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VOLUME Four contents:
NETWORK NEWS
And that is only part of it!
The ESN has been in the forefront of several traumatic events with
individuals and breaking news. We have been active as a voice and
proactive with the endeavor to expose the works of evil. The few of us
who have dedicated the countless hours and sacrificed our personal lives
carry the load of a major work force. The ESN's success is credited to
the fact that we will not give up and our strong will-will continue to
inspire us to unravel the rat's nest of decades of deception. Our
collective voice will continue to help free those exploited by
propaganda, mind control, religious fraud, corruption and political
agenda. The sinister psychopaths who come in HIS name inflict slavery on
the unsuspecting by cunningly assuming power and control while
perpetrating their money hungry, occultic, New Age agenda on the souls
of those who are looking for Christ.
Yes! We've been very busy, now it is about time you know what is going on. WARNING: Please read the following
articles carefully. The information covers techniques the WCG has used
throughout its years in an effort to control. The OIU objective is to
provide the necessary understanding of the composite theory behind the
actual events of confusion. No one said it would be easy and we'd be
happy to answer any further questions relating to the information in
this OIU. What is it? "Propaganda is the expression of opinion or action by individuals or groups deliberately designed to influence opinions or actions of other individuals or groups with reference to predetermined ends." Propaganda and Democracy Many opinions or propaganda are highly charged with emotion, prejudice and bitterness. People make a virtue of defending their own opinions or propagandas. Many would deal with opinions or propagandas they don't like by suppressing them-by violence, if need be. But suppression of unpopular opinions or propagandas is contrary to democratic conceptions of government. Propaganda conforms to democratic principles when it tends to preserve and extend democracy; it is antagonistic when it undermines and destroys democracy. Democracy has four parts, set
forth or implied in the Constitution and federal statutes:
Many are misled by propaganda antagonistic to democracy as few persons have had the opportunity to learn how to detect and analyze propaganda. The chief danger of propaganda is its appeal to emotion and decisions made under stress of emotion often leading to disaster when the emotion crowds out cool, dispassionate thought. "Free propaganda," wrote the Springfield Republican, Sept. 3, 1937, "is nothing but free publicity for views, interpretations, arguments, pleadings, truths and untruths, half-lies and lies of all creation. Propaganda is good as well as bad. We are surrounded by clouds of propaganda... It is up to each of us to precipitate from those clouds the true and the false, the near-true and the near-false, identifying and giving to each classification its correct label." ABC's of Propaganda Analysis
How to Detect Propaganda We are fooled by propaganda chiefly because we don't recognize it when we see it. We can more easily recognize propaganda when we see it, if we are familiar with the seven common propaganda devices. These are:
Why are we fooled by these
devices? Because they appeal to our emotions rather than to our reason.
They make us believe and do something we would not believe or do if we
thought about it calmly, dispassionately. In examining these devices we
note that they work most effectively at those times when we are too lazy
to think for ourselves; also, they tie into emotions which sway us to be
'for' or 'against' nations, races, religions, ideals, economic and
political policies and practices, and so on... [The above introduction to understanding propaganda was excerpted from Volume 1 of the publications of the Institute For Propaganda Analysis, Inc.] It is absolutely not possible to discern or properly examine the events of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) and extension groups, without understanding the sophisticated system of propaganda employed within its strategy. It is an art and a polished, learned skill, which is employed in and by every segment of our society in some degree. Many deceitful religious institutions along with their well-trained leaders have earned notable status in the pool of propagandists. They have successfully controlled and enslaved millions through their artfully postured techniques ensconced in manipulation and distraction as they propagandize one endeavor while simultaneously pursuing other goals surrounding political agenda and financial expansion.In the 1930's professors of propaganda stressed: 1.) Learning to think independently, 2.) Coming to conclusions, and 3.) Respecting other men with opposite conclusions. "So far as individuals are concerned, the art of democracy is the art of thinking and discussing independently together." But times have changed since the 1930 propaganda tactics. The past sixty years have also introduced psychological technology beyond the thinking realm of the most scientific and prestigious intellectuals of that era. "KNOW YOUR ENEMY is the first principle in any encounter, whether it be football or war (hot or cold)."1 The American events of this century have served as spawning grounds for creating and enhancing diabolical techniques that attack the citizen's mind, disabling him from having the ability to learn how to think independently, let alone objectively analyze events unfolding before his eyes. The wars of this century have taught the leaders how to capture their target through psychological means, as the physical techniques of the past become antiquated. Propaganda became a staple in the American diet with the birth of the radio. The more citizens listened to the box in their living rooms, the less they exercised their thinking skills. The cracker barrel discussions2 of the last century gave way to opinions and thoughts entering the mind, leaving critical discussion a thing of the past. As the newspapers grew along with the radio monopoly, the citizen took on a new, more submissive role as sharp thinking skills eroded throughout each decade. Even before radio, the infamous KKK propaganda movie, Birth of a Nation, paved the way for an onslaught of movie and TV propaganda.3 "Some of the devices now
so subtly and effectively used by good and bad propagandists are as old
as language. All have been used in one form or another by all of us in
our daily dealings with each other. Propagandists have seized upon these
methods we ordinarily use to convince each other, have analyzed and
refined them, and have experimented with them until these homely devices
of folk origin have been developed into tremendously powerful weapons
for the swaying of popular opinions and actions."
