VOLUME 3 |NUMBER 2 |2012 35
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Bishop Brian Tamaki, head of the
multicongregation Destiny Church in
New Zealand, has called on his
followers to leave homes, jobs,
even family members, and join him in
a “City of God” he’s building in South
Auckland. Cult expert Mark
Vrankovich commented, “Saying that
the church family is more important
than your physical family, saying that
you must go with the spiritual family,
is a classic cult idea. This will put great
pressure on families, and break up
families.”Vrankowich believes that
Tamaki will press followers to give
him the money from their house sales
so that he can achieve his dream of
becoming mayor, or king, of what he
calls the “new Jerusalem.”Tamaki has
said that God spoke to him through
the Book of Hebrews and told him to
build a city. (Auckland Now, 5/3/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Falun Gong representatives in San
Francisco say there have been eight
assaults against their members in the
past 8 months during the group’s
demonstrations against the Chinese
government. They suspect the attacks
have originated within the local
Chinese Consulate-General
organization. (San Francisco Examiner,
6/26/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Former member Wallace Jeffs says
that his brother, Warren Jeffs, jailed
leader of the Fundamentalist Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,
has excommunicated some fifty
members in recent weeks, some for
having had sexual relations, which he
has banned—even between spouses,
and then for using contraceptives,
which he calls the “murder of unborn
children.” Moreover, according to
Wallace Jeffs, church leaders loyal to
Warren have halted church meetings
until the “lifting up” (the end of
the world).
Excommunication usually means that
the expelled must leave their homes
and families—while their wives and
children can be assigned to other
men. Former FLDS official Willie
Jessop says midwives, a doctor, and
a dentist are among those recently
excommunicated. He believes this is
dangerous for the community and
especially for pregnant women. And
when pregnancies occur, he adds,
couples feel they must keep the fact
a secret. “They cover up the medical
health of the wife [and] don’t get
prenatal care. It’s the women and
children and most innocent who are
the most vulnerable and pay the
ultimate price of abuse.” Meanwhile,
the U.S. Department of Justice has
filed a civil rights lawsuit accusing
the FLDS-dominated police and
major utility companies in Colorado
City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah of
religious bias toward nonmembers.
The suit, which does not contain
criminal charges, accuses municipal
authorities of “operating as an arm
of the FLDS” for at least twenty years.
(Salt Lake Tribune, 6/28/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Radio Evangelist Harold Camping
says his erroneous prediction that the
world would end last May 21 was
“incorrect and a sinful statement,” and
that his ministry is now out of the
prediction business. “We have learned
the very painful lesson that all of
creation is in God’s hands and he
will end time in his time, not ours!”
Camping added that people
continue, nevertheless, to wish for
another prediction. (Religion News
Service, 3/8/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
A lawsuit filed in India in 2001 that is
soon to be brought before the
Supreme Court pits two factions of
the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness—ISKCON-Mumbai
and ISKCON Bengalaru—against one
another concerning how the society
should function and who should
succeed the late A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada as leader.
(Zeenews, 1/22/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Amanda Qualls of Kingman, Kansas,
formerly a bookkeeper for Franchise
Strategies, is suing her employer,
Stanley Stover, alleging he fired her
because she stopped attending their
Jehovah’s Witnesses church. She
says he told her that membership in
the church was a condition of
employment. He also said, she
alleges, that she would be
“disfellowshipped” if she didn’t marry
her fiancé, and he repeatedly called
her a “filthy fornicator” for not doing
so. (Courthouse News Service, 5/9/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Following an investigation into “some
allegations of gravely immoral acts
and more serious offenses,” the
Legionaries of Christ has concluded
that “seven [of the allegations] had
a semblance of truth” and has
forwarded them to the Vatican. The
accused priests have been restricted
in their ministries for the duration of
the investigation. (The New York Times,
5/11/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Audry Chator, for years associated
with FAIR, the British cult education
group, and now head of The Family
Survival Trust, has written Cults—
Who Is Vulnerable? (Quain Publishing).
The book aims to educate the public,
educational institutions, and
government about the problem and
to advise families of the cult-involved.
(FAIR News, April 2012)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
A number of land trusts in Delhi,
Chattisgarth, and Madhya Pradesh
founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
were “illegally sold off” by some trust
members without any authorization
from the trust, this according to rivals
who claim to be the real trustees and
disciples of Maharishi. The trusts
became “non-functional” following
the death of their founder in 2008.
