Cults and New Religious Movements in Cyberspace

By James K. Walker

Theologians and religious historians rarely stress the important role the Gutenberg press played in the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther's message of Scripture, Faith, and Grace alone (Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia) were able to quickly capture the hearts of Germany - peasants and nobles alike - through technology. In what was the cutting edge of early 16th century communication, Luther's sermons and tracts could be printed and distributed throughout Germany and the rest of Europe in a matter of days. And it was done quickly and cheaply. Unable to match a fraction of the financial power of Rome, an obscure dissident monk was able to deftly rebut Catholic critiques by blanketing Germany with his missives. Using movable type, the expensive and time-consuming task of hand copying manuscripts was eliminated and the era of the religious tract had begun. Catholicism itself was changed and never fully recovered. The ideas of the reformation won in Germany, most of Europe, and North America due at least in some small part to the power of movable type.

Today hundreds of other religious movements are seeking their own world-changing reformations. And in this case the Internet is their Gutenberg press. It has been said, "Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one." With the advent and popularity of the Internet and specifically the World Wide Web, the cost of a "press" has been reduced to a personal computer, a telephone line, and $19.95 per month. It is even less if one makes use of free, advertisement-based email and web space. With these humble tools, anyone can publish his or her message on the web and potentially preach their gospel to a global congregation. Cults, occult groups and new religious movements have been quick to see the potential and are flocking to the Internet.

Yahoo <www.yahoo.com>, a popular index of web sites lists 156 sites in three categories under the heading "Occult." A Yahoo search on the terms "witch" and "neopagan" yields 240 and 19 sites respectively with some redundancy. The word "psychic" generates an impressive 343 web sites in five categories and a search on "New Age" produces 25 categories and 408 sites although a number of them relate to New Age music rather than religion.

Ranking sites by popularity, WebSideStory <www.websidestory.com> rates over 30,000 participating web sites in 36 categories including 988 in the Religion category. Among their top 50 web sites are four sites promoting witchcraft, two promoting New Age or Pantheism, one site advertising Yoga, one plugging Mormonism and another offering studies in Shamanism. These nine sites alone are attracting almost 70,000 visits per month. WebSideStory statistics only include sites that participate and do not include very popular "official" sites such as those published by Scientology, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Mormon Web Sites

In order to have it "done right," the LDS Church delayed the launch of their official site, <www.lds.org> until December of 1996. The site was launched in part to counter "misinformation" and to correct web surfers who may have been "misled by calling up a variety of Web sites" (Deseret News, February 1, 1997, p. A-1).

Web sites critical of Mormonism are very popular. One site devoted solely to helping Latter-day Saints "recover from Mormonism" is ranked by WebSideStory as the 15^th most popular participating religious site scoring over 10,000 visits per month. LDS Apostle Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve said the Church wanted an official site in part to help "set the record straight" (Ibid., p. A-2).

Another LDS Apostle, Jeffrey R. Holland, echoed these concerns in an interview with Lauramaery Gold published in the book, Mormons on the Internet. When asked about those "who say their perception of the [LDS] Church changed for the worse because of information they found online," Holland replied that "A lot of people publish a lot of things that really require a response" (pp. 29-30). Holland revealed that this was a major goal of the LDS site. The Church wanted "to serve the nonmember, investigators who didn't know about us, people who were inquiring. We wanted them to have accurate information. We were aware that there was a lot of inaccurate information being put out by others" (p. 27).

In a telephone interview with Watchman Fellowship, LDS spokesman Val Edwards, Director of Special Affairs in the Public Affairs Department, said that proselytizing is not the Church's primary purpose in providing the official site. He acknowledged that free copies of the book of Mormon are offered on the site but he could give no statistics for those who have requested copies through the web site or for converts initially reached through the web. "It can serve a missionary function but is not designed to replace the traditional missionary program" (February 13, 1998).

It is obvious, however, that impressing potential converts is at least one of the Church's goals. For example the LDS Church hopes that one subtle benefit of their web site will be to deflect the negative public perception that Mormonism is non-Christian. The LDS-owned Church News reported that from the opening page, "Visitors to the Church's Web site are greeted by a full-color reproduction of Del Parson's well-known painting of Jesus - undoubtedly helping to dispel the misconception that Church members are not Christian" (March 1, 1997, p. 6).

