=== Aum Shinrikyo
1. Preparations vital for virus threat

=== Falun Gong
2. A Foe Rattles Beijing From Abroad
3. China Arrests 6 Falun Gong Followers
4. falungong guru tells China persecution will fail
5. China Scientist Alleges Falun Gong Got U.S. Cash
6. Falun Gong Denies U.S. Congress Gave It Funding
7. Jiang Zemin Says Hong Kong to Deal With Falun Gong on Its Own
8. Leader Vows to Protect Hong Kong
9. China keeps up opinion war on Falun Gong

=== Falun Gong - China's Government-Controlled Media
10. Reports from China's government-controlled media

» Part 2

=== Scientology
11. The Bavarian Report on Scientology

=== Unification Church
12. Moon to speak at SeaTac Tour: 'We Will Stand' event promotes religious harmony, racial reconciliation
13. Rev. Sun Myung Moon draws crowd to Minneapolis church
14. Local pastors welcome Moon

=== International Churches of Christ
15. Controversial religious group returns to Cal State-Long Beach

» Part 3

=== Islam
16. Taleban's Act Flies in Face of Islam's Tenets
17. Taliban Praises Statues Destruction
18. Statue attacks expose rift in Taliban leadership
19. Moscow courts its million Muslims

=== Buddhism
20. Buddhists protest increasing Christian conversions in Lanka
21. Teen Karmapa Raises Controversy

» Part 4

=== Mormonism
22. Church formally requests use of full name
23. Text of First Presidency letter of 23 February 2001
24. Technology boon for LDS, apostle says
25. Separation of church and career in Salt Lake City

=== Hate Groups
26. Compound to be center of tolerance
27. New Future for Idaho Aryan Nations Compound
28. Aryans want to carry loaded guns in parade
29. Klan Can Join Highway Clean-Up, Court Says
30. Holocaust deniers spread their lies in Middle East

» Part 5

=== Other News
31. 'Rebirthing' bill clears committee
32. French radio says sect members may have been killed by outsiders (Solar Temple)
33. China Sentences Cult Leader to 12 Years in Prison for Raping Women
34. Cult of the chairman (Mao)
35. Checks tightened on sex traffic of voodoo girls
36. Ted Turner apologizes for ``Jesus freaks'' comment
37. White House Defends Religion Program
38. 'God's Top Gun' Has Big Plans

=== Noted
39. The gospel according to Luke (Skywalker)
40. From sin to spirituality? Internet's evolution explored


=== Scientology

11. The Bavarian Report on Scientology
Halbjahresbericht 2000 des Bayerischen Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz, Mar. 2, 2001
Translation: CISAR
http://cisar.org/010302a.htm
[Story no longer online? Read this]
From: ''Remo Williams''
Newsgroups: de.soc.weltanschauung.scientology
Subject: Halbjahresbericht 2000 des Bayerischen Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz
Date: 2 Mar 2001

5. Scientology Organization (SO)
As has been determined at the Federal and State Interior Minister Conference of 5/6 June of 1997, actual indications for anti-constitutional endeavors by the SO are present. Therefore the mission of surveillance was opened. The foundation of the decision by the Interior Ministers Conference was the final report from a task force composed of Constitutional Security state and federal representatives who determined that legal provisions for surveillance of the SO were present. In this final report the evidence for the incompatibility of the SO's program and actions with the concepts of a liberal democratic basic system in the sense of the Constitution was presented in detail.

A report on the first surveillance results was presented at the 1998 Fall session of the Interior Ministers Conference. This report is available over the internet at address http://www.verfassungsschutz.nrw.de.

5.1 Unaltered Ideology
The SO's ideology is essentially based on L. Ron Hubbard's writings, which the group says possess unaltered validity. Older program statements by Hubbard, which include so-called ''Policy Letters,'' continue to be presented to their staff as a mandatory orientation. An alteration of the ideological intention is not perceptible, instead the SO continues to distribute writings in the sense named. The SO also continued its efforts in the first half of 2000 to present itself as an allegedly persecuted minority religion. For that purpose numerous gatherings and campaigns were conducted.

