix of science and travelogue by Otago University's Lloyd Spencer Davis, who follows in the footsteps of the author of Origin of the Species to throw light on the whys and wherefores of life on our small planet.

Regrettably you won't find this one on Amazon, as it's only published in NZ. But be of good cheer ye Northern Hemisphere types, there's a website to accompany the book that's well worth checking out. I particularly enjoyed the comments about ID, but the anecdotes about far-flung places from the Galapagos Islands to Antarctica make this anything but a dry academic read. A helluva book.