News about religious cults, sects, and alternative religions
An Apologetics Index research resource
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News about religious cults, sects, and alternative religions An Apologetics Index research resource |
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Religion News ReportSeptember 18, 2000 (Vol. 4, Issue 263) Many of the items reported here stay online for only a day or two. If you can not find a story online, Read this.
=== Zhong Gong 1. U.S. to hear Chinese asylum seeker case on Sept 20 2. Beijing Accuses Guru of Rape Ahead of U.S. Asylum Decision === Falun Gong 3. Collection of Articles Criticizing Falun Gong Cult Published === Issa Masiya 4. 'Iganga sect leader tied up follower' === Scientology 5. Debate after Sermon for Scientology Victim 6. Scientology attracts pickets, suspicion 7. Cheap at the price (Sky Dayton) === International Churches of Christ 8. 'Extreme' Campus Group Targets Freshmen Students for Recruitment === Buddhism 9. Leading teacher of vipassana technique draws diverse crowd 10. Quiet mind,Open heart === Catholicism 11. Chinese Catholic Arrests Reported 12. Arrest Last Week of Catholic Bishop in China 13. Critics fault timing, tone of Vatican paper 14. Vatican document painful to many === Mormonism 15. Heaven & Earth: Book About Jewish-Mormon Differences Is Painfully Honest === Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 16. Polygamist sect growing more reclusive === Attleboro Cult 17. Expert says group fit definition of a cult 18. Forced prenatal care === Witchcraft 19. Sorcery charge: police rescue four villagers 20. Substitute is fired over note on witches === Occult 21. I chat with Princess Diana all the time === Hate Groups: Aryan Nations 22. Aryan Nations May Meet in Pa. === Hate Groups: Miscellaneous 23. Verdict set table for learning 24. Few Changes at Bob Jones University === Other News 25. Paisley 'misled' MEP over cult leader 26. Church in Scam === Hoaxes, Fakes & Flakes 27. 'I stalled Olympic cauldron': Uri Geller === Religious Freedom / Religious Intolerance 28. N.J. lawmaker drawn into religious Web site squabble 29. Religious Freedom in Russia 30. Official: Religious freedom under attack === Noted 31. The Man Behind Burning Man 32. Keeping Friends and the Faith (religious pluralism) 33. No offense intended (Nudity in art) 34. Medicinal use of pot gets support === Films 34. Restoring 'The Exorcist' === Zhong Gong 1. U.S. to hear Chinese asylum seeker case on Sept 20 AOL/Reuters, Sep. 17, 2000 http://my.aol.com/news/s  [Story no longer online? Read this] HONG KONG, Sept 17 (Reuters) - A court in U.S.-administered Guam will on Wednesday hear a political asylum application by the Chinese leader of the Zhong Gong meditation group, the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said on Sunday. Zhang Hongbao, whose group was banned last year along with the better-known Falun Gong, fled China to Guam in February and is wanted in China for unspecified ``criminal offences.'' [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this]  2. Beijing Accuses Guru of Rape Ahead of U.S. Asylum Decision Inside China Today/AFP, Sep. 17, 2000 http://www.insidechina.com/' HONG KONG, Sep 17, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) China has accused the guru of the mystical Zhonggong sect of raping several followers, and asked the United States not to grant him political asylum, a Hong Kong human rights organization reported Sunday. (...) Zhang, 46, whose movement is de facto banned in China, fled the country earlier this year for the tiny U.S. Pacific outpost of Guam, where a court will decide on Wednesday whether to grant him political asylum. The file given to the United States includes a deposition by a 65-year-old woman whose name was given only as Zhang accusing the guru of raping her in 1990 during a self-styled healing session, the information center said in a statement. But center director Frank Lu cast doubt on the authenticity of the charges, which come 10 years after the alleged assaults. He recalled that Beijing has used such accusations against political opponents in the past. (...) The Zhonggong group, which claims 38 million followers and is a parallel movement to the better known Falungong, has been on the wrong side of the law since last year and tens of thousands of its members have been detained for questioning. (...) In the past year, 600 Zhonggong cadres have been detained and 3,000 of its training centers have been shut down, the center said. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Falun Gong 3. Collection of Articles Criticizing Falun Gong Cult Published People's Daily (China), Sep. 15, 2000 http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ [Story no longer online? Read this] A collection of articles denouncing the Falun Gong cult rolled off the presses in the Chinese capital recently, as part of the government efforts to further educate the public about the cult. The book, entitled ''Analysis on the Fallacies of 'Falun Gong',''is a collection of articles carries by major news media like People's Daily and Xinhua. The articles criticize the cult fallacies with the introduction of social sciences theories in a bid to help Falun Gong practitioners better understand the true nature of Falun Gong and the cult's leader Li Hongzhi. [...entire item...] === Issa Masiya 4. 'Iganga sect leader tied up follower' New Vision (Uganda), Sep. 16, 2000 http://www.newvision.co.ug/ [Story no longer online? Read this] Court in Iganga on Monday heard that Apostle Besweri Kaswabuli, leader of the Issa Massiah religious sect, tied up his enstranged follower with a rope. (...) Franco Muyinda, the LC1 chairman of Bubago village, testified before Grade Two magistrate, Mr James Kaswa that on March 1, 1999 Kaswabuli summoned him to his home. ''On arrival at his home, I found him and two other men standing by a youth who was seated on the ground. I recognised the youth as Daniel Tusubira His hands were tied and his shirt was torn. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Scientology 5. Debate after Sermon for Scientology Victim Die Welt (Germany), Sep. 17, 2000 Translation: CISAR http://cisar.org/000917a.htm [Story no longer online? Read this] There was an intense debate after a memorial service in the Luisen Church in Charlottenburg between Scientologists and the sect commissioner for Berlin and Brandenburg. Gandow gave his sermon in memory of a victim of Scientology in the USA: ''After she attempted to leave, Lisa McPherson was held against her will for 17 days and tormented. She died on December 5, 1999 [typo, was 1995] at the age of 36 years.'' Scientologists had threatened Gandow in advance of the event and defamed him in flyers which they distributed as an ''anti-sect commissioner'' and ''Chief Inquisitor.'' ''Within the past week Scientology has terrorized me by telephone and threatened to disrupt our gathering,'' said Gandow. Scientologists assembled in front of the church and distributed glossy brochures in which they disparaged critics who were involved with the ''Lisa McPherson case.'' In a round of discussion afterwards Scientologists, who had traveled from all over the country, chided Thomas Gandow as a ''liar.'' They said that Lisa McPherson had died as a result of a car accident. Apparently Gandow has not been stopped by these attempts at intimidation from taking further steps against Scientology. In a letter to State Bishop Wolfgang Huber, Scientology, with offices in Munich, demanded the immediate dismissal of the clergyman. Thomas Gandow has initiated legal steps against Scientology. [...entire item...] * The Scientology organization is conducting a hate campaign against Thomas 6. Scientology attracts pickets, suspicion Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP, Sep. 17, 2000 http://www.accessatlanta.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] The only Church of Scientology in Georgia occupies a modest storefront on a busy street in the north Atlanta neighborhood of Dunwoody --- unremarkable except for the four pickets on the sidewalk. ''Scientology: Tax-Exempt UFO Cult,'' reads one protester's homemade sign. The other pickets also wave signs at passing cars: ''Just Say No to Scientology,'' and ''Scientology is a Scam.'' It's not a large or particularly rabid protest, but it seems to have the support of many passers-by who wave, honk their horns or give a thumbs-up as they drive past. The pickets counted about 50 drive-by supporters in an hour on a recent Saturday. (...) Founded in Los Angeles in 1954 by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology calls itself an applied religious philosophy that uses technology to bring about spiritual enlightenment. (...) ''I see frankly nothing religious about what they are doing,'' said Ann Lowe, who runs an anti-Scientology Web site. But the Church of Scientology does not accept criticism without a fight. Lonnie Kliever, a professor of religious studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said Scientologists have been ''very aggressive about defending themselves against their detractors'' and calls them the ''most litigious of any new religious movement.'' The church set up a Web site to spotlight people they call religious bigots. Lowe, the Atlanta picket, is featured on one page: ''She constantly harasses our fellow parishioners,'' the site says. The protest is not limited to Atlanta. Pickets stand outside Scientology churches all over the country, but particularly in Clearwater, Fla., where the church has a religious retreat center. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] * Lonnie Kliever is a cult apologist who comes recommended by the Church Scientologists frequently assault and otherwise harass picketers and other critics: ''Always Attack, Never Defend'' L. Ron Hubbard told Scientologists to be rough on ''attackers.'' Video from a recent picket demonstrates just what he meant. 7. Cheap at the price Salon, Sep. 18, 2000 http://www.salon.