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showing me truth. This is why I left [her fiancé and son]. It was not right by God for me to
be in that situation.‖
Central Church of the Holy God
Tamotsu Kin, leader of the Central Church of the Holy God, in Japan, has been
sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping seven girls he threatened with Hell if they
resisted or spoke out against him. He told them the rapes were a test of faith, and a
religious rite. The church once had 20 branches and some 3,000 adherents. Kin demanded
$300 from followers to finance church expansion and denounced those who failed to
contribute.
Chapel Hill Harvester Church
Bishop Earl Paul, 78-year-old founder of the Chapel Hill Harvester Church, in Decatur,
GA, who is now involved in his fourth sex scandal, is currently preaching to a fraction of his
once 12,000-strong congregation. One former congregant alleges in a lawsuit that he used
his religious influence, including the promise of salvation, to seduce her.
Colonia Dignidad
A Chilean judge is investigating the discovery of an unmarked grave, thought to contain
dozens of bodies, on the property of the former Colonia Dignidad settlement. Human
rights groups say the colony‘s leaders helped repress left-wing activists during the era of
military rule.
Former members of the Colonia Dignidad cult have published a full-page letter in a
leading Chilean newspaper apologizing and asking forgiveness for 40 years of child sex and
human rights abuses. They say Paul Schafer, who founded the commune in southern Chile
and settled it with 300 German immigrants, dominated their minds and bodies and molested
children. ―We have come to understand that our community lived its religious faith as a
hermetic sect which accepted the transformation of personalities of its members and made
them incapable of making decisions contrary to his wishes as sole leader,‖ they wrote.
Dahn Hak
Critics say that the Dahn Hak yoga organization, a psychological healing facility in Sedona,
AZ — with 600 centers worldwide — is harmful. ―People that I‘m counseling who have been
in this group show all the signs of symptoms of people in other mind-control cults,‖ says a
cult expert. The family of one former patient has filed a suit alleging that Julia Siverls was
drugged and killed by the group. Dahn Yoga was founded by Dr. Ill Chi Li, who has
designed devices that include ―little vibrating brains.‖ He also claims to have supernatural
powers.
Falun Gong
Denmark has granted ―a permanent home‖ to eight Falun Gong refugees who were being
held in Thailand following their demonstration in Bangkok against the alleged rape of two
Falun Gong practitioners by Chinese police in Hubei province. ..Practitioner Zhang Mengye,
who says he was brainwashed and tortured in detention, has appealed from exile in Taiwan
to his former classmate, Chinese President Hu Jintao, to respect the Chinese people‘s ―rights
and religious beliefs.‖ ...A prominent lawyer who has defended Falun Gong followers says
that security forces might be responsible for a recent attempt to kill him. ..Results of
searches using ―sensitive‖ terms on Google‘s English and Chinese search engines give
precedence to official Communist Party viewpoints, which are highly critical of Falun Gong
...Meanwhile, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has voted to condemn persecution
of the Falun Gong movement.

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2006, Page 77
Chinese native and Falun Gong member Bill Xia‘s Raleigh, NC-based Dynamic Internet
Technology has developed a software tool that helps Chinese Internet users get around the
Chinese government‘s censorship of such topics as human rights, religion, and peasant
uprisings. U.S. government agencies have supported Xia‘s efforts with some $2 million. ..
The annual Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco saw a dispute between factions for
and against the inclusion of Falun Gong practitioners. Some think the organizer‘s ban
indicates a wish to placate China, an important trading partner, by rejecting the alleged
politically motivated marchers.
The UN‘s torture investigator is looking into allegations by Falun Gong that China is holding
thousands of practitioners in a ―concentration camp‖ and that some have been killed and
their organs sold. China is reportedly doing big business in low-cost organ transplants for
people from around the world who can‘t find donors at home. Authorities admit that some
organs come from executed prisoners. Austrian Manfred Nowak, UN special rapporteur on
torture and other cruel and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, recently called
on China to abolish its ―re-education through labor‖ system. ...Australian Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer says he‘ll no longer ban Falun Gong demonstrators outside the Chinese
embassy in Canberra from displaying fixed banners and making excessive noise, which he
said impaired the dignity of the embassy. Falun Gong says Downer has gone farther than
officials in any other Western country in acceding to Chinese demands to move against
Falun Gong. ..U.S. officials say that Chinese President Hu Jintao urged President Bush
during their recent meeting to declare Falun Gong an ―evil cult‖ that should be banned. U.S.
resident Dr. Wan Wenyi, who stood in the press pool and shouted at the Chinese President
when he visited the White House, faces up to six months in jail and possible deportation.
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The FBI has raised its reward from $10,000 to $60,000 for information leading to the arrest
and conviction of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints leader Warren Jeffs, wanted on charges of arranging the marriage of a 16-year-old
girl to a 28-year-old man who was already married. ..A Utah Superior Court judge has
denied three separate motions from a defendant challenging the state constitution‘s ban on
polygamy. The defendant‘s lawyer argued that, given a modern analysis of FLDS religious
practices, the ban was no longer valid. He also said that the ban would harm the defense.
The Victoria, Canada, government is concerned about the higher-than-expected numbers of
teen births in the polygamous Bountiful commune of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints [FLDS], but investigation of the settlement has yet to find
health or crime problems. State agencies are trying to monitor the health of children in
Bountiful, but say it‘s difficult to get information from residents.
The court-appointed overseer of the FLDS towns of Hildale, UT, and Colorado City, AZ, has
threatened to evict residents who don‘t cooperate in paying taxes and with his efforts to
manage the community‘s property. He blames FLDS leaders for a ―wholesale lack of
cooperation and hostility‖ from followers and even local police officers. ..About 1,500
homeowners in the Colorado City School District have refused to pay property taxes, afraid
that still-powerful absent leaders will banish them from the community if they pay. ..
Federal agents seized a global positioning device from Seth Jeffs, presumably to help them
find his brother, fugitive FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. ..A severe birth defect called
Fumarase Deficiency, now affecting FLDS towns, stems from intermarriage among close
relatives. According to experts, the defect explains severe mental retardation.
Fugitive FLDS leader Warren Jeffs has now been charged with first-degree felonies for his
alleged role in arranging a marriage between a teen-age girl and an older man. A
prosecutor says the case does not concern either religion or polygamy but is rather about
the violation of the law by a person in authority over a vulnerable young girl who,