(114) Fri 11 Apr 97 9:50 By: Richard Smith To: George Harper Re: Church Abuse 1/6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @EID:35d9 228b4e40 @MSGID: 1:203/9046.0 334e41a2 RIP Verna Mae Russell 1911-96 Georgie Harper said to Ed Mills about Re: How About 1-On-1?: EM> which resulted from early pedophilic lutheran EM> indoctrination. EM> As you know, the etymology and accepted definition of a EM> word are, as often as not, disconnected to some degree: EM> Pedophile: an adult who is sexually attracted to EM> children. (World Book Dictionary) EM> Yeah, it's definitely unsavory. gh> If you have/had proof What would said proof constitute, Georgie? gh> that your pastor was a pedophile (which I suspect is a gh> gross exaggeration, made for effect), why on earth would gh> you NOT report him to your parents, or even the police? How do you know that Ed didn't do that? gh> I certainly would have! But perhaps I am putting more gh> emphasis on this wording that you are comfortable gh> with... Not that I care about your comfort, since YOU gh> posed such a lie as fact... And your evidence that it is a lie is . . . ? EM> Understanding the criminality of inculcating the minds EM> of little kids with superstitious thought helps to EM> overcome the brainwashing, and listening to the believers EM> has helped even more. gh> Again...if what was being done IS criminal, it is also gh> actionable under the lawa protecting children. The You apparently can't tell the difference between criminal and criminality. gh> only thing preventing YOU from being charged under gh> these laws is that most parents have the common sense Which law would that be that would forbid Ed from having to listen to rabid fundy proselytizing? gh> to NOT allow young children to be exposed to your brand gh> of theology. What form of theology, specifically, does Ed follow, Georgie? gh> These charges would stem from your gh> espousal of the unfounded theologic teaching (i.e. gh> superstition) that there IS no god, and that persons Which God would that be again, Georgie? By all means, if you have evidence of Its existence, please present it. Until such time, many folks here will continue to believe that It, as an entity, doesn't exist. Also, please give us an example of Ed's espousal of the unfounded. Since you can't find your own Deity, this should be most amusing. gh> who instruct young folk in a particular faith are gh> pedophilic, thereby causing them to fear and mistrust gh> those teachers. We await those citations, Georgie. EM> I've been aware of the criminality of christianic EM> death-cult youth indoctrination for a long time. I EM> don't remember when the first inkling came. gh> Read the above paragraph... Okay . . . EM> I've been aware of the criminality of christianic EM> death-cult youth indoctrination for a long time. I EM> don't remember when the first inkling came. gh> again... Okay . . . EM> I've been aware of the criminality of christianic EM> death-cult youth indoctrination for a long time. I EM> don't remember when the first inkling came. gh> and add the charge of libel, Sorry, unlike you I don't edit people's posts. Do you know what libel is, Georgie? Can you prove libel in this case? Unlikely that you can. Going to take us all to court? Good luck. gh> because you cannot prove that Lutheran's are a Bad usage of the apostrophe there, Georgie. gh> "christianic death-cult"...(*IF* they were, they would gh> hardly indoctrinate the youth into those practices gh> BEFORE the youth were already committed to following the gh> church's edicts where-ever they might lead...) Glad to see that you're familiar with Xtian Death Cult strategies. We didn't doubt for a moment that you would be. EM> The material being taught has no benefit, other than the EM> control of the subject by the perpetrator of the EM> superstition. gh> How many witnesses can you provide that can, under oath, gh> state that they were controlled by Christ, or Martin gh> Luther Or his brother Lex? gh> for that matter, INVOLUNTARILY. (Even *I* will admit to gh> submitting to Christ's teachings, God's Will, and that I gh> accept the good Doctor's Books Of Concord as a guideline gh> for my beliefs..and that such submission is voluntary). How many do you need? gh> I can present several witnesses to support gh> the viewpoint opposite of yours. That's nice, Georgie. I believe you used the word stalemate before. EM> There was no candy, no feel-good things. Just the filthy EM> mental abuse of your cohorts in child abuse. gh> AGAIN: Put up or shut up! Go fuck your mother in the ass, Georgie. Maybe you'll get a brother. Let's see here . . . you want a list of religious abuses, etc.? Okay, here you go, in an article from another network . . . I expect you to be fully okay about the following things, right Georgie? ------------------------------------------------------------ Clergy and Laity Abuse of People by Alisandra and Ammond Shadowcraft The following newspaper clippings are taken from FREETHOUGHT TODAY, published by The Freedom From Religion Foundation, P.O. Box 750 Madison. WI 53701. My very special thanks to Alisandra for typing almost all of this file. A woman suspected of being a witch was dragged from her hut, tied to a tree, and then axed to death by neighbors in an eastern village in India, the latest in several killings of women suspected of being "witches." The Santhal tribes believe many women, especially widows, have the power to heal the sick and cast evil spells. (AP/Quad City Times 4/26/89 REV. GARY HEIDNIK, convicted of raping and killing women he chained in his Philadelphia church-home basement, received a 2nd death sentence. (USA Today, 3/3/89) Every state except West Virginia has made snake-handling illegal. There have been 11 documented deaths since 1945, although snake-handling is also practiced in parts of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Tennessee, thanks to Mark, chapter 16:17-18. "See, I handle serpents because it's in the Bible, like a commandment. And I drink strychnine because the Bible says it won't hurt me. Now, either every word in that Bible is right or it's wrong," says snake-handler DEWEY CHAFIN. (People Magazine 4/26/89) A volunteer Sunday School teacher, music teacher and groundskeeper at Bethel Baptist Church, Novoto, CA, CONFESSED to raping and murdering a 13 year old girl on April 13. "I murdered her. I strangled her and I bludgeoned her," SCOTT MARTIN WILLIAMS, 29, told police a week later. He lured Jenifer Moore, a popular 8th grade student, into the church, tied her up, raped her, strangled her with a cord and beat her with a baseball bat. His friends insisted he could not be guilty, although police traced him through incontrovertible evidence. "He is a devout Christian," who likes to talk about God and the Bible, said a clerk at the food mart managed by Williams, where he has spoken often about the unsolved murder. (San Francisco Chronicle, 4/21/89) BARTLEY J. DOBBEN was judged mentally ill and guilty of 1st degree murder for putting his 2 sons, ages 2 and 15 months, in a red-hot foundry ladle on Thanksgiving Day. Dobben said "God had dictated through the Bible" that he kill his sons since they were going to die anyway. He had joined Emmanuel Fellowship whose preacher violently attacked his own mother and checked himself into a psychiatric hospital in late April. (AP 5/4/89; Mohave Valley News, 5/18/89) Four members of the Ecclesia Athletic Association were convicted of 1st degree manslaughter for beating an 8 year old girl to death on Oct 13. Dayna Broussard was the daughter of the group's founder. CONVICTED were: WILLIE K. CHAMBERS, 35; BRIAN K. BRINSON, 31; CONSTANCE Z. JACKSON, 38; and FREDRICK P. DOOLITTLE, 28. (Sacramento Union, 5/13/89) REV. HERMAN FOUNTAIN was sentenced to 1 year in jail and 4 years' probation for striking a Mississippi state trooper. Fountain, 39, a Baptist, operates the notorious Bethel Children's Home in Lucedale, MS, which has refused to turn over records on children in its custody, many of whom have run away and reported gross maltreatment. (Montgomery Advertiser, 5/17/89) [More later on Rev. Fountain.] A Christian fundamentalist got 12-year probation, was ordered to pay court costs and work 500 hours for setting 19 fires at Indianapolis bookstores, massage parlors and their customer's cars, causing $170,000 in property damage and injuring two firefighters. Two other followers of REV. GREG DIXON'S Baptist Temple await trial. (Indianapolis Star, 4/22/89) TONY ALAMO, leader of a Christian sect, was charged with felony child abuse in the beating in 1988 of an 11 year old boy at the group commune in Santa Clarita Valley. "I favor spanking children; you know that. It says so in the Bible. People have to decide whether to do what the Lord says or the state." Alamo issued orders over a speaker phone, listing each of the child's transgressions and dictated how many times to paddle the child. The child could not sit down without a pillow for 2-3 weeks. Five of his followers were also charged. (LA Times, 4/15/89) Officials stoned to death 11 prostitutes and 4 pimps in a sports stadium as thousands watched in the Gulf city of Bushehr. A court had convicted them of "spreading corruption on Earth," according to the newspaper KAYHAN. Typical execution by stoning involves hooding and burying prisoners in a hole (waist deep for men, chest-high for women). Judicial officials or police stand in a circle around the convict. The sentencing judge throws the first stone as others follow, shouting 'Allah-O Akbar' (God is Great). (Houston Post, 4/26/89) PIERRE LACROIX, a French Canadian Catholic TV evangelist, was freed on bail from prison -- only 2 days after he was sentenced to 2 years in prison. He was convicted of molesting a teenage boy for 5 years during counseling sessions. Sentencing Justice Jean Bienvenue said Lacroix carried on a "marathon of gross indecency" at his "Marathon of Love" rallies. Pedophiles should not be loose on the streets, he said. However, Judge Yves Bernier, Quebec Court of Appeal, said Lacroix's return to society is not a public danger. The verdict and sentence are under appeal. A Crown psychiatrist said the married father of 4 showed no remorse or understanding of the gravity of his crime. (The Spectator, 3/16/89; Canadian Press, 3/18/89) Prominent former priest BRENDAN FOLEY was charged with sexually assaulting boys between 1982 and 1985 when he worked as a parish priest. Foley, 43, was known as the "Singing Priest." He is the 8th well-known and popular member of Newfoundland's Roman Catholic community to be charged with sexual abuse. Two priests are serving 5 year prison terms; 3 other priests and a former priest await preliminary hearings. The province of 567,000 people, one- third Catholic, only has 100 priests. (Spectator, 3/18/89; Chicago Tribune, 3/27/89) COL. JAMES L. MOODY, Brooke Army Medical Center's top chaplain, who faced up to 19 years, reached a tentative deal to serve no more than 3 years' prison for sexual misconduct involving 2 female clients. (San Antonio Light, 3/29/89) The Roman Catholic Archdiocese-Atlanta is paying $358,000 to families of 3 altar boys molested by British priest ANTON MOWAT. The Church returned Mowat to England for treatment rather than reporting him to police. Mowat fled the treatment center and is a fugitive. He was charged last year with molesting 4 boys from a suburban Stone Mountain parish. (Idaho Statesman, 4/6/89) (Continued On Next Post . . . ) ... Xtian Uses #1: Clean meat in case of cannibalism. ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12 --- Maximus 3.01 * Origin: Cry-baby, cry-baby . . . (1:203/9046) SEEN-BY: 12/12 24/888 102/2 943 106/2000 109/7 112/101 114/262 271 124/1 SEEN-BY: 130/1 1008 133/2 143/1 147/34 2021 167/166 170/400 202/777 1207 SEEN-BY: 213/213 218/2 801 890 900 901 907 270/101 275/429 280/1 169 SEEN-BY: 282/1 62 283/120 284/29 290/14 300/603 310/666 322/739 323/107 SEEN-BY: 324/278 343/600 346/250 352/3 356/18 371/42 377/86 380/64 381/900 SEEN-BY: 382/92 388/1 396/1 2 45 690/660 730/2 732/10 2401/0 2442/0 3603/420 SEEN-BY: 3606/10 3612/41 3615/50 3619/25 3632/21 3651/9 3652/1 3667/1 @PATH: 203/9046 1102 992 270/101 396/1 218/907 801 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (115) Fri 11 Apr 97 9:51 By: Richard Smith To: George Harper Re: Church Abuse 2/6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @EID:3529 228b4e60 @MSGID: 1:203/9046.0 334e41e0 ( . . . Continued From Previous Message) Delaware TV preacher WILLIAM J. KEICHLINE, 52, known for homeless work, is charged with 3 years of rape, bondage and homemade pornography involving a girl, now aged 10. As her landlord, he threatened to evict her family if she said anything. He was charged with multiple counts by New Castle Co. police. Mission of Care, the 2-state ministry he founded in 1979 -- including a TV show, "camp for needy children," and outreach center -- ousted him following the charges. The group, long affiliated with PTL Club, was honored by the state legislature in 1983 for opening a shelter for 17 homeless people during record cold; however the shelter closed after 4 days for code violations. Keichline is married with 3 grown sons. ([Wilmington] News Journal, 3/17/89; Sacramento Union, 3/18/89) ROBERT CUSHING, 36, of Dubuque, was sentenced to 10 years after pleading guilty to a felony sex charge of molesting boys at Wahlert Catholic High School, and 2 years to a charge of prostitution. (Clinton Herald [IA], 4/4/89) DR. THOMAS HAVEL, a Catholic priest who heads the psychiatric unit at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, Calif., is being sued by a 34-year-old former client who says he sexually exploited her for 5 years starting when she was 13. Her attorney says the priest admitted the abuse, offered the woman a $135,000 confidential settlement and threatened to commit suicide if she didn't take it. The hospital, which never investigated the charges, says his work there is "flawless." (San Jose Mercury News, 3/29/89) SHAWN CHARLES "BROTHER DUSTY" WILLIAMS, 50, got 10 years in jail after pleading guilty to showing pornography and fondling 2 young boys. The preacher-plumber worked as a volunteer bus driver for the New Covenant Fellowship Church of San Antonio, picking up stray kids to take them to church. He blamed the "devil" for his crimes. (San Antonio Light, 4/6/89) The Roman Catholic Archdiocese-Baltimore made a secret settlement with a couple who accused REV. WILLIAMS Q. SIMMS of molesting their 13 year old son, an altar boy. He suffered depression and required psychiatric treatment, following the inflicted "ritualistic sexual fantasies." The family had asked for $12 million. (Maryland Sun, 3/28/89) REV. WILLIAM EDWARD THOMPSON, JR., 45, charged with 21 counts of child sexual abuse, pleaded guilty in a plea bargain. The married father of 4 sons was headmaster at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Catonsville. He was charged with child pornography and molesting 7 boys, ages 11 to 16, in his home and on church property. A social worker reported him. (The Maryland Sun, 4/8/89) REV. THOMAS HUNT was convicted by a jury of sexually abusing a 5 year old girl and her 7 year old brother during visits in the rectory. He was children's choir director at the United Methodist Church in East Benton. The girl had nightmares before visits and asked her mother to make the minister "stop rubbing" Vaseline on her "privates." The boy added, "Believe her, mommy, he did it to me too." (Scranton Times, 4/4-7/89) ROBERT MESSERSMITH, 46, a catechism instructor at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church in north Minneapolis who works with many youth groups, was charged with coercing 10 boys to perform sex acts. Boys ages 12-15 say he showed them pornography and urged them to masturbate during camping trips. In 1976, when director of the Salem, NH Boys Club, he was convicted of sexually assaulting 2 12-year-old boys and was given 2 years' probation. He is married with 3 children. