=== Aum Shinrikyo
1. Children of Asahara forced to pay for guru's alleged crimes
2. Aum ranks' rights compromised by fear

=== Falun Gong
3. China Detains Hundreds in Falun Gong Protests
4. Falun Gong in Singapore Standoff
5. Falun Gongs Refuse To Post Bail
6. Falun Gong Urges Members in Singapore to Accept Bail
7. Falun Gong Members Charged
8. Falun Dafa movement lobbies for local support

=== Zhong Gong
9. Four Members of Zhong Gong Sect Jailed for Subversion
10. Falling victim to U.S.-Chinese diplomacy

=== Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God
11. Ugandan President Vows to Prevent Cult Tragedy

=== Scientology
12. Prozac defense hits home

» Part 2

=== Islam
13. Muslims still looking for martyrs
14. British Muslims take path to jihad
15. U.S. Freedoms Give American Muslims Influence Beyond Their Numbers
16. Canada assails Nigeria on flogging
17. Gambia to introduce Sharia law
18. Iran Now a Hotbed of Islamic Reforms
19. Religious pressures rising in Indonesia

=== Mungiki
20. Mombasa Muslim leaders disown Mungiki
21. Sect Leader Scoffs At Expulsion Threat

=== Mormonism
22. In a Push for Unity, Mormons Stand Apart
23. Polygamy Facts
24. Federal regulators clear way for sale of Salt Lake Tribune
25. Regulators Clear Sale Of Tribune

=== Jehovah's Witnesses
26. Fugitive mom turns self in She's charged with child abduction

» Part 3

=== Hate Groups
27. Hate in state
28. Web restrictions unlikely to muzzle neo-Nazi speech
29. Cross-burning case appeal fails
30. McVeigh Execution Could Be in May
31. Devil Dogs left scars on Gilbert

=== Other News
32. Nun Killed, 13 Hurt in Church Attack
33. 2nd bust in Caribbean church horror
34. Millennium renews concerns about cult (Concerned Christians)
35. Dutch Faith Healers Make Inroads (Jomanda)
36. Sects and Religions in Russia Face Day of Reckoning
37. National Anthem Calls Russia 'Holy'
38. Cult attempts to regenerate deceased girl (Raelians)
39. True to the Temple (Indianapolis Baptist Temple)
40. Would-be messiahs back in action
41. Sects, power and miracles in the Bible belt of Essex (Peniel)
42. Iglesia ni Cristo's Executive Minister Era&#ntilde;o G. Manalo marks his 76th birth anniversary
43. Prayer urged to stop presidential `curse'

» Part 4

=== Noted
44. The Beauty And Perils Of The Irrational (False Memory Syndrome)
45. Miracles don't happen (Premanand, Indian skeptic)
46. Back to Ruby Ridge: Why Idaho Shouldn't Be Prosecuting FBI Agent Lon Horiuchi

=== Aum Shinrikyo

1. Children of Asahara forced to pay for guru's alleged crimes
Japan Times (Japan), Dec. 30, 2000
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/

(...) Since the arrest of Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, in May 1995 on suspicion of masterminding a series of heinous crimes, his children -- four daughters and two sons aged from 6 to 22 -- have been paying the price for their father's alleged crimes.

They've been forced to change residences at least six times in the past five years, often on sudden notice. Since July, when they moved to Ryugasaki, Ibaraki Prefecture, under the guardianship of three former Aum members, the three youngest children and their 19-year-old sister have been virtually locked up in their five-bedroom house.

The city, in the first such move by a local government, has rejected the applications of Asahara's two sons and his 11-year-old daughter to register for school. It cites the concerns of local residents, who stage demonstrations outside the family's door.

In an interview with The Japan Times earlier this month, the three children told of how their lives have been disrupted and expressed their desire to be accepted in society.
(...)

The head of the household, a 39-year-old licensed teacher who has taken care of Asahara's children over the past decade, said they have learned to hide their emotional stress in front of strangers.