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] Earthlink's founder, Sky Dayton, explains why spending $7.5 million for the business.com domain name was a smart deal. Sep. 18, 2000 | Sky Dayton founded his first company before he was old enough to drink. Next, after having chosen technology instead of college in 1988, the Greenwich Village youth turned California surfer founded Earthlink, now the nation's second largest Internet service provider. Earthlink is valued at $1.4 billion, so one can assume Dayton is now a very rich man. But the 29-year-old isn't ready for a break quite yet. Even as he continues to be chairman of the board at Earthlink, Dayton is also setting off a stream of new businesses at eCompanies, the Santa Monica incubator that he and former Disney executive Jake Winebaum founded in June 1999. Dayton says he spends most of his time at his new venture, and one can understand why. The incubator has already founded about a dozen start-ups including Business.com -- which Dayton calls, with perhaps just a touch of over-the-top extravagance, ''the Yahoo of business.'' (...) Still, so far, eCompanies looks more like a Rumplestiltskin than Warren Buffet. Business.com is best known for paying $7.5 million for its domain name -- hardly something to be proud of -- and none of eCompanies' other investments seem poised for break-out, Earthlink-like success. Dayton himself may be best known in certain sectors of the Web for his affiliation with the Church of Scientology -- and Earthlink's most recent headlines have focused on its entanglement with the FBI's plan to place its Carnivore surveillance software on the Earthlink network. Dayton was reluctant to talk about Scientology. But he has no problems being optimistic about eCompanies and was also more than willing to discuss Earthlink's run-in with the FBI. Earthlink spent some time in court trying to keep the FBI from installing Carnivore on its network. What was the problem? Earthlink felt that the Carnivore process was burning down the house to get the nails. It was too excessive. We had always cooperated with law enforcement officials when they asked us to and it worked pretty well. We wanted that process to continue. When we got an order from a judge then we'd comply. But Carnivore went further. The FBI essentially said we want to set up an office inside your data center, and ''oh, we're not going to go through things without getting a search warrant.'' The network is a very complex thing, where small changes can have dramatic effects. And any time you introduce something new to the backbone -- which is essentially what Carnivore does -- there is a chance that you'll run into problems. So we just wanted them to show us a search warrant and then we'd help. Are you satisfied with the deal you ended up making with the FBI? Not necessarily, but it's beyond Earthlink at this point. It's one of those things where we were on the frontier. We have to do what they want whether we like it or not. But clearly the FBI made a mistake choosing the name Carnivore. From a public relations perspective, it was a disaster waiting to happen. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === International Churches of Christ 8. 'Extreme' Campus Group Targets Freshmen Students for Recruitment Charisma News, Sep. 15, 2000 http://www.charismanews.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] A controversial cultlike group that targets freshman students is increasingly active on American campuses. Young adults away from home for the first time are favorites for recruitment by the group, which encourages members to severe ties with their families and put church activities before studies. The International Churches of Christ (ICOC) has been banned at one time or another from at least 39 institutions -- including Harvard -- in the last few years, by officials citing harassment of members and potential recruits, coercive and manipulative behaviors, and overly aggressive recruiting tactics that disrupt campus life. Although the group has grown significantly in the last decade -- with an estimated 130,000 members worldwide -- it has been less successful in keeping recruits. There are reckoned to be two ex-members for every current member. One of those who left is Chris Lee, who was drawn to ICOC while a student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (...) When he questioned some church practices he was stripped of his leadership role. At the same time, his church involvement had affected his studies so badly that he was asked to take a year's leave of absence to get his life together. (...) James White, another former local ICOC leader, said that the church's discipleship teaching series was ''designed to tear you down, then build you up.'' It set quotas for witnessing to others and claimed that ICOC was the true church. ''Most of the rules have a biblical root,'' he said. ''But it gets taken to a really unhealthy, legalistic extreme designed to control people and coerce them into getting results, getting more members and more money for the church.'' Margaret Singer, a retired University of California-Berkeley professor and cult authority, said that ICOC's recruiting and discipling process leads to abusive mind control of young converts, as they are gradually drawn into the group and encouraged to abandon outside relationships. Scores of support groups for ex-members have been started for former members. (...) ICOC spokesman Al Baird said the church did not condone harassment, nor believe in controlling people. ''A lot of times, especially in dealing with college students, it is hard for someone to say no. It can become, in your mind, harassment, but really it's just you not saying no.'' Baird also said that ICOC's teaching and theology was misunderstood. He said that ''many churches do not believe the Bible. But we don't think we are the only way.'' The full story can be read in the October issue of ''Charisma'' magazine, out today. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] * The International Churches of Christ is a cult, both theologically and sociologically. Theologically, it is a cult of Christianity. === Buddhism 9. Leading teacher of vipassana technique draws diverse crowd Dallas Morning News, Sep. 16, 2000 http://195.7.48.75/release/new/dallas/morning/ [Story no longer online? Read this] [...Buddhism...] (...) The teacher was Satya Narayan Goenka of India, one of the preeminent lay meditation leaders in the world. He stopped at the Garland Community Center last month on his first visit to the United States in a decade. (...) Among them was Larry ''Lucky'' Amyett, 60, of Garland. Mr. Amyett said he thought meditation would deepen his spirituality and ease his back pain. But like many others, he didn't know where to begin. ''I'm a Baptist,'' he said. ''I don't know about these things.'' Mr. Goenka didn't talk like any famous Christian preachers. He didn't strut about the stage or raise his voice for drama. He didn't wave a holy book or point his finger at the crowd. He just sat still. And so did the crowd. For an hour, the 76-year-old man barely raised his voice above a whisper. The crowd hung on every word. He told them about vipassana, a type of meditation that takes 10 days to learn. (...) The meditation technique helps eliminate suffering, he said. It helps people face life's tensions in a calm, balanced way. It brings inner peace. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 10. Quiet mind,Open heart Dallas Morning News, Sep. 16, 2000 http://195.7.48.75/release/new/dallas/morning/ [Story no longer online? Read this] KAUFMAN - Forty people turned out for a 10-day course on meditation at a rural retreat. Each agreed to rules more stringent than the Ten Commandments: - No lying. - No stealing. - No sex. - No killing (even cockroaches). - No drugs. - No alcohol. - No touching. - No meals after lunch. - No talking. (...) Any notion that meditation meant a casual vacation was quickly dispelled. (...) In the group was a foot doctor from Arizona, a therapist from Florida and a college student from Texas whose mother feared that she'd gone off and joined a cult. There were Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Jews and agnostics. A few said they were ''spiritual but not religious.'' Meditation has been surging in popularity in the United States since the late 20th century. Christian retreat centers are booming, Jewish mysticism classes are thriving, and Buddhist centers have waiting lists of people hungering to sit in silence. ''We live in stressful times, and not much in our culture teaches us how to relax,'' said Jack Kornfield, a Buddhist author and teacher at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, Calif. ''In meditation you quiet the mind and open the heart.'' With the booming economy, some spiritual centers have all the comforts of a five-star hotel and a price to match. But not the nonprofit Southwest Vipassana Meditation Center in Kauf-man. Students come here to be transformed, not pampered. They aren't charged anything, and teachers and workers aren't paid anything either. The operation functions on donations -about $5,000 monthly - which covers the constant demand for courses. ''Once spirituality becomes commercial, it ceases being spiritual,'' said Satya Narayan Goenka, 76, of India, a preeminent lay teacher of vipassana meditation. His style of vipassana is taught in Kaufman and four other centers in the United States. Vipassana means ''to see things as they really are.'' The method, part of the Theravada Buddhist tradition, also is known as ''insight meditation.'' Practitioners trace the technique back 2,500 years to India to Siddhartha Gautama, known as ''the Buddha.'' Teachers differ in how they approach vipassana. Mr. Goenka's method is considered more austere than others, which is part of the draw for some students. The center's twice-monthly courses typically attract 40 to 60 people from around the country. ''Goenka's really very hard-line,'' said Don Morreale of Denver, author of The Complete Guide to Buddhist America. ''It's all silence. It's all sitting. There are gentler approaches. One doesn't have to go to boot camp to be spiritual.'' (...) The students were told to close their eyes and concentrate on their nostrils. Whenever their minds drifted, they were to acknowledge it and return to their nostrils. ''Don't interfere with the natural flow of the breath. ...Your role is just to observe the reality as it is. ...Pure breath. Nothing else but breath.'' Mr. Goenka said vipassana is not a religion but a process of purifying the mind. The goal is to liberate the self from suffering in order to live a happy life. Focusing on the breath calms the mind and makes it a tool for self-analysis, he said. By practicing long hours, students develop a keen ability to keep their attention fixed on the object of their natural breath. ''This is not a breathing exercise. ...Don't try to regulate your breath. If it is deep, you are aware that it is deep. If it is shallow, you are aware that it is shallow.'' (...) At the end of the first day, the students were visibly exhausted. Darkness had fallen, and a thumbnail moon glowed in the sky. Shortly after 10 p.m., the students shuffled off to bed. ''The first day is over. You have nine more left. ... To get the best result of your stay here you have to work very hard. Diligently. Ardently. Patiently. But persistently.'' (...) ''A friend had told me to meditate,'' Mr. Goenka said. ''I hesitated because I come from a strong conservative Hindu family and the technique is Buddhist. Later I learned that nobody tries to convert - it is pure science of mind over matter. It has nothing to do with dogma or blind faith.'' In 1955, he enrolled in a vipassana course taught by Sayagyi U Ba Khin, a renowned meditation master who died in 1971. Mr. Goenka's headaches disappeared. (...) Mr. Goenka has been teaching vi-passana since 1969. He oversees more than 80 meditation centers worldwide and has taken the technique into prisons. Today, he treads in the same circles as the Dalai Lama and other spiritual leaders of the world, but he refuses titles or gestures of devotion. The day he visited Kaufman, he wore a long-sleeved shirt and a sweater vest. In a gentle voice, he explained the technique. The first three days of the course, students focus only on their nostrils. On the fourth day, vipassana begins. Students move their attention systematically from their head to feet and feet to head, observing whatever sensations occur in each part of the body. Every sensation is observed and accepted dispassionately. With practice, sources of mental agitation - memories, emotions, dreams - will manifest and be accompanied by physical sensation, he said. Students observe the sensations and learn to accept their temporal nature. Over time, the agitation gives way to inner peace. (...) Web site: www.siri.dhamma.org [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Catholicism 11. Chinese Catholic Arrests Reported New York Times/AP, Sep. 17, 2000 http://www.nytimes.