"Through clever and
constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise
as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched
sort of life as paradise." "The beginning of
wisdom is to call things by their right names." See Proverbs 8: 5-20 Recently the OIU questioned
several regarding their education on Communism. All replied that
whatever knowledge they had was contributed through self-study. No one
recalled covering the "topic" in any significance in their
past education, which for all consisted of advanced degrees. Is there
any wonder why?
Facts and Points about DM:
In her book, The Rewriting
of America's History, author Catherine Millard states: This proper psychological conditioning is a major power component to mind control. Propaganda is blindly accepted through carefully orchestrated steps used by totalitarian regimes to control people. "By deliberately creating chaos in economics, in crime control, and other societal problems, and then forcing change on people to supposedly 'solve' the problems they themselves created. Planned chaos brings about anarchy, and anarchy, being a terrifying state of lawlessness, finally causes people to throw up their hands and give up their freedom (change) for the relative stability of totalitarianism."8 What does all this have to do
with propaganda? Propaganda is the distraction; dialectical materialism
is the method of delivery. Propaganda is the lie; dialectical
materialism is the contradiction. Propaganda is successful when the
conditions are ripe and the audience is prepared. The following
conditions are essential:
Dialectics can further be
explained as logic of two opposites-meaning, two opposites fed in the
mind at any given time. Anytime you accept simultaneously contradicting
beliefs or concepts, you are rendered docile and indifferent to
furthering arguments from either side. This is also known as doublethink.
Contradiction is caused when two messages are stated at the same time.
Opposing views, simultaneously stated, creates confusion and
contradiction. The mental state of confusion and contradiction induces
psychological trauma. The psychological trauma is equalized by
submission to the newly propagandized view. Cognitive dissonance is the
mental conflict caused by opposing views, which leads to a mental
dissociative state, or trance-like state. The dissociative mental state
allows the propagandist to manipulate his targets under his control
without rebellion. AS THE WHIRLWIDE TURNS™
"Well what comes from the 1994 Feast of Tabernacles? Another exciting family reunion! A dawning of a NEW AGE and the wonderful world tomorrow, when the Feast of Tabernacles anticipates a worldwide harvest of redemption, a time when the earth is filled with knowledge of the Lord. A time when nature, government, economy, culture will work in harmony in bringing His children to glory and fulfilling our INCREDIBLE HUMAN POTENTIAL." Joseph W. Tkach Sr. 1994 The one item left out of this
telling statement of introduction made by Joseph Tkach Sr. (JWT Sr.) way
back in `94, is the fact that God's Great Plan of Salvation
included one world religion along with the one world government
system run by the Great Architect of the Universe.
WHEN PROPHECY FAILS!!! One book, which clearly explains the Tkachian THOUGHT REFORM strategy, is, When Prophecy Fails, by Leon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken and Stanley Schachter. Its subtitle, "A social and psychological study of a modern group that predicted the destruction of the world," includes 250 pages of well-documented historical examples of various religious groups, which, like the WCG, gathered huge followings. The many examples demonstrate how these groups, headed by prophetic, often charismatic leaders claiming to be God's only true human instrument, grow--become fanatical--and attach their total allegiance to the man who dictates the future for them. What sets this book aside from others is the detailed explanation of why adherents to apocalyptic groups continue to support the group, even after the leaders die or are proven false or frauds. Time and again throughout history, religious leaders have claimed the coming of Christ, dated His return and documented prophecy predictions for all to view. In our in-depth research of the WCG we learned the format presented in this 1955 classic is verbatim to the propagation of the WCG chronology of events throughout the past ten years. The insightful research also invites a closer look into the well thought out Tkachian methods used to manipulate and deceive thousands into a new THOUGHT REFORM program. If you are a current member of the WCG, you may have been privy to several comments made by Joseph Tkach Jr. regarding "cognitive dissonance." We at the ESN were quite amused to hear the words flow from his lips starting on the January `96 "Bible Answer Man" show with Christian Research Institute's President, Hank Hanegraaff. The Tkachians take every opportunity to explain that the WCG change created a cognitive dissonance in its members. The ESN has been reporting on the subject of cognitive dissonance well before Tkach Jr. started putting his public spin on the trauma-induced psychological problem. Our thorough and ongoing studies in mind-control, programming, hypnosis and on how cults operate, along with the real history of the WCG and Herbert W. Armstrong, were instrumental in uncovering and understanding the methods employed by the WCG leaders to recruit and maintain adherents. The well-trained ministers and business moguls have adopted the age old methods used by other "historic" groups and incorporated some of the latest mind control, manipulation and persuasion techniques known to man. The WCG psychological THOUGHT REFORM was keenly maneuvered and demonstrated through the "change" strategy stemming from the inner offices and secret compartments of HQ, which lead to the carefully orchestrated fraction of the WCG conglomerate. What does all this mean? Most everyone who talks with us asks, "How have they fooled me like this?" or, "Why couldn't I see through the deception?" These varied questions always point to the same answer: "In our society today, what you