=== Qigong
1. China Tightens Exercise Sect Rules

=== Falun Gong
2. Petition to release researcher started

=== Zhong Gong
3. Beijing Lists Charges Against Sect Leader Who Fled to Guam

=== Scientology

4. Scientology Church files criminal charges against Ursula Caberta
and Bob Minton
5. Sect Commissioner Gandow considers legal steps against Scientology

=== Buddhism
6. Buddhism's appeal on the rise
7. China says Tibet's Panchen Lama lives with family, attending school

=== Islam
8. Sharia sentence for pregnant teenager
9. Muslim Women Alter Their Fashion

=== Catholicism
10. Nolan to review Catholic rules on child abuse

=== Mormonism
11. Church scholars unite to explore a common faith

=== Attleboro Cult
12. ACLU joins sect case

13. Jailing of Pregnant Woman Could Change How Courts Deal With
Religion, Abortion

=== Word of Faith Fellowship
14. Mom can keep kids in church enclave

=== Hate Groups: Aryan Nations
15. Butler writes his own appeal
16. Aryans get permission to have parade

=== Hate Groups: Neo-Nazi
17. Germany Bans Rightist Group for Neo-Nazi Propaganda
18. Austria's Haider: Sanctions a 'Flop'

=== Religious Freedom / Religious Intolerance
19. Federal appeals court refuses to block Virginia's minute of silence law

=== Science, sort of
20. After 25 Years, Martian 'Face' Still Raises Questions

=== Hoaxes / Urban Legends
21. FCC inquiry likely over GOP ad
22. Subliminal advertising has a firm grasp on the public's consciousness
23. In the Back of My Mind . . .

=== Noted
24. Voodoo seduction
25. The battle over bio-terror
26. Christian unity an elusive dream

=== Books
27. Atwood classic among list of books American parents want banned


=== Qigong

1. China Tightens Exercise Sect Rules
Excite/AP, Sep. 15, 2000
http://news.excite.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
BEIJING (AP) - Seeking to stifle meditation sects similar to the banned Falun Gong, China published rules Friday prohibiting exercise groups from preaching religion and strictly limited their size and activities.

Teachers of the traditional Chinese exercise qigong must register and be certified by sports officials, according to a copy of the rules that appeared in the state-owned China Sports Daily.

Groups have to be small, dispersed and locally organized, the rules say. Activities with more than 200 participants require police permission.

The rules come amid a 13-month-old crackdown on the multimillion-member Falun Gong, which draws on Buddhism, Taoism and qigong and uses meditative exercises. The government has rounded up its leaders and winnowed the group's numbers but failed to break its organization.

A commentary published with the rules accused ''unwholesome elements'' of seizing on the rising popularity of qigong to carry out fraud, spread superstition and endangered society.

''These problems have seriously affected the normal conduct of healthful qigong activities, harming the interests of the masses,'' said the preamble of the ''Healthful Qigong Management Regulations.''

In the most pointed reference to Falun Gong, the rules prohibit qigong groups from spreading ''ignorant superstition'' or the ''deification of individuals.'' Also banned are Buddhist worship practices associated with the banned group and others like it.

Distribution of unlicensed publications, recordings and computer materials are forbidden, along with the sale of trinkets that purport to bestow divine consciousness or supernatural powers.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Falun Gong

2. Petition to release researcher started
The Birmingham News, Sep. 14, 2000
http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Supporters of UAB AIDs researcher Shean Lin have mounted a petition drive to persuade Chinese authorities to allow Lin and his wife to return from China to the United States.

Lin, a 30-year-old Ph.D. candidate in microbiology, and his wife, Xiaohua Du, a 28-year-old engineer, were temporarily detained by Chinese authorities last Friday after officials found Falun Gong materials in their possession. Falun Gong is a spiritual practice banned in China.

When they were detained, Lin and Xiaohua Du had just flown to Fuzhou, in southern China, to be with Lin's dying father.
(...)

In Birmingham, friends and colleagues of Lin, who is a lab researcher for UAB's Center of AIDs Research, have started circulating petitions that they plan to send to the Chinese Embassy, to Alabama Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions and to U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, whose 6th District includes much of Jefferson County. In Baltimore, Zhou said he has contacted his congressman, Republican Roscoe Bartlett.

''If we can get help from these VIPs, we probably can get Shean back because the Chinese government will feel pressure,'' said Mike Chen, a Ph.D. student in chemistry at UAB and a Falun Gong practitioner.

Lin has been in the United States about seven years. His wife, an engineer whom he married in February, works for Siemens Corp. in Atlanta.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Zhong Gong

3. Beijing Lists Charges Against Sect Leader Who Fled to Guam
New York Times, Sep. 15, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
BEIJING, Sept. 14 - Chinese officials released details today surrounding the rape charges that have been filed here against the leader of a besieged healing sect who sneaked into American territory in January and is seeking political asylum in the United States.

The asylum request, by Zhang Hongbao, founder of a large spiritual movement called Zhong Gong, has posed a difficult choice for the American immigration service: The United States wants to foster the mutual extradition of criminals with China, and failure to turn over Mr. Zhang - who arrived in Guam with a fake Chinese passport - would be deeply resented by Beijing.

But Mr. Zhang insists he is a victim of political persecution and American officials know that given Beijing's campaign to crush his organization, he is extremely unlikely to receive a fair trial. They also know that charges of rape or other criminal activities have sometimes been trumped up by Chinese authorities to silence dissidents.

Mr. Zhang, 46, is in detention in Guam, awaiting an immigration decision this month.

Today, in an apparent effort to bolster their case, officials here took the unusual step of providing copies to a small number of foreign journalists of what they said were statements by rape victims, the victims' photographs (with eyes blacked out), arrest warrants and other documents. These were a portion of the evidence given to the United States government, a Chinese official said.

The materials were provided on condition that the supposed victims not be fully identified, and that the office be concealed.

''We want to repatriate Zhang Hongbao because he broke the law, not because of his work with Zhong Gong,'' said the official.

The crackdown on Zhong Gong and other independently organized ''qigong'' societies, devoted to the cultivation of cosmic energies to enhance physical and moral well-being, started last year after one group, Falun Gong, held illegal demonstrations and was outlawed as an ''evil cult.''

The closing in recent months of hundreds of Zhong Gong businesses and the arrest of several leaders, the official insisted, were because of tax fraud and other illegal business activities.

Zhong Gong - its full name translates as China Health Care and Wisdom Enhancement Practice - is one of the largest of many groups that arose in the last two decades using traditional concepts of qi (energy) in gong (ritual exercises) to promote health and enlightenment. Its Web site is www.ZGZG.net.