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 3/28/89) PAUL ROSS INGRAM, 43, who formerly ran the Thurston Co. crime prevention program, is charged with rape and statutory rape. Ingram was the GOP county chair from 1986-1988, and is a member of the Four Square Gospel Church. Two other men linked to law enforcement and community service were also charged. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 4/4/89) JAMES CLIFTON NALLEY, a volunteer at Bible Baptist Church in Fernandina Beach, Fla., was charged with fondling 2 church girls, ages 9 and 11. Church members phoned police after a child reported the abuse. (Florida Times-Union, 4/4/89) A federal sting operation to find child pornographers/molesters yielded 6 arrests in Philadelphia, including Presbyterian minister JOHN MCVAY, 53. He allegedly solicited sex with 2 girls ages 9 and 12. He was charged with criminal solicitation to commit involuntary deviant sexual intercourse. He also sent a 15 year old girl obscene material and a letter soliciting sex. (Intelligencer-Record, 3/10/89) Evangelist TONY LEYVA received a 20 year prison sentence on March 28 for running a child prostitution ring. Federal Dist. Judge James Turk called him and his 2 partners "bad to the core." Leyva was previously sentenced to 2.5 years for sexually abusing 2 boys in Virginia. His religious accomplices RIAS EDWARD MORRIS, 27, got 15 years, and FREDDIE H. HERRING, 50, got 12 years. All were fined $5,000. Agents located at least 30 boys, some as young as 8, molested by Leyva in the past 20 years; some put the total at 800 victims. (New York Times, 3/29/89) Indianapolis music minister REV. CLAYTON DUANE HEIL, 42, employed by Lighthouse Tabernacle, is being sued by a 14 year old choir girl for rape over a 3 month period in 1985. The suit also names REVS. WILLIAM W. and DAVID TOTMAN. Said a church official, "they're not just fighting us, they're fighting God." (Carmel News- Tribune, 4/5/89) Baptist minister HENRY BAZIL WATERS, 49, was convicted of fondling 3 young boys and untold others at the Grace Baptist Temple Church in Statesboro, Ga., and in his home and car. Waters' testimony that he "saved" youth through "sex instruction" matched testimony of the victims. Waters admitted fondling boys in Latin America, saying "I have no idea" how many children he had abused. Waters was given permission to attend church while free on bond. (Atlanta Journal, 2/18/89) REV. THOMAS V. COSSAIRT, 72, retired former pastor of First Baptist Church, Carter Lake, received a suspended 1 year jail sentence and 2 years' probation after pleading guilty to indecent contact with a child. A charge involving a 2nd child was dropped. He lives in Commerce, Okla. (Omaha World Herald) JOSEPH NEWMAN, of Lucedale, Miss., says he married his secretary and her 8 year old daughter "under orders from God." After officials removed the child and her brother from his home, Newman vowed that "God is angry" because the Koran gives him the right to "up to four wives," including child brides. (Mobile Press Register, 3/11/89; Press Register Reporter) Former Salvation Army Capt. JACK HOLCOMB, 50, pleaded guilty to having intercourse with a girl under the age of 14 while heading the chapter. During his tenure, he received a community service award for trying to house and feed refugees in the Plattsburgh, NY area. (Syracuse Herald-Journal, 3/1/89) "Popular, dedicated" youth pastor DOUGLAS BOUDINOT, 39, married with children, has been charged with 2 counts of rape while leading a Christian youth group in California. Santa Cruz authorities charged him with rape when a young woman reported that Boudinot had sexually assaulted her in 1983, when she was 17 and a member of Young Life. Professing medical expertise, he reportedly committed many of the assaults under the guise of conducting medical examinations. Washington police have also located victims reportedly abused while Boudinot worked as youth pastor at Kent Covenant Church, taking youth groups on overnight outings and trips to Germany and Mexico. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2/23/89) Radio preacher REV. FRED KENTON BESHORE, 63, of Newport Beach, Calif., was charged with influencing the testimony of a witness, a felony. He is accused of phoning the father of a girl reportedly molested by neurosurgeon Dr. Francis Williams, offering him $1,500 a month for 2 years if he would stop his daughter's testimony. Police taped offers. Charges against the neurosurgeon for molesting preteen and adult patients were dropped, but could be reopened. Beshore runs Bible Institute of the Air, buying bibles to smuggle into communist countries. (Orange Co. Register, 2/28/89; 3/1/89) PAUL SLATER, 64, a traveling evangelist, was charged with 4 counts of sexual battery after 8 and 12 year old sisters reported being molested and raped by him. Slater, a "trusted neighbor," befriended their family. An investigator said, "We encourage people to listen to what their children have to say. Many of these cases go on for months and years." (Ocala Star-Banner, 2/18/89) A 25 year old San Jose woman reports being molested and raped between the ages of 11-13 by a priest, who was also her mother's lover. She saw him rape her younger sister. Their mother is now demanding that the Diocese of San Jose take action against the priest, still pastor of a Santa Clara church: "We want him to admit this happened...We want him removed from situations where children are at risk." After 10 months of negotiating, no action to remove the priest or protect children has been taken. The criminal statute of limitations has run out. (San Jose Mercury News, 3/10/89) FATHER HARRY MCINTEE is charged with sexually assaulting children from the 1950s to the 1980s at a church-run native residential school at St. Joseph's Mission, British Columbia. (Ottawa Citizen, 2/27/89) Former priest JOHN BAUER, 52, is a fugitive being hunted for making child pornography in Mexico. Three other suspects are involved, including DAVID NEGRETTE, 26, an assistant scoutmaster. Police say the four men regularly made trips from the Los Angeles area 200 miles south to Ensenada. Poor boys aged 8 to 14 were paid small amounts to perform sexual acts with each other and the men in shacks and hotels. Videotapes were distributed around the world. Bauer worked as a priest for 7 years in social work projects, including group homes for neglected children in Helena, Mont. He left the church in 1970 and directed the social work program at Montana State University. He had owned 3 pornographic west coast bookstores. (Billings Gazette, 4/14/89) UPDATE: Bauer, a former priest who often wore his clerical collar even after leaving the church in 1970, was arrested in Spokane by FBI authorities, facing charges of producing of child pornography and conspiring to molest children in California. Bauer, self-described "porno priest," was on the run for 15 months, after charges surfaced that he exploited youths and runaways from Mexico. He worked as a director of the social work program in Montana State University-Bozeman during the 1970s, then opened 4 pornography shops. (Spokesman-Review, 12/13/89) Despite multimillion dollar lawsuits in 2 states against Church of Christ public humiliation ("disciplining") of women for "sexual misconduct," Nashville elders vow to continue their crusade. What about all the wayward ministers? (Nashville Banner, 2/14/89) REV. JOHNATHAN HAMLIN, 24, convicted of shooting his live-in girlfriend last July, got 15 years in prison. Hours after the shooting he preached at 1 of the 3 Mississippi Baptist churches he served. (Palm Beach Post, 1/7/89) Florida authorities say twin girls, 7 months old, were deliberately suffocated. They were left alive in the care of REV. JOHN W. HEFLIN JR., 45, of Belleview, their babysitter. New reports of child abuse prompted the removal of two minors from the notorious Bethel Children's Home in Lucedale, Ms. A 15 year old from Alabama and 12 year old from New York were removed following reports of abuse by a runaway. Last June 72 children were removed from the welfare department; many testified to excessive beatings and boot-camp type regimens. In contempt of court, REV. HERMAN FOUNTAIN and colleagues have $300,000 in unpaid penalties, and face a jury trial for assaulting police officers. The state requires no licensing for religious homes. However, the legislature passed a bill, in effect July 1, requiring 24-hour childcare homes to submit monthly lists of names and places of origin for each child and staff member, and educational information. (Mobile Register, 4/11/89) REV. SHIRLEY FREEMAN, a 74 year old vicar, murdered his wife of 46 years when he was unable to find his favorite program on the radio. He bludgeoned her for over 2 hours. He was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in a monastery in southern England because he was too old for prison. (LA Times, 2/20/89) A woman accompanying a friend to a Brooklyn, NY abortion clinic was tossed against a wall 3 times by an off-duty police officer who shouted, "In the name of Jesus Christ, do you know what's going on in there?" When she lodged a complaint against him at a police station, she was strip-searched and jailed. The officer was convicted of reckless assault. A state jury found the officer liable for $400,000 and the city liable for $600,000. (NYT, 12/14/88) MARK RIPPBERGER and SUSAN MIDDLETON-RIPPBERGER were sentenced to 5 years' probation and fined $5,000 on Nov. 2 after being found guilty of criminal negligence in the death of their 8 month old daughter in 1984 from untreated meningitis. "She was not beaten to death or starved, but she's dead just as if she were beaten and starved," said the prosecution. The judge ordered the couple to take a family health or first aid course, read Good Housekeeping's "Family Health and Medical Guide," and authorize emergency medical care for their other school-age children. The Christian Science Monitor accused California of "unhidden antagonism toward Christian Science" for prosecuting the case. With 1,945 churches, it is the largest US religious organization shunning medical care. (Reuters/Newark Star-Ledger, 11/5/89; Washington Post, 11/11/89) The Circuit Court in Alpena, MI ruled in favor of Dr. Michael Taylor, who was sued by Jehovah's Witness Cindy Werth for transfusing blood to her in a post-childbirth crisis. Werth said it violated her religion; the court said it saved her life. (USA Today, 11/7/89) (Continued On Next Post . . . ) ... Xtian Uses #2: Scapegoats. ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12 --- Maximus 3.01 * Origin: Cry-baby, cry-baby . . . (1:203/9046) SEEN-BY: 12/12 24/888 102/2 943 106/2000 109/7 112/101 114/262 271 124/1 SEEN-BY: 130/1 1008 133/2 143/1 147/34 2021 167/166 170/400 202/777 1207 SEEN-BY: 213/213 218/2 801 890 900 901 907 270/101 275/429 280/1 169 SEEN-BY: 282/1 62 283/120 284/29 290/14 300/603 310/666 322/739 323/107 SEEN-BY: 324/278 343/600 346/250 352/3 356/18 371/42 377/86 380/64 381/900 SEEN-BY: 382/92 388/1 396/1 2 45 690/660 730/2 732/10 2401/0 2442/0 3603/420 SEEN-BY: 3606/10 3612/41 3615/50 3619/25 3632/21 3651/9 3652/1 3667/1 @PATH: 203/9046 1102 992 270/101 396/1 218/907 801 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (116) Fri 11 Apr 97 9:51 By: Richard Smith To: George Harper Re: Church Abuse 3/6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @EID:f578 228b4e60 @MSGID: 1:203/9046.0 334e41e2 ( . . . Continued From Previous Post) A woman from Waukegan, IL who was injured in a traffic accident in Wisconsin bled to death after refusing a blood transfusion because of her religious beliefs. Gloria H. Carter, 54, a Jehovah's Witness, died on Dec. 14 of massive internal injuries. An elder from her church complained: "Even though they made a big deal over the blood issue in Kenosha, that was not the cause of her death." ([Waukegan] News-Sun, 12/15/89) Authorities found a seriously-ill 6 year old girl whose father went to jail along with his pastor rather than tell her whereabouts. The sect rejects medical treatment. The girl was located in a secluded log home after an anonymous tip. Swollen and anemic, Melinda Sue James appeared to have kidney failure. She disappeared May 5 after the state ordered her to be medically examined. