Worldwide Church of God: The Lochner Tapes

Probably, if you haven't read the book, "Herbert W. Armstrong's Tangled Web," by David Robinson, or the Ambassador Report, you are wondering what in the world The Lochner Tapes are. Or what is the "Flog Log" as some humorists have named his Little Black Book? The following text is taken from The Tangled Web book for your information...... The book is still available but the supply is going down steadily. This is the true history of "God's True Church" and "God's Apostle." The Worldwide Church of God never contested as untrue anything in this book. They took Robinson to court saying that he was revealing confidential minister to minister and minister to lay-member information. He won the court case.
The proceeds go entirely to Robinson's widow....... Ed Sr.

"Then on page 278 (quoting from "God Speaks Out On the New Morality") under the subheading, "Truth About Masturbation," he writes, "On the other hand, masturbation is a form of PERVERSION. It is a SIN!" And then he elaborates further."

"I wanted to quote from church authority before proceeding in this narrative. HWA, himself, taught these principals from his own book at Ambassador College for years. Yet, now, here hs was caught up in the very "liberating force" he had written against. All these thoughts kept crowding into my mind as the night wore on."

"Hearing HWA, out of his own mouth, speak approvingly of personal conduct over his whole life span that was a direct disagreement with what he had written and taught, was, to say the least, disconcerting."

"When HWA finished describing Loma that evening, she certainly came across as being the Victorian wife of deepest inhibitions, and a very poor bed partner. He said she would never take her tops off when they were having sex and would very often refuse him. He said many a night he would just turn over in bed and relieve himself through masturbation, after being refused by his wife. Then he did a very curious thing. He said he still masturbated, he used the word, and the last time was about two weeks ago."

"I was seated on the couch and he by the coffee table in a chair. The Harvey's bottle was by now mostly gone, but he go up and went over by the end of the couch where his briefcase was. He extracted a small black book and showed me the last entry, in his own hand. HE HAD KEPT BOOKS ON HIS OWN MASTURBATION! He said, when checking over the record, it occurred about every two weeks."

"For want of anything better to say, I asked, "Mr. Armstrong, when did you start masturbating?" He replied he could never remember when he didn't."

"He said he had never had any trouble with the stiffness of his penis until he was about 75, and one time when Loma was in the female superior position ( a Masters and Johnson term), it had doubled up on him. That was the beginning. He desperately wanted to believe age wasn't the problem."

"At this point, it became rather difficult for me to believe the story that Loma was "frigid." If she had assumed that position at age 75, I could not see how she had failed all that much as a wife in the marriage bed. By now I was feeling embarrassed, because I had come from a culture that did not talk to outsiders about the marriage bed."

"But HWA didn't stop there. He then proceeded to tell in graphic detail the story of his first experience with a prostitute. HWA is very good at describing experiences in graphic detail so that one can almost "see" the event he describes."

(It goes on, you can get the book if you want. Ed)
Picking up further down the page:

"He described the subsequent event as being "very beautiful" and his first experience with a girl."

"I wondered whether "the only apostle in the church" should be describing sin as defined by the church in such glowing terms, even if it had occurred nearly sixty years ago. But there was a glistening of his eyes that, coupled with the softening of his voice tone, spoke eloquently of how fresh and sweet the memory was."

"I woke early, dressed fully, and went down to the kitchen for a tray of coffee and toast and carried it back to HWA's room. He loves coffee, I knew, and the motel did not have room service early in the morning, and not much of it at any time."

"At the appointed hour, I knocked on the door. After a bit I heard him coughing and spluttering, and then he came to the door. When he opened the door, he was completely in the nude! There was no dressing gown, no pajamas, no anything. And there was no embarrassment either. What if I had been someone else, perhaps a woman? You know how this can easily happen."

It goes on with Herbie sitting around drinking his coffee and eating toast in front of Robinison while still nude. Sheeeeshhhhh....

"HWA continued to complain about his physical condition," ( You would think Robinson would be the one complaining. :-) Sorry, I couldn't resist that. Ed) "so I asked him if I should go down and bring Doctor Lochner back to give him a rubdown." (Apparently Doctor Lochner traveled with Herbie.)

"That was the last time I saw HWA until the Feast in Big Sandy, two years later. I believe he came to Big Sandy to talk to the graduating seniors about sex in the spring of 1977, when the college there closed. Girls came out of that long session stunned and some quite angry. But I missed seeing him on that trip."

"Sherwin had plenty to say on a continuing basis, and his conversation on the subject of HWA's conduct intensified during the next year. I had not told my sons John and Mark about "the little black book," as it later became known, but some months later John called me from Pasadena, as he was out there on a business trip, before moving The Worldwide News at the time of the closing of Ambassador College in Big Sandy. He wanted to know if the story was true. He had heard it from Robert Kuhn, who had heard it from Sherwin. John also said it was well-known by many out there. (One must remember, at this point, it looked as if Ted Armstrong would be firmly in power from then on. There was no indication of HWA kicking Ted out, and Robert Kuhn and Sherwin were both close to Ted - very close.)"

"In time, the story of "the little black book" became known to many in the church's ministry. But my Poconos experience with HWA was not the only origination of that information. Dr. Lochner, too, independently found out about the black book and was able to obtain tape recordings of HWA discussing this matter and much more. Those who have heard portions of the tape say they not only verify my own saddening experience but reveal HWA to be both extremely debaucherous and a total and calculating religious hypocrite. Perhaps in the near future copies of the tape will be made public. I certainly hope so."

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