VOLUME 6 |ISSUE 2 |2015 3133
Miller said the three leaders had one thing in common—they
tried to erase his homosexuality, which they considered “a
hangover from the Roman Empire.” Despite this, he said he was
a favorite of Kates, who used to announce that “Paul and I have
been friends for thousands and thousands of lives.” Miller finally
left the group in the 1990s.
Another former follower who requested anonymity endured
brutal beatings by his parents, who he believes were instructed
by Kates. “I had this reputation of being a bad kid when I wasn’t,”
he said. “I was an abused kid. … Children are taught to fear.”
He said that he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder
because of his upbringing in the group.
According to one former member, the Light also teaches that
children aren’t human until they reach the age of 13. Baer said
that children aren’t indoctrinated until they are teens, and that
if a child dies before age 13, it’s because the child committed
suicide in a previous life.
Congregation for the Light runs a nonprofit named after Kates.
Tax forms show the group’s revenues at $116,860 in 2012 and
$338,429 in 2011. Baer said the nonprofit gets 10 percent of its
funds from donations and the rest from estates when members
die. The group pays for members who are down on their luck
and for their home care. (New York Post, 11/2/14)
China to publish list of legal places to worship
Citing Xinhua, the country’s official news agency, Reuters
reports that Chinese officials will soon publish a list of all the
legal places where people can conduct religious activities. The
purpose is to identify unsanctioned groups the authorities
typically refer to as cults and to “root out illegal religious
activities” in the country. Toward that end, the report indicates
that Wang Zuoan, director of the State Administration
for Religious Affairs, said in a conference the Chinese
administration will declare the names and addresses of “all
Buddhist and Taoist venues” in the coming 2 years.
The country has discouraged the growth of unsanctioned
religious movements, including such groups as the illegal
Quannengshen (Almighty God) and the Falun Gong church,
which has also been banned by China, Reuters reported.
Moreover, Beijing is involved in a long-running dispute with
the Vatican over the appointment of Catholic bishops, and it
has removed the crosses from Christian churches and banned
Christmas symbolism. In addition, Muslim Uighurs in China’s
Xinjiang autonomous region are of concern to the Chinese.
(International Business Times, 12/27/14)
China executes father and daughter for McDonald’s murder
The Yantai Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern province
of Shandong has announced the execution of Zhang Lidong
and his daughter Zhang Fan, two members of what authorities
called an “evil cult,” for beating a woman to death in a
McDonald’s restaurant. They were among five cult members
tried on murder charges last August. Two other cult members
who were relatives of the executed pair were sentenced to 10
and 7 years in prison, respectively.
China is thought to carry out the most executions annually
of any country in the world. The actual number of deaths is a
state secret, but estimates range between 2,000 and 4,000 a
year. In its 2015 report, Human Rights Watch said that, although
the national constitution guarantees freedom of religion, the
government restricts religious practices to officially approved
mosques, churches, temples, and monasteries organized
according to five officially recognized groups. “Any religious
activity not considered by the state to be ‘normal’ is prohibited,”
the report says, with activities, publications and financial
records of all bodies strictly controlled. (The Independent,
2/2/15)
Indian guru allegedly encouraged hundreds of castrations
Indian police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are
investigating a popular self-styled god-man, Gurmeet Ram
Rahim, known as the “guru in bling” for his penchant for garish
clothes and jewelry, for criminal intimidation and causing
grievous bodily hurt. The charges are for Rahim allegedly
encouraging 400 followers to undergo castrations at his ashram
so they could get closer to God. The country’s top crime-
fighting agency has registered a case against Rahim over the
operations in the country’s north.
The 47-year-old guru, who heads the Dera Sacha Sauda
organization based in Haryana state, is already facing trial for
conspiracy over the murder of a journalist in 2002, along with
claims of sexually exploiting female followers. The latest case
was filed after one of his devotees, Hans Raj Chauhan, lodged a
complaint in court alleging he was manipulated into having the
“painful” operation at the ashram.
“They were told that only those who get castrated will be able
to meet God,” Chauhan’s lawyer Navkiran Singh said. He said
doctors carried out the castrations over a period from 2000, but
for years his client had been too scared to come forward.
The Dera Sacha Sauda says it is a social welfare and spiritual
organization with millions of followers in India and abroad. On
its website, the group describes Rahim as a saint and also an
author, inventor, scientist, philosopher, philanthropist, peace
activist, and “the ultimate humanitarian.” Rahim also stars in an
action movie to be released in early 2015 called MSG: Messenger
of God, in which the guru fights criminals, sings songs, and is
shown dousing himself in water in slow motion after a rugby
game. (The Sydney Morning Herald, 1/9/15)
Why does God kill so many children in Idaho?
In Idaho, authorities do not investigate or prosecute faith-
healing deaths, which occur largely without scrutiny from
the public or media. Parents who believe prayer is the only
acceptable treatment in matters of health, even if it means
letting their children die, are immune from prosecution. All
of the dozen documented cases in which children have died
at the hands of faith-healing parents in the past 3 years—and
there are likely many more that have gone unreported—were
members of the Followers of Christ, a group with a doctrine
nearly identical to the Church of the First Born. The Followers
are also active in Oregon, where they gained notoriety in the
1990s after a series of high-profile child deaths.
In contrast in Oregon, however, Travis and Wenona Rossiter,
members of the General Assembly Church of the First Born,
a faith-healing Christian sect, were convicted last November
in the Linn County, Oregon courthouse of first- and second-
degree manslaughter in the 2013 death of their daughter Syble,
from complications of a chronic and undiagnosed case of Type
1 diabetes. The verdict carries a 10-year mandatory minimum
sentence and was the latest in a series of similar convictions
Miller said the three leaders had one thing in common—they
tried to erase his homosexuality, which they considered “a
hangover from the Roman Empire.” Despite this, he said he was
a favorite of Kates, who used to announce that “Paul and I have
been friends for thousands and thousands of lives.” Miller finally
left the group in the 1990s.
