Internet and Information Control

Here's a very thought provoking article about the Internet's effect on cults which wish to control members' access to information: The Truth vs. the truth by Stephen Cox.

It mainly focuses on Jehovah's Witnesses. Did you know Jehovah's Witnesses are allowed blood transfusions in Bulgaria?

It even mentions WCG's transformation briefly in one paragraph near the end.

Only one modern American institution has ever admitted that it was fundamentally in error — the Worldwide Church of God, an Adventist church that, influenced by the Witnesses, once referred to its members as "in the Truth," and to everyone else as out of it. During the 1990s, the WCG leadership surveyed its distinctive teachings and announced that they could not be squared with the Bible. The reward for its courage was the loss of 50–60% of its membership. This is an example that the Watchtower Society will be very reluctant to follow.

I don't often hear WCG described as "an Adventist church" but he is completely justified in calling it such.

It is a very intriguing article.

Those who might be offended at the positive portrayal of WCG might be interested in seeing this blog from anti-cult activist Rick Ross, Do cults collapse when leaders die and/or they give up the exclusive claims that define them? Unlike many others who have been quite welcoming of WCG's entering the fold of the majority, this gives a brief critical examination of the new WCG.