VOLUME 7 |ISSUE 1 |2016 3541
Maier Schoch in Hermosa Beach, California, said, “Evolation is
very pleased that the Ninth Circuit has made it clear that yoga
belongs to everybody, and no individual owns any particular
style or sequence of yoga poses.” Attorneys for Choudhury
did not respond to a request for comment. (Courthouse News
Service, 10/8/15)
Singapore megachurch founder found guilty of
$35-million donations fraud
Kong Hee, founder and senior pastor, and five other church
leaders of City Harvest Church have been found guilty of
crimes related to the misappropriation of more than $35.5
million of the church’s donations. Some of the donations
were diverted to Hee’s wife’s singing career in Asia, and to
helping her into the US market, supposedly for evangelization
purposes. No date has been set for sentencing. Despite the
evidence against the church leaders, members have rallied
around them since the case started in 2012. Members felt that
the funds were rightly used to finance the church’s “crossover
project,” with the stated aim of using pop music to reach out
to nonbelievers. Four other members of the group were found
guilty of additional charges for falsifying the church’s accounts.
A fifth member, like Kong, was found guilty of three counts of
criminal breach of trust. (The Guardian/AP, 10/21/15)
Two Germans sentenced in Chile for kidnappings
under Pinochet dictatorship
Two German residents, Kurt Schnellenkamp and Gerhard
Mucke, and a Chilean, Fernando Gomez Segovia, were each
sentenced to 5 years in prison for their role in kidnapping 50
people in 1975. The Germans belonged to Colonia Dignidad,
which collaborated with General Augusto Pinochet’s military
dictatorship. The victims were interrogated under torture with
electrical currents to their bodies. (Deutsche Welle, 10/20/15)
Married church minister “ran bottom-spanking cult”
Seventy-two-year-old Howard Curtis, the pastor of Coulson
Christian Fellowship, is charged with five counts of cruelty to
children under 16 years of age, two counts of indecent assault,
and four of sexual assault. Additionally, he faces one count of
assault by penetration. The offenses are said to have occurred
between January 1969 and July 2013. Curtis would help people
who would come to him by driving out evil spirits in both
women and children by having them strip naked so he could
spank them for his own pleasure. “The court was told Curtis
also had a ‘vision, a message from God’ that he would establish
a church with 1,000 members in Cane Hill psychiatric hospital
in Coulson, south London.” Curtis denies all charges. (The
Telegraph, 09/18/15)
China to prosecute cult leader as crackdown continues
Prosecutors in the southern province of Guangdong are
charging Wu Zeheng, founder and leader of Huazang
Dharma, and several others on charges of rape, fraud,
sabotage, and other crimes, state news agency Xinhua said, as
the government deepened a crackdown on what it views as
illegal and dangerous religious movements. A statement on the
group’s website said that Wu Zeheng is a purely religious figure
facing made-up accusations. The United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom agreed that the government
is persecuting Wu and his followers. According to Xinhua,
Wu has already been jailed at least twice, and he set up his
Buddhist-inspired cult in 2010 upon his last release from jail.
Wu eventually became a master with supernatural power in the
eyes of his followers, according to the news report. The report
further says that in the name of charity and life science and
through inflammatory preaching, Wu lured a growing number
of believers who wished to study Buddhism, seek disease
treatment, or ward off ill fortune by joining the cult. (Reuters
Canada, 07/16/15)
Chinese spiritual guru to the stars arrested on
suspicion of murder
Wang Min, a Chinese spiritualist, has been arrested for
suspicion of kidnapping and murdering his former disciple Zou
Yong. Wang’s self-proclaimed healing powers have earned him
cult status among the country’s elite because he has been a
mentor to top politicians and celebrities. According to reports
in the Chinese state media, Zou and Wang had a prolonged
financial dispute that ended up in court because Zou, who was
pursued for money that Wang claimed to have lent to him,
claimed that he had spent years learning the art of qigong from
his master but had yet to acquire any special powers. Wang left
China for Hong Kong later that year, claiming that he was facing
arrest. Why he chose to return to China is unclear. (Telegraph,
07/17/15)
Exclusive Brethren leader Bruce Hales says man “in
torment” should kill himself
At a meeting in the United Kingdom, Bruce Hales, an Australian
man who leads the Exclusive Brethren, was asked how to deal
with a 25-year-old man with “mind trouble” because he was in
contact with “opposers”—people who have left the Brethren.
It is believed that the opposers in question are members of
the man’s family who left the Brethren. Hales said that the man
would be better off committing suicide than dealing with “the
opponents of the truth.” Former members of the group, who
note that some members are heavy drinkers, see similarities
between the comments of Mr. Hales and past instances of
outbursts associated with alcohol. A Brethren spokesman said,
“Mr. Hales makes it very clear he is not advocating any person
taking poison or committing suicide. He is using a common,
everyday metaphor ...It is hardly unusual for a preacher or
minister in any religion to warn a congregation to avoid people
who extol certain beliefs and that those beliefs are ‘poison.’”
