News about cults, sects, and alternative religions
An Apologetics Index research resource
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News about cults, sects, and alternative religions An Apologetics Index research resource |
Religion News ReportReligion News Report - Feb. 6, 2000 (Vol. 4, Issue 163)  Latest: Religion News Blog Religion News Report - Feb. 6, 2000 (Vol. 4, Issue 163) ================================================================ === Aum Shinrikyo / Aleph 1. Editor's note 2. Anti-Aum law searches begin 3. New powers used to search AUM sites 4. AUM members trying to defect need support === Waco / Branch Davidians 5. Mystery item incites debate 6. FBI plan not followed, Davidian lawyers say 7. Court urged to throw out 2 charges in Davidian suit 8. Attorneys for FBI sharpshooter at Davidian siege seek client's dismissal from lawsuit 9. Attorney requests FBI agents be reinstated as defendants in Davidian lawsuit 10. Rising from the ashes: Volunteers rebuilding Koresh chapel 11. McNulty, the FBI and the "Waco Syndrome" === Falun Gong 12. Falun Gong Members Arrested 13. Chinese Police Swarm Square As Falun Gong Protests === Karmapa 14. Fears for Karmapa's black hat 15. Lama's Escape Inflames Buddhist Rivalry === Scientology 16. Scientology loses court challenge to McPherson estate representative 17. Judge rejects Scientology arguments 18. Scientology: Attack on ARD film team 19. Violent attack on SWR TV team of the ARD in front of Scientologist Gottfried Helnwein's house in the USA 20. The alleged good faith of the con man === Unification Church 21. Moonies aim to score with Brazilians 22. Moonies turn to football in Brazil's swamplands 23. Warmth on a cold night === Mormonism 24. 'God's Army' Shooting For New LDS Film Genre 25. Utah history always involves Mormonism === Hate Groups 26. In the Words of Joerg Haider === Nuwaubians 27. Up for sale: One Nuwaubian village 28. Nuwaubian land sale sparks little controversy === Other News 29. 'Queen' charged in new county 30. Will case shed light on Hearst kidnapping? 31. Woman says indictment is about her religion, not scam (Universal Life Church) 32. Magic touch at graveside (Feng Shui) 33. Crown Health spends $20,000 on staff 'therapy' (Landmark Education) 34. Utah and its polygamists race against time to end abuses 35. Oklahoma attorney general rejects biology textbook disclaimer 36. Orthodoxy Regains Its 'Special Role' 37. Black Pentecostal leaders set trip to Vatican, hope to meet with pope 38. Pope criticised for Church errors apology 39. Magician tries to expose tears of blood trick === Near Death Experiences 40. Stress causes 'spirit to leave body' feeling 41. Out of body - not out of mind 42. Life after near death === UFOs 43. UFO lawsuit to get hearing 44. Portents from the heavens or just UFOs? === Noted 45. Followers say guru's breathing methods could curb violence (Ravi Shankar) 46. A healing touch to let the spirits flow (Reiki) 47. Priest spreads prayer's power ("manifestations") 48. A quest for truth: Unitarian Universalists appeal to seekers 49. Broadening church tradition pushes to personalize religion === Aum Shinrikyo / Aleph 1. Editor's note Daily Yomiuri (Japan), Feb. 2, 2000 http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/0202cr11.htm Effective immediately, The Daily Yomiuri will omit "Aleph"--the new name adopted by Aum Supreme Truth--from the paper's reference to the cult. Instead, the religious group will continue to be identified as Aum Supreme Truth. This policy is in line with a recent decision by the Public Security Examination Commission to place the cult under supervision for three years on the grounds that "there is no reason to believe that the group will be able to live up to 'drastic reforms' it has recently announced," including its new name. [...entire item...] 2. Anti-Aum law searches begin Asahi Daily News (Japan), Feb. 4, 2000 http://www.asahi.com/english/asahi/0204/asahi020402.html The Public Security Investigation Agency and police today conducted their first inspections of Aum Shinrikyo facilities under a new law aimed at controlling the cult's activities. (...) The five Aum facilities that were searched have been the scene of protests from neighboring residents, according to the agency. (...) During the inspections, agency officials and police officers are permitted to take photographs and examine account books and other documents. But they must ask cult members for permission to open locked safes and cannot confiscate materials. Should the cult obstruct the inspections by refusing to open locked safes, for example, the agency chief can instruct the commission to apply the law's more serious provisions, including a ban on the use of Aum facilities by cult members. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this]  3. New powers used to search AUM sites Mainichi Daily News (Japan), Feb. 5, 2000 http://www.mainichi.co.jp/english/news/news01.html (...) Although police and public security officials were forbidden from seizing materials found in the cult buildings they inspected in five prefectures, AUM followers face up to a year in jail or maximum fine of 500,000 yen if they refuse to "voluntarily" accede to requests made by law enforcers. (...) Top government officials justified the probes, saying that authorities are merely trying to put at ease residents of areas inhabited by members of the cult, which has admitted to dozens of crimes, including the 1995 lethal gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. (...) On Thursday, police raided six AUM facilities in Nagano, Tokyo and Ibaraki prefectures in connection with the abduction last month of Asahara's 7-year-old son. Police said six people, including two of Asahara's daughters, abducted the boy on Jan. 21 from a facility in Asahi, Ibaraki Prefecture. (...) Police have obtained arrest warrants for the two daughters, aged 18 and 16, and another AUM member in connection with the abduction. Two other male cult members have been arrested by Ibaraki police. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 4. AUM members trying to defect need support Mainichi Daily News (Japan), Feb. 2, 2000 http://www.mainichi.co.jp/english/news/news02.html Lawyers representing victims of AUM Shinrikyo crimes urged the government Tuesday to set up a structure to support followers of the cult trying to return to normal society, arguing that just putting the cult under legal surveillance would resolve little and dangerously isolate its members. The decision to put the cult, now calling itself Aleph, under constant scrutiny for three years was made official on Tuesday, and security authorities hoped that more AUM followers would leave the cult because of this. However, there is no organization in place to accept defecting followers and help them readjust to society. The government task force tackling AUM decided last December to set up a panel to study the best way to help people out of religious "mind-control" and establish consultations with legal authorities to help cult members who decided to leave. Taro Takimoto, a member of the group of lawyers representing victims of AUM crimes, does not believe those measures will have the desired result. (...) He is also critical of the Public Security Investigation Agency, which blatantly keeps track of former AUM members. Many former cult followers were forced out of their jobs after their past became public knowledge after the agency's investigations. (...) The cult may also be trying to "enclose" its members to prevent them from leaving. "It is becoming increasingly difficult to know the whereabouts of our children since the cult began to close its facilities and disperse," said Hiroyuki Nagaoka, 61, leader of a group whose family members are AUM followers. The group onsisted of 126 families, offspring of which are AUM members. "We've tried to establish a dialogue with the cult, but we received no reply," Nagaoka said. (...) A Buddhist temple in the Chubu region has already accepted over 60 former AUM followers to help them to readjust to the outside world. (...) The priest did not reveal exactly how he helped the former members, but said he used Buddhist teachings to make them open their minds. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Waco / Branch Davidians 5. Mystery item incites debate San Antonio Express-News, Feb. 3, 2000 http://www.mysa.com/pantheon/homebase/hbm&s/0412a-carmel-sidebar.shtml [Branch Davidians] Volunteers rebuilding David Koresh's chapel at Mount Carmel claim to have found a device that could solve the mystery of Mount Carmel's fiery end: an incendiary or fire-starting device, allegedly fired by government agents into the complex during the 1993 siege. Their finding, announced via Web page, would signal the end of a search for the conspiracist's Holy Grail, if proven true. But the new device doesn't measure up. (...) Though the search for a fire-starting device has produced at least three promising objects, the plaintiffs' charges have yet to be confirmed. Last summer, Colorado filmmaker Michael McNulty, one of the figures behind the Emmy-award-winning documentary, "Waco: The Rules of Engagement," claimed to have found the mystery devices. (...) In mid-January, while rebuilding the Mount Carmel church, volunteers found a burned-out artifact that they took to be the remains of an incendiary device, an illumination round, or maybe, a flash-bang grenade. They promptly posted a photo on the group's site, "rebuildthechurch.com," identifying the object as a "pyrotechnic grenade recently unearthed during clean up." (...) Last week, a technical adviser for the Eveready Battery Co. told the San Antonio Express-News that APC is a code on its products, denoting "a contractor that we used for subassembly." The wadding found with the alleged incendiary includes a small strip of cloth—like the cloth strips that are used to envelop the electrolytes in batteries today. The new incendiary device, like others that critics of the government have found in Mount Carmel's ruins, is as harmless as light. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 6. FBI plan not followed, Davidian lawyers say Dallas Morning News, Feb. 3, 2000 http://dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/26059_WACO03.html The FBI's two lead Waco commanders violated a Washington-approved plan by ordering tanks to begin demolishing the Branch Davidian compound in 1993, and thus should be liable for the horrific tragedy that ensued, the sect's lawyers argued Wednesday. Their Wednesday plea in a Waco federal court lays out a detailed case for how FBI commanders Jeffrey Jamar and Richard Rogers within hours diverted from the plan authorized by top FBI officials and approved by Attorney General Janet Reno. That written plan allowed for demolition of the sect's embattled building only after tear gas had been sprayed into it for 48 hours, but FBI tanks began demolishing the rear of the building less than five hours after the gassing began. (...) The plaintiff's pleading came one day after the Justice Department argued that legal limits on lawsuits against federal agencies and officials should prevent the Branch Davidians from putting the government on trial for its handling of the 1993 gassing operation, including its use of tanks. The government argued that federal law prohibits using lawsuits to "second-guess" the judgment calls of federal officials, even if those decisions have tragic results. The motions from both sides come as Judge Smith prepares to make final decisions about the size and scope of the sect's wrongful-death case. He has set a trial for mid-May on three major questions: Did federal agents use excessive force in the raid that began the 1993 standoff, a botched operation that disintegrated into a gunbattle that left four agents and several sect members dead? Did federal agents shoot at the Branch Davidians and prevent their escape when the compound caught fire during the FBI's gas assault? And was the FBI negligent in failing to prepare for the threat of a fire and for refusing to let local firetrucks approach when a fire did erupt? [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 7. Court urged to throw out 2 charges in Davidian suit Dallas Morning News, Feb. 2, 2000 http://dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/25501_WACO02.html Arguing that the U.S. government can't be sued even if its agents' judgment calls prove negligent, Justice Department lawyers asked a Waco federal judge Tuesday to throw out two key charges in the Branch Davidians' wrongful-death lawsuit. (...) If successful, the bid would leave only two major issues for trial: Did federal agents use excessive force when they shot at sect members during the raid that began the standoff near Waco? And did agents fire again, trapping Branch Davidians inside their burning building, as the siege came to an end? (...) The federal law limits how and when citizens can sue the government, broadly restricting actions against federal agencies and employees. Despite those restrictions, U.S. District Judge Walter Smith ruled in July that the case could go to trial on several allegations: the sect's charges of excessive force in the Feb. 28, 1993, raid by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and negligent or deadly conduct by the FBI during the tear-gas assault and final fire. Government lawyers argued Tuesday that most of the FBI's actions during the April 19, 1993, tear-gas assault are immune because they involve judgment calls protected under a legal doctrine known as the "discretionary function." Even if the FBI "abused its discretion," Branch Davidians can't put the government on trial, the lawyers argued. (...) Officials cite a government arson investigation that ruled that sect members set the fires, and recordings from government bugs that captured voices of sect members discussing their preparations to torch their building. (...) Graeme Craddock, an Australian serving 20 years for convictions arising from the standoff, recounted in a December deposition that he saw and heard other sect members talking about pouring fuel. Drawn by shouts of "Wait, wait. Not inside. Outside," he said, he saw another sect member with a fuel can. "It looked to me like they were pouring fuel on the floor." "It was a few minutes later I heard a call from upstairs . . . 'The building's on fire," Mr. Craddock said. He added that he looked out the window for smoke and then heard the same voice. "He said this time, 'Light the fire.' " The fires broke out just after FBI tanks demolished the entire rear area of the building and then drove deep into the structure. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 8. Attorneys for FBI sharpshooter at Davidian siege seek client's dismissal from lawsuit Waco Tribune-Herald, Feb. 2, 2000 http://www.accesswaco.com/auto/feed/news/local/2000/02/02/949541131.20224.4360.0091.html Attorneys for FBI sharpshooter Lon Horiuchi, the lone individual defendant in wrongful-death lawsuit filed by surviving Branch Davidians against the government, asked U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. of Waco Wednesday to dismiss him from the suit. The motion, filed by Department of Justice attorneys, argues there is no evidence that Horiuchi — who in 1992 shot and killed the wife of Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge — fired a shot at Mount Carmel on the day of the fire that led to the deaths of David Koresh and 75 followers. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 9. Attorney requests FBI agents be reinstated as defendants in Davidian lawsuit Waco Tribune-Herald, Feb. 1, 2000 http://www.accesswaco.com/auto/feed/news/local/2000/02/01/949453463.20224.5993.0001.html Former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark filed a motion Tuesday asking that Jeffrey Jamar and Richard Rogers be reinstated as defendants in the Branch Davidians' wrongful-death lawsuit against the government. (...) In his motion, Ramsey told U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. of Waco that discovery in the case had given added weight to the infrared videotapes that captured activity on the back of Mount Carmel on April 19, 1993. (...) Ramsey said Jamar and Rogers would have known about any shots fired at Mount Carmel by FBI agents. (...) "Under the circumstances, the gunfire, if it occurred, was known to and ordered by Rogers and Jamar and was clearly an excessive use of force and almost surely a violation of plaintiffs' constitutional rights," Ramsey wrote. "As the court noted in its July 1, 1999 opinion ... as to the expert reports of Dr. (Edward) Allard and others, if such ... allegations are true, due process would be implicated as such process would rise to a level that would shock the conscience." A spokesman for Houston attorney Mike Caddell, who represents the majority of the plaintiffs, said Caddell is considering filing a similar motion. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 10. Rising from the ashes: Volunteers rebuilding Koresh chapel San Antonio Express-News, Feb. 3, 2000 http://www.mysa.com/pantheon/homebase/hbm&s/0401a-carmel-rebuild.shtml (...) The New England mason came a long way to rent a motel room and swing a hammer at Mount Carmel, but he is in many ways typical of the mostly Austin-based group that has gathered around the Web page, "rebuildthechurch.com  ."They are people of various callings and religious backgrounds whose common bond is the belief government actions were responsible for setting the old Mount Carmel ablaze. (...) On Sundays since late September, the volunteers — as many as 150 in the early weeks of the project to as few as two dozen on Super Bowl day — have raised a new building where the Davidian chapel once stood. (...) Chalox and Wooley, as were most of the project's donors and volunteers, were drawn to the effort through its Web page and appeals by Austinite Alex Jones, a video producer and talk show host whose program is heard on 38 radio stations, from Texas to New York to Illinois. Jones, 26, is a burgeoning figure on the radio scene, part hyperbole like Rush Limbaugh, part activist like filmmaker Michael Moore, and part gun-rights agitator. He produced a video in 1998 about Waco whose key line was, "Those babies did not deserve to be murdered by the black ski mask thugs." For his latest video, "Police State 2000," Jones interviewed San Antonio Police Chief Al Philippus about the chief's 1998 refusal to cooperate with the shadowy Delta Force, which wanted to stage urban warfare drills in the Alamo City. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 11. McNulty, the FBI and the "Waco Syndrome" NewsMax, Feb. 3, 2000 http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2000/2/3/104341 Mike McNulty, the intrepid film producer and journalist, tells NewsMax.com that the FBI may be carefully tracking journalists and others who have taken an interest in the Waco story. (...) Apparently the FBI is not too happy with McNulty. Last year, FBI agents showed up at the home of McNulty's children, claiming they were doing a background check on one of their neighbors. McNulty saw this as a subtle form of harassment and let it be known to the FBI he didn't like the attention. Journalists who get involved in the Waco story report similar problems with their communications to McNulty. "Telephone lines, fax machines, answering machines start doing strange things," McNulty said, as he described what journalists have repeatedly told him. The phenomena happens so often that he calls the problems "the Waco Syndrome." [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Falun Gong 12. Falun Gong Members Arrested AOL/Reuters, Feb. 5, 2000 http://my.aol.com/news/story.tmpl?table=n&cat=01&id=2000020403037566 Chinese police tightened security at Tiananmen Square today, after beating and detaining at least 50 members of the banned Falun Gong sect who staged a protest timed for the start of the Lunar New Year. The clashes began at midnight's turn to the New Year, as dozens of Falun Gong members converged on the square under a sky crackling with holiday fireworks. Many of the protesters pulled out red banners, and about two dozen sat cross-legged in one of the group's typical meditation poses. Police immediately rushed in, kicking, punching and dragging protesters away. At least two men were knocked down, their legs kicked out from under them. Within 25 minutes, police had stopped the protests and shut down the square. (...) Those detained in the midnight protest included followers from Australia and the United States, and all were taken by bus to a detention center in the countryside to the north of the city, protest organizer Hannah Li said in a faxed statement. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 13. Chinese Police Swarm Square As Falun Gong Protests AOL/Reuters, Feb. 5, 2000 http://my.aol.com/news/story.tmpl?table=n&cat=01&id=2000020502588744 Defiant members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement kept up protests in Tiananmen Square on Saturday after the banned group marked the Year of the Dragon with one of its biggest demonstrations on the vast plaza. (...) Police who have spent the past year trying to snuff out the group's repeated protests seemed astonished and bewildered by the scale of the demonstration on lunar New Year's Eve. (...) Despite the beatings, Falun Gong members kept up chants of ''Falun Dafa'' -- ''Great Law of the Wheel'' -- even inside the detention center, the witnesses said. The demonstration is the latest evidence that a nationwide crackdown has failed to crush members' allegiance to the group which China's Communist leaders banned in July last year and labeled an ''evil cult'' in October. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Karmapa 14. Fears for Karmapa's black hat BBC News, Feb. 4, 2000 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_630000/630997.stm Buddhist monks in the north Indian state of Sikkim have called for an independent commission to ensure that artefacts belonging to the Tibetan monk, the Karmapa Lama, are still intact. The monks say there is a danger that the famous black hat, traditionally worn by the Karmapa Lama as a ceremonial crown, and other belongings, have either been removed from or destroyed in the monastery where they are kept. The case reflects the divisions among the five million followers of the Kagyu Buddhist sect as to who their next leader should be, following the arrival in India of the boy-lama, Urgyen Thinley. (...) The dramatic arrival last month of Urgyen Thinley into India from Tibet has brought the differences among the Kagyu sect into the open. They disagree as to whether he or another teenager in exile in India, Thaye Dorje, should be the next Karmapa Lama. Whoever is appointed to the position will not only wear the famous black hat, but will also lead one of the most influential sects within Tibetan Buddhism. The Kagyu sect has followers across the world and assets worth millions of dollars. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] * Sidebar: The Karmapa's artefacts - Black hat - Human skulls encased in silver - Crystal balls 15. Lama's Escape Inflames Buddhist Rivalry New York Times, Feb. 3, 2000 http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/020300tibet-karmapa.html (...) Ancient texts describe the fifth Karmapa as a conjurer of miracles, able to light the clouds with iridescent colors and summon flowers to fall from the sky. But his many teachings, while a source of soothing wisdom, also included a dark prophecy: centuries in the distance, during the time of his own 16th and 17th incarnations, the demonic power of "perverse aspirations" would bring the entire Karmapa lineage close to destruction. This vision seems to have been eerily prescient, for now, as the world enters the Tibetan year of the male iron dragon, there is not one claimant to the title of Karmapa but two, both of them teenage boys whose mentors find the aspirations of the other wickedly perverse. (...) The Karmapa is usually considered the third most revered figure in Tibetan Buddhism, after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, and the newly arrived boy had the unusual distinction of having been endorsed as the 17th incarnation by both the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government. But there has been significantly less joy in New Delhi, home to a rival faction that insists it is the one with the genuine Karmapa. Shamar Rinpoche, a high lama also known as the Shamarpa, has been championing this second contender since 1994. (...) Such intrigue is hardly uncommon to the Buddhism of Tibet, which, before the Chinese occupation in the 1950's, was a theocratic state where spiritual passions often bumped up against worldly ambitions. The highest lamas are believed to be so spiritually advanced that while their physical form may perish, their superior consciousness lives on in other bodies and can be recognized. Rival disciples sometimes disagree about which child has become the new vessel. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Scientology 16. Scientology loses court challenge to McPherson estate representative Tampa Tribune, Feb. 4, 2000 http://www.tampatrib.com/FloridaMetro/MGIOY06C94C.html A judge has rejected a challenge from the Church of Scientology that could have derailed a civil lawsuit stemming from the death of member Lisa McPherson. The church has no legal standing to interfere with the administration of McPherson's estate, Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer ruled Thursday. Greer did not take up the issue of whether documents in the estate case were forged. That allegation became moot once he decided that Scientology had no right to challenge the legitimacy of the estate's court-approved representative. McPherson died in December 1995 after 17 days in isolation at the church's spiritual headquarters, the Fort Harrison Hotel in downtown Clearwater. Then the estate case file was opened in Pinellas Circuit Court. (...) After taking over as representative of Lisa's estate, Liebreich sued the Church of Scientology on behalf of the estate in Hillsborough Circuit Court. The wrongful death lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, but at one point the McPherson family responded to a $25,000 settlement offer from the church by demanding $80 million. Meantime, in late 1998, the Pasco-Pinellas State Attorney's Office charged the church's Flag Service Organization with one count each of abuse of a disabled adult and practicing medicine without a license in connection with McPherson's death. The church has responded on all fronts with teams of lawyers and reams of legal filings. In the case ruled on Thursday, Greer was asked to remove Liebreich as representative of the estate. Had he done so, the estate's lawsuit in Hillsborough Circuit Court might have been jeopardized. Ken Dandar, the Tampa lawyer handling the estate and its lawsuit, said Thursday that the battle in probate court was nothing more than a church tactic designed to use up his time and distract him from pursuing the Hillsborough case. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 17. Judge rejects Scientology arguments St. Petersburg Times, Feb. 4, 2000 http://www.sptimes.com/News/020400/news_pf/TampaBay/Judge_rejects_Sciento.shtml The Church of Scientology said it was being sued by people who had gone too far. It said a 70-year-old woman from Texas had allowed the lawsuit over the death of her niece, Lisa McPherson, to be "hijacked" by church critics bent on destroying Scientology. It asked a Pinellas probate judge to remove the aunt as head of McPherson's estate, which brought the death suit. It said the aunt engaged in fraud, and it urged the judge to replace her with someone with no ill will toward Scientology. But Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George W. Greer rejected those arguments Thursday, ruling that Scientology has no legal interest in the estate of Lisa McPherson, the Scientologist who died in 1995 while under the care of church staffers in from Clearwater. In a written order, Greer said he found no evidence that the aunt, Dell Liebreich of Yantis, Texas, had acted against the interests of the estate. He noted that the estate's beneficiaries, who also are relatives of McPherson, had no objections to Liebreich. Under state law, only an "interested person" has standing to contest the administration of a probate case. The law defines such a person as anyone who "may reasonably expect to be affected by the outcome of the particular proceeding involved." The church said it was affected because Liebreich, as head of the estate, had filed a wrongful death suit against Scientology and improperly delegated that suit to Robert S. Minton, a New England millionaire. Minton recently opened an office in Clearwater and says he has spent more than $3-million on a crusade to reform Scientology. (...) Tampa lawyer Ken Dandar, who represents the estate, said of Greer's ruling: "It shows that the actions of Scientology are so desperate because of the overwhelming evidence of their causing the death of Lisa McPherson." Mike Rinder, a top Scientology official, said the church now will pin its hopes on the state attorney's office, which has been asked by the church to consider a felony charge of fraud against Liebreich. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 18. Scientology: Attack on ARD film team Mittelbayrische Zeitung/dpa (Germany), Feb. 4, 2000 Translation: CISAR http://cisar.org/000204c.htm (...) As "Suedwestrundfunk" (SWR) broadcasting reported yesterday in Mainz, camera man Mark Bunker was hit twice during the incident and his camera was damaged. He himself was said to be unharmed. According to the broadcast statement, the report team was researching the Scientology background of the artist before the next Helnwein proceeding at the Frankfurt Superior State Court. Helnwein was said to have been staying in the vicinity of the Scientology Center in Clearwater. The renowned painter had been described as a Scientologist by two associations critical of Scientology in 1994. Among other things, they accused him of being a "clergyman" of a group "which uses coercive hypnotic procedures with the help of a lie detector to destroy people's psyches to control them. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 19. Violent attack on SWR TV team of the ARD in front of Scientologist Gottfried Helnwein's house in the USA Peter Reichelt (Germany), Feb. 3, 2000 http://cisar.org/000203a.htm A dramatic incident occurred while filming an ARD show in REPORT about Scientologist Gottfried Helnwein on February 1, 2000 in front of his villa in Clearwater. Reporters Hans Michael Kassel, Peter Reichelt and their American camera man, Mark Bunker, were violently ambushed by a man who suddenly stormed out of Helnwein's villa, without warning, with a hammer in one hand and a knife-like object in the other. Even though Mark Bunker tried to block the blows, he was still hit repeatedly with the hammer. The hammer attack was filmed by Bunker and Reichelt as much as was possible. As a result of the hammer attack, Mark Bunker suffered from shock and his camera was damaged, but by a miracle, he was unhurt. (...) Scientology secret police chief Michael Rinder, who appeared in Clearwater shortly after the attack, expressed his regrets about the attack on the German television team in a midday interview with US television NBC channel 8 reporter Mark Douglas. He disputed that the hammer man, Bernard, was a member of the Scientology organization. According to the NBC reporter, Rinder had a lengthy discussion with Helnwein in his house about the incident. Rinder also disputed Helnwein being a member of Scientology's business management, but explicitly confirmed that Gottfried Helnwein was a long-term, active member of the Scientology organization, and was just staying in Clearwater for the purpose of "religious activities." Up-to-date information on this case can be found on the internet at: http://www.xenutv.com/hammer.htm [...entire item...] 20. The alleged good faith of the con man Neue Zuercher Zeitung (Switzerland), Feb. 3, 2000 Translation: CISAR http://cisar.org/000203b.htm Zurich district court has sentenced a 55-year-old businessman, who juggled business investments around on American banks which existed only on paper, to 2 years and 9 months imprisonment. (...) The motive for the crime, according to the judgment, was the "extremely stressful situation" the accused was experiencing after he had a terrible business failure and himself was the victim of fraud; he had also expended much capital to gain the higher ranks of the Scientologists. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Unification Church 21. Moonies aim to score with Brazilians BBC, Feb. 3, 2000 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_629000/629251.stm The head of South Korea's Unification Church, Reverend Sun Myung Moon, has decided to set up his own professional football team in Brazil. (...) Over the past five years, he has spent $30m on a closed religious community on the edge of the Pantanal swampland. He is also trying to attract international funding for programmes designed to protect the local environment and, finding himself in the country which has won the World Cup four times, he has been unable to resist the temptation to move into football as well. The team is called "New Hope", the same name as the religious community, and assuming it wins approval from the football authorities, it appears to stand a reasonable chance of success. (...) Followers of the millionaire religious leader say he has talked about building a giant stadium in the New Hope community which could be used for football and for his famous mass weddings. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 22. Moonies turn to football in Brazil's swamplands The Times (England), Feb. 4, 2000 http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/02/04/timfgname01001.html?999 (...) His aim is to boost the following of his controversial religious sect in Brazil. Faced with growing rejection in South Korea and tax evasion problems in the United States, where his sect has been based, the 80-year-old Mr Moon has in the past two years focused on building his utopian vision of "heaven on earth" on the edges of the Pantanal swamps in the southwest of the country. He has already spent $30 million (almost £20 million) on a 100,000-acre ranch for his Moonie sect, formally known as the Unification Church, in a cattle-ranching area. Thousands of devotees, mainly from Japan, South Korea, the US and Spain, live on his New Hope Ranch working on turning a deforested, unfertile plain into arable land and a breeding ground for ostriches and rare parrots. Wearing wide-brimmed straw hats, they brave long afternoons by mosquito-infested muddy rivers to create a Garden of Eden dreamed up by their messianic leader. [...more... 23. Warmth on a cold night Washington Times, Feb. 4, 2000 [Note: Source is a Moonie-owened entity] http://www.washtimes.com/entertainment/entertain2-02042000.htm Faith, family, freedom and community service were the shared values that brought more than 300 persons together at The Washington Times Foundation's American Century Awards on Wednesday night. (...) "You look younger," a congratulatory Alexander Haig exclaimed as he greeted Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his wife, Hak Ja Han Moon, in the receiving line at the Cannon House Office Building Caucus Room. (...) Among the other VIPs in the crowd were former British Prime Minister Edward Heath. Mr. Heath expressed delight at the proceedings as he surveyed a room sprinkled