don't know, will hurt you!" The deceptive, and often sinister tactics used throughout society in marketing, advertising and recruiting are aimed at the unsuspecting. No one can protect himself from being victimized by the spiritual rape artists' techniques, if not educated or skilled as to how to detect the perpetrators. That, coupled with religiosity and emotionalism, leaves even the most intelligent a perfect target. Millions of spiritual searchers have fallen into the hands of charlatans and deceivers throughout history. The search for salvation and truth has historically led many into destruction, poverty and death. On the other hand, perpetrators have stepped up their enlightenment on the slick and evil techniques needed to exploit and conquer the human nature of their fellow man. The God, Gospel and Salvation business has earned fame, fortune and name place in the books of history. Where does cognitive dissonance fit into the picture? It was one of the carefully orchestrated psychological techniques deceptively used on the membership of the WCG organization. It provided psychological disarmament of members' thinking ability, which allowed implementation of the new THOUGHT REFORM. This induced a psychological trauma technique paving the way for the controllers of the organization to manipulate their well-planned re-structuring and eradication of the multi-million dollar religious empire! Psychological journals,
countless books and volumes of research work on stress and trauma
clearly define cognitive dissonance and dissociative disorders. There
are hospitals and agencies devoted specifically to the cure for this
disorder. A clear explanation relating to the WCG may be quoted from When
Prophecy Fails: The authors highlight this text with the history of the Millerite movement of 1800's. When their prophecies, similar to HWA's prophecies, failed, the majority of the members did not disband, but instead regrouped and fractionated with renewed adherence to their leader's original prophecies. The history of the Millerites offers an insightful look into the behavior of those who are inflicted with "disconfirmation" and clearly defines the expected outcome for those who may choose to exploit the weaknesses in human nature. For the full understanding of cognitive dissonance in this context, you should get the book. Though out of print, it may be located in the library or bookstores, which carry old books. So what's the big fuss about
cognitive dissonance anyway? As previously stated, it can be used as a
destructive tool to manipulate and hurt the unsuspecting. Before
explaining how the Tkachian strategy capitalized on this, let's take a
closer look at what happens to an individual purposely inflicted with
techniques related to cognitive dissonance. Psychological trauma causes
mental stress. As the stress builds, normal mental capacity diminishes.
The brain can hold only so much stress before it starts to shut down.
When the stress is enhanced with contradictions and confusion, the
person's mind is unable to exercise critical thinking skills. The
contradiction and confusion leads to more stress and the cycle continues
causing trancing and dissociation. Dissociation is a psychological
component that mentally removes the person from his current stress.
Normal dissociation could be explained by daydreaming. Abnormal
dissociation impairs memory and functionality. The
"HISTORIC" TKACHIAN Before delving into how the Tkachians strategized the cognitive dissonance, which aided their Cult In Transition historic campaign, please note the following:
Once Upon A Time! The passing of
Herbert W. Armstrong, in no way, marks the beginning of what many would
term, the event of "change." Because the WCG has always operated
as a secret society
manifesting a cultic, closed system with severe
information control, few have been able to critically consider the entire
history of the organization. [Note:
The only purpose of secrecy is to hide evil.] The
leaders today and from the past are expert propagandists and
revisionists. The WCG foundation has been historically
supported by layers of lies surrounding the history of Herbert W.
Armstrong; the inception of the Radio Church of God, the mission of the
"church," and now the events of change, all of which domineered
the WCG news these past several years. Few could contemplate the enormity
and complexity of the actual history of this 62-year-old organization.
This lack of awareness is greatly due to the psychologically abusive
system fostered by its creators and supposed spiritual leaders.
Exploration of the WCG history unveils a very different picture than that
acquired while under the influence of its system. Often, researchers are
devastated over the newly learned facts that were deeply hidden under the
facade of "God's One True Church." While under the
programming of the WCG system (often termed as Armstrongism), members
lived under strict obedience to a law outlined by the controllers. That
law mandated that members never deviate from the ministers' rule in
thought, word or deed. Mavericks daring to test the minister were
analogous to testing God and were quickly discarded like Satan-inspired
rubbish from the flock. The reader should recall that salvation solely
depended on being a member of the Worldwide Church of God; if you were
cast from the vine, your destiny was the third resurrection and
obliteration in the LAKE OF FIRE. Once programmed, the method of fear and
guilt induction guaranteed a tight sovereignty on the members. This mental
domination often allowed the leaders to carry on business as
usual with sinister or clandestine agenda. The little flock was not
cognizant of the leaders' mind control regime inflicted upon them. The WCG
history consists of two views: The Tkachian THOUGHT REFORM could not have succeeded had the leaders allowed healthy behavior to flourish. The following tactics represent a long list of behavior control coercion used:
The closed WCG system dictated
every behavior of its adherents making it virtually impossible for
critical thinking to occur. In the future the OIU will discuss how
hypnosis was used by the authority to deceive and control the members.
