Like trying to love sodomites

“It is healthy in our fallen world to keep the races separated.”

- TT publication “Alien Ant”

I live with my wife in an apartment complex in Ithaca. One thing we like about it is the diversity of people that live here. Opposite our front door live a Chinese family consisting of a young couple, their three young children and a grandmother who has taught the oldest child, 3 year-old Sophie, to blow us kisses and call us “sho-sho” and “ay-yi” (“aunt” and “uncle” in Chinese). There are numerous couples and families from different Asian countries. A Native American woman lives in the adjoining apartment and is a close friend. Our other neighbors, many of whom we know by name, are African-American, Peruvian, and Ukrainian. Almost every day, I see children of different “races” playing together outside. If you had come by on the Fourth of July, you would have seen quite a diverse bunch of folks sharing barbeque and cold beers, waiting for the fireworks at Ithaca College to begin. In a Twelve Tribesperson’s ludicrous terminology, we were the sons and daughters of Shem, Cham and Japheth enjoying each others’ company.

But according to the Twelve Tribes, this can’t be happening.

Here, from their online publication “Multicultural Madness” is the reality I’m supposed to be experiencing:

“Consider the rich young Yuppie in his multicultural neighborhood, sitting in his living room ready to enjoy an evening of classical music. Tonight it's Beethoven. From one side of his house comes the throbbing bass of his neighbor's stereo as they gather out back for some reggae. The house shudders to every note, while on the other side of his house the neighbors fire up their barbecue and boom box, laughing raucously over the grating syncopation of something called rap. Fleeing from the violent lyrics, our Yuppie hero, himself a multicultural enthusiast, shuts the windows, grits his idealistic teeth and dons his headphones, trying to convince himself that all music is good.”

Gee, is it just me, or do you think we’re supposed to infer that the “Yuppie hero” is white and the troublesome neighbors on either side are black, based on their musical selections? (I don’t suppose this guy has ever been bothered by “Shemmites” blasting this guy or this guy.)

Our reality at home is that on the rare occasion that someone is playing music too loudly, Virginia, our 62-year-old African-American neighbor and mother hen of the block, will publicly shame the perpetrator into being more considerate.

The not-at-all racist TT author then goes on to say:

“Let's face it. It is just not reasonable to expect people to live contentedly alongside of others who are culturally and racially different. This is unnatural, and sometimes forces people to go against what they instinctively know in their conscience.”

“Multiculturalism is birds of different feathers caged together and forbidden to squawk. It's an artificial scheme, a world vision crammed down the throats of a humanity that would rather live in its own neighborhoods if it could.”

Such great writing. I had no idea that a vision could be crammed down a throat (although Spriggs arguably demonstrates that one can be pulled out from the other end). Perhaps my favorite expression of the Twelve Tribes’ disdain for multiculturalism is found in their oddly titled brochure “Alien Ant,” published in the year 2000.

“Multiculturalism pressures people to cross boundaries that go beyond the realm of natural law, coercing them to be one with a neighbor that doesn’t even speak their language or have their culture. It goes beyond the realm of how God wanted people to live in separate nations for their own welfare and safety. Multiculturalism increases murder, crime and prejudice. It goes against the way man is. It places impossible demands on people to love others who are culturally and racially different. This is unnatural, like trying to love sodomites.”

Such skillful use of the helpful sodomite analogy to crystallize the point for the reader!

So what, then, could possibly explain our experience here? A thoughtful writer of their in-house publication “Intertribal News” provides what might be an answer:

“We know that since the days of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel our Father has effectively dealt with this fallen potential of mankind to act universally, by dividing men into separate languages and cultures. ...it has been our Father’s plan to keep man separated. Now, there is a conspiracy to break down the boundaries.” (ITN, July 2000.)

Could my apartment block really be participating in a global Nimrodian conspiracy against God’s plan for humanity? It seems a stretch. (But, I confess, exciting!)

So should sociology professors from Cornell and their graduate students descend upon our multi-hued, multi-lingual community to figure out how we are accomplishing the impossible feat of generally getting along and being civil to each other? I think not. Cheap rent has brought us together, not a governmental program of coercion. The atmosphere is tranquil because the neighborhood is dominated by couples starting families and elderly folks.