Mr. Zhang founded Zhong Gong in 1988, four years before the start of Falun Gong, and by the early 1990's it claimed tens of millions of followers. Mr. Zhang set himself up as the ''master'' and made extravagant claims that his followers could attain supernatural powers.

As his organization and related businesses grew - outside the control of the Communist Party - it clashed with local authorities.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Scientology

4. Scientology Church files criminal charges against Ursula Caberta and Bob Minton
for Soliciting and Accepting Favors*, Bribery and Money-Laundering
http://cisar.org/000914b.htm
[Story no longer online? Read this]
As posted to alt.religion.scientology

Hamburg, Germany
September 14, 2000
alt.religion.scientology
From: kontakt at menschenrechtsbuero.de
Newsgroups: de.soc.weltanschauung.scientology,
alt.religion.scientology
Subject: FWD:Korruptionsskandal in Hamburg
Date: 14 Sep 2000
Message-ID: <39C09604.109A70D6@menschenrechtsbuero.de>

From a special edition of ''Freiheit'' available at
www.menschenrechtsbuero.de/freiheit.htm [Buyer beware: this links leads to a publication of the Scientology organization.]
Scientology Church files criminal charges against Ursula Caberta and Bob Minton
for Soliciting and Accepting Favors*, Bribery and Money-Laundering
*[Vorteilsnahme/Vorteilsgewaehrung]

Hamburg. This morning the Scientology Church filed criminal charges at the Hamburg State Attorney's Office against Ursula Caberta for suspicion of taking favors, accepting a bribe and money-laundering, as well as Robert Minton for suspicion of soliciting favors and bribery.

In the past weeks, Ursula Caberta, the Director of the Work Group on Scientology, a tenant of the Hamburg Interior Agency, has repeatedly complained in public that, on the occasion of her visit to Florida, she had bad experiences with U.S. Justice and ''had lost her belief in the constitutionality in the USA.'' She said the German Consul in Miami stated that he could no longer guarantee her safety and that she had left the country prematurely. As Caberta put it, it was inconceivable how one treated tourists in the USA.

That was not even half of the truth. Caberta had traveled to the USA to demonstrate, with a sign in her hand, before the Scientology Center in Clearwater, Florida, and to speak as the star guest of a press conference staged by Minton. A U.S. Civil Court judge ordered that she be deposed in the scope of a civil trial. Although Caberta wanted to use all means available to prevent the hearing and persistently avoided the questions, she finally had to meekly admit: Yes, I have accepted private money from Bob Minton, he gave be a loan.

Caberta's deposition was broken off after a good five hours and was supposed to have continued the following Friday. Caberta preferred to leave the USA prematurely, thereby escaping further testimony through flight. This left speculation as to what else she might have had to hide.

The connection between Caberta and Minton is not at all of a private nature. To almost all questions about details of this connection, Caberta refused to answer with the reason that it had to do with official matters and that she was not in possession of a permit to make a statement.

In view of the close official connection between Caberta and Minton, the Scientology Church sees a connection between money being used and official business. Therefore, criminal charges were placed against Caberta for suspicion of accepting favors/a bribe, and against Minton for suspicion of offering favors and bribery. Because Minton did not obtain his fortune in an honorable fashion, further charges were placed against Caberta for suspicion of frivolous money-laundering.

The process of the U.S. Justice agencies against Caberta presumably holds water. Basically Caberta was only upset that politicians and government office-holders in the USA are not treated with kid gloves like they are here at home. It would be highly desirable for the German court to diligently apply the appropriate laws without regard for the person when it comes to discovering corruption and misuse of office in our state presence. Therefore Caberta was entirely correct when she asserted, ''In Germany this would not have been possible.''

For more information:
Sabine Weber/Georg Stoffel, [telephone number given, see www.menschenrechtsbuero.de/freiheit.htm] [Buyer beware: this links leads to a publication of the Scientology organization.]

[...entire message...]

* Though it claims to promote ethical behavior, the Church of Scientology
increasingly behaves like a hate group. It's harassment practices are
well-documented

Scientology's hate actions against Ursula Caberta are also well-documented

About Ursula Caberta, a frequent target of Scientology hate campaigns

About Bob Minton, who is repeatedly lied about by Scientologists

About the Lisa McPherson Trust

Scientology's attacks against these people and organizations
should be seen in light of its attacks at the real cult awareness
network, which, after its takeover, has been turned into a hate group

The German government's view of Scientology

Consumer Alert: Scientology

5. Sect Commissioner Gandow considers legal steps against Scientology
Die Welt (Germany), Sep. 14, 2000
Translation: CISAR
http://cisar.org/000914a.htm
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Thomas Gandow, the sect commissioner of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg, is considering legal steps against the Scientology Organization. Glossy brochures from the Scientologists were distributed in the daily mail in Zehlendorf on the 18th of August, his birthday, of all days. In those brochures, Gandow was defamed as a ''Chief Inquisitor'' and ''Anti-Sect Commissioner.''

Despite the slanderous statements though, Thomas Gandow will not be intimidated: ''I regard Scientology as a menace comparable to the Nazi movement when it was on the rise. Both had to be stopped.'' Scientology has reacted to Gandow's information work with a defamation campaign via mass mailings: at the end of August, Steglitz residents found the same Scientology brochures in their mail boxes. At the same time, Scientology Germany, with its offices in Munich, has also demanded the clergyman be dismissed in a letter to State Bishop Wolfgang Huber.

The cause of the smear operation was the bestowal in June of the first ''Alternative Charlemagne Award'' by the ''European-American Citizens Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the USA,'' of which Gandow, as a private person, is a member. The award was granted to U.S. American Robert Minton, a man who has publicly taken action against Scientology.

Scientology in the USA has been keeping its eye on the critic Minton for a long time, said Gandow, ''They avoid factual discussion, the only thing they're worried about is putting people out of the picture.'' Minton supports the family of a former Scientologist in the USA, Lisa McPherson. ''She was tormented for 17 days after she tried to leave and died as a result,'' said Thomas Gandow, who will be holding a service on Sunday in the Luisen Church in Charlottenburg for Lisa McPherson. Scientology denies any responsibility for Lisa McPherson's death. ''She died in a car accident,'' said the spokeswoman of Scientology in Germany, Sabine Weber. She did go on to verify, however, that former members, ''in exceptional cases, are not always dealt with lightly.''

The Evangelical Church stands behind Gandow; as its spokesman stated, ''Information about groups which appear making religious claim, but which in practice apply methods which exploit human rights, is an indispensable component of church work.''
[...entire item...]


=== Buddhism

6. Buddhism's appeal on the rise
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Sep. 11, 2000
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/l
[Story no longer online? Read this]
(...) McCloskey, a practicing Protestant, is one of a growing number of Westerners developing an interest in Buddhism. He considers it a ''spiritual technology'' that helps him become more focused and peaceful.

