=== Aum Shinrikyo
1. AUM guru may undergo mental tests

=== Falun Gong
2. falungong leader savages ''wicked'' Chinese leadership
3. China's crackdown on falungong sect rooted in fear and ignorance: members
4. China Jails 13 More Falun Gong Activists

=== Unification Church
5. Ministers upset by Moon visit
6. Rev. Moon's event raises local hackles
7. In Oakland, Moon Stresses Family
8. Rev. Moon delivers message in Oakland
9. The Reverend Moon's Comeback

=== Islam
10. 2 Bamyan Buddhas completely destroyed, reports AIP
11. Taliban vows to keep thumbing nose at the world
12. Taliban close BBC Kabul office
13. The anti-Buddhist fury in Afghanistan

=== Catholicism
14. Ranking Congressmen Support Suspect Religious Group

=== Mormonism
15. Skinhead Church
16. 'It Isn't A Sunday Religion. It's A Lifetime Change.'

=== Hate Groups
17. FindLaw Forum: Court should have heard KKK case
18. Haider the Rightist Is Firing Up Vienna's Election With Slurs

=== Other News
19. Novato 'Diploma Mill' Shut Down by State
20. Leader Of Religious Group, Son Charged With Molestation
21. Man charged with DUI and fired after drinking kava sues employer
22. Elementary may be closed due to polygamists withdrawal
23. 'Fairy' pictures fetch £6,000

=== Faith-Based Initiatives

24. Christian leaders pan Bush's faith plan
25. Cult fear hits Bush plan to fund by faith
26. Poll: Americans approve of Bush
27. Delay on Faith-Aid Plan Puts Time on Bush's Side
28. Senate To Introduce Religion Plan

=== Human Rights Violations

29. Amnesty International Condemns Sentencing of 14-year-old Boy to Life Imprisonment Without Possibility of Parole

=== Noted
30. Hearing From Dearly Departed Proves a Hit on Sci-Fi Channel

=== Trends
31. Claim of 'Post-Denominational Era' Defied
32. It's chic to be a Protestant in France


=== Mormonism

15. Skinhead Church
Salt Lake Tribune, Mar. 13, 2001 (Letter to the Editor)
http://www.sltrib.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
The ''Mormon church'' wants to be known as ''The Church of Jesus Christ,'' but this will lead to a serious identity problem for people in the northwest. The white separatist church is known as ''The Church of Jesus Christ, Christian.'' The Mormon church will need to refer to itself as ''The Church of Jesus Christ, Mormon'' so as not to be associated with the skinhead church. Just a thought!

GORDON HILL
Chubbuck, Idaho
[...entire item...]

The Mormon Church is a cult of Christianity. It does not represent historical, biblical Christianity, and consequently is not entitled to calling itself ''the Church of Jesus Christ.''

16. 'It Isn't A Sunday Religion. It's A Lifetime Change.'
The Palm Beach Post, Mar. 9, 2001
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Barbara Roberts Exater got baptized less than a week after first hearing the word Mormon.

She saw a television commercial on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a year ago and called for the free Bible and Book of Mormon that night. The next day, she invited missionaries into her home to talk to her and six of her children.
(...)

Exater had been raised a Baptist, and as an adult visited many Christian churches seeking a spiritual home. But she says none filled her need for ''true God'' as completely as the Mormon church, with its teachings of healthy living, self-sufficiency and the importance of family. She also simply adores the feeling this faith gives her.

''When I walk out of my house to go to church every Sunday, I feel like I'm going to heaven,'' Exater said.

Church officials say Exater's feelings about Mormonism are echoed worldwide, explaining the church's recent growth in the United States and the world. In the United States, the church ranks sixth in size - behind Roman Catholic, Southern Baptist, Methodist, Church of God in Christ and Lutheran churches. About 5 million Americans - slightly less than half of the worldwide membership - affiliate themselves with the church.

