Administración/control del suministro de alimentación

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The cruelest variety of misogyny

After I decided to do some further reading on the Message after I was no longer involved with it, I read more Message books than I had ever read before. I had never gone through the sermon Marriage and Divorce in its entirety before; I had only read portions of it and listened to the rest expounded upon from the pulpit. I have read of how women have been mistreated and hated upon in the past, but never had I come across the level of verbal hatred towards women that I found in that book. No sane person would stand before an audience and utter the kind of nonsense Branham came up with for this sermon. The Marriage and Divorce Message book should suffice as a good and valid reason why William Branham should not be taken seriously by any right-thinking person.

Women have been historically oppressed in horrendous ways. And in many parts of the world, they still are mistreated just because they fell on the wrong side of the chromosome combination. Whether you‘re talking about the Muslim world where they still have to cover themselves up fully save for the eyes, in Africa where they endure horrifyingly painful female genital mutilation, carry out most of the homestead chores and endure atrocious domestic violence, in India where they still have honor killings of women who disgraced their families by falling in love outside their caste, or even in the USA where basic rights such as suffrage were granted fairly recently. Unfortunately, the Message is no exception when it comes to oppressing women. William Branham says that women are inferior because Eve was deceived in the Garden of Eden, but Adam wasn‘t. Because one woman erred very many ages ago, all women should henceforth be treated badly. There are numerous other biblical verses that male chauvinists use to support their appalling opinions about women and we would tackle each and every one of them if our scope allowed us to. But this section deals with Mr. Branham‘s opinions about women so we‘ll painfully restrict ourselves to this topic.

Let‘s go back to the beginning: Mr. Branham seems to know something we don‘t about where women came from:

―And Satan is really working on her today (in these last days), because he is her designer. I could prove that now, to go right back at the beginning. Who started to work on her, Adam or Satan? God or Satan? See? That's her designer. It's her chief weapon to throw men to her filth… You may question me about Satan being her designer, but that's the truth. Satan designed her. He still does it.‖ (MARRIAGE.AND.DIVORCE_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-13 SUNDAY_ 65-0221M, par 125)

The Bible, the text that Message believers claim to believe in, says: ―Then the LORD God made a woman from the ribhe had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.‖1 Here we have a clear contradiction between the Bible and what Mr. Branham teaches. When you bring this verse to the attention of the Message believer, you can be sure they‘ll point you to the fact that designing is different from making. In short, they‘ll imply that God contracted the devil to design the woman and then used that blueprint when making the woman (I have heard a Message

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preacher say this), even though this is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible they claim to base their beliefs on. Some neutral Christians would consider this proposition of collaboration between the devil and God in the making of the woman to be extremely blasphemous, but of course according to many Message believers, Mr. Branham possessed powers to add to what the scriptures said.

William Branham also has an opinion about the mental aptitude of women. He basically says that they are the most deceivable beings on earth. (Even among animals as we shall see shortly).

―There cannot be nothing else; there's nothing made to be that way. Also there is nothing that could be so easily deceived as a woman. Now, the fall proves this statement to be true, the fall in the beginning.‖ (MARRIAGE.AND.DIVORCE_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-13 SUNDAY_ 65-0221M, par 110)

Women have now taken advantage of the equal opportunities being increasingly offered to them by society to do amazing things. We now have women in the highest areas of life: presidents, Nobel laureates, astronauts, nuclear scientists, Supreme Court judges – any particular field has female top performers. This goes to show that women are not any less intelligent than men. It‘s interesting to ask ourselves whether Branham held these opinions about his mother, wives and daughters. And if not, I wonder what gave him the idea that it was okay for him to spew such hatred against other peoples‘ mothers, wives and daughters.

According to this prophet, a woman is the filthiest among all females ever created, because all other female animals are original creatures but she isn‘t. In short, Branham is of the opinion that our grandmothers, mothers, sisters, daughters and wives/girlfriends belong to the filthiest group of animals on earth – they are women, after all. He says that women are more immoral than dogs. Dogs will attack and inflict deadly injuries on people, eat human corpses and mate with every other dog – but they allegedly still possess higher morals than women. He further says that women can stoop lower than a pig, dog or any other animal:

―Notice, there's nothing designed to stoop so low or be filthy but a woman. A dog can't do it; a hog can't do it; a bird can't do it; no animal is immoral, nor it can be, for it is not designed so it can be. A female hog can't be immoral; a female dog can't be immoral; a female bird can't be immoral. A woman is the only thing can do it.‖ (MARRIAGE.AND.DIVORCE_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-13 SUNDAY_ 65-0221M, par 115)

―There is no hog, no dog, or no other animal designed like her or can stoop as low as she can stoop. Now, that is true. With regards to my sisters, I just want you to watch. No animal can be immoral. You call the dog a slut (the female dog). You call the male--hog a sow, but her morals is a million miles beyond many a Hollywood stars. That's how low she's designed to stoop. She can't... Just think of this now: there's nothing in the world made in God's creation that can be immoral, stoop that low.‖ (MARRIAGE.AND.DIVORCE_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-13 SUNDAY_ 65- 0221M, par 112)

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Branham further says that unlike any other animal, women are designed for filth and unclean living. This, he says is because women will have sex for pleasure and will have it any time, but animals mate only for procreation. William Branham portrays women as thick, filthy and as creatures that are always ready for sex.

