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The World in Flames: A Black Boyhood in a White Supremacist Doomsday Cult
A lively memoir of growing up with blind African American parents in a segregated cult preaching the imminent end of the world—for fans of James McBride’s The Good Lord Bird.
It’s 1970, and Jerry Walker is six years old. His consciousness revolves around being a member of a church whose beliefs he finds not only confusing but terrifying. Composed of a hodgepodge of requirements and restrictions—including a prohibition against doctors and hospitals—the underpinning tenet of Herbert W. Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God was that its members were divinely chosen and all others would soon perish in rivers of flames.
The substantial membership was ruled by fear, intimidation, and threats. Anyone who dared leave the church would endure hardship for the remainder of this life and eternal suffering in the next. The next life, according to Armstrong, would arrive in 1975, three years after the start of the Great Tribulation. Jerry would be eleven years old.
Jerry’s parents were particularly vulnerable to the promise of relief from the world’s hardships. When they joined the church, in 1960, they were living in a two-room apartment in a dangerous Chicago housing project with the first four of their seven children, and, most significantly, they both were blind, having lost their sight to childhood accidents. They took comfort in the belief that they had been chosen for a special afterlife, even if it meant following a religion with a white supremacist ideology and dutifully sending tithes to Armstrong, whose church boasted more than 100,000 members and more than $80 million in annual revenues at its height.
When the prophecy of the 1972 Great Tribulation does not materialize, Jerry is considerably less disappointed than relieved. When the 1975 end-time prophecy also fails, he finally begins to question his faith and imagine the possibility of choosing a destiny of his own.
It’s 1970, and Jerry Walker is six years old. His consciousness revolves around being a member of a church whose beliefs he finds not only confusing but terrifying. Composed of a hodgepodge of requirements and restrictions—including a prohibition against doctors and hospitals—the underpinning tenet of Herbert W. Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God was that its members were divinely chosen and all others would soon perish in rivers of flames.
The substantial membership was ruled by fear, intimidation, and threats. Anyone who dared leave the church would endure hardship for the remainder of this life and eternal suffering in the next. The next life, according to Armstrong, would arrive in 1975, three years after the start of the Great Tribulation. Jerry would be eleven years old.
Jerry’s parents were particularly vulnerable to the promise of relief from the world’s hardships. When they joined the church, in 1960, they were living in a two-room apartment in a dangerous Chicago housing project with the first four of their seven children, and, most significantly, they both were blind, having lost their sight to childhood accidents. They took comfort in the belief that they had been chosen for a special afterlife, even if it meant following a religion with a white supremacist ideology and dutifully sending tithes to Armstrong, whose church boasted more than 100,000 members and more than $80 million in annual revenues at its height.
When the prophecy of the 1972 Great Tribulation does not materialize, Jerry is considerably less disappointed than relieved. When the 1975 end-time prophecy also fails, he finally begins to question his faith and imagine the possibility of choosing a destiny of his own.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
January 12, 2018
I had been a member of the Worldwide Church of God cult for almost 35 years, and so I approached reading Mr. Walker’s book (which I won in a Goodreads Giveaway) with some trepidation. Though I purposefully went through cult deprogramming 18 years ago, the deleterious effects of my involvement in the church were long lasting and deep and there was not one area of my life that it left untouched. Would reading this resurrect feelings from my own experience that would be better left alone, I wondered? However, my disquietude was soon dispelled, as this was the best and most telling reproof of the Worldwide Church of God (aka “Armstrongism”) I have ever read.
I attended two of the church’s college campuses, taught at Ambassador College, and held another influential position at the church’s headquarters for an additional 15 years. I sincerely thought I was doing good in the world, and so convinced myself to turn a blind eye to the miasma that swirled around me. I knew all the players from the top down, as well as the organization’s inner workings, and was privy to things I never should have ignored. This is all water under the bridge now, but I mention it because there are those who are or who have been associated with this church who refuse to accept Mr. Walker’s story as authentic. Though he “interprets” things from a child’s limited perspective (a remarkable literary achievement, by the way), it is not unlike the way many adult church members thought and felt. Critical thinking was adamantly discouraged, and simplistic unquestioning faith in the leadership was repetitively preached and taught (one of many trademarks of brainwashing). So, to me, Mr. Walker’s memoir rings entirely true.
I applaud the author for his even-handed treatment of the “WCG,” the identifying shorthand we members used to reference the church. His afflicted upbringing in the church by well-meaning African American parents who were both blind is heartbreaking. Mr. Walker did not attempt—or need to—garner sympathy or outrage with any embellishments because none were needed—the raw facts speak for themselves, loud and clear.
This book could well have been a bitter diatribe—justifiably so—but it is not. It could have been a cathartic invective meant to expiate the author’s angst and pain—but it is not. This is not to say that is it not a disturbing read—it most certainly is. My heart sank and my blood boiled many times while reading this. For anyone who knows nothing about cults, or who may find themselves interested in joining one of the slew that are out there, it is a must-read cautionary tale. Contrary to popular belief, anyone can be seduced into a cult—intelligence, education, success, emotional stability, or strong, healthy family ties are not absolute “protections” against getting drawn in. Why it can happen is a discussion for another time and place. But most importantly, if anyone coming across this book who suspects they may be caught up in a cult and is beginning to examine the wisdom of his or her allegiance (especially if children are involved), this is a vital read that should not be ignored.
Although this book only follows Mr. Walker into young adulthood, where his life begins to unravel, I was happy to learn that he has written subsequent accounts of his healing journey. The battles to reclaim one’s life after exiting a cult are arduous and hard won. Kudos to Mr. Walker for soldiering on and for having the courage to share his story.
I attended two of the church’s college campuses, taught at Ambassador College, and held another influential position at the church’s headquarters for an additional 15 years. I sincerely thought I was doing good in the world, and so convinced myself to turn a blind eye to the miasma that swirled around me. I knew all the players from the top down, as well as the organization’s inner workings, and was privy to things I never should have ignored. This is all water under the bridge now, but I mention it because there are those who are or who have been associated with this church who refuse to accept Mr. Walker’s story as authentic. Though he “interprets” things from a child’s limited perspective (a remarkable literary achievement, by the way), it is not unlike the way many adult church members thought and felt. Critical thinking was adamantly discouraged, and simplistic unquestioning faith in the leadership was repetitively preached and taught (one of many trademarks of brainwashing). So, to me, Mr. Walker’s memoir rings entirely true.