Hard numbers reflecting the growth are difficult to come by, but local Buddhists point to a number of new temples. Although many temples don't register members, they do track contributors. At the Sakya Monastery in Greenwood, the number of regular contributors has risen to 80 from its founding group of five in 1974.

There are no official records of the number of Buddhists in America. Bryce Montgomery, a staffer of Northwest Dharma News journal, nonetheless estimated that the number of the meditation centers -- temples and other gathering places -- in the Northwest has quadrupled in the past seven years. The journal lists about 150 Buddhist meditation centers in the region that includes Seattle, Portland, Idaho and British Columbia.

In addition to Western converts, an increasing number of Asian immigrants also have fueled the growth.

Today, there are four Tibetan, two Lao, two Thai and four Vietnamese temples in the Seattle area. Twenty-five years ago, no Vietnamese, Thai or Lao temples existed. The first Tibetan Buddhist temple opened here in 1974. The first Japanese temple has been around for almost 100 years, founded by early Japanese immigrants.
(...)

Increasing numbers of people are turning to religion as they grow dissatisfied with their lives, said Charles Keyes, professor of anthropology and international studies at University of Washington.

Keyes said people find it easier to access Buddhism. People can join Buddhist services or visit the temples, in some cases without feeling that they have to give up their religion. Some have become practicing Buddhists while others lose interest after a couple of visits.

Buddha taught that 'all things are transitory,'' and many people find that comforting, Keyes said. The teaching helps them realise that loss is nothing to fear because it is a part of the process, he said.

Younger generations of immigrants who gave up their religion are rediscovering Buddhism, coming back to spend their weekends attending services.

At Seattle Buddhist Church, a Japanese Buddhist temple, the number attending weekend services has grown from about 250 to more than 300 in the past two years.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


7. China says Tibet's Panchen Lama lives with family, attending school
Yahoo/AFP, Sep. 14, 2000
http://sg.dailynews.yahoo.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
A boy picked by the Dalai Lama to be the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism -- and previously reported under Chinese house arrest -- is now attending elementary school and lives peacefully with his family, Chinese state media said on Thursday.

The boy, Gedhun Choeki Nyima, and his family had been provided with a ''quiet living environment that enables them to avoid outside interference,'' the Xinhua news agency said, citing Raidi, deputy secretary of the Communist party's committee in the Tibetan region.
(...)

The Dalai Lama in 1995 chose Nyima, then six-years old, as the reincarnation of the former Panchen Lama, who had died in 1989.

This caused the Chinese police to promptly place the boy under house arrest, according to reports.

Since then, his whereabouts have been kept secret, and Chinese authorities have only given sparse information about his condition.

One reason why the Panchen Lama is so crucial in Tibetan religion -- and in Chinese-Tibetan relations -- is the fact that he is charged with selecting the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.

In Thursday's report, Raidi blasted the Dalai Lama's nomination of the boy as a violation of historical and religious rules, and an act with no legal basis.
(...)

In response to the Dalai Lama's decision to choose Nyima, the Chinese authorities have picked a rival Panchen Lama, slammed by exiled Tibetans as an ''impostor.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Islam

8. Sharia sentence for pregnant teenager
BBC, Sep. 14, 2000
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
A pregnant 17-year-old girl has been sentenced to 180 lashes by an Islamic court in the northern Nigerian state of Zamfara.

Since Nigeria returned to civilian rule last year, eight northern states have introduced Islamic law, known as Sharia.

Zamfara was the first state to do so in January, and has been the most active in prosecuting the code.

Bariya Ibrahim Magazu was found guilty last week by one of the new Islamic courts in the state of having had sex outside marriage, and of accusing three men of having slept with her without proof.

The girl, who is being looked after by her parents, will be publicly flogged 40 days after the delivery of the baby, the judge said.
(...)

The divisions which Sharia has opened up have provided Nigeria's new democratic government with one of its most difficult challenges.

Correspondents say the issue has polarised opinion in Nigeria, where it is opposed by the predominantly Christian south.

Muslims in northern Nigeria feel strongly that Sharia has been misunderstood by Christians, who have tended to concentrate on the punishments.

But it also has massive popular appeal to those who believe it will help root out corruption and restore moral values.

Critics say public floggings for pre-marital sex violate the constitution and are an infringement of human rights.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

Amnesty International on Nigeria

9. Muslim Women Alter Their Fashion
AOL/AP, Sep. 14, 2000
http://my.aol.com/news/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Two young women stroll arm-in-arm along the Bosporus waterway that separates Asia from Europe. Head scarves signal their Muslim faith, but short-sleeved blouses and leg-revealing dress slits show a greater allegiance to Western fashion.

In Cairo, a woman walks briskly to work in a tapered blouse, elegant pants, sunglasses and chrome bracelet. She looks European - except for her dark blue head scarf.

Across the Islamic world, fashion aficionados are finding ways to meld religious morality with a modern style that expresses their individuality.

From westernized Bosnia to conservative Iran, the head scarf is the emblem of faith, but the rest of a woman's outfit can vary widely.

The clash between haute couture and religion is deepest in overwhelmingly Muslim but staunchly secular Turkey, which aspires to join the European Union.
(...)

Islam's holy book, the Quran, doesn't specify what a woman should wear, but says clothing should ``cover all her body except the face and palms,'' according to Souad Ibrahim Saleh, Egypt's only female cleric and a professor at Cairo's Al-Azhar religious university, the most respected institution for Islam's majority Sunni sect.

However, degrees of adherence differ sharply.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Catholicism

10. Nolan to review Catholic rules on child abuse
The Guardian (England), Sep. 13, 2000
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
The Catholic Church in England and Wales yesterday attempted to head off mounting allegations of child sex abuse by priests by calling in Lord Nolan, the former judge who investigated standards in public life for Parliament, to conduct a review of its procedures for dealing with accusations.

Church leaders privately acknowledged the move would not have been adopted but for accusations that the Catholic authorities attempted to cover up abuse by Father Michael Hill, released from prison last week after serving three and a half years of a five year sentence.

Revelations that Hill was removed from his parish but allowed to continue his ministry by his former bishop, Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, now Archbishop of Westminster and de-facto leader of the Church in England and Wales, came close to swamping the church this summer.
(...)

The church disclosed that 21 priests, out of 5,600, have been convicted of offences against children in the last five years, though more cases are pending. The number of prosecutions is currently running at about four a year.
(...)

But the bishop insisted: ''I don't think it is true to say that the Catholic Church has a particular difficulty with this. The number of clergy convicted of paedophile offences is a very small proportion relatively speaking. I don't think the public perception reflects the facts.''

