=== Falun Gong
1. Hong Kong To 'Monitor' Falun Gong
2. Assault on Falun Gong moves to Hong Kong
3. Hong Kong Media Attacks Falun Gong
4. Rights Groups Urge Tung to Take a Stand on Falun Gong
5. Anti-Falun Gong Drive Plays Well on Street
6. China post office issues anti-Falun Gong postmark

=== Falun Gong - China's Government-controlled Media
7. Common Chinese Support Harder Strike on Falun Gong Cult
8. Chinese Religious Leaders Indignant over Falun Gong
9. Falun Gong Goes Outright Against Buddhism: Tibetan Buddhist Masters
10. Falun Gong Outright Political Group
11. Non-Communist Parties Denounce Falun Gong

=== Zhong Gong
12. Chinese Sect Members Appeal to Bush Over Detained Leader

=== Buddhism
13. The case of the dueling lamas
14. Dying? Name your price

=== Mormonism
15. Mormons cast shadow on Olympics
16. Utah seeks a quick ruling on census

» Part 2

=== Islam
17. No end to Christian-Muslim tension

=== Scientology
18. Scientology means business against city and state
19. UPS: It may be said that the parcel company provided help to the sect

=== Hate Groups
20. Anti-Semite convicted; faces 30 years in prison (Gordon Winrod)
21. Anti-Jewish Preacher Is Convicted Of Kidnapping
22. Aryan Nations To Meet at Ex-Base
23. Park can't refuse Aryan permit request
24. Aryans want gathering at Farragut
25. Anti-racist demonstrations nation-wide (Norway)
26. KKK loses fight against rally waiting period in Indiana
27. Church signs are defaced by swastikas
28. Hate in the crosshairs: Lawyers, legislators battle hate crime

» Part 3

=== Other News
29. Nepal: The case against jailed Norwegian missionary opens
30. Out-of-state activists depart church protest (Indianapolis Baptist Temple)
31. Judge Rules Sect Can't Place Tenets Near Ten Commandments in Ogden
32. Indianapolis Worker's Pursuit of Office Blessings Spurned by Court
33. Media heiress Patricia Hearst defends pardon by Clinton
34. Cult to return 'brainwashed' member's assets
35. Minister resigns over quake remarks
36. Resident sues Golden Beach for slander
37. Evangelical leader fears Sharon will pass anti-missionary laws
38. Kollek joins outcry against Temple digs

» Part 4

=== Alternative Healing
39. Reiki -- soul food for Asia's largest prison
40. Alternative medicines: Science or magic?

=== Noted
41. Deepak Chopra Discusses His Mystical Life
42. The Bakker Family Discusses Living Through Scandal and Personal Tragedy

=== The Monks Around The Corner
43. Rock'n'roll monks defy Greek church


=== Falun Gong

1. Hong Kong To 'Monitor' Falun Gong
AP, Feb. 1, 2001
http://news.excite.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
HONG KONG (AP) - Amid increasing pressure from pro-Beijing forces, a top Hong Kong official said Thursday the Falun Gong meditation sect is targeting China's government and authorities here will keep a closer eye on the group.

''We'll monitor their action very closely,'' Security Secretary Regina Ip said, two days after China's local representative office here warned that Falun Gong cannot be allowed to turn Hong Kong into a subversive base.

''We have noticed that Falun Gong has become increasingly high-profile, and is a very organized group,'' Ip said. ''Their spearhead is targeted at our central government.''

Ip did not elaborate, but her language echoed criticism of Falun Gong this week by local pro-Beijing newspapers and China's local representative office.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


2. Assault on Falun Gong moves to Hong Kong
Financial Times, Jan. 31, 2001
http://news.ft.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
China has stepped up its war of words against the banned spiritual sect Falun Gong in Hong Kong as well as the mainland.

Beijing's attack on the sect's activities in the territory raises the temperature still further as it puts at risk its own reputation for restraint in the city.

It promised to preserve Hong Kong's way of life after the former British colony was returned to the mainland in 1997.

China's local liaison office in Hong Kong warned members of the sect that it would not ''allow any organisation to attempt turning Hong Kong into a centre for Falun Gong activities''.

Human rights activists in the territory condemned the warning, saying it undermined the city's autonomy.

