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Lethbridge denies the accusations and says the practice of authentic, grass-roots
Christianity requires a life commitment. ―I‘ve been working in the community for 18 years.
So how could I be accomplishing all these things, like brainwashing people, and getting
away with it for so long.‖
The church‘s attorney said: "This lawsuit seeks damages for people praying and confessing
their sins, and that is a blatant violation of the First Amendment." (John Chadwick, Bergen
County Record, Internet, 12/18/04)
Helge Fossmo/Knutby Church (Sweden)
Claims He Was Leader’s Sex Slave
Pastor Helge Fossmo, recently convicted of influencing the family nanny to kill his second
wife, says in his appeal trial that he was the ―sex slave‖ of the leader of his Knutby,
Sweden, congregation, Åsa Waldau, who is known as the Bride of Christ. The nanny, Sara
Svensson, said during his trial that she was Fossmo‘s sex slave.
Fossmo states now that his relationship with Waldau began as with an equal, but then ―she
began to speak of heavenly love. I had to caress her, to satisfy her sexually with my hands.
It was one-way love. I existed for her.‖ Fossmo‘s wife did not like him spending long days
working with Waldau, he added, so Waldau began to talk about God calling Mrs. Fossmo
―home‖ if she continued to object.
In light of his conviction, Fossmo will now be tried for the murder of his first wife, who, it
was thought, accidentally drowned in the bathtub. He said he was under Waldau‘s influence
when he immediately took his just-deceased wife‘s possessions to a second hand store,
falsified her death documents, and quickly got engaged to another woman, chosen by
Waldau. ―Åsa said that she had been out and had spoken with God. God had said to her that
her sister would be my new wife.‖ (The Local, Sweden, 10/7/04)
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Authorities Force Transfusion
A Jehovah’s Witnesses father recently removed his dying two-year-old daughter from a
hospital, in India‘s Darjeeling region, in order to avoid a blood transfusion for the girl, but
police chased them down and brought her back to physicians who had insisted on the
procedure. The parents say they wish their daughter had died rather than receive the
transfusion — which they say is forbidden by the Bible. Meanwhile, dozens of Jehovah‘s
Witnesses clergy have come to this tea growing region to take up the parents‘ case.
(Khaleej Times, Internet, 10/15/04)
Policy on Sexual Abuse
A New Hampshire suit brought against the Jehovah’s Witnesses by the daughters of a
man imprisoned for sexually abusing them when they were children is one among many
legal actions across the country that are bringing to light the church‘s public policy toward,
and private response to, such abuse.
The women‘s mother, Sara Poisson, is sorry she followed her Jehovah‘s Witnesses
congregation leaders‘ advice to pray more, be a better wife, and keep quiet when she told
them that her husband had abused their daughters. ―I was a puppet. It was ‗God says you
are a screw-up, so fix yourself and it will stop.‘ ‖ (A teacher finally reported the abuse.) The
church publicly supported the father during his trial and excommunicated his wife, the fate
of many critics, for cooperating with authorities.
Poisson‘s story, and the accounts of others, indicate that despite officially calling sexual
abuse ―abhorrent,‖ Jehovah‘s Witnesses rules actually protect molesters, perhaps because

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church doctrine advocates balancing the protection of children with the church‘s faith in
repentance and forgiveness. For example, children remain at risk because the church lets a
molester back into the fold if he repents. Moreover, the elders assure him that his crime will
not be reported to the rest of the congregation. That would be a sin according to the
Jehovah‘s Witnesses reading of the Bible. They also believe that if a perpetrator knows his
action will be made public, he‘s not likely to admit his wrongdoing to the elders and be open
to reform. In any case, the church itself rarely punishes abusers, because a finding of guilt
depends on two eyewitnesses or a confession, conditions difficult to meet. And a young child
cannot be his own witness in their judicial process unless he or she is ―mature‖ enough. A
church spokesman stated that if abuse has been ignored, the reason is elders‘ mistakes, not
church policy. (Annmarie Timmins, Concord Monitor, Internet, 11/22/04)
Kabbalah
Group “Controlled” Her
Phiona Davis, who is accused of stabbing her lover Keith Fernandez 58 times and then
killing her great-grandmother, said in court that the Kabbalah group ―controlled‖ her. A
witness testified that Davis chased Fernandez into the street and killed him, with an ―evil
grin on her face.‖ She next reportedly stood outside her grandmother‘s house, which she
had set on fire, and shrieked: ―I am the Messiah‖ and ―burn the demons.‖
The prosecutor said her doctor in 2003 noted Davis, unquestionably a schizophrenic, felt the
church controlled her. Professor Nigel Eastmen said Davis was one of the sickest people he
has ever examined. A jury found her not guilty by reason of insanity and she has been
returned to Broadmoor special hospital where she is being treated. (Alex Peake, Online Sun
[UK], Internet, 9/14/04 Shenai Raif, The Scotsman, Internet, 9/14/04)
Explaining Kabbalah
Scholar Daniel Matt describes Kabbalah as the philosophy of Jewish mysticism. The word
means ―receiving, literally. I think it implies a receptivity, being open to new insights about
God or the nature of reality.‖ Matt recently completed volume two of a projected 12-volume
translation of Kabbalah‘s chief text, the Zohar, a mystical commentary on the first five
books of the Bible.
As to the important Kabbalah concept of Shekinah, Matt says: ―If we are going to say
something about God, then we should balance the traditional, patriarchal, masculine
description with a feminine aspect of God. So Kabbalah would insist that God is equally male
and female. The name they use for the feminine presence of God is Shekinah.‖
Asked what he thinks of Madonna‘s embrace of Kabbalah, Matt said: ―I really think the
study has changed Madonna, it has made her aware that there is something beyond the
material world. When you make it to the height of success, it‘s natural to ask what else is
there.‖ Perhaps, he adds, some people are choosing Kabbalah, rather than Zen spiritualism,
because it does not reject the physical world. It also combines the exotic and familiar in an
appealing way: the exotic aspect is the feminine nature of God the familiar aspect is the
idea of commentaries on the Bible.
Matt warned that studying mysticism can be dangerous, sometimes leading to great
psychological turmoil, and even madness. ―The other kind of danger is a social danger. You
don‘t fit into what‘s going on around you. You might think you have your own pipeline to the
divine. Those dangers are real and one should approach (the study) with a guide or teacher
to ground you in the world — to be in a relationship with someone, to care and love other
people and not sink into the abyss.‖ (Daniel Matt [sic], San Francisco Chronicle, Internet,
10/3/04)