And the bishop said it might be a ''dangerous course'' to defrock priests accused of just one offence as it might only be minor. ''We have had many cases of false allegations,'' he added.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Mormonism

11. Church scholars unite to explore a common faith
The Kansas City Star, Sep. 14, 2000
http://www.kcstar.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
The Missouri Mormon Heritage Conference, which begins today in Independence, is not only a history conference. It's also a peace conference.

It's one more example of a growing cooperation between scholars of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS Church, or Mormons) based in Salt Lake City, and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the RLDS church), based in Independence.

Scholars from the two churches did not always share research, feeling that they had an exclusive understanding of the vision of their common founder and prophet, Joseph Smith Jr.

That's less true these days.
(...)

Meanwhile, Independence city officials are eager to acknowledge Mormon history in the area, some of which is unpleasant.

This year city officials helped plan and finance the Missouri Mormon Walking Trail. Dedicated in May, the trail features 14 bronze plaques marking several events, among them the 1833 demolition of a Mormon newspaper office and the tarring and feathering of two church members the same day.

However upsetting, these incidents are part of Independence history, said Independence Mayor Ron Stewart.
(...)

Historical research has always carried great importance within the two main branches of the Mormon tradition, which traces its origins to the life and writings of the Prophet Smith.

But a growing ecumenical spirit among church scholars may have begun in 1965 with the founding of the Mormon History Association.

''That association attracted members from both RLDS and LDS,'' said Ron Romig, RLDS church archivist.

The scholars published their papers in the association's journal and similar publications. In that spirit Kansas City area scholars in 1992 formed the Missouri Mormon Frontier Association, a nondenominational group devoted to researching the Mormon story in Missouri.
(...)

The growing affinity among scholars suggests a greater self-assurance within the RLDS community, said Sharon Welch, a religious studies professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia who was raised in the RLDS tradition but is now a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
(...)

But pursuing historical research within the communities presents challenges, said William Worley, director of the Kansas City Regional History Institute at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

''There is more conversation going on among scholars of the two traditions, but Mormon history is a chancy business, particularly on the Utah Mormon side,'' Worley said.

Some LDS authors have been censured or disciplined for writings that have displeased some LDS church leaders.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

* Theologically, Mormonism is a cult of Christianity


=== Attleboro Cult

12. ACLU joins sect case
The Sun Chronicle, Sep. 14, 2000
http://thesunchronicle.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
ATTLEBORO -- The American Civil Liberties Union is asking the state Supreme Judicial Court to take over the case of a pregnant member of a separatist religious sect who has been placed in custody to protect her fetus.

The state chapter of the ACLU asked the high court to take the case Wednesday after the SJC rejected an earlier appeal, ruling the petition filed by a woman not connected to the case lacked legal grounds to intervene.

The ACLU wants the SJC to transfer the Attleboro Juvenile Court case involving Rebecca Corneau to the higher court, saying the juvenile court acted `` outside the scope of its authority.''
(...)

Corneau, 32, is a member of a fundamental religious sect that rejects medical intervention and other aspects of society and is suspected of covering up the death of her last child.

The SJC noted that Corneau had the right to appeal Nasif's decision and did not. Corneau has rejected lawyers at previous hearings regarding matters involving her family, and has had three children taken away from her.

`` The refusal of the pregnant woman to exercise her own rights of appeal does not mean the SJC should shirk from reviewing what may constitute a grave injustice,'' said Wunsch.
(...)

By transferring the care and protection proceedings from the juvenile court, the SJC could examine the claims that a fetus is not a child within the meaning of the state's child-protection laws, the ACLU lawyer said.
(...)

In the high court's three-page opinion, the constitutional arguments were not considered because the court was only examining whether a pregnant woman identified only as Barbara F. had a role in the Corneau case.

Barbara F. claimed Nasif's ruling created a `` chilling effect'' and threatened all women's rights.

Wendy Murphy, a Boston lawyer who filed the petition on behalf of Barbara F., said she was not surprised by the SJC decision, but said the case needed to be reviewed even if Corneau would not appeal.
(...)

Prosecutors say Corneau's last child, Jeremiah, died last August during a home birth, but would have lived with medical help.

His 10-month-old cousin Samuel Robidoux was allowed to starve to death after he stopped nursing because the members of the sect believed it was the `` will of God,'' prosecutors say.

In seeking to have Rebecca Corneau placed in custody, Walsh has said he wants to prevent the death or disappearance of another child born into the sect.

The sect is under criminal investigation and eight members, including Rebecca Corneau's husband, David, are in jail for refusing to cooperate with a grand jury.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


13. Jailing of Pregnant Woman Could Change How Courts Deal With Religion, Abortion
Fox News, Sep. 14, 2000
http://www.foxnews.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Since Rebecca Corneau joined Jacques Robidoux's prayer group, she has been declared an unfit mother, lost custody of her three daughters and given birth to an infant who disappeared and is believed dead. Now she's 8 1/2 months pregnant - and in jail.

Prosecutors say the issue is simple: Corneau, 32, of Attleboro, Mass., belongs to a fundamentalist Christian sect that shuns medical care - therefore the state needs to protect the fetus.

The unusual case has sparked a fierce debate about whether an unborn child's rights outweigh those of its mother, and it could have serious repercussions in the debate over religious freedom - and in the ongoing battle over abortion.
(...)

This is not the first time a court has intervened on behalf of an unborn child - Wisconsin and South Carolina have both prosecuted pregnant drug abusers - but the Corneau case throws in the thorny issues of religious autonomy and abortion rights.

''I think this is a great case to just blow apart all of Roe v. Wade. There's no question about that,'' said Rev. Flip Benham, national director of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue. Roe v. Wade is the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

But while Benham fully supports upholding the fetus' legal rights, he said he does not believe the court should be able to tell mothers they must receive certain medical tests.

Others see the ruling as an infringement upon women's reproductive rights.
(...)

Douglas Vesharov, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, was more concerned that Corneau seemed singled out because of her religion, unlike mothers who are drug addicts.
(...)

And Wendy Murphy, a lawyer who has challenged the ruling in the name of a pregnant Massachusetts woman identified only as Barbara F., worries that the Corneau case could ultimately affect any decision a woman makes while pregnant, from driving a car to drinking coffee.
(...)

Regardless, the prosecutor, FitzGerald, said there would have to be similar, extreme circumstances to claim this case as a precedent.

