VOLUME 8 |ISSUE 2 |2017 3537
of apostasy, such as pornography, campaigns to ordain
women, challenges to the faith’s history, and general ‘lack of
righteousness.’ The site, which has generated past headlines
by displaying restricted church papers on topics ranging from
the salaries of Mormon apostles to rules governing calls home
by missionaries, had taken down the presentation after The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints threatened legal
action March 1. Based on a copyright-violation allegation, it
marked the first time that the Utah-based faith had turned to
its attorneys to challenge MormonLeaks’ revelations in the four
months the site has been up. On Tuesday, the site reposted the
material, along with a letter sent Monday to Barry Taggart, a
representative of the LDS Church’s Intellectual Property Office.
In the letter, MormonLeaks’ Las Vegas-based attorney Marc
Randazza contends the site ‘obtained this document lawfully
and had a right to distribute it in its capacity as a journalistic
resource devoted to discussing facts about the LDS Church.’
A representative for Taggart’s office said Tuesday the church
would have no comment on MormonLeaks’ latest actions.” (The
Salt Lake Tribune, 3/14/17)
Benjamin Creme, artist and esotericist—obituary
“Benjamin Creme, who has died aged 93, was a Scottish
painter, esotericist, and author who spent much of his life as
an evangelist for the coming of a ‘new world teacher,’ whom
Creme called Maitreya. Creme, who claimed to be in telepathic
communication with one of a community of ascended Masters
living in the Himalayas, travelled the world espousing his
message of Maitreya’s coming, gathering a large following. …
To facilitate his work, Creme established a magazine, Share
International, which published communications purportedly
coming from Creme’s own Master and regular bulletins about
Maitreya’s ongoing, if hidden, influence in world affairs. …’My
job,’ he once said, ‘has been to make the initial approach to
the public, to help create a climate of hope and expectancy.
If I can do that, I’ll be well pleased.’ Nor did he seem in
any way discouraged by Maitreya’s apparently obdurate
reluctance to appear as promised, explaining that it would be
in contravention of man’s free will for him to do so without
an invitation from suitably high-ranking figures from politics
and the media. These requirements appeared to have been
met when in December 2008 Creme made his most emphatic
declaration to date, claiming that ‘a bright star’ would shortly
appear in the sky heralding Maitreya’s appearance on a major
American television programme when he would finally reveal
himself. Over the years, Creme became accustomed to ridicule
and mockery, which he treated with equanimity. ‘Scepticism is
fine,’ he once said. ‘But I don’t like cynicism. I say, keep an open
mind.’ His first wife, Peggy, died in 1965. He is survived by his
second wife, Phyllis, whom he married in 1968, by their son
and daughter, and by a son of his first marriage.” (The Telegraph,
11/11/16)
NXIVM 14-year-old federal lawsuit against Rick Ross
dismissed
A lawsuit filed by Keith Raniere against cult tracker Rick A.
Ross and others was dismissed last month by US District Judge
Katharine S. Hayden after 14 years in federal court. Raniere,
of Albany, New York, is the founder of NXIVM (pronounced
nexium), a “‘human potential company’ that offers personal
growth seminars based on Raniere’s ‘Rational Inquiry’ system.”
In his lawsuit, “Raniere claimed defamation, copyright, and
trade secret violations after Ross published reports by Dr. Paul
Martin, a psychologist, and Dr. John Hochman, a psychiatrist,
which characterized NXIVM as a cult that brainwashed
seminar participants. …The reports excerpted passages from
copyrighted NXIVM materials, but did not include the full text
or substantial portions of it.” Based on his requirement that
students sign confidentiality agreements not to disclose or
disseminate any copyrighted NXIVM material they received in
the seminars, Raniere sued and initially “attempted to obtain
an injunction to remove the reports from the internet after
they appeared … in July 2003. The injunction was denied
including on appeal up to the US Supreme Court.” The reports
were never removed and remain online on the Cult Education
Institute website. “…Judge Hayden, in dismissing the lawsuit,
concluded, ‘that defendants’ use of NXIVM materials was limited
and protected critical reporting under the fair use doctrine.