Once programmed into thinking that HWA was God's Apostle and the WCG was
His only church on earth, it was near impossible to break from the
embedded phobic fears tightly instilled by its ministers into the members
thinking patterns through the keenly presented propaganda and verbal,
mind-image torture program. What You Don't
Know--Did Hurt You!
The WCG groupthink trains
one to look ahead for the coming of Christ-for the great tribulation. For
His elect will be changed, in the blink of an eye, into a spiritual being
and joined with Christ on the Mount of Olives in preparation for the 1000
year reign. The committed members glued themselves to the gloom and doom
news in anticipation that the end would be soon and they would not endure
physical death. Each news event would be translated as part of God's
plan and proof text that the world was going to end--very soon. This
mental outlook mandated a "here and now" attitude. The past was
insignificant; the future was described in the Mystery of the Ages,
or The Wonderful World Tomorrow-What Will It Be Like? All
the thinking was done for the member. The repetition of apocalyptic spin
assured the ministers that the flock would not have ears to hear, or eyes
to see, what was actually going on, or reveal that the ministers were
doing the opposite of what they were preaching. "Learn to
discern," and "prove all things," were merely words with no
meaning. It was this same thinking that propelled people to forego dental
work, education, careers, retirement savings, purchases such as homes or
cars and all other investments into personal futures. The daily message
was, "all is vanity." To understand the past or to plan for
personal physical future was considered casting pearls to swine. It was
(and continues to be) this same groupthink that has fueled the
energy for the deceivers to carry on their daily covert activities under
the guise of a church. The 1970s followed two
financially productive decades. The British-Israelism (BI) -- Lost Ten
Tribes message gathered momentum as it sailed its way through years of
depression, racial unrest, World Wars, Civil Rights movements and the
escalating trauma of nuclear war threat between the US and Soviet Union.
By 1973, the once small Radio Church of God (RCG) grew to its all
time high, 52,000 members.12 What Faulty Doctrine??? HWA's son, Garner Ted Armstrong, was disfellowshipped for "gross sexual sins" in 1972. This was just at a time when many high level evangelists and ministers were questioning the teachings of HWA. Previous OIU issues touched on the history of the 1970s and the significant part it plays in the current restructuring and dividing of the organization. It became strongly apparent to Ernest Martin, Kenneth Westby, David Antion, Al Corozzo and many others that HWA was not espousing inspired doctrines from the Great Architect. As HWA, GTA, Rader and other elites from the WCG ministry were living in extreme opulence with several homes each, personal aircraft, opulent cars (Rolls Royce), endless bank accounts, real estate holdings, diamonds, furs, crystals, free college tuition, lavish expense accounts, all expense paid vacations to resorts, ETC., thousands of members were living in impoverishment, while giving their last dime toward HWA's pleas for income. Some were so poverty stricken, they could not afford meat or fresh vegetables, or other necessary basics of life. Detailed testimonies of abuse have found their way to the ESN, but the personal tragedy of the Canadian woman who was shoved onto the streets, along with her son, to live, homeless, following a long abusive intrusion into her personal life by the minister is a story that cries out for justice. The OIU will share this, and many other stories, in the future. [The Richard Plache tapes reveal more about the exploitation of members.] What might seem like a broken record for some readers is actually crucial information toward the discernment of the blatant lies delivered to the current members of the WCG and its extension groups. Few recall or know about the massive doctrinal upheaval that occurred in the early 1970s. HWA was, for the first time, challenged from within the church for further explanations of his teachings. These certain ministers, who at the time were most dedicated to pleasing God, were pioneers in exposing a goodly amount of the vast corruption that prevailed behind the HQ wall in Pasadena. Among many erroneous doctrinal complaints the following were of grave concern:
HWA's confrontation with his extreme financial opulence, misuse of funds, and corruption fueled the WCG turbulence throughout the 1970s and was compounded by the fact that the church did NOT have a doctrinal belief. Often misconstrued, as doctrine was a carefully crafted and borrowed system of theology known as "God's Way of Living." Archival documentation carefully
scripts the momentous events that caused thousands to flee from the Armstrong
empire and its teachings during the early 1970s. Pertinent documentation and
knowledge that the Tkachians chose to cover-up was replaced by layers of lies
and gross deception toward the unsuspecting. As we continue to expose the
twisted deception by the "current leaders" from all the groups, it
will become very obvious to the most skeptical that the supposed
"Christian" leaders of the WCG, UCG, GCG, CGI, CEM, PCG have knowingly
and blatantly lied and deceived the WCG remnant and continue to do so this very
