=== Aum Shinrikyo
1. 30% of subway gas attack survivors still suffer from stress

=== Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God
2. Priestess Of Death

=== Issa Massiya
3. Iganga's Massiya 'Prophet' Charged

=== Falun Gong
4. Falungong member kills himself in protest over persecution

=== Zhong Gong
5. Crackdown on Chinese spiritual group leaving thousands jobless: report

=== Scientology
6. Horror trip to Florida

=== Hate Groups / Hate Crimes
7. Hate groups take aim at Lieberman
8. Another Judge Removes Himself From Kidnapping Case Against Supremacist
9. Germans Move To Dump Nazis From Web
10. Germany Blocks Nazi Internet Registration - Reports
11. ACLU probes Ten Commandments display in Nebraska cemetery

=== Islam
12. Al-Ma'unah men charged (HL)
13. Malaysia cult members plead not guilty to treason
14. Querying the Koran
15. Pakistani court gives death penalty to self-proclaimed prophet

=== Paganism / Witchcraft
16. Witches' war with church for kids' souls

=== Other News
17. Colorado infant's death highlights legal dilemma of faith healing
18. Bruderhofs told to present kids
19. Philly Homeowners Accept Buyout (MOVE)
20. Fraud case launched against head of religious sect in Latvia
21. Building will help creativity New Maharishi edifice replaces one
lacking 'spiritual energy'
22. Magnetic 'solution' to crop circle puzzle
23. Q&A: Crop circles
24. Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine Marks 50th Anniversary

=== Death Penalty and other US Human Rights Abuses
25. U.S. Supreme Court rejects emergency appeals in Texas double execution
26. USA: Texas double execution to expose capital justice flaws
27. Retarded man released from jail

=== Noted
28. Traditional Judaism put in the spotlight
29. Spiritual support; Study shows strong religious faith helps substance
abusers regain control of their lives

=== The Nudists Around The Corner
30. 7 Nudists Burned During Fire Walk


=== Aum Shinrikyo

1. 30% of subway gas attack survivors still suffer from stress
Kyodo News Service/Associated Press, Aug. 9, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
TOKYO, Aug. 9 (Kyodo) -- About 30% of the survivors of the 1995 nerve gas attack on the capital's subway system by the AUM Shinrikyo cult still suffer from stress-induced disorders resulting from the incident, a support group for the victims said Wednesday.

Medical examinations conducted on 362 victims between March and April in Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture, just north of Tokyo, showed they suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the group, led by Saburo Abe, a lawyer and bankruptcy administrator of AUM, which now calls itself Aleph.

Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder include sleep disorders, depression and anxiety.
(...)

According to the results of the examinations, 117 victims showed symptoms of the illness.

Among the 117, 13 said they still avoid riding subway trains, and 60% said they suffer from poor vision.
(...)

Twelve people were killed and more than 5,000 others injured in the subway gas attack March 20, 1995.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God

2. Priestess Of Death
Newsweek, International Edition, Aug. 6, 2000
http://www.msnbc.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
August 6 - Shortly after dawn on Friday, March 17, Credonia Mwerinde flagged down a bus leaving her village for the Ugandan capital, Kampala. Boarding the vehicle, she walked slowly down the aisle, closely studying the face of each passenger. They didn't know it, but Mwerinde, 52, had begun the biggest cult murder in modern history, say Ugandan police.

OVER THE PREVIOUS 10 years, the former bar owner, who claimed to speak to the Virgin Mary, had built a cult that made her wealthy and gave her absolute control over thousands of half-starved followers. With a dozen or more accomplices, she appears to have killed as many as 2,200 to 3,000 members of her Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, a group that preached repentance before the end of the world in the year 2000. Most of the victims-half of them children-had been poisoned. Those who had not died quickly and quietly had been garroted and knifed or had their skulls crushed.
(...)

Cult leaders nailed the doors and windows shut; investigators believe that farm manager Robert Kagangura may have set the fire. When it was lit, everybody inside the church perished in a fireball so intense, skulls exploded. By then, police believe, Mwerinde had slipped away. They think she is still alive, probably in neighboring Congo.

No one can be certain. But a NEWSWEEK investigation sheds new light on the tragedy. Dozens of interviews with survivors, former cult members, local officials and Mwerinde's relatives and neighbors shattered much of the received wisdom about the massacre and the woman. Among the findings: the mass murder was reportedly not the first time Mwerinde had killed; she could be violent and vindictive and was possibly mentally unstable; she was obsessed by fire, and a possible motivation for the final murder may have been to squelch a rebellion after the cult's nominal leader died. Other details include how the fire was set and what happened to at least some of her likely accomplices.
(...)

At first, investigators thought Mwerinde and her subordinates were trying to suppress an insurgency. On joining the cult, recruits sold their property and gave the proceeds to the leadership. They did so in the belief that the world would end in the year 2000. When New Year's Day came and went, investigators reasoned, members must have demanded their money back. But interviews cast doubt on that theory. The cult's constitution, written by Mwerinde, said the world would end ''before the completion of the year 2000.'' In March the year still had a long way to go. ''All she said was that there would be no year 2001,'' said Peter Asibihibwe, 17, a cult member who survived because he sneaked out of the compound the morning of the fire to look for sugar cane.
(...)

Why would she have done it? NEWSWEEK's reconstruction of Mwerinde's career suggests that, early on, the woman, eventually called ''The Programmer,'' displayed a violent streak, a fascination with destruction by fire, and a lust for money.
(...)

When the time came for the final massacre, cult members were in no condition to resist. Their daily routine was arduous. They were awakened at 3 o'clock every morning for two hours of prayers; they fasted two days a week and on the other five days were fed next to nothing. When their children-desperate from hunger-were punished for catching and eating insects, they acquiesced. And when they were infested with scabies, they didn't complain. Followers had sworn absolute poverty, chastity and obedience. They slept on the floor, washed with coarse laundry soap and observed strict silence at all times. They were never allowed to speak to their immediate superiors, much less to the 12 supreme leaders of the cult (a management structure based on the 12 Apostles).

