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other public assistance fraudulently, pretending to be a single mother [while actually being
one among several plural wives], as critics charge.
As to the allegation that many young FLDS men have been excommunicated because they
offer too much competition to older men, who seek multiple wives, the woman said that the
younger leavers simply don‘t want to live by the community‘s rules, preferring instead the
―party‖ lifestyle, under-age drinking, sex before marriage, smoking, drugs, and the like.
Regarding the perception that FLDS leader Warren Jeffs is ‗lying low‘, she recalled that
Mormon founder Joseph Smith was murdered by a crowd that had been threatening him,
and the government had done nothing to stop it. ―Would we want to risk that?‖ (Mike
Weland, Kootenai Valley Press, Internet, 1/12/05)
Texas Settlement Reflects 19th Century Conflict
The new Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints settlement in
Texas under prophet Warren Jeffs includes a building that seems patterned after a temple
ordered built in 1846 by Mormon founder Joseph Smith, in Nauvoo, IL, before the Mormons
fled west, to Utah. Jeffs and the FLDS are facing lawsuits and state investigations in the
FLDS home communities in Arizona and Utah.
John Krakauer, author of a book on the church, and critical of it, says the new structure
could be linked to Jeffs‘ apocalyptic preaching as well as to his sense of himself as the final
Mormon prophet. ―Warren has predicted the end of the world twice already this year. He‘s
also said the ‗the destructions‘ will come sometime between the laying of the cornerstone
and the completion of the temple.‖
Krakauer believes that when Jeffs is ―finally cornered ...he‘ll fight to the bitter end.‖ Jeffs
compares himself to the martyred Joseph Smith, Krakauer says, ―and it‘s all coinciding with
God‘s plan for destruction.‖ An excommunicated follower says he thinks Jeffs is more like
Jim Jones than David Koresh. ―He won‘t go out guns firing. It will be suicide. And if he gets
backed into a corner, he‘ll take them all with him, those that will go, the faithful.‖ (John
MacCormack, San Antonio Express-News, Internet, 2/2/05)
Gene Scott
Faith Healer Turns to Surgeons
Televangelist Gene Scott, who until recently depended on prayer to cure his prostate
cancer, now says he‘ll have surgery, as well as chemotherapy and radiation, because his
disease has gotten ―out of control.‖ Scott emphasized that he has never asked parishioners
absolutely to shun medical treatment, and that in his case he only wants to ―give God the
first shot.‖ (Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, Internet, 9/21/04)
Gentle Wind Project
Critical Comments Suit Dismissed
A New Jersey judge has ruled that cult observer Rick Ross should be dismissed from the
Gentle Wind Project’s lawsuit against the operator of a Utah-based website that compares
the Kittery-Maine-based group to a ―mind-control cult.‖ The judge said Ross, who has
referred to Gentle Wind as a ―purported cult,‖ has no connection to Maine and therefore
cannot be sued in that state for alleged defamation. James Bergin and Judy Garvey say in
their website that Gentle Wind, which employs spiritual healing, exploited them financially
and Garvey engaged in sexual rituals with the group‘s inner circle. (Gregory D. Kesich,
Portland Press Herald, Internet, 1/11/05)

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2005, Page 53
Gilbert Deya Ministries
“Miracle Baby” Minister’s Assets Frozen
The British Charity Commission has frozen the relevant bank accounts of Gilbert Deya
Ministries, headed by the UK-based Kenyan clergyman accused of involvement in an
operation that allegedly stole infants from a Nairobi maternity clinic and sold them to
infertile couples among his parishioners. Both Deya and the new parents explain the ―births‖
as the result of prayer and the successful casting out of demons, rather than sexual
intercourse. DNA tests on some of the recovered children and their new parents appear to
prove that they are not related. (David Stringer, PA News, The Scotsman, Internet,
9/20/04)
Deya, fighting extradition from Scotland, says: ―Everything that happened to Jesus in the
Bible is happening to me. Except one thing, because I can‘t walk on water like Jesus. ..
People want miracles. Jesus drew people with miracles, signs, and wonders. He fed 5,000
people with two fish and five loaves. How can you explain that? You are doubting Thomases
because it is difficult to understand.‖ (Cara Page, Scottish Daily Record, Internet, 9/30/04)
How He Works Miracles
A recent case in England involving an infertile Nigerian couple illustrates how Gilbert Deya,
wanted for child kidnapping in Kenya, allegedly produces ―miracle‖ children through prayer.
As part of an elaborate ritual, Mrs. ―E‖ was beaten, and then a living child, born by another
mother, was placed beside her, as if she had just given birth. And she believed that she had
done so. DNA evidence indicated no relationship between the woman and the newborn.
Deya claims the child was produced through divine intervention. The couple, according to a
British judge, has been the victim of ―a cruel deception to further the financial ends of those
involved.‖ (AP in the New York Times, 11/12/04)
Child Seized in Raids
British police have raided four facilities owned by Gilbert Deya Ministries ―to ensure the
welfare of children‖ at the locations, and took into state care one four-year-old. Authorities
think Deya, who claims to be able to make women pregnant through prayer, is actually
stealing Kenyan children and bringing them to new parents in the UK. (Evelyn Kwamboka
and Gitau wa Njenga, The Standard [Kenya], Internet, 12/13/04)
Gospel Outreach
Seventies Church Accused of Cultism
Former member Ronald Rhodes has filed a suit in Bergen County, NJ, against the Gospel
Outreach church — one of the few congregations remaining of a nationwide movement that
emerged in the 1970s — alleging that the Rev. James Lethbridge dominates the lives of
members for his own and the church‘s financial gain. Rhodes says the minister kept
members in line by intimidating them during daily 6:00 am confessional meetings.
The suit says members are excessively committed to Lethbridge, that they are preoccupied
with making money, that they are urged to leave careers and devote themselves completely
to the church, and that they then work in businesses run by Lethbridge.
Relatives of church members say their families have been torn apart by Gospel Outreach‘s
―us-against-them‖ attitude toward non-members. Former Pequannock Councilman Robert
Walsh said the slow process of alienation causes ―tremendous heartache.‖ A woman reports
that her daughter told her Jesus came to split the family, ―that we weren‘t her real family.‖
Single male and female members once lived in separate, biblically-named houses, and
married exclusively within the congregation.