Are cult apologists buying up domain names?

I just found the following article at this link
http://www.cultnews.com/


April 14, 2005 ::

Are cult apologists buying up domain names on the Internet to mislead the public?

CounterCOG.com, a domain name once devoted to archiving critical information about the so-called “Children of God” now known as “The Family,” seems to have been co-opted by cult apologists.

It appears this shift of purpose took place about two years ago during March of 2003, but only recently came to the attention of CultNews.

According to records held within the “Way Back Machine,” an Internet database with "40 billion Web pages" archived from 1996 to just a few months ago, some time after February of 2003 and beginning in March 2003 the domain name went from a resource of critical information about COG to an entry point for apology.

The site then announced; “Negative sentiments are typically implied when the concepts ‘cult’ and ‘sect’ are employed in popular discourse.” And that the new page would “seek to promote religious tolerance and…not carry implicit negative stereotypes.”

“Negative stereotypes” apparently means posting personal testimonies, research, news stories and/or court documents that note the destructive nature of groups that have been called “cults.”

Entering www.countercog.com now takes visitors to “Academic Research 2K,” which uses “politically correct” euphemisms to describe destructive cults such as “minority religion” and/or “new religious movement" (NRM).

The Web page features links to The Family Web site, once the focus of criticism at CounterCOG.com and other purported “cult” sites such as Rev. Moon’s Unification Church and the Church of Scientology.

These Internet destinations are listed under the heading “Information on Religious Movements.”

Links to additional resources often called “cult apologists,” such as CESNUR run by Massimo Introvigne of Italy, the “Religious Freedom Page” originally launched by a now deceased professor Jeffrey Hadden and a Canadian database known as “Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance,” which is essentially the brainchild of Bruce Robinson a former chemical company employee and self-professed agnostic.

These pages come under the heading of “scholarly works.”

Professor Hadden was an academic once quite friendly with Rev. Moon and recommended by Scientology as a “religious resource.”

But Mr. Robinson admits “that few if any of our authors have theological degrees. We feel that a formal theological degree would be counter-productive” and that “theological training is not needed for our work.”

Well, so much for the “scholarly” standing of works at his site.

Mr. Introvigne, like his former colleague Professor Hadden, has been criticized for working closely with groups called “cults”

In fact, Scientology may be the common thread that runs through the current so-called “counter-COG” Web page.

Because rather than testimonies from those exploited by COG, a controversial group often called a “sex cult,” visitors will instead see links to friends of Scientology along with one link specifically to that organization’s own database.

This makeover is reminiscent of the radical shift of purpose that took place when the Cult Awareness Network was reportedly taken over by Scientology in 1996.

A Scientologist bought CAN’s name, files and even its phone number. Now when you call the "new CAN" the phone is likely to be answered by a Scientologist.

Peter Vincent of Chicago, Illinois bought the domain name “countercog.com.”

Mr. Vincent was contacted by CultNews for comment, but did not respond.

Note: For genuine counter COG information see the following Web sites:

Ex-Family.org

Moving On.org

The Magic Green Shirt