Cult News

Rev. Moon founder of the Unification Church staged another one of his “conferences” in Washington DC this month. And of course the Washington Times and UPI, both which Moon essentially controls, covered the event.

This conference supposedly focused on “world peace.”

Newsman Sam Donaldson was on hand to offer his wit and wisdom. Moon pays celebrity speakers hefty honorariums to appear at such events.

Larry Moffitt the vice president of UPI operations and Dr. Chung Hwan Kwak, president of UPI and chairman of News World Communications, which publishes The Washington Times were also there.

Moffitt and Kwak are both followers of Rev. Moon.

John Bloom who is not a member of Moon’s church reported the event for UPI. He said, “Despite working at UPI, I had never been entirely clear on exactly what the Unification Church stands for or why it was so intent on acquiring media organizations.”

Is Bloom serious?

Moon obviously bought up media outlets like UPI and the Washington Times as a means of gaining political influence, promoting himself and publishing reports like Bloom’s “Commentary: War, Peace & Rev. Moon.”

What is Moon’s plan for world peace?

Bloom says, “God ruling over the Earth through the agency of Reverend Moon.”

Sounds like Sadaam’s plan for peace in the Middle East doesn’t it? Just let the Iraqi dictator run everything and there won’t be any war.

Right.

And who else but UPI and the Washington Times would give the following items any serious attention?

“On December 25, 2001, at high noon, a meeting was held in heaven between Jesus, Confucius, Buddha, Mohammad and Shankara (founder of the Advaita Vedanta in Hinduism). Sitting with them were 600 representatives of the five leading religions…they adopted a resolution that says…Reverend Moon is the ‘Savior, Messiah, Second Coming and True Parent of all humanity.'”

And subsequently “‘A letter from God himself, proclaiming the Reverend Moon to be his ‘beloved Son'”

Is Moon a megalomaniac? Judge for yourself.

No doubt UPI, like the Washington Times will be another monetary abyss for Moon to lose millions of dollars annually. But the billionaire “Messiah” doesn’t seem to care.

Not as long as reporters like Bloom get his name, plans and prophetic utterances into print.

The Universal Church Kingdom of God is an organization based in Brazil and led by tycoon Edir Macedo. It has branches around the world including the United States.

The church reportedly takes in more than $1 billion dollars annually.

Macedo has diversified investments in South America, which include a media empire with holdings in television, print news and radio.

But the cash cow of the Macedo Empire seems to still be his church, which manipulates superstition for money. It promotes a belief in amulets and holy oil and conducts public exorcisms.

Such supernatural products and spectacle have attracted a following ultimately produce income through contributions.

Now a new branch of the church in Britain is marketing its ability at “breaking curses,” reports the Waltham Forest Guardian.

Promotional literature says, “This breaking curses method has been used for many years and has proved to be highly successful especially in the lives of those who have tried every other method and failed.”

Of course once your curse is broken you should be grateful and give the church money.

In addition to this unusual pitch regarding supernatural power church members are also working the more traditional mode of fund raising throughout a British neighborhood soliciting contributions. One reporter said he was approached “six times.”

The Universal Church Kingdom of God is currently under investigation by the UK Charity Commission, over child protection issues related to “exorcism” and money distribution.

Macedo has previously been accused of criminal activities in South America including money laundering.

Ten years ago the Waco Tribune-Herald began a three-part series called “The Sinful Messiah” about a then obscure cult known as the Branch-Davidians led by Vernon Howell, later known to the world as David Koresh.

The first part of that series appeared February 23, 1993, the same day the BATF came to the cult compound to serve a warrant.

But rather than cooperate with authorities Koresh chose to arm his followers for resistance. The ensuing gun battle ended with four federal agents and five Davidians dead. Many more were wounded.

The 51-day standoff that followed tragically concluded in a horrific fire ordered by Koresh, which consumed the lives of his remaining followers, including their children.

Beginning Sunday the Waco Tribune-Herald launched a new series. This time it will not cover the “Sinful Messiah,” but examine the legacy of the historical event that forever changed Waco.

How did it affect the town in Texas, the nation, society and those involved? What lessons were learned from this tragedy of cult devotion to a purported “psychopath“?

Interestingly, Stuart Wright a long-time cult apologist who has been recommended as a resource by the Church of Scientology was quoted within the first Tribune-Herald installment.

Wright testified before congress regarding the standoff and used that opportunity to essentially advance his own agenda concerning the supposed “persecution” of cults.

