Chapter Four: Grace Gospel Church - Its beliefs, practices and opponents
5.4 Evaluating GGC/CTMI against sociological perspectives on cults
As noted in Chapter Two, sociologists typically display a concern for the influence of social context on individuals, linking periods of socio-political turbulence with individual alienation. Cults claim to be able to offer renewed meaning and provide novel and exotic compensators for distressed and alienated individuals. We are reminded of the “anguish and uncertainty” of post independence Mauritian society out of which Eglise Chretienne emerged and then the Creole ethnic violence that preceded the formation of CTMI. It is likely that Eglise Chretienne provided novel compensators for people who had become alienated spiritually and socially during these situations of turmoil.
GGC came into being in its present form in 2003 in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal. The Human Sciences Research Council’s report entitled “State of the Nation: South Africa 2003 - 2004”393 provides an overview of the nation at this point in time. The year 2003 was described as a time of reflection and transition: the country had experienced a decade of democratic government and it was becoming clear that social and economic transformation would be a longer process than had been promised or expected. This ten year period was overseen by the presidencies of Nelson Mandela (1994 – 1999) and Thabo Mbeki (1999 to 2004). These presidencies were marked by different priorities:
“Mandela’s presidency was marked by reconciliation, which Mbeki is said to have abandoned for empowerment and narrow African nationalism... Mandela is thus seen as the reconciler and democrat, while Mbeki is perceived as the ultimate technocrat, busy centralising power in an ‘imperial presidency’.”394
393 John Daniel, Adam Habib & Roger Southall (eds.), 2003. State of The Nation: South Africa 2003 - 2004. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
http://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/product.php?productid=2055&freedownload=1 (Accessed 01/08/12)
394 Daniel, Habib and Southall, State of The Nation, p.3.
153
Portraying South Africa as consisting of “two nations” Mbeki called for the prosperous, developed “nation” to practice magnanimity in order for reconciliation that is based on social justice. He argued that without such justice, racial reconciliation and nation building would be impossible. Mbeki created employment in the middle sectors of the economy and oversaw a fast growing black middle class with the implementation of Black Economic Empowerment. It could be argued that this time of transition and process of reconciliation would create stress for some members of society, who might turn to novel religious compensators to assuage their anxieties.
Official crime figures for Pinetown from April 2003 to March 2004 also reveal a community beset with violent crime: 27 murders, 68 attempted murders, 698 robberies with aggravating circumstances, 88 sexual crimes, 1188 residential burglaries and 118 carjackings.395 It is possible that CTMI, through GGC, offered a sense of psychological and spiritual security to individuals threatened by the crime of the Pinetown area – in other words, a set of compensators.
GGC would likely also appeal to the idealist who encountered the “love bombing” of the group and interpret it as a church where love was more demonstrably real than at other churches; it would appeal to those whose had lost connection with family through emigration by offering a strong sense of family under the headship of a “father”;396 the significance of being a spiritual elite through Hardy’s revelation would attract those who felt insignificant for any reason, and the security of believing that they had found the true faith would draw those insecure in their standing before God.
395 Crime information management, South African Police Service, “Crime in Pinetown (KZN) for April to March 2003/2004”, http://warwickchapman.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/2CE0100910-annual- crimestats-pinetown.pdf (Accessed 01/08/2012)
396 According to Statistics South Africa’s 2005 Documented Migration: Report No. 03-51-03 (2003).
Pretoria: Statistics South Africa. p. iv, http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/Report-03-51-03/Report- 03-51-032003.pdf (Accessed 20/07/2013), for 2003 the number of self-declared emigrants from South Africa was 48,4% higher than that of 2002, increasing from 10 890 in 2002 to 16 165 in 2003.
154
GGC furthermore fulfils five of the seven defining characteristics of cults, according to Barker.397 The one characteristic that cannot be determined due to lack of data is an atypical demographic among members.
1. Members of GGC are first generation converts, and tend to be more enthusiastic and committed than people who have grown up in a particular faith. It was the radical commitment of individuals to GGC that led to initial concerns about the group.
2. CTMI and its member churches including GGC have Hardy as founder and ultimate leader. He undoubtedly wields charismatic authority.
3. GGC’s “truth”, that is, Hardy’s revelation, is more definitive than in other religions, to the point of being exclusive.
4. GGC embrace a dichotomous worldview where they are regarded as being all good and godly and non GGC members tend to be regarded as uniformly bad, even satanic.
5. GGC has experienced suspicion and hostility from the society in which it find itself. This is demonstrated in the formation of the CPG and the various media articles about them.
There has yet to be an emergence of a second generation of GGC or CTMI, and Hardy as the charismatic founder of CTMI remains the leader of CTMI and its member churches.
For Barker, GGC would undoubtedly be a dangerous group as they, in line with CTMI, insist that they alone have the truth; they demand little accountability from Hardy while he requires unquestioning obedience to his apostolic authority; members develop an unhealthy dependency on GGC for material, social and spiritual resources, cutting themselves off from society by wanting to live the “given life” in another member’s home and in Mauritius.
