When pulled out of public schools by Armstrong for observing holy days, school children could be adversely affected; due to isolating sabbath restrictions, they could not participate in sports, band, and many other key developmental activities in school. That's not exactly a trivial matter. Also, those in the COG were severely handicapped in their limited choices for getting any higher education. Other than choosing God's college restoring true values, all other "pagan" higher education was viewed to be of highly dubious value. Other occupational fields generally were denied, either because it was not permitted by Armstrong or the government (such as military and defense related jobs). Those lucky enough to be employed in the professions were very, very few and far between in the church. Of the permissible jobs remaining, the need to be off every Friday night and Saturday without exception, and of course the absolute need to be off during the festivals severely affected every member's employment choices at every point in their lives.
With today's high double-digit unemployment in many areas, finding and keeping suitable employment is not just an academic issue for many Worldwiders, with the sole exception of perhaps the ministry. There's slim pickings indeed leftover for survival after taxes, three tithes, and buying thousands more in Dom Perignon for The Apostle. Take, for example, two former UCG schoolteachers who operate a day care business in Chile. Should they stay open for business during the Sabbath and Holy Days?
“Through the years, we didn’t discuss the issue of the Holy Days while Mr. Mario Seiglie was our pastor, and neither with Saul Langarica for the first six years of his tenure and we just rested and regularly attended all the Sabbaths and Holy Days. We thought it was a private matter on how we resolved this issue. It must also be stated that we were never suspended for this matter. It was never mentioned as a reason for the suspensions. The subject was broached in 2009 and 2010 by Mr. Langarica, but no decision was made about the matter."
The UCG's answer to this problem? Luker and Rhodes' Take On How To Observe The Sabbath
2 comments:
The "ministers" have always grinded the faces of the poor, and still do in UCG with their demands of sabbath-keeping and feast-keeping. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders.
That the ministers were "selective" about the law has been underscored by my ongoing project, the reading of the complete unabridged works of Josephus.
Herod the Great was noteworthy for his innovations, counteracting the law of Moses in numerous ways. Basically, he attempted to remake Judah into what we might call a "world class nation" in modern parlance. He introduced games and athletic contests, built arenas, and promoted the arts such as acting and sculpture. The Jews were not permitted by Mosaic law to make or possess images of animals or for that matter, anything else.
Armstrongism made a fetish out of the sabbath, claiming that Jesus taught love for God, and love for fellow humans, and that love for God was covered by the first four commandments. They most certainly did not make a fetish out of the commandment proscribing graven images however, the egret statues, the church seal portraying the lion, lamb, and little child, and HWA's art collection being just some of the most visible evidence against them.
Armstrongism was a pick and choose religion, based on the preferences and personality of HWA. In the Old Testament, the spoils system was very much in vogue. In the New, the teachers whom God used were basic everyday people who followed Christ's example of giving their all for the preaching of the gospel. There were no riches, or self-aggandizement in all of this. Is it any wonder that HWA would mostly use the OT model upon which to build his religious empire? Whether one reads Josephus, or the Old Testament, one is confronted by example after example after example of Kings and Priests who started out with their hearts right, yet ended up as being very evil and corrupt as a result of amassing riches.
BB
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