Of course the very fact that the TTers with their odd culture are tolerated in the “worldly” communities in which they reside gives the lie to their premise that tolerance is unnatural and must be coerced. It’s just a bit ironic that the live-and-let-live attitude they denounce is the same one they require for themsleves in order to settle and do business in places like Ithaca. While it may seem odd, it’s no accident that a group pedaling sexism, racism and homophobia finds a home in a municipality in which citizens have elected a female mayor and a Common Council on which 40% are female, 30% are African-American, and one is a gay rights activist. The diversity in local leadership here is related to Ithaca's comfort level with the non-traditional from which Twelve Tribes benefits.

The greatest irony is that Eugene Spriggs and his crew, these guardians of separation and difference in the outside world, remove not only all cultural differences among their adherents, but also all outward personal variation in hairstyle or attire, as any casual observer of TT men, women and children will note. A TT man doesn’t have the personal freedom to tuck his shirt into his trousers. They must even defecate in a prescribed way, with their legs propped up on stools because Yoneq the Great says so. (Care for a little scatology with your eschatology?) All their prescribed uniformity might seem a contradiction until you realize that in their view what’s best for “fallen man” (us) and what’s best for the “bride of Messiah” (them) are two very different things.

You might object that if TTers really find racial and cultural diversity so distasteful, they would have picked nearly any upstate NY town instead of Ithaca. (E.g., perhaps lovely Whitey, err, I mean Whitney Point.) You might also point out that the Ithaca TT community's web blurb seems to celebrate Ithaca for its diversity. (At least that's the way I read it the first time.) With the Twelve Tribes' appreciation of multiculturalism in mind, let's give it a re-read, shall we?

“To some it is considered an ‘enlightened’ city, due to the influence of Ivy League academia and the many ‘open-minded’ people who congregate here. Ithaca is a multicultural hub here in upstate New York, with many nations and cultures represented, as well as the many different facets that make up American culture. People of many different inclinations, orientations, and associations converge on this city, many looking for ‘enlightenment.’”

“Enlightened,” “open-minded,” “multicultural.” What most Ithacans would regard as complimentary descriptors are in fact put-downs by the writer of this text. This paragraph is like one of those geometric optical illusions in which the shape pops into or out of the page depending how you look at it. On an informed reading, it is dripping with derision & contempt for anyone who regards these things as positives. Hence the " " marks. They picked Ithaca not because they admire its multicultural flavor, but for two reasons: they knew they'd be tolerated and they knew they'd find lots of young potential recruits.

Time to sum up. The Twelve Tribes’ views on multiculturalism are shallow, flawed and transparent to the racism and prejudice at their core. Their belief that people from different backgrounds can't get along in the same neighborhood is contradicted by our everyday experience. In their publications they mock the very principles that allow those with unconventional views and lifestyles (such as themselves) to live unmolested in our community. Their prescription for society’s ills is anti-democratic and anti-American. The only version of E Pluribus Unum they acknowledge requires that we all dress and coif alike, beat our children with switches, never question the authority of Eugene Spriggs, and worship a white supremecist god.

FYI: the grilled veggie wrap over at Juna’s tastes about as good and comes pang-of-conscience free.

Boycott the Maté Factor!

The shameful sham of Shem and Châm

Amazingly, it can't be denied, there are a few African Americans in the Twelve Tribes. I saw one with my own eyes and talked to him. They are trotted out whenever and wherever TT comes under public scrutiny, for instance at the "Merrymakers Caravan festival" on the Commons on August 12. This has been quite effective, apparently, at throwing TT's critics for a loop. These black TTers who have adopted the robot culture of the group and accepted their "giftings" of serving and cooking are accepted by the others. (See "Why blacks deserve to be slaves, explained" below.) As the revealing note from a former TTer reproduced below relates, TTers only disapprove of those 99.999% of blacks not yet in the TT, most of whom believe they are the equal of white people and that the civil rights movement was a good thing, etc. Because they accept black recruits and regard Sprigg's teaching on the Curse of Ham (Cham) as the Word of God and not the product of the hate-filled, twisted mind that it is, TTers don't think of themselves of racists. (But come to think of it, find me a racist who does.) I thank this former TTer for his/her honesty and for clarifying some of the niceties (or not-so-niceties) of Sprigg's racism as revealed in his exegesis of the Curse of Ham story. Turns out that according to Spriggs, apparently only white people have a conscience. So where is his?