I applaud the author for his even-handed treatment of the “WCG,” the identifying shorthand we members used to reference the church. His afflicted upbringing in the church by well-meaning African American parents who were both blind is heartbreaking. Mr. Walker did not attempt—or need to—garner sympathy or outrage with any embellishments because none were needed—the raw facts speak for themselves, loud and clear.
This book could well have been a bitter diatribe—justifiably so—but it is not. It could have been a cathartic invective meant to expiate the author’s angst and pain—but it is not. This is not to say that is it not a disturbing read—it most certainly is. My heart sank and my blood boiled many times while reading this. For anyone who knows nothing about cults, or who may find themselves interested in joining one of the slew that are out there, it is a must-read cautionary tale. Contrary to popular belief, anyone can be seduced into a cult—intelligence, education, success, emotional stability, or strong, healthy family ties are not absolute “protections” against getting drawn in. Why it can happen is a discussion for another time and place. But most importantly, if anyone coming across this book who suspects they may be caught up in a cult and is beginning to examine the wisdom of his or her allegiance (especially if children are involved), this is a vital read that should not be ignored.
Although this book only follows Mr. Walker into young adulthood, where his life begins to unravel, I was happy to learn that he has written subsequent accounts of his healing journey. The battles to reclaim one’s life after exiting a cult are arduous and hard won. Kudos to Mr. Walker for soldiering on and for having the courage to share his story.
August 29, 2016
The World in Flames is a close examination of the author’s childhood growing up in a doomsday cult.
Walker does an outstanding job of telling the tale through his childhood eyes. I had a little trepidation going into this. Some authors tell their childhood memoirs with too much maturity; you feel like no kid has this much perspective at that age. So you disengage from the story. Or, they tell it with too much simplicity – they belabor the revelations, trying to recapture the essence of what it felt like to first learn about a parent’s infidelity, for example. Again, the reader disengages, often because she has already discerned the big reveal.
Walker threads this needle expertly, sharing the events and emotions of living in this group while trying to grow up in the South Side of Chicago, without mangling them through overkill. He draws out the reader’s empathy for this boy, growing up different. In no way do Walker’s experiences mirror mine. Yet, as humans, we share the universal experiences of trying to fit in; trying to balance what your parents tell you with what the world tells you; trying to learn how to – and how not to – compare yourself with your peers and their experiences, seeking out the norm. So this young boy, Jerry, found a place in my heart. I wanted to protect him, to offer him another way through life, to be an adult he could trust.
Let’s talk a little bit about this world Jerry grows up in. He is a poor black boy in the 70s, on the South Side of Chicago, with two blind parents, several older siblings, a twin brother, attending a church that is preparing for the end of the world. The church also doesn’t like black people. This goes beyond the idea that churches preach against sin and sinners, and leave people feeling badly about their behaviors and choices. This is an environment that is hostile to non-white people… and yet they accept their tithes, allow them to show up, and instruct them on how to prepare for Armageddon all the same. As an adult, this is utterly confusing to me. How much more so it must have been for young black children like Jerry & his siblings, trying to find their place in the world and the next.
Within their church they are separate from the rest of the congregation. Their religion separates them from the rest of the world, as well. With no birthdays, no Christmas, no Halloween, the children in the church are clearly different from their peers, and they hate it. There’s a lesson to be learned in being okay with who you are and how you’re different, but I feel like Jerry learns this the hardest, most difficult, most convoluted ways possible.
Perhaps the thing that influences his young experiences the most is the doomsday aspect of the church. With the End of Days hanging over them, it’s often hard for Jerry and his other family members to plan or look forward to the future: what is the point of saving money if you’re going to be swept up by God in two years? What is the point of getting an education? How do you relate to your friends if you think they’re going to be drowned in a lake of fire? Jerry struggles with all of this from a young age. It’s very touching, and tragic. There are a few moments of levity. Hearing him preach to his friend Paul, to try to save him, had me laughing. But for the most part, his struggles are very pressing and present.
Walker does an outstanding job of working us through his development with the church and with his community, from about the age of 6 to 16. It’s a unique coming-of-age tale that still resonates with readers. My thanks to the author, publisher, and Library Thing for an ARC of this lovely book.
Walker does an outstanding job of telling the tale through his childhood eyes. I had a little trepidation going into this. Some authors tell their childhood memoirs with too much maturity; you feel like no kid has this much perspective at that age. So you disengage from the story. Or, they tell it with too much simplicity – they belabor the revelations, trying to recapture the essence of what it felt like to first learn about a parent’s infidelity, for example. Again, the reader disengages, often because she has already discerned the big reveal.
Walker threads this needle expertly, sharing the events and emotions of living in this group while trying to grow up in the South Side of Chicago, without mangling them through overkill. He draws out the reader’s empathy for this boy, growing up different. In no way do Walker’s experiences mirror mine. Yet, as humans, we share the universal experiences of trying to fit in; trying to balance what your parents tell you with what the world tells you; trying to learn how to – and how not to – compare yourself with your peers and their experiences, seeking out the norm. So this young boy, Jerry, found a place in my heart. I wanted to protect him, to offer him another way through life, to be an adult he could trust.
Let’s talk a little bit about this world Jerry grows up in. He is a poor black boy in the 70s, on the South Side of Chicago, with two blind parents, several older siblings, a twin brother, attending a church that is preparing for the end of the world. The church also doesn’t like black people. This goes beyond the idea that churches preach against sin and sinners, and leave people feeling badly about their behaviors and choices. This is an environment that is hostile to non-white people… and yet they accept their tithes, allow them to show up, and instruct them on how to prepare for Armageddon all the same. As an adult, this is utterly confusing to me. How much more so it must have been for young black children like Jerry & his siblings, trying to find their place in the world and the next.
