Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 98
Former Member Talks of Harassment
Pam Black, a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, recently told a meeting of ―Help the Child Brides,‖ in Kingman, AZ, that her phone is
tapped and that the road leading to her home, about five miles from the church‘s Hilldale
settlement, is being watched. She says of the church: ―They don‘t enforce laws. They
enforce rules of the church.‖
Utah and Arizona prosecutors are investigating alleged domestic violence, tax and welfare
fraud, and the marriage of underage girls in polygamous communities in the region. Black
says that a great deal of the money members give to the church is used to support court
cases involving these issues. But Black, who bore 14 children in 22 years, asserts that she
does not want to be known as an anti-polygamist. ―I don‘t want to attack anybody. I don‘t
like war.‖ (Jane Zhang, The Spectrum, Internet, 5/15/03)
God’s Creation Outreach Ministry
Women Guilty of Child Abuse
Five women pleaded no contest in mid-November and were found guilty of involvement in
the suffocation death of a child in the Kansas City-based God’s Creation Outreach
Ministry. Earlier this year, group leaders Neil Edgar and his wife Christy Edgar were
convicted of first-degree murder in the suffocation death of their 9-year-old adopted son,
whom they wrapped from head to foot in duct tape. (Kansas City Channel, Internet,
11/14/03)
Hare Krishna (International Society for Krishna Consciousness)
Cow Keepers to Move
Hare Krishna followers Stephen and Linda Voth plan to move with their daughter from
Angelica, NY, to the Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary, in Bangor, PA, following a ruling by Angelica
zoning officials that the couple cannot keep four cows on their village property. Hindus like
the Hare Krishna consider cows sacred. (AP, Internet, 6/9/03)
Harmony Worship Center Church
Warrants to Arrest “Discipling the Flesh” Pastors
Tulsa, OK, police are looking to serve Harmomy Worship Center pastors Robert and
Janice Turner with arrest warrants in connection with their beating of a church member in a
ritual called ―disciplining the flesh.‖ The ritual is intended to beat sin out of a person who
has confessed his guilt, in this case a man who admitted to watching pornography. (Kim
Jackson, KTUL ABC TV, Internet, 8/29/03)
House of Prayer
Klan Support
A Ku Klux Klan group in Georgia says it will demonstrate in favor of freeing House of
Prayer leader Rev. Arthur Allen, the bleak leader of a black congregation who was jailed
for violating his probation. Allen was convicted for allowing two children to be whipped in
front of his flock. The Klan and the House of Prayer marched together in September
supporting the display of the Ten Commandments in a Barrow County courthouse.
Klan rally organizer J.J. Harper said: ―There was a time when the corrupt Ku Klux Klan was
bombing churches, let‘s put it that way. There are some (Klan) groups out there that have
lost direction. Basically our organization is here to stand up for Christianity and whatever
that includes, that‘s what we‘re going to do.‖ (WXIA-TV Atlanta, 11/3/03)
Former Member Talks of Harassment
Pam Black, a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, recently told a meeting of ―Help the Child Brides,‖ in Kingman, AZ, that her phone is
tapped and that the road leading to her home, about five miles from the church‘s Hilldale
settlement, is being watched. She says of the church: ―They don‘t enforce laws. They
enforce rules of the church.‖
Utah and Arizona prosecutors are investigating alleged domestic violence, tax and welfare
fraud, and the marriage of underage girls in polygamous communities in the region. Black
says that a great deal of the money members give to the church is used to support court
cases involving these issues. But Black, who bore 14 children in 22 years, asserts that she
does not want to be known as an anti-polygamist. ―I don‘t want to attack anybody. I don‘t
like war.‖ (Jane Zhang, The Spectrum, Internet, 5/15/03)
God’s Creation Outreach Ministry
Women Guilty of Child Abuse
Five women pleaded no contest in mid-November and were found guilty of involvement in
the suffocation death of a child in the Kansas City-based God’s Creation Outreach
Ministry. Earlier this year, group leaders Neil Edgar and his wife Christy Edgar were
convicted of first-degree murder in the suffocation death of their 9-year-old adopted son,
whom they wrapped from head to foot in duct tape. (Kansas City Channel, Internet,
11/14/03)
Hare Krishna (International Society for Krishna Consciousness)
Cow Keepers to Move
Hare Krishna followers Stephen and Linda Voth plan to move with their daughter from
Angelica, NY, to the Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary, in Bangor, PA, following a ruling by Angelica
zoning officials that the couple cannot keep four cows on their village property. Hindus like
the Hare Krishna consider cows sacred. (AP, Internet, 6/9/03)
Harmony Worship Center Church
Warrants to Arrest “Discipling the Flesh” Pastors
Tulsa, OK, police are looking to serve Harmomy Worship Center pastors Robert and
Janice Turner with arrest warrants in connection with their beating of a church member in a
ritual called ―disciplining the flesh.‖ The ritual is intended to beat sin out of a person who
has confessed his guilt, in this case a man who admitted to watching pornography. (Kim
Jackson, KTUL ABC TV, Internet, 8/29/03)
House of Prayer
Klan Support
A Ku Klux Klan group in Georgia says it will demonstrate in favor of freeing House of
Prayer leader Rev. Arthur Allen, the bleak leader of a black congregation who was jailed
for violating his probation. Allen was convicted for allowing two children to be whipped in
front of his flock. The Klan and the House of Prayer marched together in September
supporting the display of the Ten Commandments in a Barrow County courthouse.
Klan rally organizer J.J. Harper said: ―There was a time when the corrupt Ku Klux Klan was
bombing churches, let‘s put it that way. There are some (Klan) groups out there that have
lost direction. Basically our organization is here to stand up for Christianity and whatever
that includes, that‘s what we‘re going to do.‖ (WXIA-TV Atlanta, 11/3/03)