5.2 Campaign against Surveillance by Constitutional Security
As previously done, the SO disparaged, insulted and libeled representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany as well as the German constitutional system itself in order to suggest persecution of the SO by the state to the public. Germany was described as a corrupt police state which systematically suppressed the practice of religion. As it has done in the past, the SO published reports worldwide about alleged discrimination against Scientologists in Germany which make comparisons to the persecution of the Jews in the Third Reich. In doing so an attempt is being made to put the federal government under pressure.
(...)

5.8 Activities in other countries
In France the government agency responsible for combatting so-called sects issued an evaluation about the SO to the French Prime Minister; it said the SO put human rights and social equality at risk, and misused the law and people's dignity. The report further found that the SO is an organization with a totalitarian structure which presented a hindrance to public order, that it is a secret alliance and that it continues to attempt to infiltrate democratic institutions and official international private organizations.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

* The publisher of Religion News Report agrees with the German government's view of Scientology:

''The German government considers the Scientology organization a commercial enterprise with a history of taking advantage of vulnerable individuals and an extreme dislike of any criticism. The government is also concerned that the organization's totalitarian structure and methods may pose a risk to Germany's democratic society. Several kinds of evidence have influenced this view of Scientology, including the organization's activities in the United States.''

=== Unification Church

12. Moon to speak at SeaTac Tour: 'We Will Stand' event promotes religious harmony, racial reconciliation
The News Tribune Tacoma, Mar. 6, 2001
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, will speak in SeaTac Friday as part of a nationwide tour to promote racial reconciliation, religious harmony and renewed families.

The SeaTac event is the 13th stop for the nationwide ''We Will Stand!'' tour during which Moon will speak in 50 states and the District of Columbia in 51 days.

Moon, 81, is traveling with an entourage of interfaith religious leaders and each event attracts local religious and civic leaders, said Walter Lowe, local spokesman for the Unification Church.

The church now officially goes by the name Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. It is cosponsoring the tour with the American Clergy Leadership Conference, a nationwide organization of an estimated 5,000 Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and other religious leaders.

The theme for the tour is: ''Come Together, America: Rebuild the Family, Restore the Community, Renew the Nation and World.''

''The purpose of the tour is not theology,'' said Phillip Schanker, media coordinator for the ''We Will Stand!'' tour. ''We're not standing on Rev. Moon's or anyone else's doctrine. The purpose of the tour is unite the leadership of the faith community beyond race and denomination around the theme of family,'' Schanker said.
(...)

In 1984, Moon was convicted of federal tax evasion and served a year in a U.S. prison. His imprisonment brought Moon support from other religious leaders, who believed he was victimized by government intrusion into religion.

Moon's last public speaking appearance in the Puget Sound area took place in September 1995 in Seattle. In a message at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel, Moon said he had overcome persecution and claimed he was resolving many of the world's political and moral problems. He also referred to himself as the Messiah.

Moon's Unification Church is known for its mass wedding ceremonies. In the 1970s, when Moon came to the United States from Korea, his followers were known then for aggressively recruiting new members. Critics called church members ''Moonies'' and some branded the movement a cult.

In the past decade, Moon has focused less on building a denomination and more on programs revolving around the theme of families.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

Theologically, the Unification Church is - at best - a cult of Christianity

Given Moon's heretical teachings - many of which border on religious insanity - Christians should not cooperate with any of his interfaith efforts - including those that allegedly do not focus on theology.

(2 Corinthians 11:14-15 NIV) ... Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. {15} It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

13. Rev. Sun Myung Moon draws crowd to Minneapolis church
The Star Tribune, Mar. 9, 2001
http://www2.startribune.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
As he peered into the audience Thursday at New Salem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon jokingly asked two important questions: ''Where am I? What city is this?'' asked Moon, founder of the Unification Church, through a translator. ''I am told this is the Twin Cities; a big one and a smaller one that come together. We, too, have come together as brothers and sisters.''