If growth patterns hold, sociologists say, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) could hit 265 million members worldwide by 2080, outnumber all Christian groups except Roman Catholics, and become the first new major world religion since Islam.

Exater represents the changing face of Mormonism, a church that first came to American consciousness in the '70s with the popularity of the Osmond family. And in many ways, the Osmonds are still representative: a large family, white, and from the west (the Osmonds - former Tiger Beat readers will recall - hailed from Orem, Utah.) The Mormon church is headquartered in Salt Lake City.

But Exater - a West Palm Beach native - is black. And she is not the sole black person - or Latino or Asian - attending three hours of services every Sunday and storing a year's worth of food staples in her home, as all Mormons are advised by the church to do.

Jan Shipps, a sociologist who studies Mormonism, points out that it's difficult to make sweeping statements that apply to all LDS Church members anymore.

''There are so many different kinds of Mormons,'' said Shipps, author of Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty Years among the Mormons. ''When it's the sixth-largest church in the country, you can't (generalize). This is a very complicated culture.''

Until 1978, the Mormon church did not allow black men to be priests, essentially banning them from full membership.
(...)

When ''all worthy men'' were deemed eligible for priesthood, LDS Church growth took off worldwide, contributing to its status as one of the fastest-growing religious groups in the world. Other growth factors: an aggressive missionary program, especially throughout South America; and, in the United States, Spanish-speaking congregations - called wards - that help new members learn about the church in their own language.

In Florida, the LDS Church grew almost 25 percent between 1989 and 1999. Much of that growth is among Spanish speakers.
(...)

Missionaries - and the work of the Holy Ghost, believers say - are responsible for the conversion rates that make this religion such a phenomenon. More than 60,000 Mormon missionaries are working worldwide. With their fresh-scrubbed appearances, uniforms, youth and friendly attitudes, they are having great success.

Nearly 60 percent of active Mormons volunteer for missionary work, which their families or churches pay for. They spend a few weeks preparing at a missionary camp, then ship off.
(...)

But it's the focus on family that attracted Debby Montgomery, wife of Bishop Lou Montgomery.
(...)

She wasn't looking for a new religion, but a trip to Utah prompted her and Lou to consider the Mormon church. They knew they wanted children - they now have four - and thought the LDS Church would be a good place to raise kids. They liked the Word of Wisdom, which prohibits anything that isn't healthy for the body, and thought it might safeguard their children against drug use. They also approved of the church's ''young women's handbook,'' which recommends dating only in groups after 16 and avoiding ''pairing up'' until age 18.

''It isn't a Sunday religion,'' Debby Montgomery said. ''It's a lifetime change. You live it every day.''

Northup calls these principles the ''structure'' of the Mormon faith - and the reason many find it so appealing.
(...)

''They explain for certain what your role is,'' said Shipps, professor emeritus at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis. ''There are clear role expectations that tend to make people feel comfortable.''

But it also means there is little room for personal interpretation. And as much as supervision can help focus, it can also feel oppressive to some, Northup said.

Pamela Loertscher, 34, was born into the church but began, at age 14, to question some of its teachings. She grew up in Jacksonville but moved to Port St. Lucie three years ago. She now lives in Fort Pierce. In January, she and her husband and eldest son wrote letters requesting that their names be removed from the church's membership rolls.

They had never attended services in this area and wanted a quiet removal, she said. Instead, Bishop Vaughn Swink visited their home, saying church doctrine requires him to speak with anyone wishing to leave the church. They also hadn't followed procedure and written to him for removal, he said; they instead sent their letters to membership records in Salt Lake City.

The Loertschers wrote that they would consider any visits ''harassment.'' They refused to write additional letters to Swink. Last week they received letters last week stating their names had been removed from the church's records.

Swink said the encounter was uncommon and that resigning is ''not a big deal.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

Contrary to Mr. Swink's assertion, the Mormon Church - like many other cults - makes leaving very difficult.

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