Saturday, November 11, 2017

Advent of Honesty

From all of us at As Bereans Did to all of you, our astute and honored readers --

MERRY FACTMAS

Factmas? What's that?

Why, that's the time of year that we devote to countering the fake news about Christmas that we find in Armstrongist literature each and every year that are, to be blunt, willfully dishonest.

Yes, I said it. I said Christmas. It's a scary topic to many people in the Armstrongist tradition. A lot of things can be overlooked but not sympathy to Christmas. Too much baggage is involved. Too much fear. But listen to me please. I am not here to trick you out of a crown. Quite the opposite. I am here to present facts. If I can give you even one truth, no matter how small, don't you want to know what that is?

Have you been told that Christmas is pagan? Have you been told that December 25th is the birthday of Nimrod? Have you been told that Christmas Trees began in ancient Egypt? Have you been told that Jeremiah condemns Christmas Trees?

Everybody knows these things. Right? I used to believe them too. Before I looked at the facts.

Well, what would you say if we told you that these things are fake news? What if we told you these things are in fact not true, and we can prove it? What if we told you that the very church leaders who have been telling you these things have known that these things are not true, and have known this for decades?

Scary? Yes. I can relate. Moves you too far out of your comfort zone? OK. I understand. Don't let that chase you away.

We encourage you to read through our catalog of articles to see just what the other side of the story really has to say. But not only what the other side has to say, but to see what your own side of the story has actually said over the years and how the story keeps changing in order to keep promoting a false narrative.

We've been doing this for almost ten years now. We've been drawing on materials that have been available for years, sometimes centuries. Why don't the leaders in the Armstrongist splinter churches pay any regard to these facts? They have access to the same source material we do. We suspect it has to do with money and control. Of course, I am referring to your money and control over you.

If anything I have said has piqued your curiosity in any way, I encourage you to dive into one of these recommended articles:

Christmas FAQ
Falsely Accused? Christmas Trees and Germanic Paganism
Falsely Accused? Christmas Trees Were Christian Theater Props
Falsely Accused? Catholics Rejected Trees as Too Protestant?
Falsely Accused? Nazi Christmas Propaganda Lives On
Falsely Accused? You Decide
Jeremiah 10 and Christmas Trees
The Plain Truth About December 25th
On Nimrod And Christmas Trees part 1
On Nimrod And Christmas Trees part 2
On Nimrod And Christmas Trees part 3
Unto You A Child Is Born
Nimrod's Birthday Was January 6?
A Dialogue On Jeremiah 10
The Quotes Before Christmas
Crazy About Christmas
Established And Imposed
Christmas On Trial

*The Christmas FAQ in particular has become our place to link to more Christmas articles on other sites that we've found useful.

Read one. Just one. Pick one out, read it, pray about it, think it over, come back and read another. Or by all means please take some time to check our facts.

You will find something odd within these articles, strange and curious to you no doubt, and that is referenced sources. I trust, in this age of fake news, that you will agree that not all source material is the same. If I quote propaganda, then what good is my quote? If I quote something that is known to be fake, then what good is my quote? If I make a statement today then use myself as a reference tomorrow, what good is my quote? Well, these are precisely the type of things done by Armstrongist authors over the years. These annual collections of alternate facts are what we call "intellectual dishonesty." (That's a fancy way of saying fake news.)

How can "God's Truth" be based on lies? It can't.

So we decided to do just the opposite and take the most rigorous approach we could and bring you quotes from primary sources or the best possible secondary sources we could find. Not just any confirmation-bias source, no! The best sources. We call this "intellectual honesty."

Read our articles. Verify our source material. Follow the trail of evidence. We have boldness to encourage you to this. Why? Because we love the truth. The truth will take care of itself. And the truth will set you free.

How do you fight fake news? FACTS! We got em. We want you to have em, as a free gift. And so we say...

MERRY FACTMAS




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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )
Acts 17:11
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