(Sydney Morning Herald, 09/19/15)
Maier Schoch in Hermosa Beach, California, said, “Evolation is
very pleased that the Ninth Circuit has made it clear that yoga
belongs to everybody, and no individual owns any particular
style or sequence of yoga poses.” Attorneys for Choudhury
did not respond to a request for comment. (Courthouse News
Service, 10/8/15)
Singapore megachurch founder found guilty of
$35-million donations fraud
Kong Hee, founder and senior pastor, and five other church
leaders of City Harvest Church have been found guilty of
crimes related to the misappropriation of more than $35.5
million of the church’s donations. Some of the donations
were diverted to Hee’s wife’s singing career in Asia, and to
helping her into the US market, supposedly for evangelization
purposes. No date has been set for sentencing. Despite the
evidence against the church leaders, members have rallied
around them since the case started in 2012. Members felt that
the funds were rightly used to finance the church’s “crossover
project,” with the stated aim of using pop music to reach out
to nonbelievers. Four other members of the group were found
guilty of additional charges for falsifying the church’s accounts.
A fifth member, like Kong, was found guilty of three counts of
criminal breach of trust. (The Guardian/AP, 10/21/15)
Two Germans sentenced in Chile for kidnappings
under Pinochet dictatorship
Two German residents, Kurt Schnellenkamp and Gerhard
Mucke, and a Chilean, Fernando Gomez Segovia, were each
sentenced to 5 years in prison for their role in kidnapping 50
people in 1975. The Germans belonged to Colonia Dignidad,
which collaborated with General Augusto Pinochet’s military
dictatorship. The victims were interrogated under torture with
electrical currents to their bodies. (Deutsche Welle, 10/20/15)
Married church minister “ran bottom-spanking cult”
Seventy-two-year-old Howard Curtis, the pastor of Coulson
Christian Fellowship, is charged with five counts of cruelty to
children under 16 years of age, two counts of indecent assault,
and four of sexual assault. Additionally, he faces one count of
assault by penetration. The offenses are said to have occurred
between January 1969 and July 2013. Curtis would help people
who would come to him by driving out evil spirits in both
women and children by having them strip naked so he could
spank them for his own pleasure. “The court was told Curtis
also had a ‘vision, a message from God’ that he would establish
a church with 1,000 members in Cane Hill psychiatric hospital
in Coulson, south London.” Curtis denies all charges. (The
Telegraph, 09/18/15)
China to prosecute cult leader as crackdown continues
Prosecutors in the southern province of Guangdong are
charging Wu Zeheng, founder and leader of Huazang
Dharma, and several others on charges of rape, fraud,
sabotage, and other crimes, state news agency Xinhua said, as
the government deepened a crackdown on what it views as
illegal and dangerous religious movements. A statement on the
group’s website said that Wu Zeheng is a purely religious figure
facing made-up accusations. The United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom agreed that the government
is persecuting Wu and his followers. According to Xinhua,
Wu has already been jailed at least twice, and he set up his
Buddhist-inspired cult in 2010 upon his last release from jail.
Wu eventually became a master with supernatural power in the
eyes of his followers, according to the news report. The report
further says that in the name of charity and life science and
through inflammatory preaching, Wu lured a growing number
of believers who wished to study Buddhism, seek disease
treatment, or ward off ill fortune by joining the cult. (Reuters
Canada, 07/16/15)
Chinese spiritual guru to the stars arrested on
suspicion of murder
Wang Min, a Chinese spiritualist, has been arrested for
suspicion of kidnapping and murdering his former disciple Zou
Yong. Wang’s self-proclaimed healing powers have earned him
cult status among the country’s elite because he has been a
mentor to top politicians and celebrities. According to reports
in the Chinese state media, Zou and Wang had a prolonged
financial dispute that ended up in court because Zou, who was
pursued for money that Wang claimed to have lent to him,
claimed that he had spent years learning the art of qigong from
his master but had yet to acquire any special powers. Wang left
China for Hong Kong later that year, claiming that he was facing
arrest. Why he chose to return to China is unclear. (Telegraph,
07/17/15)
Exclusive Brethren leader Bruce Hales says man “in
torment” should kill himself
At a meeting in the United Kingdom, Bruce Hales, an Australian
man who leads the Exclusive Brethren, was asked how to deal
with a 25-year-old man with “mind trouble” because he was in
contact with “opposers”—people who have left the Brethren.
It is believed that the opposers in question are members of
the man’s family who left the Brethren. Hales said that the man
would be better off committing suicide than dealing with “the
opponents of the truth.” Former members of the group, who
note that some members are heavy drinkers, see similarities
between the comments of Mr. Hales and past instances of
outbursts associated with alcohol. A Brethren spokesman said,
“Mr. Hales makes it very clear he is not advocating any person
taking poison or committing suicide. He is using a common,
everyday metaphor ...It is hardly unusual for a preacher or
minister in any religion to warn a congregation to avoid people
who extol certain beliefs and that those beliefs are ‘poison.’”
(Sydney Morning Herald, 09/19/15)