''This is a case and not a cause,'' he said. ''If, God forbid, someone pregnant at such a stage were, through their own negligence, to crash into a telephone pole and have the fetus at that stage die, that person would be prosecuted for motor vehicle homicide. What's strange about this?''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Word of Faith Fellowship

14. Mom can keep kids in church enclave
The Charlotte Observer, Sep. 14, 2000
http://www.charlotte.com/observer/local/pub/woff0914.htm
[Story no longer online? Read this]
RUTHERFORDTON -- Three children will be allowed to live most of the week with their mother, despite her membership in a controversial church community that practices corporal punishment and ''blasting,'' or loud prayer, a District Court judge in Rutherford County ruled Wednesday.

While finding that the Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale tries to exercise ''complete control'' over its members, Judge C. Randy Pool ruled that it was in the children's best interests to reside there with their mother during the week.

The children's father will have custody on most weekends.
(...)

The hearing was to determine if temporary custody of the three children of Ben and Pam McGee should be granted to the father, who left the church in April, or the mother, who remains a church member.
(...)

The McGees joined the church in 1993, on the verge of divorce and hoping to change their lives, according to testimony at the hearing. Ben McGee, 37, petitioned the court to get custody of his three children after leaving the church.

Jim Siemens, his attorney, argued Friday that the church was an inappropriate environment for children and called the Word of Faith Fellowship ''a cult.''

''If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it's a duck,'' he said in his closing argument. ''In this case it's a cult - shiny happy people striving to touch a madwoman's cloak.''

Tom Hix, the attorney representing Pam McGee, called the church a loving community that helped counsel the McGees through tough times. He said its practices - while perhaps seeming unusual to a lay person - cause no harm to children.

''Ain't no brainwashing at all,'' Hix said. ''No bruises, no contusions.''

Current and former members testified that the church uses a paddle to discipline children. They said it also engages in loud prayer, referred to as ''blasting'' and ''deliverance,'' in which shouting church members surround the person being prayed for and pray in high-pitched tones, sometimes for hours.

One former church member testified that a pink bucket is placed in front of the subjects of a blasting for them to vomit in.

Pool found that the church community collectively parents and disciplines children, that children as young as age 1 have been restrained, and that youngsters have been disciplined by church members with telephone wire and an 18-inch-long wooden paddle.

Children are discouraged from participating in any nonchurch activity, Pool said, and sometimes are disciplined for playing.

He said joint custody was the best option, although ''continued exposure to certain religious practices'' could harm the children.

He did impose restrictions, saying neither parent could allow the children to be blasted, paddled or restrained.
(...)

Former and current members say blasting has decreased and that children are no longer tied in chairs during the process since 1995 investigations into the church by both the Department of Social Services and the State Bureau of Investigation.

The investigations followed statements from former church members and the airing of a videotape of a blasting on the television show ''Inside Edition.'' The investigations led to no findings of wrongdoing at the church.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

* More about spiritual abuse and abusive churches

=== Hate Groups: Aryan Nations

15. Butler writes his own appeal
The Spokesman-Review, Sep. 14, 2000
http://www.spokane.net/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler wrote and filed his own legal appeal Wednesday, stopping at least temporarily the court-ordered seizure of his assets.
(...)

Butler claims in the documents that he's broke. He drafted the appeal on a computer that winners of last week's trial want to seize.

Victoria and Jason Keenan, represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center and two Coeur d'Alene attorneys, got a $6.3 million judgment following a nine-day trial.

Law Center founder Morris Dees said he wants to immediately collect the judgment, and leave Butler with only the clothes he wears.

Butler, sounding annoyed and depressed, said earlier Wednesday that he was attempting to contact his attorney, Edgar Steele, to take legal steps to block the seizure.
(...)

While Butler pounded away on his computer, private security guard Kent Bailey loaded his late model Chevy with candy bars, reading material, binoculars and a video camera and drove to the Aryan compound.

He pulled the second shift outside the Aryan headquarters, north of Hayden Lake, for Northern Security.
(...)

Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson hired the private security firm that employes Bailey to prevent assets -- such as Nazi flags and a bust of Hitler -- from disappearing.

Watson said his department's civil deputies also were making arrangements with a commercial moving company to supply vans and crews to seize, inventory and store personal property.

''It's something we want to do as soon as possible and as quickly as possible,'' Watson said before Butler filed his papers blocking the seizure.
(...)

The company's private guards were to remain in place around-the-clock until personal property was removed by the commercial movers, the sheriff said.

But immediately after Butler filed his appeal, the sheriff pulled the private security guards he had hired earlier in the day.

''As I understand it, they now have 14 days to sort this out, or we can resume the seizure actions,'' the sheriff said.

The guarding of the assets of the Aryan Nations and Butler was initiated one day after court authorization for the seizures.

The ''writ of execution'' directs the sheriff's department to begin satisfying the $6.3 million judgment returned last Thursday against Butler and the Aryan Nations.

''We'll be taking everything, right down to Mr. Butler's silverware,'' the sheriff said.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


16. Aryans get permission to have parade
The Spokesman-Review, Sep. 15, 2000
http://www.spokane.net/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Coeur d'Alene _ City officials on Thursday approved Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler's request to parade through downtown Coeur d'Alene.
(...)

''I don't care,'' said Tom Brown, owner of the Shred Shed. ''I will be open my regular hours, regardless.''
(...)

After the Aryans' march in 1998, Brown moved his store to Silver Lake Mall. He wanted to make a statement to fellow businesses and city officials that the parade shouldn't cause them to temporarily shut their doors, even though that was what officials suggested businesses do. He has since moved back downtown.
(...)

But other businesses may stay closed until noon, when the parade is over, said Malcolm Johnstone, executive director of the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association. More than 350 businesses belong to the organization.
(...)

The association has no plans to meet before the parade, Johnstone said. And any opposition to the white supremacist group from downtown businesses will be a passive, unified voice. Signs supporting human rights will be used.
(...)

A man who answered the phone at the Aryan Nation's Hayden Lake compound insisted the parade shows the group is not going to go away.
(...)

Religious leaders active in a local group called Diakonia, a Greek word meaning servanthood, hope to purchase ads decrying racism in local newspapers. The group is strongly opposed to Butler's claim that Christian principles support separatism.

The group released a statement Thursday concerning the parade announcement: ''Those of us of that faith feel a particular responsibility to object to the use of the name `Christian' and `Jesus Christ' to promote racist causes.''

Butler calls his group the Church of Jesus Christ Christian-Aryan Nations.

Members of Diakonia say that by bringing together a wide range of faiths and ideas, they'll send a message against Butler and his followers' ideas.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

* Mr. Butler's theology, known as Christian Identity, does not reflect biblical
Christianity.


=== Hate Groups: Neo-Nazi

17. Germany Bans Rightist Group for Neo-Nazi Propaganda
Excite/Reuters, Sep. 14, 2000
http://news.excite.com/news/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government, under pressure to react to racist violence, said Thursday it was outlawing a far-right group for spreading neo-Nazi propaganda.

