Why the World Mission Society Church of God’s Attempt to Discredit Cult Experts Fails

The World Mission Society Church of God has gone to great lengths to discredit former members, cult experts, activists on YouTube, other platforms and of course, this website. In the video below, Victor Lozada, WMSCOG elder, narrates an almost forty-five minute video specifically criticizing cult expert and author Steve Hassan, former missionary Ron Ramos, former deaconess Diane Sims and this site.

At timestamp 2:30 Lozada begins his ad-hominem attacks against Steve Hassan and at 4:20 Lozada goes on to claim that “a cult expert is a self made profession. You cannot go to a school and get a degree as a cult expert.” Lozada goes on to say that Steve Hassan has a Master’s Degree in Psychology and therefore someone who has a Doctorate in Psychology should evaluate Steve Hassan’s work. At 4:45, Lozada begins to read a statement by Dr. Cathleen Mann criticizing Steve Hassan’s work.

Who Is Dr. Cathleen Mann?

According to her bio, Dr. Cathleen Mann was a “judicially qualified cult expert witness in 16 states. She had an independent practice in Lakewood, Colorado, where she consulted on hundreds of cases involving cults, undue influence, psychological influences, and related areas.”  Although qualification by a court is not necessary for someone to be considered an expert in their respective field, for the purposes of expert court testimony, a cult expert is a person whose opinion by virtue of  education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as an expert.  Therefore, contrary to Lozada’s ill informed opinion, a cult expert is a professional that has been recognized as such by the courts.

At 4:56, Lozada goes on to read a statement that Dr. Cathleen Mann made on CultNews.com, a website run by cult expert and author of “Cults Inside Out: How People Get In and Can Get Out,” Rick Alan Ross. Rick Alan Ross has also been qualified and accepted as an expert witness within United States Federal Court and also within courts in numerous states.

Why Is This Important?

Victor Lozada’s entire premise for attacking Steve Hassan’s credibility is his contention that a person cannot go to school to become a cult expert. We have already demonstrated how that is grossly incorrect. As Lozada pointed out in his video at 3:45, Steve Hassan lists the WMSCOG as a destructive cult on his website. Rick Alan Ross also has information about the WMSCOG on his website and was interviewed about the WMSCOG by a New York/New Jersey area news outlet here. While cult experts may disagree about each other’s qualifications, analysis and methodologies, all three cult experts mentioned in this article agree that the World Mission Society Church of God is a cult. I have personally witnessed interventions that all three cult experts have done to help WMSCOG members leave the group.

In summary, Victor Lozada’s use of one cult expert’s difference of opinion with another in order to discredit the entire profession in disingenuous at best. If you are a current member reading this, I urge you to do your own research and decide for yourself how much more time, energy and resources you will give to an organization that will stop at nothing to deceive you into staying.