Subject: ar-talk digest: December 30, 1998
Date: 12/31/98 3:00 AM
Received: 12/31/98 7:09 AM
From: Apologetics Resources (sharing, Q & A, no debate) digest, ar-talk@X
To: ar-talk digest recipients, ar-talk@XC.Org
Apologetics Resources (sharing, Q & A, no debate) Digest for Wednesday, December 30, 1998.
1. Religion Items in the News - December 30, 1998 (Vol. 2, Issue 63)
2. Re: 12 Tribes cult
3. Re: Info needed on Light of the City ministry in Renton, Va.
4. Nation of Yahweh
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Religion Items in the News - December 30, 1998 (Vol. 2, Issue 63)
From: ahein@xs4all.nl (Anton Hein)
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 17:09:17 GMT
X-Message-Number: 1
=== Noted
32. The Green Movement Is Getting Religion
33. America's belief in miracles growing
34. Religion surveys find us more spiritual, less faithful
35. U.S. recognizing greater diversity
36. Crash Course in Christianity Is Winning Over Churches.. (Alpha)
=== Just In Case You Wondered...
37. Rabbi rules: On computers, erasing God is OK
38. The Hula, as Sacred Dance, Is Allowed During Mass
1. Japanese sect's nerve gas plant destroyed
BBC, Dec. 24, 1998
A nerve gas production plant, set up by the Japanese Aum Shinri Kyo
(Supreme Truth) sect, has been destroyed, according to a United Nations
chemical weapons team.
[...more...]
2. Doomsday cult revival
BBC, Dec. 26, 1998
The Japanese doomsday cult blamed for the 1995 nerve gas attack on the
Tokyo underground is renewing itself and plans to expand its power
base, a Japanese government report says.
"Aum [Shinri Kyo) is actively attempting to bring back former members
and recruiting new members on a nationwide basis," the Public Security
Investigation Agency said.
[...more...]
3. Government security review warns Japan to beware of doomsday cult
Nando Times, Dec. 26, 1998
Japan must be on guard for renewed action by doomsday cult Aum Shinri
Kyo and possible extremist Muslim attacks on U.S. military sites in
Japan, a government security report says.
(...)
"Aum is attempting to re-enlist former members and step up recruiting
of new members nationwide. It is also initiating advertising campaigns
and acquiring necessary capital," the report said.
The cult also has Internet pages that get as many as 1,000 hits a day,
security officials said earlier this year.
[...more...]
4. Cult with terror link sets up London base
The Sunday Times, Dec. 27, 1998
http://www.the-times.co.uk/cgi-bin/BackIssue?2488675
A DOOMSDAY millennium cult, members of which have been linked by police
to the terrorists who killed 12 people in a sarin gas attack in Japan,
has established a London base and recruited scores of members in
Britain.
The Sukyo Mahikari cult - said by former members to
propagate neo-Nazi and anti-Jewish propaganda - was denounced last year
by witnesses at an official parliamentary inquiry as "dangerous".
Police have linked some members of the cult to Aum Shinrikyo, the
terrorist sect whose leaders are facing charges of mass murder after
the sarin attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995.
Former members of Sukyo Mahikari, which has successfully applied for
charitable status in Britain, say it is preparing for a "baptism of
fire" that could end the world next year. The cult's Japanese
supremacist leadership says only its members will survive.
(...)
A dossier of new allegations about the cult's financial affairs in
Belgium is expected to be handed to police there within the next two
weeks. It was in Belgium that witnesses described the cult as one of
the most dangerous in the country.
The cult has also come under scrutiny from the authorities in France,
where a report by a parliamentary committee found it was "dangerous".
René Poux, of the Families and Individuals Defence support group, said
official concerns centred on the way cult leaders extracted money from
their 12,000 French members. "Huge funds are collected which are then
sent on to Japan," he said.
[...more...]
5. New anti-terrorism law targets cults and animal activists
Telegraph (U.K.), Dec. 18, 1998
EXTREMIST animal rights groups and religious cults that use violence to
pursue their goals are to be targeted under sweeping new anti-terror
laws proposed by the Government last night.
[...more...]