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese authorities arrested an 81-year-old Roman Catholic bishop and beat and detained other worshippers in the country's underground Catholic church, an advocacy group said Sunday. Zeng Jingmu, the frail underground Roman Catholic bishop of Yu Jiang, in eastern China's Jiangxi province, was taken from his home by police on Sept. 14, the U.S.-based Cardinal Kung Foundation said. (...) The foundation also reported pressure on Catholics by authorities in neighboring Fujian province, whose active and growing Catholic community has been subject to strong government repression. (...) Joseph Kung, president of the foundation, said the repression should move the U.S. Senate to deny China permanent normal trading status when it votes on Tuesday. He urged a top Vatican official, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, to protest the clampdown to Chinese officials. (...) The foundation did not provide details about the arrests, but unregistered worship, often in private homes, routinely prompts such crackdowns. China's communist leaders set up the state church in 1951 and ordered Catholics to break with the Vatican to remove foreign influence. The government and church still refuse to allow the pope to appoint bishops, but worshippers and priests frequently move between the official and underground churches. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 12. Arrest Last Week of Catholic Bishop in China New York Times, Sep. 17, 2000 http://www.nytimes.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] BEIJING, Sept. 17 - An 81-year-old Roman Catholic bishop in southern China, who spent a total more than 30 years in prison for his loyalty to the Vatican, was re-arrested last week, a Catholic foundation in the United States said today. If confirmed, the latest arrest of bishop Zeng Jingmu of Jianxi province is a particular setback for the Clinton administration and a slap in the face for the Vatican. In early 1998, as President Clinton prepared to visit China, American officials sought Bishop Zeng's early release from a labor camp, where he had been sent in 1995 for holding unauthorized religious services. When he was freed in May, 1998, six months before his three-year sentence expired, President Clinton and other officials called this a hopeful sign that Mr. Clinton's policy of constructive engagement with China was ''bearing fruit,'' in the words of James R. Sasser, the AMerican ambassador to China at that time. Since his release, Bishop Zeng, who is described as frail by associates, has reportedly been kept under virtual house arrest, with tight police surveillance. But at midnight on Sept. 14, close to 60 security agents surrounded the bishop's house, entered it and seized him, according to Joseph Kung, head of the Cardinal Kung Foundation in Stamford Conn., which publicizes the persecution of China's so-called underground Church. (...) Since Bishop Zeng was ordained as a priest in 1949, the year the Communists won power in China, he has been one of the most steadfast opponents of the official ''patriotic'' church, which accepts the supremacy of the Communist Party and rejects the Pope's right to select bishops. Between 1955 and 1995, according to the Kung Foundation, he spent more than 30 years in prison. In the early 1990's, he became known for leading huge open-air masses on a mountaintop, attended by tens of thousands of worshipers until the authorities clamped down. The official church has about 70 bishops and claims five million members, while Vatican officials say that from five million to ten million Chinese follow the unauthorized Roman Catholic church. In some regions, the two groups co-exist, if uneasily, and many priests privately admit to having divided loyalties. But in regions with high concentrations of Catholics, relations between the government and the underground church are tense, according to the United States State Department's Sept. 5 report on religious freedom. (...) The Vatican and China broke off relations in the early 1950's over issues of papal authority and religious freedom. The two sides have recently engaged in secret negotiations, but conciliation will be difficult since the Chinese Government does not accept foreign control over any social organization, while Roman Catholics see papal authority as a basic tenet of the faith. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 13. Critics fault timing, tone of Vatican paper Dallas Morning News, Sep. 16, 2000 http://195.7.48.75/ [Story no longer online? Read this] The Vatican was wagging its finger at Roman Catholic theologians and not condemning other Christians or non-Christians last week when it issued a controversial declaration, Catholic scholars say. But other people saw it differently. ''Vatican declares only the Roman Catholic Church brings salvation,'' blared a headline from a Presbyterian news service. (...) ''There's a temptation to say it takes us back to the 1950s and is regressive, but that isn't fair,'' said the Rev. Richard McBrien, a theologian at the University of Notre Dame. ''It doesn't repudiate Vatican II. It doesn't say non-Christians can't be saved. Many a Baptist would think that the document is too liberal.'' The timing and tone of the document are the problem, said the Rev. Ki-lian McDonnell, a Catholic theologian, monk and founder of the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research in Collegeville, Minn. ''We're kidding ourselves if we don't think this is difficult,'' he said. ''It's like a person who is married listing all the things troubling them about her spouse. If you list them together, it makes it seem pretty bad - maybe stronger than it need be.'' The first part of the document focuses on Jesus as the ''Word of God made man for the salvation of all.'' It affirms the Nicene Creed, which many Christians recite in Sunday worship. And it says the church's mission to proclaim Jesus as ''the way, the truth and the life.'' But is Jesus the only way? ''It doesn't say that other religions of the world are all wet,'' said Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio, who teaches theology at the University of Dallas. ''It says there are great glimmers of truth there. But it's Christ who completes everything that is great and true in all religious systems.'' The document criticizes relativism, which it says reduces Jesus to being merely a great teacher alongside founders of other religions. ''The deepest truth about God and the salvation of man shines forth in Christ,'' the document stated. Father McBrien said the Vatican is particularly concerned about the writings of theologians in Asian countries where Catholics are a minority. The scholars are trying to explain Jesus in a way that would make sense to non-Christians there. ''The Vatican has been nervous about this,'' Father McBrien said. ''They are afraid that theologians are watering down the unique Christian message and making Christ a generic figure.'' (...) Rabbi A. James Rudin, spokesman for the American Jewish Committee in New York, said the tone of the document was ''harsh, off-putting and worrisome.'' He said Jews fear that gains made in interreligious dialogue with Rome are being undercut. ''The pope is old and frail and there's obviously a power struggle going on inside the Vatican right now,'' he said ''This document has tremendous implications for the future of the papacy. ''Is it going to be a post-Vatican II church or a retro church?'' Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the document could be hurtful to interfaith relations. ''We won't debate them - it's not productive,'' he said. ''In general, Muslims revere Jesus as a prophet and have nothing but the highest respect for him. But we don't believe he is the son of God.'' (...) The second section of the document deals with the relations of Catholics to other Christians. It repeats the teaching of the Second Vatican Council that Jesus founded one church, which ''continues to exist fully only in the Catholic Church.'' ''This document reflects the increasing conservatism of the papacy,'' said Dr. Lonnie Kliever, professor of religious studies at Southern Methodist University. ''It's a real retreat. Ratzinger is a staunch conservative reacting to what he sees as the liberalizing excesses in the church.'' Father McDonnell, who has led Catholic dialogues with non-Catholics, said Cardinal Ratzinger and Pope John Paul II are at the end of their ministry and likely wanted to reiterate certain teachings. But the wording of the document was as shocking to many Catholics as it was to others, he said. ''The Roman Catholic Church doesn't place herself on an equal level with other churches,'' Father McDonnell said. ''But it doesn't say that Catholics are superior. It says that the institution that Christ founded exists in a concrete way in the Roman Catholic Church.'' [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 14. Vatican document painful to many Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, Sep. 15, 2000 [URL removed because it currently refers to inappropriate content]/ [Story no longer online? Read this] ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- To paraphrase Shakespeare, ''Methinks they doth protest too much.'' That's the only logical conclusion one can reach in reading the most recent statements from the Vatican concerning who is, and who is not, a ''proper'' Christian. Last week, the Vatican reasserted its long-held position that non-Roman Catholic Christians are somehow deficient in their beliefs, and that Protestant churches are not ''proper churches'' because neither the churches nor the people are under the leadership of Rome. (...) But for me, as a former Roman Catholic who was born and bred to that faith and who chose intentionally to leave that faith, ''Dominus Iesus'' is nothing less than a slap in the face, meant to tell me, once more, that I am a lesser creature. It's hard to know exactly why the Vatican would come out with this statement right now. Speculation could center on the advancing age of Pope John Paul II, who is trying to solidify his