moment. The Pseudo Numbers Game The membership peaked at 52,000 in 1973 (men, women and children). Following the multi-thousand member exit in 1974, there has been a membership decline ever since. Despite a few new recruits during the 1970's, Garner Ted Armstrong's sexual encounters, the church's public exposure of the corruption, dictatorial oppression on its membership and grave doctrinal upheaval, led to an increased attrition rate. Readers must keep in mind that the WCG management always used "numbers" to confuse and defuse issues.19 This tactic of contradiction of numbers, or inflation of the actual church membership, helped diffuse the financial imbalance, which could never support the actual member count. The church membership has always been considerably lower than what was propagandized. This is very significant, especially when one starts to scrutinize the "income" of the organization. The WCG's dual agenda has been cleverly disguised by mis-reporting actual membership counts and income. Had the actual membership count been honestly noted, it would have been too obvious that such an opulent empire on earth could not have been supported by the tithes and offerings from the meek and lowly. Furthermore, it was well known and documented that money was not pouring in from the "co-workers." Where did the multi-million $$$ come from? That is another layered rat nest. More on this crucial topic soon. The ESN will issue a separate report on how and why WCG manipulates the membership count. It is imperative to understand that this specific issue is crucial to the ongoing waste, fraud and abuse under the guise of a religious institution. If it were publicly known that the WCG acquired its massive non-profit empire in multiple devious ways other than running a respectable institution, its leaders, current and past would be spending their physical lifetimes in the same type of cell Charles (Chuck) Colson, was given prior to his infamous Prison Ministries. The constant use of propaganda and history revision inhibits critical thinking necessary to scrutinize the events. Few realize that HWA, Stan Rader, Osamo Gotah, Aaron Dean and other select persons were away from the HQ scene during the late 1960s and 1970s up to 300+ days a year. Their visits to highly speculative Communist countries had nothing to do with "bringing the Gospel throughout the world." Significant dissension and disdain arose when some members learned that these trips had zero to do with the Gospel and everything to do with "political agenda." Millions of dollars were poured into an International deception that was largely carried out by the very same leaders of the current WCG conglomerate organizations: namely, Global Church of God and United Church of God, An International Association!! For the most part, the little flock was
shielded from the massive turbulence that gnawed at the very cornerstone of the
WCG empire. Scandal following scandal permeated international newsprint exposing
the core of deception. The gross WCG behavior cast deep shadows on what
sheltered members wholeheartedly believed was God's one and only true church
on earth. The volcano of 1970 events erupted in 1978 with the ousting of
GTA. The WCG religiocrats continued displaying tacky, unethical behavior, as
described and archived in hundreds of reports and resignation letters from high
level ministers who dissociated themselves from the wicked corruption within the
church. Less then a year following GTA's ousting from the WCG, several members
approached the California Attorney General for assistance, which led to the
infamous receivership and two year legal battle over Church and State. By
the end of 1978, the volcano of pus exploded, introducing a fire drill
management for the next two decades. The real story of the receivership crisis
is deserving of its own book. Unfortunately, the only published account was
skillfully crafted by Stanley R. Rader, author of, Against The Gates
of Hell. This propaganda cover-up book was distributed through another
Rader/HWA entrepreneur adventure called Everest House Publishers. Everest
House publishing was supported by WCG tithes, but unbeknownst to the members, it
carried hard-core occult publications. Ah, if the sheep only knew their
hard-earned tithes were being funneled to corporations that espoused occult
teachings and NEW AGE ways for living. The Selling Of Assets As pointed out in Volume THREE of the
OIU, the Tkachians, in their heroic attempt to transform the cult into a church
espousing Christ, blamed the sudden financial crisis on the heroic doctrinal
change. Within two weeks of the famous January New Covenant sermon, the
Tkachians (David Hulme included) were issuing news releases to the LA Times
and Pasadena Star News regarding the severe financial loss due to members
withholding of tithes and offerings. Headlines read: Tithes and offerings
wane because of doctrine change. Who would have known then that the WCG PR
of doctrinal upheaval was a conditioning device targeted at the duped in prep
for the next big event: the United Church of God breakaway. The WCG totalitarian government and dictatorial ministerial control provided the perfect medium for gross deception and despicable behavior to go unchecked. Following the death of HWA in 1986, the multi-million dollar empire continued with business as usual-but don't be fooled into thinking the church or its members were the main event with the Tkachians, anymore than they were under the image of HWA. The WCG membership, as small at it was, was built through a carefully fabricated image of one man; that image was fashioned and orchestrated through propaganda and marketing, which created the image into an idol. That idol was Herbert W. Armstrong. It is uncertain whether the Tkachians were prepared to deal with the loss of HWA's image in 1986. Had it not been for Rader's keen marketing strategy introduced in 1979 called, "Get The Church Back On Track," (GTCBOT) it is doubtful the declining membership would have sustained itself through the mid- 1980s. The Rader plot did buy time and allowed for asset liquidation, while most members were distracted with the image. At the very least, the campaign maintained a holding pattern for the most dedicated and unquestioning adherents. The newly devised image
promotion of HWA is analogous to the same strategy used in Communist China with
Mao Tse Tung. Huge picture promotions monopolized the presses as HWA's picture
took center stage in every piece of literature shipped from Pasadena. The image
of HWA was carefully carried out by God's ministers. A small increase in
recruiting was noted following the early 1980s recession, but that, too, halted
when Reagonomics spurred the happy yuppies era into financial oblivion instead
of religion. The decadent 1980s showed more interest in Junk Bonds than they did
following The Law. The death of HWA crushed the GTCBOT promotion
leaving the Tkachians to handle the next fire drill. The Tkachians attempted to
maintain the status quo, but soon found out that the WCG was a personality cult
and the excitement from the sheep declined along with the "We Are
"Family" membership. The declining membership did entertain a few
baptisms mostly generated by fence-sitting members who believed that the
Tribulation was closer at hand now that HWA was gone.