―She is designed alone for filth and unclean living. A dog can't; no other female can. It's just the woman that can. A dog or any other animals: once a year, and that for her babies, not for sexual pleasure, but for her babies. The old sow hog, the old slut dog: once a year, one moment; that's for her babies. But a woman is designed for any time she desires. (I've got some stuff crossed out here now; you can imagine the rest.) A dog can't; woman can. (I hope that the Holy Spirit reveals to you the rest of this I crossed out here.)‖ (MARRIAGE.AND.DIVORCE_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-13 SUNDAY_ 65-0221M, par 118)

The seventh messenger also has something to say about ‗immoral women‘. In a manner that suggests that it‘s worse for a woman to be immoral than it is for a man, Branham says that a woman who lacks morals is a ‗human garbage can‘:

―An immoral woman is the lowest thing that can be thought of in the earth. Excuse this, young ladies. She's nothing but a human garbage can, a "sex exposal." That's all she is. A immoral woman is a human sexual garbage can, a pollution where filthy, dirty, ornery, lowdown filth is disposed by her. Why's she made this way for? For deception. Every sin that ever was on the earth was caused by a woman.‖ (MARRIAGE.AND.DIVORCE_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-13 SUNDAY_ 65-0221M, par 168)

In the animal kingdom, there is a huge variety of organisms. There are deadly parasites, snails, slugs, snakes and monkeys just to name a few. But among all these, the woman is the lowest of them all. She falls at the bottom of the pack – according to Mr. Branham.

―All right. When in God's sight, the Word, she is the lowest of all animals that God put on the earth... Watch.‖ (MARRIAGE.AND.DIVORCE_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-13 SUNDAY_ 65-0221M, par 182)

It is bizarre to say the least for Branham to paint such a terrible picture of women in comparison to their male counterparts, and sadly, animals. First of all we unfortunately need to remind ourselves here that women are human beings. William Branham wants you to believe that a woman is ‗lower than an animal‘, but that only demonstrates serious mental issues on the part of the speaker. Secondly, men desire sex in equal, and some would argue a higher measure, than women. I don‘t know why that fact doesn‘t make men ‗lower than animals‘. Some animals display increased sexual activity during some seasons – but the woman is simply not like that: she can be responsive to certain sexual gestures directed to her by men, and she can direct the same to men, without checking the calendar.

Ironically, one may argue that men have historically demonstrated a greater ability to engage in horrendous atrocities compared to their female counterparts. If we were to come up with a list of

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the most evil people in history, obvious candidates would include the likes of Idi Amin Dada, Pol Pot, King Leopold II of Belgium, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and so forth. The first woman to make it to the list would appear way down - at the bottom of the pack. In real fact, it‘s the women who have been victims of cruel treatment from men.

William Branham suffered from a strong hatred towards women. He says that his struggle with hatred towards women began in his youth:

―But I can remember when my father's still up there running, I had to be out there with water and stuff, see young ladies that wasn't over seventeen, eighteen years old, up there with men my age now, drunk. And they'd have to sober them up and give them black coffee to get home to cook their husband's supper. Oh, something like that, I said, "I..." This was my remark then, "They're not worth a good clean bullet to kill them with it." That's right. And I hated women. That's right. And I just have to watch every move now, to keep from still thinking the same thing.‖ (LIFE.STORY_ LA.CA FOOTPRINTS.BOOK SUNDAY_ 59-0419A, par 87)

It is now clear that he never dealt successfully with his hatred towards women, and this caused him to lead millions of people who call themselves Message believers to consider women inferior. Let‘s now turn our attention to Branham‘s opinions about the role of women in society. It‘s important to note right from the start that Branham was of the opinion that women should stay at home. They shouldn‘t go out to pursue careers and take jobs. To put it like he did, they should be behind the stove cooking. In other words, if a woman has a singing talent, she shouldn‘t go out and pursue a music career. If a woman can sprint like Usain Bolt, she shouldn‘t pursue a career on the track. Women should also avoid careers like law and medicine – which require long hours of input from the individual. They should also avoid working at all especially since we have men out there without jobs - whose employment they might be precluding.

