(Editor’s Note: The author of this essay is an authoritative source on the history of the Church of God in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Mr. White is a resident of Australia and a frequent contributor to World News and Prophecy Review. His extensive research can be found @ FOS | Friends of Sabbath
By Craig Martin White
Introduction
In the old Worldwide Church of God (WCG) from the earliest editions and especially from the 1950s on, the Plain Truth, Worldwide News, World Tomorrow broadcast (and even in sermons), the Church was very much favourable to conservative politicians and railed against liberal ones. As they should.
The old WCG published articles and booklets against the hippies, flower children, abortion, homosexuality and the decline of the House of Israel. Herbert W Armstrong, the human leader of the Church possessed a sense of urgency from the outset:
His sense of urgency and pleading for a warning message to be broadcast continued over the years. Here are two extracts from letters he wrote on the subject:
“… there is absolutely no purpose in organisation except to facilitate the carrying of the Gospel, and particularly now, in these last days, the last WARNING MESSAGE phase of it to the world.” (p. 1)
“One added thought. It seems to me that our first and paramount duty now, is to shout the WARNING of impending judgments, plagues, and the coming of Christ, as a WITNESS – not the converting of the world, but the sounding of the last WARNING. That should be our FIRST duty, and secondly, the conversion of as many souls as possible, and thirdly, after that, the bringing of people into our spiritual organisation …” (Herbert W Armstrong letter to Otto, 14 Nov 1934, p. 1)
On 7 July 1936 he wrote to Clarence Dodd:
“I believe thoroughly we are, as a church, far ahead of all other denominations, and the only one close enough to the real essential truth to be truly God’s Church.” (p. 1)
“I feel that the radio is destined to be the LOUD VOICE … with which the Third Angel’s Message is to go…
“I believe that when God’s time is here, and He opens the way, that I can produce in the Plain Truth Magazine fully as attractive as the Adventists Sign of the Times, and even more interesting, and with real PUNCH, and INTEREST, and POWER … I believe it will be preached over the air, and published by the printing press.” (p. 2)
“I have fully believed, Bro. Dodd, that the Lord is going to make just such a broadcast as this possible. It cannot of course be financed in our Church. But God has ways of moving on men’s minds and hearts, and in His own time, He will impress the proper ones to come forth with the means.” (p. 2)
Gene Hogberg – the WCG’s political and world news commentator – and other authors – wrote many lines against Jimmy Carter for example and his sell-out of the Panama Canal. Hogberg used to quote conservative politicians and publications and the New Right of those days (eg Conservative Digest, Heritage Foundation, Women Who Want to be Women etc). He wrote about how someday the USA may withdraw from the radical-leftist UNO etc and these institutions may move their Headquarters to Europe – probably Vienna. That NATO could collapse or be restructured etc.
See for example, the Plain Truth article about the US vs Europe issue published 53 years ago: “Cracks in the Atlantic Alliance”, Plain Truth, October 1973. The Church should continue in this vein of analysing world events in the light of Bible prophecy and trumpeting a warning message. Warning our leaders against absurd decisions and our peoples against moral degradation.
Among the articles I have written for various publications and blogs, I posit that these post-WW2 institutions that brought some stability and prosperity to the world, are now so corrupt and Left-Woke-Globalist that they should be abolished as they can no longer be reformed. President Trump and American conservatives/patriots are right to be aghast at how the UNO, UNESCO, WHO, EU, NATO have degenerated even further since the departures of Reagan and Thatcher. Perhaps the World Bank and IMF could be viewed similarly.
Will they transfer to Europe or will successor organisations?
From a political (not prophetic) perspective they should be abolished and replaced with ones where the Anglo-Kelts have the lead.
Trump, despite his bossy approach, is correct on so much of this and the old Plain Truth would have supported him as it did Nixon. Trump seems like a Nixon 2.0:
Richard Nixon often condemned hippies, flower children, black panthers, student radicals, and demonstrators opposing the Vietnam War as disruptive or even lacking patriotism. He referred to certain campus protesters as “bums” who were “blowing up the campuses.” They were pro-gay, pro-abortion etc and anti-family – the opposite to his principles. His administration encountered significant protests, which ignited nationwide turmoil, including the tragic Kent State shootings (where National Guard troops killed four students). Yet he publicly upheld a firm stance against what he perceived as excessive permissiveness and insurrections. He prevented a civil war.
Critics of the Plain Truth magazine complained that it exhibited a pronounced conservative Christian bias and was outspoken against liberal social trends, the counter-culture while championing traditional moral values, and favored right-leaning political leaders while opposing those perceived as weak on Communism, national strength, or Biblical principles.