Within their church they are separate from the rest of the congregation. Their religion separates them from the rest of the world, as well. With no birthdays, no Christmas, no Halloween, the children in the church are clearly different from their peers, and they hate it. There’s a lesson to be learned in being okay with who you are and how you’re different, but I feel like Jerry learns this the hardest, most difficult, most convoluted ways possible.
Perhaps the thing that influences his young experiences the most is the doomsday aspect of the church. With the End of Days hanging over them, it’s often hard for Jerry and his other family members to plan or look forward to the future: what is the point of saving money if you’re going to be swept up by God in two years? What is the point of getting an education? How do you relate to your friends if you think they’re going to be drowned in a lake of fire? Jerry struggles with all of this from a young age. It’s very touching, and tragic. There are a few moments of levity. Hearing him preach to his friend Paul, to try to save him, had me laughing. But for the most part, his struggles are very pressing and present.
Walker does an outstanding job of working us through his development with the church and with his community, from about the age of 6 to 16. It’s a unique coming-of-age tale that still resonates with readers. My thanks to the author, publisher, and Library Thing for an ARC of this lovely book.
July 5, 2021
I was drawn to this book for one reason: I grew up in the same cult, Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God (WCG), as Walker. Hence, as I read the book, I felt an eerie similarity with many of Walker’s experiences. His sense of otherness while at school was the same as my sense of otherness. His sense of impending doom while looking at peers in school was my sense of impending doom.
My embarrassment about these beliefs, however, was absent. He seems to have talked freely about the strange things he believed, even going so far as to try to convert his best friend Paul. I, on the other hand, never said a word about my beliefs. Looking back on this, I think it’s because I never really believed. I could imagine someone asking me, “ Do you really believe that?” after I'd explained this or that strange belief, and my only imagined response to their reaction of “Oh that’s weird” would be to agree. That was my fear. This deep abiding embarrassment about what my church believed was central to my religion's worldview. It was strangely lacking in Walker's.
There’s a more fundamental sense in which I cannot relate to this book: Walker is African-American, and I am white. This is notable because the WCG's theology was inherently one of white supremacy. This is not to say that the church was comprised of racists, nor is it to suggest that there were openly racist sentiments expressed in weekly services, but its theology had definite racist shades that appeared in select passages in Armstrong's writing. He would insist he was not racist, but it's difficult to argue that when part of the theology was that in the kingdom of God, which we colloquially knew as the World Tomorrow (which was the same name as Armstrong's weekly religious broadcast), everyone will be sent back to where they "belong." Armstrong phased it thus in his 1966 book The Wonderful World Tomorrow: What It Will Be Like, which he copied directly into his final book, Mystery of the Ages:
Leaving aside the blindly stupid and racist assertion that "men had refused to remain in the lands to which God had assigned them" when considering the fact that the presence of African Americans in modern America is due almost entirely to the enslavement of Africans rather than people refusing "to remain in the lands to which God had assigned them," the proposition that there will be "a fast project of the relocation of the races and nations" is essentially the assertion that God is a segregationist. The Kingdom of God runs on Jim Crow laws, it seems.
Note that I never once heard this from the pulpit. I never heard a single discussion about this, and I think that a fair number of people were unaware of this passage and the handful of others scattered in his writing. When I read that passage to a friend who'd also grown up in the church, she was dumbfounded and angry that she'd never noticed it. It was not a central element of the theology: the notion that we'd all become gods was more prominent.
In light of all that passage, though, it's fascinating to me to think of the African-American constituency in WCG congregations. What was it about Armstrongism that attracted minorities even though it was clear from the theology that Armstrong's god somehow viewed them as inferior? I was hoping Walker would write more about this than he did because he only deals with it directly a couple of times and obliquely a few more times. Still, it gave a compelling picture, and I cheered when his family finally left the cult.
My embarrassment about these beliefs, however, was absent. He seems to have talked freely about the strange things he believed, even going so far as to try to convert his best friend Paul. I, on the other hand, never said a word about my beliefs. Looking back on this, I think it’s because I never really believed. I could imagine someone asking me, “ Do you really believe that?” after I'd explained this or that strange belief, and my only imagined response to their reaction of “Oh that’s weird” would be to agree. That was my fear. This deep abiding embarrassment about what my church believed was central to my religion's worldview. It was strangely lacking in Walker's.
There’s a more fundamental sense in which I cannot relate to this book: Walker is African-American, and I am white. This is notable because the WCG's theology was inherently one of white supremacy. This is not to say that the church was comprised of racists, nor is it to suggest that there were openly racist sentiments expressed in weekly services, but its theology had definite racist shades that appeared in select passages in Armstrong's writing. He would insist he was not racist, but it's difficult to argue that when part of the theology was that in the kingdom of God, which we colloquially knew as the World Tomorrow (which was the same name as Armstrong's weekly religious broadcast), everyone will be sent back to where they "belong." Armstrong phased it thus in his 1966 book The Wonderful World Tomorrow: What It Will Be Like, which he copied directly into his final book, Mystery of the Ages:
In Noah’s day, the chief cause of the violence and chaos of world conditions was racial hatreds, interracial marriages, and racial violence caused by man’s efforts toward integration and amalgamation of races, contrary to God’s laws. God had set the boundary lines for the nations and the races at the beginning (Deuteronomy 32:8-9; Acts 17:26). But men had refused to remain in the lands to which God had assigned them. That was the cause of the corruption and violence that ended that world. For 100 years Noah had preached God’s ways to the people—but they didn’t heed.
At that time, even as today, that world faced a population explosion. It was when “men began to multiply on the face of the earth” (Genesis 6:1). Jesus said, of our time, right now, “But as the days of Noe [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:37)—or, as in Luke 17:26, “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” That is, the days just before Christ returns. Today race wars, race hatreds, race riots and race problems are among the world’s greatest social troubles.
Noah merely preached to people in his human lifetime. But Noah, in the resurrection, immortal, in power and glory, will be given the power to enforce God’s ways in regard to race.
It seems evident that the resurrected Noah will head a vast project of the relocation of the races and nations, within the boundaries God has set, for their own best good, happiness and richest blessings. This will be a tremendous operation. It will require great and vast organization, reinforced with power to move whole nations and races. This time, peoples and nations will move where God has planned for them, and no defiance will be tolerated.