It is hard to explain how they actually "hate" blacks, because the blacks in the TT are not treated any differently than any other race. It is the blacks that are not in there that are technically "hated" .

(They would never use that term, and most living there don't even have those emotions towards others!)

an example:

"Without conscience there would be no restraint. By the time of Gen 6:5, everyone had continually gone against their consciences, to the point that every intent of their hearts was continually evil — all except Noah and his family. Then after the flood, Châm went against his conscience and again brought this principle in the world. But Abraham kept a good conscience. Through a line of Shem, obedience to conscience was preserved."

That is Yoneq, from the Confession Teaching, Sus France, March 1989

So Cham ( All Africans, according to their teachings) is the sole responsible party for bringing evil into the current world, and apparently are not even able to listen to their conscience, if they even have one. While wonderful Shem can do this. And what about Yapheth?

(An example of a question you probably won't get an answer for. Things kind of get made up as you go along there.)

Anyhow all is forgiven when you come into the Tribes, see? God changes your DNA.

So it doesn't really appear racist at all, to most.

It took me a long time to see that I had been racist in my thinking, because I had all these good fuzzy "feelings" towards other races, yet adhered to these teachings, that I really had little knowledge or understanding of.

The best question

I can’t claim the honor of asking the most revealing question to the Twelve Tribespeople Saturday at their “forum.”

After some prodding by questioners, myself included, we had just heard that it was the Bible story of the curse on Ham's son, Canaan that justifies the separation of the races and the slavery of black people to white people (see below for the TT's masterful exegesis). This story, according to them, is God’s Word and so blacks questioning the authority of whites--as for instance, Martin Luther King, Jr. did when he supported the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott of 1955/56--goes against His Will.

A young fellow with a goatee and a backpack asked: “Where in the Bible does it say that Ham was a black man?”

Silence.

“It doesn’t,” a TTer conceded, while what seemed to me a look of embarrassment flickered momentarily across his face.

The Twelve Tribespeople and their ilk dupe themselves with the simplistic notion that everything they believe comes directly from the Divine Source of Scripture, unadulterated by spin or interpretation. And yet Ham being a black man isn’t in there. If the Bible alone is the Word of God, then their belief that Ham = African people with dark skin must have come from a non-Divine source: someone’s interpretation of the story. Whose? And why trust this person and their interpretation? They didn’t say.

A debate over whether the Bible is or is not the Word of God will never be won with them, or with any anyone else. But this one insightful question reveals that believers themselves must concede that every Bible verse requires a human mind to interpret it. TTers can’t look to scripture to understand why they believe black people and Jews and others are cursed. The place to look is inside their own hearts and minds and inside those of their leader, “Yoneq,” Mr. Eugene Spriggs.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the name of the guy with the goatee and the backpack and I didn’t talk with him long enough to learn his full take on the Twelve Tribes, but in conversation with us outside of the forum, he shared with us this wonderful quotation from Christian author Anne Lamott: "You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that He hates all the same people you do."

* * *

P.S. I note that Ham is depicted as a redhead on the Brick Testament !! What if?...

Why Blacks deserve to be slaves, explained...

When confronted by critics charging racism, TT'ers usually counter that the statements of Spriggs and other leaders are taken "out of context." If only we saw the statement "in context," they say, the loving intent of the teaching would be made clear. So in the interest of fairness to these chowderheads, here is an unexpurgated article from the April 1997 "Intertribal News" that lovingly explains why people of African descent (Cham) need to give up the uppitiness and serve their rightful master, Shem (white folks). It's all right there in the Bible. You see, Ol Noah passed out naked after a bit too much wine and his son Cham didn't cover up his pop's exposed "loins" when he had the chance and so from then on all black people are cursed to be slaves. But there are a few things to consider when you compare this interpretation of the story (the one used by 17th - 19th century apologists for slavery) and the actual story in Genesis 9:18-29. Most importantly for our purposes, where does it say that Ham (Cham), Shem and Japheth correspond to African, Asian and European? How could skin tones or other features be much different between Ham and his brothers, who are presumably full siblings? Did that come later? I have to admit that for me this Bible story raises many interesting questions, but none of them have to do with race or skin color (which is not mentioned). Why does Ham get the blame for this incident and why is his inadvertant glance curse-worthy? Why does Canaan get the curse? Why was Noah naked? Did he take his clothes off before getting drunk, or after, or were his clothes stolen by someone while he was unconscious? Is this proper behavior for the sire of all post-diluvian mankind and what do we make of Yahweh's s silence on drunkeness and apparent consent to the curse? And finally, where is Noah's wife when all of this is going on? (I am quite sure my wife would prevent such an incident from ever taking place in our household.) Of course, these aren't questions to put uniquely to the Twelve Tribes, but I wonder, can a curious Twelve Tribes child ask their parents or Yoneq (Spriggs) these questions?

