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The Family / Children of God
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:
ExFamily.org
MovingOn.org
The Magic
Green Shirt
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