Leaving aside the blindly stupid and racist assertion that "men had refused to remain in the lands to which God had assigned them" when considering the fact that the presence of African Americans in modern America is due almost entirely to the enslavement of Africans rather than people refusing "to remain in the lands to which God had assigned them," the proposition that there will be "a fast project of the relocation of the races and nations" is essentially the assertion that God is a segregationist. The Kingdom of God runs on Jim Crow laws, it seems.
Note that I never once heard this from the pulpit. I never heard a single discussion about this, and I think that a fair number of people were unaware of this passage and the handful of others scattered in his writing. When I read that passage to a friend who'd also grown up in the church, she was dumbfounded and angry that she'd never noticed it. It was not a central element of the theology: the notion that we'd all become gods was more prominent.
In light of all that passage, though, it's fascinating to me to think of the African-American constituency in WCG congregations. What was it about Armstrongism that attracted minorities even though it was clear from the theology that Armstrong's god somehow viewed them as inferior? I was hoping Walker would write more about this than he did because he only deals with it directly a couple of times and obliquely a few more times. Still, it gave a compelling picture, and I cheered when his family finally left the cult.
May 2, 2016
I read the title, did a double take and immediately knew I needed to read this book. And I read the first 70% in one sitting because how can you possibly stop turning the page on a black boy's childhood whose family is in a doomsday cult that is segregated. That's right, not only did he not think he'd ever live past his twelfth birthday, but he was also not allowed to interact/befriend any of the white folks in his church.
Usually when I read cult stuff there is a voice in my head that can't understand how the members don't see what is happening--generally a person making millions off of duping people--but in this case Walker's parents were two people who'd been born sighted and due to separate childhood accidents had become blind and were fueled by the promise of sight to join and stay in the cult.
This was fascinating, heartbreaking, and eye-opening as Walker recounts his childhood as a child raised by two blind parents who are cult members, not with anger or regret, but rather places you there with him while explaining how these major events in his childhood occurred.
Usually when I read cult stuff there is a voice in my head that can't understand how the members don't see what is happening--generally a person making millions off of duping people--but in this case Walker's parents were two people who'd been born sighted and due to separate childhood accidents had become blind and were fueled by the promise of sight to join and stay in the cult.
This was fascinating, heartbreaking, and eye-opening as Walker recounts his childhood as a child raised by two blind parents who are cult members, not with anger or regret, but rather places you there with him while explaining how these major events in his childhood occurred.
May 24, 2019
I'm admittedly a little obsessed with cults...and I was very intrigued to read this account from the perspective of a Black person in the Worldwide Church of God, a group that held many White Supremacist views. Given that this topic is included in the subtitle of the book, I was very eager to learn how Black membership in the church was navigated, but found it very oddly disappointing that the author did not really discuss this aspect of his experience much at all, aside from a brief mention of the scripture that upheld their white supremacist views. Overall, this book just made me very sad for the author's childhood that was lost inside of this suffocating, oxymoronic, and ultimately very dangerous religion. I wish more could be done to protect children who invariably must suffer in religions/cults who routinely refuse medical treatment--it's tragic.
A side note: as a music nerd and Southern Californian, I had no idea about the connection between the historic Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena (the "Carnegie Hall of the West") and the college run by the Worldwide Church of God, which was a very interesting discovery.
A side note: as a music nerd and Southern Californian, I had no idea about the connection between the historic Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena (the "Carnegie Hall of the West") and the college run by the Worldwide Church of God, which was a very interesting discovery.
November 2, 2016
This is the autobiography of a man whose family was devoted to Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God, a church that preached the endtimes' onset in 1975. He would have been a young teenager; he had known of his own impending demise for his entire life.
He tells the story of his childhood -- his brothers and sisters, his blind parents, his neighborhood friends -- and of the occasional questions that arose for him, questions such as "if the world is ending, why do we go to school?" or "if Black people and white people can all be The Chosen Ones (as the church said), will they be able to mix after the Tribulation?" (Armstrong believed that the mixing of races was one of the biggest sins of the world) or "In Heaven, will there be unlimited chips and hotdogs?"
He had lots of questions, but he also took pride in his family's devotion to their responsibility as The Chosen people, pride in his blind parents, pride in having "superpowers" that would allow him to pass judgement on the sinners once the Tribulation began. He loved his family and his friends, and his life made sense to him as long as he didn't think too long. Instead, he memorized Bible passages and tried very hard to avoid Sin.
The scenes from Walker's childhood are interesting and occasionally funny, and life in these very different circumstances takes on a sort of internal logic through the pages of this book..
Predictably, the Tribulation didn't occur, and it's this part of the story that seemed a bit thin. While the story of the church's disappearance is explained in some detail, there is little about the effect on the family. He says that they were shocked. Such a loss of faith, though, would be utterly overwhelming, and Walker was in high school, yet the story is told in a deadpan tone...less than 10 pages from learning the truth to the end of the autobiography. Not enough, I'm sure, to begin to show the utter devastation and loss that this betrayal must have caused.
For a chronicle of life as a child of blind Black parents devoted to a white doomsday cult, though, Walker's book is amazing...and I can only hope that it will be followed by a reflection on the profound shifts that occur when the entire structure of a childhood is so completely destroyed.
He tells the story of his childhood -- his brothers and sisters, his blind parents, his neighborhood friends -- and of the occasional questions that arose for him, questions such as "if the world is ending, why do we go to school?" or "if Black people and white people can all be The Chosen Ones (as the church said), will they be able to mix after the Tribulation?" (Armstrong believed that the mixing of races was one of the biggest sins of the world) or "In Heaven, will there be unlimited chips and hotdogs?"
He had lots of questions, but he also took pride in his family's devotion to their responsibility as The Chosen people, pride in his blind parents, pride in having "superpowers" that would allow him to pass judgement on the sinners once the Tribulation began. He loved his family and his friends, and his life made sense to him as long as he didn't think too long. Instead, he memorized Bible passages and tried very hard to avoid Sin.
The scenes from Walker's childhood are interesting and occasionally funny, and life in these very different circumstances takes on a sort of internal logic through the pages of this book..