Defendants did not attempt to use the copyrighted work
for commercial profits, for unfair business advantage, or as
an attempt to compete. Insofar as plaintiffs characterize the
psychologist’s articles as an attempt to undermine NXIVM’s
business, the Court notes there are First Amendment concerns
to be reckoned with.’ … Raniere lost another lawsuit recently
when U.S. District Judge Barabra [Barbara] M. G. Lynn dismissed
his claims against AT&T and Microsoft. Raniere sued based
upon claims that he invented video conferencing and held
certain patents which the companies had violated. Judge Lynn
admonished Raniere when he was unable to prove ownership
of the patents, criticizing Raniere for deceiving the court and
awarding attorney fees and costs to defendants, AT&T $935,300
and Microsoft $202,000.” (Artvoice, 2/21/17)
Leader of Opus Dei dies at 84
“Bishop Javier Echevarría Rodríguez, the Prelate of Opus Dei,
died Monday evening at the age of 84 in Rome, several days
after being hospitalized with pneumonia. According to a Dec.
12 statement from the personal prelature, Bishop Echevarría
was given the final sacraments this afternoon by his auxiliary,
Msgr. Fernando Ocariz. ‘Bishop Echevarría was receiving an
antibiotic to fight a lung infection,’ the statement added. ‘The
clinical situation was complicated in the final hours, provoking
respiratory insufficiency, which resulted in his death.’ … Opus
Dei stated that the prelature’s ordinary government now falls
to Msgr. Ocariz. He is to convoke a congress of the community
within three months to nominate a successor to Bishop
Echevarría, who must be confirmed by the Pope.” (Catholic News
Agency, 12/12/16)
Daphne Bramham: Polygamist parents go on trial for child
trafficking
“Seventy years after a handful of fundamentalist Mormons
staked out a secretive community in southeastern B.C. to
practice the celestial law of plural marriage, three of their
of apostasy, such as pornography, campaigns to ordain
women, challenges to the faith’s history, and general ‘lack of
righteousness.’ The site, which has generated past headlines
by displaying restricted church papers on topics ranging from
the salaries of Mormon apostles to rules governing calls home
by missionaries, had taken down the presentation after The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints threatened legal
action March 1. Based on a copyright-violation allegation, it
marked the first time that the Utah-based faith had turned to
its attorneys to challenge MormonLeaks’ revelations in the four
months the site has been up. On Tuesday, the site reposted the
material, along with a letter sent Monday to Barry Taggart, a
representative of the LDS Church’s Intellectual Property Office.
In the letter, MormonLeaks’ Las Vegas-based attorney Marc
Randazza contends the site ‘obtained this document lawfully
and had a right to distribute it in its capacity as a journalistic
resource devoted to discussing facts about the LDS Church.’
A representative for Taggart’s office said Tuesday the church
would have no comment on MormonLeaks’ latest actions.” (The
Salt Lake Tribune, 3/14/17)
Benjamin Creme, artist and esotericist—obituary
“Benjamin Creme, who has died aged 93, was a Scottish
painter, esotericist, and author who spent much of his life as
an evangelist for the coming of a ‘new world teacher,’ whom
Creme called Maitreya. Creme, who claimed to be in telepathic
communication with one of a community of ascended Masters
living in the Himalayas, travelled the world espousing his
message of Maitreya’s coming, gathering a large following. …
To facilitate his work, Creme established a magazine, Share
International, which published communications purportedly
coming from Creme’s own Master and regular bulletins about
Maitreya’s ongoing, if hidden, influence in world affairs. …’My
job,’ he once said, ‘has been to make the initial approach to
the public, to help create a climate of hope and expectancy.