The children's mother, 42-year-old Tomoko Matsumoto, is in custody awaiting an appeal on a six-year prison sentence upheld by the Tokyo High Court in 1999 for her role in the killing of an errant cultist. Asahara's 22- and 17-year-old daughters live in separate towns and visit their siblings occasionally.

The Ryugasaki house was purchased by two civil activists who support the children, but the city has so far rejected the household's applications to register as residents, following the precedent set by the city of Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, which drove them out of town earlier this year.

Locals have submitted to the city office a petition with around 37,000 signatures demanding that the city maintain its opposition to the household's registration.

Like Otawara, the Ryugasaki Municipal Government has found justification for its actions in the Constitution, which assures the rights of individuals unless they threaten public welfare.

Outside the housing compound, the children's neighbors have organized extensive protests and posted ''Against Aum'' signs on their doors. In August, more than 1,500 locals gathered in a vacant lot behind the house and chanted ''Aum, go away!'' and ''You devils have no human rights!''

The children's main guardian said the household currently has no financial or personal ties with Aum. She added that the children truly wish to live normal lives as members of society.

She declined, however, to say how they financed their daily living. ''We do not tell the media so as to protect the privacy of the children,'' she explained. ''We have reported (on this matter) to the city office.''

According to Shingo Yamaguchi, chairman of the local residents' association that has voiced opposition to the children's enrollment at local schools, the association's principal concern is that the children are still tied to Aum and that their presence in Ryugasaki could lead to cultists flocking to the town.

''Only after they have proven that all ties to Aum have been severed should they start attending local schools,'' he said.

While residents still harbor concerns over the children's presence, they appear ready to seek a solution so that the children's basic human rights are not further infringed upon.
[...more...]


2. Aum ranks' rights compromised by fear
Japan Times (Japan), Dec. 30, 2000
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/

NAGAREYAMA, Chiba Pref. -- As night falls, all the houses in this quiet bedroom community melt into darkness.
Except one.

Lit up like a sightseeing spot, the two-story house in the city's south end is under 24-hour watch -- by local police and Public Security Investigation Agency officials, who have set up a surveillance tent on the property's perimeter, as well as by local residents, who built a watchtower next door.

The neighborhood people know the authorities need no help in their task. Instead, the residents are trying to cause enough discomfort to the six men who occupy the house to make them leave.

The men had earned this kind of scrutiny before moving to Nagareyama in March -- they are members of Aum Shinrikyo, which now calls itself Aleph.

''Whatever they call themselves, Aum is Aum if they worship (guru Shoko) Asahara,'' said Yorimichi Taguchi, leader of a local residents' association opposing Aum's presence in the community. ''I see no difference in them from five years ago and want them out of our community as soon as possible.''
(...)

The public security agency, empowered by a year-old law to regulate Aum activities, estimates that in 1994 the religious sect had about 1,000 members living together at Aum facilities, with about 10,000 more participating in its activities. According to a mandatory report submitted by the sect to the agency last month, about 554 members now live at about 50 facilities scattered around the nation and 597 others attend seminars and other events.

While it is believed most current members played no role in the series of heinous crimes attributed to Aum, they still face discrimination by their fellow citizens, the media and even by local governments across the country.

Residents go to extremes
In an attempt to evict Aum members from their communities, residents of a number of municipalities have organized protests, waged poster campaigns calling for their removal and voluntarily monitored Aum residences.

While sympathizing with wary locals, 27-year-old Aum member Kenichi Umehara said he thinks the current anti-Aum sentiment has pushed people to extremes -- especially considering that constant surveillance prevents Aum members from committing the slightest offense.

''If I had not been an Aum (member), I would never have forgiven Aum for its crimes,'' said Umehara, who lives in the Nagareyama house. ''Therefore, I do not expect people to fully respect our human rights anymore. But I still feel it has often gone too far.''

Umehara said his parents' address and phone number were leaked by a realtor some time ago and printed in a local community paper without their consent, resulting in numerous harassing phone calls. Neither are members of Aum.

Then, in the summer, a rumor circulated that an Aum member had been seen near the swimming pool of a Nagareyama elementary school. This sparked speculation that the pool had been poisoned with sarin, prompting the city to delay the pool's opening and spend 1 million yen to install a security sensor at its entrance.