teachings in the years remaining to him. (...) Perhaps, too, this document, which bears the imprimatur of the pope, actually is the work of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which once upon a time used to be called the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Ratzinger's signature is on the document, and, in a letter to Catholic bishops worldwide, he claims the pope has approved the document and wanted its contents to be accepted by the entire church. It wouldn't be the first time that Ratzinger has issued a document that many find offensive, to say the least. (...) Jesus clearly and decisively proclaimed, ''I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'' Jesus DIDN'T say, ''Whoever is seated on the papal throne in Rome gets to determine who is and who isn't 'proper' in their beliefs.'' (...) For the past three decades, the Christian churches of the world have engaged in ecumenical discussions meant to bring us closer. Many of the Protestant churches have signed agreements for partial or full communion, meaning that we recognize that no one church is superior to another. The Roman Catholic Church has a long history of being involved in these talks all across the board and, until ''Dominus Iesus'' was issued last week, seemed to be supportive. Now, those of us who are not Catholic have to wonder: What does the Vatican really believe? Is this statement merely a defense of the faith, a way of saying, ''Hey, we aren't going to get too liberal in believing who is and who isn't saved?'' Or is it, as it seems, a way of saying, ''WE are the way and the truth and life. And the rest of you can either join us or be damned.'' Either way, ''Dominus Iesus'' is offensive and hurtful. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Mormonism 15. Heaven & Earth: Book About Jewish-Mormon Differences Is Painfully Honest Salt Lake Tribune/Religion News Service, Sep. 16, 2000 by A. James Rudin http://www.sltrib.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] Retired business executive Frank J. Johnson, a high priest of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Rabbi William J. Leffler were Dartmouth College roommates in the 1950s. The men have maintained their friendship over the years and together have written a fascinating new book, Jews and Mormons: Two Houses of Israel (Ktav Publishing).(...) Unfortunately, many authors of comparative religion books frequently dumb down their ideas into a mushy pabulum-like text, similar to a computer default setting. Such joint efforts usually feature tired clichés like ''All religions have the same basic beliefs.'' (...) In Jews and Mormons, Johnson and Leffler have written a different kind of book that sharply focuses on the differences between the two groups. Each author has written separate chapters describing Judaism and Mormonism, but they also reveal their personal faith commitments as well -- commitments that frequently clash. Leffler, a Reform rabbi, acknowledges in the book's preface that he ''writes from a liberal Jewish perspective that may not always reflect a traditional understanding of some aspects of Judaism.'' (...) Leffler describes his progressive approach toward Judaism as ''both/and,'' and it reflects the views of many Jews today. (...) Johnson is an adult convert to Mormonism, and his writing clearly shows it. Indeed, his spiritual conversion is featured in a church film shown on the grounds of the Washington, D.C., area Mormon temple. Not surprisingly, Johnson writes with an evangelical fervor that stresses the fundamental teachings and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In sharp contrast to Leffler, Johnson's Mormonism is an ''either/or'' religion: It is either totally true in a literal historical sense or it is not. He approvingly quotes LDS Elder William Bradford, who in October declared, ''In every case which confronts us in life there is either a right way or a wrong way to proceed.'' (...) The authors stress the importance of post-biblical sacred literature for both communities. For Jews it is the Oral Law, including the Talmud, while the translation of the buried ''book written upon gold plates'' Joseph Smith discovered near his New York state home in the 1820s is today the sacred Book of Mormon. The authors correctly note that Mormon-Jewish relations are even more complicated than Jewish encounters with other Christians. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] * Mormonism is a cult of Christianity. As Mormons follow an invented Christ vastly different from the Jesus revealed in the Bible, they can not honestly call themselves Christians - followers of Christ. === Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 16. Polygamist sect growing more reclusive Dallas Morning News/AP, Sep. 17, 2000 http://www.dallasnews.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] COLORADO CITY, Ariz. - Since mainstream Mormon leaders abandoned polygamy in 1890, the people of Colorado City and Hildale, Utah, have lived as pariahs in the desert. They have been recluses in these isolated, joined towns on the Utah-Arizona border, just south of Zion National Park, practicing ''The Principle'' of plural marriage. In recent months, the Mormon splinter group's members have withdrawn even more, following edicts from its leadership to pull their children out of school and cut off communications with outsiders and former church members. Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints devote their lives to Rulon Jeffs, a man in his 90s who does most of his communication to his flock through son Warren. Church members say they are opting for home-schooling for the same reason as thousands of parents across the country - to control what their children learn. Others say it's preparation for the apocalypse. (...) The church leaders can flex a lot of muscle to make sure their wishes are followed. Members who cross leaders can be excommunicated from the church, losing their chance at salvation. Apostates, as those who leave the church are called, are shunned in their community and can lose their jobs. Moreover, in 1942, church members signed over their homes and land to a church-run trust called the United Effort Plan. Today, the trust holds tens of millions of dollars worth of assets. Church members don't speak to outsiders, meaning only dissidents will discuss the inner workings of the FLDS. Church attorney Scott Berry says apostates have an ax to grind and distort the facts. (...) Lenore Holm refused to allow her 16-year-old daughter to become the second wife of a 39-year-old man. As a result, she says church leaders are trying to evict her, her husband and her 10 children from their home. (...) It's just one of a series of lawsuits leveled against the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a polygamist group that owns 95 percent of the homes in Colorado City and adjoining Hildale, Utah, through its trust, the United Effort Plan. The former members suing the church say dissension has been on the rise since Warren Jeffs, the spokesman for the church's patriarch, Rulon Jeffs, returned to town from Salt Lake City about two years ago. Warren and Rulon Jeffs refused to be interviewed, but in a written statement they said the church does not condone young women getting married. Ms. Holm likens what's going on to David Koresh's Branch Davidian sect. ''It's felt more and more like a cult,'' she said. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] The idea that apostates ''have an ax to grind and distort the facts'' is ahttp://www.apologeticsindex.org/c59.html [Story no longer online? Read this] === Attleboro Cult 17. Expert says group fit definition of a cult Boston.com/AP, Sep. 16, 2000 http://www.boston.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] According to religion experts, a group is a cult when it exerts total control over the decisions and behavior of its members, when individuality and free will are gone. Bob Pardon, a former Congregational minister who studies cults, was assigned by a juvenile court judge to research a group founded by Roland Robidoux in southeastern Massachusetts. After interviewing dozens of current and former sect members, their friends and relatives, he became convinced the group fit the definition. However, he said, the Robidoux group was unusual in one respect. It was never evangelistic; it never tried to recruit new members outside of ones who married into the two families involved. Pardon helped form the New England Institute for Religious Research 10 years ago, partly, he says, because he lost a number of parishioners to extreme groups. He now investigates cults as far away as Australia and estimates there are thousands of small cults in the United States. ''Anybody can get caught up in this situation,'' Pardon says. ''Nobody wakes up and decides, 'I want to join a cult.' You find a place where you can serve God.'' However, he says, ''When you have someone with a direct pipeline to God, and there are no checks and balances, if you don't have a cult now, you'll have one tomorrow.'' (...) The Robidoux group, he says, started out benign. But its leader had been previously involved with an extreme group, the Worldwide Church of God. Sometimes, Pardon says, people who leave a highly controlling group without getting counseling find another group or start their own. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 18. Forced prenatal care Salon, Sep. 15, 2000 http://www.salon.