Wright seems dissatisfied with the results of two congressional investigations, a civil suit and the independent Danforth inquiry. Though millions have been spent to document the facts about the standoff he cryptically said, “I’m not sure the evidence was ever looked at in an objective light.”

Wright edited his own version of events titled “Armageddon in Waco.” This book is a collection of writings largely from other like-minded cult apologists such as David Bromley, James Richardson, Anson Shupe, James Lewis, Anthony Robbins and Edward Gaffney.

One entry within the book is by Nancy Ammerman, once lauded in a full-page article within Scientology’s “Freedom Magazine.”

Many of these academics have received cash from groups called “cults.” This includes grants for “research,” payments for court testimony and/or expenses for trips and conferences.

The objectivity and observations of such specious scholars should be suspect.

Benjamin Zablocki, Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University said, “The sociology of religion can no longer avoid the unpleasant ethical question of how to deal with the large sums of money being pumped into the field by the religious groups being studied…in the form of subvention of research expenses, subvention of publications, opportunities to sponsor and attend conferences, or direct fees for services, this money is not insignificant…This is an issue that is slowly but surely building toward a public scandal.

The physical evidence and facts now well established about the Branch-Davidian standoff failed to support the opinions of cult apologists or anti-government conspiracy theorists.

Instead, the only “persecution” that took place was the way David Koresh treated his followers, frequently targeting women and children for sexual abuse.

And the “Armageddon” that ultimately occurred outside Waco was the creation of a criminal cult leader, conceived in his twisted mind as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Harvard Professor of Psychology Richard J. McNally recently presented definitive research, which demonstrated that emotional trauma, can come from imagined experiences, such as UFO abductions.

McNally seems to think such claims are actually only “false memories” produced largely through “the power of emotional belief.”

But apparently another academic at Harvard thinks otherwise.

John E. Mack, a professor at Harvard Medical School runs “The Center for Psychology and Social Change” and his spokesperson disputed McNally’s results, reported the Harvard Crimson.

Instead Mack’s man announced that “a spiritual reality…exists apart from the material and the non-material.” He added, “McNally assumes that the alien encounters are just beliefs…but that’s not clear-cut.”

Huh?

Of course Mack’s center cited no objective evidence to substantiate its statements.

In 1995 Mack was warned about his questionable research. The professor was told it was “affecting the academic standards of the Medical School.” Harvard’s affiliation with the Mack center was subsequently withdrawn.

The editor of the New England Journal of Medicine said John Mack’s approach to research is rather to “only gone through the motions.” He quipped, “If I were dean, I might have said to him, ‘John, for God’s sake, take a look at what you’re doing, you’re making a fool of yourself.'”

So it seems that the ranks of “true believers,” who accept without meaningful proof such strange imaginings as UFO abductions, are not only naïve, uneducated, unsophisticated folks or X-Files fans.

At least one believer, who apparently thinks the “truth is out there,” is a tenured faculty member of Harvard Medical School.

This past week the state legislature of Kansas rejected a proposed “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” which has been passed by 12 states including Florida, Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas, reports Associated Press.

One Kansas lawmaker commented, ‘‘I didn’t know that my religious freedoms needed to be restored.”

A similar federal law was stuck down through judicial review six years ago. So now a well-organized religious lobby, which has included the support of some groups called “cults,” is attempting to pass the provision state by state.

However, is this legislation really about “religious freedom” or special protection?

Based upon the way this law has been used historically it appears to be the later.

Certainly Americans have the right to believe whatever they want, but that constitutional guarantee does not mandate special privileges under the moniker of “religious freedom.”

It seems rather than restoring something lost, this group of specious lobbyists actually want something more.

Per Nielson Monitor-Plus Scientology spent $45 million dollars last year on advertising, reports Yahoo.

Now the controversial church has contracted a new firm named Horizon to handle its lucrative ad business.

And apparently Horizon is popular amongst Scientologists. It also handles Earthlink’s advertising, founded by prominent and outspoken Scientologist Sky Dayton.

So what’s up?

It seems like the celebrity cache of stars like Tom Cruise and John Travolta is just not enough to put the church over.

Big bucks must be continually dumped into ad campaigns to pitch Scientology, not unlike a new movie or retail product.

In Pretoria South Africa an “occult expert” testified during the trial of an alleged “Satanist,” accused of subjecting children to sexual abuse and religious rituals.

During her testimony the expert witness told the court about her own past occult involvement and experiences, which included “astral projection.” She is now a “reborn Christian.”

The expert claimed that she could “sense negative vibrations on a crime scene or when meeting someone.” And said that upon meeting the man accused she felt “a cold tingle down her spine,” reports Africa.com.