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 8/1/89) A mother who starved to death her daughter, 4, in order to exorcise her of evil spirits, received a 7 year prison term for 3rd degree murder. The Florida mother, DARLENE JACKSON, 33, agreed to testify against MARY NICHOLSON, an evangelist charged with influencing Jackson to withhold food from daughter Kimberly McZinc. Jackson told the judge she would devote herself to "exposing people like Mary Nicholson." Nicholson's trial is in February. The girl died on Feb. 8, 1988. The home had been investigated for neglect prior to her death, but a state agency had taken no action. Jackson, who has a master's degree, was also ordered to pay $23,000 in court costs and serve 8 years' probation. (AP/Miami Herald, 7/27/89; Pensacola News Journal, 11/30/89) LARRY AND LEONA COTTAM, found guilty in Wilkesbarre, PA in September of starving their 14 year old son Eric to death, are free on bail pending an appeal. Eric's 69-pound body was found Jan. 4, 1989 after the family had fasted for 6 weeks. Larry, a former Seventh-Day Adventist minister, had $3,700 but would not buy food with it, saying it belonged to the Lord. "We were wondering, 'Is our faith being tested?' like when God asked Abraham to go up and sacrifice his son on the altar," Cottam said. "It was a kind of very close family togetherness," Cottam said. In the understatement of the decade, he added, "In some way, we lost perspective on reality." Their daughter Laura, now 13, who weighed 77 pounds when she was found after her brother's death, is in foster care. The Cottams are basing their appeal on grounds that the boy starved himself to death to express his freedom of religion. (Scranton Times, 8/29/89; Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/2-9/89; AP, 12/26/89) VIRGINIA JENKINS, 37, of Anderson, SC, was ruled incompetent to stand trial in charges that she sexually assaulted her son, 14, during an exorcism. She also rubbed glass and salt into his wounds. (USA Today, 1/4/90) The principal of Cornerstone Christian Academy (near Indianapolis) and her husband were charged with battery for paddling 2 pupils, ages 10 and 12, for bad grades. (Indianapolis Star, 12/15/89) DAVID L. DOUGLASS, principal of Mountain View Christian School in Derry Township, PA, was found guilty of paddling a 7 year old child until he was bruised. The boy was paddled for talking in class. "What we are talking about," said the prosecutor, "is a man who is blinded by his religion. The man does not see that the way to treat a hyperactive child is not to beat him into submission." (Express, 9/24/89) A Fayetteville, NC minister, his wife and another woman were charged with felony child abuse for beating 4 children last year. They are part of Holy Tabernacle storefront church, where Rev. John Charles McCollum, 39, is "chief apostle." He also preaches over radio stations in North and South Carolina and in tent revivals. Four children, who range in age from 3 to 15 years, suffered permanent scars on their bodies from serious physical injury. One is scarred permanently on the face. They were removed from the McCollum home in December, where Irish Lamont Williams, 32, mother of two of the children, also lives. Two other adults are being sought for abusing the children. (Fayetteville Times, 1/11/89) New Hampshire authorities have filed felony assault charges against a fundamentalist couple for beating their children with a stick and paddle. The kids were removed from their home. STEPHEN and JOANNE DECOSTA have found support in their church, and in character witnesses such as a former governor and a police officer whose children attend a church-run school with the DeCosta children. "The Bible definitely and expressly teaches the use of the rod in the discipline of children and we believe it, and we do it, and I teach it," said DeCosta's pastor, Richard Anderson of the Calvary Independent Baptist Church, Meredith. (AP/Clinton Herald [IA], 10/31/89) REV. ROBERT G. HALVERSTADT, 61, of Victory Center Church, Pueblo, CO, was sentenced to a year in jail, after admitting he used games, coercion and drugs to sexually molest 3 girls in his congregation. Charges involving 4 other victims were dropped when he pleaded guilty to reduced counts. He was given credit for 135 days already spent in jail, plus 4 years' probation. Halverstadt assaulted a girl, 9, who volunteered to help him clean his church. Another girl said he gave her something to drink that made her fall asleep. She woke up naked with pain in her groin area. (Chieftain, 12/15/89) The Kansas Supreme Court upheld the convictions of REV. DARWIN G. DAMEWOOD, 54, sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping a teenager in 1987 and sexually assaulting him. The Court affirmed all 8 counts against Damewood, formerly with the Rossville Methodist Church, ruling it permissible for another teenager to testify at the trial that Damewood had molested him too. (Topeka Capital-Journal, 12/9/89) STANLEY DENNIS CUMMINGS, 34, a bible school teacher, was sentenced to more than 2,000 years in prison after being convicted of 60 counts of child molesting and sexual exploitation of a minor. Cummings befriended 8 boys he met through church, friends and employment, molesting, sodomizing and photographing them in sexual acts. He beat one victim, tape-recording it for sexual gratification. "Ten seconds of indiscretion is ruining my entire life," he complained, referring to oral sex with a boy, 10. He told the judge: "But I have an illness. You cannot make me a criminal." (Arizona Daily Star, 9/19/89) REV. JOHN MICHAEL LIADIS, 56, of Largo, FL, was sentenced to 10 years' probation after a no-contest plea to 1 count of committing a lewd and lascivious act on a child under 16. He was also fined $500, told to stay away from children, and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. He grabbed a girl, 15, the daughter of friends, at a church retreat. Liadis was relieved of his duties at the church camp. (NT Times, FL, 11/4/89) MARY LOU GALLUP, 61, was sentenced to 2 years in prison for child molestation, and must pay for counseling for her victim, a 4 and a half year old girl. Her husband, Edward Sr. and son, were convicted of molesting kids at the family's two Christian preschools in Portland. (Register-Guard [Eugene, OR], 12/5/89) REV. WALTER N. STONE, pastor of Rollstone Congregational Church in Fitchburg, MA, was sentenced to 7-15 years in prison after being convicted by a jury of 8 counts of molesting 2 boys. Two victims, now 18 and 21, testified Stone befriended them during church counseling and activities. Stone, 56, is married with 4 children, an Air Force veteran, with a doctorate in theology from Boston University. Several friends and colleagues wrote letters of commendation for him. (Worcester Telegram, 11/10/89) REV. ROBERT DUANE SCHULTZ, 52, of Washington, Iowa, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after confessing to acts described as "horribly perverse" on boys under age 12, involving 1 count of sexual abuse and 3 others of lascivious acts. Officials are giving him polygraph tests and blood tests in an effort to identify other victims. The married minister was a foster parent honored in 1989 by Gov. Terry Branstad for volunteer service. Victims included foster children; five were removed from his home upon his arrest. The prosecution said a law preventing prosecution for sex assaults occurring more than 4 years ago should be changed, and would have resulted in more charges against Schultz. Rev. John Bennett told Schultz' congregation at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), "Bob has fallen...into a deep pit of despair. But Bob has not fallen from the grace of God." Church policy requires that he be defrocked for committing a felony. (Des Moines Register, 10/30- 11/3/89; AP/Clinton Herald, 10/30/89) REV. DAVID SWOPE, minister at Sparks United Methodist Church, NV, was sentenced to 1 year in county jail, suspended to 3 years' probation, and psychological counseling. Swope pleaded no contest to a plea bargain of open & gross lewdness. He molested a girl, age 10, after choir practice, telling her she was one of his favorites and it meant nothing sexual. He was accused of taking indecent liberties with another girl 8 years ago. (Reno Gazette Journal, 10/28/89) JOHNNIE VERNON WOODS JR., 36, a lay minister at a North Little Rock church, got 3 consecutive sentences for abducting and raping a girl, 9. A jury found him guilty of 2 counts of rape and 1 count of kidnapping. (Tulsa World, 10/29/89) BRUCE KRAHN, 37, pleaded guilty to molesting a student, 15, at Calvary Academy where he taught math. He got 1 year probation, a $500 fine, and a possible 60-day jail sentence. He asked her to stay after school, turned off the lights, shut the door, asked her questions about sex education she got in the public schools, hugged, fondled her and asked her to touch him. She reported it to her parents. He was fired and the state will revoke his teaching license. (Journal-Register [Springfield, IL], 10/25/89) GEORGE DEGOLYER, 42, pastor of Verona Christian Fellowship, WI, was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 5 years' probation after pleading no contest to 1st degree sexual assault of an 8 year old girl visiting his home. He carried the girl upstairs, pulled down her pants and molested her. He was ordered to have no unsupervised conduct with minors except his children. The DA agreed to ask the court to amend the charge to 4th degree if he does not violate probation. (Wisconsin State Journal, 11/1/89) JAMES KENNEDY, a Salvation Army pastor from LaCrosse, WI, was sentenced to 6 years in prison plus 10 years' probation for 1st degree sexual assault of a girl, 10. He was ordered to pay for counseling. She was sexually abused at his home 4 times in 1985. Supporters have rallied to his cause. The day after his sentencing, he was released on $15,000 bond posted by a relative, pending appeal. (AP/Wisconsin State Journal, 12/22/89) REV. L.G. GILSTRAP, 54, an Assemblies of God minister, was convicted by a jury on 3 counts of child molestation and sentenced to 33 years in prison for a string of fondling incidents in 1988 involving brothers aged 10 and 13. The older boy said Gilstrap once tried to have sex with him in the shower. Eight men testified during the trial that they too were molested by the minister when they were boys. Three said they were also abused by the Sunday school teacher, who was not tried. Gilstrap denied the charges but corroborated their accusations against the teacher. The prosecutor called Gilstrap the "Pied Piper of pedophilia." Gilstrap, defrocked, started a new church, New Hope Ministries. Married, he was a former clerk for the Georgia House of Representatives. (Atlanta Constitution, 9/22/89) REV. THOMAS MCLAUGHLIN, 58, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for sexually molesting a boy, 12, after pleading guilty in exchange for dismissal of 6 other charges. He was pastor of Church of the Resurrection in New Albany and St. Mary Church in Marion, Ohio. The mother of the victim asked the judge for leniency. "I was flabbergasted," noted Logan Co. prosecutor Gerald Heaton. "I can't recall, in my seven years of prosecuting cases, having the parent of a victim, especially a sexual abuse victim, speak in support of the perpetrator." The priest blamed his actions on "his disease" rather than himself. (New Herald, 1989) REV. RICHARD ZULA, 48, former pastor of Sts. Mary and Ann Church in Marianna and Washington counties, PA, received 1 to 5 years in prison for sexually molesting an altar boy. He also got 5 years' probation. He was arrested in 1984 in Somerset County for molesting a boy, 15, pleading guilty in May 1989 to 2 counts of corrupting minors. He still faces sentencing in Washington County after pleading guilty to a similar charge. (Scrantonian Tribune, 12/9/89) BROTHER SALVATORE BILLANTE, 50, was sentenced to 8 years in prison for molesting a boy, 13, as youth director at a Catholic camp. He also worked at Corpus Christi School in San Francisco. (Bay City News Service, 1989) REV. ROBERT A. KULZER, 65, was convicted of molesting 2 boys at Faith Temple Church, in Brighton. He was sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison but it was stayed pending appeal, meaning if he can make $10,000 cash bail he will not serve time yet. The married grandfather was convicted of 3 counts of sodomy and 1 count each of promoting prostitution, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child involving boys aged 12 to 16. Abuse included oral sex with a 16 year old boy, putting a condom on a 12 year old boy during a discussion about "the facts of life," and arranging for a boy to have sex with a 62 year old woman in the parsonage. Defense involved Kulzer's "good deeds," including being a missionary in Africa. (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, 12/13/89) REV. THOMAS WELSCH, 39, and his wife Jean, 40, were sentenced to 30 years in prison with all but 6 years suspended, after pleading guilty to 5 counts each of child sexual abuse. Originally they were charged with 571 counts involving 3 victims. Welsch and his wife abused twin sisters, 13, and a 17 year old girl. He was pastor at Immanuel United Church of Christ in Cambridge, MD for 10 years. The state's attorney praised all 3 victims for showing "a lot of courage" in testifying against their popular pastor. (Washington Post, 12/10/89; The Sun) (Continued On Next Post . . . ) ... Xtian Uses #3: Dynamite Truck Drivers. ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12 --- Maximus 3.01 * Origin: Cry-baby, cry-baby . . . (1:203/9046) SEEN-BY: 12/12 24/888 102/2 943 106/2000 109/7 112/101 114/262 271 124/1 SEEN-BY: 130/1 1008 133/2 143/1 147/34 2021 167/166 170/400 202/777 1207 SEEN-BY: 213/213 218/2 801 890 900 901 907 270/101 275/429 280/1 169 SEEN-BY: 282/1 62 283/120 284/29 290/14 300/603 310/666 322/739 323/107 SEEN-BY: 324/278 343/600 346/250 352/3 356/18 371/42 377/86 380/64 381/900 SEEN-BY: 382/92 388/1 396/1 2 45 690/660 730/2 732/10 2401/0 2442/0 3603/420 SEEN-BY: 3606/10 3612/41 3615/50 3619/25 3632/21 3651/9 3652/1 3667/1 @PATH: 203/9046 1102 992 270/101 396/1 218/907 801 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (117) Fri 11 Apr 97 9:52 By: Richard Smith To: George Harper Re: Church Abuse 4/6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @EID:34c9 228b4e80 @MSGID: 1:203/9046.0 334e4220 ( . . . Continued From Previous Post) REV. JAMES A. FORSYTHE of Holy Cross Church, Overland Park, KS, pleaded guilty to charges of having sexual relations with a teenage boy about 20 times. Forsythe, 35, molested the boy in the rectory of the church, where he was pastor for 2 years. He was relieved of his duties and was receiving counseling pending the sentencing. A therapist reported suspicions to the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. A statement by Archbishop Ignatius J. Strecker of Kansas City, KS seemed to place child molestation on par with extramarital sex: "God's wondrous gift of human sexuality is made beautiful in the holy bonds of marriage. On the other hand, it loses its beauty and its wonder when it is offended in or outside of marriage. It is all the more so when the offender is someone as trusted as a Catholic priest." (Kansas City Star, 12/8,9/89) BROTHER MARCEL CRETE, 55, at the Notre Dame Institute in Alfred, ME, pleaded guilty to 5 counts of gross sexual misconduct for having sex with a boy, 12, in 1983. Two other charges were outside the statute of limitation. Crete operated a public skating rink in an old barn. The victim picked apples in the Institute's orchard, worked in the kitchen and spent some nights in a room close to Crete's. Crete underwent counseling for 6 months in Maryland. "We feel that he's doing everything that he can, he can't do any more than he's doing," said Brother Patrick Menard, head of the Institute. (Journal Tribune [Biddeford, ME], 