Since that post, which chronicled several of Wade Cox's own verbatim comments in a discussion group on Facebook, we have witnessed a few interesting developments. As predicted in our post, Wade has acted to have any record of his comments removed completely. How he chose to go about this is the interesting part.
If you are a little behind on this topic, here's a little info to bring you up to speed:
Facebook is a social networking site where people join to discuss whatever they may want to discuss and to leave posts about whatever they were doing throughout the day. Facebook members can create discussion groups on whatever topics they wish and invite others from around the Internet to join in. It's a great way to meet new friends and have spirited conversation. There are several discussion groups orbiting around the various splinter groups of Armstrongism.
As it turns out, in 2009, two people decided to start a generic discussion group for all active members of any Armstrongist COG. This group is named "Former Worldwide Church of God and Other COG Groups".
The group fell into contact with Wade Cox and some of his close associates. The group quickly became what amounted to an echo chamber for Wade Cox. Apparently Wade Cox would dominate and police any conversation, and made a habit of repeatedly copying information from the CCG.org website and pasting it there (from what I can gather, it appears that Wade believes the studies on the CCG.org website are definitive on any subject, and that they are by inspiration of God, and are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness). That was... until late this past October, when many of the people in that group came to grace and stepped into the New Covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ.
I understand, from comments made by two separate members of that discussion group who left the law for the Gospel, that Wade's own personal conduct was what drove them to see the truth. They both remarked how they felt his conduct was the opposite of what they expected from a Christian. From the comments that I personally read, it appeared that this opinion was not limited to these two people.
In the opinion of these two, anyone who did not agree with Wade Cox was made the butt of threatening and terribly demeaning comments. Judging from Wade's own comments that we recorded here, which you can see for yourself in the link above, we would tend to agree. In our opinion, Wade Cox's comments definitely appear threatening and terribly demeaning. He mentions death several times. That alone is disturbing enough to sour us to any involvement with the man or his organization. We are forced to question what sort of organization would willingly "elect" a man who makes comments such as those.
However we hear uncorroborated information through the grapevine that Wade Cox has instilled only yes-man sycophants into leadership positions and that the "election" process is a total sham.
At any rate, it was the sheer ungodliness of the attitudes that led these two group members (and others) to reconsider their theology, and to choose grace. There is a silver lining after all. Praise the Lord! What a God we serve, who turns evil on its head and when that is done, "Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it" (COL 2: 15). Amen!
So, now you're up to speed.
After our last post, we predicted that Wade would try to remove his comments on Facebook. He has apparently done just that. Cowardly? Dishonorable? You decide.
At some point over the past weekend, likely Sunday, November 14th, 2010, the administration of the "Former Worldwide Church of God and Other COG Groups" Facebook group changed hands. Two of Wade Cox's trusted followers are now in control. Almost everyone who disagreed with Wade have been kicked out of the group. Most of the discussions were deleted. Several new "discussions" have appeared and guess what they contain. That's right! Copy/paste content from CCG.org. All of the old content appears to have been thoroughly reviewed, and anything that did not pass inspection was deleted. The effort appears to be a complete napalm; slash-n-burn.
As Tangina Barrons would say, "The house is clean." And just like in the movie Poltergeist, everything winds up completely destroyed and covered in filth.
Since around the time of our previous post, we had been lurking on the Facebook group and watching certain conversations with interest. There appeared to be a small group of people who were refuting Wade Cox and his legalist doctrines. This group of seven or eight people were standing up against Wade, offering no quarter to deceit and anti-Christ doctrine, giving no aid and comfort to the accuser of the brethren. So far as we can tell, there was a rather heated debate regarding the Trinity doctrine and how many Roman Emperors accepted the Trinity prior to 381 AD.
It appears to have started on Saturday, October 30, 2010, when an official of the CCG by the name of Russell Hilburn offered 500 to anyone who could "show that there was more than one Trinitarian or Binitarian Emperor of Rome before 381. They were Unitarian......put up or shut upl! [sic]", and certain people accepted the challenge. That debate went on for at least a week and a half. Among other questionable tactics, Wade Cox was apparently caught red-handed misquoting his source material (a time-honored tradition in Armstrongism, and a thing we have seen in more than just one of Wade Cox's articles on CCG.org). Wade, it appears, quoted Philip Schaff's "History of the Christian Church" as a source, but reworded the quote to entirely change its meaning. When he was called out on that, Wade responded that Philip Schaff was a Trinitarian [and therefore his history was faulty.] The conversation got a bit confusing, but it appears that the CCG team was defeated in the challenge, yet refused to admit this or to pay up. They welched on their own bet. They promised to return with a study proving their claims, but before they did the group was whitewashed and all evidence destroyed. (All evidence except what we recorded for posterity, of course.)
But how did Wade get control of the group to do all of this, you ask? As luck would have it, we were just contacted by an anonymous source who sent us an email from Wade Cox addressed to one of the former Administrators of the aforementioned Facebook group that explains the whole matter. In this letter, several of the people engaged in the conversation described above were mentioned by name, disparagingly of course. But that's not all the letter contained.