The expert then pointed out that a Christian parent she met connected to the case created no such response.

It seems incredible that an “expert” in a criminal trial would be allowed to provide such subjective testimony.

Rather than offering the court meaningful insights based upon an objectively established expertise, this “expert” offers the court “vibrations” and a “cold tingle” to demonstrate her points.

Hopefully the judge and/or jury will reject such nonsense, which rather than reflecting expert opinion grounded upon facts, sounds like the bias and strange imaginings of a self-styled witch-hunter or exorcist.

The defendant should be tried based upon the physical evidence and/or through eyewitness accounts that prove his crimes objectively. Likewise, any expert opinion should fact-driven and relevant.

A high-ranking leader within the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) plead guilty to a misdemeanor for sexual misconduct, reports the St. Louis Dispatch.

Rev. Ronald Oree Nation, 70, was caught having sex in public park, an unseemly sight for a minister from a group that prides itself upon “holiness standards” regarding personal conduct and dress.

But undress was apparently the issue in this criminal case.

Nation, once the Sunday School director of the UPCI at its headquarters was suspended him without pay and then went into retirement.

The court in St. Louis has decided the first two years of Nation’s retirement will include probation and he must pay a $1,000 fine.

The UPCI essentially believes that those who do not accept their interpretation of the bible regarding baptism and a “oneness” belief that rejects the trinity will be condemned to hell.

The arrest and guilty plea of Rev. Nation is no doubt a deep embarrassment for the UPCI, which is in the habit of pointing out the sins and failings of others.

It looks like the Church of Scientology is looking for a handout from the federal government through President Bush’s “faith-based” initiative.

A Scientology minister attended a meeting in Alaska apparently to see if there might be money available for his church, reports the Anchorage Daily News.

But the Scientologist expressed concern that groups, which have experienced “discrimination,” would not receive money. This appears to be Scientology-speak for groups often called “cults”

The Lt. Governor of Alaska assured everyone there that he intends to “define religion broadly.”

Get ready for the lineup.

Controversial groups called “cults” such as the “Moonies,” Krishna and Scientology will likely be lining up to get their slice of the Bush pie.

Personality cults and Communism have historically often gone hand in hand–from Stalin to Mao.

Oddly, today the only remaining political legacy of Stalinism is not in Russia, but within North Korea under the regime of the “Great Leader” Kim Jong Il.

And now an interesting historical exhibit has opened at Moscow’s Museum of Russian Contemporary History, titled, “Stalin: Man and Symbol.”

This retrospective explores the strange phenomenon of Stalinism through its residue of artifacts and memorabilia, which fills two rooms, reports the London Telegraph.

Stalin died in 1953 after a reign of terror that lasted thirty years and in many ways paralleled the modern history of North Korea.

Millions of Russians died through Stalinist purges, forced labor, gulags and mass starvation. But all this took place while the evil despot was seen as a benign father figure of almost supernatural stature, as the artifacts now on exhibit attest to.

Sound like the “Great Leader“?

But today Russians overwhelmingly recognize the horrors of that era, though a small minority still long for the certainty that accompanied Stalin’s rule.

There were no loose ends or ambiguity in Stalin’s Russia. He was the “great leader” and seemed to have all the answers.

Looking back it was Stalin’s total control of Soviet society, which enabled the dictator to essentially “brainwash” his people.

Russians were kept ignorant and unable to obtain and asses the information necessary to think outside of the box Stalin constructed, then known as the Soviet Empire.

Today some in Russia fear that admiration for President Vladimir Putin might evolve into another “personality cult.” However, it is doubtful that he has the will or the infrastructure to implement such a reactionary change.

Plainly put, Putin probably couldn’t close the box again, even if he wanted to. Russia is now a far more open society.

Old pensioner’s fond memories of Stalin seems like a longing for childhood, when daddy told them stories, controlled their lives and provided for the necessities.

It is very difficult for a totalitarian state to make the transition, from a society built upon learned dependence and absolute authority, to one based instead on independence and the value of individual freedom. In a free society people are expected to think for themselves.

North Korea’s Stalin was ironically born in Russia and died in 1994. But unlike his Russian prototype he left behind a family dynasty. Now Korea’s second Stalin rules over a closed, controlled and isolated domain with another son and heir apparent in waiting.

The question is, how many “Great Leaders” can North Korea endure?

Hopefully, one-day North Korea like Russia, will have an exhibit rather than a ruler to reflect upon the meaning of its own personality cult.

The museum curator of the Stalin artifacts said, “The exhibition is supposed to show how far propaganda can carry people in the praise of one person.”