tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post7999345825792600437..comments2023-11-05T20:19:44.812+13:00Comments on Ambassador Watch: An Unconventional Bible CollegeGavinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03060097218905523899noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-3137394307248584982006-10-22T11:48:00.000+13:002006-10-22T11:48:00.000+13:00The AC freshman class at Big Sandy in 1972 was one...The AC freshman class at Big Sandy in 1972 was one of the largest admitted. It was also one of the most problematic. I heard an AC administrator and evangelist once mention this with a note of consternation in his voice. While most of the students in that class were traditional, a few were revisionist. <br /><br />For college administrators who expect very compliant and dedicated students every year, any amount of revisionism would be alarming. <br /><br />For all of its energy and diversity, the class of 1972 did not bring about any major positive changes in AC or WCG. They did talk more than other classes. <br /> <br />-- NeoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-33716478698644236102006-10-21T17:50:00.000+13:002006-10-21T17:50:00.000+13:00I guess most of you writing and reading this blog ...I guess most of you writing and reading this blog have no idea about Big Sandy and the environs. That picture on the blog is the dirt road leading to the dump in the back of the campus, quite a showdown it seems. Big Sandy was the WCG pre Tkach's liberal answer to HWA's 'conservative' Pasadena.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-53950964100618476422006-10-21T14:15:00.000+13:002006-10-21T14:15:00.000+13:00I had to smile when I read the titles of Greg Doud...I had to smile when I read the titles of Greg Doudna's Ambassador College papers. I never went to Ambassador College, but I remember thinking about and writing similar silly essay (privately -- I didn't usually submit such things embarrassing compositions as class assignments in high school or college). It was interesting how he was able to see the error of the WCG's racist doctrines about interracial marriage, but he was a committed believer in British Israelism and the 7,000-year plan and the Jewish festivals. Arguing that we'd gotten Ephraim and Manasseh backwards was actually pretty daring, considering the WCG's straight-jacket on human reason and Bible interpretation. I'm surprised he didn't get disfellowshipped over that one.<br /><br />The anecdote with which he opens his book is a perfect illustration of the kind of intellectual and cultural environment we had in the old WCG. "Oh sure, it's possible God could reveal new truth to a mere layman. He's never done it before, but He could do if if He wanted to. Harumph!" Never done it before, eh? But didn't we all believe that's exactly what He did in the case of Herbert Armstrong? And how would that WCG minister have explained God's calling Amos from following the flocks of sheep near Tekoa?<br /><br />But back then, no one in that audience would have dared question that minister's dismissive, arrogant, ignorant non-answer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-54791682944551025202006-10-21T07:25:00.000+13:002006-10-21T07:25:00.000+13:00"But both the diabolic love and the unearthly hate..."But both the diabolic love and the unearthly hate of the mysteries it had penetrated fought for the possession of that soul satiated with primitive emotions, avid of lying fame, of sham distinction, of all the appearances of success and power.<br />Sometimes he was contemptibly childish. He desired to have kings meet him at railway-stations on his return from some ghastly Nowhere, where he intended to accomplish great things."<br /><br />--Heart of DarknessAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-29054456173809453312006-10-21T04:20:00.000+13:002006-10-21T04:20:00.000+13:00I just previewed G. Doudna's new book and found th...I just previewed G. Doudna's new book and found the part I read to be interesting and accurate. I was at AC Big Sandy during the period he writes about and was acquainted with Greg. <br /><br />What I can say is that he experienced AC Big Sandy from a relatively privileged position. He was an AC student. He was a part of the future leadership of the Armstrongite church, a chosen generation. <br /><br />Had a candid account been written by an employee at AC Big Sandy, from a much less privileged perspective, there would be a different tenor. <br /><br />I found AC Big Sandy at this time to be a dismal and horrific experience -- like a description out of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. But the desire to believe that there is something good in the world can overwhelm reason.<br /><br />-- NeoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com