On the mainland, several official newspapers broke a week-long silence on the self-immolations by five Falun Gong practitioners in Tiananmen square with fulminating editorials and photographs of the burned victims, four of whom are recovering from injuries in a Beijing hospital.
(...)

Most indications were that the intensified media campaign was eliciting the type of revulsion toward Falun Gong that China's propagandists intend.
(...)

Suggestions by the New York Falun Dafa Information Centre, which represents the sect in the US, that the people who self-immolated may not be believers of Falun Gong, or may have been set up by the Chinese government, appeared less credible yesterday.

In Hong Kong, however, Beijing's tirade against the organisation is being viewed as interference.

Law Yuk-kai, head of Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, said that Beijing was resorting to intimidating officials in the territory, but he said that laws allowing freedom of religion and freedom of assembly made it difficult for the local government to intervene.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


3. Hong Kong Media Attacks Falun Gong
AP, Feb. 1, 2001
http://dailynews.muzi.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
LatelineNews: 2001-2-1] HONG KONG - Pro-Beijing news media here attacked the Falun Gong spiritual movement on Wednesday, accusing it of attempting to subvert China's government and saying Hong Kong must not be used as a base for anti-China activities.

Media accused the meditation group of acting out of political motivation and attempting to embroil Hong Kong, a special territory retaining free speech guarantees since it was returned to Chinese sovereignty by Britain in 1997, in political controversy.
The attacks came a day after Chinese state media carried macabre footage of people in flames in what was described as an attempted group suicide by Falun Gong followers about a week ago. The group says its teachings prohibit any killing, including suicide, and maintains those who set themselves ablaze could not have been true adherents.
(...)

Falun Gong's ``pretense of being apolitical, non anti-government and independent of political bias has been stripped down,'' the semiofficial China News Agency quoted mainland China's representative office in Hong Kong as saying.

Despite the pro-Beijing warning, the territory's No. 2 official, Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan, said Wednesday the group can still organize lawful activities in Hong Kong.
(...)

Falun Gong spokeswoman Sharon Xu rejected allegations that the group's activities were politically motivated. She also disputed claims that the group is conducting an anti-China subversion campaign, saying followers speak out against Beijing's crackdown only to help Falun Gong members now being oppressed on the mainland.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


4. Rights Groups Urge Tung to Take a Stand on Falun Gong
AFP, Feb. 2, 2001
http://www.insidechina.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
HONG KONG, Feb 2, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) Rights groups Friday urged Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa to show his hand and guarantee basic freedoms in Hong Kong amid fears he could move to ban the Falun Gong sect.

The US-based Human Rights Watch voiced concern at intensified pressure from Beijing for action to be taken to curb the spiritual movement's activities in Hong Kong or even follow China and ban it all together.

''Falun Gong is legally registered under the Societies Ordinance in Hong Kong, has broken no laws, and has done nothing that could remotely be considered a public disturbance,'' Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

''That Beijing could even think of pressing Hong Kong to move against the group is ominous.'' said Sidney Jones, Asia director of Human Rights Watch in New York.
''This kind of statement should have prompted an immediate rejoinder from C.H.Tung and yet all we've heard is deafening silence.''

Secretary for Security Regina Ip admitted on Thursday that although the spiritual group had become increasingly high profile in targeting the central government in Beijing, they had not committed any crime.

But she vowed the security bureau would keep a close eye on the group.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


5. Anti-Falun Gong Drive Plays Well on Street
Reuters, Jan. 31, 2001
http://www.insidechina.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Beijing's intensified bid to discredit the Falun Gong spiritual movement using gruesome pictures of a fiery group suicide attempt appeared to resonate on the streets of Beijing on Wednesday.

Especially effective were pictures of 12-year-old Liu Siying, her face burned away and a hand turned into a blackened claw after she, her mother and three others doused themselves in petrol and set fire to themselves in Tiananmen Square last week.

Liu's mother was the only fatality in the most dramatic of hundreds of Falun Gong protests in the square. But she got no sympathy from people reading newspapers posted along the street.
(...)

China's Communist rulers are using the plight of Liu Siying, now lying critically injured in hospital with burns over 40 percent of her body, to generate sympathy for an anti-Falun Gong campaign known mostly for police brutality and crude propaganda.
(...)