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] [Attleboro Cult} Rebecca Corneau may be a religious extremist whose gross negligence allowed her last baby to die. But experts still contend she has the right to do whatever she pleases with her fetus. (...) The group of a dozen or so adults from three interrelated families rejects most aspects of mainstream society and governmental authority, adhering strictly to what they interpret as the tenets of the Old Testament. They home school their 13 children. The men sport long beards while the women often wear dresses that cover them from neck to toe. And perhaps most significantly, they don't believe in conventional medicine, regarding it as blasphemous. ''Only one holds the key to life and death, and that's God Almighty himself,'' Rebecca's husband, David, was quoted as saying by the Washington Post. It is this belief that has made Corneau the center of a roiling debate about the rights of women to refuse medical care on behalf of their unborn children. Now eight months pregnant and awaiting the birth of her child under the watchful eyes of armed guards in a medical facility, she has become the unlikely poster child for pro-choice activists and an eerie specter of things to come for medical ethicists who are concerned the case forecasts an erosion of important individual rights. How Corneau found herself at the center of this imbroglio is a strange tale. Despite her group's contrarian ways, they had managed to maintain a peaceful, uneventful existence in their ordinary neighborhood. Then last November an ex-member turned in a fistful of diary entries (by whom it is unclear) indicating that the group sat by and watched Corneau's last child, a boy named Jeremiah, choke to death within moments of birth. Group members say Jeremiah was stillborn. The diary entries also suggested that another member's child had starved to death after sect members received word that God wanted the baby to get by just on breast milk. (...) Since then, the story has unraveled into ever weirder iterations as county officials who sought to censure the sect began to exhibit their own idiosyncrasies. After the court convened a special grand jury to look into the allegations, the group's men refused to answer questions and ended up being cited for contempt and thrown in prison. Months dragged by, and still the investigation failed to turn up enough evidence make a criminal case. Then this summer Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth P. Nasif declared the group members unfit parents and removed the 13 children from their custody. At each step along the way, investigators have said they hoped one of the sect members would crack and start talking about how the babies died and where they had been buried. But so far not one member has offered any significant testimony. Investigators fell back on their only evidence, poring over journal entries in search of clues into the sect's isolated lives. According to local press reports, they often referred to the Bible to interpret the cryptic journal entries. ''Of 4 billion inhabitants presently breathing, only a handful are being trained,'' one entry says ominously. ''The rest are tools of Satan to try and destroy God's anointed.'' Nasif answered the sect members verse for verse, thrashing the sect's leader with a quote from the Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 23: '''I am against those who prophesy false dreams,''' he said. ''I want you to think about that.'' (...) On Aug. 31, Nasif ordered Corneau into a guarded medical facility where officials can be on hand -- and medical professionals can be on call -- to protect the fetus the instant it is born into the rights society accords children. (...) As soon as word of the ruling got out, abortion activists from around the country appeared on Bristol County's doorstep, ready to argue for the rights of a religious recluse with no use for medicine or feminism. In the weird world of abortion politics, the most unlikely people become heroes. Because officials often test the limits of their power on people at the fringes of society, activists frequently find themselves standing up for the rights of crackheads, welfare mothers, cultists and all sorts of people they'd never talk to over a bowl of nuts in a bar. (...) While huge swaths of society believe a woman should not be allowed to harm a fetus, the law at the moment says that not only is abortion legal (within certain limits depending on state laws), women also have a right to refuse medically necessary care, to smoke, drink and do any number of potentially harmful things while pregnant. In cases where pregnant crack addicts have been locked up to protect the fetus from the woman's drug habits, the courts have ruled that a woman cannot be denied her liberty to protect the fetus. By the same token, in cases where doctors went to court to force women to have ''medically necessary'' Cesarean sections and other procedures, appeals courts unfailingly have ruled that a woman has the right to refuse care -- even when doing so might harm the fetus. Abortion foes say Nasif's decision is a triumph for those who believe the fetus deserves more rights and protections. But Bristol County officials say Corneau's case is not about abortion, a woman's right to choose or anything besides Corneau and the fetus inside of her. Roe vs. Wade ''doesn't even come into play,'' says Sirois of the district attorney's office. ''It's not a cause, it's one particular case. We're doing this to protect the child. That was our goal from day one. To protect the unborn child.'' (...) Miraculously, the abortion foe and abortion rights camps do manage to agree on one thing: The battle over Corneau's fetus shows without question that the argument over fetal rights is nowhere near settled. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Witchcraft 19. Sorcery charge: police rescue four villagers The Hindu (India), Sep. 17, 2000 http://www.indiaserver.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] NIZAMABAD, SEPT. 16. Timely intervention by the police averted what would have turned out to be yet another killing of four innocent persons, accused of practising sorcery in Amrad village under Makloor police station, about 15 km from the district headquarters, on Saturday afternoon. Barely had the outrage over the brutal killing of a 70-year-old man in the name of practising witchcraft in Chinnapur, 5 km away from Amrad, had subsided, attempts were made to eliminate four persons on similar charges. Had the police not got information in the nick of time, the four persons would certainly have lost their lives as the irate villagers, numbering 400, were preparing to make the innocent hostages confess that they practised sorcery. (...) The SP directed the police to organise a health camp in the village on Monday and also hold a cultural performance by the police kala jagruti brudnam to create awareness among the villagers that there was no such practice as witchcraft. The police officials felt that instead of arresting the villagers, awareness campaign and health camp would go a long way to clear the doubts in their minds about the witchcraft. During enquiries, the police came to know that the villagers had indeed planned to kill 10 persons, who were identified as practising witchcraft, on Vinayaka Chaturthi day. But they called off their plans after learning that over 100 residents of Chinnapur were arrested and lodged in jail in connection with the burning alive of an old man. As the people in the village continued to fall sick, they decided it was high time, the alleged sorcerers were eliminated. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 2. Substitute is fired over note on witches Indianapolis Star, Sep. 16, 2000 http://www.starnews.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] GREENWOOD, Ind. -- A substitute teacher who gave fourth-graders a ''how to become a witch'' note this week has been fired from Greenwood Community Schools. (...) Garvey said students at Southwest Elementary School asked the teacher on Monday -- her first day working for the district -- about a story they were reading that mentioned witches. Then the popular movie The Blair Witch Project came up. Finally, during recess, the teacher typed up a quarter-page summary on how to become a witch. When the children came back to class, she gave the list to six of them, Garvey said. The superintendent refused to identify the fired substitute and wouldn't say what tips the teacher suggested. ''What you really want is a copy of this to print on the front page, and I don't want thousands of people seeing this. It's inappropriate,'' he said. ''It's kind of like saying, OK, a kid brought a bomb to school -- and here's the recipe.'' [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Occult 21. I chat with Princess Diana all the time Daily Express (England), Sep. 16, 2000 http://www.lineone.net/ [Story no longer online? Read this] For a policeman, the methods which Keith Charles uses to solve crimes are somewhat unorthodox. But then, for some of the crimes that he has set out to investigate, he needs all the help he can get. Charles has set himself up as a psychic to the stars and now regularly converses with those celebrities who have passed over to the other side. (...) Charles, 50, was the only member of the British police force who was also a registered medium. Recently retired after 30 years of service, the former CID Detective Sergeant is now able to concentrate full-time on his conversations with those beyond the grave. In his new book, Psychic Detective, he attempts to solve some of the most high-profile cases in recent years. (...) Over the years, Charles learned to harness and use his gift to help with his investigations. He would get regular visits from one or more of his spirit advisers - who include a Mongolian warrior called Kurinda, a young Spanish monk called Tobias and an Indian healing man called Painted Horse - all of whom would help to guide him towards the truth. On more than one occasion, he claims, the spirits on the other side have even given him the name of the perpetrator of a crime. While, as Charles acknowledges, none of his psychic evidence can be used in court, it has proved a useful skill. ''I am, after all, a trained police officer,'' he says. ''I am used to dealing with facts, in things which are black and white. I have always, since I was a child, known that I could hear and see things that others could not. So when, at 30 I decided to take my mediumship, I learned how to question what I was hearing and who I was seeing. ''The police have a register of psychics that they trust and I am on that list. Once or twice a year, my services were certainly called upon though usually in cases where every other lead had failed.'' Since retiring, the number of police investigations he is involved in has increased. As well as his dedicated work with the Spiritualist Church, Charles also uses his gift to help detectives trying to solve particularly difficult cases. (...) However, as with so many of his psychic leads, Charles was never to hear anything back. ''The only thing I can do is keep passing this information on. Until psychics are taken more seriously by the force, then people like me are not going to be of much use. So often, I am contacted years after a crime has taken place, when vital evidence has already disappeared. I hope that one day, I will be brought in at the start of an investigation so that I have the chance to help.'' [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] * The psychics: can they help you? === Hate Groups: Aryan Nations 22. Aryan Nations May Meet in Pa. AOL/AP, Sep, 15, 2000 http://my.aol.com/news/ [Story no longer online? Read this] SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - Facing eviction from its compound in northern Idaho, the Aryan Nations may move its annual white supremacist gathering to Pennsylvania next year. The news was posted on the neo-Nazi group's Web site Friday, a week after the group was slapped with a $6.3 million judgment in a civil lawsuit. The compound is scheduled to be seized on Sept. 29 and the assets sold to satisfy a portion of the judgment due to two people who sued the group after they were assaulted by Aryan Nations' guards. The notice was the first indication that the lawsuit, brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center, may drive the group out of Idaho. (...) Kreis wrote that if the compound is lost, the Aryan Nations ``National Congress 2001'' would be planned for a site near Ulysses, Pa. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Hate Groups: Miscellaneous 23. Verdict set table for learning The Spokesman-Review, Sep. 17, 2000 http://www.spokane.net/ [Story no longer online? Read this] Coeur d'Alene _ Attending Saturday's Diversity in the Classroom conference was more productive for a local elementary school teacher than standing in front of Kootenai County's courthouse to protest at the recent Aryan Nations trial. ''This is my way of representing the human (rights) task force and what they stand for,'' said Kim Yearsley, a second-grade teacher at Hayden Lake Elementary. Yearsley was one of 200 educators and students from Idaho and Washington who attended the free conference at North Idaho College on Friday and Saturday. The event was organized by the Human Rights Education Foundation and Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. Although planned for months, the conference occurred shortly after the recent $6.3 million verdict against the Aryan Nations leadership, found responsible for an attack on two Kootenai County residents in 1998. The jury's decision and the conference's topic of racism and diversity hit home for local educators, who learned new ways to teach diversity and tolerance in their classrooms. (...) Speakers from across the country led workshops and spoke on issues that included tolerance, racism and people of Hispanic origin -- and shows that Idaho's Hispanics now make up 7.4 percent of the population. Overall, the percentage of Idahoans who are neither Hispanic nor members of racial minorities is 89.5 percent. (...) This weekend in Coeur d'Alene, hundreds of teachers from Idaho and Washington learned about diversity education. Next week in Boise, Shuler's group will break ground for the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial, the first permanent memorial in the United States to the spirited young Holocaust victim, and the spark for a statewide effort to educate children about tolerance. (...) The poll results showed stronger support for diversity in northern and southwestern Idaho, and less support in the eastern and southeastern regions of the state. In fact, though the regional differences weren't large, North Idaho had the strongest support for more diversity of any of the regions, at 58.6 percent. Eastern Idaho was the lowest, at 48.8 percent. North Idaho is home to the Aryan Nations, a small hate group that's attracted national attention and helped taint the state's reputation. But local residents have spoken out strongly against the neo-Nazi group's message. (...) The poll also showed that more-educated respondents were more likely to favor diversity, as were younger and middle-aged respondents. Those least likely to respond favorably were people who earn less than $15,000 a year and those over age 65. Peter Rose, a professor of sociology and anthropology at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., said, ''It just sounds so familiar to me, this kind of phenomenon. It's troubling, but it's not surprising. One would hope that we would be farther along.'' Rose, who has done extensive research on diversity issues, said he'd expect similar poll results in Vermont, which the Census ranks as the whitest state in the nation -- despite that state's more liberal politics. Rose said the resistance to more diversity comes from the groups he terms the ''once-hads and the never-hads,'' people who are struggling and feel threatened by newcomers. ''My own research says people who saw themselves as middle class, fairly secure, were much more amenable to all kinds of changes in communities, including greater ethnic diversity,'' Rose said. ''People who are insecure don't want anything to make them more insecure.'' The poll also asked Idahoans whether they resent changes caused by newcomers to the state. The results were nearly identical to the diversity question, with 42.4 percent saying they're resentful. Said Newhall, ''American history is filled with examples in which a willingness to incorporate new ideas, new traditions has led to strength and national health.'' (...) Both education and exposure to people from other cultures are key to overcoming resistance to increasing diversity, Rose said. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 24. Few Changes at Bob Jones University Las Vegas Sun/AP, Sep. 16, 2000 http://www.lasvegassun.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) -- The interracial dating ban is gone and students use a new electronic system to sign out of the Bob Jones University campus. But little else has changed as a new academic year begins at the Christian fundamentalist school. Female students still must wear knee-length skirts and dress modestly; males must wear dress pants and ties before lunchtime. Any off-campus dating requires a chaperone. And romantic physical contact, including holding hands, is still prohibited. (...) In the wake of the controversy, the university lifted its interracial ban. The ban was implemented in the 1950s to prevent Asians and whites from dating. Blacks were not admitted to the school until 1970. Buchanan, a Roman Catholic who has spoken at Bob Jones University before, said he was offended by the attacks on the school that followed Bush's visit. (...) The school, founded in Florida in 1927 by the grandfather of Bob Jones III, wants people to understand there are Biblical reasons for the school's positions and beliefs, Pait said. ''They can't walk away thinking this is a hotbed of hate,'' he said. (...) And when Jones announced the school would drop the interracial dating ban, it silenced many of the critics, Pait said. The Internal Revenue Service moved to revoke the school's tax-exempt status in 1970, on grounds that it discriminated by refusing to admit black students and by banning interracial dating. After the school admitted blacks, the IRS said the dating policy still constituted discrimination. The school fought the IRS action in court, but eventually forfeited its tax-exempt status in 1983. The school said it would continue to forfeit its status, despite the interracial-dating reversal. (...) The university also sells its curriculum for kindergarten through high school to more than 17,000 home-schooling families across the country through its HomeSat satellite network. Pait said the biggest complaint from students this year is not about the restrictions, nor about the need to sign out to leave campus -- though a new computer system makes that easier. It's that the new white tile plaza in front of the dining hall is too bright, he said. Jones was unavailable last week for an interview and all questions were referred to Pait. The school also did not allow interviews with students. However, one student who attends the high school also on campus said it was a big change from public school. Paul Graganella, a 16-year-old sophomore, isn't fond of having to wear dress pants and tie, nor that his music selection is restricted to classical or Christian. ''I think they're too strict on some things,'' he said. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] * There is no Biblical foundation for racism. === Other News 25. Paisley 'misled' MEP over cult leader The Sunday Times (England), Sep. 17, 2000 http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/ [Story no longer online? Read this] Mary Banotti, the Dublin MEP, has accused the Rev Ian Paisley of being in a ''conspiracy of silence'' about the background of a French cult leader living in Northern Ireland. Axel Schmidt, a member of La Citadelle, an evangelical and Protestant group, has been convicted of child cruelty and faces extradition to France. Banotti, the European parliament's mediator for transnationally abducted children, has said the Democratic Unionist party leader did not tell her the full facts when he sought her support for Delwin Jones, Schmidt's wife, who is in-volved in a custody battle with the French authorities. Schmidt left France in 1995 to escape an 18-month sentence for cruelty to two 15-year-old boys. He was living in Carrickfergus until he was arrested on a French extradition warrant this month. He was taken to London and remanded on bail. He hopes to return to Northern Ireland this week. Jones, who is also living in Carrickfergus, was arrested in July on an extradition warrant issued after she removed her young daughter from France in defiance of a court order. Schmidt's trial in France heard testimony from children that he had beaten two boys. Janine Tavernier, chairman of the National Union for the Defence of the Family and of Individuals, a French anti-cult group, said: ''Axel Schmidt was the worst - he was beating up the children.'' [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] * France's Union Nationale des Associations de Défense de la Famille et de l'Individu, a coalition of anti-cult groups, is targeted by the Scientology Organization and other extremist groups. 26. Church in Scam New York Daily News, Sep. 13, 2000 http://www.nydailynews.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] A phony Brooklyn church swindled almost 500 people out of thousands of dollars by promising to get them legal immigrant status, authorities charged today. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes accused two church elders from the Faith Dynamics Center on Flatbush Ave. with taking a $1,000 each from hundreds of immigrants seeking permanent residency visas. The immigrants, mostly from Trinidad and the West Indies, already held legitimate visitor's status. The so-called church, Hynes said, promised that it would refile the visa applications under the guise of ''religious worker,'' a recognized INS status for permanent residency. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Hoaxes, Fakes & Flakes 27. 'I stalled Olympic cauldron': Uri Geller Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), Sep. 16, 2000 http://www.olympics.smh.com.au/ [Story no longer online? Read this] Spoon-bending psychic Uri Geller claims to have solved the mystery of what stopped the Olympic cauldron. Geller said he had concentrated his mind to make the Olympic flame to get stuck as it was winched to the top of Stadium Australia during the opening ceremony. He said he was at his home in Sonning-on-Thames near Reading in Britain, when he focused on the flame for 11 minutes as part of his vision of global nuclear disarmament. The crown of the Olympic cauldron stalled soon after being lit by Olympic athlete Cathy Freeman and rising out of a pool of water. After an anxious wait of around three minutes, the cauldron was raised by hydraulic lift to its final position. Geller claims to have stopped Big Ben twice and has made millions out of his spoon-bending activities. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Religious Freedom / Religious Intolerance 28. N.J. lawmaker drawn into religious Web site squabble Record Searchlight/Scripps Howard News Service, Sep. 13, 2000 http://www.redding.