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House of Prayer
No New Trial
Fulton County Georgia Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford has ruled that House of
Prayer leader Arthur Allen, Jr., should not get a new trial. Allen, 72, was convicted in
2002 for his supervisory role in the beating of church members‘ children with a belt. He was
sentenced to 90 days in prison and 10 years‘ probation.
Lawyers for Allen, who failed to report to probation officers and avoided arrest for five
months in 2003, argued that the trial court had been wrong to let him defend himself. But
Judge Bedford said he‘d repeatedly asked Allen to accept a court-appointed lawyer and even
made available a group of attorneys to advise Allen on legal issues and strategy, all of which
Allen refused. (AP in Access North Georgia, Internet, 7/16/04)
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Sued for Influencing Transfusion Refusal
Lawrence Hughes, of Calgary, is suing the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization in Canada,
as well as several church members and a number of doctors, for persuading his late teenage
daughter to refuse blood transfusions. She died from Leukemia in 2002. The suit says: ―The
Watch Tower [Jehovah‘s Witnesses] defendants committed (civil wrongs) of deceit and
undue influence, all of which contributed to and led to the circumstances causing the death
of Bethany.‖ They ―overtly influenced Bethany to believe that the blood transfusions were
wrong and would not help cure her cancer,‖ and that if she were transfused ―she would
perish in Armageddon.‖ The doctors named in the suit work at the Cross Cancer Institute, to
which Bethany was secretly removed from Alberta Children‘s Hospital, for alternative
treatment. (Kevin Martin, Calgary Sun, Internet, 8/22/04)
Activities Banned in Moscow
A court has banned Jehovah’s Witnesses activities in the Moscow region, following six
years of civil litigation in the matter, on the grounds the group is an ―anti-state‖
organization that incites religious discord, breaks up families, violates civil rights, incites
people to commit suicide, and lures teenagers and minors.
A Jehovah‘s Witnesses lawyer said the charges did not actually cite incidents of wrongdoing,
and a legal counsel for the group, a Canadian, said he was concerned about ―what
extremists are going to do in Moscow and Russia when they hear about this decision.‖
According to the Moscow Bureau on Human Rights, 60 percent of people living in Russia
―have a xenophobic attitude and agree that representatives of ethnic minorities should be
barred from political life and from living in large cities. An estimated 5 to 6 percent are
ready to carry out pogroms.‖ (Seth Mydans, Timeswatch.org, Internet, 3/27/04)
Death from Transfusion Refusal Alleged
Jehovah’s Witnesses member Linda Grissom, of St. Louis, would have survived surgery
complications if she had not refused a blood transfusion, according to a hematologist
testifying at the trial of a case brought by Grissom‘s family. The Grissom‘s, whose religion
forbids blood transfusions, claim surgeon error, rather than failure to transfuse, caused
Linda‘s death. (William C. Lhotka, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 4/22/04)
Saved by Transfusion
The prematurely newborn child of Deliah Floyd and Doward Carter, who are Jehovah’s
Witnesses, was given a court-ordered transfusion in Jacksonville, FL, that saved the baby‘s
life, although the procedure went against the parents‘ expressed wishes and the Witnesses
injunction against blood transfusions. Duval County judge John Skinner, in answering the

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 3, Nos. 2 &3, 2004, Page 121
request of doctors to transfuse, said the hospital had a compelling interest in preserving the
child‘s life that outweighed the parents‘ right to exercise their religious beliefs. (Fox30
News, Internet, 5/12/04)
Judge Says Transfusion Violated Rights
Court of Queen‘s Bench Justice Adele Kent said, in Calgary, BC, that physicians violated the
rights of a Jehovah’s Witnesses couple when they insisted on giving a religiously
proscribed blood transfusion to a new born when the parents requested antibiotics, instead.
The parents‘ lawyer argued before the judge that the social services department, which
approved the transfusions, denied the couple the right to bring in two expert neonatologists
who felt that the child did not need a transfusion. The baby is now a healthy 3-year-old.
(CBC Edmonton, Internet, 7/1/04)
Jesus Christians
Kidneys as “Living Sacrifices” to God
Members of the Jesus Christians, in Australia, have donated their kidneys as ―living
sacrifices‖ to people needing transplants who were unrelated to the donors, thus breaking a
law that prohibits such donations by any but family members, friends, or those with an
emotional connection to the recipient. The law aims to prevent the development of a black
market in organs.
Jesus Christians leader Dave McKay, who said the group wanted to relieve the suffering of
people with kidney disease, cited the Apostle Paul‘s urging Romans to present their bodies
as ―living sacrifices.‖ He added that the Jesus Christians had arranged two kidney donations
in Australia, one in Israel, and nine in the U.S.
Health Minister Bronwyn Pike worries that vulnerable cult members might be pressured to
provide kidneys without fully understanding the consequences. (Tanya Giles, Herald Sun,
Internet, 7/6/04)
Official Approval Likely
The state of New South Wales Health Department has drafted a policy that would allow
kidney donations to any person if the donor‘s motives are ―genuine‖ and he or she has not
been coerced. The agency said it would investigate any suspicious donations in light of the
existence of a ―small but significant‖ group of potential donors who have personality
disorders. (AAP in The Age, Australia, Internet, 7/7/04)
Kabbalah
Madonna Studying with “Sinister Cult”
Madonna, who credits study of Kabbalah with changing her life, has become a mouthpiece,
recruiter, and financial backer for an international ―cult‖ promoting the Jewish mystic
teachings, according to Rick Ross, head of the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of
Destructive Cults.
Ross says Madonna and other celebrities — including Elizabeth Taylor, Roseanne Barr,
Goldie Hawn, Naomi Campbell, and Madonna‘s husband, Guy Ritchie — are ―cocooned‖ by
the organization because ―their money and fame is useful to the leaders.‖ But many
ordinary adepts, he adds, have been brainwashed and financially exploited.
Jewish scholars and leaders call the group‘s use of Kabbalah a perversion, and Britain‘s chief
rabbi has publicly disassociated Judaism from the London Kabbalah Center because of
claims of abuse and profiteering against it.