Another former follower who requested anonymity endured
brutal beatings by his parents, who he believes were instructed
by Kates. “I had this reputation of being a bad kid when I wasn’t,”
he said. “I was an abused kid. … Children are taught to fear.”
He said that he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder
because of his upbringing in the group.
According to one former member, the Light also teaches that
children aren’t human until they reach the age of 13. Baer said
that children aren’t indoctrinated until they are teens, and that
if a child dies before age 13, it’s because the child committed
suicide in a previous life.
Congregation for the Light runs a nonprofit named after Kates.
Tax forms show the group’s revenues at $116,860 in 2012 and
$338,429 in 2011. Baer said the nonprofit gets 10 percent of its
funds from donations and the rest from estates when members
die. The group pays for members who are down on their luck
and for their home care. (New York Post, 11/2/14)
China to publish list of legal places to worship
Citing Xinhua, the country’s official news agency, Reuters
reports that Chinese officials will soon publish a list of all the
legal places where people can conduct religious activities. The
purpose is to identify unsanctioned groups the authorities
typically refer to as cults and to “root out illegal religious
activities” in the country. Toward that end, the report indicates
that Wang Zuoan, director of the State Administration
for Religious Affairs, said in a conference the Chinese
administration will declare the names and addresses of “all
Buddhist and Taoist venues” in the coming 2 years.
The country has discouraged the growth of unsanctioned
religious movements, including such groups as the illegal
Quannengshen (Almighty God) and the Falun Gong church,
which has also been banned by China, Reuters reported.
Moreover, Beijing is involved in a long-running dispute with
the Vatican over the appointment of Catholic bishops, and it
has removed the crosses from Christian churches and banned
Christmas symbolism. In addition, Muslim Uighurs in China’s
Xinjiang autonomous region are of concern to the Chinese.
(International Business Times, 12/27/14)
China executes father and daughter for McDonald’s murder
The Yantai Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern province
of Shandong has announced the execution of Zhang Lidong
and his daughter Zhang Fan, two members of what authorities
called an “evil cult,” for beating a woman to death in a
McDonald’s restaurant. They were among five cult members
tried on murder charges last August. Two other cult members
who were relatives of the executed pair were sentenced to 10
and 7 years in prison, respectively.
China is thought to carry out the most executions annually
of any country in the world. The actual number of deaths is a
state secret, but estimates range between 2,000 and 4,000 a
year. In its 2015 report, Human Rights Watch said that, although
the national constitution guarantees freedom of religion, the
government restricts religious practices to officially approved
mosques, churches, temples, and monasteries organized
according to five officially recognized groups. “Any religious
activity not considered by the state to be ‘normal’ is prohibited,”
the report says, with activities, publications and financial
records of all bodies strictly controlled. (The Independent,
2/2/15)
Indian guru allegedly encouraged hundreds of castrations
Indian police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are
investigating a popular self-styled god-man, Gurmeet Ram
Rahim, known as the “guru in bling” for his penchant for garish
clothes and jewelry, for criminal intimidation and causing
grievous bodily hurt. The charges are for Rahim allegedly
encouraging 400 followers to undergo castrations at his ashram
so they could get closer to God. The country’s top crime-
fighting agency has registered a case against Rahim over the
operations in the country’s north.
The 47-year-old guru, who heads the Dera Sacha Sauda
organization based in Haryana state, is already facing trial for
conspiracy over the murder of a journalist in 2002, along with
claims of sexually exploiting female followers. The latest case
was filed after one of his devotees, Hans Raj Chauhan, lodged a
complaint in court alleging he was manipulated into having the
“painful” operation at the ashram.
“They were told that only those who get castrated will be able
to meet God,” Chauhan’s lawyer Navkiran Singh said. He said
doctors carried out the castrations over a period from 2000, but
for years his client had been too scared to come forward.
The Dera Sacha Sauda says it is a social welfare and spiritual
organization with millions of followers in India and abroad. On
its website, the group describes Rahim as a saint and also an
author, inventor, scientist, philosopher, philanthropist, peace
activist, and “the ultimate humanitarian.” Rahim also stars in an
action movie to be released in early 2015 called MSG: Messenger
of God, in which the guru fights criminals, sings songs, and is
shown dousing himself in water in slow motion after a rugby
game. (The Sydney Morning Herald, 1/9/15)
Why does God kill so many children in Idaho?
In Idaho, authorities do not investigate or prosecute faith-
healing deaths, which occur largely without scrutiny from
the public or media. Parents who believe prayer is the only
acceptable treatment in matters of health, even if it means
letting their children die, are immune from prosecution. All
of the dozen documented cases in which children have died
at the hands of faith-healing parents in the past 3 years—and
there are likely many more that have gone unreported—were
members of the Followers of Christ, a group with a doctrine
nearly identical to the Church of the First Born. The Followers
are also active in Oregon, where they gained notoriety in the
1990s after a series of high-profile child deaths.
In contrast in Oregon, however, Travis and Wenona Rossiter,
members of the General Assembly Church of the First Born,
a faith-healing Christian sect, were convicted last November
in the Linn County, Oregon courthouse of first- and second-
degree manslaughter in the 2013 death of their daughter Syble,
from complications of a chronic and undiagnosed case of Type
1 diabetes. The verdict carries a 10-year mandatory minimum
sentence and was the latest in a series of similar convictions