Even in the 1950s the Church and its publication, the Plain Truth, were considered ‘social conservative. Its World Tomorrow program was similar labelled.
Social Conservatism and Moral Commentary
I cannot refer to every one of the scores of conservative-leaning articles in the WCG’s publications, a selection below provides evidence for its stances,
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, The Plain Truth portrayed the era’s counter-culture as evidence of societal decay and impending end-times judgment. Movements associated with hippies, drug use, the sexual revolution, and “free love” were depicted as symptoms of crumbling moral foundations. For instance, the April 1971 article “A Faded ” Hippie” Dream . . . Haight-Ashbury Five Years Later” highlighted the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco as symbolic of a society in collapse with leftist philosophies and hippie/sexual immorality.
The article “An Editor Looks At The Ten Commandments” In the February 1978 edition indicated that abortion was murder. Similarly, the February 1984 Plain Truth laments:
“Today, abortion (killing) of innocent babies mounts up to a silent holocaust of multiple millions every year. Illegitimate babies account for more and more births; in sections of some cities up to ‘to percent or more of births occur out of wedlock. New social disease terrors have been unloosed on society through loose sexual living.” (“Over 50 Years Of The New Morality Where has it brought us?”)
The article condemned Sigmund Freud, the hippie movement and the consequences. All of this in the prestigious 50th anniversary of the magazine:
“For 50 years, the Plain Truth magazine has explained the real causes of humanity’s problems and warned of earthshaking punishments from God to wake up nations to the need for God’s supreme rule and authority over their lives. Only this magazine and those behind it will tell you how God’s wonderful plan to restore his government over the earth will soon put mankind back on the right moral/spiritual track!”
The May 1985 edition’s lead article was devoted entirely to the issue: “The Plain Truth About ABORTION! Why So Little Understood?”
Of particular importance is Herbert W Armstrong’s article “A New Truth About Abortion”, The Plain Truth, September 1985. Mr Armstrong categorically states to a readership of millions (in several languages):
“It is not just and only a piece of “fetal tissue,” as abortionists argue, in their attempt to justify human murder.”
Abortion drew particularly sharp condemnation, repeatedly labelled as the “murder” of innocents and a national tragedy, aligning the magazine with pro-life positions common in conservative Christian-nationalist circles.
This social conservatism extended to praise for leaders embodying traditional values and opposition to perceived socialist or liberal excesses. The magazine thus contained both religious articles and political analysis, warning readers that moral and political decline would ultimately result in national downfall. This trend was arrested under President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher and celebrated by the magazine.
Favoritism Toward Conservative Leaders
The Plain Truth consistently portrayed certain conservative figures in highly positive terms, often highlighting their sometimes alignment with “Biblical” principles on a number of moral and foreign policy issues.
An example is President Dwight Eisenhower who received a positive obituary “Dwight David Eisenhower 1890 – 1969” in May 1969 following his death. The article celebrated Eisenhower as a “plainspoken, unaffected, simple man” of sincerity, integrity, and humility and a “common man in high office” of good character. He was praised as one of America’s great men, promoting national unity and international strength:
“Another of America’s great men is dead. Another old soldier is gone. Somehow, the death of General Dwight David Eisenhower touched a still tender part of the American heart and perhaps it signalled the passing of more than just a man.”
Richard Nixon enjoyed similar support. The February 1969 issue covered his inauguration optimistically as “The Nixon Inauguration – Beginning Of A New Era?”, suggesting potential for positive change amid global tensions.
The same issue included an article highlighting problems with modern teachers and their ideas and techniques (“Who Will Teach?”)
Another February 1978 piece questioned abandoning U.S. allies, tying into this theme of strategic surrender.
In his article “U.S. Ally To Be Abandoned? Taiwan Faces Grim Future”, Plain Truth, February 1978, Mr Hogberg examined the precarious position of Taiwan amid shifting U.S. foreign policy under President Jimmy Carter. The piece expresses deep concern that the United States is on the verge of betraying or abandoning its long-time ally, Taiwan.
Ronald Reagan garnered enthusiastic coverage. Articles praised his 1980 landslide victory, communication skills, decisiveness, and conservative values. The September 1984 issue analysed his re-election as “The Election Of The Decade,” lauding his economic recovery, military buildup, and conservative values. Reagan’s anti-Soviet stance aligned with the magazine’s anti-communist outlook. The article even included disdain for Jimmy Carter:
“Ever since the 1972 campaign a large gap has opened between the two parties in foreign affairs. This widening breach in the U.S. world view became apparent with the election of Jimmy Carter in 1976.”