Interior Minister Otto Schily said he was banning the German branch of ''Blood and Honor,'' which has about 200 members, for activities which breached the constitution.

Its ''White Youth'' wing was also outlawed.
(...)

''Germany is the first nation to fight this organization this way,'' Schily said of the ban against Blood and Honor, which was founded in Britain and spread to Germany in 1994. It has ties to the larger far-right German National Democratic Party (NPD).

''We are looking into whether it will be necessary to ban other groups,'' Schily said.

The government has been examining a ban on the NPD following an eruption of far-right violence this summer, but has so far held off seeking to outlaw the party due to fears the constitutional court may overturn the decision.

As a political party, the NPD has more power to fight any banning order the government may impose on it.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


18. Austria's Haider: Sanctions a 'Flop'
Excite/AP, Sep. 13, 2000
http://news.excite.com/news/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
[Neo-nazi]
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Hailing the lifting of European Union diplomatic sanctions, Austria's right-wing firebrand Joerg Haider on Wednesday labeled the measures a ''complete flop.''

Haider, whose far right Freedom Party's inclusion in the government led to the sanctions, said the measures failed in their goal to force the party out of the ruling coalition.

Austria's 14 European Union partners lifted the seven-month sanctions against Austria on Tuesday after a panel said the measures stoked the nationalistic feeling they were meant to punish.
(...)

Haider also ridiculed a European Union statement stressing the need to remain vigilant about the Freedom Party.

''We are very pleased if we are being watched, like we will be watching the others,'' said Haider, whose remarks sympathetic to some aspects of Nazi rule raised alarm bells in Europe.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Religious Freedom / Religious Intolerance

19. Federal appeals court refuses to block Virginia's minute of silence law
AP, Sep. 14, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Public school students across Virginia are observing a mandatory minute of silence each day, after a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 not to block a new state law. A few students are protesting by walking out of class during the daily observance.

The law, which took effect July 1, requires all school districts to hold a minute of silence for students to meditate, pray or engage in any other silent activity. A previous law from 24 years ago gave schools the option of holding a minute of silence and listed prayer as an option.

Meanwhile, a lower federal judge heard arguments on a legal challenge from the state unit of the American Civil Liberties Union.

In the hearing, ACLU attorney Stuart Newburger said ''once the state put the word 'pray' or 'prayer' in the statute, that's enough to show the state was favoring prayer as a practice.''

Solicitor General William Hurd argued that Virginia's law has a secular purpose, ensuring that there is no discrimination against prayer, and only listed prayer so students know it is one option among many.

''Prayer is not a dirty word. It's a fact of life. There's no reason to be squeamish about it,'' he said.
[...entire item...]


=== Science, sort of

20. After 25 Years, Martian 'Face' Still Raises Questions
Fox News, Sep. 8, 2000
http://www.foxnews.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
NEW YORK - Is there a giant, artificial structure of a human face on the surface of Mars?

The answer appeared to be a clear ''no'' two years ago when NASA's Mars Global Surveyor transmitted a new close-up shot of the mysterious outcropping that looked distinctly unfacelike. But various researchers insist a closer look reveals evidence of a non-natural structure - and that some past civilization on the fourth rock from the sun must be giving us the eye.
(...)

Thomas Van Flandern, an astronomer known for his alternative space science theories, recently released a modified version of NASA's picture on his Web site, MetaResearch.org. Van Flandern says the new image, which is credited to graphic artist Mark Kelly, was an effort ''to use objective computer techniques by image processing experts to restore the image to what it would have looked like if it had been viewed from overhead and with proper lighting.''
(...)

The region was first photographed in 1976 by the Viking space probe. Those images revealed an eerie humanoid face, only half-illuminated, peering solemnly up into the heavens. NASA dismissed it as ''a trick of light and shadow'' and contrarians pointed out that facelike formations can be found throughout nature - even in potato chips.

Then came the 1998 digital snapshot and it was difficult to disagree with the headlines: ''NASA Erases the Face.'' Shot from a low angle in hazy conditions, it looked flat and featureless, or as Dan Rather reported on the CBS Evening News: ''This enigma turns out to be just another Martian chronicle of rocks and red dust.''

Case closed? Far from it, according to the disparate band of believers who since the big letdown have kept the torch of artificiality burning on Web sites and in newsletters and books. They branded NASA's image ''the Catbox'' or ''the Footprint'' and said a poor-quality picture was deliberately released as a public relations move to kill the topic.


=== Hoaxes / Urban Legends

21. FCC inquiry likely over GOP ad
MSNBC, Sep. 13, 2000
http://www.msnbc.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Sept. 13 - Two Democratic senators are asking the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the Republican presidential campaign ad that subtly flashes the word ''RATS'' across the screen. Meanwhile, the consultant who produced the ad elaborated on his explanation that it was unintentional, telling NBC News that it was part of an effort to emphasize ''bureaucrats'' by flashing ''BUREAU'' and ''CRATS'' on the screen.

The ad which criticizes Democrat Al Gore's drug prescription plan and touts Republican George W. Bush's proposal, is coming off the air, but Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and John Breaux of Louisiana want an investigation.

''We have reason to believe that broadcasters are airing television advertisements that contain subliminal messages in violation of the public interest,'' the two wrote in a letter being sent Wednesday.

In 1974, the FCC adopted a policy saying that subliminal advertising was contrary to the public interest. Officials at the FCC said Tuesday they would investigate if a complaint were filed.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


22. Subliminal advertising has a firm grasp on the public's consciousness
Chicago Tribune, Sep. 13, 2000
http://chicagotribune.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Say ''subliminal advertising'' and people think, ''Oh, yeah. Popcorn and Coke at the movies.''

The story goes that when the words ''Drink Coca-Cola and ''Eat Popcorn'' were imperceptibly flashed onto a screen during a movie, concession sales jumped exponentially.

One small detail: It never happened.

Which hasn't stopped the story from being repeated in psychology and advertising textbooks. It took decades after James Vicary admitted he'd faked the 1957 experiment for the anecdote to lose credence, said William Cook, senior vice president at the Advertising Research Foundation.

''And now this little episode is certainly going to put it back in the books,'' Cook said with a sigh Tuesday.

The episode in question, of course, is the split-second flash of the word ''RATS during a George W. Bush campaign ad denigrating Vice President Gore. Immediately afterward, the entire message -- ''Bureaucrats Decide'' -- came up on the screen. ''Rats,'' so the explanation goes, was just a fragment of that phrase.

The incident shows the powerful hold that the phrase ''subliminal advertising'' has on the public consciousness.

What do you see if you look closely enough at the ice cubes in the liquor ads that run in glossy, high-end magazines? Naked people, right?

