I had to laugh at the comment made by Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday while in Brazil. He claims that "...the Internet has made it difficult to govern."
(CNSNews.com) - Speaking to State Department personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil, on Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry said that "this little thing called the Internet ... makes it much harder to govern." He also said that "ever since the end of the Cold War, forces have been unleashed that were tamped down for centuries by dictators."This is the exact same thing that we have been saying for years here. The Internet is what helped bring down the Church of God. The Church of God has never recovered and never will. Now being held accountable, it struggles to survive. Hundreds of COG members are leaving COG's every year. The membership drain cannot be stopped.
"Well, folks," he said, "ever since the end of the Cold War, forces have been unleashed that were tamped down for centuries by dictators, and that was complicated further by this little thing called the internet and the ability of people everywhere to communicate instantaneously and to have more information coming at them in one day than most people can process in months or a year." John Kerry: 'This Little Thing Called the Internet ... Makes It Much Harder to Govern'
It wasn't long after HWA's death that various newsgroups and chats started discussing the changes creeping into the Worldwide Church of God. As computers began to proliferated by the early 1990's the stream of information could not be stopped.
Church leaders no longer had a strangle hold on its members. The WCG effectively used the Internet to get the word out about the changes coming down the line. The Good News Grapevine was filled with those who appreciated the changes. Other Internet sites and private mailings helped the Global Church of God and UCG form.
For several years the WCG AOL chat room was a great disseminator of change and accountability, until one snarky woman who worships HWA and all things Armstrong kept complaining to AOL that everyone posting there were liars. AOL finally shut it down and eventually AOL shut down the other COG as well. But even she was not able to stop the juggernaut steam rolling ahead.
Other groups and message boards quickly popped up. The Ambassador Report went online. The Painful Truth started to tear down the facade of a perfect Church of God. Gavin Rumney's Ambassador Watch made mincemeat of the Church of God's. The list of Internet sites now critical of the COG's continues to grow daily.
This is not something unique to Armstrongite groups. The Jehovah's Witnesses are also facing huge problems in controlling the information stream against them. Why the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses FEARS the Internet! The Mormons too, Mormon Church Admitting the Internet is Hurting Retention of Members
Yes, the Internet has made it more difficult for oppressive governments to govern and the Internet has made it hard for oppressive Church of God's to function. And the people said, "AMEN!"