with more than 60 persons honored for outstanding achievements in advancing the cause of freedom; pioneering faith-based services for the good of the community, state or nation; encouraging and protecting the traditional family or encouraging community-building and racial harmony. (...) For those who didn't receive prizes, there was time to talk about politics with other guests: Sens. Strom Thurmond and Orrin G. Hatch, Chinese dissident Harry Wu and members of the House of Representatives (led by Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert), including Reps. Henry J. Hyde, Floyd D. Spence, John Thune, Christopher Cox, Gil Gutknecht, Anne M. Northrup, Tom Tancredo and Dennis J. Kucinich. The number of guests from Capitol Hill was impressive because many members of Congress were across town at the annual dinner of the Washington Press Club Foundation. (...) Special recognition awards also went to Charles and Frances Ballard, co-founders of the responsible fatherhood movement in America; the Rev. Jerry Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University, for his religious work; Sen. Thurmond, the senior member of the Senate; Mr. Weinberger, for his distinguished career of public service; and Robert Woodson, founder of the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise. The Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for Freedom, Faith and Family went to Rev. Moon. "I have lived my entire life with the earnest desire to solve the many problems related to manifesting God's ideal of creation," Rev. Moon said. "When I came to America in 1972, I saw that this country was facing a severe crisis that affected the world. On my first evangelical tour of all 50 states, I declared that America must take responsibility to solve God's three major headaches: the threat of communism, the lack of cooperation among religious people against evil, and the moral crisis afflicting youth. Our responsibility as human beings requires that we meet God halfway and fulfill what God has asked us to do in the areas of freedom, faith and family." [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] * Related item: St. Charles Shelter Turns Down Award See also: What's wrong with this picture? The financial friendship between Jerry Falwell and Sun Myung Moon === Mormonism 24. 'God's Army' Shooting For New LDS Film Genre Salt Lake Tribune, Feb. 5, 2000 http://www.sltrib.com/2000/feb/02052000/religion/23334.htm (...) "God's Army," which Dutcher wrote, directed and stars in, is the first feature film about contemporary life among Mormon missionaries. (...) "As soon as the audience realizes it's about Mormon missionaries, people go completely silent and stare at the screen," Dutcher said this week. "They don't know what to think of it. They're afraid it's going to be anti-Mormon or just a bad seminary film." No wonder. "God's Army," with excellent production values and snappy dialogue, is a departure from traditional fare where Mormons are almost invisible or at the most, the object of scorn or spoof (as in Trey Parker's "Orgazmo"). "I've always been irritated by the way Mormons are portrayed in the movies," Dutcher said. "So negatively and one-dimensionally, if at all. We never see real, true, flesh and blood Mormon people in a film." Dutcher hopes "God's Army" will help launch a whole new genre of films, aimed primarily at members of the nearly 11-million member Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (...) Eventually, he hopes to show the film throughout Latin America, parts of which have high concentration of Latter-day Saints. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 25. Utah history always involves Mormonism Standard-Examiner, Feb. 5, 2000 http://www1.standard.net/stories/relinews/02-2000/FTP0122@relinews@05history@Ogden.asp Mike Barton's seventh grade Utah history class recently studied the Mountain Meadows Massacre. (...) Barton said teaching about the event, like just about every other event in Utah history, forces religion into the classroom. But teaching "about religion" and its role in history is permissible, Barton said. The Supreme Court in 1948, based on the case McCollum vs. the Board of Education in Illinois, prohibited the teaching of religious courses in public schools, but does not prohibit the teaching about religion. But Diane Grisby of Syracuse thinks sometimes even teaching about religion is too much. She said her seventh grader, a black student, does not talk much about what she is learning in her Utah history class. But Grisby, who grew up in Utah, knows her daughter is getting a heavy dose of Mormon history. (...) Clara Bigler, who recently retired from North Layton Junior High, said she would tell students just because they talked about the Mormons didn't mean she was trying to convert them. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Hate Groups 26. In the Words of Joerg Haider International Herald Tribune/Reuters, Feb. 1, 2000 http://www.iht.com/IHT/TODAY/TUE/IN/words.2.html [Hate groups / Neo-Nazis] The leader of the Freedom Party, Joerg Haider, has caused controversy repeatedly with remarks appearing to play down the crimes of the Nazis, who made Austria part of the Third Reich in 1938. Some of his comments: [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Nuwaubians 27. Up for sale: One Nuwaubian village Macon Telegraph, Feb. 3, 2000 http://www.macontelegraph.com/local/nuwaub0203.htm The United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors has put its 476-acre village in Putnam County on the market. (...) The Nuwaubians have erected two pyramids, a sphinx, numerous Egyptian-style statutes, manufactured homes and other structures on the property since moving from New York to Eatonton in 1993. (...) The Nuwaubians and Putnam County officials have been at odds since 1998 about zoning and building permit issues. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 28. Nuwaubian land sale sparks little controversy Macon Telegraph, Feb. 4, 2000 http://www.macontelegraph.com/local/nuwaub0204.htm (...) In fact, most people didn't care one way or another that the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors has put a hand-painted sign on the front gate of its 476-acre village offering "Land for sale." (...) Woodall said the property's nine owners are not ready to make any public comment about their decision to put the land on the market. And he said a price for the property has not been disclosed . Malachi York, the founder of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, bought the property for $975,000 in 1993. The village has become home to about 150 members of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, and hundreds of other Nuwaubians live in the surrounding communities of Eatonton and Milledgeville. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Other News 29. 'Queen' charged in new county St. Petersburg Times, Feb. 3, 2000 http://www.sptimes.com/News/020300/news_pf/TampaBay/_Queen__charged_in_ne.shtml Richell Denise Bradshaw now has been charged with benefiting from robberies in Manatee County. Just like in the other robberies, "Queen Shahmia" is believed to have ordered three of her manservants to rob a grocery store and three restaurants in Manatee County the week after Christmas. On Wednesday, Manatee detectives charged the queen, whose real name is Richell Denise Bradshaw, with four counts of being a principal to a robbery, meaning she knew about the crimes and benefited from them. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 30. Will case shed light on Hearst kidnapping? Deseret News, Feb. 5, 2000 http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,150011526,00.html? Lawyers in a California conspiracy and attempted murder case are trying to introduce testimony that may shed new light on the kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst. The testimony, the lawyers say, will indicate that Hearst planned her own kidnapping and willingly collaborated with her captors, the Symbionese Liberation Army. Lawyers for Sara Jane Olson — formerly known as Kathleen Ann Soliah — say they want to introduce testimony from Jack Scott, a former sports writer and a sympathizer with the radical movements of the 1970s. (...) Scott told the FBI that Hearst said she had arranged her own 1974 kidnapping as a way of breaking up with her fiancee, Steven Weed, without having to admit to her parents, who opposed the relationship, that they had been right in their judgment of the man. (...) The story of Hearst's kidnapping centered on her alleged "brainwashing" by her captors. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 31. Woman says indictment is about her religion, not scam Minneapolis Star Tribune, Feb. 4, 2000 http://www.