Some would even view the February 1981 edition as ‘political’ due to its pro-Reagan stance in the article “America’s New Leadership” and others such as “How Husbands should lead the Family”, “Now they want to De-Sex the Bible” and “What God expects from Human Leaders”. The latter is a MUST read.
The domestic and international protests by students (stirred up by their lecturers and professors) was extensive. Framing themselves as wanting peace and “anti-war protestors”, they were mere stooges of the Communists. Reagan was portrayed as a Christian war-monger who would use prophecies found in Ezekiel 38 as a pretext for war with Soviet Russia and that he would force his Christian views on the secular element within society.
Margaret Thatcher received similar acclaim. Pieces, such as the August 1979’s “Britain At The Brink,” celebrated her 1979 election victory as a corrective to economic and social decline and her promise to undo leftist policies. She stated that she wanted to restore national morale.
In an article titled “London—Where Violence Runs Rampant” published in The Plain Truth magazine, September 1981 issue, the 1981 UK riots (including Brixton and subsequent outbreaks in Liverpool, Manchester, and elsewhere), were discussed as part of a broader surge in violent crime and societal breakdown in Britain. It endorses Margaret Thatcher’s views on law and order by agreeing with her public statements that unemployment was not the primary cause of the riots.
Gene Hogberg’s lengthy article “Seagate Under Siege. Showdown in South Atlantic” in the June 1982 Plain Truth lamented a possible loss of the strategic Falkland Islands and warned what this might portend.
In the August edition, an article appeared lamenting “Falklands Crisis Signals DECLINE OF THE WEST”:
“They [Britain and America] have not kept the Ten Commandments. Both nationally and individually, lawlessness is a way of life in Britain and North America, and Australia and New Zealand, too. If God’s promised blessing fell on us, he also promised to carry out national punishments if the patriarchs’ descendants would persist in disobedience. God said he would “break the pride” of the power of Jacob’s descendants (Lev. 26: 19). One by one the powerful overseas bases and gates of both America and Britain are being dismantled or taken over by other nations.”
The magazine could see the trends, but was decades ahead of its time!
Upon her assuming office, years of protest in Britain and abroad continued – often with violence – portraying her as a “fascist” and “cold war warrior” who would lead the West into a disastrous confrontation with the Soviets. “Better red that dead” was the chant of the student protestors. They and the media did all they could to undermine her. They even wanted her to give up the Falkland Islands.
The policy of both her and Reagan were mainly for short, sharp battles and support for opposition forces – Grenada, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Libya. Not unlike Trump’s policies.
The same issue contains a powerful article proving that homosexuality and transvestism are not inherited from birth (“Is It True Some Are Born That Way”?)
The February 1983 issue featured her on the cover with the byline of “Britain’s Iron Lady” presenting her as a strong conservative leader.
Gene Hogberg, the longtime news editor, reinforced this through his “Worldwatch” columns in The Plain Truth and in regular columns in the Worldwide News. His writings favoured the aforementioned conservative figures (Reagan and Thatcher), critiqued left-leaning movements (e.g., nuclear-freeze protests in 1982), and analysed global shifts in conservative terms. Today he would certainly be sympathetic toward the Trump administration despite Trump’s brashness. After all, a revitalised America, push-back against declining national morals and health issues are far more important than personality failings.
In the Plain Truth he showed clear favourability toward Nixon in articles such as “Now Emerging A New Balance of Power” (May 1972) and “America Confronts The New Soviet Challenge” (August 1972).
His conservative stance in the Worldwide News are too numerous to reference. However, one that may be of interest is Bermuda sea gate faces uncertain future” which you can find in the 15 November 1982 edition.
Criticism of Liberal or Perceived Weak Leadership: The Case of Jimmy Carter
In contrast, Jimmy Carter faced criticism for policies seen as liberal and misaligned with Biblical values. A February 1981 article (“The Plain Truth About the So-Called Christian Right”) examines the “Christian Right” (e.g., Moral Majority) mobilising against Carter in 1980, criticising his support for radical feminist causes, abortion, non-traditional families (e.g., including communes and homosexual relationships in White House conferences), and evolution:
“Groups like the Moral Majority and Christian Voice played a big role in last year’s U.S. elections. The rise of this “Christian Right” has caused a near-hysterical reaction in some quarters- critics warn of “goose stepping,” and “moral fascism.” What is the real meaning behind the increasing involvement of fundamentalist and evangelical religious groups in this world’s politics?…
A Modern Josiah?