6. French parliament to investigate sects
Infoseek/Reuters, Dec. 15, 1998
France's National Assembly voted unanimously on Tuesday to set up a
special commission to investigate how religious sects in the country
were financed.
(...)
Justice Minister Elisabeth Guigou said last month the government would
step up its observation of sects and appoint an investigating
magistrate in every appeals court to deal with the state's struggle
against them.
It would also allow victims of sects to advise magistrates or become
civil parties to cases against sects, she said. She said French courts
were investigating about 80 complaints against sects. A 1995 report
said about 200 sects were active in France at that time.
[...more...]
7. Jury rejects murder verdict after Jehovah's Witness killed by drunk
driver
CNN, Dec. 18, 1998
http://www.europe.cnn.com/US/9812/18/PM-DUI-Religion.ap/
If an auto accident victim refuses a blood transfusion on religious
grounds, is the man who caused the crash guilty of murder?
A Superior Court jury decided the answer is no, but did find a drunken
driver guilty Friday of manslaughter in the death of a Jehovah's
Witness who refused blood transfusions.
[...more...]
8. Jury Rejects Claim That Victim Died Because of Religious Beliefs
Los Angeles Times, Dec. 19, 1998
(...) In a novel defense, Cook's lawyers had said that Russell had to
take responsibility for her own death. Her trauma surgeon from
County-USC Medical Center and two medical experts testified that she
probably would have lived had she violated her beliefs as a Jehovah's
Witness and taken blood.
[...more...]
9. Jehovah's blood policy costs lives: Nile
NineMSM (Australia), Dec. 30, 1998
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/19981230_0801101_218_0104.asp
The practices of the Jehovah Witness' religious group were costing
lives, morals campaigner Fred Nile said today. Reverend Nile, a
member of the New South Wales upper house and leader of the Christian
Democratic Party, said Jehovah's Witness followers were dying
needlessly by adhering to a misguided policy of refusing blood
transfusions.
The criticism comes in the wake of two recent deaths of Jehovah's
Witnesses in Brisbane and publicity surrounding two legal cases
involving women who were given blood transfusions without their
consent.
[...more...]
10. Surgery without transfusion offers an option but raises questions
Austin American-Statesman, Dec. 13, 1998
http://www.austin360.com/health/stories/12dec/13/blood.htm
(...) Bloodless surgery appears to be making headway into mainstream
medicine -- at least for some procedures -- as some have questioned the
value of transfusion as a standard practice. Today, there are 78
centers that practice transfusion-free surgery, according to the
Hospital Information Services for Jehovah's Witnesses in Brooklyn, N.Y.
(...)
The greatest barrier to adoption of transfusion-free surgery is a
belief system among surgeons that certain operations can only rarely be
done without blood.
(...)
In a 1996 report in Lancet of 1,900 Jehovah's Witnesses patients
undergoing surgery, Carson found the risk of death and postoperative
complications increased when hematocrit fell below 30 percent. Those
patients had an even higher risk of dying if they had underlying
cardiovascular disease.
[...more...]
11. Village closes doors to Jehovah's Witnesses
News and Observer, Dec. 25, 1998
http://www.news-observer.com/daily/1998/12/25/faith04.html
Jehovah's Witnesses currently have an easy time going door-to-door in
the village of Waite Hill, Ohio.
Like other communities, this 200-home Cleveland suburb community has
an ordinance on the books that allows residents to say whether they
want anyone knocking on their door offering something for sale.
Their names, updated periodically, are kept on file at Village Hall.
So when the Willoughby Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses decided
recently to canvass the village and encourage its 480 residents to read
the Bible, it asked for a list of those willing to have their doors
knocked on.
Police Chief Arnold Stanko sent the congregation a copy of the
ordinance, and attached a list of residents who have not asked to be
excluded from solicitation.
It was a short list. One name. And that person travels a lot and
might be away for the winter, Stanko said. "Everybody else in the
village declined to be solicited," he said.
(...)
Falewicz said he was disappointed the church has been effectively
shut out by the ordinance, and that the matter would be turned over to
the church's legal department in New York.
The legal question of door-to-door solicitation by Jehovah's
Witnesses was dealt with by the U.S. Supreme Court more than 50 years
ago in a case involving the city of Struthers, Ohio, said Kevin
O'Neill, an assistant law professor at Cleveland-Marshall College of
Law at Cleveland State University.
