Is this what a real friend looks like?

As longtime readers of this blog know, I have found it necessary on various occasions over the last several years to challenge the extremism of Pastor Bill Watson of the Church of International. Over that period, many have asked, "Why Bill?" At times, that question has also been framed with a note of bewilderment and anger that I would dare to "attack" my father's "best friend" and/or his "religious beliefs."

To fully answer that question, a little background is in order. My father introduced my brother and I to the radio broadcasts of Herbert and Garner Ted Armstrong back in the 60s. And, although my father chose not to act on his convictions about "THE TRUTH" which he believed he had heard, I was baptized as a teenager into the now defunct Worldwide Church of God. My father, however, began attending Church of God International services about seven years after my baptism and was eventually baptized by that organization (and later ordained as a minister by them). Moreover, soon after my father began attending CGI, I was disfellowshipped from the Worldwide Church and also began attending at CGI. Nevertheless, within a year or two, I began attending with a congregation of Seventh Day Baptists in Alabama (I was also given a license to preach by that group) and began to seriously explore the underpinnings and justifications of my own belief system.

Fortunately (from my perspective), over the years that followed, I demonstrated to my own satisfaction that the Armstrongs had taught many things that simply were NOT true. During this period, I continued to maintain a close relationship with my father, but my awareness of Bill became peripheral (only hearing about him and his activities through my father). Even so, I eventually moved to a location where there wasn't a SDB congregation within range, and we resumed attending CGI services.

About that time, I was also asked to speak on a fairly regular basis at two of the congregations where I attended and began to write several articles which were published in The International News. During this period, both my father and the pastor of the local congregation where I attended knew that I did NOT embrace all of CGI's teachings (I did, however, always respect their teachings and never contradicted them in my messages to their congregations or in the articles I penned for their quarterly newspaper).

Nevertheless, when I decided to contribute a couple of articles to Dixon Cartwright's The Journal on human sexuality, the proverbial s--t hit the fan! I was immediately disinvited from speaking and contributing to CGI's paper. For myself, since I viewed those contributions as having been done in the spirit of service and helping, I wasn't immediately alarmed by these developments.

Almost immediately, however, Pastor Watson saw fit to begin speaking out against homosexuality. Moreover, I considered some of his statements on the subject to be extreme, uncaring, uninformed and cruel. When the statements continued, I eventually felt compelled to publicly challenge the statements - though I continued to try to be respectful of the man himself. After all, I reasoned, he was my father's "best friend."

However, far from being chastened, over time, I noticed that Mr. Watson's statements became more and more extreme; and that he had begun to embrace extreme right wing talking points on a number of other issues as well. Needless to say, I found this development to be alarming and troublesome - especially in light of the fact that my father and other family members looked up to this man and had always respected his viewpoints. In similar fashion, I was frankly more than a little concerned that he was using his platform as a minister of Jesus Christ to advocate on behalf of certain political views and candidates (I did NOT feel that this was appropriate for a man in his position).

And then, my father developed a chronic illness that was eventually diagnosed as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. I was devastated. We all knew that the prognosis was not good for this disease - that his condition would steadily deteriorate, and that it would inevitably kill him. Moreover, we all understood that his condition made him especially susceptible to respiratory infections and would magnify the dangers and ill effects that those infections could engender in the human body. Sure enough, over the years that followed there were numerous infections, and his breathing became more and more labored and difficult over time - eventually resulting in him being placed on supplemental oxygen.

And then, suddenly, there was Covid-19. Although I was immediately concerned for my father (knowing that he would be extremely vulnerable to this virus), I prayed that God would protect him; and I also felt certain that his church friends would do everything in their power to protect him.

Hence, you can imagine my consternation when Bill Watson began pushing back against masks and social distancing! Moreover, I was absolutely livid when Pastor Watson began talking about right wing conspiracy theories about the origins of the virus and the efficacy of the mRNA vaccines that had been developed to ameliorate its onslaught! How could this man endanger the lives of his parishioners in this manner? How could my father's "best friend" endanger him in this way? Pastor Watson, however, seemed completely oblivious to all of that. He was clearly more concerned with government infringement on his rights!

Frankly, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Hadn't Jesus Christ once said: "There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15:13) If this man truly loved my father and the other vulnerable members of his congregation, how could he be so obtuse about wearing a mask or getting vaccinated? Needless to say, I began speaking out against Bill's pandemic messaging almost immediately!

Unfortunately, my "attacks" on Bill were not well received within my own family. Indeed, I was even threatened with the termination of some familial relationships if I did not immediately cease and desist. However, for anyone who is even vaguely familiar with me as a person, they should have known that that was NEVER going to happen! I'm the guy who stands up on the table at the party and says, "Look, there's a turd in the punch bowl!" Moreover, with my father's safety and health clearly on the line, there was even less of a chance that I would "let this one go" and "keep my mouth shut."

And then, a little over two weeks ago, I received the dreaded call that the ambulance had rushed my father to the hospital. He was experiencing difficulty in breathing. I was told that he had developed pneumonia. I was almost beside myself, because I knew that that was Bill's congregation's code word for Covid-19 (they didn't even like to say the word aloud). Was my father tested for Covid? I was told that he had been. What were the results? At this point, I'm still not certain whether or not my father contracted the virus! Hospice was called in. He was put in bed, made comfortable with medications, and his supplemental oxygen was increased. Reluctant to make him struggle to speak to me, I stayed in touch through my brother. Unfortunately, my father was dead in a matter of days.

I was devastated. My relationship with my father had been strained because of my "attacks" on Bill, but I had never stopped loving him. At any rate, I knew that I was not going to return home to listen to Bill Watson preach my father's funeral! I simply could not bring myself to sit there and listen to the man who had been responsible for so much hurt and sorrow within my family. And, although I knew that I would find myself in basic agreement with his views on the afterlife/resurrection, I could not bring myself to listen to what I knew he would view as another opportunity to witness to the unconverted!

Indeed, my instincts were proven true by Pastor Watson's first Sabbath sermon following my father's death. In his Details Surrounding the Resurrection, Bill talked about his thirty-five-year relationship with his "dear friend." He went on to say how much he appreciated my father "having my back." He also recounted his hours long conversation with my father the day before he died (remember, I'm communicating with him through my brother so as not to task his labored breathing). And then, Bill turned to "the situation with this virus." After discussing what a burden this thing had been for all of us, he went on to say: "With people now having the added jeopardy of losing their jobs and their careers - being threatened - unless, of course, they can get a religious or a health exemption from the mandates that are coming down upon them...How many literally thousands have already lost their jobs?"

Really, Bill? Is this what a real friend looks like?