Mormon leaders also seem concerned about possible confusion or misinformation from their own member's private web sites. Yahoo lists over 150 unofficial sites that are published by Latter-day Saints and are favorable to the Church. Gold notes that through this unofficial LDS online community, "there are already many, many instances of people joining the Church because of contacts that originated over the Internet" (Mormons on the Internet, p. 29).

Yet despite these converts, Holland seemed disturbed by doctrinal information disseminated by the members. He warned: "We have Relief Societies and Elders Quorums with their own home page. We have returned missionaries with their own home page. We have freshmen at BYU with their own home pages.. When it comes to official doctrine and policy, we would rather tell our own story than have somebody try to tell it for us." Holland seemed to prefer that individual Mormons limit their Web pages to topics like "athletic scores, favorite recipes, missionary reunions and single-adult dating services" (Church News, March 1, 1997 p. 6).

Watchtower on the Web

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has also been less than thrilled by the prospect of their own people publishing religious web sites. Reading religious information published by others or even participating in chat rooms where beliefs are discussed is strongly discouraged. The Society warns about the danger of apostasy via the Internet saying, "We have to realize that many web sites have been created by people with immoral or dishonest intent. And many sites that may not be immoral or dishonest, such as chat groups, are a plain waste of time. From all such, stay away!" (Awake!, January 8, 1998, p. 12).

Watchtower spokesman, Judah B. Schroeder, Deputy Director of Public Affairs Department told Watchman that logistics, not apostasy, was the main reason Witnesses are not encouraged to discuss religion on the Internet. "The primary reason for not turning everyone loose is the logistical aspect. We want people to contact us directly" (Telephone Interview, February 12, 1998).

To facilitate this direct contact in January 1997, the Watchtower released its own official site, <www.watchtower .org>, containing information on everything from doctrinal beliefs to bloodless medical care in 15 languages. The Society again cautioned Witnesses from publishing their own understanding of Watchtower teachings saying: "There is no need for any individuals to prepare Internet pages about Jehovah's Witnesses, our activities, or our beliefs. Our official site presents accurate information for any who want it" (Our Kingdom Ministry, November 1997, p. 3).

Schroeder told Watchman that the Society's web site philosophy is not merely informational. The Internet is seen as part of a global witnessing strategy - not just to inform but to convert. "I am aware of numerous occasions where people have found our site, requested more information and eventually become Jehovah's Witnesses. We see this as something that has a great future" (Telephone Interview).

Cult Critics on the Internet

Those opposing cults are also on the Internet including ex-members, secular cult-watching groups and Christian discernment ministries. Yahoo lists over 30 sites (both secular and Christian) under "Society and Culture: Religion: Cults" the vast majority of which are providing critical information. There are 17 additional sites listed as opposing Mormonism. Yahoo indexes even more sites as specifically critical of the Watchtower. They list 26 sites under "Jehovah's Witnesses: Opposing Views" and 12 other sites under "Former Jehovah's Witnesses."

The religion drawing the most opposition on the Internet appears to be the Church of Scientology. Yahoo cites 33 web sites devoted to criticizing Scientology with titles like "Bridge to Nowhere" and "The Cult of Greed and Power." Yahoo also provides links to four indices of critical information, 11 sites dealing with Scientology's Internet copyright feuds, and one of the most popular religious newsgroups on the Internet, alt.religion.scientology.

To counter the critics, Scientology has used copyright lawsuits, raids, private investigators and various forms of intimidation. They have also published, in numerous languages, a number of official and promotional sites to publicize their views including <www.dianetics.org>, and <www.scientology .org>. For more on Scientology's war with its critics on the Internet, see The Watchman Expositor, Vol. 13, No. 2, 1996, "Scientology's Internet Wars."

Many cults and new religions like Scientology see the Internet as both a potential and a threat. Converts can be made but secrets can also be exposed.

Freedom of information, like freedom of religion, should be championed by religions with nothing to hide. Christians should welcome the opportunity to learn about alternative beliefs and to share their faith via the web. By embracing and incorporating today's technology believers can reach their world with traditional Christian faith. In doing so the biblical message of Scripture alone, Faith alone, and Grace alone will still triumph in the changing religious climate of today's reformations.