''Everyone knows about the naked swimmers,'' said Joseph Turow, a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. ''And some of that stuff,'' he said, in reference to the subtle erotica, ''might even be there.''

But you could etch mini-Anna Kournikovas into the ice cubes, and it probably wouldn't sell any more Scotch.

Numerous studies have shown that subliminal advertising doesn't work, Turow said. If it did, he said, whole industries would be dedicated to the practice.

The idea of subliminal perception gained wide credence in the 1950s, mostly as a result of Vicary's later-discredited study. Technically, the phrase refers to the practice of repeatedly flashing split-second messages, too short to be consciously perceived, that direct people to do something they might not have thought of.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


23. In the Back of My Mind . . .
Los Angeles Times, Sep. 15, 2000 http://www.latimes.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
(...) Bizarre and weird the whole situation surely was. But although most commentators dismissed this as some sort of advertising frat joke gone awry, few actually entertained the possibility that such a ploy, properly used, could actually work. Americans are extraordinarily uncomfortable with the possibility that others can influence their actions without their knowledge; it brings to mind terms such as ''brainwashing'' or ''mind control.''

In an attempt to calm this national paranoia, pundits discussing this advertisement have downplayed the possibility that manipulations outside our conscious awareness can in any way affect our feelings or behavior. Instead, they have focused on the questionable morality of using these techniques.

However, many of the ''experts'' we have heard on this issue are clearly misinformed, as they quote outdated studies in an attempt to reassure an edgy American public that no one can influence them without their consent. They point to a famous hoax that took place in 1957, when James Vicary claimed that he had increased moviegoers' consumption of Coca-Cola and popcorn by flashing subconscious messages on the screen. Many experts appear to stifle their laughter as they consider whether the dots on a Ritz cracker in one famous advertisement actually spell out ''sex,'' or whether the design on the back of the old Camel cigarette packet was actually a phallic symbol.

Actually, while these urban legends are probably nothing more than flights of fancy, research increasingly points to the fact that subliminal messages, known as ''primes,'' can and do affect us.

Studies on subconscious racial attitudes have shown that subjects who are primed with pictures of faces before participating in a competitive game are rated as more hostile when the primes are of African American faces rather than Caucasian ones. College students primed with words associated with the elderly, such as ''Florida,'' ''Bingo'' and ''forgetful,'' walk more slowly than those in a control group.

Subliminal messages also have been used to prime positive effects. Students primed with the message ''Mommy and I are one'' before beginning class performed better on their final exam than students in a control group.

These studies show that despite our discomfort with them, subliminal primes can affect our behavior in powerful ways.
(...)

Alison Feit is completing her doctoral dissertation at Adelphi University on subliminal effects. Web site: http://www.subliminalstuff.com.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Noted

24. Voodoo seduction
Salon, Sep. 14, 2000
http://www.salon.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Sep. 14, 2000 | Frank Sinatra sang about ''the voodoo that you do so well.'' These lyrics were never more appropriate than in the African nation of Zimbabwe, where sex these days has entered the spooky realm of witchcraft. Across the country, women are waking up in the morning, horrified to discover obvious signs of sexual activity on their bodies without remembering a thing. This rash of mysterious copulation can be traced to the use of a sex charm called Mubobobo, and more and more women say they're falling victim to it.

Half a million herbalists and traditional healers operate shops throughout southern Africa, selling all manner of ''muti,'' herb-based potions that can be stirred into tea or food. Some muti help treat everyday ailments; others are purported to cure AIDS. But many of them are intended for sexual use. One of the most popular muti, for instance, is ''vuka vuka,'' an African version of Viagra.

Mubobobo was originally intended as a muti to help men overcome their shyness and open up their heart to their loved one, but according to African news sources, it's now being used in more nefarious ways. The charm can also supposedly render a man invisible, so that he can have sex with a woman without her knowing.
(...)

Requests for Mubobobo are increasing, say herbalists and witch doctors from the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers' Association. Men approach them for the muti, but not because they're shy or timid. They want to have more sex, and they believe Mubobobo will help them.
(...)

But it's bad news for the women of Zimbabwe, who aren't necessarily interested in having anonymous sex with multiple partners without protection from disease. To them, Mubobobo-assisted sex is a violation of their human rights. If a man is caught in bed with a woman under mysterious circumstances, he's not charged with rape, only with the lesser offense of housebreaking. There is nothing the police can do.

In exasperation, Zimbabwean women are organizing a large conference to lobby authorities and change the laws -- in particular, the Witchcraft Suppression Act of 1899, which makes it illegal to accuse someone of being a witch.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


25. The battle over bio-terror
Salon, Sep. 12, 2000
http://www.salon.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
(...) The killer was only a mannequin and the victims were actors, paid by the Department of Justice to participate in a three-day, $2 million exercise in May that tested the Mile High City's response to a bio-terrorist attack.

But federal policymakers, from President Clinton on down, seem to believe it could happen. The government is spending $10 billion this year on the assumption that a night at the opera is the perfect postmodern battlefield, and the tender little underbelly of Anytown, USA., lies exposed to the claws of terror. An attack with unconventional weapons in the United States is likely, Clinton said after announcing the bio-terrorism initiative in 1998. ''It's a cause for serious, disciplined, long-term concern.''

This summer, germ warfare experts at Johns Hopkins University and members of a Pentagon study panel have been touting a plan to put $3 billion into creating a new Department of Defense directorate.
(...)

Over the past century, exactly one person has died on American soil in a terror attack that could remotely be described as ''biological.'' Oakland, Calif., School Superintendent Marcus Foster was shot in 1973 by the Symbionese Liberation Army, with a bullet that had apparently been dipped in ricin, a toxin made from castor beans.

A growing consensus among scholars and intelligence officials holds that the Clinton administration has exaggerated the threat of a catastrophic chemical or biological warfare attack, according to ''Hype or Reality,'' a collection of papers published this summer by the Chemical and Biological Arms Control Institute, headed by a former Bush administration arms control official named Michael Moodie.
(...)

Two events gave the bio-terrorism initiative the bureaucratic momentum it required. The first was the 1992 defection of Soviet bio-warfare official Ken Alibek, who revealed that the Soviets had employed about 3,000 scientists in illegal germ warfare programs, some of which, he claimed, were continuing.
(...)

Then, in 1995, worry crested when members of the Aum Shinrikyo sect punctured plastic bags full of sarin in the Tokyo subways, releasing enough of the deadly nerve agent to kill seven people and injure as many as 1,000.
(...)

Closer examinations of the Aum Shinrikyo cult have provided a more subtle portrayal of the bio-terror threat, showing just how hard it would be for terrorists to effectively carry out such an attack.