In justifying their fierce stance against the sect, residents point out that their campaign is supported by the local government, which has even given them some 4.2 million yen to finance their anti-Aum activities.

The city of Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, set the precedent when it successfully pushed Aum members out in July after a yearlong campaign. Since then, various local governments have rejected Aum members' applications for residency, depriving them of the social benefits, including health insurance, that all other registered residents enjoy.

One Aum member said that the residency registrations of 111 people associated with the sect have been denied by local municipalities, including Yokohama and Tokyo's Setagaya and Adachi wards.
(...)

Lawyer Yukio Yamashita, who has publicly expressed his concern that the rights of Aum members have been violated, denounced the discriminatory actions of local municipalities. He said they only reinforce local communities' fears about the cult while allowing existing Aum-related problems to continue.

''The unease of local residents is understandable, but what local governments must do is eliminate concerns about Aum by helping foster trust between its members and locals through discussion,'' he said. ''Instead, they have neglected to take responsibility and turned to illegal measures that are easier (to undertake) and probably appear more proactive to the general public.''
(...)

Onuki defended his city's stance: ''We believe that our rejection of (Aum members') applications for residency can be justified from the perspective of public welfare, for which the Constitution allows us to limit the scope of individual rights.''

Onuki also cited the official views of the central government and judicial authorities.

Earlier this month, Justice Minister Masahiko Komura said Aum remains a threat to society, although 15 on-the-spot inspections of 39 sites related to the sect nationwide since January have uncovered no evidence suggesting another serious crime is in the works.

Komura said Aum's threat to society can be explained by the immense power Asahara continues to wield over sect members, even though he is behind bars and in the midst of a lengthy criminal trial.

Aum member Umehara admitted that he and many other members continue to hold Asahara in esteem.

''I still respect him for what he wrote and spoke, but it does not mean that I can kill someone on his orders,'' he said.

Umehara said he still struggles over whether he should stay in the sect in light of the crimes it allegedly committed.

''But the Aum doctrine and practice, which were certainly invented by Mr. Asahara, still fascinate me most among existing (belief systems) in the world,'' he said.

Aum doctrine is based on reincarnation and literally prohibits killing -- even mosquitoes -- to ensure well-being in the next life.
(...)

Kenichi Asano, professor of journalism at Doshisha University in Kyoto, said the escalating campaigns by local residents owe much to the media, which have only provided one-sided reports emphasizing the apparent danger of Aum.

''The media have played a huge role in stirring up people's anxiety and hatred toward Aum, using sensational headlines that suggest Aum's resurrection, while failing to report the actual state of the group,'' he said.

But, he added, ''The current (wave of) Aum-phobia is largely a creature of the law enforcement authorities, which have pushed the claim that the cult is dangerous in order to have new legislation passed in the Diet that expands their power and size.''
[...more...]


=== Falun Gong

3. China Detains Hundreds in Falun Gong Protests
Reuters, Jan. 1, 2001
http://www.insidechina.com/

BEIJING, Jan 1, 2001 -- (Reuters) Chinese police on Monday violently quashed protests by followers of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, detaining hundreds of people and beating those who resisted, witnesses said.
(...)

In a scene repeated at Tiananmen on every major holiday since mid-1999, hundreds of uniformed and plain clothed police scoured the plaza in the heart of Beijing amid throngs of holiday tourists, pouncing on protesters and dragging them away.

On New Year's eve, police beat one woman with truncheons and roughed up another, stuffing her Falun Gong banner in her mouth to muffle her screams while shocked Western tourists looked on.

The protests showed that Falun Gong would continue its peaceful campaign against what it says is government persecution into a third year.

The sect's civil disobedience campaign, probably the most stubborn the Communist regime has faced in 51 years of crushing dissent, has resulted in scores of deaths due to police beatings and the jailing in labor camps of tens of thousands of people.
(...)

A Hong Kong-based human rights group, the Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy in China, estimates that at least 74 Falun Gong adherents in China have died in detention since July, 1999.