Predictably, the Tribulation didn't occur, and it's this part of the story that seemed a bit thin. While the story of the church's disappearance is explained in some detail, there is little about the effect on the family. He says that they were shocked. Such a loss of faith, though, would be utterly overwhelming, and Walker was in high school, yet the story is told in a deadpan tone...less than 10 pages from learning the truth to the end of the autobiography. Not enough, I'm sure, to begin to show the utter devastation and loss that this betrayal must have caused.
For a chronicle of life as a child of blind Black parents devoted to a white doomsday cult, though, Walker's book is amazing...and I can only hope that it will be followed by a reflection on the profound shifts that occur when the entire structure of a childhood is so completely destroyed.
February 28, 2017
Rather an odd book. Jerald Walker grew up with blind parents, in poverty, and they were part of a religious cult, The Worldwide Church of God. His parents were devout believers in a specific date, 1975 as being Doomsday. This date was changed several times. The head of the cult was nothing but a huckster, and with everyone's tithes, had access to about 80 million dollars annually. Jerald's parents were physically abusive to the children, perhaps in a "spare the rod" type of belief. I didn't find many if any references to "white supremacy", so I have no idea why the title of the book has this in the title. Yes, the Walkers were black, and the church practiced segregation, but there were both blacks and whites that attended. This was the only reference to the white supremacy that I could see. Jerald and his brother stop "believing" as preteens and get involved with drugs and alcohol. There is nothing really to explain how he came to this belief, whether he was conflicted or not.
The book just felt like I was dropped into this family's situation and belief system, without any background information. I hadn't heard about this church prior to reading the book, and it didn't give any substance as to why this family was even involved with this church.
This book is supposed to be about how he leaves the church, and finds his destiny, but it pretty much left me feeling that I missed something.
The book just felt like I was dropped into this family's situation and belief system, without any background information. I hadn't heard about this church prior to reading the book, and it didn't give any substance as to why this family was even involved with this church.
This book is supposed to be about how he leaves the church, and finds his destiny, but it pretty much left me feeling that I missed something.
August 30, 2016
Before I picked up this memoir of the author’s boyhood in the Worldwide Church of Christ, I had never heard of the cult. Like Seventh Day Adventists, they celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday. The founder was a racist; Herbert W. Armstrong developed his cult in conservative Oregon in the 1920’s.
“Our only hope is to trust that God knew what he was doing when he ordained not only segregation but also white supremacy, a point we were to deduce from the fact that whites inherited the race of Jesus. But for being the descendents of slaves, Mr. Armstrong added, blacks have made out pretty well.” (58) I could only wish that this was a creative memoir, or a novel from the point of view of one of the author’s older siblings, or someone a slightly older or more aware than the narrator. I don’t understand what drew the author’s parents to the church, or why some of his siblings kept their ties to the cult. Perhaps other readers of nonfiction and fiction about LDS, Scientology and other cults may like this.
I received this an ARC from Library Thing rec 8.12.16, in return for a fair review.
“Our only hope is to trust that God knew what he was doing when he ordained not only segregation but also white supremacy, a point we were to deduce from the fact that whites inherited the race of Jesus. But for being the descendents of slaves, Mr. Armstrong added, blacks have made out pretty well.” (58) I could only wish that this was a creative memoir, or a novel from the point of view of one of the author’s older siblings, or someone a slightly older or more aware than the narrator. I don’t understand what drew the author’s parents to the church, or why some of his siblings kept their ties to the cult. Perhaps other readers of nonfiction and fiction about LDS, Scientology and other cults may like this.
I received this an ARC from Library Thing rec 8.12.16, in return for a fair review.
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October 21, 2023This is an interesting read about a very unique childhood. It does not provide much background about the cult or unpack a lot of it like I expected. It is mostly just a slice of black boyhood in the cult and what he was taught to believe as a kid.
Read for 23 for 23.
Read for 23 for 23.
December 3, 2019
Seriously do not understand why this was on all the book lists I found it on. The ending alone 🙄
July 15, 2016
I received this book as a giveaway in exchange for my honest review.
3.5 stars -- The two phrases that jump to mind are "truth is stranger than fiction" and "you can't make this stuff up."
Jerald Walker writes this book from his perspective as a young boy in a large family during the 1970s. Both of his parents are completely blind, which would have made life complicated enough, but they are also members of the Worldwide Church of God, a cult that is an amalgamation of both Christian and Jewish beliefs with a major dose of the group leader's megalomaniac ideas. Doomsday is perpetually "just around the corner" and medical care of any kind is frowned upon. Did I mention that the family is African American, and the mostly-white cult teaches prejudice and segregation?
THE WORLD IN FLAMES starkly depicts what happens when parents' bad choices, particularly in regards to religious beliefs, envelop their children. I know I'm not the only reader who was deeply saddened when young Jerald opts out of attending an exclusive school for gifted young people, because he believes the world's about to end anyway, so what's the point? By the time he realizes his mistake, it's too late, and he's doing poorly in a school filled with gangs, bullies, and bad influences. At every turn, you see how the foolishness preached by the cult holds the kids (and adults) back from doing well and improving themselves.
FLAMES is overall a good read, but I would have used a bit more editing to clarify things. The author just plunges readers into the story with essentially no background. It took me quite a while to find out how many brothers and sisters he had and what their names were. Since the siblings are also principal players in the story, I would think that should be important information he would have covered within the first few pages.
3.5 stars -- The two phrases that jump to mind are "truth is stranger than fiction" and "you can't make this stuff up."
Jerald Walker writes this book from his perspective as a young boy in a large family during the 1970s. Both of his parents are completely blind, which would have made life complicated enough, but they are also members of the Worldwide Church of God, a cult that is an amalgamation of both Christian and Jewish beliefs with a major dose of the group leader's megalomaniac ideas. Doomsday is perpetually "just around the corner" and medical care of any kind is frowned upon. Did I mention that the family is African American, and the mostly-white cult teaches prejudice and segregation?
