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ReligionNewsBlog.com, June 19-20, 2004

Sun, Jun. 20, 2004
[Buddhism] Foreign Minister gets tough on commercial exploitation of
Buddha image
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7575-.html
Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar has addressed letters to his
counterparts in Buddhist and European countries seeking assistance to
take preventive measure against the commercial exploitation of the
Buddha image. [...] Several instances of such exploitation of the
Buddha image including on swimwear for women advertised on the
Internet, candles manufactured in the form of the Buddha and compact
discs with the Buddha's image cited in the petition filed in the
Supreme Court.

[Eckankar] New Age religion emphasizes personal spiritual development
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7572-.html
The first time Karen Bezoski left her body she was sitting in a
parapsychology class at Weber State University in 1971. It was like
the frequent stories of near-death experiences, weightless floating
and walking into the light, she recalls. Except she wasn't dying. That
experience, coached by meditation experts from Berkeley, Calif., led
Bezoski toward a belief in reincarnation and "soul travel," which
eventually led her to Eckankar, a New Age religion emphasizing the
importance of personal spiritual development.

[Mungiki] Kenyan Security Minister Vows "Total War" Against Mungiki
Sect Members
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7571-.html
National Security Minister Dr Chris Murungaru has said the government
is preparing to destroy the remaining Mungiki sect [a quasi-religious
group that claims to follow Kikuyu traditional religion] and members
who did not obey the government amnesty that expired last year.

[Uganda] Police investigates export of body parts
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7570-.html
Police is investigating the possible existence of a well-organised
racket, exporting human organs to the US and European countries. The
underhand international trade in human organs has been growing over
the past few years, as new lifestyles in the rich west cause new
diseases. The organs are transplanted into bodies of rich patients who
can expensively pay for them. [...] Sunday Monitor has learnt that a
kidney could fetch up to Shs 25 million, while a heart goes for a lot
more cash. When cult leader Joseph Kibwetere burnt thousands of people
in Kanungu district, in 2000, several mass graves were discovered
through out the country. It is believed these might have been victims
of the international racket – dealing in human organs.

[Hare Krishna] Hare Krishna Followers Pull Chariots Through London
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7569-.html
Thousands of Hare Krishna followers joined a colourful procession
through the capital today. For the first time in the event’s 36 year
history they pulled three wooden chariots through London’s streets to
mark the Ratha-yatra Carnival of Chariots. [...] The 40ft high
chariots are said to carry three deities including Lord Krishna, known
as Jagannath.

[Eternal Life Church] Cult leader linked to killings dies
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7566-.html
Cho Hee-seong, 72, a religious leader who was once sentenced to death
for ordering killings within his Yeong Saeng ("Eternal Life") Church,
died Saturday of a heart attack he suffered while imprisoned at Seoul
Detention Center. Mr. Cho received a death sentence in February for
ordering members of the church to kill six other members between 1990
and 1992. Last month, however, a higher court overturned the verdict,
saying he hadn't ordered the killings, merely helped those who'd
committed them to escape investigation. The court reduced his sentence
to a two-year prison term. At the time of his death, Mr. Cho was
awaiting the result of an appeal he'd filed with the Supreme Court
asking it to vacate the two-year sentence.

[Marcus Wesson] Wesson's speedy trial a rarity
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7565-.html
Murder mysteries typically aren't resolved in a hurry; trials for some
of the Valley's notorious killers -- Cary Stayner, Dana Ewell,
Josefina Saldana -- didn't begin until more than two years after their
arrests. But the man accused of Fresno's worst mass killing could
stand trial sooner than six months after police found nine of his
children dead, stacked in a back bedroom of his home. On March 12,
Marcus Wesson was handcuffed in front of his modest central Fresno
home. He later was charged with murdering the victims, who ranged in
age from 1 to 25. On Aug. 31, jury selection is scheduled to begin in
Fresno County Superior Court. The trial would have started Monday but
Wesson's lawyers recently won a two-month delay despite his protests.
Wesson pleaded with a judge to ignore his lawyers' request. Part of
his strategy, he said, was to have a timely trial. [...] Family
members told police Wesson admired David Koresh, the man who had
multiple wives and commanded a sect of more than 100 people called the
Branch Davidians. On April 19, 1993 their standoff with federal agents
ended in a fiery explosion and mass suicide in which 80 Branch
Davidians were killed in a Waco, Texas compound.

[Hate Groups : Scientology] Common sense prevails
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7564-.html
After 13 years, Narconon, funded and staffed by the Church of
Scientology, is being accused of using misleading and inaccurate
information -- "irresponsible . . . pseudoscience'' is what a host of
medical experts are calling it. Among the debunked teachings are
Narconon claims that drugs are stored in body fat, creating cravings
and flashbacks that can be remedied with perspiration and vitamins.
But worse than flawed science are indications that lessons are imbued
with religion -- "all the Scientology . . . basics," according to
church data obtained by The Chronicle.

NOTE: Scientology is based entirely on fantasy and lies. It should be
noted that the cult's scriptures actively encourage and condone lying,
hate- and harassment activities as well as other unethical behavior.