"The court struck down an outright ban on all door-to-door
leafletting," he said. O'Neill said it appeared Waite Hill had gotten
around the Supreme Court decision by delegating power to ban
solicitations to individual homeowners.
[...more...]
12. Helping others overcome the hell of cult life
Bergen Record, Dec. 17, 1998
http://www.bergen.com/home/cult17199812179.htm
Beth Davies was 30 before she cashed her first pay check, opened a bank
account, lived in her own apartment, or even chose when to purchase new
clothes. That's because for 12 years she lived in a Manhattan
community run by a Bible-based cult, which did not permit her such
freedoms.
(...)
Ten years after leaving the cult, the Midland Park resident still
recalls the painful experience of trying to make a fresh start on her
own. With her experience in mind, she founded the Cult Recovery
Ministry through Hawthorne Gospel Church four years ago.
(...)
The Cult Recovery Ministry has allowed Davies to reach hundreds of
people -- through a monthly support group at her house, one-on-one
counseling sessions with individuals and families, and lectures to
Sunday school classes. And Davies has acted as a resource for cult
experts; her personal experiences were recorded in two books,
"Recovering From Churches That Abuse" and "Churches That Abuse," by Dr.
Ronald M. Enroth.
[...more...]
13. Church's day in court postponed
Miami Herald, Dec. 29, 1998
Published Tuesday, December 29, 1998, in the Miami Herald
http://www.herald.com/florida/digdocs/084063.htm
A pre-trial hearing scheduled for today in the criminal case against
the Church of Scientology has been postponed indefinitely -- the church
says the case needs to be specially assigned because it's so unusual.
(...)
"Oftentimes, if it's a case that may require significant judicial time
and resources, it will be specially docketed,'' Scientology attorney
Laura Vaughan said. "There are issues here that don't come up every
day in your average criminal case. You have issues of religious
freedom, First Amendment issues. It's an unusual case
[...more...]
14. Scientology promises long fight
St. Petersburg Times, Dec. 16, 1998
The Church of Scientology has notified the Pinellas court system that
it plans to mount a long and complex legal battle against charges that
it contributed to the death of one of its members, Lisa McPherson.
The move, on its surface, is at odds with earlier statements by
Scientology officials, who have said they want to resolve quickly the
McPherson case and move on.
[...more...]
15. Scientologists' reputation on trial over woman's death
Miami Herald, Dec. 27, 1998
http://www.herald.com/florida/digdocs/089645.htm
(...) The coming trial -- a status conference is scheduled for Tuesday
in St. Petersburg -- promises to be a low point in the long history of
acrimony over the religion's presence here. And it will raise
uncomfortable questions about the way the church deals with its own
affairs and those of the surrounding community.
(...)
Clearwater is the religious retreat for the church, whose membership is
either the eight million worldwide that it claims, or the 200,000 that
critics assert.
(...)
Whatever its actual membership, it is undisputed that Scientology draws
thousands to Clearwater every year to stay in one of the church's three
hotels and to undergo the complicated and secretive counseling process,
called auditing, that is the core of Scientology. (Church spokeswoman
Jones says 85,000 people have taken courses or joined the church
through the Miami-area office in Coral Gables since it was founded 40
years ago.)
(...)
Course prices vary. A recent issue of Source, a Scientology magazine,
lists holiday sale prices for lifetime members: $4,622 for the
"Hubbard Solo Auditor Course,'' $7,865 for an advanced "New Era
Dianetics'' auditing session, $12,100 for a ``rundown.''
[...more...]
16. At a loss to make legal findings
Glasgow Herald (Scotland), Dec. 14, 1998
http://www.theherald.co.uk/
Here is the article.
The saga of Scientology's legal skirmishes in France date back at least
as far as 1978, when the organisation's founder, L Ron Hubbard, was
condemned in absentia for fraud. But if the latest legal row involving
Scientology is far from being the first, it is surely one of the most
bizarre.
In October, Le Figaro newspaper revealed papers in a long-running legal
action against the self-proclaimed church had gone missing, provoking
outrage from lawyers working on the case. Justice Minister Elizabeth
Guigou considered the incident serious enough to order an internal
inquiry. Even before this, however, there were signs something was
amiss.
