Those who have listened to HWA or Flurry may see similarities
between this dangerous religious group and the one they were involved with. The
members of this group hold to Herbert Armstrong.
I am writing to you to help you and all viewers of
your site to recognize a dangerous presence under
the old WCG umbrella. The presence I speak of is
the Sabbathtarian Church (I have also seen it
spelled Sabbatarian Church), located in Clarkson,
Kentucky. The group
was
founded by Richard Dugan1 and his wife, Laura.
They are adherents of
Herbert W.
Armstrong, and staunch
believers in the doctrines of the old
Worldwide
Church of God. I was a member of their congregation for
almost two years. Please warn others about these
extremists.
Here is my story:
In 2004, I quit my job to move to western
Kentucky to try to get my foot in the door, so
to speak, in the music business. I had visited
the area the previous summer, and met a man
named Richard Dugan, who was a published musical
artist. He had told me that if I were to move
there, he would use his contacts in the music
business to help me possibly get signed to a
recording contract. Having been involved with
music for over 20 years, and not really getting
far, this sounded like a golden opportunity to
get some recognition for my songwriting.
The place itself was beautiful, yet spartan.
No running water (it was brought up in a tank
from the bottom of the mountain), no
electricity (except a generator which was run
from sundown until midnight or so), and
everyone lived in trailers that had been
either donated, or been salvaged. I was
immediately give a doublewide trailer to live
in, equipped with a wood burning stove, and
various pieces of cast-off furniture. I moved
in happily, expecting that I would get to know
God's Will, and further my musical aspirations
at the same time. The rugged lifestyle didn't
bother me much; I was just happy to be there.
At first.
Then, I was introduced to the congregation
members, who told me that it was foretold that
I was to join them. I asked who had told them
that, and they said that Richard was told by
God
personally. A lot of this flew in the face of
everything I had believed up until this point,
but I was trying to be fair, so I listened to
their claims.
They told me that they were at one time
affiliated with the WCG, but broke away in the
1980's to practice their own doctrines
when HWA was beginning to be discredited from
within and without. They opted for a stricter
approach to spiritual matters than the WCG was
espousing at that time--mainly Old Testament
rituals and rules, which were scrupulously
followed.
As time went by, they accumulated more buses,
and more members, and survived by working as
tobacco setters in exchange for a plot of land
to park their buses, and a small monetary
stipend. In 1994, they moved to their present
location in Grayson County, KY on a 400-acre
hilltop. Initially living in the buses, they
soon procured single, and doublewide trailers to
live in.
The book The United States and Britain In
Prophecy was a constant source for
their justification
in the plans and operations of the "Township."
HWA was regarded as "A prophet like unto
Jeremiah" by the congregation. He was quoted
daily, and any occurrence that came close to
fulfilling a prophecy of his, his name would
be trumpeted around, saying that wasn't it
wonderful that God had chosen such a great and
wise man to be His prophet? (paraphrased)
I had been a borderline
Christian before moving to their "Township,"
called by them "La Vita," in 2005. As I was a
"city boy," I had to learn the ways of working on
a farm with a spread of 400 acres. I was informed of the rules governing the
community, about how work had to cease at sundown
on Friday and could not commence until Sunday,
how the community as a whole had to celebrate the
various feasts from the Old Testament, and so on.
Then it was
explained that all of the so-called "holidays"
that
I had celebrated in the past were pagan, and I could
no longer participate in them. They told me that
if I visited my relatives on a Sunday, that I was engaging in a
pagan ritual, because they believed Saturday was the Sabbath. The same with
Christmas or Easter, Thanksgiving or New Year's Eve--all
were considered "pagan, sinful, and evil."
I was told that the leader, a man named
Richard Dugan, was a "prophet of God," and that it
was the congregation's duty to serve him in
whatever way he saw fit. As proof of his exalted
status, he had two wives, both living with him.
There were a few in the congregation that called
Richard "Sire" in reference of the claim that he
was to be the king whom Christ Himself would
appoint, "Who would administer justice in the
name of the Lord."
There was another thing that concerned me,
and that was the opposition they expressed
toward any state or federal agency. They even
said that because Kentucky is a commonwealth,
that the state police are not legally police.
After about a month on the farm, I was given the
job title of Liaison, which meant that, under
the "civil government" (there was a so-called
separation of church and state), I was now the
second in command, second only to Brother
Richard.