[Unification Church] Lawmaker's take on Moon fete is crowning oddity
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7563-.html
The most disturbing thing is not that U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D.-Ill.)
attended an elaborate coronation ceremony in Washington for the
controversial Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his wife. And it's not that
Davis took an active role in the ceremony, carrying to the dais on a
velvet pillow one of the jeweled crowns that were placed upon the
heads of the robed Moons. More than half a dozen other congressmen and
senators also were in attendance, according to several reports,
including one in the Washington Times, a newspaper Moon owns. The
event took place March 23 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building under
the banner of the Interreligious and International Federation for
World Peace, a Moon-led organization. [...] No, the most disturbing
thing is that, to this day, Davis expresses no regret about assisting
in the pageantry designed to burnish and inflate the reputation of a
man who, divine or not, wants to abolish Western-style democracy,
compares *** people to dung-eating dogs, and in exhorting Jews to
convert and follow him, told them: "You have to repent. Jesus was the
King of Israel. Through the principle of indemnity, Hitler killed 6
million Jews."

[Feroze Golwalla] Prayer led to pain for cult victims
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7562-.html
When she joined a fledgling missionary group at evangelical Wheaton
College, Carrie Andreson expected to grow closer to God. She and other
students would gather mornings in graduate student Feroze Golwalla's
apartment to pray and plan for an overseas mission trip. But as the
weeks passed, the students began fasting and soon were depriving
themselves of sleep. Some cut off ties to family and friends and left
Wheaton to follow Golwalla and his strict directives. In her desire to
become a missionary, Andreson had become part of a cult. At Golwalla's
orders, Andreson said, she even beat other members and ultimately
caused self-inflicted wounds, puncturing her face and buttocks with a
hanger until she bled and scarred. [...] "If Feroze had walked on
campus with a bottle of wine and cigarettes in his pocket, he'd be
kicked out of Wheaton," said Christine Wolfe, mother of twin boys who
joined. "But there's nothing protecting students from a predator like
Feroze." [...] Golwalla kept them busy with mundane tasks, such as
ordering them to compile thousands of e-mail addresses from Christian
groups. The busywork limited them to three or four hours of sleep.
Cult experts say the technique is classic mind control, depriving
followers of sleep and nutrition to the point that they don't question
anything. "They were lured in via their Christian upbringing and their
desire to serve God," said Bob Pardon, a Massachusetts-based cult
expert hired by the families to get their children out. "They figured
they could do it in ways they'd never seen before." [...] For the
parents, the quest to get their children out was emotionally painful.
At many points, they lost all contact with their children. The Wolfes'
parents worked with Pardon. Andreson's parents consulted with him and
with Steve Hassan, a Boston-based cult researcher.

[Kabbalah] Guy's fear: 'I though they were after my wife's $$'
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7561-.html
The latest reinvented version of Madonna hit Manhattan last week,
struggling to sell tickets and peddling $120 T-shirts at her Garden
concerts. She's also reportedly
Wanna_make_something_of_it.html">adopted the name Esther in adherence
to kabbalah, the mystical Jewish "technology" that she and husband Guy
Ritchie follow religiously — and that Ritchie flatly denies is a cult
out to rip off celebrities, Simon Mills reports.

[Sathya Sai Baba] Guru who gives us no answers
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7560-.html
The Secret Swami might have veered towards the amusing - in an "Oh my
God, how gullible can you be?" kind of way - had it not been for the
repeated allegations of *** abuse. Sai Baba, the swami in question,
had started off looking like some old bloke with an ego as big as his
bank account. [...] The do***entary took a much less wide-eyed
approach than Sai Baba’s flock, denouncing him from the start as a
sham whose ashram resembled a market place, not a shrine. Oh yes, he
appeared to have done some good - constructing a hospital in the
district, providing free medicare for the poor, and supplying clean
water - however, the £40 million it cost was funded by wealthy
acolytes, faithfully following Sai Baba’s earnest exhortation:
"Wherever you see a sick person - there is your field of service". And
yet, Sai Baba’s secret motto turned out to be different, more like:
"Wherever you see a gullible young believer, (boys only apply) bingo!
- ***ual opportunity".

[Gwen Shamblin] Church founded by diet guru scrutinized after boy dies
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7558-.html
The Remnant Fellowship, a church that grew out of a Christian
weight-loss program, preaches obedience and tough discipline for
unruly children.
Those beliefs have put the religious movement under scrutiny in a case
involving two members accused of beating their 8-year-old son to death
last year in suburban Atlanta's Cobb County. Last month, investigators
raided the Franklin headquarters of the church and weight-loss
program, seeking evidence of a connection to Josef Smith's death.
Authorities say the boy was chronically abused and died from a blow to
the head. His parents, Joseph and Sonya Smith of Mableton, Ga., are
charged with felony murder, child cruelty and deprivation of a minor.
[...] Church leaders say on a Web site that the media ''have already
tried and found this couple guilty. These same individuals are now
attempting to associate the teachings of Remnant Fellowship with this
unfortunate incident.'' But it's former Remnant members who are saying
church leaders sanctioned severe beatings and locking children in a
bare room with a Bible until they learned obedience to God and their
parents. Audiotapes made by those former members recorded Shamblin
praising such ''showdowns'' with children, including the Smiths' son
Josef.