A diverse crowd overflowed the pews and aisles at New Salem to listen to Moon during a stop on his 51-day, 50-state We Will Stand tour.

Moon, 81, was invited by New Salem's pastor, the Rev. Jerry McAfee, and other Twin Cities clergy members to speak about religious and racial harmony and the importance of family.
(...)

Today, Moon has about 3,000 serious followers in the United States, according to educated estimates, but the Unification Church's influence far exceeds its numbers.

It paid millions of dollars last year to buy United Press International, in addition to its ownership of 20 newspapers and radio and television stations in the United States and abroad. Golf Digest magazine also has been linked to the church.

Several ginseng products, including the soda Ginseng-Up, are produced by the Unification Church's Il-Hwa Enterprises, according to a Newhouse News Service report on the church.

Moon has long attracted followers from different backgrounds, but one question has dogged his church since the 1970s: Is it a cult?

Not according to David Bromley, a sociologist at Virginia Commonwealth University. ''I don't approve of the Moonies, but I don't think they are harmful,'' he said in the Newhouse News report. ''Moon preaches love.''

But Jay Howard, founder of Minneapolis' Association for Theological Studies, which tracks cults and occult activities, said he considers it a cult.

''It doesn't blow things up,'' said Howard, who holds a degree in psychology and counseling from North Central University in Minneapolis. ''But the church indoctrinates to such a degree that it takes an act of Congress to get someone out of it. That's not a good sign.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

Known as a cult defender, David Bromley is not a good source of information on cults:
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/b73.html

14. Local pastors welcome Moon
Pioneer Planet, Mar. 9, 2001
http://www.pioneerplanet.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
The Rev. Sun Myung Moon shared the pulpit with Baptist clergy Thursday night at a Minneapolis church rally for restoring the family.
(...)

The scene at New Salem Missionary Baptist Church is being repeated every night throughout the country: Largely African-American religious communities are welcoming Moon as he visits 49 cities in 51 days.

``Really? Whoa!'' said Bruce Forbes, chairman of the religious studies department at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, and a part-time Minneapolis resident.

``It doesn't surprise me that the Unification Church would do this. They want to mainstream themselves into respectability. It surprises me that you've got Baptist ministers sponsoring it.''

Many of the pastors who support and participate in Moon's tour say they're caught up not in the man, but his mission.

Yet for more than an hour preceding his prepared speech, Moon talked extensively about the nuances of his theology and frequently asked the audience for personal affirmation of his being ``right'' and a ``very good person.''
(...)

Twin Cities pastors said they do not have to embrace Moon's theology in order to appreciate his message.

``At first, I was a little skeptical,'' said the Rev. Jesse Griffin of True Vine Missionary Baptist Church in North Minneapolis. ``But after getting involved with it, I saw he had some principles and values that I was concerned about, particularly as concerns the family.''

Moon calls his 46-state speaking tour his gift to America. Arriving in New York on Feb. 17, one week before the tour began, he said, ``If you plead to 10 million whites in America to save the world, they will not pay attention, but out of 10 million blacks, many will follow.''

The Rev. Hycel B. Taylor of Second Baptist Church in Evanston, Ill., was on the invitation committee for the tour, which reached Chicago on Feb. 28.

Taylor supports the Unification emphasis on world peace, religious unity and family values but acknowledges some teachings might be confusing.

``I've asked African-American leaders to be a great deal more critical of the movement,'' Taylor said. ``More and more African-Americans are being attracted to the movement, for good reasons. But I've told ministers to be prepared. This is not a movement without controversy. It is full of claims. We don't want African-Americans to be following anything blindly.''

Moon would appear to stand opposite a broad divide separating himself from traditional Christianity. Believing that Jesus appeared to him as he prayed in the mountains of his native Korea in 1935, Moon says he was asked to finish the task of restoring God's kingdom on Earth.

That kingdom had been impossible since the fall of Adam and Eve, who were supposed to have been the perfect couple and produce sinless children. Because that did not occur, Jesus came as a ``new Adam,'' to marry and start a new line of children free of sin, according to Moon.

