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.
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4 comments:
Even before I joined the People of Praise, I was “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…”
This is called the Pentecostal or Charismatic movement. I am not saying that I (or POP) personally impacted 500 million people, but that the movement of which we are a part has done so.
I have 7 children. At least 4 of them plus myself have blogs and/or Facebook sites. None of my kids are in POP. Does this mean that we are trying to fool people into thinking that the LaVergnes are one of the most significant families in the world? Hardly. Blogging is something than many people do.
Criticizing POP because they have several web sites and members have blogs seems a bit ironic for someone who posts this criticism on their own blog. I wonder if POP didn't have some web sites if it would be criticized for being secretive because people couldn't find out anything about it?
I will grant you that sometimes POP can talk like it is more significant than it is, but then so do political parties, every advocacy group I know of, every church, and many individuals.
I am hoping that your blog will bring more light than heat. There are more substantial criticisms of POP that can be made than the fact that it has some technologically savvy people who know how to design web sites.
Colin LaVergne
My criticism is aimed at the magical thinking and grandiose claims made by the PoP. Creating multiple fronts through internet webpages and remaining secretive are both problematic. It is not necessarily the quantity but the content that is disturbing. Very little can be concluded by looking only at the number of websites a group has. It is the culmination of characteristics that signals alarm about the PoP. The websites are one small part of that.
When I joined the PoP, I was led to believe that the group was going to rebuild Dinkytown and the University of Minnesota by uniting everyone in Christ through baptism in the holy spirit. In fact, this is precisely what the group in Dinkytown believes they will do.
It is not the State of Minnesota that owns Dinkytown and the University, it is Christ's and thus, it is the PoP's.
Unfortunately, I am partly at fault for taking the PoP seriously. Most shrug a shoulder and laugh when confronted by the PoP's claims. My goal is to create substantial dissent for those initiated into the PoP and those currently in the PoP who still have a semblance of reason.
Colin, when faced with criticism, you offer up a straw man argument by claiming an equivalence defense as if there are no gradients of comparison between one thing and another. The fact is, all things are not equal, and if the subject of criticism here is POP, then stick to that instead of trying to water the discussion by attempting to bury distinctions between it and the rest of society. This is symptomatic of people who are afflicted with the religious variety of the "Polyanna" complex. It robs one of passion, individualism and turns the world into artificially flavored vanilla pudding. How in the hell do you decide on the right shoes to buy anyhow?
I am loathe to think what POP would do with Dinkytown and the U even if they did have some influence in the matter.
Rev. Barky,
Thanks for writing.
I was responding to the initial post which implied that because POP and its members have a number of blogs and websites that because of that, it is somehow trying to deceive people into thinking POP is more significant than it really is.
I found that argument to be unconvincing and used my family as an example of the fact that significance and the quantity of web sites are not connected.
However, I do agree that some members of POP do try to create an impression that POP is more critically important to the Kingdom of God than it really is. But the number of web sites is not much of an indicator of that. By the standards of the original post, any group that starts its own web design company is eerily similar to the Heaven's Gate cult. This is not a very strong argument.
Some of the language used by POP members when talking about city building or expansion plans can be hyperbole. It can be genuinely criticized as the original post does for not being realistic enough. I think that is a fair criticism.
I am open to other genuine insights and honest criticisms of POP. But if we (those who post here) are going to have a genuine discussion, then there also needs to be a freedom to point out inadequate criticisms as well.
(Or as you have done, to criticize my critical comments.)
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