Overseas Falun Gong organizations say they doubt seriously the five were Falun Gong members, insisting the movement forbids all killing, including suicide. They demand independent proof that the five were real believers.

But diplomats who monitor China's 18-month-old crackdown on Falun Gong -- which has provoked condemnation from many Western capitals -- say this time the Communist Party may succeed in capturing some moral high ground from the beleaguered sect.

''If those persons are Falun Gong, and most indications are that they were, the authorities are handling it right,'' said a Western diplomat.

''It's ugly seeing them exploiting the little girl, but they are saying 'Look, they burn children and how can you support a group that burns children?'''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


6. China post office issues anti-Falun Gong postmark
Reuters, Feb. 2, 2001
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese city of Kaifeng, home to five people thought to be Falun Gong members who attempted a fiery group suicide last week, has issued a postmark denouncing the banned sect, state radio has said.

Central People's Broadcasting Station said on Friday the central post office in the northern city was crowded with citizens carrying postcards and letters they wanted stamped with the postmark which reads: ''The people of Kaifeng strongly condemn the cruelty of Falun Gong''.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Falun Gong - China's Government-controlled Media

7. Common Chinese Support Harder Strike on Falun Gong Cult
People's Daily, Feb. 1, 2001
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
After viewing the TV footage of Falun Gong practitioners committing suicide by setting themselves on fire at Tian'anmen Square on January 23, many residents across the country support harder measures against the Falun Gong Cult in order to maintain social stability in the country.

The residents, who were interviewed shortly after the suicide incident, held that the suicide attempts of seven Falun Gong practitioners further exposed the evil nature of the cult and the fact that Li Hongzhi, the cult's ringleader, does not hesitate in attaining his political goals at the expense of the lives of cult members.

Under the disguise of keeping practitioners' bodies fit, the cult tried very hard to organize its members to disturb social stability and fight against the government and the people, some residents said.

After mass media made public the suicide incident in the past two days, some governmental bodies and universities held talks on condemning the Falun Gong Cult, which led one person involved in the suicide attempt dead and four seriously injured.

Most people showed their utmost sympathy for the 12-year-old girl and the 19-year-old student at the Central Conservatory of Music, both of whom were seriously burnt.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


8. Chinese Religious Leaders Indignant over Falun Gong
People's Daily, Feb. 1, 2001
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Upon learning of the suicide incident by Falun Gong followers who set themselves on fire, leaders from five major religions in China were appalled by and indignant over the crimes committed by this evil cult.

The incident completely demonstrates the anti-society and anti- human nature of the evil cult because the cult turns a blind eye to human rights and life, Chinese religious leaders said Wednesday January 31.

Michael Fu Tieshan, chairman of the China Catholic Patriotic Association, was angered by the appalling incident.

Fu said the incident further proves that Falun Gong is by no means a religion, but an out-and-out evil cult.

The incident demonstrates that the leaders of the Falun Gong cult have embraced the overseas anti-China cliques, he said, noting that Li Hongzhi intended to damage the social stability and the auspicious atmosphere of the Spring Festival at the cost of the lives of his followers.

Fu's viewpoints were echoed by other religious leaders.
(...)

Yanjue, a Buddhist master from the Guangji Temple in Beijing, believes that the suicide case, a tragedy directed by Li Hongzhi, has time and again offered a lesson to the ignorant Falun Gong practitioners.

Yuan Zhihong, deputy secretary general of the China Taoist Association, said the Falun Gong cult has made its followers lose a normal sense of morality and it has become a common enemy of the general public, calling upon the Taoism adherents to support the struggle against the evil cult.

Akhund Ma Yunfu, vice-chairman of the Islamic Association of China, pointed out that the Falun Gong has turned out to be equivalent to those evil cults in America and Africa, saying that cracking down on the cult is the utmost protection of human rights.

Priest Shi Zesheng, vice-chairman of Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee of Protestant Churches of China, said that while organizing the incident, the leaders of the Falun Gong cult came to deny its relevance with the incident.
(...)

All religious leaders called for tighter measures against the Falun Gong cult in order to avoid the occurrence of a similar tragedy.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


9. Falun Gong Goes Outright Against Buddhism: Tibetan Buddhist Masters
People's Daily, Feb. 2, 2001
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Tibetan Buddhism masters denounced the crimes of the Falun Gong cult Thursday afternoon, saying the cult goes absolutely against the basic doctrine of all religions, including Buddhism.

