Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Roderick C. Meredith Misleadingly Telling TV Viewers that LCG is Unique

Roderick C. Meredith presents himself as worthy of being followed. It is often stated that Meredith says he has not committed any major sin since he was baptized.

But on his Tomorrow's World telecast, which is mainly targeted towards those who know nothing about Armstrongism, HWA, WCG, the other COGs, Roderick C. Meredith will state that LCG is in possession of "precious insights and information available nowhere else".

How is that not a lie?

It is complete nonsense. There are literally hundreds of COG groups that all believe essentially what LCG teaches. There are indeed minor details that differ among the various COG groups but regardless they are closely related and share most of what LCG teaches.

Most COG groups (incorrectly) say that HWA was right and continue to teach most of what HWA said. The COG groups often make many prophetic speculations of the same kind as LCG.

How can Roderick C. Meredith falsely insinuate that his LCG teaches unique information that no one else has? What is the meaning of such duplicitous behavior?

This happens because Tomorrow's World telecast is made for outsiders, those who have had no involvements with Armstrongism, HWA, WCG or any of the COG offshoot groups. The goal of the Tomorrow's World telecast is to get more people to join LCG. And if it is thought that inaccurately saying that LCG has information unique to itself can do this (even though LCG has no such monopoly on the teachings of HWA) then such misleading words are spoken.

I would have thought that leaders of "God's Church" should be men unafraid of speaking the truth and honest. And yet here we see LCG's leader, Roderick C. Meredith, falsely insinuating that LCG is unique when in fact it is no such thing. There are hundreds of COG groups out there. But Roderick C. Meredith knows most people do not know about the COG groups and he is speaking to those people who are unaware of whence LCG stems from.

What follows below is a reposting of a post about Roderick C. Meredith's misleading words originally posted in 2009.

I have added in highlighting Meredith's misleading words and noting the air time of the Tomorrow's World telecast in question.

***

Recently LCG sent their co-workers a DVD featuring four Tomorrow's World broadcasts, one by each of the presenters. I got one too. Instead of talking about how you can be saved by Jesus they chose to send out programs about fear-inducing (false) prophecy.

I seriously considered destroying the DVD. But I decided to watch it. I wondered how I would view these broadcasts now that I had renounced Armstrongism. I watched Roderick C. Meredith's broadcast.

After watching Meredith's broadcast I think I shall keep it. I am actually glad they gave it to me. Why?

Well, at the end of his broadcast, The Power of Prophecy [March 12, 2009], beginning at 26:53, Meredith said, "You will gain precious insights and information available nowhere else."

This statement may well have been true when he first got caught up in Armstrongism, but he very well knows that there are many other Armstrongite churches that preach exactly the same thing as Tomorrow's World teaches. Some little details differ from sect to sect, but what unites them is far greater than what divides them.

When I discovered YouTube I soon ran into UCGia's TV program, Beyond Today: The Next Superpower. Even though I had been aware of UCG for years, thanks to LCG apologist Bob Theil's website, I was still amazed that this show taught the same thing as Tomorrow's World. That the Beast is a revival of the Roman Empire, etc, etc.

There are also many other places out there where one can learn about HWA's doctrines. There are literally hundreds of Churches of God out there, as he knows very well, many of them continuing to teach much of HWA's writings.

So that assertion, and I can personally testify that he was using precisely that kind of language when I first started watching his program way back in 2000, is simply not true.

How dare you say something that is simply untrue.

This reminds me that back in June 2008 Stan reported that Roderick Meredith on his faculty page at Living University portray Meredith as having graduated from Ambassador University. It still says that.

This also reminds of what one former LCG member wrote in this letter, "When I was in LCG in 2001, Meredith was like a chameleon and could change at will. He was very slick and I witnessed him lie whenever it served his purposes."

Also in AR 29 October 1984, under the heading 'Meredith's Counseling' the following was written concerning what Robert Hoops, who at the time was a minister with Garner Ted Armstrong's CGI, had to say about Roderick Meredith:
During a deposition and later with us privately, Hoops described how, when Meredith once counseled his wife, Meredith made such insensitive and unwarranted accusations against him that his wife cried for a week. When he found out later what had been said about him, he became so depressed he was almost suicidal. Said Hoops, "When you have really committed your life to the church and believe the ministry represents God, a harsh assessment of you by a superior can literally create severe emotional trauma." On the stand, Hoops was asked by Stuart for his opinion of Meredith. But Judge Olson disallowed the question. Later, however, Hoops was quite candid with us about his assessment of Meredith's character.

"Meredith is a liar," said Hoops. "But that isn't surprising when you consider how big a liar he works for." Sadly, Hoops' opinion of Meredith is shared by many ministers who served under him in years past.
Alas! Because of the misleading statement he made in his TV program I regretfully am forced to conclude that such an assessment seems most reasonable to believe.

After seeing him make such an obviously untrue statement on TV, what other conclusion can there be?

To paraphrase what Stan said on that Ambassador Reports blog about him then, "Tell the truth!!"

1 comment:

  1. It would be interesting to have brain scans of Roderick Meredith to see what parts of his brain have been destroyed by his lying -- studies show that deliberate lying destroys certain parts of the brain.

    It would also be interesting to have him tested for the Anger / Warrior genes, though we can pretty much ascertain from his belligerent behavior what we would find from the blood test.

    Although I do not believe him to be an alcoholic, it would be instructive to have him submit to a simple chemical test to determine that objectively, since it is an inherited function of liver dysfunction.

    In fact, all Armstrongist minister, founders, leaders and administrators should be subjected to these genetic tests and a rigorous number of other tests to determine their qualifications for ministry, since Armstrongism is a religion of physical rituals. All the best need to be identified for possible inclusion into the hierarchy of the cult organizations and the rest of the blemished discarded. Of course, this might not leave very many left at all.

    We need to subject them to other batteries of tests also, including IQ and personality tests. No IQ less than 150 should be considered. A full panel of psychologists and psychiatrists should use the DSM-5 to weed out those with severe mental dysfunctions, such as manic depressive disorder and schizophrenia. There needs to be an absolute prohibition of all narcissists.

    There must be an in depth investigation of any criminal activities as well. There can be no pedophiles or those who commit incest. There can be no robberies and murders, nor will any white collar crime be tolerated within ministerial ranks. Any evidence of perjury would be grounds of disqualification.

    We should (in the United States) engage the FBI to investigate whether the person in question 'has a good report of those without' and Interpol may be used to further advance the investigation. We will, of course, need fingerprinting and have the subject take a lie detector test.

    We need to interview neighbors going back at least a decade to determine that he has never committed adultery and that his wife and children are happy and in subjection. Since he must be 'apt to teach', the appropriate training must have been completed. It would be helpful for him to have a current teaching certificate.

    Those who qualify thus far for the ministry need to be subjected to drug tests and have random drug tests during their ministry. Auditors need to be brought in to examine the finances of the minister so there won't be any hanky-panky.

    Ministers need to be examined to see if they have the right personality for the job: They must have empathy and be compassionate and merciful with people, be apt in counselling, known for giving sound advice, particularly in 'spiritual' and matters relating to living. A minister must also be able to set boundaries and appropriately confront and correct those who would cause division in the sect.

    The minister needs to be completely fit to administer and participate in programs involving athletics, after all, summer camp for the youth can be demanding. He will also need to be sacrificing and be able to promote those who have special needs. He needs to be strong, patient and kind.

    Most of all, he needs to set a sterling example.

    This, of course, is not the whole list. He needs to be able to stand as an ambassador to represent Jesus to lead people to redemption.

    And no one should ever have to settle for anything less.

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