[...more...]
17. Does the Scientology sect have a grip on atomic power?
Die Presse (Austria), Dec. 21, 1998
http://www.diepresse.at/aktuell/chronik-1.html
Translation: German Scientology News
http://cisar.org/g81221ae.htm
Can a known follower of the Scientology sect be given responsibility
for the largest nuclear energy plant in the country? This question
stirred the French public and put the state energy provider,
"Electricité de France" (EdF) in a dilemma. In Gravelines on the
English Channel near Dunkirk, there are six 900 megawatt nuclear
stations. Beginning in February, Engineer Pierre D., 29, a
Scientologist, is supposed to take over their command.
"Everybody knows that Scientologists have the mission to take over
positions of power in society. Who knows what they can do with them?"
said Gerard Mirou, personnel representative of Gravelines AKW
["Atomkraftwerk": Nuclear Power Plant]. However the management at the
power plant have so far said that they want to deal with a good,
qualified engineer. At first it was mentioned that the sectarian
engineer may be posted to a less strategic position.
[...more...]
18. "Security statements": Scientology threatens brokers
Hamburger Abendblatt (Germany), Dec. 18, 1998
Translation:
http://cisar.org/g81218ae.htm
Companies and associations who do not want Scientology influence have
begun receiving mail from the controversial organization. The letters
state that they should withdraw "security statements," which, from the
Scientologists' view, are discriminatory, and by which means employees,
customers and business partners must state that they are neither
Scientologists, nor do they use the technology of sect founder L. Ron
Hubbard.
(...)
In another letter, which, according to a statement by Hamburg
Scientology speaker Gisela Hackenjos, was only sent to the German
Brokers Group ["Ring Deutscher Makler"] (RDM), Scientology stated that
It would soon publish which companies, groups and associations
continued to use a "security statement."
[...more...]
19. High profile couple never pairs church and state
St. Petersburg Times, Dec. 13, 1998
Greta Van Susteren and her husband, John Coale, rub shoulders with
notables in the nation's capital, they involve themselves in
controversial legal cases, they like Florida living. But you rarely
hear them speak of their religion, Scientology.
(...)
And as a celebrity legal commentator in a town brimming with lawyers,
Van Susteren also has to contend with a perception that the church is
out to destroy its enemies at any cost. As Scientology founder the late
L. Ron Hubbard once wrote, the church should use the legal system to
"destroy and harass" its opponents and "ruin them utterly."
(...)
In 1993, the husband-and-wife legal team played a small role in
Scientology's campaign to take over the Cult Awareness Network, or CAN.
Church-backed lawsuits bankrupted the organization, which helped people
leave Scientology.
Van Susteren and Coale represented an Ohio woman who sued a
cult-deprograming organization called Wellspring, whose executive
director also sat on the CAN board. But their real target was CAN,
which at the time was Scientology's public enemy No. 1.
[...more...]
20. When buses become billboards
St. Petersburg Times, Dec. 22, 1998 (Editorial)
(...) A series of anti-Scientology ads that recently appeared on
Pinellas County transit buses raised the question of what kind of bus
advertising the county is obliged to accept. The answer is: pretty
much all of it.
A group called Former Scientologists Speaking Out paid to place their
ads on 11 county buses with routes that took them past the
Scientologists' Fort Harrison Hotel in downtown Clearwater. The
messages, including "Why does Scientology lie to its members?" and
"Think for Yourself. Quit Scientology," along with the group's Web
address www.xenu.net, so offended church leaders that a couple tracked
down Roger Sweeney, executive director of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit
Authority, at his home earlier this month and pressured him to remove
the buses from service. He did so the next day.
(...)
Sweeney says he supports free speech on bus signs and ordered the buses
back in service a day later, but by then the anti-Scientology ads had
been removed. Before the next bad judgment call arises, the PSTA should
get a legal opinion from a constitutional law expert. It's likely the
PSTA will be told that if the county wants to use its buses as moving
billboards, it will have to make them available to all who ante up,
regardless of what the Scientologists think.
[...more...]