THE WORLD IN FLAMES starkly depicts what happens when parents' bad choices, particularly in regards to religious beliefs, envelop their children. I know I'm not the only reader who was deeply saddened when young Jerald opts out of attending an exclusive school for gifted young people, because he believes the world's about to end anyway, so what's the point? By the time he realizes his mistake, it's too late, and he's doing poorly in a school filled with gangs, bullies, and bad influences. At every turn, you see how the foolishness preached by the cult holds the kids (and adults) back from doing well and improving themselves.
FLAMES is overall a good read, but I would have used a bit more editing to clarify things. The author just plunges readers into the story with essentially no background. It took me quite a while to find out how many brothers and sisters he had and what their names were. Since the siblings are also principal players in the story, I would think that should be important information he would have covered within the first few pages.
August 1, 2016
This was a very interesting story, told in probably the most boring fashion possible. I kept wanting to like the it, but ultimately couldn't.
The title and description drew me in. Yet for being a white supremacist cult, there was only I believe two very brief passages about race in the cult. Most of the cult stuff itself is boring. I was much more taken by stories of the author's blind parents, although I couldn't understand why they would stay a part of the cult until the last 20 pages or so because of the author's choppy style. The story about the author's father and attending the baseball game is a high point in the book, and if the rest could have been half as interesting or relateable I probably would have enjoyed the book much, much more.
I won this book from goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
The title and description drew me in. Yet for being a white supremacist cult, there was only I believe two very brief passages about race in the cult. Most of the cult stuff itself is boring. I was much more taken by stories of the author's blind parents, although I couldn't understand why they would stay a part of the cult until the last 20 pages or so because of the author's choppy style. The story about the author's father and attending the baseball game is a high point in the book, and if the rest could have been half as interesting or relateable I probably would have enjoyed the book much, much more.
I won this book from goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
July 1, 2016
I did not finish this book. I just couldn't get into it. I think a large part of this was due to the adult, contemplative tone being paired with a pseudo-child narrator. This novel is told looking back from adulthood but told in the first person, present tense, giving the child Jerald narrator an unnaturally mature perspective and discernment. It just didn't work for me, nor did it convince me to keep reading. I also felt the metaphors were a bit stretched, and the prose was clunky. Overall, it added up to a humdrum story that had no momentum.
October 11, 2016
This book was not at all what I expected and am insightful look into the doomsday cult he was raised in.
July 29, 2021
The title was intriguing but the book was not. I wanted to learn more about the cult life but got a black kid growing up.
October 5, 2022
For such an interesting premise, this book was dreadfully boring. There was a whole slew of things I wanted to know more about and I (mostly) got none of it.
May 27, 2024
This was beautifully written and read more like a novel than a memoir (as befitting a professor of creative writing). I think I was expecting a more spiteful retelling, or a more in-depth "here's everything that's wrong with the Worldwide Church of God and cults in general," but that's just not what you get with this. And to me, that kind of made it more unsettling.
Walker showed just how easily people can be drawn into a group or community with only a touch of desperation and a charismatic leader who knows how to use it. He doesn't reveal any grand scheme by the church to swindle his fellows (though the tithes definitely did), or incite them to violence (though he comments, as the older man he was when he wrote this, that he believes they could have easily turned violent or harmful if Armstrong only asked), or any special substance they took to make them addicted to the church. He just presented the facts of life in the church and the complexity of brainwashing. There was no need to embellish or dramatise the truth, because it was shocking enough when presented through the eyes of an innocent child who didn't know better and who just wanted to be a good kid to his parents.
Basically, the simplicity of the book and the writing style really drove home how cults aren't always as "cultish" as the media shows. Sometimes, it can be stealthy and so normal that those drawn in don't even realise the extent to which they are being exploited. I found this most prominent when something would happen and all anyone would say to explain or rationalise it was "God is talking to you" or "God wants this" or something similar. When his parents couldn't answer a question that showed evidence of critical thinking or doubt, they would just tell Walker to have faith, or to not worry because God willed it. This kind of reasoning is fascinating to me.
So, overall, if you want a book that verbally destroys a cult or incites feelings of rage at the injustice, this is not it. It's an almost impartial, and yet quietly critical, glimpse at a life surrounded by people telling you what to think and the slow journey of learning that you can actually think for yourself.
Walker showed just how easily people can be drawn into a group or community with only a touch of desperation and a charismatic leader who knows how to use it. He doesn't reveal any grand scheme by the church to swindle his fellows (though the tithes definitely did), or incite them to violence (though he comments, as the older man he was when he wrote this, that he believes they could have easily turned violent or harmful if Armstrong only asked), or any special substance they took to make them addicted to the church. He just presented the facts of life in the church and the complexity of brainwashing. There was no need to embellish or dramatise the truth, because it was shocking enough when presented through the eyes of an innocent child who didn't know better and who just wanted to be a good kid to his parents.
Basically, the simplicity of the book and the writing style really drove home how cults aren't always as "cultish" as the media shows. Sometimes, it can be stealthy and so normal that those drawn in don't even realise the extent to which they are being exploited. I found this most prominent when something would happen and all anyone would say to explain or rationalise it was "God is talking to you" or "God wants this" or something similar. When his parents couldn't answer a question that showed evidence of critical thinking or doubt, they would just tell Walker to have faith, or to not worry because God willed it. This kind of reasoning is fascinating to me.
So, overall, if you want a book that verbally destroys a cult or incites feelings of rage at the injustice, this is not it. It's an almost impartial, and yet quietly critical, glimpse at a life surrounded by people telling you what to think and the slow journey of learning that you can actually think for yourself.
June 11, 2018
Oof. That was a lot. So, the title tells you pretty much everything you need to know. Jerry was a young black boy born to blind parents who were part of white supremacist doomsday cult, so like YIKES right off the bat.
I was actually surprised by how... normal the story felt? It's mostly a coming-of-age story, (which I'll admit was a little frustrating, since I was definitely most interested in the cult), but the story of Jerry growing up and the story of his loss of faith were so tightly intertwined that they could not have been separated. And he was a little kid in the church, so it's a series of memories of a slightly twisted childhood, not an expose of an organization.
