38 ICSA TODAY 36
financial abuses within the church to millions of viewers. ...[Pete]
Evans [‘an investigator with Trinity Foundation’] noted that many
religious broadcasters have preached their faith ethically without
exploiting viewers financially. He pointed to the late Billy Graham,
who became world renowned for his televangelism beginning in
the 1950s and ‘stuck with Christ as a message rather than money’
But others, like Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar, have become
notorious for lavish personal wealth and spending on the backs
of viewers. ‘You can look at the number of televangelists that have
jets, and there are dozens,’ he said.” (Tampa Bay Times, 03/12/18)
Royal Commission’s final report on sexual abuse makes 189
new recommendations
“A royal commission argues Australia needs a national strategy
to prevent child sexual abuse as it warns governments and
institutions they must not fail children again. The inquiry has
controversially suggested the Catholic Church consider voluntary
celibacy for diocesan clergy, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses
abandon a 2000-year-old rule in handling child sex abuse cases
and stop shunning victims who leave the organisation. …
The royal commission’s 17-volume final report has more than
400 recommendations, the bulk of which have already been
released, aimed at making institutions safer for children. It also
places blame on state instruments, such as the police, child
protection agencies and the justice system. The government
has pledged $52.1 million to support abuse victims’ access to
redress from a national scheme, along with a parliamentary
committee, to be chaired by crossbench senator Derryn Hinch.
… The $500 million, five-year inquiry into how churches, charities
and other organisations handled abuse of children concluded
that abuse happened ‘in almost every type of institution where
children reside or attend. Tens of thousands of children have
been sexually abused,’ it says, but ‘we will never know the true
number.’ … More than 8,000 survivors told their personal stories,
and a further 1,000 provided written accounts. Almost all of the
survivors, more than 64 per cent of whom were male, allege
they were abused by an adult male, with most saying they were
in their early teens when the abuse first happened. … Those
from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds say they
often felt isolated as children, and faced discrimination from the
broader society—something many perpetrators took advantage
of. The 14.3 per cent of survivors who were of Aboriginal or Torres
Strait Islander background describe the combined pain of being
abused and being separated from their family and culture, and
of passing this trauma down to future generations. … The prime
minister left the door open to revisiting the prohibition as the
Commonwealth tries to finalise the redress scheme. Opposition
families spokeswoman Jenny Macklin, who helped establish the
commission with former prime minister Gillard, said it was now
up to the Turnbull government to step up. … While New South
Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state would work to
ensure this situation wouldn’t be repeated. ‘The royal commission
heard evidence of shocking and appalling abuse perpetrated on
children by the very people who were supposed to care for them.
We will work to ensure that this situation cannot happen again,’
she said.” (SBS News, 12/15/17)
China jails six Protestants in Yunnan amid massive crackdown
on “evil cult”
“Authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan
have jailed a group of Protestant Christians for up to 13 years for
involvement in an ‘evil cult,’ their lawyer said on Thursday. The Yun
County People’s Court near Yunnan’s Lincang city handed down
a 13-year jail term to Ju Dianhong, 12 years to Liang Qin, and four
years to Yang Shunxiang, defense attorney Xiao Yunyang told
RFA [Radio Free Asia]. … The six Protestant church followers had
been found guilty of ‘using an evil cult to organize to undermine
law enforcement,’ he said. ‘The judges in Yunnan were really evil,’
Xiao said. ‘They didn’t pay any attention to the arguments that no
illegal acts had been committed, and that there was no harm of
any kind to society.’ … Ju told the court during her trial that she
has nothing to do with the Three Grades of Servants church. ‘I
am a Protestant Christian believer, and I believe in Jesus,’ Ju said.
‘None of my evangelism has contravened any of the principles in
the Bible, and my beliefs do not constitute an evil cult.’ … Yunnan
authorities also notified the detainees’ defense lawyers that they
are suspected of ‘illegally’ defending their clients and that their
licenses to practice will be subject to review, they said. Defense
attorney Li Guisheng told RFA in a recent interview that lawyers
representing a similar group of Christians in Yunnan’s Fengqing
county had had their status as defense lawyers revoked by the
court ahead of their clients’ trial. … ChinaAid president Bob Fu
meanwhile said the crackdown in Yunnan is a form of religious
discrimination and persecution. ‘This is a historical, massive case
of pure religious persecution against peaceful, independent
house church Christians,’ Fu said in a statement on his group’s
website. … ‘We call upon the Chinese leaders to immediately
release these leaders and make proper amends to those who have
been arbitrarily detained and tortured,’ Fu said.” (Radio Free Asia,
01/12/18)
U.S. church holds blessing ceremony for worshippers with
AR-15 rifles
“NEWFOUNDLAND, Pa.—Worshippers clutching AR-15 rifles
drank holy wine and exchanged wedding vows in a commitment
ceremony at a Pennsylvania church. The event Wednesday at the
World Peace and Unification Sanctuary led a nearby school to
cancel classes. The Rev. Sean Moon leads the church. He said in
a prayer that God gave people the right to bear arms. Moon is
the son of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah
who founded the Unification Church, often described as a cult.