9/19/89) REV. WILLIAM MURRAY HENDRICKS JR., 50, pastor of Clay Hill Baptist Church, pleaded guilty to 2 counts of lewd & lascivious assault on a minor. The victim: a girl, 7, molested at the church, parish house in 1988 where he pastored for 15 years. As a plea bargain he agreed not to perform pastoral duties until his probation ended. (Florida Times-Union, 9/19/89) It took a jury only 28 minutes to find ANTONIO S. MARTINEZ, 59, a Pentecostal evangelist from Mathis, FL, guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a girl, 12. He claimed they had a common-law marriage. He first assaulted her when she was 11 and in 5th grade. Her grandmother forced her into the arrangement. A doctor turned Martinez in after Martinez asked him why she didn't become pregnant. (Corpus-Christi Caller Times, 9/27,28/89) REV. JIM "PAPA" CATER, 50 founder and head of Living World Church in Dickson Co., TN was indicted on 6 new counts of child sexual abuse, for a total of 56 charges. The crimes reportedly occurred at the church compound during April, May and June 1989. The state raided the church in June, taking 11 children into protective custody, ordering him to close his illegally operating residential child-care facility. Cater became a minister after converting while serving time in Florida for strong-armed robbery and forgery. His ministry specialized in helping recovering alcoholics & addicts. Following the arrests, he was injured in the county jail after inmates attacked him, calling him "baby raper." (Huntsville Times, 11/9/89) JAMES ALLEN WELLER, 31, a day care teacher and youth counselor at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Redwood City, CA, was booked on 20 counts of child molestation., oral copulation, sexual battery and child exploitation. A counselor in another state contacted police after a boy reported being abused by Weller. Boys ages 13 to 17 told police he paid or tricked them into posing for pornographic photographs over the last 3 years. Weller was also a Boy Scout leader and coached a youth basketball team at the church. Church officials hired him even though they knew he was a convicted felon who had served 6 years in prison for bank fraud, and was on parole. (San Jose Mercury News, 12/2/89) FATHER LUCIEN MEUNIER, 74, retired from a rural parish in British Columbia, was extradited from West Palm Beach to stand trial on charges of molesting 6 boys in the 1950s and 1960s. At least 7 boys and 1 girl have accused him of molestation when he worked as a parish priest in BC and Saskatchewan, sometimes at the church altar, in the rectory or church car. One victim said when Meunier fondled him, he "talked of how God had given these beautiful things...to enjoy." "Father Meunier told me that it was God's will that I should do this for him, and that it was just like a confessional where no one is supposed to tell anyone," the man wrote in a sworn statement. After performing oral sex on the boy, "he would then say short little prayers of praise." Another man signed a statement that Meunier molested him at a table just before the family gathered for dinner. "After saying grace and during the course of the dinner...Meunier had me masturbate him." Meunier pleaded no contest to 2 counts of child molestation at a South Phoenix Catholic Church in 1975 and was ordered in 1976 to serve 1 to 3 years in prison. (Palm Beach Post, 12/2/89; 1/13/90) Charges of sex crimes against minors were filed in Spokane Co. against 4 members of the hedonistic sect, C.E. Hobbs Foundation of Religious Training and Education. Two members were previously charged with similar offenses in Pend Oreille Co. Young women reported being sexually exploited as teenagers by adult church members during "sharing sessions" condoned by founder Clifford E. Hobbs. Officials are probing a transfer of the church's $10 million complex to a family trust, to protect Hobbs from civil lawsuits or IRS action. Hobbs, a steelworker-turned-evangelist who transferred his Illinois church to Washington in 1976, hasn't been charged with any crimes. (Skagit Valley Herald, 11/25/89) FATHER WILLIAM GROVES, pastor of St. Ignatius Church in Ignacio, Colorado, pleaded "not guilty" on Dec. 1 to 3 felony charges related to child molestation and 2 misdemeanor charges. A trial date was set for April. Groves, 37, represented by a public defender, is "on retreat." He previously served in Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas. Hildy Ochtrup, pastoral assistant, declared: "He's a blessing" and parishioners are "grateful to have Father Hall [sic] here." (Chronicle of Catholic Life, 12/89) WALTER HEROLDO SOLIS, 54, charged with molesting 3 girls at Glendale Spanish 7th-day Adventist Church in Glendale, was killed Nov. 29 after stepping into a traffic lane in what police believe was a suicide. (LA Times, 12/8/89) ROY YOUNG, 29, charged in Washington state in 3 molestation cases, is now suspected of molesting dozens of boys in Austin, TX, whom he befriended as a volunteer for youth programs at 2 churches. He lived in Austin for 8 years until moving to Washington 18 months ago, where he was busted for molesting boys in bible study groups he formed. Police seized a collection of photographs, some pornographic, involving as many as 65 Texas boys (ages 8 to 13). At least 4 Texas youths say they were molested. Police regard the photographed boys as suspected victims. Young, who is not married, is accused of performing sex acts in front of Austin children, showing them adult movies, giving them massages, photographing some in the nude and providing some with alcohol. For years he took young boys to movies, dinner, roller-skating, camping and on motorcycle rides, buying kids watches, boots, bracelets & gifts. He also invited youths to spend the night with him. "He gained the confidence of the parents by pretending to be a devout Christian who wanted to enhance the spiritual life of the kids," said a detective. (Austin-American Statesman, 12/8/89) REV. BRUCE RITTER, 62, founder of a $85-million-a-year fundraising operation called Covenant House, was accused by a benefactor of having sexual relations with him, and improperly spending $25,000 of program money on him. The Manhattan DA is investigating charges. After a search by Covenant House, a Texas college professor came forward saying the accuser is his son -- a "pathological liar" with a personality disorder. Covenant House operates in about 15 US and Canadian cities and 4 Central American countries, sending blue-and-white vans into the streets looking for young runaways. Ritter has been honored recently by Ronald Reagan and Pres. Bush, as well as being mentioned in a 1984 State of the Union address. Ritter admits he took several trips with his accuser, Kevin Lee Kite, spending nights alone with him. He called that an "almost unforgivable" lapse in judgment. He says he has shared his rooms with hundreds of runaway youths over the last 20 years. Covenant House has been criticized for ineffectiveness, and for its "mentor" program whereby staff spend free time with kids, inviting troubled youth home with them. "The mentors are encouraged to take the kids home and treat them as their own children," said spokesperson John Kells. Ritter says an audit proves Covenant House spent "only" $9,800 to house, employ and help educate Kite, lower than the average of $15,000 (!) usually spent on a case. About 10% of its funds are public. (LA Times, 12/16/89; New York Times, 12/15, 21/89; AP, 12/15/89) REV. RENE POIRER, 46, a popular priest at Sacred Heart Church in Chapleau, Ontario, surrendered after a warrant was issued on 2 charges of sexual assault. He was known for "helping the poor" in the Philippines, where he spent 12 years, and Haiti. (Spectator, 11/14,15/89) A priest from Toronto was charged with sexual abuse of a girl under 14 for an incident occurring in British Columbia. The judge banned publication of the priest's name. (Spectator, 11/13/89) Following the arrest of JAMES BOWEN, 51, a religious school teacher, on 84 child pornography counts, a legislator is seeking a review of private school rules. Florida law did not prevent Bowen from opening his own school despite a 1966 conviction for child molestation. Minimum qualifications for teachers & course standards are not required. Ten percent of school children attend private schools in Florida, most religious. (Miami Herald, 9/28/89) REV. ANGEL CANDALARIA, 70, was charged with sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a girl, 10, at his church in Vineland, NJ. (Daily Journal, 11/15/89) MICHAEL GILFORD, 36, was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault & criminal sexual abuse for molesting girls at a YWCA camp in Round Lake, IL where he was visiting. (News-Sun [Waukegan, IL], 10/21/89) $450,000 jury award against UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF ILLINOIS upheld by Judge Stuart Shiffman involving REV. WILLIAM FYFFE, who molested 3 brothers in Macon, 1982. Church held responsible because it knew Fyffe had molested boy at Taylor Ridge parish, 1975, but still ordained him, expunged records of counseling for molestation, transferred to community unaware of episode. Fyffe served nearly 3 years of prison after pleading guilty to Macon molestings. (Quad-City Times, 9/7/89; 10/18/89) Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix was sued by couple whose 2 sons were victims of REV. GEORGE BREDEMANN, 47, serving 1 year in jail. Also named are priest, St. Catherine of Sienna Church. Public was shocked by priest's light sentence in July, since he admitted molesting boys sent to him for counseling for previous sexual abuse, plus 15 others in past. Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien intervened on priest's behalf, then "apologized." (Arizona Republic, 8/10/89) Lawsuits were filed against REV. ALBERT C. MAGNUSON, pastor, Redeemer Covenant Church, Brooklyn Park, MN, for molesting 3 brothers, their sister, seminary student nearly 20 years ago when they went to him for counseling. Church, church's Northwest Conference likewise sued for negligence. (Star Trib., 6/89) Parents of boy molested by Newfoundland priest JAMES HICKEY are suing Archbishop Alphonsus Penney for negligence, the 1st lawsuit following 18 charges or convictions against Newfoundland priests. Other victims are suing government. Hickey was sentenced Sept. 1988 to 5 years in prison for assaulting 20 boys since 1970. Parents say Penney knew of abuse but did nothing. (Hamilton Spectator, 9/2/89) Father is suing Methodist Home of New Orleans, charging that son, 12, was molested by counselor during field trip. REV. DALE HAGGARD pleaded guilty in Jan. 1989, was sentenced to 4 years' probation, 500 hours community service, therapy. Haggard, Louisiana Methodist Conference also named. Suit alleges Conference knew Haggard "had a propensity to engage in sexual acts with young boys." (Times-Picayune, 7/19/89) Lawsuit against REV. THOMAS ADAMSON, Archdiocese of St. Paul, Minneapolis & Winona Diocese, was settled out of court for undisclosed amount. This is most recent of four suits involving Adamson to be settled; 20 other victims are suspected. Case involved boy, 13, molested on recreational outings. Suit charged church with continuing to assign Adamson to parishes after learning of sexual abuse. (St. Paul Pioneer Press-Dispatch, 9/20/89) Father of young child raped by HEATH TURNER, 16, childcare worker at First United Methodist Church, Mount Dora, is suing church for negligence. Turner convicted of assaulting child at church with toy boat, finger, ice. Church's youth minister, RALPH SMITH, testified on Turner's behalf, has since been charged with indecent assault of child. Suit says church failed to check backgrounds, supervise childcare, Sunday school classes. (Daily Commercial, 10/10/89) Man, 25, suing Portland Archdiocese, REV. JOHN GOODRICH for $2.5 million in damages because priest abused for 14 years (1974- 1988) on church premises. Diocese officials knew of Goodrich's conduct as early as 1973, according to suit. (Oregonian, 9/14/89) Six girls sexually abused by REV. FRANCIS G. HAIGHT, head of ex-Baptist Christian Academy, Monroe, WI, awarded total of $57,440 in court settlements. Haight serving 20 year term for molesting children; is eligible for parole in 4 years. (8/14/89) An undisclosed out-of-court settlement was made by the Mormon Church to Cynthia Brown of Mesa, who accused the church of failing to report to law enforcement authorities that a man had molested her daughter, age 2. A July 1988 ruling by the Arizona Court of Appeals had compelled two Mormon bishops and another church official to testify about conversations they had with RICHARD KENNETH RAY about molesting children. Ray, 47, was sentenced in Sept. 1984 to 61 years in prison for molesting 5 girls, including Brown's daughter. (Arizona Republic, 1/11/90) (Continued On Next Post . . . ) ... Xtian Uses #4: Lion chow. ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12 --- Maximus 3.01 * Origin: Cry-baby, cry-baby . . . (1:203/9046) SEEN-BY: 12/12 24/888 102/2 943 106/2000 109/7 112/101 114/262 271 124/1 SEEN-BY: 130/1 1008 133/2 143/1 147/34 2021 167/166 170/400 202/777 1207 SEEN-BY: 213/213 218/2 801 890 900 901 907 270/101 275/429 280/1 169 SEEN-BY: 282/1 62 283/120 284/29 290/14 300/603 310/666 322/739 323/107 SEEN-BY: 324/278 343/600 346/250 352/3 356/18 371/42 377/86 380/64 381/900 SEEN-BY: 382/92 388/1 396/1 2 45 690/660 730/2 732/10 2401/0 2442/0 3603/420 SEEN-BY: 3606/10 3612/41 3615/50 3619/25 3632/21 3651/9 3652/1 3667/1 @PATH: 203/9046 1102 992 270/101 396/1 218/907 801 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (118) Fri 11 Apr 97 9:53 By: Richard Smith To: George Harper Re: Church Abuse 5/6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @EID:f498 228b4ea0 @MSGID: 1:203/9046.0 334e425e ( . . .Continued From Previous Post) In a precedent-setting decision, the Anglican church made a secret out-of-court settlement of damages to an altar boy molested by a parish priest 4 years ago. REV. CHARLES GRIGGS, 61, former rector of St. Bede's, near Winnipeg, pleaded guilty in 1986 to charges of molesting a 13 year old. He received a 2 year suspended sentence and was ordered to receive counseling. Anglican officials offered wide and glowing support for Griggs after his confession. An uproar resulted when Archbishop Walter Jones allowed Griggs to continue as rector following his conviction, saying Griggs' confession of sin was sufficient repentance. Jones removed him from his post a month later. Griggs left the priesthood and lives in rural Manitoba. Molestings occurred after church services and at the priest's home. The family says former diocese bishop Barry Valentine had received complaints about Griggs prior to assaults on their son, but did nothing. Bishop Valentine, now in Baltimore, MD, says he received "only one" complaint, and immediately removed him as director of a diocesan summer camp. The Anglican Journal editorialized: "Similar incidents, just as serious, have received little or no publicity because ecclesiastical authorities have stepped in, quietly removed the priest from the parish, appeared with him in court and arranged for psychiatric help. But although such action protects the church's image, it gives little public warning to priests of the consequences they face for a breach of trust, and nothing to alert society that it has an alarming problem in its midst." (Anglican Journal, May 1989) The Catholic Diocese of Altoona and Johnstown, PA says turning over documents from its "secret archive" about a molesting priest would violate state/church separation. A man, 20, claiming REV. FRANCIS E. LUDDY, 47, molested him when he was ages 9 to 16, asked a Somerset Co. court to order release of the records. Luddy is on leave of absence at a Catholic treatment home in New Mexico. (Scranton Times, 12/19/89) Parents of 2 Norfolk boys sexually assaulted by their Cub Scout leader filed a $35 million lawsuit against Boy Scouts of America & the sponsoring Mormon Church. Both groups were called negligent for failing to check the background of Scout leader ERIC PATRICK "RICKY" AVANT, 29, who is serving 26 years in prison after admitting he molested the boys. Avant was convicted of similar offenses in 1979. (Washington Post, 11/1/89) GARY HAMBRIGHT, a Southern Baptist minister accused of molesting dozens of children at the Presidio daycare in San Francisco, died of AIDS Nov. 8. Between 60-102 tots were suspected victims of child sexual abuse by Hambright and others, but 2 investigations led to dismissal of charges. Five children had contracted chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease. The Army daycare was closed. Parents have filed more than $60 million in claims against the Army alleging negligence led to sexual abuse of kids. The claims haven't been heard. Hambright died maintaining his innocence, leaving an obituary rife with references to "my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." A Presidio spokesperson said none of the children have shown signs of AIDS. (San Jose Mercury News, 1/5/90; Orange Co. Register, 1/6/90) Mount Cashel orphanage, a once-respected 90-year-old orphanage in St. John's, Newfoundland, will close. Run by the Congregation of Irish Christian Brothers, it is the subject of a government inquiry and police investigations, leading to the charging of 9 brothers and former brothers with sexually and physically abusing orphan boys. Nineteen other priests or brothers in Newfoundland have also been charged or convicted of similar sex crimes. Most of the orphanage crimes occurred in the 1970s. The inquiry is investigating why a 1975 police probe was halted, maybe covered up. In November, BROTHER GERARD COX was charged with 3 counts of sexually abusing boys there; 38 orphans will be transferred out. MSGR. WILLIAM BOONE, 65, of Corner Brook, was also charged in November with indecent assault and gross indecency against a young man. (Canadian Press, 11/11/89; Buffalo News, 12/3/89) REV. VAUGHAN QUINN, flamboyant ex-director of Detroit's Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center for alcoholics, agreed to pay $20,000 to a woman charging he raped her while she was a patient in 1986. Sacred Heart will also pay her $10,000 to settle a suit charging he abused their "psychotherapist-patient and priest-penitent relationship" to "force and coerce her" into sex. A recovering alcoholic himself, Quinn built Sacred Heart into one of Michigan's largest residential alcoholic treatment centers, and was socially well-connected. Actor Mike Connors wanted to star Robert Redford in a movie about him. The production never panned out. Quinn resigned in 1987, and is now chaplain at Collins Bay Institution, a medium security prison in Kingston, Ontario. (Detroit Free Press, 1/4/90) BAD MONEY The Vatican bank ("Institute for Religious Works") agreed to pay $250 million to the creditors of Banco Ambrosiano. Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, the "Pope's Banker," was accused of being an accessory to the fraudulent bankruptcy of the bank, which collapsed in 1982 amid mysterious deaths. In 1988, an Italian court annulled a warrant for the arrest of Marcinkus, who had been given sanctuary at the Vatican, saying Italy had no jurisdiction over Vatican affairs. (LA Times, 3/10/89) Although more than $300,000 was raised since 1973 by an Episcopal Church in Paoli, Pennsylvania, to benefit impoverished Pine Ridge Sioux, the tribe has not received it. Good Samaritan Episcopal Church minister Daniel Sullivan did not ask for an accounting of the money, given to REV. FRANCIS APPLE, a Sioux Indian, to oversee. The money was meant to pay for a cattle herd, a children's home, alcoholism treatment and other aid. The only Indian family to benefit, however, appears to be Father Apple's. He is under investigation by the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota. At least 6 other Episcopal churches sent money to Apple. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/1/89) A live-in maid was accused of using drugs and forgery to take more than $800,000 from a 71 year old paraplegic widow, then donating most of the loot to a North Carolina ministry. Fountain of Life insisted the donations were given by the widow freely and used for "God's work." (News & Observer, 5/2/89) REV. AL SHARPTON was arraigned on charges of stealing $250,000 from National Youth Movement, a charitable group he launched as a youth in New York. Sharpton was involved in the Tawana Brawley case. (AP/Wisconsin State Journal, 6/30/89) A Chicago circuit judge ordered 70 people who participated in an illegal pyramid scheme to return the $12,000 each received from the venture. South Side preacher T.L. BARRETT engineered three pyramid schemes taking in more than $3 million between May and November, 1988, allegedly to help the needy. (Chicago Sun Times, 6/27/89) A Chicago pastor and his daughter were indicted by federal authorities for using his deceased niece, who had muscular dystrophy, to collect nearly $1 million in fraudulent life insurance proceeds. REV. COLUMBUS EWINGS, 57, pastor of Community Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, named himself as her beneficiary to collect money, using his daughter and others to impersonate her after she died in 1987, and concealing her medical condition. (Chicago Tribune, 6/28/89) A 72 year old Indianapolis man was robbed of $2,607 at knifepoint by a bible-toting trio who invited him to a religious study group. (Sun, 7/11/89) REV. JOSEPH L. DAVIS, a close friend of the mayor of East St. Louis, was convicted of operating a major cocaine ring and laundering drug profits through Mount Zion Baptist Church. Davis lived luxuriously and conducted antidrug seminars for youngsters. His congregation stood behind him. (AP/Clinton Herald, 7/22/89) A civil suit by 9 members of the House of Prayer at Zebulon charge that leaders enriched themselves by requiring members to give the church their paychecks. Pastor CHARLES E. SMITH and EVANGELINE SMITH collected more than $600,000 in 2 years to buy real estate, according to the suit. (Mrs. Smith served a month in jail along with 12 other female church members for assaulting 3 of the plaintiffs because the pastor had seduced them.) (News & Observer [Raleigh, NC], 7/7/89) REV. ROY GREENHILL was convicted and sentenced to 5 years in prison for swindling an 83 year old man out of $40,000 in a scam to publish a revised version of the bible. He bilked Georgians and South Carolinians of nearly $400,000. (Atlanta Constitution, 7/21/89) REV. JOSEPH OCTAVIO TYE is charged with embezzling as much as $500,000 from an Arizona church, but supporters staged letter-writing campaigns and rallies to protest the popular priest's arrest. (Arizona Daily Star, 8/9/89) REV. EUGENE PROFETA was released from county jail in New York after serving part of a 6 month sentence for filing a false tax return and witness tampering. Profeta was ordered to pay $26,000 in back taxes too. Jessica Hahn had sought help from him after being raped by Jim Bakker. His congregation at the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church on Long Island continues to support him. (New York Times, 7/22/89) DAVID and JAMES TAGGART, PTL aides, were convicted of evading $525,000 in income taxes on money they took from PTL. (New York Times, 7/26/89) Richard Dortch, former VP of the PTL Club, was sentenced to 8 years in prison and fined $200,000 for bilking followers of millions. Fraud involved "lifetime partnerships" that Jim Bakker and Dortch sold at Heritage USA. A one-time $1,000 donation supposedly entitled partners to 3 nights' free lodging each year, but partnerships were oversold and the hotels were never built or were not completed. (New York Times, 8/26/89) A Missouri couple who sealed their deals with prayer were charged with bilking about 75 investors, many of them older people who handed over life savings, of $3 to $5 million. PAUL and JUDITH BROCK of Neosho were also named in a civil suit by some investors. (Kansas City Times, 8/8/89) ROBERT W. CAULEY, an Avon, Ohio priest, pleaded no contest to reduced charges of stealing $40,000. He was originally accused of stealing more than $100,000 from two elderly women (claiming he would safeguard or invest their egg nests). The women said they had not come forward because they did not want to disgrace the church. (Plain Dealer, 8/22/89) REV. MERTON PEKRUL, pastor of Family Bible Church, Mesa, AZ, was fined $100,000, ordered to pay $398,000 to 8 victims and sentenced to a year and a half in prison for his role in a $400,000 gold-digging scheme. He was also fined $58,000 by the Arizona Corporation Commission for various securities violations. He pleaded no contest to reduced charges of abetting an illegal enterprise, in exchange for testifying against his partner. Pekrul still has defenders, even among some of his victims. In the 1970s, Pekrul's ministry took the Evangelical Free Church in Wisconsin Rapids, WI $200,000 in debt. (Tempe Daily News Tribune, 7/15,29/89; Arizona Republic, 8/19/89) Community Churches, a fundamentalist church in Glendale, CA, improperly spent $117,787 earmarked for low-income housing, then tried to sell the building for a huge profit. HUD found that funds for the 150-unit high rise had paid officers of the church and had been used to purchase 2 vans for church events. HUD reached a settlement with the church on misspent money, not specified. (AP/Miami Herald, 8/28/89) An Oakland public school payroll clerk was accused of using her bible study group in a scheme to embezzle more than $24,000 from the district. MARIE LOUISE BELL was charged with grand theft for overpaying janitors, who kicked back money to her. (LA Times, 8/27/89) Bank robber JAMES HATCH said he robbed a bank of $2,500 in June in order to donate it to the "Lord's Covenant Church," which teaches "that the Federal Reserve System was causing the collapse of the American economy." After Hatch had donated $7,000 in cash, he said a church member called and urged him to rob a bank. (Deseret News [Salt Lake City], 9/89) Three men with ties to Olivet Nazarene University bilked friends and associates of $1 million in a phony investment scheme, charged Neil Hartigan, Illinois Attorney General. Hartigan said they "shamelessly misused the good will of the people of the church and the community." (AP/Quad-City Times, 9/29/89) A jury convicted PTL leader Jimmy Bakker of all 24 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. Prosecutors said he diverted $3.7 million of the $158 million sent in for PTL partnerships for his own use. He received 10 years in prison. The Eternal Crown Ministries run by REV. EDGAR HARTIGAN and partner CHARLES GOLLAHON was termed "the most convoluted labyrinth that I have ever seen as part of a plot to defraud people" by a banking attorney. A mansion in Dayton, Ohio housed a church, production company, broadcasting school and modeling agency, serving as a front so the men could take advantage of its tax-exempt status for their businesses. The men have several unpaid loans through a bank in West Alexandria, almost causing the bank to fold. Hartigan pleaded guilty to aiding in the misappropriation of bank funds. A civil lawsuit is in progress. (Dayton Daily News, 10/29/89) PHILIP SHIRL, who operates Lincoln Ministerial Alliance, was charged with embezzling federal funds for emergency food and shelter. Shirl is accused of using $1,654.50 for personal use. (Northwest Arkansas Morning News, 10/29/89) Teresa Brown, who formerly ran a notorious bordello in San Antonio, won a civil lawsuit against three Christians who recruited her to their church, then swindled her of a number of her homes. A jury awarded her $172,500. One defendant, Amos Villanueva, was found guilty of swindling another woman of her home. (San Antonio Light, 11/8/89) (Continued On Next Post . . . ) ... Xtian Uses #5: Proctologists. ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12 --- Maximus 3.01 * Origin: Cry-baby, cry-baby . . . (1:203/9046) SEEN-BY: 12/12 24/888 102/2 943 106/2000 109/7 112/101 114/262 271 124/1 SEEN-BY: 130/1 1008 133/2 143/1 147/34 2021 167/166 170/400 202/777 1207 SEEN-BY: 213/213 218/2 801 890 900 901 907 270/101 275/429 280/1 169 SEEN-BY: 282/1 62 283/120 284/29 290/14 300/603 310/666 322/739 323/107 SEEN-BY: 324/278 343/600 346/250 352/3 356/18 371/42 377/86 380/64 381/900 SEEN-BY: 382/92 388/1 396/1 2 45 690/660 730/2 732/10 2401/0 2442/0 3603/420 SEEN-BY: 3606/10 3612/41 3615/50 3619/25 3632/21 3651/9 3652/1 3667/1 @PATH: 203/9046 1102 992 270/101 396/1 218/907 801 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (119) Fri 11 Apr 97 9:53 By: Richard Smith To: George Harper Re: Church Abuse 6/6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @EID:f468 228b4ea0 @MSGID: 1:203/9046.0 334e4260 ( . . . Continued From Previous Post) A building contractor who filed bankruptcy in 1988 says he wants to raise $20-$30 million in public contributions to open "HeavensBank," a national bank whose profits would aid TV ministries such as Jimmy Swaggart. Charles Hopkins, of Indiana, admits he knows nothing about banking but plans to raise $1 million a day for a month using pledge cards mailed to Indiana churches. (AP/Lafayette Journal & Courier, 11/12/89) The pastor of Airport Baptist Church in Des Moines resigned after telling his congregation that he took an unspecified amount of church money. No legal action was planned against REV. DAVID CORTNER. (Clinton Herald, 11/15/89) A judge called SISTER ELIZABETH MANHERTZ, 71, "despicable" for stealing $3,441 from deceased residents of a nursing home in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The nun pocketed money she was supposed to return to relatives by forging signatures. The home she administered was found to be dirty, cockroach-ridden and inadequately staffed. (Ottawa Citizen, 11/3/89) The Indianapolis Securities Commission is spending half its time and resources looking into complaints against religious groups, according to Securities Commissioner Mark E. Maddox. The state agency issued a cease-and-desist order against REV. LARRY LILLY, pastor of Faith Baptist Church, Avon, Indiana, stopping sales of unregistered bonds. Church members said $1.6 million is missing and they question Rev. Lilly's lifestyle of sports cars and private planes. The televangelist left a church in Virginia $350,000 in debt. Other action was pending against Fairhaven Church of Chesterton for selling unregistered bonds and promissory notes, and against a British West Indies group selling unregistered securities to members of Amish communities in southeastern Indiana. (Indianapolis Star, 11/11/89) MSGR. EUGENE F. HOTCHKISS, 68, was convicted in Oshkosh, WI of embezzling more than $46,000 from donations, collection envelopes and fees to his church over a four year period. (Milwaukee Sentinel, 11/10/89) REVS. SAM JOHNSON and JOHN WESLEY FLETCHER, two associates of Jim Bakker, were indicted for lying to a federal grand jury about $10,000 in hush money paid to silence Jessica Hahn. (USA Today, 12/5/89) The Roman Catholic Church sent the mayor of Levico Terme, Italy a bill for $22,000 for a series of special Masses celebrated since 1630, requested during the plague! The US Supreme Court refused to overturn rulings forcing Louisiana-based Jimmy Swaggart Ministries to pay California $183,000 in back taxes. * Origin: THE CRYSTAL CAVE, "DER MAGICK TREFFPUNKT" (719 391-1902 (1:182/50) ------------------------------------------------------------ Hmmm . . . I've seen at least one Lutheran in that group, and at least one retired Air Force person . . . gh> Read the Holy ! gh> paragraph dealing with the legal recourse available for gh> even SUSPECTED criminal actions. IF you have proof, gh> follow the path indicated. If, as I suspect, these gh> allegations are total fabrications intended to defame a gh> particular church body, or an individual, I suggest that gh> you write a retraction and publish it in this echo. I suggest you disprove his claims. Of course you CAN'T, so I further suggest you lube your thumb, squat on it, and spin. gh> Otherwise, *I* DO have the ability to determine who gh> taught you your catechism, so I *WILL* be able to gh> inform him, if he still lives, of your charges in a gh> public international echo. Go ahead. Knock yourself out. I hope you can substantiate your charges. Mind you, I don't specifically recall Ed being Lutheran-specific in his posts . . . EM> Yes, it's a great service you fundies are providing here. EM> You're helping me connect the dots by providing EM> real-world confirmation gh> another indication of arrested mental development: You have to keep a list, you have so many? gh> plays childish games as a means of coping... My, aren't YOU the humanitarian! Coping, in almost any manner, is it's own reward. Some people have to do things that are patently not what you would prefer, in order to just cope with things. gh> receives confirmation from the dots...calls them gh> Reality... I suppose that you're going to suggest that the list I just provided for you isn't real? EM> Condescension works much better when it relates to the EM> intent of that which it is directed at. Absent that, it EM> serves no purpose but to belie deficient reading EM> comprehension. Just thought you'd like to know. :-) gh> Just dealing with what you described as the value of gh> the information input by the "fundies" (To Wit: gh> "helping me connect the dots" - indicating that you are gh> indeed pursuing a childish pastime). Seems to me to gh> fit your intent to a "T"... Fundy Shuffle Step 21: `I know you are, but what am I?' EM> of religious deceit, confirmation that gradually piles up along- EM> side the failed brainwashing put there years ago by your ilk gh> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ gh> I read this as: "brainwashing = religious education" Thanx for confirming that religious education is brainwashing, Georgie. gh> replaced by "brainwashing = a large volume container of gh> fecal matter devised by those unwilling to accept gh> accountability for their own self-indulgences" You really ARE a copraphilliac, aren't you? gh> If I am wrong, please prove the validity of the belief gh> system which you have substituted for the teachings of gh> your parents and pastor. Who said that Ed had ANY belief system? EM> what's child abuse. Adults who buy the shit deserve EM> to be misinformed. gh> I repeat... . . . ad nauseum . . . gh> if it is child abuse, it is illegal...do something about gh> it. BUT - remember my threat to inform your pastor that Looks to me like Ed IS doing something about it. gh> you called him a pedophile, and that you accuse the LOL! Knock yourself out, asshole. gh> entire Lutheran Church I hope you have evidence for these baseless accusations. Or YOU could be looking at a suit as well. gh> of child abuse through forcible christian education. I gh> sincerely hope that your ACLU lawyers are adequate to gh> the challenge you will put before them...though I doubt gh> you will find any of them willing to accept your gh> case...BECAUSE I HAVE YOUR ORIGINAL MESSAGE ON FILE AS gh> PROOF OF LIBEL, I think you need to check the rules for Libel again, Georgie. gh> making your position indefensible enough to scare them gh> off. Did you know that you spit when you talked? gh> And, yes, because our writings have gotten you to return gh> to reading the Bible, our mission has been accomplished gh> very nicely, thank you! EM> Those delusions meld almost seamlessly with each other. The EM> insidiousness of it is rather impressive. I can see how EM> persons of average cranial capacity could be seduced by EM> this. gh> Thank you. You're quite welcome. gh> I am presuming you are hinting at an above-average gh> cranial capacity {your interpretation = above-average gh> intelligence; my interpretation is that you are gh> hyper-cephalic/have a swelled head), which follows gh> having such a "crock" implanted by your atheistic gh> masters. You know, if you don't have a license to practice medicine, Georgie, this last paragraph can be used to file suit against you for practicing medicine without said license. I suggest that Ed save it just so that he can file counter-suits against you if he feels he needs to. EM> Your Jedi mind tricks don't work on me, boy. ;-) gh> They ARE amusing, tho!!! At least *I* am having fun! EM> Sorry! gh> Apology needless, but accepted! gh> hehehehehe I like this new breed of self-amusing fundies. We need to get more of them. ... Xtian Uses #6: Often only virgin available for sacrifice. ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12 --- Maximus 3.01 * Origin: Cry-baby, cry-baby . . . (1:203/9046) SEEN-BY: 12/12 24/888 102/2 943 106/2000 109/7 112/101 114/262 271 124/1 SEEN-BY: 130/1 1008 133/2 143/1 147/34 2021 167/166 170/400 202/777 1207 SEEN-BY: 213/213 218/2 801 890 900 901 907 270/101 275/429 280/1 169 SEEN-BY: 282/1 62 283/120 284/29 290/14 300/603 310/666 322/739 323/107 SEEN-BY: 324/278 343/600 346/250 352/3 356/18 371/42 377/86 380/64 381/900 SEEN-BY: 382/92 388/1 396/1 2 45 690/660 730/2 732/10 2401/0 2442/0 3603/420 SEEN-BY: 3606/10 3612/41 3615/50 3619/25 3632/21 3651/9 3652/1 3667/1 @PATH: 203/9046 1102 992 270/101 396/1 218/907 801 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (240) Sat 12 Apr 97 22:27 By: Mark O'Neill To: George Harper Re: Up yours, dickhead! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @EID:3dcc 228cb360 @MSGID: 3:640/375.1 33505bb6 @CHRS: LATIN-1 2 Incase you're wondering, (Ha! That'll be the fuckin' day!), this is one of the many electronic books available from Project Gutenburg. For more information about Project Gutenburg you could probably mail Marilyn Burge. Apart from having the CRs stripped, and the page numbers cut out, this article is verbatim. That's right, stupid. No editing. Begin. Part 1 of 5. 13 page printout Reproducible Electronic Publishing can defeat censorship. This disk, its printout, or copies of either are to be copied and given away, but NOT sold. Bank of Wisdom, Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201 **** **** WHO WAS JESUS CHRIST, AND WHAT DID HE TEACH? by Charles Bradlough I WHO WAS JESUS CHRIST? MANY persons will consider the question one to which the Gospels give a sufficient answer and that no further inquiry is necessary. But while the general Christian body affirm that Jesus was God incarnate on earth, the Unitarian Christians, less in numerical strength but numbering a large proportion of the more intelligent and humane, absolutely deny his divinity; the Jews, of whom he is alleged to have been one, do not believe in him at all; and the enormous majority of the inhabitants of the earth have never accepted the Gospels. Even in the earliest ages of the Christian Church heretics were found, amongst Christians themselves, who denied that Jesus had ever existed in the flesh. Under these circumstances the most pious should concede that it is well to prosecute the inquiry to the uttermost, that their faith may rest on sure foundations. The history of Jesus Christ is contained in four books or gospels; outside these it cannot be pretended that there is any reliable narrative of his life. We know not with any certainty, and have now no means of knowing, when, where, or by whom these Gospels were written. The name at the head of each Gospel affords no clue to the real writer. Before A.D. 160 no author mentions any Gospels by Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, and there is no sufficient evidence to identify the Gospels we have with even the writings to which Irenaeus refers towards the close of the second century. The Church has provided us with an author for each Gospel, and some early Fathers have argued that there ought to be four Gospels, because there are four seasons, four principal points to the compass, and four corners to the earth. Bolder speculators affirm twelve apostles because there are twelve signs of the Zodiac. With regard to the Gospel first in order, divines disagree as to the language written. Some allege that the original was in Hebrew, others deny that our Greek version has any of the characters of a translation. We neither know the hour, nor day, nor month, nor year of Jesus's birth; divines generally agree that he was not born on Christmas Day, and yet on that day the anniversary of his birth is observed. The Oxford Chronology places the matter in no clearer light, and more than thirty learned authorities give a period of over seven years' difference in their reckoning. The place of his birth is also uncertain. The Jews, in the presence of Jesus, reproached him that he ought to have been born at Bethlehem, and he never replied "I was born there ", (John vii. 41, 42, 52). Bank of Wisdom Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201 1 WHO WAS JESUS CHRIST, AND WHAT DID HE TEACH? Jesus was the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matt. i.), from whom his descent is traced through Isaac -- born of Sarai (whom the writer of the epistle to Galatians [iv. 24] says was a covenant and not a woman) -- and ultimately through Joseph, who was not only not his father, but is not shown to have had any kind of relationship to him, and through whom therefore the genealogy should not be traced. There are two genealogies in the Gospels which contradict each other, and these in part may be collated with the Old Testament genealogy, which differs from both. The genealogy of Matthew is self-contradictory, counts thirteen names as fourteen, and omits the names of three kings. Matthew says Abiud was the son of Zorobabel (i. 13). Luke says Zorobabel's son was Rhesa (iii. 27). The Old Testament contradicts both, and gives Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith, their sister (1 Chron. iii. 19), as the names of Zorobabel's children. The reputed father of Jesus, Joseph, had two fathers, one named Jacob, the other Heli. The divines suggest that Heli was the father of Mary, by reading the word "Mary" in Luke iii. 23, in lieu of "Joseph," and the word "daughter" in lieu of "son," thus correcting the evident blunder made by inspiration. The birth of Jesus was miraculously announced to Mary and to Joseph by visits of an angel, but they so little regarded the miraculous annunciation that they marvelled soon after at much less wonderful things spoken by Simeon. Jesus was the son of God, or God manifest in the flesh, and his birth was first discovered by some wise men or astrologers, a class described in the Bible as an abomination in God's sight. These men saw his star in the East, but it did not tell them much, for they were apparently obliged to ask information from Herod the King. Herod in turn inquired of the chief priests and scribes; and it is evident Jeremiah was right if he said, "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means," for these chief priests either misread the prophets or misquoted the Scripture, which is claimed to be a revelation from God, and invented a false prophecy (Matt. ii. 5, 6; cf. Micah v. 2) by omitting a few words from, and adding a few words to, a text until it suited their purpose. The star -- after the wise men knew where to go, and no longer required its aid -- led and went before them, until it came and stood over where the young child was. This story will be better understood if the reader will walk out some clear night, notice a star, and then try to fix the one house it will be exactly over. The writer of the Third Gospel, silent on the star story, speaks of an angel who tells some shepherds of the miraculous; but this does not appear to have happened in the reign of Herod. After the wise men had left Jesus an angel warned Joseph to flee with Jesus and Mary into Egypt; and Joseph did fly, and remained there with the young child and his mother until the death of Herod; and this it is alleged was done to fulfil a prophecy. The words (Hos. xi. 1) are not prophetic and have no reference whatever to Jesus. The Jesus of the Third Gospel never went into Egypt at all in his childhood. When Jesus began to be about thirty years of age he was baptized by John in the River Jordan. John, who knew him, according to the First Gospel, forbade him directly he saw him; but, according to the Fourth Gospel, he knew him not, and had, therefore, no occasion to forbid him. God is an "invisible spirit," whom no man hath seen (John i. 18) or can see (Exod. xxxiii. 