Fatigue, hunger and faith led to blind obedience.
(...)

People who knew Mwerinde said greed was the driving force in her life.
(...)

The killings that preceded Mwerinde's disappearance occurred over a period of several months.
(...)

Police believe the chief killers included Kataribabo, Joseph Kapurare, another defrocked Catholic priest, and Kagangura, the farm manager, along with a dozen or more of their subordinates. ''We are looking for the operational cadre, that middle tier of leadership,'' said Naigambi. ''Credonia could say, 'Kill those men,' and they would be killed. They were so brainwashed, they would do everything they were told.''

Mwerinde apparently played off fear of the Devil to persuade her closest aides to commit mass murder, say investigators. Several former cult members described how she fostered a visceral, overpowering fear of demonic intrusion into the cult.
(...)

Another hypothesis suggests that Mwerinde may have been trying to suppress a growing skepticism about her powers and those of the other leaders. Doubt may have grown as the result of Joseph Kibwetere's death. Several survivors said that he had not been seen or heard from in months, and his estranged wife Teresa said that he died of some degenerative disease last October. Although Mwerinde ran things, she had transformed Kibwetere into a kind of Christ figure. He wore a Catholic bishop's robe and ring, and he alone was allowed to ordain young men into the cult's priesthood. ''Credonia used him because of his money and because he was a man,'' Teresa said. Police say his death may have sparked defections that threatened Mwerinde's rule, forcing her to commit mass murder or risk losing her power and her wealth.
(...)

Mwerinde herself is still listed as missing. Detectives are convinced she's still alive.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Issa Massiya

3. Iganga's Massiya 'Prophet' Charged
New Vision (Uganda), Aug. 8, 2000
http://www.allafrica.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Self-styled 'apostle Besweri Kaswabuli heading the Issa Massiya sect in Iganga was yesterday charged with assaulting a former follower causing him bodily harm.

Flanked by over 50 followers, Kaswabuli denied the charges before a grade two magistrate, Mr. James Kaswa.
(...)

The victim, an ex-member of the sect reportedly faced the wrath of the Massiya followers when he returned to the camp to fetch his property but was accused of trespassing.

Tusubira was believed to have leaked the information about operations of the sect leading to police storming the place to investigate and exhume bodies of dead believers.
(...)

Court learnt from the defence lawyer that the passport is deposited with Criminal investigations Department (CID) headquarters Kampala because Kaswabuli faces other serious cases which are being investigated.

The police file shows, Kaswabuli is probed over alleged defilement, rape, and keeping children without parent's consent..
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Falun Gong

4. Falungong member kills himself in protest over persecution
AFP, Aug. 9, 2000
http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
A member of the outlawed Falungong spiritual group has committed suicide to protest the persecution he suffered because of his beliefs, a Hong Kong-based rights group said on Wednesday.

Liu Zengqiang, a 22-year-old student from Weifang city in eastern Shandong province, hanged himself in late July to become the 27th known fatality in China's year-long crackdown on the Falungong movement, according to the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy.

Liu, who had studied Chinese at the Weifang Teacher Training College since 1998, went to Beijing in mid-July to present a petition to the National People's Congress, the nation's highest law-making body.

Instead he was detained by the police and beaten up, receiving injuries to his head, face and neck, the center said. He was subsequently returned to his school and placed under house arrest.

College authorities presented him with an ultimatum: either he renounced his beliefs and signed a document promising not to practice Falungong in the future, or he would be thrown out of school.

To protest the punishment he had received for exercising what he considered his constitutional right to present petitions to his country's lawmakers, Liu hanged himself inside the school compound on July 22, the first anniversary of the government's ban of Falungong.

Before he died, he had written, with his own blood, ''Falun Dafa (Falungong) is good,'' on the shirt he was wearing.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Zhong Gong

5. Crackdown on Chinese spiritual group leaving thousands jobless: report
AFP, Aug. 8, 2000
http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
A crackdown on a spiritual group in China that mirrors the banned Falungong movement has left 100,000 people jobless and 600 in detention without visiting rights, a Hong Kong-based human rights group said Tuesday.

The report by the Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China was published on the 13th anniversary of the founding of Zhonggong, a group that the Chinese government considers as threatening to its monopoly on power as Falungong.

Since authorities began shutting down 3,000 training centers and businesses run by Zhonggong last August, 100,000 people have lost their livelihood, the information center said.

Zhonggong operates a variety of businesses, including job skills training centers, travel agencies and stores that sell health care products.

In addition, 600 leaders of the group arrested months ago have remained in custody without charges, trials or a chance to see their family.

''Many people were arrested without their family knowing. Their families thought they went missing,'' said Tang Qian, the daughter of a Zhonggong instructor who was arrested in Guangzhou last October.
(...)

Zhonggong founder Zhang Hongbao last month asked the United States for political asylum. He fled China in February and took refuge on the American island of Guam in the Pacific.

The crackdown on Zhonggong indicates the Chinese government sees groups that teach ''qigong'' -- a traditional Chinese technique of improving one's health and healing illnesses through breathing exercises and meditation -- as a serious threat.

Falungong and Zhonggong, which the government said had 38 million followers as early as 1990, are two of the largest qigong associations in China.
(...)

But unlike the crackdown on Falungong, the government's method of trying to crush Zhonggong is low key.

It has not openly declared Zhonggong an evil cult or banned it as it did Falungong.

''The government does not want to attack Zhonggong at the same time it is attacking Falungong. That might cause problems,'' said Frank Lu, director of the information center.
(...)

Zhonggong members, however, argued their movement is different from Falungong.