But human beings didn't allow it. The crucifixion of Jesus wasn't part of God's plan. Sun Myung Moon was then sent to complete the work, as a ``third Adam.'' Followers consider Moon and his wife to be the ``True Parents.''

Accordingly, many of them consider him a messiah.

``If you ask a member of the Unification Church directly, they won't say that,'' said Forbes of Morningside College, ``They talk about prophecies. They don't say it's Moon. They go through all sorts of intricate analysis -- where he'll be born, when he'll be born -- that all fits Moon. So there's excitement in the Unification Church that Moon could be the one.''

The belief in the restored family is the foundation for the arranged marriages, typically between members of different races, ``almost like trying to start a new race,'' Forbes said.
(...)

African-Americans have identified with Moon since he served a 13-month federal prison sentence in Danbury, Conn., for tax evasion in the early 1980s.

``The support that he got while he was in prison really came from African-American clergy,'' said Bill Reed, a tour spokesman in Washington, D.C.

``There was a tremendous amount of controversy surrounding his imprisonment. Many thought he had been railroaded into prison because the U.S. government wanted to get him out of the country. African-American ministers saw his plight
as being very similar to their plight.''

So several of them are standing, literally and figuratively, with Moon as he crosses America. Tonight, it's on to Seattle. Moon will conclude the tour April 16 in Washington, D.C.

``The Rev. Moon is seeking to connect with the spirituality that is indispensably a part of the African-American church,'' said the Rev. George Augustus Stallings of Washington, D.C.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

» More about interfaith dialogue and activities

=== International Churches of Christ

15. Controversial religious group returns to Cal State-Long Beach
Daily Forty-Niner/U-Wire, Mar. 6, 2001
http://news.excite.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
(U-WIRE) LONG BEACH, Calif. -- High-pressure groups have been haunting California State at Long Beach for many years, and with the reestablishment of the Los Angeles Church of Christ, some students may feel uneasy by their presence.

However, a representative said the church is misinterpreted and misunderstood.

''We are no different than any other organization on campus,'' said Marco Pellizzeri, campus minister for LACOC. ''We are no different than the fraternities, sororities or even the cultural groups.

''If you look at the definition of what a cult is, then everybody fits that category,'' he added.

According to Webster's New World Dictionary, a cult is a devoted attachment to, or extravagant admiration of a person, principle or lifestyle.

''There's nothing we're doing that's negative,'' Pellizzeri said. ''We promote relationship building; to love everybody and don't hold grudges.''

For many years, the LACOC has been charged as being a cult and has become one of the most controversial religious groups around, according to a recent report in the U.S. News and World Report. The LACOC is a Christian organization known for aggressive recruitment tactics. These recruitment tactics are the reasons why people are skeptical about the existence of the organization.
(...)

High pressure groups are not always religious, according to Mary Kay Will, campus minister for United Methodists. High pressure groups may be political or ideological in a variety ways.

''Think of Nazism in Germany,'' Will said. ''It was an ideology that grew. It had a charismatic leader. People followed what he said, and he was an ultimate authority.''

Will's role and the role of University Interfaith, in terms of high-pressure groups, is to help students trying to cope and deal with the effects of these organizations. The University Interfaith offers educational material, counseling and referrals to places that have a more in-depth study on high pressure groups.

''I want students to be aware and concerned about any high pressure groups they may run into on campus,'' Will said. ''We want to help students in identifying groups that may not be healthy groups to be involved in and can find ways to resist them.''

To keep order on campus, every organization has to abide by rules set out by CSULB regulations, according to Jeane Caveness, senior director of Student Life and Development. If a certain organization, whether high pressure or not, gets out of hand by means of disruption or obstruction to the campus, or abusive behavior directed toward a member of the campus community, then necessary disciplinary actions will follow.

''There are different kinds of sanctions that could take place,'' Caveness said. ''Obviously the worst would be saying to an organization that they are suspended from the campus.''
[...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. The ICOC (of which LACOC is part) has been banned from many campuses.

» Cults, sects, alternative religions - definitions

» Part 3