Many members had a few negative experiences and hundreds of positive experiences with the church. In most people, of course, it takes dozens of good experiences to outweigh each hurtful experience. As doctrines and practices are changed, people react with mixed emotions. They may rejoice at one change and be irritated by another. They may be happy one day and discouraged the next.
Many members have mixed feelings about their own history as well as the history of the church.
Because of the wide range of emotions concerning Mr. Armstrong and our history, and the intensity of those emotions, we have found it difficult to discuss our history objectively. For many matters, we have chosen to ignore it, since the truth of the matter does not rest on what we have done in the past. We have attempted to analyze issues based on Scripture and our present circumstances. Yet, in order to effectively explain a doctrinal change, we sometimes have to deal with some of the reasons why we used to believe something different. In all this, we strive to show errors in the teachings, not the persons who promoted the teachings.