Posted by Jonathan on April 29, 2005 at 16:31:58
In Reply to: Splinter groups posted by Niek0 on March 17, 2005 at 20:26:42:
I joined the COG in 1968 which was then known as "Teens for Christ". The only fellowship that we may have had, was with the earlier hippie members of what was forming to be "Calvary Chapel" with Chuck Smith. The commonility with them was our long hair and hippie looks. They, to us believed in going into the system to convert it, we believed in going outside of the system. Two very different trains of thought. So, our fellowship didn't last very long, they went their ways and The Cog went theirs (welcome to our hell on earth).
What attracted us to Berg was his stance against the system. Most of us, were already antiwar ( the Viet Nam was going strong then) and antisystem. He (unfortunately) was in our minds a guru, that many in our culture at that time were into(or adhered to). Other radical examples were Timothy Leary (tune in, turn on, drop out). These so called gurus were around California at that time, mainly a radical antisystem thought. So, this was the bait that Berg landed us in his web of deceit.
I knew of other christian groups who had visited us. I'm not aware of any groups that adhered or formed their own groups based on his doctrine. The unspoken policy during that time was,"if you're not with us, then you're against us". Either, join us or be against us, to put it mildly. Join us or be our Foe, that was their choice. There are no neutrals. I'm not saying that there couldn't have been other groups that were influenced by him, but I was never aware of any.
As far as dressing or any ornaments, there were none. We were just normally dressed hippies or young people, any property of any values we gave to the leaders of the group. Geez, I wonder what happened to my class ring and my 59 chevy with the 409 4 barrel carbuertor?
I look back, and I hear some people talk about the good old days. I don't recall any. It was a lot of misery and suffering. We were caught in a web, by a family who of wolves who would totally devour us and our souls.