The Evangelical Televangelist Scandal
The Tkachians were well aware that the
WCG propaganda picture was going to change dramatically as the 1990s unfolded.
While the multi-millions were quietly changing hands throughout the previous
decade, it would be a matter of time before the controllers were forced to
radically change the failed religious product (traditionally known as
Armstrongism), which concealed the multi-faceted financial pursuits. Some
mistakenly think that because The World Tomorrow supposedly received high
viewer ratings, that it generated tithe-paying recruits too. That was not the
case. The telecast was a financial loss, as were all the other fire drill
recruitment attempts with PT cardholders, PT magazine racks, junk mailings, etc. "Some astonishing changes are taking place in the religious viewing habits of the American public. The World Tomorrow is holding its own and even gaining ground in some age groups." The article goes on to say the July Arbitron figures show that the religious audience is declining partly because of scandals. Out of a US population of about 245 million, only some 13 million watch religious television. The top 10 religious television programs have lost more than 30 percent of their audience (2.6 million viewers) since November 1987. Hulme adds: "Meanwhile The World Tomorrow audience is proving to be stable. Audience levels for the telecast have generally remained at consistent levels, with slow but steady growth in all categories" The article points out that Robert Schuller is the most-watched religious program, according to the Arbitron and has an audience of 70 percent women and 30 percent men. Hulme states The World Tomorrow has even more viewers and attracts a younger group of people. Hulme defends the WT by stating: "Other religious programs lost more than 50% of their audience and people are simply turning off, while The World Tomorrow audience is more broadly based than traditional religious audiences. Thus, many are exposed to God's truth that otherwise might not be reached." Are we to believe the highly spotlighted WCG, with its corruption reports miles long, was not affected by the Evangelical corruption exposure? While New Ager Robert Schuller gathered no moss with his ecumenical message filling every seat at the famous Crystal Cathedral, the rest of TV "Christian" stars were having lots of problems. What is one to believe here? The reports given by Hulme shake out as mere propaganda leading members to think that The World Tomorrow is doing fine only to find the programming is pulled from television a few months later. Much could be expounded here, but the current point is that we should consider the implications that arose from the exposure of the Jonestown Massacre in 1978 to the Evangelical scandal of 1988. These episodes not only inspired (real) authorities to scrutinize supposed religious entities dressed in their multi-million dollar robes, but it started the viewing public thinking about Christian rip-off artists (for awhile anyway.). The evangelical televangelist scam marked another event that worked against the already ailing Worldwide Church of God. By 1989, televangelists lost up to fifty percent of their TV income, including Pat Robertson's multi-million $$$ pursuit. The televangelist corruption exposure drew a mark for the WCG religiocrats. Now the dung hit the fan and something had to be done to call off the dogs and attempt damage control. The
Five-Year Plan Please take the time to review the next
few pages, as the information is pertinent to understanding the reasons behind
the events. Take special notice of the key planners. As you will learn through
this and future OIU's, the very people in charge of the "breakaway"
COG's are the same leaders who were highly involved in transforming the
Worldwide Church of God into a New Age Ecumenical "church,"
espousing a mixed bag of unorthodox Protestant Evangelical
teachings. To understand how the United Church of God was/is part of the
overall strategy of divide and conquer the reader must assess the
chronological steps that were taken and who were the designers of each step. July 11, 1988 Worldwide News April 3, 1989: The article states the following:
July 3, 1989 Larry Salyer
adds: August 28, 1989 "This is the first year
that the operation managers laid the ground-work for the plan in a
two-day workshop. Mr. Tkach called the new format an important benchmark
for the Work."