''Zhonggong does not get involved in politics or religion. Zhonggong members do not worship their leader and have never protested. We can't understand why we're being treated like this. Falungong claims they are not political, but their actions tell another story,'' said Tang, a Zhonggong member.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

* About Zhong Gong
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/z02.html
[Story no longer online? Read this]


=== Scientology

6. Horror trip to Florida
Der Spiegel (Germany), Aug. 7, 2000
Translation: CISAR
http://cisar.org/000807a.htm
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Ursula Caberta, Director of the Work Group on Scientology in the Hamburg Interior Agency, had to leave the USA in a hurry. Caberta had wanted to spend a one-week vacation in Florida during which time she met with Scientology opponents Stacy Brooks and Bob Minton and took part in a press conference on the practices of the psycho-concern. Then she unexpectedly left the country one day earlier than planned. The journey to the Sunshine State had turned out to be a horror trip: Caberta had no sooner landed at the airport in Tampa than she was received by Scientologists screaming ''Nazi go home''; she was subsequently followed at every turn. Then German software businessman Hubert Heller, who lives in the USA, sued Caberta for 75,000 dollars in damages. Allegedly a major contract from German company POS Partner Gmbh had slipped through his fingers after the company had presented him with a so-called ''sect filter'' - a ''security statement'' (Caberta) in which the signer asserts that he does not operate according to the ''technology'' of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

The German consul general in Florida urged that she leave: Caberta had had a summons to a deposition by Scientology attorneys shoved under her hotel room door. It said she would have to sit through a five-hour hearing in the business's center in Clearwater.

It had to do with the case of Lisa McPherson, who died under unexplained circumstances in the USA, to which Caberta said she could not make a statement. She left the country in secret ''before anything worse happened.'' Caberta lost her belief in the American legal system. She had never experienced anything like that before. ''One hears about that only in dictatorships.''
[...entire item...]

Note:

Ursula Caberta is head of the Task Force on Scientology of the Hamburg,
Germany, government. She is a constant target of harassment by
Scientologists (who claim to be world's most ethical people...).

Scientologist are known for their harassment of the cult's critics.

One of their favorite methods is to use and abuse the legal system:

:===Begin Quote===
''The purpose of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to win. The
law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is
simply on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is not authorized, will
generally be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible, of
course, ruin him utterly.''
- L. Ron Hubbard, A Manual on the Dissemination of Material, 1955
:===End Quote===

See also: Dead Agenting

For documentation of some of Scientology's actions against Ursula
Caberta, see: http://www.lisatrust.net/Ursula-072200.htm

=== Hate Groups / Hate Crimes

7. Hate groups take aim at Lieberman
USA Today, Aug. 8, 2000
http://www.usatoday.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
WASHINGTON - Almost immediately after it was confirmed that Sen. Joe Lieberman had been selected as Al Gore's running mate, the purveyors of hate began reviving a campaign of their own.

One of the first out of the box, Matt Hale, director of the so-called World Church of the Creator, issued an anti-Semitic screed dripping with ugliness.
(...)

Hale's rhetoric serves as an uncomfortable reminder to the political mainstream: The politics of hate are alive, and that unhappy reality awaits the Gore-Lieberman ticket on the campaign trail.

''There likely will be a growing critical mass that builds on this anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that Jews have somehow corrupted government,'' said Brian Levin, director of the Center on Hate and Extremism. ''Lieberman will be the main target.''

In addition to Hale, the self-described high priest of the Peoria, Ill.-based church, more hate-speak has been traversing the Internet, some attributed to the extreme wings of the white supremacist and militia movements. Another message warned that Gore and Lieberman should take notice of the failed assassination attempt on former president Ronald Reagan.
(...)

Ken Stern, who analyzes anti-Semitic and extremist movements for the New York-based American Jewish Committee, said the increasing rhetoric was a matter of some concern. However, he said, the energy was not strong enough to ''create a new movement of anti-Semites'' or drive some to act on their anger.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


8. Another Judge Removes Himself From Kidnapping Case Against Supremacist
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Aug. 8, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
A second judge has recused himself from the trial of a supremacist pastor who is charged with kidnapping his grandchildren.

Gordon Winrod, the outspoken leader of Our Savior's Church, is scheduled for trial Sept. 8.

Winrod, his daughter Carol and his son Stephen are accused of kidnapping Winrod's six grandchildren.
(...)

Scott stepped down because he was named in some of the writings that Winrod distributes in southwest Missouri and northern Arkansas.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


9. Germans Move To Dump Nazis From Web
The Associated Press, Aug. 8, 2000
http://my.aol.com/news/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
BERLIN (AP) - Germany moved Tuesday to block Nazi slogans as German Web addresses after discovering someone had registered www.heil-hitler.de. But officials worried about rising neo-Nazi violence concede there's little they can do about sites based elsewhere in cyberspace - especially the United States.

The initiative comes as Germans search for ways to combat a wave of neo-Nazi activity, ranging from vandalism at Jewish cemeteries to attacks on minorities that have left three people dead so far this year.

Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin said her office approached Denic, the Frankfurt-based cooperative for issuing Internet addresses in Germany, to remove the Nazi slogan, which is illegal in Germany, and to prevent other such sites from getting online.

``I've looked at the guidelines, and one can pull these things if there's a clear violation of the law,'' Daeubler-Gmelin said on WDR broadcasting.
(...)

``I believe there's absolutely no worry here about having to face charges of censorship either,'' she said, adding that her office would help draw up a list of names to be banned.
(...)

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder interrupted his vacation Monday night to issue a call for using the ``full force of the law'' against right-wing extremists. Opposition lawmakers proposed creating special courts to hold fast-track trials for anyone charged with neo-Nazi crimes.
(...)

According to the Frankfurt newspaper that first reported the site, attempts have been made in recent weeks to register other provocative names such as the German equivalent of ``kill-all-foreigners'' or ``KZ'' - the German initials for concentration camp.

Those sites have been blocked, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported Tuesday.

Strato spokesman Soeren Heinze said whoever ordered the heil-hitler.de domain name may have been reserving it to prevent neo-Nazis from using the address. An anti-fascist group blocked www.nsdap.de - the German initials for the Nazi party - by putting up its own nonsense pages, for example.

A U.S.-registered site, www.heil-hitler.com, brings up a Web page for Namezero.com, a Silicon Valley company that provides free commercial domain names for individuals and small businesses.

German authorities reported in April that far-right extremists were increasingly organizing themselves via the Internet and using it to spread hate material, ``hit lists'' of leftists and other perceived enemies and even bomb-making instructions.

