| See if you can get your mate to ask his minister about the incest. Some
Worldwide Church of God members have heard about it for years and may show a casual acceptance
of it, perhaps even justifying it with, "David sinned with
Bathsheba and he was a man after God's own heart." [Read:
"None of God's Servants Were
Perfect" (for those who like to use this reasoning)]
Have your
mate see if he/she is given this very same
line. You will need to make sure that he1 doesn't accept that
answer and continues to prod for further details. The more he can see
how uncomfortable it makes the minister, and the
more questions he begins to ask, the more likely he will be ejected from
the organization for "knowing too much." (This especially
holds true if your mate is in one of the controlling
offshoots or splinter groups, such
as Philadelphia Church of God.)
He/she can start by asking the
following:
"I heard a rumor about
Herbert W. Armstrong committing incest with his daughter Dorothy for
approximately 10 years. Is this true?"
The minister will probably look away and say something like, "Well
David sinned with Bathsheba (etc.). Who told you this?"
If your mate says, "Off the internet," he will be told that Satan
is trying to trap him with rumors and lies and to stay away from the
unforgiving, bitter dissidents who perpetuate this garbage.
(Philadelphia Church of God will most likely add that the person who
posted this information is "demon-possessed")
Challenge your mate to ask for more details. Tell him that if these are
really God's ministers, then they should want to always tell the truth,
right? Surely they have nothing to hide. Ask your mate to ask whether it
is true that HWA committed the incest while Dorothy was a minor child,
and did so for about 10 years (that would place Dorothy around 8-10
years old when he started). A hideous thing to do to an innocent child.
Ask your husband/wife, "Why would God's apostle do such a thing to a
small child? Do you think it would be okay for him to do something like
that to one of our children? If we know that it's wrong to do that to
any child, why is it okay for HWA to do it? Did he ever repent and ask
her forgiveness?
Once you start asking questions
like these, you are engaging your mate to "think," and he
may get irritable at you because he doesn't want to think bad things
about HWA since he was taught never to question his leaders.
Your mate respects the Bible,
so you can ask him why in I Timothy 3:2 it says that a bishop (leader)
in the church must be "blameless"--doesn't that disqualify
HWA? And in verse 7 it says, "Moreover he must have a good
testimony among those who are outside..." This means that if a
charge is brought against God's ministers, it should be found to be
untrue. Ask your husband,
"Does the Bible have the ultimate authority, or do the church
leaders have the ultimate authority?" and if he says "The
Bible," then continue with, "Good, I'm glad to hear that. I am
glad to know that if the Bible says something that disagrees with an
organization that you value the Bible first."
When he is reminded of this,
then ask, "Doesn't the Bible say to "test all things to see
whether they are true?" He will agree. So you can continue with,
"Then the ministers shouldn't be afraid to answer all your
questions, even if it's concerning the character and actions of your
leaders, right?" He should agree. Continue with, "So if the
incest is true, then they won't be afraid to say so, right? And they
shouldn't be afraid to tell you whether Armstrong asked for forgiveness
from his daughter, right? Is she in the church? Why or why
not?"2
If you can get your mate to
ask detailed questions about the incest from the ministry, he may get
ejected from the organization (most probably he will if it is
PCG), which may turn out to be a wake-up call
for him. Don't be critical or abrasive, but ask these questions from a
quiet spirit that seeks to understand the details better. If you are
abrasive, he will think Satan is using you to get to him. If you are
kind, but concerned, he won't get as defensive. [See:
If You Have a Loved One in a Deceptive, Exploitive Group (includes what to do and what
not to do)]. In some
situations the answer given will be that "Mr. Armstrong
probably asked forgiveness for his sins before he died." For
comments on this see: Did
HWA confess his sins before he died?
By Kara (former member of WCG)
May 19, 2004
Links
to other places on our site where the incest is mentioned
Footnotes by ESN:
1 The pronoun "he" has
often been used
in this article to refer to
the member mate, but it can also apply to a female.
2 Dorothy does not attend
WCG; having gravitated away from it around 1951. (She was still alive as
of 12/05.) She never denied the incest; in fact she admitted it to a few
others at HQ. This is covered in our article, Why
Herbert W. Armstrong Couldn't Have Been God True Apostle.
Why Herbert Armstrong
Couldn't Have Been God's True Apostle (includes names of
several who knew of the incest)
Articles For Those Who
Were Emotionally and Spiritually Abused
Back
to Questioning HWA's Fruits
DISCLAIMER:
Posted to facilitate researchers and others with inquiring minds
concerning the history of Herbert W. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of
God and is for educational and informational purposes only. We encourage our readers to use
discernment and research widely in order to make their own evaluation. ESN does not endorse all views on outside links. All rights
reserved © Exit & Support Network™
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