In a meeting attended by Buddhist masters and monks in Tibet, living Buddha Tubdaindaje said that the Falun Gong cult and its ringleader Li Hongzhi, who has branded the cult a branch of Buddhism, aims at achieving a vicious political objective at the expense of its followers.

The inhuman acts by the Falun Gong practitioners go absolutely against the doctrine of Buddhism that ''whoever commits suicide or kills would never realize samsara,'' he noted.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


10. Falun Gong Outright Political Group
Xinhua, Feb. 1, 2001
http://202.84.17.11/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
HONG KONG, February 1 (Xinhuanet) -- The Hong Kong group of the Falun Gong cult is no longer what it registered to be, but a sheer political group, local newspapers reported Thursday.

A string of events it staged thereafter provided counter- evidence that it is not apolitical and maybe never has been, the China Daily Hong Kong Edition cited a signed article as saying.

It needs political savvy and sensitivity to choose such key dates as National Day and handover anniversaries of the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions to put up what the local followers claim are apolitical shows, the newspaper said.

Most of the banners they unfolded and slogans they chanted on such occasions were not about ways to practise deep breathing and meditation, but their messages were unequivocally directed at the Chinese Government, it said.

The Hong Kong Commercial Daily also carried an article Thursday questioning about Falun Gong's legitimate status in Hong Kong, saying that Falun Gong has taken advantage of its legitimate status and the ''one country, two systems'' principle in Hong Kong to conduct its activities, but both of the shields are questionable.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


11. Non-Communist Parties Denounce Falun Gong
Xinhua, Feb. 1, 2001
http://202.84.17.11/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
BEIJING, February 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Non-Communist parties in China, All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and outstanding figures without party affiliation Wednesday condemned Falun Gong for the suicide attempts in central Beijing.

Leading members of the parties, the federation and outstanding non-affiliated figures said the self-immolation attempts by seven Falun Gong followers revealed the ''anti-humanity, anti-society and anti-science'' nature of the Falun Gong cult.

Voicing their support for the measures and policies adopted by the Chinese government on Falun Gong, they predicted the fight against the cult will be a long-term, complicated and political one.

Among those attending the seminar were Wang Guangying, Cheng Siyuan, He Luli, Ding Shisun, Cheng Siwei, Jiang Zhenghua, all vice chairpersons of the Standing Committee of the National People 's Congress, the country's top legislature.
They represent All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce ( ACFIC), Taiwan Studies Society, the Revolutionary Committee of Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK), China Democratic National Construction Association (CDNCA), China Democratic League (CDL), Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party (CPWDP).
Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, Sun Fulin, Jing Shuping, Luo Haocai, Zhou Tienong, Wang Wengyuan, vice chairmen of National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference ( CPPCC) were also present at the gathering.

They described the fact that the cult members set themselves on fire on January 23 at Tiananmen Square in central Beijing as an astonishing move organized by the cult.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Zhong Gong

12. Chinese Sect Members Appeal to Bush Over Detained Leader
AFP, Feb. 2, 2001
http://www.insidechina.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
WASHINGTON, Feb 2, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) Supporters of the leader of China's mystical Zhong Gong group have called on President George W. Bush to intervene in his appeal for political asylum in the United States.

Zhang Hongbao, 46, was granted the right to remain in the United States in September, but his asylum request was turned down and he remains in detention in the US Pacific territory of Guam pending appeal.

Zhong Gong activists already in the United States called on Bush in a letter to free Zhang from protective custody and to discount claims by China that he is a criminal.
(...)

China has actively sought Zhang's repatriation and last year gave the U.S. administration of former president Bill Clinton a file accusing him of several rapes since he founded the group in 1988.

Human rights campaigners have alleged that Zhang's detention is an attempt to dodge the political fallout of the case, and its potential impact on US-China relations.
(...)

The US Justice Department refuses to comment on individual cases, but says Zhang was granted protection by virtue of a law which grants refuge to people deemed likely to face torture in their homelands.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Buddhism

13. The case of the dueling lamas
Boston Globe, Jan. 31, 2001 (Opinion)
http://www.boston.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
This is a tale of intrigue, magic, reincarnation, and rivalry between mysterious religious sects in the high Himalayan lamaseries on the border of Tibet.

