I came across your website after entering a search
for Herbert Armstrong.
I am not sure why I searched for HWA, but I am glad I did;
otherwise, I wouldn't have
found you. I was born into the
Worldwide Church of God in 1970 and had to
stay in until I was
eighteen. Of course, by then, I was so entrenched into
it that I had a
difficult time in leaving for fear of the lake of fire.
While I stuck with the
ideals the leaders preached, in the back of my mind
distrust was forming. I
began to realize a cultish element to this "church,"
but never in my wildest
dreams knew of the corruption and greed carried out in
God's name. Thank you
for this information. I hope more members, ex and
current, find their way to
this information.
I was also (this for some reason makes me smile
now) a thorn in
Gerald
Flurry's side for several of my teenage years. We had
many, many face-to-face confrontations that usually ended up with a
threat to kick me out.
Funny thing was, ninety percent of the reasons I was
getting yelled at were
not my fault, but somehow I got labeled as the ringleader for everything
bad the other kids did.
Flurry actually did kick me out (of the WCG) a few times but for some
reason or another I
kept finding my way back in. It's all I knew. I had no
friends in school so
I had no real social skills. I was unable to develop
any until my mid
twenties and I am still struggling today in my late
30's. The emotional
impact of that "church" has stayed with me. I struggle
with it even as I type
this. I feel betrayed, but I also feel like I am
betraying the "one true
church of God."
My parents are also ex-members of WCG and thankfully
cut all ties with it.
They regret ever going and, now, they admit something
wasn't right. However,
years of brainwashing still
skews their thought
process. When I talked to
my mother about this web site and the things it said
about Armstrong and his
underlings, their deceit, greed, and depravity, she
responded with "don't
believe everything you read." This saddens me
because I know that despite
not attending for several years and claiming fault in
the "church," the hold
stills exists in her mind and it won't let her see the
true face of this
cult that her, my father, my brothers and myself gave
so much of our lives
and money to.
I know there are a lot of members, current and
former, who are a lot worse
off than I am. I think mostly I am just complaining,
but the long term
damage these people cause is very real and can be
emotionally crippling,
even after exiting and knowing the truth. I still
struggle with my thought
process regarding the WCG and probably always will. I
made a joke once that
the Big Sandy campus was a gun or two away from a compound. Now I wonder.
I don't know if this letter makes any sense. There
are so many things I
want to say that I sidetrack a lot. Sorry. To sum it up,
I survived the
WCG, but I am scarred for life.
By Jake - Child Survivor of WCG
August 22, 2006
Articles
For Those Who Were Emotionally and Spiritually Abused
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