397 Eileen Barker, “An Introduction to New Religious Movements”
http://web.archive.org/web/20060219080908/http://www.chaplaincy.ic.ac.uk/images/nrm_by_eb.pdf , p.3. (Accessed 21/3/2012) and Eileen Barker. 2011. “Ageing in New Religions: The Varieties of Later Experiences.” The Journal of the British Association for the Study of Religions. Diskus 12. pp 1 – 3.
155
Sociologists such as Lofland and Stark398claim that individuals join cults because the cult answers the felt needs of the individual. Reading the testimonies of GGC members there is ample evidence that they have found renewed meaning in their lives. There is much talk of lives that have allegedly changed for the better: “A few months ago, I was completely in the world… The Lord has set me free of so many things that I held on to, and that I would never have been able to on my own! I know that he will test certain relationships after this camp, but His grace will be sufficient for me. I want the Lord to mould me and equip me.”399
The “primal experiences” described by Hexham and Poewe400 are experiences that dramatically change the relationship between those that have them, and the material world. “MZ”, a CTMI pastor from Tanzania offers the following account of what could be termed a primal experience. He was in an overcrowded bus on the way to a wedding and feeling disconsolate:
Just as I was wallowing in this cesspool of self-pity, my cellphone rang. The last thing that I needed at that time was a conversation, so I just let the phone ring.
But inside the bus people began looking at me, so I was forced to answer. The minute I said “Hello” someone on the other side answered with the loudest
“Praise the Lord, servant of God!” you ever heard. I replied with the smallest, quietest “Amen” that I could muster. In fact I was praying that he wouldn’t add another word!
But the man went on to tell me that he was a pastor deep in the Maasai steppes, that they had just read Pastor Miki Hardy’s articles for the very first time, and they were thinking they had hit a gold mine. They had been in such spiritual darkness for so long they couldn’t believe what they were reading in the rare copy of ‘Msemakweli’ that had somehow wandered miraculously into their remote town. He wanted to know how they could get into contact with us, and if possible, meet us face to face, and get more of what they’d just read. As the man talked on, my heart began to warm. In fact, within less than a minute I was in
398 John Lofland & Rodney Stark, 1965. ‘Becoming a World-Saver: A Theory of Conversion to a Deviant Perspective’, American Sociological Review, 30. pp. 862-875. In Dawson, Cults and New Religious Movements, p. 118.
399 Testimony of “Chanel C” on CTMI website. http://ctmi.mu/en/christian-testimonies/the-fruits-of-the- ctmi-youth-camp (Accessed 28/08/2012)
400 Irving Hexham and Karla Poewe, 1986. Understanding Cults and New Religions. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 60.
156
gear and making real spiritual contact with this man of God. By the time we finished our conversation, my heart was so touched there were the beginnings of tears in my eyes.
I couldn’t believe the Lord would bless me so, just when I didn’t deserve it.
Suddenly, everything around me became bright. I even looked at the people pushing against me in the bus, and I loved them once again. Just a few bus stops ahead, the old lady stood up to get off the bus, and she gave me back my seat with a big thank you. I sat down gratefully. But a few stops ahead, an elderly man got in. With much joy in my heart, I indicated for him to come over and have my seat. I felt great joy in my heart, thinking about that Maasai man, about what God was doing in our country through this great door of media outreach to CTMI and the message it proclaims… I couldn’t believe I had been so blind only a few moments ago. But God, who is rich in mercy, opened my eyes again, to see the great riches that He has for us in the spirit…and He restored my joy.
When I went to that wedding, I was the happiest man. As you know we Africans dance…I was the most vigorous dancer at that wedding!401
As Hexham and Poewe contended such experiences validate the teaching and authenticity of the group, as this experience clearly did for “MZ”.
Beckford402 attributed the higher public profile of cults to the non-conventional lifestyles of their members, their sophisticated use of media and the enthusiasm and commitment of their members. There is little doubt that CTMI and GGC exemplify these characteristics.
Sociologists report that cults will employ differing recruitment strategies but typically, they use existing social networks to recruit. As there has been no possibilit y of interviewing members of GGC the precise psychological, social and spiritual predispositions of individuals joining GGC cannot be described.
The formation of the CPG is further circumstantial evidence that CTMI/GGC can be regarded as a cult. The CPG started as a support group for parents and family who had experienced alienation after a family member had joined GGC/CTMI. In time, partially
401 Testimony entitled, “Love Lifted Me Up” on CTMI website. http://ctmi.mu/en/christian- testimonies/love-lifted-me-up. (Accessed 31/08/2012)
402 In Lorne Dawson (ed) 2003. Cults and New Religious Movements: A Reader. Malden, USA:
Blackwell Publishing Ltd. p. 27.
157
fuelled by CTMI’s non-response, the CPG began to strongly resemble an anti-cult movement, dedicated to raising awareness about CTMI and confronting it. A propaganda war ensued which escalated tensions on both sides. However, this war is at time of research in a state of stalemate with both the CPG and CTMI having entrenched positions and being unwilling to give any ground. To date there has been no meeting or constructive dialogue between the groups.