Although primarily a matter between Tibetan Buddhists, it has the potential of complicating the already tense relationship between Asia's two most populous powers: India and China.

Just over a year ago, the young, teen-aged Urgyen Trinley Dorji, the 17th incarnation of the Gyala Karmapa Lama, made his way through the mountain passes and Chinese border guards out of Tibet and into India. He was not the first high lama to quit Tibet.

His previous incarnation, who died in 1981, had made his way here from Tibet to Sikkim in 1962. The most famous escape of them all was the Dalai Lama's flight in 1959. The Karmapa is considered to be the third most important of Tibet's reincarnations after the Dalai Lama, who resides in Dharamsala in northwest India, and the Panchen Lama, who has disappeared into China's ''protective custody'' and has been replaced by a Chinese stooge.

Urgyen Dorji had had the backing of both the Dalai Lama and the Chinese authorities, perhaps because both saw in him a chance to further their polar-opposite causes. And so it was intensely embarrassing to the Chinese to have the Karmapa defect.
(...)

But wait. There is a rival for the title. He is Thaye Dorji, who lives in the nearby Himalayan hill station of Kalimpong. His followers say that Thaye Dorji is not only the true Karmapa, but that the Dalai Lama should have no say in the matter because the Dalai Lama belongs to the Gelugpa or ''Yellow-Hat'' sect, while the Karmapa Lama is by definition a Kagyupa, or ''Red-Hat'' - the result of an ancient Tibetan schism.

According to Ranjit Devraj, who has written on this subject, the Indian government at first favored the rival Thaye Dorji over the ''Chinese Karmapa'' in Tibet. But now that the Chinese Karmapa has come to India there is confusion as to which lama to back.

One thing the Indian government will not do, however, is allow the young Urgyen to live here in the Rumtek Monastery, the world headquarters of his sect, which controls 200 monasteries worldwide, including communities in Woodstock, N.Y., and Los Angeles. Rumtek is considered to be too close to the Tibetan border, and India doesn't want to provoke the Chinese.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


14. Dying? Name your price
Asahi News (Japan), Jan. 31, 2001
http://www.asahi.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
An understanding of kaimyo may lead to quick enlightenment, so to speak, on the current state of Buddhism in Japan.

Kaimyo refers to a posthumous honorific name conferred upon anyone who dies as a Buddhist. But here's the catch: The name is not free and there is no fixed price for the service.

Bereaved families throughout Japan have been shocked by the amounts of money charged by priests and temples. Bills totaling several million yen are not uncommon and have left many people feeling like victims of price-gouging.
In response to growing public suspicion, the Japan Buddhist Federation, comprised of 60 established Buddhist sects, articulated its official position on kaimyo for the first time a year ago.

``Kaimyo is not a commodity to be traded for money,'' the federation said. ``Any money or gift you give to your priest or temple is strictly a donation you offer voluntarily.''

The federation is currently preparing a brochure to explain the policies of individual sects. The literature should be ready this summer for public distribution through member temples.
(...)

In its original form kaimyo was the same as a Christian baptismal name in that it was given to those who officially embraced the faith. As such, it was never a posthumous name.

Buddhist priests are well aware of this fact. But they refuse to correct this flawed practice because the funeral business is so lucrative. In essence, kaimyo is integral to the financial lifeline of Buddhism in Japan.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Mormonism

15. Mormons cast shadow on Olympics
AP, Feb. 2, 2001
http://inq.philly.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
SALT LAKE CITY - The fight for the soul of the 2002 Olympics began over a barren parking lot barely a ski jump away from the Mormon Temple.

Olympic officials plan to build a plaza there for medal winners to celebrate, hoping 20,000 people will gather each night to toast the victors.

But they'll have to do it with nothing more potent than a hot chocolate or soda. The parking lot is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon Church, which forbids its 11 million members to drink alcohol.

Much to the consternation of Mayor Rocky Anderson, Olympic chief Mitt Romney declared the plaza beer-free in deference to the Mormon hosts.

''You don't borrow a barbecue grill from a rabbi to cook pork chops,'' said Romney, a devout Mormon.