[Italy] Italian Police Look to a Cult in '98 Killings of ****agers
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7557-.html
The six-year search for Chiara Marino and Fabio Tollis, two missing
****agers who were members of a heavy metal band called the Beasts of
Satan, ended in a pit in the woods northwest of Milan. The authorities
say other members of the loose-knit band buried the bodies after
killing the ****agers in a drug-fueled Satanic sacrifice. [...] The
discovery of the bodies has captured the Italian imagination,
especially in the north, not so far away from where a series of crimes
that came to be known as the Monster of Florence killings haunted
people in the Tuscan woods for two decades, beginning in 1968. This is
a country in which Roman Catholic priests are still asked to carry out
exorcisms. A sociologist, Maria Macioti, a professor at La Sapienza
University in Rome, has said increasing numbers of young people seem
drawn to devil worship. A magistrate has warned of the lure of
antichrist cults.

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Sat, Jun. 19, 2004
[Ananda] Ananda gets green light for expansion
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7553-.html
Following the approval of zoning officials, the Ananda Church of
Self-Realization and Retreat Center will proceed with plans to
construct a new staff house on Tomaquag Road. [...] The board's
decision effectively ends a standoff between retreat founders and
several neighbors opposed to the church's expansion.

[Paganism] Pagans find spirituality they missed in church
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7552-.html
When people become disenchanted with their parents' religions, they
sometimes turn to the religions of their ancestors. Annoyed by what
they perceive as wrong-headed self-righteousness and people not living
up to the tenets of their beliefs, gossiping and back-stabbing, some
find comfort in older, earth-based religious teachings. "Church
wouldn't be so bad if not for all the people who go there," said a
Morgan Township, Ohio, man who identified himself by his "Indian
name," Sky Hawk. "I still consider myself a Christian in a way because
I believe in the message that Jesus had, but the way it is practiced
-- or not practiced -- in the church left a bad taste in my mouth."

[Islam] Muslims here express outrage
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7578-.html
Hours after an al-Qaida group announced the killing of American
hostage Paul Johnson on Friday, Muslims expressed outrage locally at
the second beheading linked to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

[Mormon Church] Mormon president calls new temple in New York 'Zion in
Babylon'
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7551-.html
Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, dedicated a new Mormon temple in New York, calling
its construction a "miracle." [...] The temple is for sacred rituals
including marriages and baptisms and is the 119th Mormon temple
worldwide.

[Mungiki] Stop Terror Now, Urges Rights Group
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7550-.html
Kenya Human Rights Commission has asked the Government to act swiftly
and stop killings by the Mungiki followers in Nairobi. The
commission's deputy executive director, Mr Steve Ouma, said the
killings showed that the Government had failed to protect Kenyans.
[...] Police Commissioner Brigadier Mohammed Ali is categorical that
Mungiki is illegal. "The existence of the organisation remains illegal
and the status quo has not changed," he told journalists recently in
Nairobi. [...] On Monday, sect members slashed a 13-year-old school
girl to death at Mlango Kubwa estate, Nairobi. The girl was peeping
outside the door of their house as the gang terrorised residents.

[Mormon Church] Medal of Freedom for President Hinckley
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7549-.html
LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley will be awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation's highest civil honor — by
President Bush during ceremonies Wednesday at the White House.

[Hare Krishna] Swami can't return to New Vrindaban
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7548-.html
A former swami released from prison cannot return to the New Vrindaban
community he once ran because he is banned for life from all Hare
Krishna temples. Swami Bhaktipada was freed four years early from a
prison in Butner, N.C., earlier this week. Bhaktipada, who also is
known as Kirtanananda Swami and was born Keith Ham in Peekskill, N.Y.,
was arrested in 1987, charged with racketeering and accused of
ordering the murders of two devotees who had threatened his control of
the community.

[Mungiki] Murdered: Sect Members Who Said No
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7547-.html
These are the faces of death - six people ruthlessly murdered by a
Mungiki revenge squad desperate to silence them for spilling the
sect's secrets. Within the last six months, 14 known defectors have
either been killed or have mysteriously disappeared in what is turning
out to be a major underworld war. They have been killed since an
ultimatum to defectors to rejoin the sect expired in January. The
brutal beheading of a street preacher two weeks ago is only the latest
in a chain of apparent executions to have befallen defectors from
Mungiki.


Anton
--
Anton and Janet Hein-Hudson
Apologetics Index
Research resources on religions, cults, sects, doctrines, and related
issues:
http://www.religionnewsblog.com (News and news archives)
http://www.apologeticsindex.org (Other research resources)

So proclaims Anton Hein - convicted pedophile, self-appointed Grand
Inquisitor and religious bigot.