The sanctuary believes the AR-15 symbolizes the ‘rod of iron’ in
the book of Revelation and encouraged couples to bring the
weapons to the ceremony. An AR-15 was used in the Florida high
school massacre. Several protesters held signs outside the church,
including one calling the group an ‘armed cult.’” (Global News, The
Associated Press, 02/28/18) n
financial abuses within the church to millions of viewers. ...[Pete]
Evans [‘an investigator with Trinity Foundation’] noted that many
religious broadcasters have preached their faith ethically without
exploiting viewers financially. He pointed to the late Billy Graham,
who became world renowned for his televangelism beginning in
the 1950s and ‘stuck with Christ as a message rather than money’
But others, like Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar, have become
notorious for lavish personal wealth and spending on the backs
of viewers. ‘You can look at the number of televangelists that have
jets, and there are dozens,’ he said.” (Tampa Bay Times, 03/12/18)
Royal Commission’s final report on sexual abuse makes 189
new recommendations
“A royal commission argues Australia needs a national strategy
to prevent child sexual abuse as it warns governments and
institutions they must not fail children again. The inquiry has
controversially suggested the Catholic Church consider voluntary
celibacy for diocesan clergy, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses
abandon a 2000-year-old rule in handling child sex abuse cases
and stop shunning victims who leave the organisation. …
The royal commission’s 17-volume final report has more than
400 recommendations, the bulk of which have already been
released, aimed at making institutions safer for children. It also
places blame on state instruments, such as the police, child
protection agencies and the justice system. The government
has pledged $52.1 million to support abuse victims’ access to
redress from a national scheme, along with a parliamentary
committee, to be chaired by crossbench senator Derryn Hinch.
… The $500 million, five-year inquiry into how churches, charities
and other organisations handled abuse of children concluded
that abuse happened ‘in almost every type of institution where
children reside or attend. Tens of thousands of children have
been sexually abused,’ it says, but ‘we will never know the true
number.’ … More than 8,000 survivors told their personal stories,
and a further 1,000 provided written accounts. Almost all of the
survivors, more than 64 per cent of whom were male, allege
they were abused by an adult male, with most saying they were
in their early teens when the abuse first happened. … Those
from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds say they
often felt isolated as children, and faced discrimination from the
broader society—something many perpetrators took advantage
of. The 14.3 per cent of survivors who were of Aboriginal or Torres
Strait Islander background describe the combined pain of being
abused and being separated from their family and culture, and
of passing this trauma down to future generations. … The prime
minister left the door open to revisiting the prohibition as the
Commonwealth tries to finalise the redress scheme. Opposition
families spokeswoman Jenny Macklin, who helped establish the
commission with former prime minister Gillard, said it was now
up to the Turnbull government to step up. … While New South
Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state would work to
ensure this situation wouldn’t be repeated. ‘The royal commission
heard evidence of shocking and appalling abuse perpetrated on
children by the very people who were supposed to care for them.
We will work to ensure that this situation cannot happen again,’
she said.” (SBS News, 12/15/17)
China jails six Protestants in Yunnan amid massive crackdown
on “evil cult”
“Authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan
have jailed a group of Protestant Christians for up to 13 years for
involvement in an ‘evil cult,’ their lawyer said on Thursday. The Yun
County People’s Court near Yunnan’s Lincang city handed down
a 13-year jail term to Ju Dianhong, 12 years to Liang Qin, and four
years to Yang Shunxiang, defense attorney Xiao Yunyang told
RFA [Radio Free Asia]. … The six Protestant church followers had
been found guilty of ‘using an evil cult to organize to undermine
law enforcement,’ he said. ‘The judges in Yunnan were really evil,’
Xiao said. ‘They didn’t pay any attention to the arguments that no
illegal acts had been committed, and that there was no harm of
any kind to society.’ … Ju told the court during her trial that she
has nothing to do with the Three Grades of Servants church. ‘I
am a Protestant Christian believer, and I believe in Jesus,’ Ju said.
‘None of my evangelism has contravened any of the principles in
the Bible, and my beliefs do not constitute an evil cult.’ … Yunnan
authorities also notified the detainees’ defense lawyers that they
are suspected of ‘illegally’ defending their clients and that their
licenses to practice will be subject to review, they said. Defense
attorney Li Guisheng told RFA in a recent interview that lawyers
representing a similar group of Christians in Yunnan’s Fengqing
county had had their status as defense lawyers revoked by the
court ahead of their clients’ trial. … ChinaAid president Bob Fu
meanwhile said the crackdown in Yunnan is a form of religious
discrimination and persecution. ‘This is a historical, massive case
of pure religious persecution against peaceful, independent
house church Christians,’ Fu said in a statement on his group’s
website. … ‘We call upon the Chinese leaders to immediately
release these leaders and make proper amends to those who have
been arbitrarily detained and tortured,’ Fu said.” (Radio Free Asia,
01/12/18)
U.S. church holds blessing ceremony for worshippers with
AR-15 rifles
“NEWFOUNDLAND, Pa.—Worshippers clutching AR-15 rifles
drank holy wine and exchanged wedding vows in a commitment
ceremony at a Pennsylvania church. The event Wednesday at the
World Peace and Unification Sanctuary led a nearby school to
cancel classes. The Rev. Sean Moon leads the church. He said in
a prayer that God gave people the right to bear arms. Moon is
the son of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah
who founded the Unification Church, often described as a cult.
The sanctuary believes the AR-15 symbolizes the ‘rod of iron’ in
the book of Revelation and encouraged couples to bring the
weapons to the ceremony. An AR-15 was used in the Florida high
school massacre. Several protesters held signs outside the church,
including one calling the group an ‘armed cult.’” (Global News, The
Associated Press, 02/28/18) n