A study by Milton Leitenberg, a University of Maryland security expert, shows that Aum had a well-educated, 10-member team that spent five years and $20 million trying to turn anthrax and botulinium bacteria into effective weapons. On at least seven occasions, sect members attempted to provoke mass death with germ attacks. All the attacks failed. No one even got sick.

''Aum Shinrikyo was a real, serious example, not the constant hypothetical evocation of untrained 'terrorists' able to produce biological agents in kitchens, garages, bathtubs and home beer brewing kits,'' Leitenberg testified in Congress recently. ''Despite the expenditure of considerable time, effort, money and the requisite talent, their efforts totally failed.''

Although the Russians and Japanese are known to have used germ agents during World War II, the only recent case of a ''successful'' biological attack was the Rajneesh cult's 1984 attempt to win a local election in Oregon by spraying salad bars with salmonella bacteria cultured from a mail-order kit. The Rajneeshees lost the elction, but the salmonella (a relatively benign strain) gave 750 people severe diarrhea.

The FBI has reported a steadily increasing number of investigations into biological warfare in recent years, but the raw numbers are deceptive. Almost all of the investigations have been prompted by threats that turned out to be hoaxes -- the lawyer who wanted an excuse to file a brief late, or the disturbed guy who needed his medications. Once anthrax was vested with official power, it entered the discourse of the loony-tunes.

In short, ''We can conjure up a worse-case scenario,'' says John Parachini, chief of the Washington office of the Monterey Institute's Center for Nonproliferation Studies. ''But we can also conjure up a meteor hitting the Earth.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


26. Christian unity an elusive dream
The Sun Herald, Sep. 14, 2000
http://vh60009.vh6.infi.net/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
BILOXI - Diane Scuoppo couldn't wait to see Christians agree Sunday afternoon.

The New York native didn't have far to go, either. Right around the corner from her Biloxi house, more than 100 South Mississippi churches worshipped together at the Coast Convention Center, an event called ''Christians Celebrating Together.'' It was a gathering of believers united by their basic beliefs.
(...)

She had her finger on the pulse of this question, though: Why can't Christians just get along?

Want an answer? Take a number.

''Jesus prayed (for Christian unity) 2,000 years ago,'' said Mike Fabian, director of the ecumenical movement Renew 2000 for the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi, which spearheaded Sunday's event. ''We have a challenge to answer that prayer.''

Constantine thought he had the answer when he made Christianity the law of the land in the Roman Empire in the 4th century and put the religion on the map as a political power.

It's been a rocky road since.
(...)

The historical gist is that ''doctrine divides, work unites,'' said Eileen Lindner, deputy general secretary of the National Council of Churches in New York.

Lines of scrimmage
Lindner, a church historian, pinpointed three issues that have traditionally kept Christian unity at bay.

Polity, or church government. Apostles governed the New Testament church, and by the time Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman Empire, the rule of bishops within the historic episcopacy (or the bloodline of the first apostles) was standard. There are at least two other forms of church government, and supporters cite biblical evidence for both. Presbyterianism involves the oversight of elected or appointed representatives from clergy and laity (the word presbyter comes from a New Testament term for overseer), and congregationalism hands over governance to individual congregations. The biblical picture of Christ's ultimate rule in the world actually sounds somewhat like a democracy, with a passage in Revelation predicting that all believers will ''rule and reign with him.''

Hermeneutics, or biblical interpretation. By the early third century A.D., Christians had adopted one or two interpretive methods: allegorical (with personal meanings for readers) or literal (more historical implications). A fourfold school of interpretation - allegorical, literal, moral and heavenly - developed in the Middle Ages. A chief source of the Protestant Reformation was disagreement with Catholicism's contention that it had the final say-so in matters of scriptural interpretation; reformers believed the book spoke for itself. The so-called higher, or literary, criticism of the last three centuries brought in a raft of new interdisciplinary issues for Bible students. Modern Christians are still divided over whether Scripture should be interpreted literally or symbolically, or if a combination approach is the best.

Sacraments, or a series of Christian rites (from the Greek word for mystery). Protestants accept baptism and the Lord's Supper (or communion) as the two biblically sanctioned sacraments, while Catholics and Orthodox believers add confirmation, penance, matrimony, ordination and anointing the sick to the list. The Catholic/Orthodox view of communion is called transubstantiation, the belief that the elements of bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ once consumed; Protestants don't agree. Many Christians support infant baptism as a necessary initiation into the faith, while other traditions, such as Baptists, refuse to baptize until the individual is able to think independently. Contemporary theologian Karl Barth said one of the biggest mistakes made by evangelical Protestantism has been downplaying the importance of sacraments. ''The Roman Catholic Church has sacramental worship without preaching. (Protestants) have a service with a sermon but without sacraments. Both types of services are impossible.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

* See:

Divisions Are Not Always Bad (by A. W. Tozer)

=== Books

27. Atwood classic among list of books American parents want banned
Excite/AP, Sep. 13, 2000
http://news.excite.ca/news/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
NEW YORK (AP) - Harry Potter made the list. So did The Catcher in the Rye and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The most popular children's books? No. The ones adults most wanted removed from library shelves in the 1990s.

''This just proves no book is safe from censorship attempts,'' said Judith Krug, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. The top 100 titles - including The Handmaid's Tale, by acclaimed Canadian author Margaret Atwood - were compiled and released in advance of the 20th annual Banned Books Week, which runs Sept. 23-30.

The ALA, the American Booksellers Association and the American Society of Journalists and Authors are among the sponsors.

The most disputed books were the popular Scary Stories titles, horror tales by the late Alvin Schwartz. Objections included violence, cannibalism and causing children to fear the dark. A complaint from the school district in Campbell County, Wyo., said the books made kids believe ''ghosts are actually possible.''

Also in the top 10 were such classroom standards as Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

''The fact that teachers assign them is one of the reasons there's so much concern,'' Krug said. ''They deal with issues a lot of parents don't want to know about.''

The Harry Potter series, which Christian groups have attacked because of its themes of witchcraft and wizardry, comes in at No. 48. It was removed this year from a public school in Bridgeport Township, Mich.

According to the ALA, more than 5,000 complaints were recorded at school and public libraries in the 1990s. Krug said that represents about 20 per cent to 25 per cent of all challenges, although she does note the annual number has declined slightly over the past years.

''A lot of people are now spending more time thinking about Internet content,'' she said.

''Sexually explicit'' was the most common objection raised about books at libraries, followed by ''unsuited to age group'' and ''occult theme or promoting the occult or Satanism.'' Others included violence, promotion of same-sex relationships, racism and anti-family values.

Krug said about 5 per cent of those complaints lead to a book being banned.

''Usually, when the rest of the community hears about a complaint it speaks out in support of keeping the book,'' she said.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]