German neo-Nazis now have more than 330 Web sites, compared to about 32 in 1996.

About a third contain content that could be prosecuted in Germany as incitement to racial hatred, but the anonymous authors circumvent the law by posting their sites on Internet service providers outside Germany, mostly in North America.

``Whenever someone posts this Nazi propaganda using foreign providers, our criminal prosecutors become powerless,'' Joachim Jacob, the government commissioner overseeing privacy laws, said in a recent radio interview. ``That's the real problem.''

German Jewish leader Paul Spiegel said the efforts are useless without U.S. involvement.

``Washington cuts off interference by pointing to freedom of opinion,'' he said in this week's Focus newsmagazine. ``That's an area where the European governments must apply pressure.''

On the Net:

The German government's Annual Report of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, http://www.bmi.bund.de/publikationen/vsb1999/vsb1999-e.pdf
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


10. Germany Blocks Nazi Internet Registration - Reports
Newsbytes, Aug. 8, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
The German Embassy in Washington, D.C., would not confirm reports today that German authorities had prevented an Internet user from registering a racist Web site address in Germany's sovereign Internet domain.
(...)

Embassy spokesperson Michael Schmidt-Edinger had no comment on the story except to confirm that the German government has adopted ''strong counter-measures against these right-wing activists.''
(...)

Schmidt-Edinger predicted that the German government would hold a press conference on the action sometime in the coming days.

A spokesperson for the European Union delegation here had no specific comment on the case, but did say that the EU would stand firm against the proliferation of racist propaganda.

''The European Union is a community of values,'' EU Deputy Spokesman Wilfried Schneider said today. ''The philosophy of those values would not allow for an (opinion-based) regime that would hail violence (or) that would be against minorities.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


11. ACLU probes Ten Commandments display in Nebraska cemetery
Associated Press, Aug. 7, 2000
http://www.freedomforum.org/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
HASTINGS, Neb. - City officials and some residents are concerned that a monument featuring the Ten Commandments at a city cemetery could be the next target of the American Civil Liberties Union.
(...)

''I can tell you that we have a number of religious symbols and religious artifacts on the graves of loved ones who lay at rest on our community cemetery,'' Mayor Phil Odum said.

The Nebraska ACLU claims there may be over 50 similar markers around the state and it plans to investigate the situation and take action when the organization considers it necessary.

''We have no beef with the Eagles putting up any kind of monument or marker. Our beef is with cities that have religious displays on public land,'' Nebraska ACLU Executive Director Tim Butz said.

The argument doesn't sit well with resident Deanna Sharp.

''That's where people bury their loved ones. That's a religious factor. Let it be,'' Sharp said.

It's too early to know if a lawsuit will be filed, Odum said.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

Suggested reading (buy it now, before the ACLU tries to ban the book for
its use of the word ''Christmas''):

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

=== Islam

12. Al-Ma'unah men charged (HL)
The New Straits Times (Malaysia), Aug. 9, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
TAIPING, Tues. - The 29 members of the Al-Ma'unah group who were detained in the Bukit Jenalik incident in Sauk last month were charged in the Sessions Court here today with waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

They were charged under Section 121 of the Penal Code which covers acts of treason and carries the death penalty, or life imprisonment, or death on conviction.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


13. Malaysia cult members plead not guilty to treason
Reuters, Aug. 9, 2000
http://my.aol.com/news/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Twenty-nine members of a shadowy Moslem cult pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of attempting to wage war against the country's king.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


14. Querying the Koran
The Guardian (England), Aug. 8, 2000
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
A German academic fears a violent backlash from orthodox Muslims because of his ''blasphemous'' theory that the Koran has been changed and revised. Such a backlash is not to be taken lightly; the Salman Rushdie affair is a solemn reminder of the power of an angry Muslim community. After the author wrote his novel Satanic Verses, which was considered by Muslims to be blasphemous, a fatwa, or religious decree, was pronounced against him in 1989 that left him fearing for his life. Rushdie has only recently reappeared in public after nearly 10 years in hiding.

According to Muslim belief, the Koran is the eternal, unaltered Word of God, which has remained the same for 14 centuries.

But Dr Gerd R Puin, a renowned Islamicist at Saarland University, Germany, says it is not one single work that has survived unchanged through the centuries. It may include stories that were written before the prophet Mohammed began his ministry and which have subsequently been rewritten.

Puin's conclusions have sparked angry reactions from orthodox Muslims. ''They've said I'm not really the scholar to make any remarks on these manuscripts,'' he said.

The semitic philologist, who specialises in Arabic calligraphy and Koranic palaeography, has been studying Sa'na manuscripts, ancient versions of the Koran discovered in Sa'na, the capital of Yemen.

So controversial are his findings that the Yemeni authorities have denied him further access to the manuscripts.

He says they shed new light on the early development of the Koran as a book with a ''textual history'', which contradicts the fundamental Muslim belief that it is the unchanging Word of God.
(...)

Khalidi fears Muslims will not accept Puin's work on the Sa'na manuscripts as having been done with academic objectivity, but see it as a deliberate ''attack on the integrity of the Koranic text''.

The manuscripts, thought to be the oldest surviving copies of the Koran, were discovered in the ancient Great Mosque of Sa'na in 1972, when the building was being restored after heavy rainfall, hidden in the loft in a bundle of old parchment and paper documents. They were nearly thrown away by the builders, but were spotted by Qadhi Isma'il al-Akwa, then president of the Yemeni Antiquities Authority, who saw their importance and sought international assistance to preserve and examine them.
(...)

Until now, there were three ancient copies of the Koran. One copy in the Library of Tashkent in Uzbekistan, and another in the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul, Turkey, date from the eighth century. A copy preserved in the British Library in London, known as the Ma'il manuscript, dates from the late seventh century. But the Sa'na manuscripts are even older. Moreover, the Sa'na manuscripts are written in a script that originates from the Hijaz - the region of Arabia where the prophet Mohammed lived, which makes them not only the oldest to have survived, but one of the earliest copies of the Koran ever.

