The Painful Truth

Facts, opinions, and comments about the Worldwide Church of God

A former member of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) by the name of Ed Mentell, Sr. started a Web site called The Painful Truth, which was located at http://www.herbertwarmstrong.com for a while. Around January 18, 2006 it moved to http://thepainfultruth.org/pain.htm. When this Web site disappeared too, The Painful Truth came back by July 2006 at http://www.hwarmstrong.com. This Web site contains many articles and letters from people who are no longer happy about the WCG and its splinter groups. The Painful Truth Web site contains some valid points, and some nonsense. Currently, the amount of nonsense and perverseness is increasing a lot faster than the number of valid points.

Notes:

1. Criticisms of HWA and the WCG that contain some truth

   The Painful Truth Web site has articles that are critical of the false prophecies and corruption in the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). For example:

   How Herbert W. Armstrong Used 1972 To Finance His Building Projects
   Was at http://www.herbertwarmstrong.com/19_year_cycle.htm.
   Then at http://thepainfultruth.org/19_year_cycle.htm.
   Then at http://www.hwarmstrong.com/19_year_cycle.htm.
   Now at http://www.hwarmstrong.com/19-year-cycle.htm.
   
   Herbert W. Armstrong's 52 Year Track Record Of False Prophecies
   Now called Herbert W. Armstrong's 209 False Prophecies
   Was at http://www.herbertwarmstrong.com/prophet.htm.
   Then at http://thepainfultruth.org/prophet.htm.
   Then at http://www.hwarmstrong.com/prophet.htm.
   Now at http://www.hwarmstrong.com/prophet-1.htm.

2. The downward spiral of the godless

   The Painful Truth Web site started off by complaining about such things as false prophecies and immoral leaders in the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) and its splinter groups. Now, however, the main purpose of The Painful Truth Web site is to turn people against God and the Bible, and to tell them that their own immoral behavior is acceptable.

   The people behind The Painful Truth Web site no longer believe in the Bible, and have actually forbidden people to quote the Bible in their forum or in articles they submit to that Web site.

   One section of The Painful Truth Web site, called Bibliolatry, attempts to disprove the Bible by pointing out contradictions in the Bible. Some of these "contradictions" that people claim to have found are not even contradictions at all, and say more about the limited knowledge of the people who came up with them than about the errancy of the Bible. For example, one person quoted what Jesus had said about being three days and three nights in the grave. Then he complained that Friday evening to Sunday morning was not three days and three nights. All of Herbert W. Armstrong's (HWA's) teachings on this subject seem to have been in vain. Ed Mentell, Sr., who claims to have studied the Bible for an hour a day for twenty-five years while in the Worldwide Church of God (WCG), doesn't edit out these mistakes that people make. Nobody should be too quick to carelessly assume that all of these characters are "thinkers," or that they really care about truth, or that they have disproven the Bible.

   Some people who write to, and for, The Painful Truth Web site seem to have forgotten, or possibly never clearly understood, what the Worldwide Church of God taught in the past. Some even write as if they think that the Worldwide Church of God taught that the wicked will get "eternal torture."

   The editors behind The Painful Truth Web site seem to lack patience, and manners. They block any further e-mail from people they don't agree with, and are quick to insult them and tell them to stay away from The Painful Truth Web site. In the letters and articles submitted to The Painful Truth Web site, the authors, who often no longer believe in the Bible, sometimes unwittingly testify against themselves about their own gross immorality. The editors of The Painful Truth Web site try to comfort and reassure every immoral person who writes to them that all is well, as long as the person hates God and the Bible.

   By getting rid of the Bible, the people behind The Painful Truth Web site get rid of God's laws about morality and decency. The major problem in the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) and its splinter groups is that many people do not really obey God's laws about morality and decency. That is what leads to all the bad things that the Bible calls sin. If Herbert W. Armstrong had not carelessly made up dates for the end of the world (age) that God never told him, many prophetic mistakes could have been avoided, as well as the unfortunate practical consequences of the date-setting. If HWA's son, Garner Ted Armstrong (GTA), had obeyed God's laws about morality, much of the corruption and injustice in the WCG could have been avoided. If the people who showed up at the Worldwide Church of God had not sinned and slandered, the WCG would have been a much better place. The problem was not with God's laws. The problem was with all the people from top to bottom who disobeyed them.

3. The consequences of godlessness

   People who reject God and the Bible will not automatically be nice people. Rather, they will probably end up being immoral and rude, just like the hypocrites who go to church but don't obey the laws of God. Yet, they won't call themselves immoral or rude. Having rejected God's opinion about what is right and wrong, they will put forth their own various different opinions on the matter. This will enable each person to do as he pleases, including doing things that the Bible would define as sinful, or even abominable, while saying that they have ethics and morals without religion. As the Bible says, "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity" (Romans 1:28, NIV).

   Posted at The Painful Truth Web site is a short book, now called Memories Of A Childhood In The Worldwide Church of God. In chapter five, while talking about when he was ten years old, the author said, "After all, during my tenure as a preadolescent I had lied, cheated and stolen; shown disrespect (from a safe distance) to my parents; embarked upon tantalizing anatomical explorations with the neighbor girl in our hay barn; smoked, cursed and played hooky." As one of the Proverbs says, "Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right" (Proverbs 20:11, NIV). Some people who act outraged when they hear the stories of what Garner Ted Armstrong did with the girls at Ambassador College (AC) have fond memories of the times that they themselves did similar things.