Nevertheless, it is possible that at least a temporary change of direction- or slowing of the decline- is in the offing. Such would parallel events of about 2,500 years ago. Just before the ancient nation of Judah fell, it had one last king who stemmed the tide- Josiah.”
Today we have the same shrieking from the Left and misinformed Christians (including elders) in the Church about how bad Christian Nationalists, Populists and Trump are, not realizing that the current conservative trend in America and other place is merely the next wave of this movement.
Foreign policy provided another point of contention, particularly the Panama Canal treaty. The Plain Truth viewed the canal as a strategic “sea gate” promised to Anglo-Keltic American descendants of Israel. Its potential loss signalled national decline.
The July 1977 issue featured Gene Hogberg’s “Canal Zone Handover? America’s Strategic Surrender,” criticising the impending transfer as a dangerous retreat and framing it as part of broader American weakness.
Amazingly, the November 1965 Plain Truth (“Will the U.S. LOSE the Panama Canal?”) warned:
“We said before, and we repeat: America will not keep the Canal! We have already LOST OUT … The pity is we are backing down like weak-kneed simpletons. As a Reader’s Digest article in April 1964 put it, “Panama: the crisis we could have avoided.” The pity is, our own stupid mistakes are costing us our greatest foreign possession!”
The February 1978 article, “America’s National Goal – Appeasement,” delivered a scathing critique. It argued that the U.S. lacked purpose, retreating globally to appease others and atone for past actions. The canal handover exemplified this policy, alongside selective human rights focus (condemning Rhodesia and South Africa while ignoring communist atrocities); and Jimmy Carter’s soft approach against international inroads by Communism. The article predicted further decline per Biblical prophecies such as those found in Ezekiel 7:14 and Leviticus 26:17.
Carter’s loading his Cabinet and chief positions in the public service with leftists was also highlighted in articles.
Our Legacy and Responsibility
Today we must continue to SPEAK OUT against national social sins such as LGBTQ, liberal divorce policy, pornography, legalised prostitution, women ministers, gay marriage, abortion, euthanasia, mass immigration, the Great Replacement and such like. From its outset the Plain Truth was all about WARNING the Israelites as well as other nations.
At the political analytical level, the Church must TRUMPET a warning about ludicrous if not treacherous decisions to give away the Chagos Islands, leading to aggressor nations seeking to move into the vacuum.
It should support and praise good foreign policy decisions and attempts to reverse radical Left, Globalist and Woke domestic legislation and policies.
Herbert Armstrong’s concerns on the state of the Church in the 1930s echoes today. In a letter dated 11 April 1937 to Church of God (the one based in Salem, West Virginia) leader, Andrew Dugger he stated:
“I know God has called me to His ministry … I know He has fitted me specially for the radio work …” (p. 1)
“Brother Dugger, SOMETHING HAS BEEN WRONG with the Church of God. It has not GONE FORWARD with the P O W E R it should. Why? There is a REASON! …
“WHY have we been declaring the Third Angel’s Message [i.e., the warning message by the Church at that time] with such a pitifully weak whisper? …
“The Church of God IS AT THE CROSSROADS!” (p. 3)
“… I sent you the manuscript of a complete book I had written on the ISRAEL question then entitled “The Third Angel’s Message.” [this work evolved into the book The United States and Britain in Prophecy] I believe (and which book, re-written, is now being published, incidentally), and I repeatedly wrote you asking “AM I RIGHT on this question … [you replied] saying I surely WAS RIGHT, and that you say a purpose in the Lord revealing this truth to me at this time. Yet nothing was ever done with this truth…
“This has become a Church stand, I believe, not merely your personal stand – – but I have become convinced from these several incidents that you have taken the stand that we must CLOSE THE DOOR to advancing light and truth, or to purging out any possible error in present teachings…
“But the Church has come to a CRISIS, and its fate will be decided in about five weeks … So I beg of you – – I plead with you, IN JESUS NAME, for the sake of the Church, for the sake of the souls, for your own person sake, will you not now COME OUT BOLDLY WITH THE STAND THAT THE CHURCH WILL KEEP THE DOORS OPEN TO ADVANCING LIGHT AND TRUTH?” (p. 3) [emphasis mine]
May God grant our leaders wisdom in all of this. Because we know, if we have more American leaders like Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama or Joe Biden (let alone those in Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia), the nations of the House of Israel will fall. God will raise up fascist and militaristic nations to bring these nations to heel – to punish them in an effort to bring them to repentance and ultimately to bless them as never before.
World News and Prophecy Review
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