The People of Praise and the Web: Misrepresenting Reality

Recently an article titled, The Internet as a New Place for Sects, was published by Luis Santamaria del Rio in the Cultic Studies Review. The article discusses how cults use the internet for spreading propaganda, proselytizing, countering dissenting websites, blogs, etc. and forming an idealized representation of the group.

Two notorious internet based cults include Heavens Gate and Scientology. For those of you who don’t recall, Heavens Gate was a cult that committed mass suicide in 1997. The group believed that a spaceship was following the Hale-Bopp comet and members needed to discard their physical bodies in order to be taken up by the spaceship and carried off to paradise. The PoP, believes they have been called by God to unite all Christians and build 200 cities in 40 years and have 200,000 members. Which is more absurd and unrealistic?

Furthermore, the parallels between Heavens Gate and the People of Praise are eerily similar. For example, Heavens Gate members created a web development company called Higher Source that was responsible for creating websites for the group. Similarly, the PoP has created a web development company called one:ten communications, which creates websites for the group and other companies. In relation to the size of the PoP the number of websites this group has is disproportionate and creates the illusion that the group is much larger than it really is. The PoP’s own website states that they are, “part of a global movement that has brought powerful new experiences of the Holy Spirit to more than 500 million people since the beginning of the 20th century…” For a group that has spent over 30 years maintaining an approximate 1,800 adult members, their multiple websites and misrepresentation of their size and significance should signal alarm.

The websites of the PoP include: peopleofpraise.org, citybuilder.org, christiansincommerce.org, onetencommunications.com, individual branch websites and numerous member pages and blogs. The multiple websites coupled with the grandiose claims and unrealistic prophecies all come together to create an illusioned misrepresentation of a cult seeking to promote itself in the spiritual and religious marketplace.