As we understand it, from the letter and conversations with witnesses, Wade Cox threatened to sue the two Administrators of the group if they didn't delete any negative comments, delete the entire group, or turn over control of the group. Not wanting the hassle, they now former Administrators opted to back down and turned over control.
Wade Cox has long been seen as litigious. He has reportedly threatened to sue several people and groups who were critical of him. It is reported that Wade once tried to have the Painful Truth website shut down. Wade Cox is aware of his reputation. He admits as much in a message which he wrote to the members of the CCG dated August 10, 2010, which is posted on CCG.org as of 11-15-2010, titled "New Moon".
Of course, in that same letter, Wade Cox claims he will soon control and reorganize the world and Islam, and govern it under the laws of the Old Covenant. Wade may be bluffing or he may believe what he's saying, but in our opinion this is not the kind of thing that we expect from a person who is in complete touch with reality. These appear to be more the ravings of a delusional mind suffering from a touch of megalomania or some such thing.
It is our opinion that Wade Cox uses this reputation to scare people off....In a godly manner, of course!
In my estimation from what I read in the letter to the two former Administrators of the Facebook group, it appears Mr. Cox is not a genuine lawyer.
Judging from the content of the letter that we received - and this letter gives us no reason to doubt its authenticity - Wade threatened to sue the now former Administrators of the Facebook group for, and we quote, "Criminal Conspiracy".
According to the definition of Criminal Conspiracy in the United States (the country of residence of the parties Wade Cox allegedly accused and therefore the location where the alleged offense occurred), in order to convict a person or persons of Criminal Conspiracy it must be proven that two or more people willingly and knowingly agreed to commit a crime. That crime must be a legitimate crime in the city/county/state/nation where the parties reside. Forethought and intent to knowingly commit a specific crime must be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to a jury of their peers. Some half-baked accusation simply would not suffice.
Also in the letter we see an accusation of, and I quote, "Conspiracy to commit Criminal Defamation against CCG and its people". Now that's a hard one to prove.
Defamation by definition does not include truth. Truth is an absolute defense against accusations of Defamation. [Eg. To accuse someone of being an adulterer could be Defamation; to prove it out can never be Defamation.] There is sufficient case law to say that statements believed to be true at the time they were made are also most likely going to be protected speech. Opinion is also protected under free speech laws (An opinion cannot be defamatory according to the United States Supreme Court. Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 1974). So Wade would have to prove to a court in the United States that the accused knowingly made false and damaging statements of fact [not opinion], that they knew to be false at the time, and that those statements were in fact not true. He would have to prove that the audience did not have reason to believe the statements were hyperbole. He would also have to prove actual damage occurred as a direct result of those statements. His likelihood of success? Almost zero. At the same time, he would have to defend against counter-suit, and the case against Wade Cox is more hefty, in my opinion, than his case against those he accuses.
From the wording in the letter, what Wade describes sounds a lot more like Breach of Contract. That would be next to impossible to prove. No court would entertain the notion. Here is the wording:
[What the accused] "deliberately encouraged and participated in, was a breach of an agreement and understanding. That was that we would participate and assist you on this site provided [certain names and parties mentioned] you allowed on this site... were not permitted access. As I understand it now, you... specifically went against our implicit understanding and actually invited them on and seemingly for the purpose of attacking CCG and me in particular."Those are some big words there. Unfortunately they appear to be more for show and bluster than anything else. Was there ever any legally-binding contract or agreement? Was it finalized? Was it witnessed? Is there any proof? Is there any proof that certain people were invited in for the stated purpose of attacking CCG and/or Wade Cox? No? Well then all we have is a difference of opinion. Perhaps even a delusion. To accuse someone of a legitimate crime is a lot easier than to prove such a thing out. In fact, the parties involved may have a pretty good case against their accuser.
"**Nothing on this As Bereans Did should be construed as legal advice. This is opinion only. For actual legal advice, please consult a licensed atourney.*"*
So, there you have it. We have given you the promised update to the last post. I expect this is going to be the last of it. Wade Cox has his little group now, and he's not going to share anymore or play nicely with others.
**UPDATE: See the comments for a couple humorous developments.
It gets tiresome to see this same fanatical and narcissistic pattern repeated over and over from the Armstrongist arena. So we say again, If you are someone who is attending the CCG or is thinking of attending the CCG, PLEASE consider carefully what you're doing. If you know someone who is attending, or is thinking of attending the CCG, PLEASE get them to this post. And please keep them in your prayers.
Now, just for fun, here are some activities that you can do with your children, courtesy of CCG.org:
Here is a "Bible study" cross-word puzzle.
Here is a coloring-book page.
Gee, don't those look like so much fun!? "Mommy, I colored Satan's Den! Can I color Cain murdering Abel next?"
It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is YOUR responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; ) ACTS 17:11
