Quiet Riot

Recently (Aug. 14, 2014), the Trumpet came out with a new article entitled: Riots–Coming to a City Near You! This in response to the riots and looting going on in Ferguson, MO, since the killing of a black man by a white police officer.

And while yet another “news source” weighing in on the events near St. Louis, isn’t exceptional, what is exceptional is that, apparently, this was all prophesied in the bible! And not only that, but Mr. Flurry has been telling us for the past 20 years that this sort of thing was going to happen!

Does God Exist?–Armstrong’s Weak Sauce Theism

“Prove all things, bitches.” I Thessalonians 5:21.

The brand of theism preached by the churches of Armstrongism is different from mainstream theism in an important way. While most people who believe in God will readily admit they do so on the basis of faith, Armstrongists insist they can prove that God exists. But how special is this Armstrong-style theism really? Was it invented by Armstrong, or did he merely co-opt an obsolete ideology and put his stamp on it, as with so many of his other supposed innovations?

Sex, Smack and Sodomy!–Fraser Bemoans “Mire of Murk”

Why write on subjects akin to that which the Apostle Paul observed of the Church should “not be once named among you”?

I have to ask that question on the rare occasion that I step into the mire of murk that our society has descended into and write a commentary or analysis on its current moral condition.

Why indeed?

Although he is dead, Ron Fraser of PCG is still our favorite BNP wannabe, jingoist anglophile. He’s also a great source for alliterative prose and, thanks to his prolific backlog of Trumpet articles, his assaults on English elements of style will live on in Internet infamy. The opening quote comes from an article recently shared to the Former PCG Members Facebook page, with which your dear editors are quite cozy. The denizens there gave it some attention, so I thought I’d take some time to beat it up a little here as well. Let’s get started!

Fish Fry Part 4 – Lungfish

G’day, and welcome to Part 4 of this 5 part series covering the WCG/Ambassador Press booklet Some Fishy Stories, by Garner Ted Armstrong. In Part 1 you can find introductory material; thus, without further ado, the Lungfish…

Troy Fitzgerald Interviews Deborah Armstrong

Our friend Troy Fitzgerald, of Secular Safe House, recently recorded a conversation with Deborah Armstrong (Herbert’s niece and the daughter of Dwight Armstrong). She shares her thoughts on (among other topics) child abuse in the cult, religious belief, and her very interesting plans for some of her father’s unpublished hymns! Check it out over at the Secular Safe House site.

Fish Fry Part 3 – Anglerfish

Come towards the light…

The Anglerfish–one of the most frightening and amazingly weird creatures on earth.

It is also the third fish used by Garner Ted Armstrong as proof that evolution is false (you can read along by downloading the PDF of Some Fishy Tales here). Admittedly, it is rather difficult to see how so many unique features coalesced on one astounding type of marine vertebrate via the mechanics of descent with modification and natural selection. More than 200 species make their homes in habitats as diverse as the shallower areas of the Mediterranean, to the inky frozen recesses of the deep sea.

The Plain Truth about the Flood

This children’s story has a few holes in it.

“Why would a God of love drown and put to death all of humanity?” These are the words of Herbert W. Armstrong. “Science can’t give you the answer, and religion can’t give you the answer.” You’re only halfway there, Herbie, but you need to take me all the way.

One of the oldest works of writing contains a myth about a flood, but it’s not the biblical old testament. It’s the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem out of Mesopotamia. It includes gods that deliver a flood to punish humanity, and a man and his wife are chosen to survive. Pretty similar to the biblical story. China, India, Thailand, and many other cultures have flood myths in their history. Like with many grand aspects of the bible—a god who creates and controls existence, a savior who dies and is resurrected—the great flood is not an original tale. It is a retelling of a very old myth also known as the deluge myth.

Despite this universal idea that there was a worldwide deluge, there’s no way that it actually really happened.

Fish Fry Part 2 – Anableps

This is Part 2 of a 5 part series covering the booklet Some Fishy Stories by Garner Ted Armstrong. You can find Part 1, which includes some introductory material, here.

“Come one, come all, and behold one of the wonders of the world–a four-eyed fish! Hurr-ay, hurr-ay, hurr-ay!”

Well, almost. Just like at carnivals and circuses, the reality doesn’t necessarily live up to the hype. Garner Ted invites us to “think about another of the most amazing creatures on earth…this little fish literally has four eyes!”

Eyeing you up…and down!

Ohhh, so close, and thanks for playing–actually, the fish only has two eyes…

Fish Fry Part 1 – Archer Fish

Too many…fish puns…aaahhhhh!

I have written before about the lies we were told, specifically in the PCG, about the Theory of Evolution. In a way, I am at it again, only this time focusing on Armstrong’s lies about it. Specifically, this is the first of a multi-part series covering the Ambassador College booklets A Fishy Story, A Theory for the Birds, and A Whale of a Tale. In my first article, I was not trying to convince anybody that one side of the Great Debate was more true than the other–I was merely pointing out that we were told lies.

In this article, however, I aim to be more persuasive.

Ron Fraser: ‘Til the Bitter End

Hot off the press! This just in! Ron Fraser, Pastor-rank Minister (think Pastor…), and chief Historian and News Watcher, has died.

He died of heart problems, or a second heart-attack (I’m not entirely sure which). He had had a pace-maker for years; I remember being in the church when his first heart attack hit and he received the pace-maker. “He’s just too important to the Work”, Mr. Flurry told everyone. Of course, if he was as important as all that, then God would surely have healed him so that he wouldn’t need the pace-maker–but such are the duplicitous standards of the Cult.

Tanta stultitia mortalium est

He did a great job as, what I would call, Flurry’s Bulldog–always watching the news for any sign that what his boss was saying, and what he believed bible prophecy taught, was coming true. You can find his last articles here: https://www.thetrumpet.com/columnist/22/ron-fraser (you have to sign up for a free account to theTrumpet.com website to read everything).

A member of the Old Guard is passed. Though I liked him very much in my church days, seeing what I have seen through the research done by myself and the others here at AD (disproving British Israelism, for instance, or showing that the incessant scare-mongering about Germany is completely bunk), and thus recognizing the powerful untruths he has battered so many with, I can’t suppress a feeling of:

Good Riddance.