21. Growing army of followers for girl, 6, 'the new Christ'
South China Morning Post, Dec. 29, 1998
A six-year-old girl is attracting a big following in Zimbabwe's
northeast after claims that she speaks in a variety of tongues during
trances, with voices claiming she is a reincarnation of Christ.
Tespy Nyanhete's rapidly growing following, reportedly exceeding 2,000
already, addressed her as "father" as she speaks "with a highly
authoritative voice", the Herald newspaper reported.
(...)
Sociologists in Zimbabwe have warned that extreme poverty and distress
would lead to the growth of cults.
[...more...]
22. For second time, grand jury decides not to indict Heather Wendorf
Naples Daily News, Dec. 19, 1998
http://www.naplesnews.com/today/florida/a130206i.htm
For the second time in two years, a grand jury on Friday refused to
indict a teen-age member of a vampire cult whose leader brutally beat
to death her parents. The 20-member grand jury said there was
insufficient evidence to bring charges against Heather Wendorf.
[...more...]
23. Religious left, religious right debate Paul
Detroit News, Dec. 23, 1998
http://detnews.com/1998/religion/9812/24/12230247.htm
You may have heard about the "Jesus Seminar." This group of several
dozen Bible professors spent years taking ballots on all the sayings
and incidents from the life of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament
Gospels, in order to proclaim which were fact and which were fiction.
(...)
Invigorated by all the publicity, the seminar has lately moved on
from its search for the "historical Jesus" to figure out what it thinks
we know for sure about the "historical Paul."
[...more...]
24. Popular notion of Nativity not historically accurate, wise men say
Spokane.net, Dec. 24, 1998
Historians -- both fervent believers and academic skeptics -- say the
first Christmas probably did not look like a Hallmark creche or a
church pageant. They question the popular tableau of a manger in a
freestanding stable, surrounded by shepherds and three wise men beneath
the star of Bethlehem.
(...)
John Dominic Crossan of Minneola, Fla., a co-founder of the
controversial Jesus Seminar, has a stronger critique of the Nativity
story.
(...)
"If you ask me historically what happened, I'm sure Jesus was just born
in the ordinary poverty, really, of a peasant hovel,'' he said.
Crossan believes that Jesus was born in Nazareth, not Bethlehem. He
questions the Gospel account, which has Joseph returning to his
ancestral home, Bethlehem, rather than to Nazareth, where he lived, to
comply with the Roman census decree.
"It's a marvelous story, and for 2,000 years it's been a beautiful
story,'' Crossan said. ``It is totally unhistorical, and scholars have
tortured themselves trying to justify it for almost 2,000 years. There
was no such decree.''
Crossan contends the change was made to establish that the baby Jesus,
like the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament, is descended from King
David, who came from Bethlehem.
"The birth at Bethlehem is a parable,'' he said. ``Is it correct? Of
course it's correct as a parable because it challenges me to say: `All
right, do you or do you not, as a believing Christian, think Jesus is
God's Messiah?' I answer, `Yes, as a Christian.' Therefore, that story
is true for me. But did it happen? That's a different question
completely.''
[...more...]
25. Was Jesus' mother a virgin? Does it matter?
Two prominent scholars debate the issues
Dallas Morning News, Dec. 12, 1998
http://www.dallasnews.com/religion-nf/rel113.htm
(...) Nevertheless, the birth stories have become a test case in
various controversies. If you believe in miracles, you believe in
Jesus' miraculous birth; if you don't, you don't. Both sides turn the
question into a shibboleth, not for its own sake but to find out who's
in and who's out. The problem is that miracle, as used in these
controversies, is not a biblical category. The God of the Bible is not
a normally absent God who sometimes intervenes. This God is always
present and active, often surprisingly so.
[...more...]
[ Marcus J. Borg, Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion at Oregon
State University, and N.T. Wright, Dean of Lichfield Cathedral in
England share their views...]
26. Scholars debate Moses' existence
Star-Telegram, Dec. 18, 1998
(...) But did he really exist?
Not too many years ago, when skepticism reigned among scholars of the
Bible, the answer by many experts would have been a confident "no."