I apologize for the length of the article below, but I couldn't bear to leave out a word.

LEPROSY........... A PEOPLE

Slow... insidious... imperceptible... deadly!!! If one were to describe leprosy, the above words would be necessary as part of the description. Most cases of leprosy come as a surprise. The causative agent stays in the body for up to three years before the signs and symptoms start to appear. This means that for three years the victim walks around thinking that he is perfectly normal, yet within him is the sentence to a horrible, devastating form of death. Before modern technology and the loss of common sense, lepers were rejected from society... outcasts... untouchables... unapproachables... unacceptable. People wanted to protect their society from contamination by contact. They knew that lepers were “unclean,” whether they had that terminology in their society or not. A leper was perhaps the loneliest person in the world... longing for another life... wishing he could be different... hoping that it would, by some miracle, just go away. Only in the last few moments of his ravaged life does the hard reality strike him... there is no healing. Like a leper, Cham spends his whole life being superficially “ac- cepted,” when, in reality, he is neither accepted, nor acceptable. He feels always held at a distance, never able to come close, or be approved of. As a people, Cham’s whole being aches for that approval. He tries every false, empty way to gain it. Cham desires the approval of Shem, and of God. He can psychologi- cally convince himself of God’s approval through the influence of the numerous churches so prevalent among Chamites, but the reality of Shem’s rejection... rather Shem’s insistence that Cham remain in his “place,” reminds Cham that God is not pleased with his striving, his arrogance, and his rebellion. Cham, instead of humbling himself, be- comes even more arrogant and rebellious (except for those truly sensitive ones who receive their lot, and are grateful to a merciful God, as far as they can understand things). What makes Cham unacceptable, full of strife, longing to be accepted? The answer lies in history. Everyone knows the story of Noah and his three sons, how they built the ark in the midst of a time of turmoil and corruption that had reached it’s peak... so much so that the day of toleration was to end as soon as Noah and his family entered the ark. Noah’s sons were men well advanced in age upon entering the ark. It took them and Noah more than 100 years to build it. They were not naive little boys. They were aware of the kinds of corruption that filled the earth to the point that God had to destroy all humanity, except for a remnant. There was, therefore, no excuse for Cham’s later behavior. Being the only human beings to survive the flood, Noah and his sons, and their families had the incredible opportunity to repopulate the earth with a righteous people, all turning their hearts to the God of Noah. They were given the same command as Adam was given before he fell... to be fruitful and multiply, filling the earth with those who would honor God with all their hearts, as Noah did. That’s why Cham’s sin was so serious. Embarking on this journey into a new age had no deep significance to Cham. He saw, and understood how the corruption in people had destroyed all humanity just a few days before, yet he didn’t allow it to affect his own heart. He had allowed the decadence and immorality he had seen around him while growing up to find a comfortable place in his heart. He carried the memory as a cherished object of his reflections. He carried it from the age of destruction into the new age. A defilement as deadly as radiation, ready to be released upon a yet unborn humanity. The defilement was subtle and seemingly insignificant. Cham went to his brothers, after having seen his father lying nude in his tent, to defile them with his description of what he saw... his own corrupt and defiled heart gushing out like detestable rottenness. That’s how Shem and Yapheth received Cham’s words and spirit. They saw the dishonor and disrespect. They remembered the flood and why it happened. Together Shem and Yapheth delivered two-thirds of mankind in their loins from being cursed. They sensed the magnitude of such defilement. Backing into the tent, they preserved their father’s dignity, and their own race... and covered him. By that one act Cham plunged his descendants into a morass of behavior, attitudes, and mind-set that have plagued and imprisoned the whole race down to this day. Noah’s curse upon Cham’s son Canaan was real and valid. All heaven supported and assured it’s effectiveness. Noah was God’s only spokesman... the curse must go into effect. Canaan and his descendants were cursed to be slaves to the descen- dants of Shem and Yapheth who saw the value of preserving what is good and righteous. Shem and Yapheth honored their father above all else except God. How can serving be a curse? It is a curse when one’s tendency and desire is not to serve. Cham was lazy and perverted. Noah, his father, knew him well, and he was