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisSlug=HEX04&date=04-Feb-2000 Merna Jean Sunde doesn't want to talk about any of "this government garbage" about hexes and spells and scams allegedly operated from her house in Albert Lea, Minn. (...) But in a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday, Sunde, 65, was accused of working with a 36-year-old Mankato man to bilk more than 100 people out of at least $310,000. (...) Sunde prefers to be addressed as "reverend" and said she is an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church of Modesto, Calif., which "will ordain anyone for the asking," according to its Internet site. (...) The Universal Life Church said it ordained the Rev. Merna J. Artz Martin in 1977. The federal indictment said Sunde also has been known as Carol Martin, the Rev. M. Artz, Azia, Unique and Aaron. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 32. Magic touch at graveside Sydney Morning Herald, Feb. 5, 2000 http://www.smh.com.au/news/0002/05/text/world7.html Two of the main candidates in Taiwan's presidential election next month have become embroiled in a row about their fathers' graves, in which intriguing overtones of magic have surfaced. The Taiwanese media have been fascinated by an attempt to destroy the feng shui, or "favourable atmosphere", surrounding a family tomb of one political aspirant, and transfer it to another. (...) Mr Li says he detected a black miasma, an unwholesome or foreboding atmosphere, emanating from a tomb belonging to the family of Mr James Soong. He is the breakaway Nationalist candidate who, despite some questionable financial dealings, is more popular than Mr Lien among voters. Mr Li says he dealt with the miasma by putting nine iron nails around the tomb of Mr Soong's father. In Asia, iron is used in shamanistic folk magic to repel evil influences. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 33. Crown Health spends $20,000 on staff 'therapy' The Press (New Zealand), Feb. 1, 2000 http://www.press.co.nz/2000/05/000201l00.htm A Crown health entity has spent more than $20,000 on a controversial brand of self-help training that some liken to brainwashing. Thirty-eight staff from Crown Public Health Ltd in Christchurch have done courses with the Landmark Forum in the last 12 months. (...) The New Age group therapy has been likened by one admirer to a cross between scientology and Amway, and has taken a hold in the corporate sector as a form of "leadership" training. (...) A sociologist said the forum appealed to people with social or confidence problems. Participants were encouraged to deconstruct their personality in a group setting. They were left "very open and vulnerable". (...) Landmark, a multi-million dollar outfit based in San Franciso, is run in more than 20 countries and is based on the 1970s teachings of guru Werner Erhard. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 34. Utah and its polygamists race against time to end abuses USA Today, Feb. 2, 2000 http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000202/1900890s.htm (...) Around this mountainous, snow-dusted wonderland, founded 153 years ago by a revered Mormon and polygamist named Brigham Young, Allred, 86, who's married to eight women between the ages of 68 and 97, is the granddaddy of modern-day polygamy. He prefers calling it ''plural'' or ''celestial'' marriage. Makes a felony sound less damning. In what some say is a rushed effort to polish Utah's image before the 2002 Winter Olympic Games here, state lawmakers are attempting to clean up a thriving practice about which proponents and critics alike complain. Polygamy, long ago popular for procreation among Old Testament prophets and elders of the Mormon Church, is today described as a cesspool of spousal abuse, sexual abuse, forced marriage, child neglect, and tax and welfare fraud. This month, state Sen. Ron Allen, D-Stansbury Park, will reintroduce a bill that would give the state attorney general's office $500,000 to ferret out abuses and establish a telephone hotline and emergency shelter for women and children who want out of polygamy. (...) Six years before Utah was granted statehood in 1896, the Mormon Church voted to conform to U.S. law and forbid polygamy. Today, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints excommunicates members who remain loyal to its fundamentalist roots and enter plural marriages -- usually in stealth ceremonies and with no legal documents. (...) Polygamy was flourishing quietly in a climate increasingly tolerant of diverse lifestyles when a sensational case of incest attracted national attention two years ago. David Ortell Kingston, a 33-year-old Salt Lake City accountant, was convicted of incest and unlawful sexual conduct with his 16-year-old niece -- his 15th wife. He was given the maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison. His older brother, John Daniel Kingston, pleaded no contest to child abuse for belt-whipping his teenage daughter after she fled the marriage. He received a 28-week sentence. The union had been blessed by the Kingstons' Latter Day Church of God, an affluent Mormon splinter group with about 1,000 members. An investigation that year by The Salt Lake Tribune revealed several cases of Kingston-sect leaders marrying half-sisters, first cousins, nieces and aunts under the guise of religion. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 35. Oklahoma attorney general rejects biology textbook disclaimer CNN/AP, Feb. 2, 2000 http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/02/evolution.oklahoma.ap/index.html Olahoma's attorney general ruled Wednesday that a state committee had no authority to require that biology textbooks carry a disclaimer saying evolution is a "controversial theory." (...) The disclaimer approved by the committee for all new biology books stated that evolution is a "controversial theory" that can refer "to the unproven belief that random, undirected forces produced a world of living things." It was unanimously adopted November 5. Committee member John Dickmann, who introduced the disclaimer, has said it was added because biology texts do not devote enough space to alternate explanations of how life began. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 36. Orthodoxy Regains Its 'Special Role' Russia Today/Norasco-Russia Journal, Feb. 2, 2000 http://www.russiatoday.com/features.php3?id=131052 (...) It has been a decade of extraordinary transformation and renewal for the Orthodox Church in Russia, one that has seen it cast off the shackles of Soviet suppression to achieve a degree of independence unknown throughout its 1,000 year history. Since 1990, 13,000 parishes have been re-established and 460 monasteries re-opened, about 20,000 clergy given official posts and 22 new seminaries established; 50 percent of Russia's population now declares itself to be Orthodox, the largest congregation of any Eastern Christian church. This burgeoning sense of self-confidence has coincided with the rise, within church ranks, of a growing tendency toward anti-liberalism and an alarming level of aggressive chauvinism toward other religions. (...) The most sinister consequence has been a controversial new law, pushed through the Russian parliament in 1997, mostly as a result of Orthodox support. Human rights groups claim it has triggered a "secret offensive" by the state services against "nontraditional" religions in Russia, with tactics from bureaucratic obstruction to alleged beatings. (...) In the first court case brought under the new law, Jehovah's Witnesses are now being threatened in Moscow for "instigating religious enmity" by doing no more than claiming to be the only true faith — and "causing family breakdown" by demanding that believers make religious work their first priority. Scientology has been regularly raided by the police; church members claim staff have been physically attacked. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 37. Black Pentecostal leaders set trip to Vatican, hope to meet with pope Chicago Tribune, Feb. 2, 2000 http://chicagotribune.com/news/metro/article/0,2669,CTT-16043871,FF.html Black Pentecostal church leaders say that with the turn of the century, the time has come to recover some of the ancient Christian traditions embodied in the Roman Catholic Church, and they are going to the Vatican next week for some first-hand study. Bishop Larry Trotter, senior pastor of Sweet Holy Spirit Full Gospel Baptist Church on Chicago's South Side, will lead a delegation of more than 50 black Pentecostal church leaders from around the nation in an unusual pilgrimage that he said could include a meeting with the pope. It is the first such effort for the Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops, an interdenominational body formed in 1993 to promote Christian unity and study church traditions. While the group does not include representatives from the largest black Pentecostal denomination, the Church of God in Christ, it does count leaders of 27 smaller denominations among its members. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 38. Pope criticised for Church errors apology The Times (England), Feb. 4, 2000 http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/02/04/timfgneur01006.html?999 There was a growing backlash yesterday against the Pope's plans to issue a "comprehensive apology" for the "past errors" of the Roman Catholic Church. Senior churchmen questioned the Pope's intention to apologise for such episodes as the Inquisition, the Crusades and treatment of the Jews. They said that excessive penitence and self-questioning could undermine faith in Christianity and its institutions. (...) But Mgr Alessandro Maggiolini, the Bishop of Como and a member of the Vatican commission formulating a new Catechism, said that the Pope should be more careful. "In whose name, exactly, is the Holy Father asking pardon?" Mgr Maggiolini asked. "He is relying on a group of experts, but tomorrow another group of experts might come up with quite different ideas." [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] * See also Apologizers embark on sorry crusade 39. Magician tries to expose tears of blood trick The Times (England), Feb. 3, 2000 http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/02/03/timfgneur02010.html?999 Thousands of believers gathered near Rome yesterday in the hope of seeing a statue of the Madonna cry tears of blood, five years after it was first seen to "weep". But a magician acting on behalf of a group campaigning to expose occult frauds staged a demonstration designed to show how tears of blood could be faked. (...) He said he had aimed a red laser beam at the eyes of the statue from a gallery high in the church, making the eyes appear to be weeping. A woman praying in front of the statue fainted, he said. Yesterday he performed more "tricks", including covering a statue with an acetone-based substance that was activated when placed near ammonia. The controversy goes back five years to when Jessica Gregori claimed to have seen the statue's tears in the garden of her home in the rundown port of Civitavecchia, 40 miles north of Rome on the Lazio coast. Her father, Fabio, who had brought it from the shrine to the Virgin Mary at Medjugorje, told the local priest that he also had seen the blood. "I wiped it with my handkerchief, but it left no trace," he said at the time. When an Italian consumer organisation complained that "gullible people" were being hoaxed "in an atmosphere of hysteria" the statue was seized by police and subjected to laboratory tests, which showed that the blood was "human and male". Monsignor Girolamo Grillo, the local bishop, who held a mass before the "weeping statue" yesterday, said: "If the blood is male it must be Christ's." He said the tests had shown that the statue contained "no mechanism or trickery". It was handed back to the local church, where it is kept behind bulletproof glass. The Vatican has yet to decide whether the alleged miracle is authentic. (...) Signor Pannunzio, who runs an "anti-religious fraud hotline" said that he was not trying to undermine faith. "On the contrary, we are trying to show that tricks like this devalue religion, making it look like a cheap form of superstition." He said his organisation, founded six years ago, had examined 5,000 cases of "religious and occult fraud and extortion", 200 of which had been taken up by police investigating extortion by fraudulent healers and fortune tellers. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Near Death Experiences 40. Stress causes 'spirit to leave body' feeling The Guardian, Feb. 4, 2000 http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/Print/0,3858,3958905,00.html Near-death experiences, when patients on the operating table or close to drowning say they feel their spirit leaving their body, are caused by a normal psychological response to an intensely stressful experience, according to scientists. This perceived foray into an unearthly realm is not a psychiatric illness, say Bruce Greyson and colleagues from the university of Virginia in the US, writing in this week's Lancet medical journal. (...) "The unrelated question of the personal meaning of NDEs, of whether they permit a personal or mystical insight into the afterlife, is beyond the scope of this study," they said. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 41. Out of body - not out of mind BBC, Feb. 4, 2000 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_629000/629984.stm (...) NDEs occur when a patient has been brought back from the brink of losing their life. Typical experiences that have been reported include the sensation of leaving the body and looking down on it from above. Another common experience is the sensation of travelling through a tunnel towards a light source, or being enveloped by light. Many also report having encountered deceased relatives. Report author Dr Bruce Greyson, whose work is published in The Lancet medical journal, said that other experiences reported by patients included: - Accelerated thought processes - A "life review" - Intense feelings of peace and joy - The feeling of being in an unearthly realm (...) He added that while most NDEs were viewed as a positive experience, some people may develop emotional problems trying to make sense of what they had experienced. Dr Greyson believes more research into this area could also unlock the psychological secrets of mystic and transcendental experiences. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 42. Life after near death BBC, Feb. 4, 2000 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_629000/629710.stm From the corner of the room, Christine Ellingham says she could see emergency medical staff crowding around an unconscious body. They were desperately trying to revive the woman, and to save her unborn baby. "I knew that it was me lying on the table. But I was outside of my body, floating in the corner of the room. (...) Professor Paul Badham of Lampeter University - who studies the philosophical implications of near death experiences - said that despite media hype, the phenomenon is quite rare. However, he says the reports of people who have had near death experiences tend to contain similar elements. "It is very common for people to report going out of their body and looking down on their body," he said "Going through a tunnel is also a common experience, as is being surrounded by light. The meeting of deceased relatives or friends is also commonly reported. "People will also say that they feel they are in the presence of a spiritual reality. A Christian may interpret this as Jesus. One atheist who had an out of body experience said that he later realised that this presence was responsible for the governance of the universe." Prof Badham said that the numbers of people experiencing the phenomena are rising, as medicine improves and pulls more people back from the brink. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] * Links includes: Virginia Health System, personality studies http://hsc.virginia.edu/personality-studies The Lancet http://www.thelancet.com/ === UFOs 43. UFO lawsuit to get hearing Arizona Republic, Feb. 4, 2000 http://www.azcentral.com/news/0204ufo.shtml The UFO, triangular and big as a football field, flies so low that the Department of Defense surely must know about it, Scottsdale lawyer Peter Gersten suspects. Gersten will have his day in court Monday when a federal judge in Phoenix is to hear motions in a lawsuit he filed seeking any public documents about the suspected UFO, which was reported over the Valley three years ago and in Illinois just last month. Gersten, 57, executive director of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy, filed the suit Jan. 22, 1999, under the Freedom of Information Act. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 44. Portents from the heavens or just UFOs? The Age (Australia), Feb. 5, 2000 http://www.theage.com.au/news/20000205/A65151-2000Feb4.html (...) From Tiananmen Square in Beijing to the far-flung Xinjiang Autonomous Region in the far north-west of the country, reports have been flowing in of strange objects in the sky since last September. The accounts reached their peak in December with a number of sightings over Beijing and Shanghai. Such has the been the flurry of UFO sightings in recent weeks that astronomers from a state scientific research institute were moved this week to issue a statement dismissing the extra-terrestrials as "the result of human activities or atmospheric movement" or even a combination of both. The UFO phenomenon has attracted serious attention in China where reports of the sightings have been carried in the state-controlled media and also in the semi-official Journal of UFO Research, which boasts a circulation of 400,000 and is backed by the China UFO Research Association. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Noted 45. Followers say guru's breathing methods could curb violence Dallas Morning News, Feb. 5, 2000 http://dallasnews.com/religion/27164_05relbreathe.html Internationally known mind and body relaxation guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar offers a sly smile when explaining why breathing is so important. "Because without it," he quipped while greeting dozens of followers recently at the D/FW Hindu Temple in Irving, "you would die." But for more than a million people around the world, Sri Sri's teachings on the art of proper breathing are a very serious matter. They say his technique is so effective at reducing stress that it may offer a key to curbing teen violence, promoting international understanding, even averting wars. (...) What does matter is that Sri Sri - a native of India who says he embraces all faiths but practices none in particular - has a growing legion of followers who believe that his esoteric teachings make a concrete difference in an increasingly chaotic world. He has spoken at the United Nations, and employees there have taken his course. Los Angeles County uses Sri Sri's techniques to help officials better control incorrigible juvenile offenders. A Detroit trial court offers his course as an employee benefit and gives workers time off to take it. And Yale University's Divinity School has used him as an adviser. (...) In 1982, after spending 10 days in seclusion and silence, he emerged with his new teaching - the Sudarshan Kriya technique. (...) The practice uses rhythmic breathing to help calm the mind and cleanse the body of toxins. The $250 basic course ($125 for students) is taught over a six-day period for three hours each day. (...) Most of Sri Sri's teachings are done under the auspices of the Art of Living Foundation, which he started in 1982. The nonprofit foundation, which has centers around the world, teaches Sri Sri's mind and body relaxation techniques. Its U.S. headquarters are in Santa Barbara, Calif. (...) Tom Duffy, president of Prison SMART (Stress Management And Rehabilitative Training), an offshoot of the Art of Living Foundation, said his organization uses Sri Sri's teachings to help correction officials control inmates. (...) Sri Sri said he believes his teachings could be particularly helpful in reducing teen violence. He helped start ART Excel (All 'Round Training for Excellence), a personal development and empowerment program for children and teens. (...) Sri Sri said that teaching young people just to "tolerate" the beliefs of others isn't really helpful. "We don't need to tolerate other religions," he said. "We need to learn to love all people. You only tolerate those things which in reality you do not like. That's why you say you can tolerate something. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 46. A healing touch to let the spirits flow The Telegraph (England), Feb. 1, 2000 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=000647321007942&rtmo=r3232hhX&atmo=99999999&pg=/et/00/2/1/thbudd01.html Reiki, an ancient Buddhist therapy, claims to restore physical health by channelling energy. Belinda Richardson tries it (...) Reiki (from the Japanese word in which rei means spirit and ki means energy) works like a flood of energy, she tells me, moving blockages, increasing the circulation, balancing the system and ridding the body of toxic waste. It worked. Within half an hour I was as good as new. (...) Krishni tells me that experiences during initiation vary from having visions to seeing colours, feeling energy going through the body, being emotionally moved or feeling not much at all. Unfortunately, during my two minutes on the stool, I don't feel much at all, but she assures me that the reiki will work regardless. "Reiki is a very democratic system," she says, leading me into her sunny yellow treatment room. "Since it has nothing to do with the mind, everybody can learn it. Even children as young as four can have the initiations. "What you won't get out of reiki is an encounter therapy, in which you tell people what is wrong with them and what they should do about it." (...) Her initial scepticism made me wonder what other therapists might make of the practice. David Needleman of the Homoeopath Helpline said: "I think it is a very badly understood therapy, but one which has an enormous amount to offer in the field of energy." (...) * Includes: There are 17 reiki masters in this country; a list can be obtained from Reiki Alliance, PO Box 41, Cataldo, Idaho, 83810 1041, USA; 001 208 682 3535; www.reikialliance.org.uk For practitioners, contact the Reiki Association, 2 Manor Cottages, Stockley Hill, Peterchurch, Hereford HR2 0SF; www.reikiassociation.org.uk 47. Priest spreads prayer's power St. Petersburg Times, Feb. 2, 2000 http://www.sptimes.com/News/020200/SouthPinellas/Priest_spreads_prayer.shtml Barely touched by the priest, they fell back into the arms of "catchers," who lowered them with care to the red carpet. They lay there, arms stretched out at their sides, "resting in the spirit." Others, clutching rosaries in their hands, stepped around the still bodies to await their blessings and anointing from the black-clad Roman Catholic priest. That was the scene last Saturday, as the Rev. Peter M. Rookey, a member of the Order of Servants of Mary, conducted a healing service at St. Mary's Parish, a Polish National Catholic Church, which is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. (...) Mrs. Dwyer said ushers had been warned that people would be "slain by the spirit," an expression that Father Rookey's literature explains as "not fainting," but similar to letting in "the sun of the Holy Spirit." [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 48. A quest for truth: Unitarian Universalists appeal to seekers Houston Chronicle, Feb. 3, 2000 http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/religion/446729 (...) People like Hernandez often seek out one of the nation's 1,010 Unitarian-Universalist congregations. The Houston church at 5200 Fannin does not use Universalist in its name but is part of the 216,000-member national denomination, which unites people of diverse beliefs, including even agnostics and atheists. (...) Across the vast expanse of American religion, Unitarianism is as far removed from mainstream Christian orthodoxy as Iceland is from the equator. (...) Yet a typical Unitarian-Universalist service often follows the familiar Protestant rhythm of hymns, reading, meditation or prayer, singing by a choir and a sermon. But while the format is similar, the content of the service is quite different. Readings come from the Bible, the Koran, Hindu Vedic scriptures or other sacred or secular sources. Hymns may be religious or humanistic. (...) In the congregation only a few worshippers may profess belief in a Supreme Being. Most Unitarian-Universalists also don't believe in an afterlife, according to church leaders, but they would honor the truth in all the world's religions. (...) Like their counterparts nationwide, local Unitarian-Universalist congregations are growing, mainly because they offer the freedom of thought and tolerance of diversity that many seek. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 49. Broadening church tradition pushes to personalize religion Detroit News, Jan. 28, 2000 http://detnews.com/2000/religion/0002/01/01280201.htm Religion in America is more than a melting pot - it's a smorgasbord. During the next 100 years, clergy and scholars say, Americans are expected to increasingly feast on faith through a combination of religious ideas. They will mix parts of Buddhism with parts of Christianity and Judaism and create a hybridization of doctrine. Rumors of secularization, or at least widespread secularization, are unfounded, religious experts say. Roots of Christianity and mainstream religion run deep through American society, but people seem to be seeking spiritual guidance outside the realms of mainstream religion - dabbling in Eastern philosophy and New Age belief systems. (...) Tim LaHaye, co-author of the "Left Behind" (Tyndale House) series of novels containing fictional accounts of the Book of Revelations, thinks that changing traditions within liberal churches are pushing parishioners out to the fringes in search of something more grounded in tradition. In effect, he says, the liberal churches attempt to soften religion for younger generations is backfiring. "Many of the liberals are falling on their own swords," says LaHaye, referring to a growing number of female pastors and an acceptance of homosexual unions. "It's not working." With more New Age beliefs emerging in America, the Rev. Paul E. Miller of Christ Lutheran Church of Desert Hot Springs, Calif., says "It's going to be even tougher to be truly spiritual in a Christian sense." (...) Gerald Celente, director of Trends Research Institute in Rhinebeck, N.Y., says many churches seem to be straying from spiritual themes and moving into moral grounds, pushing parishioners away in search of something more meaningful. [...more...] |