Today, that answer has changed to yes, though the vote is by no means
confident or unanimous. Moses does not meet modern standards of
historical evidence: There are no contemporaneous written documents to
back up the stories that, as far as can be determined, were written
down 200 to 500 years after the time in which the historical Moses
would have existed.
[...more...]
27. Theologians dissect Disney's influence
Bergen Record, Dec. 17, 1998
http://www.bergen.com/home/austin17199812179.htm
Meeting in the heart of Disney's Magic Kingdom last month, panels of
religion scholars concluded that the Disney influence is a grave threat
to the nation's soul.
(...)
Not all of the more than 7,000 scholars at the joint annual meeting of
the American Academy of Religion and the Society for Biblical
Literature were probing the religion of Mickey Mouse and Simba, the
Lion King. But at several well-attended sessions, the theology and
values of the $20 billion Disney empire came under scrutiny.
[...more...]
28. Reported New Sightings Fuel Virgin Mary Fevor
San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 25, 1998
For centuries, Catholics have been getting messages from the Virgin
Mary, seeing her statues weep and finding her image in the clouds and
on church walls. But those who study these sightings note a dramatic
increase in recent years.
They cite three major reasons -- the approach of the millennium, the
strong Marian devotion of Pope John Paul II, and the continuing
influence of events at Medjugorje, a Bosnian village where the mother
of Jesus supposedly appeared in 1981.
[...more...]
29. President's morality top religion story
Charlotte Observer, Dec. 26, 1998
http://www.charlotte.com/observer/faith/docs/045360.htm
[A. James Rudin, of the Religion News Service, picks the
top 10 religion stories of 1998, including:]
The Clinton scandal (...)
Cloning and controversy (...)
Showdown with Iraq (....)
Gay life, abortions (...)
Clergy's behavior (...)
New-age beliefs (...)
[...more...]
30. Muslim converts
Bakersfield Californian, Dec. 19, 1998
http://www.bakersfield.com/rel/i--1298141273.asp
(...) But as a white American, Royer remains something of an anomaly
within the Muslim community. While large numbers of black Americans
have converted to Islam in recent decades, white converts remain a
rarity, even as their numbers are said to be growing.
Estimates place the number of Muslim Americans at between 3 million to
6 million. African-American converts account for more than a third of
the total, Muslim groups report. However, no one knows how many white
Americans have accepted Islam.
Ihsan Bagby, a Muslim demographer at Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C.,
said white converts comprise between 2 to 5 percent of the American
Muslim community. Yvonne Haddad of Georgetown University's Center for
Muslim-Christian Understanding mentioned the figure 120,000 when asked
about white American converts.
But both Bagby and Haddad agreed it's all just guesswork.
In interviews, white American Muslim converts to Islam said their
reasons for accepting the faith were varied. They cited Islam's call
for social justice, its appeal across racial and cultural divides and
its clear parameters for acceptable human behavior. Former Christians
often said troublesome doubts about Jesus' divinity were erased by
Islam's strict monotheism.
[...more...]
31. Allah on his mind
Orange County Register, Dec. 19, 1998
http://www.ocregister.com/accent/religion/rama019w1.shtml
PROFILE: Hussam Ayloush helps empower Muslims, part of his vision of a
world free from religious discrimination.
(...)
They know too well his commitment to the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, the nation's most visible anti-hate network for Muslims.
Since March, Ayloush has served as executive director of CAIR's
Southern California branch, which covers San Diego to Santa Barbara
[...more...]
=== Noted
32. The Green Movement Is Getting Religion
Los Angeles Times, Dec. 25, 1998
http://www.latimes.com/excite/981225/t000117724.html
(...) The environmental debate, long dominated by a secular
conservation movement based on scientific rather than theological
arguments, is being dramatically reshaped by the fervent forces of God.
Some activists call it the birth of a religious movement as
significant as the battle against slavery: Churches, temples and
synagogues across the land are seizing the environment as a
top-priority concern.
(...)
The growth of religious-based environmentalism is reclaiming the
environmental movement's original spiritual roots.
(...)
The movement arrived as a global force in October, when Harvard
University brought together more than 1,000 top theologians, scientists
and activists in what was billed as the largest interfaith dialogue on
the environment in history. Muslims from 17 nations attended; the
gathering of Shinto practitioners was the largest ever outside Japan.