20); but the man John saw the spirit of God descending like a dove. God is everywhere, but at that time was in heaven, from whence he said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Although John heard this from God's own mouth, he did not always act as if he believed it, but some time after sent two of his disciples to Jesus to inquire if he were really the Christ (Matt. xi. 2, 3). Immediately after the baptism Jesus was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil. Jestis fasted forty days and forty nights, and in those days he did eat nothing. Moses twice fasted that period. Such fasts are nearly miraculous. The modern fasting men, and the Hindoo fasters, only show that under very abnormal conditions long abstinence from food is possible. Absolutely miraculous events are events which never happened in the past, do not take place in the present, and never will occur in the future. Jesus, it is said, was God, and by his power as God fasted. On the hypothesis of his divinity it is difficult to understand how he became hungry. When hungry the Devil tempted Jesus by offering him stones, and asking him to make them bread. Stones offered to a hungry man for bread-making hardly afford a probable temptation. Which temptation came next is a matter of doubt. Matthew and Luke relate the story in different order. According to one, the Devil next taketh Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and tempts him to throw himself to the bottom, by quoting Scripture that angels should bear him in their arms. Jesus either disbelieved this Scripture or remembered that the Devil, like other pillars of the Church, grossly misquoted to suit his purpose, and the temptation failed. The Devil then took Jesus to an exceeding high mountain, from whence he showeth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory thereof, in a moment of time. It is urged that this did not include a view of the Antipodes, but only referred to the kingdoms then known; even then it must have been a long look from Judea to China. The mountain must have been very high -- much higher than the diameter of the earth, Origen, a learned and pious holy father, suggests that no man in his senses will believe this to have really happened. If Origen had to defend his language before a modem judge of the type of Mr. Justice North, the Christian Father would have sore risk of Holloway jail. The Devil offered Jesus -- who it is declared was one with God and therefore omnipotent -- all the kingdoms of the world if he, Jesus, the omnipotent God, would fall down and worship his own creature, the Devil. Some object that if God is the creator and omnipotent ruler of the world, then the Devil would have no control over the kingdoms of the world, and that the offer could be no temptation as it was made to Jesus, who was God omnipptent and all-wise. Such objectors rely on natural reason. continues.... --- Spot 1.3a #1526 * Origin: "Newborn babies sin non-verbally." Ken Young (3:640/375.1) SEEN-BY: 12/12 24/888 102/2 943 106/2000 109/7 112/101 114/262 271 124/1 SEEN-BY: 130/1 1008 133/2 143/1 147/34 2021 167/166 170/400 202/777 1207 SEEN-BY: 213/213 218/2 801 890 900 901 907 270/101 275/429 280/1 169 SEEN-BY: 282/1 62 283/120 284/29 290/14 300/603 310/666 322/739 323/107 SEEN-BY: 324/278 343/600 346/250 352/3 356/18 371/42 377/86 380/64 381/900 SEEN-BY: 382/92 388/1 396/1 2 45 690/660 730/2 732/10 2401/0 2442/0 3603/420 SEEN-BY: 3606/10 3612/41 3615/50 3619/25 3632/21 3651/9 3652/1 3667/1 @PATH: 640/375 201 270/101 396/1 218/907 801 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (241) Sat 12 Apr 97 22:13 By: Mark O'Neill To: George Harper Re: Up yours, dickhead! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @EID:3dcc 228cb1a0 @MSGID: 3:640/375.1 33505c14 @CHRS: LATIN-1 2 Continued from previous message. Part 2 of 5. After the temptation Jesus worked many miracles, casting out devils and otherwise doing marvels amongst the inhabitants of Judea, who seem as a body to have been very unbelieving. If a second Jesus of Nazareth were in this heretical age to boast that he possessed the power of casting out devils, he would stand a fair chance of expiating his offence by a three months' imprisonment with hard labour. It is true that the 72nd Canon of the Church of England recognizes that ministers can cast out devils, but forbids them to do this unless licensed by the Bishop, "under pain of the imputation of imposture or cozenage." Now, if sick men have a little wisdom the physician is resorted to that he may cure the disease. If men have much wisdom they study physiology while they have health, in order to prevent sickness. In the time of the early Christians prayer and faith (James v. 14, I5) occupied the position since usurped by medicine and experience. Men who had lost their senses in the time of Christ were regarded as attacked not by disease but by the Devil. In the days of Jesus one spirit would make a man blind, or deaf, or dumb; occasionally a number of devils would get into a man and drive him mad. On one occasion Jesus met either one man (Mark V. 2) or two men (Matt. Viii. 28) possessed with devils. The devils knew Jesus and addressed him by name. Jesus, not so familiar with the imp or imps, inquired the name of the particular devil he was addressing. The answer, given in Latin, would induce a belief, possibly corroborated by the writings of the monks, that devils communicated in that tongue. Jesus wanted to cast out the devils from the man; this they did not contest, but they expressed a decided objection to being cast out of the country. A compromise was agreed to, and at their own request the devils were transferred to a herd of swine. The swine ran into the sea and were drowned. There is no record of any compensation to the owner. Jesus fed large multitudes of people under circumstances of a most ultra-thaumatirgic character. To the first book of Euclid is prefixed an axiom "that the whole is greater than its part." John Wesley was wise if it be true that he eschewed mathematics lest it should lead him to infidelity. If any man be irreligious enough to accept Euclid's axiom he will be compelled to reject the miraculous feeding of 5,000 people with five loaves and two small fishes. The original difficulty of the miracle, though not increased, is made hard to the common mind by the assertion that after the multitude had been fed twelve baskets full of fragments remained. Jesus is related to have walked on the sea whan it was very stormy, and when "the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew." Walking on the water is a great feat even if the sea be calm, but when the waves run high it is still more wonderful. The miracle of turning water into wine at Cana, in Galilee, is worthy of attention when considering the question, Who was Jesus Christ? Jesus and his disciples had been called to a marriage feast, and when there the company fell short of wine. The mother of Jesus, to whom the Catholics offer worship, and to whom they pay great adoration, informed Jesus of the deficiency and was answered, "Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." His mother seemed to have expected a miracle, yet in the Fourth Gospel the Cana wonder was the beginning of miracle-working by Jesus; the apocryphal gospels assert that Jesus practised miracle- working as a child. Jesus having obtained six water-pots full of water, turned them into wine. Teetotallers who cannot believe God would specially provide means of drunkenness urge that this wine was not of intoxicating quality, though there is nothing in the text to justify their hypothesis. The curious connexion between the phrase "well drunk" and the time at which the miracle was performed would rather warrant the supposition that the guests were already in such a state as to render it difficult for them to critically appreciate the new vintage. The moral effects of this miracle are not easily appreciable. Shortly after this Jesus went to the temple with a scourge of small cords, and drove thereout the cattle-dealers and money- changers who had assembled there in the ordinary coarse of their business. The writer of the Fourth Gospel places this event very early in the public life of Jesus. The writer of the Third Gospel fixes the occurrence much later. Jesus being hungry went to a fig-tree to gather figs, though the season of figs was not yet come. Of course there were no figs upon the tree, and Jesus then caused the tree to wither away. This is specially interesting as a problem for a true orthodox trinitarian who will believe, first, that Jesus was God, who made the tree, and prevented it from bearing figs; second, that God the all-wise, who is not subject to human passions, being hungry, went to the fig-tree, on which he knew there could be no figs, expecting to find some there; third, that God, the all-just, then punished the tree because it did not bear figs in opposition to God's eternal ordination. Jesus had a disciple named Peter, who, having much Christian faith, was a great coward, and denied his leader in his hour of need. Jesus, though previously aware that Peter would be a traitor, yet gave him the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and told him that whatsoever he bound on earth should be bound in Heaven. Peter was to have denied jesus three times before the cock should crow (Matt. xxvi. 34). The cock crowed before Peter's second denial (Mark xiv. 68). Commentators urge that the words used do not refer to the crowing of any particular cock, but to a special hour of the morning called "cock-crow" But if the Gospel be true the explanation is false. Peter's denial becomes the more extraordinary when we remember that he had seen Moses, Jesus, and Ellas talking together, and had heard a voice from a cloud say, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." As Peter could thus deny Jesus after having heard God vouch his divinity, and Peter not only escapes punishment but gets the office of gate-keeper to Heaven, how much more should those escape punishment and obtain reward who only deny because they cannot help it, and who have been left without any corroborative evidence of sight or hearing! The Jesus of the First Gospel promised that, as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so he (Jesus) would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Yet he was buried on Friday evening and was out of the grave before Saturday night was over. Some say that the Jews reckoned part of a day as a whole one. The translators have made Jesus perform a curious equestrian feat on his entry into Jerusalem. The text (Matt. xxi. 7) says they "brought the ass and the colt and put on them their clothes and set him thereon." This does not mean that he rode on both at one time; it only says so. On the Cross the Jesus of the Four Gospels, who was God, cried out " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" God cannot forsake himself, Jesus was God himself. Yet God forsook Jesus, and the latter cried out to know why he was forsaken. Any able divine will explain that of course he knew, and that he was not forsaken. The explanation renders it difficult to believe the dying cry, and the passage becomes one of the mysteries of the holy Christian religion, which, unless a man rightly believe, "without doubt he shall perish everlastingly." At the crucifixion of Jesus wonderful miracles took place. "The graves were opened, and many bodies of the samts which slept arose and came out of the grave after his resurrection and appeared unto many." Which saints were these? They "appeared unto many," but there is not the slightest evidence outside the Bible that anyone ever saw them. Their "bodies came out of the graves. Do not the bodies of the saints decompose like those of ordinary human beings? Jesus must have much changed in the grave, for his disciples did not know him when he stood on the shore (John xxi. 4), and Mary, most attached to him, knew him not, but supposed that he was the gardener. According to the First Gospel, Jesus appeared to two women after his resurrection, and afterwards met eleven of his disciples by appointment on a mountain in Galilee. When was this appointment made? The text on which divines rely is Matthew xxvi. 32; this makes no such appointment. According to the Second Gospel he appeared first to one woman, and when she told the disciples they did not believe it. Yet, on pain of indictment now and damnation hereafter, we are bound to unhesitatingly accept that which the disciples of Jesus rejected. By the Second Gospel we learn that instead of the eleven going to Galilee after Jesus he came to them as they sat at meat. In the Third Gospel he first appeared to two of his disciples at Emmaus, and they did not know him until they had been a long time in his company -- it was evening before they recognized him. Unfortunately, directly they knew him they did not see him, for as soon as they knew him he vanished out of their sight. He immediately afterwards appeared to the eleven at Jerusalem, and not at Galilee, as stated in the First Gospel. Jesus asked for some meat, and the disciples gave him a portion of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb, and he did eat. Jesus was afterwards taken up into Heaven, a cloud received him, and he was missed. God is everywhere, and Heaven no more above than below, but it is necessary we should believe that Jesus has ascended into Heaven to sit on the right hand of God, who is infinite and has no right hand. continues... --- Spot 1.3a #1526 * Origin: "Newborn babies sin non-verbally." Ken Young (3:640/375.1) SEEN-BY: 12/12 24/888 102/2 943 106/2000 109/7 112/101 114/262 271 124/1 SEEN-BY: 130/1 1008 133/2 143/1 147/34 2021 167/166 170/400 202/777 1207 SEEN-BY: 213/213 218/2 801 890 900 901 907 270/101 275/429 280/1 169 SEEN-BY: 282/1 62 283/120 284/29 290/14 300/603 310/666 322/739 323/107 SEEN-BY: 324/278 343/600 346/250 352/3 356/18 371/42 377/86 380/64 381/900 SEEN-BY: 382/92 388/1 396/1 2 45 690/660 730/2 732/10 2401/0 2442/0 3603/420 SEEN-BY: 3606/10 3612/41 3615/50 3619/25 3632/21 3651/9 3652/1 3667/1 @PATH: 640/375 201 270/101 396/1 218/907 801 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (242) Sat 12 Apr 97 22:12 By: Mark O'Neill To: George Harper Re: Up yours, dickhead! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @EID:3dcc 228cb180 @MSGID: 3:640/375.1 33505cc0 @CHRS: LATIN-1 2 Continued from previous message. Part 4 of 5. It is urged that Jesus is the saviour of the world, who brought redemption without let or stint to the whole human race. But what did Jesus teach? "Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not," [Matthew x. 5.] were his injunctions to those whom he first sent out to preach "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel," is his hard answer to the poor Syrophenician woman who entreated succour for her child. Christianity, as first taught by Jesus, was for the Jews alone; it was only when rejected by them that the world at large had the opportunity of salvation afforded it. "He came unto his own and his own received him not." [John i. 11.] Why should the Jews be more God's own than the Gentiles? Is God the creator of all? Did he create the descendant of Abraham with greater right and privilege than all other men? Then, indeed, is grievous injustice. You had no choice whether to be born Jew or Gentile; yet to the accident of such a birth is attached the first offer of a salvation which, if accepted, shuts out all beside. The Kingdom of Heaven is a prominent feature in the teachings of Jesus. Examine the picture drawn by God incarnate of his own special domain. 'Tis likened to a wedding feast, [Matthew xxii. 2.] to which the invited guests coming not, servants were sent out into the highways to gather all they can find -- both good and bad. The King, examining his motley array of guests, and finding one without a wedding garment, inquired why he came in to the feast without one. The man, whose attendance had been compulsorily enforced, was speechless. And who can wonder? He was a guest from necessity, not choice; he chose neither the fashion of his coming, nor that of his attiring. Then comes the King's decree, the command of the all-merciful and loving King of Heaven. 'Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Commentators urge that it was the custom to provide wedding garments for all guests, and that this man was punished for his non-acceptance of the customary and ready robe. The text does not warrant this explanation, but gives as moral of the parable, that an invitation to the heavenly feast will not ensure partakal of it, for that "many are called, but few are chosen." What more of the Kingdom of Heaven? "Joy shall be in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance." [Luke xv. 7.] The greater sinner one has been, the better saint he makes, and the more he has sinned, so much the more he loves God. "To whom little is forgiven the same loveth little." [Luke vii. 47.] Thus asserting that a life of vice, with its stains washed away by a death-bed repentance, is better than a life of consistent and virtuous conduct. Why should the fatted calf be killed for the prodigal son? [Luke xv. 27.] Why should men be taught to make to themselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness? [Luke xvi. 9.] These ambiguities, these assertions of punishment and forgiveness of crime, instead of directions for its prevention and cure, are serious blots on a system alleged to have been inculcated by one for whom his followers claim divinity. Will you urge the love of Jesus as the redeeming feature of the teaching? Then read the story of the fig tree [Matthew xxi. 18-22.; Mark xi. 12-24.] withered by the hungry Jesus. The fig tree was, if he were all-powerful God, made by him; he limited its growth and regulated its development; he prevented it from bearing figs, expected fruit where he had rendered fruit impossible, and in his infinite love was angry that the tree had not upon it that it could not have. What love is expressed in that remarkable speech which follows one of his parables: "For, I say unto you, that unto every one which hath shall be given, and from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away from him. But those, mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring them hither, and slay them before me." [Luke xix. 26, 27.] What love is expressed by that Jesus who, if he were God, represents himself as saying to the majority of his unfortunate creatures (for it is the few that are chosen): "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." [Matthew xxv. 41.] There is no love in this horrid doctrine of eternal torment. And yet the popular preachers of to-day talk first of the love of God and then of "Hell, a red gulf of everlasting fire, Where poisonous and undying worms prolong Eternal misery to those hapless slaves Whose life has been a penance for its crimes." In the sayings attributed to Jesus there is the passage which influenced so extraordinarily the famous Origen. [Matthew xix. 12.] If he understood it wrongly, what of the wisdom of teaching which expresses itself so vaguely? The general intent of Christ's teaching seems to be an inculcation of neglect of this life in search for another. "Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life." [John vi. 27.] take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on ... take no thought saying, what shall we eat? or what shall we drink? or wherewithal shall we be clothed? ... But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." [Matthew vi. 25-33.] These texts, if fully observed, would be most disastrous; they would stay all scientific discoveries, prevent all development of man's energies. In the struggle for existence, men are compelled to become acquainted with the conditions which compel happiness or misery. It is only in the practical application of that knowledge that the wants of society are ascertained, and disease, poverty, hunger, and wretchedness prevented, or at any rate lessened. Jesus substitutes "I believe" for "I think," and puts "watch and pray" instead of "think, then act." Belief is the prominent doctrine which pervades and governs all Christianity. It is represented that, at the judgment, the world will be reproved "Of sin, because they believe not." This teaching is most disastrous; man should be incited to active thought: Christian belief would bind him to the teachings of a stagnant past. Fit companion to blind belief is slave-like prayer. Men pray as though God needed most abject entreaty ere he would grant justice. What does Jesus teach on prayer? "After this manner pray ye -- Our Father which art in heaven." Do you think that God is the Father of all, when you pray that he will enable you to defeat some others of his children, with whom your nation is at war? And why "which art in Heaven"? Where is your Heaven? you look upward, and if you were at the Antipodes, would look upward still. But that upward would be downward to us. Do you localize Heaven? Why say "which art in Heaven"? Is God infinite, then he is also in earth. "Hallowed be thy name." What is God's name? if you know it not how can you hallow it? How can God's name be hallowed even if you know it? "Thy kingdom come." What is God's kingdom, and will your praying bring it quicker? Is it the judgment day? and do you say "Love one another," pray for the more speedy arrival of that day, on which God may say to your fellow "depart ye cursed into everlasting fire"? "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." How is God's will done in heaven? If the Devil be a fallen angel there must have been rebellion even there. "Give us this day our daily bread." Will the prayer get it without work? No. Will work get it without prayer? Yes. Why pray, then, for bread to God, who says, "Blessed be ye that hunger ... woe unto you that are full"? "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." [Matthew vi. 12.] What debts have we to God? Sins? Coleridge writes: "A sin is an evil which has its ground or origin in the agent, and not in the compulsion of circumstances. Circumstances are compulsory, from the absence of a power to resist or control them; and if the absence likewise be the effect of circumstances ... the evil derives from the circumstances ... and such evil is not sin." ["Aids to Reflection," 1843, P. 200.] Do you say that you are independent of all circumstances, that you can control them, that you have a free will? Buckle replies that the assertion of a free will "involves two assumptions, of which the first, though possibly true, has never been proved, and the second is unquestionably false. These assumptions are that there is an independent faculty, called consciousness, and that the dictates of that faculty are infallible." ["History of Civilization," vol. 1, p. 14] "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." [Matthew vi. 13.] Do you think God may lead you into temptation? If so, you cannot think him all-good; if not all-good, he is not God. If God, the prayer is blasphemy. continues... --- Spot 1.3a #1526 * Origin: "Newborn babies sin non-verbally." Ken Young (3:640/375.1) SEEN-BY: 12/12 24/888 102/2 943 106/2000 109/7 112/101 114/262 271 124/1 SEEN-BY: 130/1 1008 133/2 143/1 147/34 2021 167/166 170/400 202/777 1207 SEEN-BY: 213/213 218/2 801 890 900 901 907 270/101 275/429 280/1 169 SEEN-BY: 282/1 62 283/120 284/29 290/14 300/603 310/666 322/739 323/107 SEEN-BY: 324/278 343/600 346/250 352/3 356/18 371/42 377/86 380/64 381/900 SEEN-BY: 382/92 388/1 396/1 2 45 690/660 730/2 732/10 2401/0 2442/0 3603/420 SEEN-BY: 3606/10 3612/41 3615/50 3619/25 3632/21 3651/9 3652/1 3667/1 @PATH: 640/375 201 270/101 396/1 218/907 801 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (243) Sat 12 Apr 97 22:11 By: Mark O'Neill To: George Harper Re: Up yours, dickhead! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @EID:3dcc 228cb160 @MSGID: 3:640/375.1 33505d0f @CHRS: LATIN-1 2 Continued from previous message. Part 5 of 5 Jesus, according to the general declaration of Christian divines, came to die, and what does he teach by his death? The Rev. F.D. Maurice well said, "That he who kills for a faith must be weak, that he who dies for a faith must be strong." How did Jesus die? Giordano Bruno and Julius Caesar Vanini were burned, charged with heresy. They died calm, heroic, defiant of wrong. Jesus, who could not die, courted death, that he, as God, might accept his own atonement, and might pardon man for a sin which the pardoned man had not committed, and in which he had no share. The death Jesus courted came, and when it came he could not face it, but prayed to himself that he might not die. And at last, when on the cross, if two gospels do him no injustice, his last words were a bitter cry of deep despair. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The Rev. Enoch Mellor, writing on the Atonement, says: "I seek not to fathom the profound mystery of these words. To understand their full import would require one to experience the agony of desertion they express." Do the words, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" express an agony caused by a consciousness of desertion? If this be not the meaning conveyed by the despairing death-cry, then there is in it no meaning whatever. And if these words do express a "bitter agony of desertion," then they emphatically contradict the teachings of Jesus. "Before Abraham was, I am." "I and my father are one." "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." These were the words of Jesus -- words conveying an impression that divinity was claimed by the one who uttered them. If Jesus had indeed been God, the words, "My God, my God," would have been a mockery most extreme. God could not have deemed himself forsaken by himself. The dying Jesus, in that despair, confessed himself either the dupe of some other teaching, a self- deluded enthusiast, or an arch-impostor, who in that bitter cry, with the wide-opening of the flood-gates through which life's stream ran out, confessed aloud that he, at least, was no deity, and deemed himself a God-forsaken man. The garden scene of agony is fitting prelude to this most terrible act. Jesus, who is God, prays to himself; in "agony he prayed most earnestly." [Luke xxii. 44.] He refuses to hear his own prayers, and he, the omnipotent, is forearmed against his coming trial by an angel from heaven, who "strengthened " the great Creator. Was Jesus the Son of God? Praying, he said, Father, the hour is come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee." [Jolan xvii. 2.] And was he glorified? His death and resurrection most strongly disbelieved in the very city where they are alleged to have happened. His doctrines rejected by the only people to whom he preached them. His miracles denied by the only nation amongst whom they are alleged to have been performed; and he himself thus on the cross crying out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Nor is it true that the teachings of Jesus are generally received. Jesus taught: "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." How many of those who profess to believe in Jesus would be content to be tested by these signs? Any person claiming that each sign was to be found manifested in her or his case would be regarded as mad. Illustrations of faith-healing occasionally arise, but are not always reliable, nor are such cures limited to those who profess faith in Jesus. The gift of speaking with new tongues has been the claim of a very small sect. Serpent- charming is more practised among Hindus than among Christians. Peace and love are alleged to be the special characteristics of Christianity. Yet the whole history of Christian nations has been blurred by war and hate. Now and for the past thirty years the most civilized amongst Christian nations have been devoting enorihous sums and huge masses of men to the preparation for war. Torpedoes and explosive shells, one hundred ton guns and melinite, are by Christian rulers accounted better aids than faith in Jesus. **** **** Reproducible Electronic Publishing can defeat censorship. The Bank of Wisdom is always looking for more of these old, hidden, suppressed and forgotten books that contain needed facts and information for today. If you have such books, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, etc. please send us a list that includes Title, Author, publication date, condition and price desired, and we will give them back to America. **** **** Bank of Wisdom Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201 13 --- Spot 1.3a #1526 * Origin: "Newborn babies sin non-verbally." Ken Young (3:640/375.1) SEEN-BY: 12/12 24/888 102/2 943 106/2000 109/7 112/101 114/262 271 124/1 SEEN-BY: 130/1 1008 133/2 143/1 147/34 2021 167/166 170/400 202/777 1207 SEEN-BY: 213/213 218/2 801 890 900 901 907 270/101 275/429 280/1 169 SEEN-BY: 282/1 62 283/120 284/29 290/14 300/603 310/666 322/739 323/107 SEEN-BY: 324/278 343/600 346/250 352/3 356/18 371/42 377/86 380/64 381/900 SEEN-BY: 382/92 388/1 396/1 2 45 690/660 730/2 732/10 2401/0 2442/0 3603/420 SEEN-BY: 3606/10 3612/41 3615/50 3619/25 3632/21 3651/9 3652/1 3667/1 @PATH: 640/375 201 270/101 396/1 218/907 801