China has acknowledged that several Falun Gong supporters died while in custody, but said most were due to pre-existing illness or suicide.
[...more...]


4. Falun Gong in Singapore Standoff
The Associated Press, Dec, 31, 2000
http://www.washingtonpost.com/

SINGAPORE -- Members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement were detained by police Sunday after refusing to break up a vigil for fellow believers they say died in police custody in China, the group said.

After a tense, three-hour standoff with about 80 Falun Gong members in a Singapore park, police intervened shortly before midnight, Falun Gong member Gao Hao said. About 15 followers were taken into custody, Gao said.

Demonstrations and protests are extremely rare in tightly controlled Singapore, where permits are required for any public gatherings. It was not clear whether the Falun Gong members had a permit to assemble Sunday.

The Falun Gong members, mostly women and children, had gathered around a makeshift cardboard memorial pasted with pictures of the alleged victims. At least two dozen police cordoned off the area and demanded that the Falun Gong followers hand over the memorial. They refused.
(...)

Singapore, a wealthy Southeast Asian city-state where about 78 percent of the 3.2 million residents are ethnic Chinese, has about 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners, followers here say.

Though Singapore's government is known for its strict controls on assembly and its wariness toward controversy, Falun Gong is a registered society in Singapore and authorities in the past have been tolerant toward the group.
[...more...]

* More about Falun Gong
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/f02.html



5. Falun Gongs Refuse To Post Bail
The Associated Press, Jan. 1, 2001
http://www.washingtonpost.com/

SINGAPORE -- Followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement refused to post bail Monday after being detained in Singapore for staging an unauthorized vigil in memory of fellow believers they say died in police custody in China.
(...)

''They did nothing wrong,'' said member Ng We Keong of his detained colleagues, who rejected the opportunity to be released in exchange for $1,150 .
(...)

A Singapore police spokesman, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said the detainees will be charged with obstructing a public servant and continuing in an assembly after being ordered to disband.

On Monday, about 20 Falun Gong members gathered outside the police station where the 15 are detained to show support for their peers, Ng said.
[...more...]


6. Falun Gong Urges Members in Singapore to Accept Bail
Reuters, Jan. 2, 2001
http://www.insidechina.com/

SINGAPORE, Jan 2, 2001 -- (Reuters) The Falun Gong spiritual movement said on Tuesday it was urging 15 members to accept bail in Singapore after they were detained for an illegal vigil commemorating members who died in Chinese jails.

''They were under the impression that they have already been charged. That's why they refused bail, because they believe that they have not done anything wrong,'' a Falun Gong spokesman who asked not to be named told Reuters on Tuesday.

''We're trying to encourage those people to bail out so that we can seek resolution together.''
(...)

The 15 are being investigated on two charges -- obstructing police and continuing an unlawful assembly after being warned to disperse. Bail was set at S$2,000 ($1,150) each.
[...more...]


7. Falun Gong Members Charged
AP, Jan. 2, 2000
http://www.latimes.com/

SINGAPORE--A Singapore court on Tuesday charged 15 followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement who were arrested after staging an unauthorized vigil in memory of fellow believers they say died in police custody in China.

The 15 -nine men and six women -were led into a Singapore courtroom in handcuffs to hear the formal charges. Most wore a bright yellow T-shirt that read: ''The great law of Fa Lun: truthfulness, benevolence, tolerance.''
(...)

After their arrest on New Year's Eve, the detainees refused to post bail, saying they did nothing wrong.

But by the time the court hearing ended late Tuesday, they were in the process of posting $1,150 bail each, Subordinate Court bail administrator Raymond Loh told The Associated Press by telephone.
[...more...]


8. Falun Dafa movement lobbies for local support
The Bergen Record, Jan. 2, 2001
http://www.bergen.com/

It may be banned in China, but the spiritual movement Falun Dafa has been welcomed by the governments of Oradell, Cliffside Park, and Ramsey.

Not to mention those of Wayne, Newark, and the state of New Jersey, which recently marked Falun Dafa Week.