aware of the fact that Cham would put his fallenness into... pass on his iniquities to his son Canaan. Noah knew the son would be just like the father and worse. Therefore serving, being in a low place... the very thing Cham’s seed hated and avoided... this was to be upon the seed of Cham until it went into their genes and chromosomes, causing the race to be known for their servitude and hospitality. Through the centuries of history this curse was never realized until Shem took his ships and brought Cham to his tents. Then began the training... the discipline. It was clearly as Noah spoke it. Most of Cham’s descendants submitted... many chose to rebel... masking their rebellion with the “noble” cry for freedom from the “op- pressor.” The rebels encountered the solid wall of resistance in the form of harsh discipline, and even death. Those who chose to submit found loving masters who cared for their needs... masters who wept when they were sick or dying... who entrusted their own flesh and blood to be nursed and nurtured on the breasts of Cham. Shem, the eldest son of Noah... lovingly carrying out the discipline of our Father for the good of his baby brother Cham who was the youngest son of Noah. Cham found his place. He found acceptance and approval while in submission. He was given responsibility, and his giftings came out in marvellous ways, especially in the culinary arts, and in serving. To this day no one can cook and serve like Cham when he is submissive. There was peace, and there was order. Shem, who lived by the covenant God made with man after Adam fell, understood in his spirit this discipline of servitude was good for the race of Cham and for humanity. But those of Shem who rejected the instinctive knowledge of God, and the instinctive understanding of God’s ways, strove against God’s purpose for Cham’s healing. Men rose up among Cham... “leaders.” Men crying out for “justice” in the name of God, while working against the very machinery God had instituted. Shem became affected by the outcry, and began supporting Cham, while in his heart not wanting to be near him. Shem was not making laws to make things easier for Cham because he loved him... he made those laws because of political pressure from both Cham and fallen Shem who have no place for the knowledge of God in their hearts. Cham knew he was not accepted. The black liberation movement, accompanied by much pomp and circumstance, proclaimed “Freedom.” Shem was successfully made to feel guilty for carrying out the purpose of God which was meant for the healing of a race.. The contamination entered every phase of American and European life. Civil Rights became Human Rights... Gay Rights... Women’s Lib...Cham now had no loving master. There was no place in this modern society where his perverted bent, inherited from his progenitor, could be dealt with, and he could be brought into order, fulfilling the instinctive purpose God put into him. He strives now to be like Shem. In this unstable territory he is suspicious, sullen, angry, bitter. Whether he becomes president of a large corporation, economically successful, or even president of the United States... the ever-present droning goes on in his spirit... Cham is neither accepted, nor acceptable. ...Every member of the race of Cham who has ever lived in the midst of Shem knows the deep loneliness, insecurity, and the fears of not being accepted... being told that you are not acceptable. It matters not how strongly Cham denies it, or uses his success as a means of denial... he feels the alienation. God’s purpose and plan in the cursing of Cham was to bring about, through that discipline, a people who would serve willingly, thus making them worthy of the nations. Many will be great in the nations, because they chose to submit to their masters... the instruments of God’s choice. Now, through Yahshua, there is the lifting of the curse that has plagued Cham through the centuries. Only in Him can Cham be made acceptable, and be accepted. Only in that place where Yahshua’s life is a living demonstration can Cham find those who will receive him as a human being worthy of the dignity that is inherent in those created in God’s image. In that place Cham can begin to learn to be who he was created to be... serving right along side of Shem and Yapheth who always served from the beginning. Brothers finally serving brothers on an equal basis, as priests of God... truly submitting to one another. Those warm, loving hands, kind voice, compassionate eyes are living reality where God has gathered those who were once “lepers” from every nation and people. -Shalom from Yochanan Abraham in Sus"

P.S. now a shocker: I learned after posting this from several ex-TTers that "Yochanan Abraham" is himself a man of African descent (a "Chammite" in TT-speak). On August 12th on the Commons, some of us saw and heard what seemed a real black man explain how the civil rights movement of the 1950s & 60s was wrong-headed and against God's plan. If you're an African American with severe self-esteem issues, you're wanted, welcome, and oh-so-very useful in the Twelve Tribes!