Puin noticed minor textual variations, unconventional ordering of the chapters (surahs), as well as rare styles of orthography. Then he noticed that the sheets were palimpsests - manuscripts with versions written even earlier that had been washed off or erased.

These findings led Dr Puin to assert that the Koran had undergone a textual evolution. In other words, the copy of the Koran that we have is not the one believed to have been revealed to the prophet.
(...)

Puin also questions another sacred belief that Muslims hold about the Koran, that it was written in the purest Arabic. He has found many words of foreign origin in the text, including the word ''Koran'' itself. Muslim scholars explain the ''Koran'' to mean recitation, but Puin argues that it is actually derived from an Aramaic word, qariyun, meaning a lectionary of scripture portions appointed to be read at divine service. He says the Koran contains most of the biblical stories but in a shorter form and is ''a summary of the Bible to be read in service''.

Orthodox Muslims have always held that the Koran is a scripture in its own right, and never a shortened version of the Bible, even if both texts contain the same prophetic tradition.

Khalidi says he is weary of constant attempts by western Islamicists to analyse the Koran in a parallel way to the Bible. Puin, however, sees the need for a ''scientific text'' of the Koran, and this is what he intends to achieve. He says that Muslims believe that ''the Koran has been worked on a thousand years ago'' and ''is not a topic anymore''.

Not all Muslim reaction to him has been hostile. Salim Abdullah, director of the German Islamic Archives, affiliated to the powerful pan-Islamic Muslim World League, has given him a positive response.

''He asked me if I could give him the permission to publish one of my articles on the Sa'na manuscripts'', said Puin. Warned of the possible controversy it could raise, he replied: ''I am longing for this kind of discussion on this topic.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


15. Pakistani court gives death penalty to self-proclaimed prophet
AP, Aug. 6, 2000
http://www.cnn.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) -- A Pakistani court on Saturday sentenced a 60-year-old man to death for claiming that he was a prophet of God, courts officials said.

Yousuf Kazab, a wealthy merchant, was also fined 200,000 rupees ($3,700).

According to Islam, God's last messenger was the Prophet Mohammed. Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law calls for death penalty for anyone found guilty of insulting Islam.
(...)

Human Rights groups criticize the blasphemy law and say it is being used as a tool of intimidation and revenge against religious minorities.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Paganism / Witchcraft

16. Witches' war with church for kids' souls
The Sunday Herald, Aug. 6, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Christians see it as a battle between good and evil for the souls of Britain's children, while Pagans see it as a war against blinkered and reactionary fundamentalists who want to stamp their authority over the minds of the British people. In reality, it's just a ruckus between a bunch of tree-huggers who like to get nude and frolic around in the woods and some seriously dour members of the religious right.
(...)

Witchcraft has come out of the shadows and is entering British society as a viable alternative lifestyle. The Pagan Federation, an umbrella group which represents druids, shamans, witches and high priestesses, is now receiving up to 1000 calls a week. And with more than 120,000 members, being Pagan hardly consigns practitioners to the wacky /sinister fringes of society.

But Christians don't like it, particularly as their congregations are plummeting. They claim up to 100 teenagers are contacting the Pagan Federation a month and risk being lured into a world of spiritual bankruptcy. However, the federation dismisses the claims, saying that it has a strict policy preventing anybody under the age of 18 joining.
(...)

According to the Pagan Federation, Dennis Wheatley, the author of black magic novels, and the alleged Satanist Aleister Crowley, who scandalised Britain in the 1920s, were partly to blame for the bad press affecting the Pagan revival.

Said Norfolk: ''People think such silly things about us because they believe everything Dennis Wheatley wrote was true and they think we are all like Aleister Crowley, who was really just a libidinous junkie.

''Paganism is a nature-based religion. We venerate life, we have no intention of trying to gain power over others.

''We use rituals just as the Christian church uses prayer. Catholics light candles and we light candles. Christians call to God for help and we call to our gods for help. We, however, have no rigid dogma or hierarchy.

''It would be a lot more beneficial for Christians to just leave us alone so we can get on with our lives. Our central principle is to respect all creatures. The Christian God is supernatural and so are our gods. So what's the difference? How can it be okay to dabble in Christianity but not in Paganism?

''Every time Christians start banging on about how sinister we are, our numbers go up considerably. It's all a bit of an own goal if you ask me.'' Norfolk admitted that in reality much of Paganism was ''very fluffy and New Age, even a bit tree-huggy''.
(...)

Paganism has been accepted as a valid religion by the Church of England, and some British universities have Pagan priests and priestesses working as chaplains. ''I've got to say to people such as Youthwork that they really should grow up,'' says Norfolk. ''Would they feel comfortable making the same comments about Jews or Hindus? They really should remember that we now have the European Convention of Human Rights which protects people against religious discrimination.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Other News

17. Colorado infant's death highlights legal dilemma of faith healing
AP, Aug. 8, 2000
http://www.cnn.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
[Faith Healing]
CLIFTON, Colorado (AP) -- The last breath of infant Billy Ray Reed came much the same as the first -- in his parents' trailer with church members surrounding him.

Without ever seeing a doctor, the 2-day-old boy died July 9 of complications from a hole in his heart.
(...)

Now District Attorney Frank Daniels is struggling with whether to prosecute the Reeds for choosing prayer over doctors to heal their child -- a legal dilemma that has also confounded authorities in other states.
(...)

''The question is, was this child unreasonably placed in this position?'' Daniels said. ''The statute is very gray, very unclear. It makes my decision very difficult.''

The Reeds have repeatedly declined to comment or to name their attorney. ''We believe in the King James version of the Bible,'' Barbara Reed said before the coroner's report was released.
(...)

At least seven children of Colorado members of the Church of the First Born have died since 1982, authorities say. In at least two cases, the parents were convicted.
(...)

Nationwide, similar cases have involved Christian Scientists and the followers of Christ Church and other denominations.

In Pennsylvania, Dennis and Lorie Nixon of the Faith Tabernacle Congregation in Altoona are appealing their involuntary-manslaughter convictions in the death of their 16-year-old daughter, who had diabetes. Doctors said she would have lived with insulin; her family prayed over her bed, read from the Bible and coated her body with oil.