Looking for support and new practitioners, followers of the spiritual movement, which involves exercises and meditation, have blanketed the state with requests for government proclamations and citations recognizing the virtues of Falun Dafa.
(...)

Practitioners decry the Chinese government's stance, and hope that recognition from governments here -- no matter how small -- will neutralize the negative image.

Mostly through word of mouth, Falun Dafa's popularity has already grown in New Jersey. Groups gather informally at parks and community centers throughout the state. The practice is based on three principles: truthfulness, benevolence, and forbearance.

But the growth is not fast enough for some practitioners, who say they want more people in their communities to experience the benefits of Falun Dafa.
(...)

In New Jersey, about 40 municipalities, leaders in eight counties, and several state senators and assemblymen have responded. Falun Dafa organizers in the state have posted copies of the proclamations and citations they have obtained on their Web site (www.nj-falundafa.org), which allows practitioners in China to view them.
(...)

The Chinese government has noticed proclamations from some of the larger cities in the United States. Mayors in Baltimore, San Francisco, and Seattle retracted their recognition of Falun Dafa or its founder, Li Hongzhi of New York City, as a positive force. In some cases, the mayors sent letters to Chinese officials apologizing for the affront after Beijing complained.

The proclamations in New Jersey have not attracted similar attention, said staffers in state Senate and Assembly offices, as well as municipal officials.

Chinese Embassy officials in Washington did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Still, some municipal officials worded their recognitions carefully. The proclamation from the borough of Ramsey honors the contributions of Hongzhi ''in fostering truth, compassion, and tolerance among all peoples.''

''It basically avoids and skirts much of the controversy,'' said Ramsey Mayor John L. Scerbo, who knew nothing about the group before the request and had the borough attorney research the matter.

He hasn't heard from Chinese officials yet.

''They probably don't know I exist, nor the town of Ramsey,'' he said.

Other municipalities declined the request.

''People have no idea what it is and it's not important to them,'' said Emily Loh, a practitioner from Teaneck who found it was often difficult to get her request heard.
[...more...]


=== Zhong Gong

9. Four Members of Zhong Gong Sect Jailed for Subversion
Inside China Today/AFP, Dec. 29, 2000
http://www.insidechina.com/

BEIJING, Dec 29, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Four members of the outlawed Zhong Gong spiritual group have been sentenced to up to four years in prison for subversion in eastern China, a Hong Kong-based rights group said Friday.

The four were arrested in the province of Jiangsu in October and convicted in two separate trials for ''attempting to overthrow state political power,'' the Information Center on Human Rights and Democracy said.

The center said evidence against them appeared in open letters written by them and which condemned the nationwide crackdown on the group and accused Chinese President Jiang Zemin of ''wantonly trampling the law'' by using ''Cultural Revolution-like methods'' to smash the group.
(...)

Before the crackdown on Zhong Gong began in October 1999, the group boasted some 38 million followers, and had a vast commercial and printing empire selling the products of guru Zhong Hongbao, presently detained in Guam after allegedly arriving with a fake visa.

A total of more than 600 members of the group have been arrested, while its assets have been confiscated, the center said.
[...more...]


10. Falling victim to U.S.-Chinese diplomacy
Japan Times (Japan), Dec. 30, 2000 (Opinion)
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/

A 46-year-old man named Zhang Hongbao from Harbin, China is facing an uncertain fate in a cramped U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services detention cell in the U.S. territory of Guam. On one hand he is just another illegal immigrant, joining thousands of other Chinese who have attempted to settle in the United States without proper papers. On the other hand, Zhang is anything but your ordinary immigrant. He's a wealthy businessman and the leader of Zhong Gong, a mass qigong (traditional Chinese exercise) movement in China that claims some 38 million followers.

Zhong Gong recently declared itself the most serious organized opposition to the Beijing government.

''The Chinese communist dictatorship considers Zhong Gong, an organization with a large number of members and a leader who has anticommunist ideas, as a potential political threat and is very frightened. In the words of the Chinese communists, if the flag of Zhong Gong changed, it would be the biggest opposition party in China.''

