Saturday, April 11, 2009

Words of Wisdom from the Vita Packatollah

The 'Apostle' Dave Pack has released Volume 1 of an authorized autobiography.

Let us see what he has to say.

This is from Chapter 15, under the heading '1974 Rebellion' (Emphasis mine throughout):
A growing number of ministers and leaders in the Church, in part led by the CAD Director and Garner Ted Armstrong, began changing certain long-held doctrines and Church traditions.
This is a typical HWA-loyalist interpretation of what happened in 1974. Just blame everyone else except the leader: HWA.
...In addition, these self-deceived men naturally found themselves disgruntled with Mr. Herbert Armstrong. They began to question his authority,
Dave Pack gives no sympathy to those who dared to ask questions.
To make matters worse, it was common knowledge that Garner Ted Armstrong had been engaging in various forms of grave and repeated personal misconduct. This hypocrisy at such a high level led to further criticism of Church leadership. Of course, many ministers found fault with how they perceived Ted’s behavior was being handled.

Whether they knew it or not, questioning authority on even small issues [is Garner Ted Armstrong's immorality a 'small issue' I wonder?] is a slippery slope. If a leader is willing to question Church government on a small decision, what would stop him from doing so on a larger scale? (Emphasis mine)
So criticizing how HWA favored his son is discouraged by Dave Pack as starting one on a slippery slope to getting kicked out of the church. This implants fear into his followers in order to scare them, intimidate them, into not asking questions of the leadership of Dave Pack's Restored Church of God.

He chooses to criticize such questioning behavior when it is directed at the leadership. Criticizing something that the leadership does which is obviously wrong is clearly discouraged here. This allows the leadership, in this case the 'Apostle' Dave Pack, to do whatever he wants. Members are not allowed the right to criticize that which is wrong if it is done by the leadership. This is evidence that Dave Pack is an abusive leader. A healthy, functional leadership will not be afraid of criticism, unlike this so-called Apostle.

1 comment:

  1. What is with this guy Pack? He and Billingsley remarry less than a year after the death of their spouses. Is this an attempt to emulate HWA?

    ReplyDelete