There were a few scenes that REALLY stood out to me- Jerry preaching to Paul about hell and boils in the basement, because he didn't want his friend to die in the lake of fire during the Tribulation. Jerry standing on the beach and staring at the sky, feeling guilty for hoping that it wasn't about to split open and begin the end of the world. Jerry being able to call his church a cult to his girlfriend, even though he hadn't even been able to admit it to himself yet. Jerry not knowing how to tell his friends that he didn't have any idea what he wanted to be when he grew up, because he was never going to grow up... because the world was going to end while he was 11 and then he'd be 11 forever.
It was a tough, emotional story that had a lot of moving parts to it. It's about segregation and disability and puberty and substance abuse and just being a boy in Southside Chicago. It was a really good read and I only wish it had had a little bit more reflection by Jerry the adult instead of just Jerry the kid. But man, did it tug on my heartstrings.
I was actually surprised by how... normal the story felt? It's mostly a coming-of-age story, (which I'll admit was a little frustrating, since I was definitely most interested in the cult), but the story of Jerry growing up and the story of his loss of faith were so tightly intertwined that they could not have been separated. And he was a little kid in the church, so it's a series of memories of a slightly twisted childhood, not an expose of an organization.
There were a few scenes that REALLY stood out to me- Jerry preaching to Paul about hell and boils in the basement, because he didn't want his friend to die in the lake of fire during the Tribulation. Jerry standing on the beach and staring at the sky, feeling guilty for hoping that it wasn't about to split open and begin the end of the world. Jerry being able to call his church a cult to his girlfriend, even though he hadn't even been able to admit it to himself yet. Jerry not knowing how to tell his friends that he didn't have any idea what he wanted to be when he grew up, because he was never going to grow up... because the world was going to end while he was 11 and then he'd be 11 forever.
It was a tough, emotional story that had a lot of moving parts to it. It's about segregation and disability and puberty and substance abuse and just being a boy in Southside Chicago. It was a really good read and I only wish it had had a little bit more reflection by Jerry the adult instead of just Jerry the kid. But man, did it tug on my heartstrings.
November 3, 2016
I thought this book was so fascinating! First, it read like a novel and intrigued me endlessly with his details of navigating the world as a young boy on the south side of Chicago growing up in white supremacist doomsday cult. It's interesting to me read his story because typically I do not think of cults (of this sort) as a thing that Black people got caught up in so it's astonishing to read his experiences. I liked that the book is couched by the epi/prologue that allow us a peek into his life. Jerry and his family are like so many that I know that are caught up in religion (if not necessarily a cult) and there were some parallels that show the fine line between religious fervor and cult. I think of people who are now tithing their lives away to televangelists and the like which are really just modern day Mr. Armstrongs with their megachurches, fine cars, jewelry and the like. But really my heart did ache for Jerry and his siblings who was forced to be a part of this dangerous cult that caused them to make decisions that weren't always the best, such as not seeking medical care when they needed it or deciding not to go to Whitney Young because it's a trap from the devil. Also, I found that their usual tween/teen antics such as stealing a sip or alcohol or smoking weed took on an especially life-changing and special effect because it viewed in the lens of being a part of this cult. This was a well-written and fascinating look into the life of a boy and his family looking for a reprieve of the horrors of the day and a promise of a better day in the words of a charismatic and greedy man.
March 20, 2017
Walker grew up in Chicago, the son of blind parents who believed that the world would end soon: that was what their religion taught them, and they believed it—believed that they were among the chosen few who would be saved—because that belief allowed them to believe also that, when they were saved from hellfire and destruction and so on, their sight would be restored.
As a child, Walker did not fully understand any of this. He didn't understand his parents' blindness, he didn't understand that their religion would better be described as a cult, he didn't understand that there was anything suspicious about the constant demands for money that the church put out. And that's the beauty of The World in Flames: a child's understanding of a rather inexplicable religion.
"Boy," he says, "my parents sure picked the wrong religion."
"We didn't pick it. It picked us. And it's picking you right now." I remember something Mr. Armstrong often says and repeat it: "God is speaking to you through me."
"And he's telling me to live in the Sahara Desert eating beans and catching sinners?"
"The beans are for here."
"The corn is for the desert?"
"No, that's for here too."
He shakes his head. "This is really confusing."
It is really confusing. I'm confused all the time. "Basically," I say in conclusion, "our church is like chess." (30)
Walker spends a lot more time on the 'doomsday' end of things than he does on the question of race, though unsurprisingly race is never forgotten here. It's so infuriating—this was the 70s, and the U.S. wasn't exactly winning at race relations, but here is a disadvantaged family clinging to the one hope they have, and still being told by that 'hope' that they are inferior, that not only should they be avoiding people from other religions, but they should also be avoiding the white people within their own church. I suppose that seemed like small stakes in comparison to thinking the world was about to end...
As a child, Walker did not fully understand any of this. He didn't understand his parents' blindness, he didn't understand that their religion would better be described as a cult, he didn't understand that there was anything suspicious about the constant demands for money that the church put out. And that's the beauty of The World in Flames: a child's understanding of a rather inexplicable religion.
"Boy," he says, "my parents sure picked the wrong religion."
"We didn't pick it. It picked us. And it's picking you right now." I remember something Mr. Armstrong often says and repeat it: "God is speaking to you through me."
"And he's telling me to live in the Sahara Desert eating beans and catching sinners?"
"The beans are for here."
"The corn is for the desert?"
"No, that's for here too."
He shakes his head. "This is really confusing."
It is really confusing. I'm confused all the time. "Basically," I say in conclusion, "our church is like chess." (30)
Walker spends a lot more time on the 'doomsday' end of things than he does on the question of race, though unsurprisingly race is never forgotten here. It's so infuriating—this was the 70s, and the U.S. wasn't exactly winning at race relations, but here is a disadvantaged family clinging to the one hope they have, and still being told by that 'hope' that they are inferior, that not only should they be avoiding people from other religions, but they should also be avoiding the white people within their own church. I suppose that seemed like small stakes in comparison to thinking the world was about to end...