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] [Religious Freedom / Religious Intolerance] WASHINGTON - An advocacy group dedicated to ending persecution of Christians around the world has removed several anti-Muslim remarks from its Internet presentations after Islamic leaders complained the group was hate-mongering. American Muslims also asked Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., to ''repudiate'' his past support of the Washington-based International Christian Concern organization. The lawmaker has disavowed the Internet remarks, but also promised to support the group's global human-rights efforts in the future. The Christian group had placed essays on the Internet that included claims that African Americans are attracted to Islam because of ''two primeval lusts: power and possessions'' and that ''it is dangerous to believe that Islam and Christianity are at all similar and that both worship the same God.'' The world's two largest faiths are ''diametrically opposed'' even though both worship the God of Abraham, the group had said. ''We don't have any problems when someone voices opinions about political events. But this group was talking about Islam itself,'' said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. ''They weren't talking about so-called radical Islam, but the run-of-the-mill Muslim.'' The incident is the latest in a movement by leaders of the 6 million-strong American Islamic community to keep religious tensions in other parts of the world from harming interfaith relations in the United States. Steve Snyder, founder of International Christian Concern, placed a series of essays he wrote about Islam on his group's Web site. ''At first glance, Islam can appear to be a wholesome religion,'' he wrote. ''However, there is a dark side to Islam that is often distorted or omitted.'' His essays were removed from the Web site this week. (...) For International Christian Concern: http://www.persecution.org .For Council on American-Islamic Relations: http://www.cair-net.org .[...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] * Islam is not similar to Christianity, and does not worship the 29. Religious Freedom in Russia New York Times, Sep. 16, 2000 (Opinion) http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/16/opinion/16SAT2.html [Story no longer online? Read this] [Religious Freedom / Religious Intolerance] This year in the Russian town of Kostroma, a panel of university professors, local government officials, a psychiatrist, a psychologist and a lawyer met to ponder whether two local Pentecostal churches should be legally registered. After watching a video of church services, the group concluded that the church leaders used ''psychological manipulation.'' The two churches were not allowed to register, and court proceedings are beginning to ban them. If this happens, their members would be able to meet in a home to pray, but they will be second-class religious citizens. Their community will not be able to distribute literature, rent or own a building, invite foreigners to preach or carry out other activities integral to religious freedom. Religious repression, a hallmark of the Soviet Union, is once again occurring in Russia today. In 1997 Russia passed a pernicious law that denied adherents of many religions full freedom to worship and forced them through a burdensome registration process that put them at the mercy of local authorities, like those in Kostroma. The law was written in consultation with the Russian Orthodox Church, and played into the government's desire for central control and the unease of ordinary Russians about the explosion of new and unfamiliar churches and an influx of foreign missionaries. President Vladimir Putin has modified the law. Since only half of Russia's religious organizations had registered by the December 1999 deadline, he extended it one year. But he also made it a requirement, instead of an option, that groups that do not register or whose applications are rejected be banned and lose their rights. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 30. Official: Religious freedom under attack The Birmingham News, Sep. 14, 2000 http://www.al.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] [Religious Freedom / Religious Intolerance] The state of religious freedom worldwide rates as ''pretty depressing,'' an official who monitors religious persecution in the world told Cumberland Law School students at Samford University on Thursday. ''Religious freedom is definitely under attack,'' said Steven T. McFarland, executive director of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The agency was created by Congress in 1998 to give the issue a higher profile in American foreign policy. (...) France is considering a statute that would allow Southern Baptists and Scientologists to be charged by the state with the crime of ''mental manipulation,'' McFarland said. ''People around the world pay a heavy price for sharing their faith, or even having a faith,'' McFarland said. (...) Another panelist, John Witte, professor of law and ethics and at Emory University, recommended that religious groups practice self-restraint in their evangelism methods. He said enacting voluntary codes of conduct that respect the indigenous faiths and cultures of other countries would help prevent the backlashes that lead to anti missionary laws and moratoriums on proselytism. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] * France is not considering a statute that would allow ''Southern Baptists'' === Noted 31. The Man Behind Burning Man TIME, Sep. 18, 2000 http://www.time.com/time/ [Story no longer online? Read this] Larry Harvey, pragmatic utopian, wants to shape his bonfire party into a model for future living He is not one of them. They are naked bongo-playing blue Smurfs proffering gang massages and, in the hindsight of photographic evidence, looking like a bunch of dorks. He is sitting alone on a couch in the middle of the desert, face hidden under a cowboy hat and aviator sunglasses, teeth like a colonial graveyard, chain-smoking unfiltered Camel 100s in the 98[degrees] heat and talking about the ancient Greeks' concept of public space. When the Internet took his bonfire and turned it into a horde-gathering weeklong event that generated headlines all over the globe, Larry Harvey could have become many things: cult leader, millionaire, party promoter. What he chose was urban planner. We all dream differently. Harvey, a San Francisco bohemian, started the tradition 14 years ago as a punk-pagan celebration on a San Francisco beach and moved it to a lifeless desert northeast of Reno in 1990 when the S.F. beach patrol kicked him off. Since then, he has nurtured his festival into a lengthy ritual that this Labor Day attracted 30,000 campers to its mix of art, raves, nudity and spirituality. In the process, much has changed. Harvey has driven out some of his original anarchy-loving partners, instituted streets and rules (no guns), and now controls much of the art through $250,000 in grants. He is the director of a limited-liability corporation that oversees the festival's $4 million annual budget. He is the mayor of the wildest city the West has ever seen. Larry Harvey may be the first truly pragmatic utopian. ''The problem with utopias is that they are based on some theory of human nature,'' he says, as he is joined on his couch by a topless woman, a punk called Chicken John and a transvestite glam rock star named Adrian Roberts. ''Static utopias based on a priori notions are doomed to failure.'' Surprisingly, utopias where you have to bring your own toilet paper work just fine. (...) Harvey also never managed to make money, getting by with just enough odd landscaping jobs to pay for his tiny San Francisco apartment. Three years ago, however, he started to support himself from Burning Man entrance fees, which now range up to $250, and Harvey has plans to entice Silicon Valley millionaires into sponsoring its art and providing for spin-off festivals. He is also preparing a manual to distribute to anyone who wants to build his own Burning Man. ''This will be Rome to the colonies,'' he says of his Nevada experiment. It's already happening. On Memorial Day weekend, Austin, Texas, drew 500 people to its third Burning Flipside; San Francisco has a single-night party every month; and there was a burn under a bridge in New York City earlier this year. Now Harvey is talking to people in Japan and Europe who are intent on organizing their own festivals. (...) Harvey says the wooden man who is burned toward the end of the week doesn't signify anything. But as it was at the first Burning Man, it is the symbol that attracts the crowds. (...) For several years Harvey has dismissed the rumor that he burned the first man because he was mourning a romantic breakup. ''Everyone wants a founding myth,'' he says, with a dry laugh. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 32. Keeping Friends and the Faith New York Times, Sep. 17, 2000 By Gustav Niebuhr http://www.nytimes.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] How should religious believers respond to the plurality of faiths around them? It's a question that has grown in urgency as waves of immigration and emigration around the world have brought people of very different theologies into the same work places, schools and neighborhoods. The question becomes especially pointed when it comes to a faith with a missionary imperative, like Christianity, whose gospels teach that salvation comes through faith in Jesus. (...) Recent events have illustrated the conflicting responses that pluralism can arouse. Three weeks ago, a meeting at the United Nations brought together hundreds of religious leaders from every inhabited continent to talk about how their diverse traditions can help the cause of world peace. Among those attending was Cardinal Francis Arinze, a Vatican official who specializes in interfaith work. A week later, the Vatican published a statement by an even higher-ranking Vatican official, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, saying that the church is the guardian of religious truth and that the ultimate aim of interfaith dialogue ought to be conversion. It was only a month earlier that an international gathering of 10,000 evangelists, who had been meeting in Amsterdam under the auspices of the Rev. Billy Graham's organization, released their own declaration, which dealt partly with the issue of pluralism. (A statement last week by Jewish scholars and rabbis urging Jews to relinquish their fears of Christianity dealt less with issues of ecumenism than with dogma long seen as prejudicial.) (...) Some might argue that interfaith dialogue need not be an either-or proposition, a choice between a defense of the claims of one's own religion or a mushy relativism. Instead, the search for common ground may be undertaken for goals as readily understood in a secular sense as they are in a sacred one. That seemed to be the message of the Millennium Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, the remarkably diverse gathering at the United Nations that produced a document signed by several hundred religious leaders pledging them to work for world peace, against poverty and for the protection of the environment. (...) One of those present was James Kenney, international coordinator of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, a Chicago-based organization that has twice convened large-scale interfaith gatherings in the last seven years. The Millennium Summit had its share of tensions between faith groups, but, he said, ''it was a very good symbolic moment, and I'm really a believer in those.'' At the same time, Mr. Kenney remains a critic of what he calls ''lightweight pluralism,'' the desire to claim that all religions are really the same, and that differences do not matter. As a counter to that tendency, he said, as awareness of global religious pluralism has increased, there has developed also ''an increasingly articulate body'' of religious believers, especially among Christians, who appear ready to grant that enlightenment can be found in other faiths, while still affirming their own religion as utterly unique. But the recent statements by the Vatican and the evangelists' meeting strongly suggest that such an approach is a long way from displacing Christianity's view of its exclusive claim to salvation. Instead, as the world grows smaller and as more and more people have increasing contact with those of other faiths, the debate over how to respond to religious pluralism is likely to be just beginning. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] * More about interfaith dialogue and interfaith activities 33. No offense intended Dallas Morning News, Sep. 16, 2000 http://195.7.48.75/ [Story no longer online? Read this] Edward Knippers learned to draw nudes in church. Today, he's famous for his paintings of Bible stories. Heroes and villains often are depicted without so much as a fig leaf. The Biblical Arts Center in Dallas canceled an exhibit of the paintings two months ago after complaints about the nudity. But fans of the artist have another chance to view the work. Trinity Presbyterian Church and the Center for the Visual Arts, both in Denton, will open exhibits on Sunday. The displays were planned before the Biblical Arts Center canceled its showing. ''We are thrilled to have the paintings,'' said Sara Har-vey, associate director of the Greater Denton Arts Council, which operates the Center for the Visual Arts. Ms. Harvey said she isn't squeamish about displaying Mr. Knippers' paintings. ''His work is very similar to the images on the Sistine Chapel,'' she said. ''He studied the masters who painted the human body, but has his own style.'' The paintings are dramatic. Art critics compare the muscular, fleshy figures to Michelangelo's paintings. The larger-than-life forms echo Italian Renaissance, German romanticism and baroque styles. ''This is Michelangelo with body hair, Rubens acrid with sweat,'' wrote art historian and teacher Timothy Verdon of Italy. ''Yet these are not irreligious paintings.'' Mr. Knippers is an Episcopalian who lives in Arlington, Va. The 54-year-old artist said he doesn't paint biblical nudes to be sensational. ''I'm trying to make people face their own humanity in its fullness,'' he said. ''We don't come before God dressed in our Sunday best. God sees us as we are. The best metaphor for that is the nude body.'' Renowned artists ranging from Michelangelo to Marc Chagall have used nudity to address biblical themes. Nudity also is common in African Christian art. ''Any major museum which has worked with Christian themes would certainly have works with nudity,'' said Dr. Wilson Yates, editor of Arts, a religion and arts magazine for church leaders. ''It's rare for any serious gallery to cancel a show because of nudity.'' The Biblical Arts Center in Dallas had displayed Mr. Knippers' work in 1997. A painting from that exhibit, ''Passionate Grace,'' is found on the the center's Web site www.biblicalarts.org . The painting shows Jesus after he's fallen from carrying his cross. He's wearing only a crown of thorns. ''Ed Knippers is probably one of the most talented artists that we have had in our museum,'' said Scott Peck, co-director of the Biblical Arts Center. Mr. Peck said the cancelation of the show was blown out of proportion by the press. ''What happened is that we were changing the direction of our museum to do more children's programming,'' he said. ''Because of the amount of nudity in Ed's work, it just wasn't appropriate. Frankly, I was torn.'' Mr. Knippers said the only other exhibit he's had canceled was at an Indi-ana college in 1992. A disgruntled viewer tore up three paintings of Christ at a Tennessee college a few years later.The incidents were initiated by people who lacked an understanding of art history, he said. Instead, they equated nudity with obscenity. ''My paintings are not obscene,'' he said. (...) He began drawing nudes in 1983 in a room he rented in a French church. On his final night, he ventured to the Paris Opera House for a production of George Balanchine's The Prodigal Son, which featured the original sets by French painter Georges Roualt. ''All of a sudden, I realized it was the [Gospel] narrative in relation to the figure that was the key to what I was doing,'' Mr. Knippers said. Ever since, he has used the human body as the primary means for expressing ''biblical truths.'' ''The Spirit is embodied in flesh, in history, in who we are and what we do,'' said Mr. Miller, whose church has been displaying religious art for six years. ''That message comes across very clear in Ed's paintings.'' [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 34. Medicinal use of pot gets support Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Religion News Service, Sep. 16, 2000 http://www.accessatlanta.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] [Polls / Trends] Forty-four percent of Protestant pastors support the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, while only about 20 percent support decriminalizing the nonmedicinal use of marijuana, according to a new survey. The study of 518 Protestant ministers, commissioned by Phoenix-based Ellison Research, found surprisingly strong support for the use of marijuana to relieve pain for patients with cancer and other medical ailments. Similar to a recent Ellison survey on the death penalty, the study found stronger support for medicinal marijuana use from pastors affiliated with the National Council of Churches as opposed to the more conservative National Association of Evangelicals. Among NCC-affiliated pastors, 66 percent supported medicinal marijuana use while 33 percent opposed it. The numbers were almost exactly opposite for NAE-affiliated pastors, with only 31 percent supporting it and 69 percent opposed. (...) The survey of 508 pastors had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Films 35. Restoring 'The Exorcist' The Boston Globe, Sep. 17, 2000 http://www.boston.com/ [Story no longer online? Read this] Many consider it, hands down, the scariest movie ever made. But never, ever refer to ''The Exorcist'' as a horror film. At least not to the novelist and screenwriter, William Peter Blatty. ''It isn't a horror film. I never set out to write a horror novel; I never wanted to frighten people. It was meant to be psychological thriller. A supernatural detective story. But something happened along the way,'' says Blatty. Along the way, Blatty's 1969 novel became a worldwide bestseller; in 1973, William Friedkin turned it into a movie phenomenon. ''The Exorcist'' shattered box office records and garnered 10 Academy Award nominations, including best picture, a first for a horror, er, supernatural thriller. It ultimately won two Oscars, for sound and Blatty's screenplay. Still, for 27 years, Blatty remained dissatisfied with the film. He wanted Friedkin's original cut, the one that was trimmed to get the film in under two hours. Now, those exorcised 11 minutes (available in the DVD version) have been restored for a special theatrical re-release of the famous film, which just finished a special engagement as part of the Boston Film Festival. ''This version is much closer to my novel,'' says Blatty. ''The very first cut Billy ever showed me - at 666 Fifth Avenue, I swear to you - it was this cut. Then Billy told me he had to edit it because it was longer than two hours and he just didn't know, back then, how audiences were going to react. For 10 years I have been on this case, urging Warner Brothers, begging Billy to put the [edited] scenes back. ... Since then, Billy has had an epiphany. It took 27 years. He's a stubborn man.'' (...) Those who have not studied the film scene-by-scene may not recognize the 11 minutes of new footage out of the two-plus hours of running time. Blatty is elated by the reinsertion of two crucial scenes. One is a conversation between Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) and Father Karras (Jason Miller) that takes place on the staircase outside Regan's bedroom during the exorcism. In the brief exchange, Karras asks Merrin the simple question, ''Why? Why this girl?'' ''Merrin tells him: It is to make us despair. To make us believe we are bestial and ugly, so God can't love us. That's the point of the film,'' says Blatty, a Catholic who graduated from Georgetown University and once considered becoming a Jesuit priest. ''In the novel, that scene goes on for two pages. We reduced it to one line in the film, and there it is.'' The second major change is the movie's ending. In the new version, instead of Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) handing an important artifact, a medal, to Father Dyer before she drives off, the priest gives the artifact back to her. ''That's the way the scene is in the novel. By handing her the medal, it indicates that the door to faith is open for her. This atheistic woman is now at least willing to investigate with an open heart and mind.'' Blatty says the ending is crucial because many viewers have misinterpreted the climax of ''The Exorcist,'' the death of Father Karras, to mean the triumph of evil. ''Some saw it that evil took Karras, and not the other way around,'' Blatty says. ''So that's why it was important to have that coda. It was a cue to the audience that everything was OK.'' Coda or not, things weren't always OK for the millions who lined up to see ''The Exorcist'' when it first opened nationwide. Reports of people running for the exits, fainting in theater lobbies, and locking the doors and pacing their floors when they returned home are now legendary, and part of the continuing mystique of the film. It is the stuff that still leaves the story's author scratching his head. ''I thought I was writing a nice little religious book,'' laughs Blatty, who went on to write other novels including ''Legion,'' which was adapted into ''The Exorcist III.'' ''The Catholic Church embraced it. My very first review was a rave in the literary magazine of the Vatican. ... I never expected it to become a phenomenon. I promise you, I never thought the film would be such a hit. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] |
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