(Daily Pioneer, 1/23/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Bishop Brian Tamaki, head of the
multicongregation Destiny Church in
New Zealand, has called on his
followers to leave homes, jobs,
even family members, and join him in
a “City of God” he’s building in South
Auckland. Cult expert Mark
Vrankovich commented, “Saying that
the church family is more important
than your physical family, saying that
you must go with the spiritual family,
is a classic cult idea. This will put great
pressure on families, and break up
families.”Vrankowich believes that
Tamaki will press followers to give
him the money from their house sales
so that he can achieve his dream of
becoming mayor, or king, of what he
calls the “new Jerusalem.”Tamaki has
said that God spoke to him through
the Book of Hebrews and told him to
build a city. (Auckland Now, 5/3/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Falun Gong representatives in San
Francisco say there have been eight
assaults against their members in the
past 8 months during the group’s
demonstrations against the Chinese
government. They suspect the attacks
have originated within the local
Chinese Consulate-General
organization. (San Francisco Examiner,
6/26/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Former member Wallace Jeffs says
that his brother, Warren Jeffs, jailed
leader of the Fundamentalist Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,
has excommunicated some fifty
members in recent weeks, some for
having had sexual relations, which he
has banned—even between spouses,
and then for using contraceptives,
which he calls the “murder of unborn
children.” Moreover, according to
Wallace Jeffs, church leaders loyal to
Warren have halted church meetings
until the “lifting up” (the end of
the world).
Excommunication usually means that
the expelled must leave their homes
and families—while their wives and
children can be assigned to other
men. Former FLDS official Willie
Jessop says midwives, a doctor, and
a dentist are among those recently
excommunicated. He believes this is
dangerous for the community and
especially for pregnant women. And
when pregnancies occur, he adds,
couples feel they must keep the fact
a secret. “They cover up the medical
health of the wife [and] don’t get
prenatal care. It’s the women and
children and most innocent who are
the most vulnerable and pay the
ultimate price of abuse.” Meanwhile,
the U.S. Department of Justice has
filed a civil rights lawsuit accusing
the FLDS-dominated police and
major utility companies in Colorado
City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah of
religious bias toward nonmembers.
The suit, which does not contain
criminal charges, accuses municipal
authorities of “operating as an arm
of the FLDS” for at least twenty years.
(Salt Lake Tribune, 6/28/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Radio Evangelist Harold Camping
says his erroneous prediction that the
world would end last May 21 was
“incorrect and a sinful statement,” and
that his ministry is now out of the
prediction business. “We have learned
the very painful lesson that all of
creation is in God’s hands and he
will end time in his time, not ours!”
Camping added that people
continue, nevertheless, to wish for
another prediction. (Religion News
Service, 3/8/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
A lawsuit filed in India in 2001 that is
soon to be brought before the
Supreme Court pits two factions of
the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness—ISKCON-Mumbai
and ISKCON Bengalaru—against one
another concerning how the society
should function and who should
succeed the late A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada as leader.
(Zeenews, 1/22/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Amanda Qualls of Kingman, Kansas,
formerly a bookkeeper for Franchise
Strategies, is suing her employer,
Stanley Stover, alleging he fired her
because she stopped attending their
Jehovah’s Witnesses church. She
says he told her that membership in
the church was a condition of
employment. He also said, she
alleges, that she would be
“disfellowshipped” if she didn’t marry
her fiancé, and he repeatedly called
her a “filthy fornicator” for not doing
so. (Courthouse News Service, 5/9/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Following an investigation into “some
allegations of gravely immoral acts
and more serious offenses,” the
Legionaries of Christ has concluded
that “seven [of the allegations] had
a semblance of truth” and has
forwarded them to the Vatican. The
accused priests have been restricted
in their ministries for the duration of
the investigation. (The New York Times,
5/11/12)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Audry Chator, for years associated
with FAIR, the British cult education
group, and now head of The Family
Survival Trust, has written Cults—
Who Is Vulnerable? (Quain Publishing).
The book aims to educate the public,
educational institutions, and
government about the problem and
to advise families of the cult-involved.
(FAIR News, April 2012)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
A number of land trusts in Delhi,
Chattisgarth, and Madhya Pradesh
founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
were “illegally sold off” by some trust
members without any authorization
from the trust, this according to rivals
who claim to be the real trustees and
disciples of Maharishi. The trusts
became “non-functional” following
the death of their founder in 2008.
(Daily Pioneer, 1/23/12)