Every Wednesday and Sunday, First Born members in Mesa County, 250 miles west of Denver, roll past a peach orchard into the gravel lot outside their simple, white church with a jungle gym outside.

About 50 worshippers of all ages languidly push out harmonized hymns a cappella. There is no program, no minister, no stained glass, no altar, no listed telephone number for the church.

Members trace the church's roots to at least 1702, although J. Gordon Melton, director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, Calif., says the larger Church of the First Born probably began in the late 19th century.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


18. Bruderhofs told to present kids
Times Union (Albany, NY), Aug. 5, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
KINGSTON -- An Ulster County Family Court judge demanded that members of a religious community compel four children and their mothers to appear in court in a three-year custody battle.

Judge Mary Work sternly ordered the three women and four children to appear in court Friday or risk arrest warrants. The legal action is being taken by the children's fathers, who said they were evicted from the Bruderhof religious group three years ago.
(...)

''I am absolutely outraged that there is a Christian organization that prevents fathers from visiting their children,'' said Gilda Riccardi, the court-appointed legal guardian for three of the four children.

''I think they are under the control of the elders in the Bruderhof,'' she told the Middletown Times Herald-Record.

The three fathers -- all of whom are from Nigeria -- testified that they were evicted from the community three years ago and have since been denied visits with their wives and children.
(...)

Bruderhofs focus on Christ's spirit and teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. They believe in community living, don't own private property and share everything like early Christians.

There are Bruderhof communities in Catskill in Greene County, Walden in Orange County, Rifton and Ulster Park in Ulster County, Farmington, Pa., England and Australia.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


19. Philly Homeowners Accept Buyout
AP, Aug. 8, 2000
http://my.aol.com/news/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Residents who lost their homes in the 1985 police bombing that wiped out an entire city block are being forced to leave their rebuilt homes for good because of shoddy construction that has cost the city millions of dollars.

Most of the 61 homeowners have reluctantly decided to accept Mayor John F. Street's offer of $150,000 to relocate, closing one of the sorriest chapters in Philadelphia history. The city plans to demolish the homes.

Most residents in the close community say they want to stay, but the city is leaving them no choice. Those who refuse Street's one-time offer will be evicted next month and receive fair-market value for their homes - about $70,000, officials said.
(...)

The problems started in the 1980s when residents started complaining about the radical cult MOVE in the neighborhood. They said members - who adopted the surname Africa, ate raw food and espoused equality with animals - shouted from bullhorns late into the night, were confrontational and unsanitary and jogged on people's roofs.

When police tried to serve warrants on May 14, 1985, MOVE opened fire. In response, a police helicopter dropped explosives on a bunker atop the MOVE house, igniting a fire that destroyed 61 homes and killed 11 people in the MOVE house.

The homes were rebuilt quickly, but problems soon cropped up. Cracking bricks, deteriorating siding, overflowing toilets, leaky roofs and faulty wiring had the city constantly paying for repairs. This summer, inspectors found the heating systems discharging hazardous levels of carbon monoxide.

The original developer was convicted of stealing from the project and served prison time.
(...)

Wilson, 52, signed the buyout offer but ripped it up two days later. Her children are grown and she plans to stay until she's carried out.

``It's a horrible time when a government does this to its people,'' she said. ``If this is happening to us, it can happen to anybody.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


20. Fraud case launched against head of religious sect in Latvia
BBC Monitoring/Latvian television, Aug. 9, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Text of report by Latvian television on 9th August
[Presenter] The police in Bauska district [central Latvia] have today arrested the leader of the evangelical Christian sect `Jesus is Lord in Latvia'. The police had received several submissions from members alleging fraud involving property, money and even land- holdings. Two submissions from members alleged sexual abuse. The leader of the sect denies his guilt. Meanwhile the police have started criminal proceedings about the incidents. More from our reporter Sandijs Semjonovs:

[Correspondent] The evangelical Christian community `Jesus is Lord in Latvia' started operating in Bauska two years ago. Just last year, on the fifth attempt, it was officially registered.
(...)

[Correspondent] The police's attitude to the community is cautious also because nothing had ever been heard in Bauska about it until the complaints were made. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there are 77 so-called new religious movements in Latvia, which include several sects among the many communities.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


21. Building will help creativity New Maharishi edifice replaces one lacking `spiritual energy'
The Des Moines Register, Aug. 5, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Fairfield, Ia. - A historic building that was torn down because it lacked ''spiritual energy'' will be replaced with one that ''promotes better health, relationships and good fortune'' on the Maharishi University of Management campus.

School officials razed Parsons Hall in May because its entrance faced south, rather than east in accordance with the principles of Maharishi Sthapatya Veda design.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


22. Magnetic 'solution' to crop circle puzzle
BBC, Aug. 9, 2000
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Research into the appearance of crop circles in summer fields claims the strange phenomena are caused by the Earth's magnetic field.

Scientist Colin Andrews says 17 years of work has revealed that about 80% of the formations are man-made.

But he believes that magnetism may account for the rest, which display a simplicity of form compared with elaborate, beautiful patterns of the ''hoaxes''.

Dr Andrews believes a mysterious shift in the magnetic field gives rise to a current that ''electrocutes'' the crops forcing them to lie flat on the ground.
(...)

Explanations have ranged from freak weather conditions to alien visitors. But Dr Andrews, funded by a grant from the Rockerfeller Institute in the US, believes he is closer to the truth.
(...)

Self-proclaimed hoaxer John Lundberg said no-one would ever believe a scientific explanation for crop circles because people want to believe it is something more mysterious. ''The public don't want it explained,'' he said.

Most mainstream scientists believe the only explanation for crop circles lies in the footboards of hoaxers.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


23. Q&A: Crop circles
BBC, Aug. 9, 2000
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
(...) Crop circle researchers and enthusiasts will gather in Hampshire at the weekend for their annual conference, including scientist Colin Andrews, who came up with the latest theory after a 17-year study.