February 19, 1990 "The plan explains that
the five-year planning meetings were a key element in a dynamic process
that allowed the leaders of God's Work to identify the factors and
conditions that must be considered and faced in the future. In addition,
these meetings gave the managers a broader perspective, helping them see
the future needs and challenges of the entire Work." August 13, 1990 August 27, 1990 "Operation directors
and department managers of the Work gathered for five-year planning
meeting Aug. 1 and 2." "In view of the present financial situation, the Church must build its financial base so it can preach the gospel message to the greatest number of people. That means first putting the message in the hands of individuals who can help support the Work in reaching others." Evangelist David Hulme, vice
president of Ambassador Foundation Domestic and Director of
Communications & Public Affairs (CPA) "spoke about the
public relations efforts of the Church. The two most important
objectives are to support and improve the credibility of the Worldwide
Church of God and its activities; and to deliver information about the
Church and its activities in a timely and appropriate manner to the
media, community officials and other individuals or groups." So, was there
a PLAN If you were to quiz a member during the 1970s or 1980s about his reasons for remaining in the WCG, you would have probably been told it was because it was God's one true church and that Christ was coming "in your lifetime." This theme surrounded mountainous amounts of prophecy predictions, which provided the spiritual drug necessary to keep the obedient membership motivated and close to the vine. This wasn't just any prophecy-it was PROPHECY! Many forget its importance associated with each decision a given member would make. It was PROPHECY that determined everyone's future, be it the Kingdom or Lake of Fire. The common teaching was that one third of the Bible consisted of PROPHECY and the only person who had the code was Herbert W. Armstrong. The Armstrong spin with PROPHECY inspired members to adhere to the strict obedient demands termed as God's Laws. Why was PROPHECY such a successful tool for the WCG system? Here lies another topic respectful of much space; however, for now, let's look at how PROPHECY (future telling) works on the spiritual minded. Taking the example from 1972, WCG old timers will recall how HWA prophesied that the end of the age was going to occur. The years building toward this event inspired thousands to give every available penny to HWA and to God's earthly headquarters. Thousands had their luggage packed and ready to run at the ministers' call. The ESN has files of letters and personal stories from those who were caught in the web of deception. Heart wrenching words depict stories of times when one would do anything to be counted worthy of the great escape to safety. The many PROPHECIES were delivered by scripted words and flagrant pictures describing torturous events. The WCG publications consisted of riveting pictures and stories about weather calamities, nuclear wars, crime, disease, death and mass destruction. All this "fear tactic" advertising coincided with society's fears surrounding the "cold war" era. The WCG message clearly capitalized on despicable traumatic "soon coming" events. The big question for members, or those lured into the WCG's teachings, was, "Will you be worthy to escape the pending fiery Tribulation?" The answer is found throughout the WCG archive of propaganda books, reprints, tapes and articles. The psychological base that placed WCG adherents into traumatized states was fear. Once a member was successfully entrenched into the fear indoctrination, that member became the property of the controllers. The syndrome became a "Catch 22" situation. All other teachings were anchored on the great escape from the dreadful, fiery, great tribulation that was to occur "in your lifetime." Professionals call this manipulation "fear phobia induction." Once one is fear phobic, one becomes submissive to authority or events. For some the trauma is so paralyzing, it causes dissociative disorders. As mentioned above, dissociative disorders cause one to "trance out" once the trauma becomes too frightening or unbearable. This same syndrome is often observed with victims of physical or sexual abuse. The victim is under constant infliction, but lives in a state of denial. The overwhelming fears become compartmentalized as one functions in a state of cognitive dissonance. It is difficult for many to
comprehend that their leaders actually intentionally initiated
these techniques and were very skilled in psychology and behaviorism.
How, many wonder, could a man not be deathly fearful of using such
deception under the name of Jesus Christ and God? This naiveté comes
from the repression of education or critical thinking fostered within
the system. The very things the members were prohibited from learning or
doing, were exactly what the "leaders" engaged in. While Joe
Tkach Jr., and the rest of the Tkachians were preaching against evil,
satanic psychology, they were actively obtaining higher degrees in the
very art they labeled satanic. While the member focused on obedience,
God's great ministers were increasing their intellect on psychological
theories and studies of human behavior. Only the educated are in tune
with the Skinner box experiments, hypnotism techniques and latest
developments with human brain conditioning. Ministers received free
(paid by tithe and offerings) university education to hone their skills
in all these areas. Church members from the early 1980s will recall the revival of strict obedience enhanced by The Incredible Human Potential and Mystery of the Ages publications. [Read ESN's Reviews of Mystery of the Ages.] By 1990, the WCG members were heavily drugged with the large dose of PROPHECY in every form. The Good News and support publications, along with weekly injections of "sermon," instilled the twisted PROPHECY repeatedly into the already fearful minds. It certainly was "a people made ready," as Tkach Sr. often quoted. The 1980 WCG membership was brutally traumatized with carefully administered psychological techniques of mind control that prepared the docile, submissive people for the Tkachian THOUGHT-REFORM program.20 By the time 1995 arrived, the Worldwide people were so traumatized they didn't know what hit them, which is the precisely why one often hears a WCGer say, "Nothing's really changed." The Tkachian controllers may not have planned to take their "new doctrinal stance" to the current level of speaking in tongues, hand waving and high-level emotionalism. They did, however, fully plan on doing away with the Worldwide Church of God, as it was reputed for all its history. The famous Five-Year Plan consisted of making whatever changes were necessary to carry on the "hidden agenda" under the guise of a