Church of God, Rebecca Gardner & The Today Show – Part 2

In Part 1 of this series, I addressed Rebecca’s background — her Christian upbringing and what motivated her to join the World Mission Society Church of God. As you probably already know, earlier this year, NBC’s Today Show aired a segment in their Undercovered series, “When a Little Known Faith Breaks Up Family.” They interviewed Rebecca’s family and former WMSCOG members. And the purpose of their story was to show the Church of God as a “dangerous group that destroys families.”

This particular segment on the Today Show airs stories based on viewer suggestions. The idea to portray the Church of God as a “cult” came from a viewer who wanted to know about “the subversive existence/prevalence of religious cults in America.” Because this was the agenda for this particular segment, no matter how much Rebecca or Church representatives tried to prove otherwise during their interview with Ronan Farrow, the agenda for the show was already set. You will see in this part of my series how the interviews and answers were manipulated to achieve the goal of the show and portray the Church of God as a “prevalent cult in America.”

If you missed part one of this series, I encourage you to learn first about Rebecca’s upbringing and the reason she joined the World Mission Society Church of God.

World Mission Society Church of God Rebecca Gardner Series

One of the things mentioned in the segment was that there are “two Beckys.” One they call the “cult Becky” and the other the “real Becky.” And, as Rebecca mentions, this comes from the counseling of “cult expert” Steven Hassan. Without ever meeting Rebecca, this man has diagnosed Rebecca with a dissociative disorder (formerly known as multiple personalities disorder). This is what Hassan has told Rebecca’s parents to explain Rebecca’s membership in the Church of God. In other words, to Steven Hassan, the only way someone can be a member of the World Mission Society Church of God and follow the teachings of the Bible is if they have a mental disorder.

So Who is Steven Hassan?

Steven Hassan is a self-proclaimed “cult expert.” Like Steven Hassan, some “cult experts” have labeled the Church of God as a “cult” simply because we follow the teachings of the Bible. But as I’ve explained in other posts, and as we can see even through Rebecca’s own family dynamics, these “cult experts” are the ones causing extreme damage in the relationships between Church of God members and their families — not the Church.

Rebecca’s Family Dynamics

The show failed to portray Rebecca’s side of the story explaining why their family dynamics are the way they are. Rebecca explains how her own family locked her in a hotel room against her own will until she denied her faith. And as she added, “their intolerance for what I want to believe is what has caused me to step away, not the church.” Yet, none of this footage aired.

Rebecca’s “Arranged Marriage”

The segment also makes a point to mention that Rebecca’s parents presume the Church placed her in an arranged marriage. This claim is completely false, as Rebecca explains. The Church of God does not force members to marry anyone else in the Church. As Rebecca explains, she fell in love and her parents had not visited her for years and had no idea who her friends were or who she was dating.

And what’s astonishing is that they believe she was in an arranged marriage because she married a man from South Korea…

So now I ask…is it wrong to marry someone from a different race? Does this automatically mean you’re part of a “cult”?? If so, we must say that Mark Zuckerberg, who is a white male, is in a “cult” because he is married to a Chinese-American woman.

Saying that Rebecca was placed in an arranged marriage simply because she married someone from a different ethnic background is a pretty bold statement. Not only is it incorrect but also shows that people will use anything and everything to twist the practices, teachings of the Church of God, even to the point that they blame the behaviors of Church of God members on the Church.

Watch Rebecca’s full video and see how the media manipulated the footage to fit their agenda and portray a family “torn by faith.”