RUMORS LIES AND INNUENDO?False claims against any individual regarding incest are repulsive, vicious, and damning. Such charges never should be made, nor should they be repeated by others who cannot support such claims.
A number of individuals have indicated that the charges against HWA are false and that the attacks against him are unfounded and evil spirited. Two common positions are:
1. NOT GUILTY as the evidence presented would not stand up in court. A good example of such a position will be discussed below.
2. NOT GUILTY as it is inconceivable for a man of God to have done so. This type of defense will also be addressed below.
The NOT GUILTY due to insufficient evidence defense
Bob Thiel is an individual who finds HWA not guilty of these charges due to insufficient evidence. His full, in-depth explanation can be found here.
Bob personally investigated the issue. He determined that not only could the accusations not be proved, but some aspects were actually disprovable. He concluded that the accusers had merely perpetuated the charade with no direct information and that HWA would be found NOT GUILTY in a real court of law.
In essence, he believes all accusations stem from the charges first aired in David Robinson's 1980 book, Herbert Armstrong’s Tangled Web. Significant points Bob made about his own investigations include:
- Art Mokarow would not stand by previous comments about personally hearing HWA's alleged confession in the "Lochner tapes"
- On January 3, 2007, Dibar Apartian clearly and flatly denied the claim that had previously stated that he felt HWA was guilty of incest.
[Comments: If Bob had nothing to gain personally by defending HWA's authority, and If he were widely recognized to be a trustworthy individual, then his statements would carry significant weight. Personally, I do not find Bob to be a credible individual based on some interactions with him in the early 1980's, due to his claims of being a prophet, his misstatements about his religious training, and based on my own conversations with Art Mokarow.]
The NOT GUILTY because "it can't be true" defense
Some (such as the "HWA Library" site or Frank Nelte) argue along the lines of: God only works through men of integrity. God obviously worked through HWA . Therefore, HWA is a man of integrity and these claims must be false. However, circular reasoning does not prove anything.
[Comments: There is a big difference between God allowing someone to do something in His name versus God calling that person and working directly through him. HWA had claimed that he had learned from no man and that he had restored 18 truths to the true church and many give him credit for this. However, a little research will show that most of what HWA taught was not new and that he had copied it from others. For example, a good summary of the HWA's supposed 18 'restored' truths may be found here.
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH OR MORE RUMORS, LIES AND INNUENDO?
A number of supposed "proofs" regarding the abuse accusation will now be examined, moving from the general to the more specific.
(To be continued)
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