George Bishop, of the Centre for Crop Circles Studies and a conference organiser, expounds on the phenomenon.

What is the latest theory?
About 20% of the crop circles are caused by eddies in the earth's magnetic field - the rest are man-made. Dr Andrews thinks a mysterious shift in the electro-magnetic field creates a current that flattens the crops in its path.

Is it plausible?
''Yes - it's a nice rounded theory,'' says Mr Bishop. Like Dr Andrews, he says all but the simplest circles are hoaxes.

The theory could explain why in some circles, microphones and recording equipment hit interference, he says. Some years ago, a BBC crew had difficulty recording in a circle.
(...)

But he does not think the new theory is the final word: ''It doesn't explain why often the nodes of the plants have swollen up to 200 times the original size.''
(...)

Are they only in the UK?
No, the circles crop up around the world - in grass as well as grain fields.

When do the circles date from?
One of the earliest reports was in Lyon in 815AD, and a late 16th Century woodcut depicts the devil mowing a field into patterns.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


24. Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine Marks 50th Anniversary
Internet Wire, Aug. 8, 2000 (Press Release)
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/pages/newsreal/Story.nsp?story_id=12692013&ID=newsreal&scategory=AP+Top+Headlines
[Story no longer online? Read this]
On August 20, 2000, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) will mark the 50th anniversary of its Lake Shrine and Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Memorial. Thousands of people from all over the world are drawn by the beauty and serenity of this 10-acre spiritual sanctuary, located near where Sunset Boulevard meets the ocean in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Many also stop to pay homage at the first memorial in the world erected in Mahatma Gandhi's honor, housing the only known remaining repository of a portion of his ashes.

The Lake Shrine was dedicated on August 20, 1950 by Paramahansa Yogananda, founder of Self-Realization Fellowship. ''There must be world brotherhood if we are to be able to practice the true art of living,'' Yogananda said during the opening ceremony. ''This shrine has been created for all religions, that all may feel the unity of a common faith.'' A Court of Religions honors each of the world's five principal religions: Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism. Statues depicting spiritual figures from both East and West are positioned throughout the grounds: St. Francis; Kwan Yin, the Chinese Goddess of Mercy; a meditating Jain deity; Bhagavan Krishna; and Madonna and child. Lush gardens present a wide palette of plants native to six continents, again reflecting the central theme of religious tolerance and harmony.

Called the ''father of Yoga in the West'' by Yoga International, Yogananda was one of the first spiritual teachers from India to live and work in America for an extended period of time -- from the time of his arrival in 1920 until his passing in 1952. Through his teachings, including his best-seller, Autobiography of a Yogi, he has introduced millions of Westerners to India's ancient science of yoga meditation.
(...)

Self-Realization Fellowship has temples, retreats, and close to 500 meditation centers in 54 countries around the world. It was founded by Paramahansa Yogananda when he came to the United States as a delegate to the International Congress of Religious Liberals in Boston in 1920. Five years later, a transcontinental speaking tour brought him to Los Angeles, where he established the headquarters for his worldwide spiritual and humanitarian work. Interest in his teachings has grown steadily over the years, with readers of his numerous books on yoga meditation and the spiritual wisdom of the East numbering in the millions.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Death Penalty and other US Human Rights Abuses

25. U.S. Supreme Court rejects emergency appeals in Texas double execution
CNN, Aug. 9, 2000
http://www.cnn.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a pair of emergency appeals attempting to block Wednesday night's scheduled executions of two Texas inmates, including one who may be mentally retarded.
(...)

The scheduled executions of Roberson and Cruz have not attracted as much attention as the June execution of Gary Graham, who insisted he was innocent until his death. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the prison to protest Graham's execution and focus attention to Bush's support for the death penalty.

Cruz has received support from the American Bar Association, European Union and government officials in France and Sweden urging Bush to block Cruz's execution because of his mental retardation.
(...)

Texas is one of 25 states that allow the execution of retarded killers, while 13 other states have prohibited the practice. A bill outlawing the execution of someone whose IQ is below 65 stalled in the Texas Legislature this year, but may be reintroduced in the 2001 session.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

The publisher of RNR is a member of Amnesty International, and believes
capital punishment is murder - especially so within America's flawed
justice system.

26. USA: Texas double execution to expose capital justice flaws
Amnesty International, Aug. 8, 2000 (Press Release)
http://www.amnesty.org/news/2000/25112200.htm
[Story no longer online? Read this]
International standards of justice and decency continue to be ignored in
the US capital of judicial killing, Amnesty International warned today,
as Texas prepares to kill the first two of six prisoners it has lined up
for execution in August.

''The cases of Brian Roberson and Oliver Cruz, facing lethal injection
within one hour of each other on the evening of 9 August, are textbook
examples of the arbitrary and often discriminatory application of
capital punishment in the USA,'' Amnesty International said.

''As the world increasingly turns its back on this cruel, outdated and
irrevocable punishment, the international community must now redouble
its protests at the injustice inherent in the US capital justice
system.''
(...)

''In 1972 the US Supreme Court temporarily halted the death penalty
because of its arbitrary application,'' Amnesty International said.
''State and federal politicians must find the courage to overcome the
politics of this brutalizing punishment and offer human rights
leadership. The US conveyor belt of death must be halted.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


27. Retarded man released from jail
Dallas Morning News, Aug. 8, 2000
http://dallasnews.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
A retarded man who'd been locked up since taking a neighbor's toys last summer went free Monday evening, capping a case that some say highlights flaws in Texas' court-appointed lawyer system.

Felipe Rodriguez spent much of the last 13 months with no assistance from defense counsel - not when he signed confessions that he could not read, not for several weeks after being jailed and not for several months after a jury found him incompetent to stand trial.

Dismissal of the burglary and two unrelated arson counts came after an advocacy group for disabled people threatened to intervene in the case, brought to light last month in The Dallas Morning News.

Swisher County District Attorney Terry McEachern said he dropped charges ''in the interest of justice.'' He acted, he said, after a mental health caseworker wrote a letter Monday assuring him that Mr. Rodriguez was not a threat to society, could safely live in his Panhandle hometown of Tulia and could get outpatient treatment there.

