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One smaller point that we want to make about the 4th Watch cult is that they are a church that is literally plagued with gossip. As soon as the preaching stops, the 4th Watch missionary church of Christ becomes the missionary church of gossip, and that is literally what the church is used for by its members, a center for gossip. Persons there love to talk about each other and about others behind their back. Rumors get started and all hell breaks loose.
It might seem like small stuff, but gossip is a very real reason to hate this church. Everybody turns against you, and one bout of gossip starts a chain reaction that puts everybody against each other, a situation that Jesus would not be proud of. There are persons, not necessarily in the 4th Watch, who have been killed over this. So, gossip is nothing to take too lightly.
Now you'd think that a church which claims to be the one true church of Jesus Christ would focus more on his teachings rather than build a church in his name and then use it for scamming others out of money and gossiping about them. Much of the time, the 4th Watch cult members feel like they are all family, but all it takes is for you to find out that one of your friends was telling someone else about all the secrets you told them, and fights break out. We have spoken to a lot of 4th Watchers, and they just can't help but betray their friends.
Now, we don't believe that this is necessarily a direct feature of the cult, as they don't really teach or encourage gossip. We believe that this is just a flaw of the persons who go there. We're not one to stereotype, but we have a lot of Filipino friends and the producers of this project are made largely of Filipinos, and they all say that Filipinos love to gossip. Since the 4th Watch is almost an exclusively Filipino club, it is probable that there is going to be lots of gossip running around.
Still, it doesn't help when fellow cult members are being taught that their lives are meaningless and worthless, and that they are nothing but evil sinners anyway. When taught this, it doesn't really seem to matter how you behave yourself, because you're evil and mean nothing to God anyway. Further more, you have to remember that these persons are taught things like when God murders innocent children, that it's an act of love, that when God commands women to marry their rapists, that this is fair, and that believing in gods, magic, and unicorns is rational.
When taught to believe such ridiculous things, it wouldn't be too far fetched to believe that betraying your friends and gossiping about them is just another act of friendship. And added to all that, it goes to show you just how hypocritical Christians can be. While gossip might not necessarily seem cultic, people do not go to church to hurt people. They go there to learn how to be closer to God. But since that is not what true 4th Watchers go to church for, that does not happen. And shame on the 4th Watch for doing nothing about it.
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