[...more...]
33. America's belief in miracles growing
The Oregonian, Dec. 25, 1998
http://www.oregonlive.com/todaysnews/9812/st122508.html
(...) But belief in the Christmas story and other miracles not only
persists; it's also significantly growing. Reasons range from a
backlash against science and technology to the spread of
Pentecostalism, a worldwide Christian movement emphasizing supernatural
experiences.
(...)
Popular culture is tapping into this surging miracle mentality. Books
on miracles, especially involving angels and saints, have helped make
religion titles the fastest-growing segment in publishing.
(...)
Daniel Wojcik, a professor of English and religious studies at the
University of Oregon and author of "The End of the World As We Know It:
Faith, Fatalism and Apocalypse in America," says that with a new
millennium sparking doomsday speculations, and a potential Year 2000
crisis further eroding faith in technology, more people will look to
miracles.
(...)
Joe Nickell, senior researcher at the New York-based Committee for the
Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, says the problem
with many so-called miracles is that they have rational explanations.
He says belief in miracles is increasing because they "tap into our
hopes."
(...)
Phyllis Tickle, contributing religion editor for Publisher's Weekly,
says that in the last five years, sales of religion titles have
increased more than 500 percent, with books that highlight miracles "a
major, major part" of that.
(...)
Although Oregon State University professor Marcus Borg and the other
scholars who form "The Jesus Seminar" have captured headlines by
debunking a literal interpretation of the Bible's miracle stories,
Pentecostalism has quietly and more profoundly changed the public's
perception.
Many scholars, including author Harvey Cox of Harvard University, have
called the supernatural-affirming movement one of the most important
religion stories of our time. According to Cox, there are more than 400
million Pentecostals -- sometimes called charismatics -- in the world
today.
[...more...]
34. Religion surveys find us more spiritual, less faithful
Dallas Morning News, Dec. 26, 1998
http://www.dallasnews.com/religion-nf/rel11.htm
(...) The statistics below help to explain why churches are struggling
in spite of a time of heightened spiritual interest: Most people are
not connected to God in a meaningful way. While casual religious
affiliation and activity gives people a sense of comfort and security,
surprisingly few who consider themselves to be Christian center their
lives on their faith. Most are neither satisfied with nor fulfilled by
their faith experiences.
American culture has so radically reshaped the Christian faith that the
underlying premise of American Christianity has become: "If it works,
christen it. If it feels right, find biblical passages to support it.
If it brings you pleasure, it is God's blessing. If something comes
easily, it is God's will for you."
* 48 percent of people who regularly attend Christian churches say they
have not experienced God's presence at any time in the past 12 months.
(...)
* 35 percent of born-again Christians say they are still searching for
meaning in life - the same percentage as non-Christians.
[...more...]
35. U.S. recognizing greater diversity
Dallas Morning News, Dec. 26, 1998
http://www.dallasnews.com/religion-nf/rel33.htm
(...) Civil society's recognition of religious diversity: At the White
House throughout the year, President Clinton's prayer breakfasts drew
new faiths to the table.
(...)
Across the United States, recognition of religious diversity is also
taking the form of public proclamations of specific faith celebrations
or interfaith awareness weeks.
(...)
Coverage of religious diversity in the media and organizations: There
was a tremendous shift in the coverage of religion in the United
States, with increasing recognition and appreciation of America's new
diversity.
[...more...]
36. Crash Course in Christianity Is Winning Over Churches and the
Wayward
New York Times, Dec. 27, 1998
(...) Since Alpha was introduced in the United States in 1995, nearly
2,000 churches have offered the course. Sales of Alpha course materials
in the United States are brisk: 170,000 Alpha manuals and 4,000 sets of
videos in the last two years, Alpha officials said.
Alpha officials estimate that more than 1.5 million people worldwide
have taken the course, which is offered in 75 countries.
(...)
Hanna, Alpha's top American official, says his goal is to offer the
program in 50,000 churches in the United States and attract 8 million
to 10 million new people to the program. His plan: get an invitation to
an Alpha course into the mailboxes of every home in the United States
by the end of 2000.