That's the view of a U.S.-based Zhong Gong follower, offered in a letter to the U.S. Congress last week.

The Chinese Communist Party begs to disagree. According to Xinhua news reports, Zhong Gong is an ''evil cult'' led by a common criminal who must be repatriated to China for punishment.

Zhang was on the verge of winning political asylum last July when the Chinese Embassy in Washington issued papers demanding his return on criminal charges.
(...)

Tarring political dissidents with the brush of sexual crimes has become common practice, according to Chinese publisher Richard Long of Dacankao News Service, as China seeks to find ways to arrest opponents of the regime without raising human-rights questions. Over 40 dissidents have been charged with sexual crimes in last year or so.

Having failed to sway the U.S. to return Li despite his role in the ''evil cult'' of Falun Gong, Beijing is using a different strategy to dismantle the Zhong Gong movement. Beijing's Xinhua news characterizes the U.S. refusal to repatriate Zhang as ''an action by the U.S. side to help a criminal suspect escape the punishment he deserves.''
(...)

According to an associate, Yan Qingxin, who was arrested with Zhang for illegally entering the U.S. and later granted political asylum, Zhang qualified for political asylum but a hasty 11th-hour attempt by Chinese diplomats to have him deported complicated his release. Judge Dayna Dias of the Executive Office for Immigration Review in Hawaii granted him ''withholding of repatriation'' status on Sept. 20, which protects him from forcible return to China, though the INS may appeal this decision.

More difficult to understand is the continued detention of Zhang nearly five months after he qualified for political asylum.
(...)

The unusual adjudication may reflect the U.S. government's dual and somewhat contradictory goals of offering human-rights protection while attempting to placate China on a politically sensitive issue to firm up cooperation on other issues, including international crime.
(...)

Zhong Gong has few followers in the U.S. and its leader remains in prison. But it's starting to attract international attention. Wei Jingsheng and Wang Xizhe, two leading democracy activists who spent long years in China's prison system, are talking of going to Guam to protest the imprisonment of yet another dissident -- this time in an American prison.
[...more...]


=== Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God

11. Ugandan President Vows to Prevent Cult Tragedy
Xinhua, Jan. 1, 2001
http://202.84.17.11/

KAMPALA, December 31 (Xinhuanet) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni Sunday said that the government is anxiously awaiting the findings of inquiry into the cult tragedy at Kanungu which perished about 1,000 people, noting that the findings will enable the government to prevent such tragedies from occurring again.

Delivering the New Year Message to the nation, Museveni lamented all those who perished at Kanungu and other places at the hands of fanatical religious leaders, according to a press release from the President's Office.

He said that the tragedy is a clear example of abuse of freedom and a violation of the right to life.
[...more...]


=== Scientology

12. Prozac defense hits home
Boston Globe, Dec. 30, 2000
http://www.boston.com/

When Michael M. McDermott's lawyer suggested he might use a so-called ''Prozac defense'' - one that would argue that side effects from antidepressant drugs may have led his client to allegedly gun down seven co-workers - he stepped squarely into a medical hornets' nest.

As soon as the news of McDermott's alleged rampage hit the airwaves, fax machines began whirring at the Los Angeles headquarters of a Scientology-based group. The group blames psychiatric drugs for crimes such as the Columbine High School massacre, and it alerts the media whenever an alleged killer is reported to have taken drugs, such as Ritalin or Prozac.
(...)

Meanwhile, psychiatrists who believe that critics exaggerate Prozac's dangers braced themselves for what they view as another round of misinformation.

''That defense has never worked,'' sighed Cambridge Hospital psychiatrist Dr. James Beck, when he heard of attorney Kevin J. Reddington's strategy.
(...)

Since their introduction in the late 1980s, Prozac and its class of antidepressants have become embedded in US culture, winning over millions to psychiatric medication and removing much of their stigma. They also have attracted vociferous critics who argue that medications have crowded out nondrug treatments and that drugmakers have downplayed dangerous side effects.
[...more...]

* The Scientology organization, which increasingly acts like a hate group, has
long been fighting a hate campaign again psychiatrity:

» Part 2