A state-appointed panel of mental health experts reached the same conclusion in February, but neither the prosecutor nor court-appointed defense attorney D'Layne Peeples moved to resolve matters until recent days.

''This case has not dragged out,'' Mr. McEachern said. ''Lots of cases go longer than this.''
(...)

Some experts say the case highlights problems with the system for providing defense attorneys to poor people in Texas. The state provides no funding and has no minimum standards for assuring their constitutionally guaranteed right to counsel.

Defendants - especially in rural counties - sometimes spend several weeks in jail waiting for an attorney to be appointed; the national norm is three days. Gov. George W. Bush vetoed a bill last year that would have required that defendants who did not get a court-appointed attorney within 20 days be released, saying the measure would endanger public safety.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Noted

28. Traditional Judaism put in the spotlight
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Aug. 8, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
It was Joseph Lieberman's first Friday evening as a U.S. senator, and he was confronting the impact of being an Orthodox Jew in such a secular setting.

As the Senate worked into that evening in January 1989, Lieberman decided to stay around, even though his religious beliefs curtailed what he could do on the Jewish Sabbath, which runs from just before sundown Friday to after sundown Saturday.

An Orthodox Jew generally avoids traveling on the Sabbath, other than by foot, so Lieberman decided he would sleep that night on a cot in the Senate gym.

But one of his colleagues stepped in and offered him a place to stay in his nearby apartment. The colleague knew enough to set the lights on or off to fit Lieberman's needs because working electric switches is not permitted on the Sabbath.

''I may have had one of the most distinguished Shabbos goys in history,'' Lieberman has said in retelling the anecdote. The term refers to a non-Jew who does things that an observant Jew doesn't do on the Sabbath, or Shabbos.

The person to whom he was referring was Al Gore, then a senator from Tennessee.

Gore's selection Monday of Lieberman, 58, as his vice presidential running mate means not only that a Jew will be on a national ticket for the first time, but also that traditional Jewish religious practices will be of national relevance in an unprecedented way, given Lieberman's specific religious practices.
(...)

The term Orthodox Judaism covers an array of practices and attitudes, ranging from very insular groups that separate themselves from much of the rest of society and dress distinctively, to ''modern Orthodox'' people such as Lieberman, who are engaged in secular work and whose dress is conventionally American.

But all stripes of Orthodoxy agree on central tenets, such as observing the traditional rules of the Sabbath and accepting that God gave Moses and the Jewish people the Torah, including the Ten Commandments and a wide array of religious law, at Mount Sinai.
(...)

DIFFERENCES

JUDAISM
Some of the differences among the three major movements of Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative and Reform

ORTHODOX: Generally entails a traditional level of observance of Jewish laws, including the Sabbath, eating a kosher diet and praying three times a day. Men and women sit apart in synagogue. Hebrew is heavily used.

CONSERVATIVE: The level of observance tends to vary from synagogue to synagogue, but in general, Hebrew and English are both used. The movement generally advocates observance of the Sabbath and the laws of keeping kosher. Men and women sit together in synagogue, and there has been a strong movement toward equality in religious practice.

REFORM: Considered the most liberal. Women have religious equality. Historically, the reform movement has tended to adhere less strictly to the observances but retains much of the values and ethics of Judaism.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


29. Spiritual support; Study shows strong religious faith helps substance abusers regain control of their lives
Boston Herald, Aug. 8, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
(...) A new study, presented yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, underscores the belief/health connection by finding a positive correlation between faith in a higher power and recovery from substance abuse. And this, researchers say, creates a powerful incentive for breaking down the wall between psychological help and spirituality.

Religion and/or a sense of spirituality were associated with success in kicking drugs and alcohol, more optimism about life, greater resistance to stress and lower levels of anxiety, according to a survey conducted by Thomas G. Plante, a psychologist at Santa Clara University, and graduate student Dustin Pardini.

Previous studies have linked religious belief with better outcomes for chronic disease and depression, and even longer life for cancer and heart patients. Thus, researchers said, the new study has implications for the long-term treatment of substance abusers. Because addicts suffer from chronic relapses and might even experience a change in brain chemistry, addiction ''is something they're going to have to cope with for a long time,'' Pardini said.
(...)

The study subjects were primarily Protestant, Catholic or self- described ''Christians''; no Jews or Muslims were identified. Seventy- four percent said they were members of a major denomination.
(...)

Higher religious faith and spirituality was associated with increased coping, greater resilience to stress and lower anxiety. Catholics were more resistant to stress than Protestants; Protestants reported less anxiety.

Further research is required to determine which factors - prayer, meditation, social support or others - have an impact, Pardini said.

Certainly, many religious groups and New Age cults claim particular health benefits for their beliefs, Plante said, adding, ''There's a lot of people out there spouting out this stuff without data.''

He is, however, convinced scientific research can be used to measure the effect of belief.
(...)

Plante and Pardini's work was mirrored by other researchers presenting papers at the APA. Kathryn Wasik of Northern Arizona University did a survey of health and belief among 714 faculty members and students; she found that poor health was associated with an increased belief in chance and decreased attendance at religious services. A. Sandra Willis, of Samford University in Alabama, correlated tobacco use with religious practice among 286 undergraduates; she found older adolescents and young adults who use religion as a resource for coping were less likely to begin smoking. Protestants were more likely to attempt to quit smoking than agnostics or Catholics.

The researchers have some cautions: Pardini warned against interpreting results to mean that faith alone can be used to treat addiction. ''This is only a small piece of a larger issue,'' he said.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== The Nudists Around The Corner

30. 7 Nudists Burned During Fire Walk
Los Angeles Times, Aug. 9, 2000
http://www.calendarlive.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Their feet were bare--it was, after all, the annual convention of a North American nudist organization. But the fire walking didn't go quite as planned.

Seven people are recovering from burns suffered when they marched across hot coals as part of a weekend fund-raising event for the American Assn. for Nude Recreation in eastern San Diego County.
(...)

Normally, the only burns members have to worry about are sunburns.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]