"If you walked through any 18th-century village here or in Europe, the
biggest, noisiest building was always the church, with its bell and its
clock," Hanna said. "Today, I think the church has shrunk in terms of
its visibility. I think Alpha's a good way to raise the noise level
again."
[...more...]
=== Just In Case You Wondered...
37. Rabbi rules: On computers, erasing God is OK
Bakersfield Californian, Dec. 29, 1998
http://www.bakersfield.com/rel/i--1297192037.asp
A leading Orthodox rabbi has ruled that the word "God" may be erased
from a computer screen or disk, because the pixels do not constitute
real letters.
Rabbi Moshe Shaul Klein published his ruling this week in a computer
magazine aimed at Orthodox Jews, "Mahsheva Tova."
Klein was responding to a question from a reader who was anxious about
whether the ban on erasing the variations on the word "God" applied to
computers.
[...more...]
38. The Hula, as Sacred Dance, Is Allowed During Mass
Los Angeles Times, Dec. 25, 1998
http://www.latimes.com/excite/981225/t000117754.html
Psalm 149 lives again in Hawaii's Catholic churches. After months of
negotiating with the Vatican, Honolulu Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo is
allowing hula and other Native Hawaiian "sacred gestures" to be
performed during services.
Rome banned these central elements of the Hawaiian culture from local
churches earlier this year after a resident complained they were being
used for entertainment and not worship.
(...)
Hula uses the hands, body and feet to tell a story. Ancient Hawaiians
danced for their kings in both religious and secular settings.
(...)
The dance can be accompanied by religious chanting and the playing of
native instruments such as the ipu, a drum made from gourds, and nose
flute. It is more likely to be part of a church service in a parish
populated by Native Hawaiians.
Church officials stress that hula performed during liturgies is not
the same as hula performed by women wearing coconuts, leis and grass
skirts at the famous Kodak Hula Show.
[...more...]
Compiled by Anton Hein
Christian Ministry Report & Apologetics Index
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ahein/
Subject: Re: 12 Tribes cult
From: brianl@globalbiz.net
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 14:19:25 -0500
X-Message-Number: 2
> I think your Yahweh cults are confused. The all-black group is
>called the "Nation of Yahweh", a/k/a the Temple of Love, formerly k/a
>the Hebrew Israelites. Its founder is Yahweh Ben Yahweh, formerly k/a
[...]
I stand corrected. Thanks Eric. In fact -now correct me again if I'm
wrong- Yahweh Ben Yahweh, aka Hulon Mitchell, and his group, Nation of
Yahweh, is originally from Detroit. I had forgotten all about them. Shame
on me!
**************************************
Brian P. Lucas, Investigative Producer
Fox2 News/ WJBK-TV
16550 W. Nine Mile Road
Southfield, Michigan 48075
248-552-5171
248-552-8565 (fax)
http://www.fox2detroit.com
"Fidelity to the truth, no matter the
cost and regardless of circumstances,
brings inner peace."
**************************************
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Info needed on Light of the City ministry in Renton, Va.
From: jplunkett1@juno.com (Johnny J Plunkett)
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 00:00:45 -0500
X-Message-Number: 3
This sounds like standard manifest sons theology done by someone who
reads a lot of "Wired" magazine. The 3 levels correspond to the areas of
the temple in Jerusalem 1. the outer court for fundamentalists 2. the
inner court for pentacostals and 3. the Holy of Holies for the manifest
sons (immortal saints). The feast of tabernacles typifies the
manifestation of the sons. All manifest sons teachers try to give it a
slight twist of their own. If you start with a simple one like the late
Bill Britton (email Becky Britton Harness707@aol.com) the fancy ones
will make more sense. Johnny Plunkett
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----------------------------------------------
Subject: Nation of Yahweh
From: jplunkett1@juno.com (Johnny J Plunkett)
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 00:27:11 -0500
X-Message-Number: 4
RE: nation of Yahweh.AKA the Black Hebrews. they run a hotel and
restaurant in Atlanta, Ga according to an article in either the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution or the Creative Loafing a few years ago. It is
considered quite nice and cheap among the black community. Any contact in
the black community in Atlanta could give you abundant information I
would think. I know there has been some conflict with the Nation of
Islam. Johnny Plunkett
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or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
---
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