church. Armstrongism was no longer a product that recruited members. There may have been 30,000 supporters prior to 1995, but those supporters were more of a financial drain for the WCG than a financial investment, due to the cost of carrying the local churches. While the duality of WCG agenda during 1970s-1980s supported the costs of carrying local churches, things changed by the 1990s. Considering the lavish expenses relating to salaried ministers (including housing and perks to boot) all the tithes and offerings of a given local area could not support the expense. Local churches operated in the red-always. Headquarters kept most all offertory/tithe money distributing the wealth into the physical empire and silk-lined pockets of worldly men with titles, not the local churches. So, even though each local area had faithful tithing members, compared with the millions needed to support the WCG machine and agenda, the members' offerings were nominal and unable to support the hidden empire. If there were hope of turning the physical "organization" into a profitable business, gain acceptance by the Christian community, expand the newly formed WCG or Plain Truth Ministries (PTM) for profit producing marketing of tapes, videos, music and publications, the controllers had to Stalinize Armstrongism (revise history without HWA in the picture) and manipulate a complete revision of its history in the eye of the public. That is exactly what the WCG has done. The manipulative association with the Billy Graham evangelistic organization literally aligned the perpetrators with credibility distracting the public from learning the real history behind the waste, fraud, abuse and corruption of every degree. It is vital to note here that 1993 marked the twenty-year anniversary regarding corrupt doctrinal exposure. To a minuscule member, it's almost impossible to conceive that Joe Tkach Sr. and Jr., Greg Albrecht, Tom Lapacka, Mike Feazell, David Hulme, Herman Hoeh, Ron Kelly, Dean Blackwell, Rod Meredith, Victor Kubic and the other men who worked under them (too numerous to mention here), deceitfully stole money under layers of lies and pretenses starting around the late 1960s. Why can we call these men liars? Unlike the controlled members, these men knew the massive WCG doctrinal challenge brought forth in the early 1970s. They knew they were stealing tithes and offerings without merit! They knew about the rotten corruption on every level. And, with all their knowledge they continued to repress and abuse the members as they intentionally filled their fraudulent, greedy pockets with self-gratification. They are perpetrators of religious fraud skilled with ability to exploit the (religious) loopholes of the constitution. Remember-all of these men knew what occurred in the 1970s. Every current publication issued from the main COG's distort the truths of the past while the writers and thieves continue to disguise themselves in sheep's clothing, as they intentionally deceive, use and abuse God's children! The Tkachians often use the excuse that they had nothing to do with the wrongs of the past. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is they who grew up in this organization, attended the Imperial school system, attended Bricket Wood and Pasadena and became witnesses to the pivotal events of the 1970 era. These mavericks, now in their forties and fifties, were well into their twenties when their mentors and parents wore the crowns as they sat on the thrones of the Armstrong kingdom.21 Secrets and Lies…will forever be used as the red carpet approach to change; the cult's perpetrators use this format as they manipulate their way through their next power and wealth agendum. Why? For the most part, they go unchallenged. They have successfully embedded trauma programming so deeply into the minds of their victims, few survivors are left with any strength to research and investigate this great hypocrisy. Once someone escapes the clutches of the perpetrators, they must draw on their remaining reserve of spiritual and psychological strength to just survive. The Godfather
Buys David Hulme is one character
that could write volumes on the dual agenda. It was he who made the
initial contacts with the "outside Christian cult watchers" as
early as 1988. Some mistakenly equate Tkach Sr. as a the main initiator
of secret meetings with the "Christian counter cult
organizations." That is not the fact! David Hulme was in the
forefront with the PR campaign and was assisted by Michael Snyder. The
planning committee was tightly organized by Joe Jr.; Mike Feazell; Greg
Albrecht and Tom Lapacka. There were others with significant roles such
as Victor Kubik, Dean Blackwell, Joe Locke and Herman Hoeh, but these
fellows remained in the background. David Hulme's cunning personality
won the "heart" of Ruth Tucker by the late 1980's. Hulme and
Tucker became close friends as they worked together on the WCG doctrinal
committee. Ruth Tucker must have felt quite wooed by the impressive TV
evangelist pleading for her assistance to discern the Bible. Readers
should review David Hulme's role in the WCG double agenda in past OIU's.22
It wasn't long after Hulme's cozy relationship with Ruth Tucker was
initiated that her face was featured in the Plain Truth with an
interview article dealing with women and abuse. Coinciding with the Five-Year
Plan strategy, Hulme, Joe Jr., Feazell and the rest of the
task force repeatedly initiated propaganda meetings with the publishing
anti-cult evangelical arena.23
The task force
stretched out to anyone of significance that would eventually affect the
"big picture." Seventh Day Church of God, Seventh Day
Adventists and Pentecostal groups were among the long list targeted with
the propaganda, "we're not a cult anymore" campaign. The
astounding aspect to the real secret Five-Year Plan was that the
entire membership was told nothing about the maneuvers taking place with
the men in charge of the multi-millions. The subtle modifications to HWA's
eighteen truths were positioned carefully and tucked under the
increased pressure of obedience to the WCG Law. Few members were
affected by Gerald Flurry's departure and fewer were concerned over
those who suddenly fell away from the truth. By 1993, Ron Kelly, Joe
Jr., Feazell, Blackwell and Hoeh introduced new ideas that were billed
as new truths straight from God to Tkach. A total babble of spin
is how one terms the delivery of the so-called new truths.
Contradictions and duplicity monopolized every "headquarters"
sermon. The best of the bunch award for spin control is
awarded to Keriokus Savrenites for his famous rendition of "The
Nature (Spin) Of God." Joe Jr. receives honorable mention for
his series of sermons surrounding sinful self-esteem, wrongful use of
emotions and the evils of psychology. [Note:
Tkach Jr. is known to have a degree in psychology] 1 None
Dare Call it Conspiracy,
by Gary Allen
|
OUTSIDER'S
INSIDE UPDATE™