If I can do that, I’ll be well pleased.’ Nor did he seem in
any way discouraged by Maitreya’s apparently obdurate
reluctance to appear as promised, explaining that it would be
in contravention of man’s free will for him to do so without
an invitation from suitably high-ranking figures from politics
and the media. These requirements appeared to have been
met when in December 2008 Creme made his most emphatic
declaration to date, claiming that ‘a bright star’ would shortly
appear in the sky heralding Maitreya’s appearance on a major
American television programme when he would finally reveal
himself. Over the years, Creme became accustomed to ridicule
and mockery, which he treated with equanimity. ‘Scepticism is
fine,’ he once said. ‘But I don’t like cynicism. I say, keep an open
mind.’ His first wife, Peggy, died in 1965. He is survived by his
second wife, Phyllis, whom he married in 1968, by their son
and daughter, and by a son of his first marriage.” (The Telegraph,
11/11/16)
NXIVM 14-year-old federal lawsuit against Rick Ross
dismissed
A lawsuit filed by Keith Raniere against cult tracker Rick A.
Ross and others was dismissed last month by US District Judge
Katharine S. Hayden after 14 years in federal court. Raniere,
of Albany, New York, is the founder of NXIVM (pronounced
nexium), a “‘human potential company’ that offers personal
growth seminars based on Raniere’s ‘Rational Inquiry’ system.”
In his lawsuit, “Raniere claimed defamation, copyright, and
trade secret violations after Ross published reports by Dr. Paul
Martin, a psychologist, and Dr. John Hochman, a psychiatrist,
which characterized NXIVM as a cult that brainwashed
seminar participants. …The reports excerpted passages from
copyrighted NXIVM materials, but did not include the full text
or substantial portions of it.” Based on his requirement that
students sign confidentiality agreements not to disclose or
disseminate any copyrighted NXIVM material they received in
the seminars, Raniere sued and initially “attempted to obtain
an injunction to remove the reports from the internet after
they appeared … in July 2003. The injunction was denied
including on appeal up to the US Supreme Court.” The reports
were never removed and remain online on the Cult Education
Institute website. “…Judge Hayden, in dismissing the lawsuit,
concluded, ‘that defendants’ use of NXIVM materials was limited
and protected critical reporting under the fair use doctrine.
Defendants did not attempt to use the copyrighted work
for commercial profits, for unfair business advantage, or as
an attempt to compete. Insofar as plaintiffs characterize the
psychologist’s articles as an attempt to undermine NXIVM’s
business, the Court notes there are First Amendment concerns
to be reckoned with.’ … Raniere lost another lawsuit recently
when U.S. District Judge Barabra [Barbara] M. G. Lynn dismissed
his claims against AT&T and Microsoft. Raniere sued based
upon claims that he invented video conferencing and held
certain patents which the companies had violated. Judge Lynn
admonished Raniere when he was unable to prove ownership
of the patents, criticizing Raniere for deceiving the court and
awarding attorney fees and costs to defendants, AT&T $935,300
and Microsoft $202,000.” (Artvoice, 2/21/17)
Leader of Opus Dei dies at 84
“Bishop Javier Echevarría Rodríguez, the Prelate of Opus Dei,
died Monday evening at the age of 84 in Rome, several days
after being hospitalized with pneumonia. According to a Dec.
12 statement from the personal prelature, Bishop Echevarría
was given the final sacraments this afternoon by his auxiliary,
Msgr. Fernando Ocariz. ‘Bishop Echevarría was receiving an
antibiotic to fight a lung infection,’ the statement added. ‘The
clinical situation was complicated in the final hours, provoking
respiratory insufficiency, which resulted in his death.’ … Opus
Dei stated that the prelature’s ordinary government now falls
to Msgr. Ocariz. He is to convoke a congress of the community
within three months to nominate a successor to Bishop
Echevarría, who must be confirmed by the Pope.” (Catholic News
Agency, 12/12/16)
Daphne Bramham: Polygamist parents go on trial for child
trafficking
“Seventy years after a handful of fundamentalist Mormons
staked out a secretive community in southeastern B.C. to
practice the celestial law of plural marriage, three of their