―They've took our women and stripped them, out yonder in the offices, and the driving taxicabs, and up-and-down the street. where they ought to be at home behind the stove cooking, and fixing the dinners.‖ (INVASION.OF.THE.USA_ JEFF.IN V-26 N-1 SUNDAY_ 54-0509, par 183) ―Now, I'm not much of this modernistic taste of women working. When I seen these women with these uniforms on riding around in this city on motorcycles as police, it's a disgrace to the--any city that'd let a woman do that as many men that's without work. It shows the modern thinking of our city; it shows the degrading. We don't have to have them women out there like that. They ain't got no business out there like that. When God gave a man a wife, He gave him the best thing He could give him outside of salvation; but when one goes to trying to take a man's place, then she's about the worse thing that he could get ahold of.‖ (CHOOSING.OF.A.BRIDE_ LA.CA V-2 N-28 THURSDAY_ 65-0429E, par 64)

From the above quotes, the prophet says that the primary role of women is to be ―behind the stove cooking‖. In short, they should stay at home and serve their husbands. He also says that women shouldn‘t work - period. Therefore in summary, women are simply to be kept home by men as baby machines and house servants.

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Mr. Branham goes a step further in declaring the woman‘s inferiority by saying that women do not contribute a seed of reproduction. He says that they only provide a medium for incubating the baby until it‘s born.2 This is despite the fact that we know that conception takes place through the fusion of a male sperm and a female ovum, and children will always acquire traits from both parents.

After they have found the love of their life, gotten married and are preparing to live happily ever after, wives may be put away on very flimsy grounds. William Branham said that husbands may put away their wives for cutting their hair3 and keeping their pre-marital sexual encounters secret.4 Good riddance to a prophet who thinks that I should put away my wife if she thinks she‘ll look prettier if she has short hair. Speaking of looking pretty, Branham said that when he saw a woman with eye shadow on, she looked liked someone with leprosy or pellagra.5 That‘s some pretty rough speech especially because it‘s coming from the pulpit. The prophet is also of the opinion that allowing women to vote is an evil thing.6

Message believers will take great offence if you call their religion a cult or a sect. They say they are different from the Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah‘s Witnesses and the like. I remember one morning a Christian radio station was holding a discussion about the criteria for identifying a cult when someone called in and talked about a new cult he had heard about, the Message of the Hour. In response, a Message believer called in and aggressively defended the Message, saying that they do not satisfy the common characteristics of a typical cult. I was proud of this gallant soldier for defending the truth I believed in against accusations of cultism. Now I am not sure anymore. As time goes by, it becomes clear that Branhamism is definitely a fully fledged Christian cult.

Their horrendous view of women confirms that Branhamism is indeed a cult. How can people continue to religiously follow a man who says that women are the thickest of all animals, the filthiest of all females, designed for unclean living, should be behind the stove, human garbage cans for not fulfilling their moral obligations, the lowest of all animals, creatures who have sex any time they want and who should serve as house laborers and be kicked out if they cut their hair or reveal previously secret sexual relations to their husbands? Instead of thinking twice about his contemptible views about women, Branham‘s followers continue to believe that this hatred came directly from God.

Mistreating women is a typical cult tendency. And Branhamism is no exception. Characteristically, women in the Message wear skirts that almost sweep the floor, are not allowed wear pants or jewelry and are not supposed to work. Branham made them believe that doing these things will cause them to end up in hell. Women are to stay silent and submissive to their husbands and are supposed to believe that they are inferior to men, since it‘s what the Message teaches.

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During different times in history, it was believed that black people, Jews, women – different kinds of people – were inferior to the rest. Most of us are now at the level where we can see that this is not the case. Believers should hold Branham‘s ministry accountable for the prophet‘s hate campaigns against women. And most importantly, such unfortunate literature as Marriage and Divorce by William Branham should never be made available to children.

OTHER ASPECTS OF THE CULT

The vile propositions of „elective love‟ and the irredeemable „seeds of the serpent‟

William Branham comes to the table with a contemptible proposition: that before the ―foundations of the world‖ were laid, God loved some people and decided he would redeem them (the Bride), and hated others7 – the latter of course, bound for hell. This proposition is asserted throughout Branham‘s ministry as a more stringent form of the ―predestination‖ doctrine. In short, it‘s not a matter of choice for most people. A huge majority of the human race were created purposefully so that they could burn in hell. There is nothing ―we‖ can do about it. If there is anyone who does not see the wickedness behind this sort of scheme, then they have fallen victim to severe brainwashing by dangerous religious dogmas of people like Branham. What William Branham proposes about the ‗descendants of Cain‘ is another perplexing opinion. The prophet preached that all ‗descendants of the serpent‘, and therefore Cain, are predestined for hell, while the sons of God are descended from Adam and are predestined for heaven.8 He additionally says that the children of Cain have brought about modern education, infrastructure, technologies, weapons and architecture; they are religious and like their ancestor, the devil. They are headed for the lake of fire.9

The serpent seed doctrine carries heavy implications. If you are descended from Cain, you cannot be saved and will definitely end up in hell. This idea carries a painful pile of problems. First and foremost, it is worth remembering that Branham‘s parents were not Christians and they believed in strange things such as fortune telling. Some authors suggest that this background could have played a role in the occultist tone of some of his controversial teachings. If Branham‘s parents never came to believe in the Message of their day and instead continued