   While it is understandable that some people might be angry and bitter about some of the bad things that happened in the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) and its splinter groups, the editors of The Painful Truth Web site now want to think that God does not exist, and that people can do anything they please regardless of how immoral it is according to the Bible. Without God's righteous laws to guide them for their own good, the editors of The Painful Truth Web site give the impression that it is all right to rant and swear, smoke, fornicate, engage in homosexual acts, etc. Those who fall for such ideas are at risk of becoming diseased, or even going insane, as has happened to others in the past when they got too carried away hating God.

   The editors behind The Painful Truth Web site say that it is possible to have ethics and morals without God, but they don't seem to understand anything. One Painful Truth editor asked, "What is wrong with smoking?" Well, some doctors claim that smoking causes strokes, and that about thirty percent of cancers are related to smoking. These seem like good reasons to avoid heathen customs such as smoking. If someone's smoking causes them to have a stroke, or to get lung cancer, it won't help much to have The Painful Truth Web site raging against a God that it claims does not exist, saying that He is unfair. If someone becomes an alcoholic with all the related problems, it won't help to claim that someone else did it too, or that the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) drove them to it. The same ignorant editor said, "'Homosexuals?' Without the bible ruining my life and screwing up my mind, I no longer stand in judgment of people's sexual preferences." But, maybe it is the editors of The Painful Truth Web site who are ruining people's lives and screwing up their minds. The November-December 2000 issue of the Good News magazine that the United Church of God (UCG) produced had a couple articles about the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, and how it could be stopped. Below is a quote from one of the articles:

   "The black death was a disease of filth. If people had followed simple biblical laws of hygiene, many could have avoided infection and death. But people didn't make the connection. The plague finally came to an end only when the more-aggressive European brown rat drove out the plague-infested black rat. Today's plague, AIDs, is also a disease of filth--the filth of the mind that dominates contemporary culture and leads to rampant sexual immorality. Like the black death before it, the solution to the modern plague is revealed in scriptures."

   The entire article can be read online at the United Church of God's Web site:

   AIDS: How a Killer Plague Can Be Stopped
   Available at http://www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn31/index.htm.

   The people behind The Painful Truth Web site are just like the painfully ignorant people of the past who couldn't "make the connection" between disobeying God's laws in the Bible and getting sickness and death. A newspaper article from 2005 claimed that 40 million people in the world have HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The article also said that AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognized in 1981, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history. Yet, the editors of The Painful Truth Web site still can't "make the connection." They just keep on saying that there is no proof that God exists or that the Bible is His inspired word.

4. Ed Mentell, Sr. lies for Satan

   The Answers To Frequently Asked Questions section of the Painful Truth Web site can be found at http://www.hwarmstrong.com/faq.htm. The answer to question #38 contained an emotional outburst by a certain godless editor. Ed J. Mentell, Sr. concluded bitterly that, "As in the past, I have noticed that Christians have no problem lying for Jesus. I accuse the author of the Plain Truth Website of being a liar just like his father, the devil." Now, why would he say such things? Just what is his problem? Well, actually, his problem appears to be at least threefold:

   1.  Ignorance:   He does not even know what garbage he posted on his own Web site.
   2.  Incompetence:   He does not even know how to look up the garbage that he posted on his own Web site.
   3.  Insolence:   He likes to rant and rave and slander others on his own Web site.

   Of course, a longer list of his faults could be posted, detailing 7, or 12, or 19, or more of his faults, but everybody will be spared that--for now. Old, burnt out Ed, Sr.'s behavior demonstrates once again that: As usual, the godless have no problem lying for Satan. To recycle a few more of his own words, it looks like he is "a liar just like his father, the devil." That "I accuse..." stuff of his is not surprising. That is simply what the accuser of the brethren does. Make no mistake about it, his purpose is not really to help anyone. As his condition deteriorates, his rantings and ravings could become totally unfit for publication. Sure, this is actually old news, but it makes for OK space filler. His lying goes on and on. A response to it can go on too.

   Ed Mentell's complete lack of sense in this simple matter illustrates what to expect when he criticizes the Bible. His "Bible study" follows a similar threefold approach:

   1.  Ignorance:   He does not even know what the Bible says.
   2.  Incompetence:   He does not even know how to find what the Bible says.
   3.  Insolence:   He gets mad and lies about what the Bible says.

   More can be added here just by rephrasing sentences from Ed's painfully ignorant/incompetent/insolent regular contributors to his Web site. To quote an August 2005 Editorial by one of his own contributors to his Web site [with corrections], "[Ed's] snotty, condescending, hate-filled attitude is plain to see. And that's good because people need to see just how twisted people can become under the influence of [Satan]." That is why Ed's answer became "progressively angrier, until, at the end, it comes real close to pure venom." The reading comprehension skills of Ed and his writers are painfully poor. Their reasoning skills are painfully faulty. The way they misquote, misunderstand, and twist what people write seriously calls into question everything they say. To make it an even worse mess, one writer there will say one thing, and then another writer will say something else that contradicts what the first one said, as each one does what is right in his own eyes.

5. New management

   As of April 21, 2006, the management of the Painful Truth Web site changed again.

6. More new management

   As of April 2009, the Painful Truth Web site was once again under new management. Editor in chief #5 was listed as "James."