The dispute drew headlines in a state where the mention of alcohol always stirs up controversy. Quietly, though, Romney and Anderson worked out a compromise for a beer garden within shouting distance of the plaza where revelers can watch on a big-screen TV and drink low-alcohol beer.
(...)

Officials have been squabbling over alcohol and how prominently the Mormon Temple will figure in the games.

The disputes were sparked by Anderson, the free-spirited mayor who swims against the tide in a city founded by Mormon prophet Brigham Young, yet enjoys high approval ratings from city residents.
(...)

Anderson's intrusion into the Olympic process has raised Romney's ire. But the focus on church influence on the games is not necessarily bad, said Ted Wilson, a Mormon and former mayor.
(...)

In a state whose culture is dominated by the Mormon Church, Olympic officials are being extremely careful about how they deal with the issue.

The effort wasn't helped by publicity about an e-mail from a Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) board member to Romney. It said he shared the Olympic chief's goal to make the Mormon Temple the main image on television during the games.

Romney, who was brought in to turn around the scandal-plagued Olympics, denies he said that and insists he wants the games to stand independently.
(...)

That's hard when the church is bankrolling the main celebration site in the shadow of the Mormon Temple and donating large lots and prime land for Olympic parking and transportation facilities.

Mormons are gearing up for their own nightly shows and many exhibits during the games, which church leaders view as a public-relations bonanza. The religion has grown rapidly to 11 million members because of aggressive evangelism. Missionaries go door-to-door worldwide.

''We're quite the proselytizing church,'' said Elbert Peck, who edits Sunstone Magazine, which examines church issues. ''We're not going to miss an opportunity like this.''

Church officials are a little more circumspect.
(...)

The church's influence is everywhere in Utah. Nearly three-fourths of Utah's 2.2 million residents are Mormons, and steeples seem to poke up from every block.
(...)

Even so, Salt Lake City itself is more cosmopolitan. The population is evenly split between Mormons and non-Mormons, with an increasing number of Hispanics and refugees from areas such as Bosnia. Anderson, who proudly cites his work as a lawyer on behalf of ACLU issues, was elected mayor in 1999 with 60 percent of the vote.

As the mayor tries to spread an image of diversity, however, he sometimes has run-ins with the church.
(...)

There will be places to drink, of course, although Utah's liquor laws make it difficult.
(...)

But on a recent winter night in downtown Salt Lake City, there was no shortage of drinkers at the Port O' Call, a downtown club that can hold up to 700 people.
The bar offers 29 beers on tap, all of them the weaker 3.2 percent variety. Among them is a local microbrew, Park City Polygamist Pale Ale.
''You can't drink just one,'' a bartender quipped.
(...)

''The first thing people who come from Germany are going to say is, 'Let's see some polygamists,' '' Peck said. ''The church will have to be ready to say, 'Let's show you mainstream Mormons.' ''

The church banned polygamy more than 100 years ago as it sought assimilation into American society. Although some sects still practice it in parts of the state, they have no affiliation with the church.

Elder Andersen said focus groups studied by the church show that old ideas are hard to overcome.

''It was amazing to me that many of those people still wondered if we held positions that we established in the 19th century,'' he said.
(...)

Church officials hope to portray the image of modern Mormonism when television beams out shots of the Mormon Temple to hundreds of millions of people every day during the games.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

* Lots of positions the Mormon Church held in the 19th century have changed, including its scriptures and many doctrines. See: The Changing World of Mormonism

Theologically, Mormonism is a cult of Christianity. It does not represent historial, biblical Christianity in any way, and thus uses the name ''Christian'' illegitimately.

16. Utah seeks a quick ruling on census
Deseret News, Feb. 1, 2001
http://www.deseretnews.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]

State leaders have requested the federal case challenging the Census Bureau's practice of excluding LDS missionaries from the census count be decided immediately.

Because the Census Bureau counts military personnel and their families who are living overseas and not ''temporarily absent'' missionaries, the bureau is practicing religious discrimination, according to the motion of summary judgment filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.
(...)

A three-judge panel will consider Utah's motion for summary judgment at a hearing March 20. If the court rules in favor of Utah's motion, the bureau will be forced to include more than 11,000 Utah residents who are serving LDS missions abroad in its 2000 Census count. This would give Utah a fourth congressional seat at the expense of North Carolina.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


» Part 2