After being there for a while, and being
bombarded by the words of Herbert W. Armstrong and
various quotes from the Bible, which I was not all
that familiar with, I started to study both. I found
that their readings from the Bible left
a lot to be desired, both in context, and in
content. Often they would twist meanings to suit
their purposes for that given time, and use the
same verse differently another time.
They believed Herbert Armstrong was a prophet, a
seer, and a man on a Divine Mission. Or so they
said. They insisted, that as well as studying
Scripture, I must read HWA's book, The United
States and Britain In Prophecy, because it
had many clues to how the end was going to come,
and how those who are devout will be spared to
rule over the humanity that survives "the end
times" (which they said was now, and that the
end was coming soon).
To be fair, I decided that I had to read for
myself what HWA said. I found his book (U. S.
and Britain in Prophecy) to be total
malarkey, with inaccurate historical data,
presumptions of God's wishes, and filled with
suppositions and rhetoric that would make anyone
sound like a prophet, a seer, a Divine Missionary.
Having found his methodology questionable at best,
and fraudulent at worst, I decided to put no
credence in the teachings and words of HWA from
that day forward. When
I brought my concerns to Brother Richard, I was
rebuked for "not having faith
in his (Richard's) leadership," and told to work
harder to believe. My opposition to HWA affected
the congregation badly, as it made me seem as if I
did not want to be part of the "family."
It was also about this time that people were
getting angry with me because I would not say I
believed something if I didn't. I would have
discussions with Richard that would turn into
arguments because I would not allow the twisting
of Biblical verses just so he could prove his
point, a common tactic among the congregation
members. It got to the point that some members
called me a heretic for not believing in, and
even denigrating Herbert Armstrong. There was
even conflict over birthdays. I received a gift
for my birthday in 2005, and I was told I should
not have accepted it, that I was behaving like a
pagan, a heathen. Towards the end of my time
there, I was getting into so many arguments and
disagreements with the
congregation members. I began to question the
leader at every turn, often
getting into big arguments with him whenever he was misusing Scripture for his
own ends. I began to see that I had to get out of there
when the talk of "The end times" got more and
more pronounced. They had a plan, in which
they were going to take shelter in a cave that
was adjacent
to an old well on their property, so as to escape the
"coming holocaust," thus saving them to rule
over the post Judgment-Day world. Well, I
wasn't going into a cave, I told them. Their
answer was that maybe I wasn't fit to be "Tuatha
De." I had expressed disbelief on many
occasions, and on many grounds, for their
planned movement into the cave. And my refusal
to take part in their fantastic view of things
made me feel unwelcome. So, one evening in
early August 2006, I informed Richard I was
leaving. I left 2 days later. I don't know if
they would've tried to stop me if I had given
them more notice, but I wasn't going to take
that chance. I had a friend wire me a bus
ticket, and I left Kentucky.
I definitely feel that this group is
dangerous, and if left unchecked, things can
turn out very bad indeed. These
people have access to firearms, and have on more than one occasion said that
they would, if it ever came to it," fight to the last man." They on
numerous occasions referred to the "family"
as separatist. I heard them once compare
themselves to the
Branch Davidians. That was
why I left. All the talk of a police state to come, and a holocaust that would
consume the pagan non-believers
left me with a sense of dread as to their interpretations of just whose word
was to be trusted, and whose word was not to be. I was siding with the Bible,
not Herbert Armstrong. And that, to them,
made me a heretic. I believe whole-heartedly
that the danger posed by such a group is
enormous because of their masquerade as a
legitimate religious sect. Whenever someone says that they are
appointed by God PERSONALLY to a
particular job, ask questions. The
wrongdoer will detest them, and the
righteous will invite more.
David Koresh,
Jim Jones, Charles Manson all claimed to
be of Divine origin at one time or
another. Were they? No, they were
usurpers, taking authority because they
say it is God's will. Remember, the only
people who are afraid of scrutiny are
people who have to hide in the shadows, so
they can accomplish their own agendas.
Your Brother In Christ,
By Kevin
March 13, 2007
Read March 15,
2007
letter to ESN from Kevin.
Footnote by ESN (update):
1 Richard Dugan committed suicide on May 2, 2007 after
a three-hour standoff with police. (WBKO, USA, 5-2-07 and "Is the End of
the World Upon Us?, News Story - WLKY Louisville, KY)
Understanding Mind Control and Exploitive Groups
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Articles For Those Who Were Emotionally and Spiritually Abused
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