April 18, 2018
This is a lovely memoir that touches on issues of race, disabilities, changing urban neighborhoods while teaching an incredible amount about the doctrine of the cultural phenomenon known as The Worldwide Church of Good. Jerry's parents are both blind and they are raising their large black family in a largely white neighborhood while attending the mostly black congregation of a vastly white and white supremacist church. In examining the ways that belief in an end days tribulation and fire and brimstone preaching drive a young boy to nightmares, then questioning, then escape we are introduced to a family caught up in this rigid religion. They have little money but what they have is tithe liberally to the church. They live in contradiction to the rules at times, justifying it or preparing to take their licks at some later day of reckoning. Jerry moves between being the snoopy bratty brother and the faithful chosen one of his church, challenged as his neighborhood changes from white to black to even understand what it means to be black. The portrait of the family is especially engaging with the dynamics and their secrets deftly drawn.
October 31, 2018
This delivers on the subtitle. Walker does a great job of maintaining the perspective of how he experienced life in the World Church of God without bringing in ex post insight. This is a nice literary device but some comment from an adult perspective would have been nice (the story telling was more autobiography rather than memoir). While the founder of the church was racists and some of the theology was racist, this was a very minor part of the narrative, and the description of the church as "white supremacist" seems a bit off (or at least non-central) given the fact that there were several black congregations. A good chunk of the book is just about growing up, with the church stuff sometimes only tangentially related. You also get a sense of changes to Chicago neighborhoods over time as they deteriorate. Not necessary reading, but if you're into books about religious cults or fringe religious movements, this one won't disappoint.
June 16, 2019
The subtitle caught my eye while I browsed the bookshelves at the local recycling center.
The book mostly follows Jerry through his childhood, as he experiences normal childhood things through a lens of strict religion. He is a devout child. He doesn't question the religious teachings that say the world will end in 1972, and then 1975, and then delayed again. It's not until his teenage years that he begins to see the religion as what it is--a cult run by a grifter--and even then he needs his older brother to point it out.
I'm a little disappointed with the scope of the book, given that neither the white supremacy nor the Doomsday aspects are all that present. I'm curious to know more about getting out of the church, both for Jerry and for the rest of his family. I want answers that just weren't here, despite the promise of the subtitle.
The book mostly follows Jerry through his childhood, as he experiences normal childhood things through a lens of strict religion. He is a devout child. He doesn't question the religious teachings that say the world will end in 1972, and then 1975, and then delayed again. It's not until his teenage years that he begins to see the religion as what it is--a cult run by a grifter--and even then he needs his older brother to point it out.
I'm a little disappointed with the scope of the book, given that neither the white supremacy nor the Doomsday aspects are all that present. I'm curious to know more about getting out of the church, both for Jerry and for the rest of his family. I want answers that just weren't here, despite the promise of the subtitle.
November 21, 2024
I appreciate the author's humor and candor. He told an amazing story full of twists and turns and very real human hopes and foibles.
I was born into Worldwide Church of God. I was vaguely aware of controversies within the organization but had no idea of the full extent of them. Partway through reading this book I found the 60 Minutes segment and watched it. I went down a rabbit hole doing research on the many ways in which WCG preyed on their "brethren" 's hopes and fears to bleed them dry. It is despicable and it happened to my family too.
Reading someone else's account made me feel like it was real and I am not alone. I have always felt weird and ashamed, as if i brought it on myself. I know now I am a survivor.
Thank you, Jared Walker, for being brave enough to tell your story.
I was born into Worldwide Church of God. I was vaguely aware of controversies within the organization but had no idea of the full extent of them. Partway through reading this book I found the 60 Minutes segment and watched it. I went down a rabbit hole doing research on the many ways in which WCG preyed on their "brethren" 's hopes and fears to bleed them dry. It is despicable and it happened to my family too.
Reading someone else's account made me feel like it was real and I am not alone. I have always felt weird and ashamed, as if i brought it on myself. I know now I am a survivor.
Thank you, Jared Walker, for being brave enough to tell your story.
March 10, 2022
The impact of this easy to read book is in the author's ability to make his truly unusual situation(a black child raised by blind parents in a white supremacist cult) accessible to the reader who has not lived his experience. A masterful employment of sensory details makes each episode vivid and immediate. The quirky and toxic details of the particular Doomsday cult in this book(Worldwide Church of God) fade in comparison to the impact of the guilt focused theology. Many of us can identify with the blend of anxiety and over scrupulousness which it generates.
April 19, 2024
While this certainly explores the author's boyhood growing up in a doomsday cult, I don't find a lot of the stories very interesting. The ending feels especially rushed, and the realizations of the cult-like behavior are not explored. I really wanted to know why Walker's parents joined the "church" and what their perspectives were when things fell apart. Unfortunately, not at the level of Walker's Street Shadows and How to Make a Slave for me, which are essentially creative nonfiction stories that are thought-provoking and often hilarious.
February 17, 2021
Walker really buried the lede here. I'm not sure that the fact that both of his parents were blind didn't have more to do with his dysfunctional childhood than their membership in the doomsday cult of Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God. He had an interesting story to tell but told it in such plodding, pedestrian prose that I struggled to finish it. The ending was so abrupt, I almost got whiplash!
March 1, 2021
What a journey. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The author shares his experiences as a follower of his parents' faith in Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God. He reveals his faith in it and his eventual departure from its clutches.
As a reader I was able to follow his growth from faith to doubt. His coming of age experiences are replete with sad moments, but also some hilarious ones.
As a reader I was able to follow his growth from faith to doubt. His coming of age experiences are replete with sad moments, but also some hilarious ones.
August 26, 2021
This was a good memoir, although not exactly what I was expecting. I will admit going in I expected there to be more focus on the cult part, but the focus was more on Walker's experiences growing up in general and the religious aspect was part of that story, but not the main story. That being said, it was still a really interesting book. It was a fast read (or listen) and I thought the writing was well-done.
April 4, 2025
Jerald Walker’s memoir of growing up in a household strictly defined by membership in the Worldwide Church of God is a coming-of-age story unlike any other. Walker brilliantly shows us the world viewed through the lens of his childhood self as he comes to question the tenets of faith that were his hellfire-and-brimstone reality as a child. Told with compassion, humor, and filled with insight into class and power and the desire to believe, The World in Flames is a story for our times.
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