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As Easter approaches, think of this question: Does it make a difference which Jesus you believe in? The "Jesus" of the Marharishi of Transcendental Meditation is a Jesus who never suffered -- at odds with the cross. The "Jesus" of Guru Maharaj Ji supposedly merged with Krishna, Ram and Buddha -- at odds with the uniqueness of Jesus. The only difference between the Moonie "jesus" and the rest of us, said, Sun Myung Moon, is that Jesus had no original sin nature. The "Jesus" of Christian Science think of themselves as "Christian," yet they don't believe Jesus is God. The...

Everything in the Old Testament history leads up to the crossing of the Jordan, and yet the way the story is told in Joshua 3 and 4 has major inconsistencies and problems. Is there another way to read it? Can the Bible be taken literally?

Many people read the Bible literally and feel very strongly that there's nothing more to it than that, and yet Jesus Himself says the whole Old Testament is about Him. How could that be?!? We ponder this through a bizarre story in which Caleb pleads with Joshua to be given a mountain inhabited by enemy giants in fortified cities (Joshua 14). Also see: Spirit And Life Bible Study on Facebook

Now celebrating 52 years of helping people on the radio! For over half a century Roy Masters has been helping people overcome their most difficult problems. As the nation’s first and longest running radio counselor, Roy Masters has advised callers with a unique ability to hear inner problems, heal fears and sexual stresses, and help people take charge of their own lives. Great show and exactly what the world needs! Here is a radio show stations page... http://www.fhu.com/radiostations.html

It is Scientology's higher order where members pledge their allegiance for one billion years - and may have cost Tom Cruise his marriage. Sending six-year-old Suri to the Sea Organisation, or Sea Org as it is known, is what is said to have been the final straw for Katie Holmes before she filed for divorce. The group is run like a military clique from the Scientology Gold Base in California which has sniper-style nest bunker that overlooks the entire property. Members are paid just $50 a week and banned from leaving their base or they are tracked down by a...

Sen. Orrin Hatch is speaking Mormon code again to conservatives in Southern Utah. Rolly reports that Hatch told a breakfast gathering in St. George on Saturday that “I would be letting down my Father in Heaven if I didn’t run again.” I understand. The Ayatollah Khomeini felt exactly the same way.

That's probably a better question to ask than the one posed by George Handlery over at the Brussels Journal:"Would a Mormon President Subvert American Democracy?"Handlery writes the following:["What follows below is not a Romney-fan’s propaganda. Actually, my favorite used to be another aspirant. The LDS affiliation of Mitt Romney exposes us again to the temptation to make religion into a criterion for picking a candidate.""Now then, the theological validity of Mormonism’s version of Christianity is beyond my competence and my interest. To many, the implications of a President embracing that creed are of concern.""However, American public life and her high-level...

For most people, an extended stay aboard a luxury cruise liner sounds like a dream vacation. But Valeska Paris says she was held against her will aboard the Scientology cruise ship "Freewinds" for more than a decade. During her stay on the vessel, she alleges, she was forced into hard labor and never allowed to leave the ship without an escort. In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC News) Lateline program, Paris claims that Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige sent her to the ship when she was 18 in order to prevent her family from pulling her...

Cults, Movements, World ReligionsMARY KOCHAN To many of us, the modern religious landscape appears increasingly confusing, even strange or frightening. No matter how strong in faith and regular in religious practice our families may be, we are not insulated from contact with a bewildering variety of religious expressions, a Babel of “prophetic” voices and a dizzying array of competing world views. Sun Myung Moon founder ofthe Unification Church Questions Abound in Confusing Religious Landscape Insulation is not what our lay vocation is about, anyway. Instead of insulation, what we seek is contact, the contact which makes the electric presence...

Similarities between Joseph Smith and Muhammad: The followers of Muhammad and Joseph Smith both killed innocent "infidel" on the same date of 9/11. On September 11, 1857, Mormon militia massacred about 140 men, women and children under the authority of Brigham Young. However 17 very young children were spared and adopted into Mormon families. They were in fact sold to the highest Mormon family bidder and resold and traded many times afterwords. This event is called "The Mountain Meadows" massacre. Mormon leaders engaged in a deliberate rewriting of history to deny they were behind the murders. On September 11, 2001...

It is amazing how easily we as human beings can lose our objectivity. We become lost in our own little world. It is like looking in a mirror which reflects an inaccurate image of reality. What we see in the mirror is not a true reflection of our condition before God. It is almost like someone has cast a spell over us. We need to look in a different mirror in order to break the spell. We need a mirror that will help us to see ourselves correctly and in a new light. This is what can happen for a...

The daughter of a Mormon bishop who has abandoned her family's faith claims in a new book the election of Mitt Romney to the presidency would put the U.S. in danger due to what she calls the Republican's "outrageous," "horrific" and "mind-controlling" beliefs. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann "While he attempts to portray Mormonism as just another Christian religion, Mitt Romney counts on his skills to shift our attention away from what he truly believes," says Tricia Erickson, author of "Can Mitt Romney Serve Two Masters? The Mormon Church Versus the Office of the Presidency of...

Reuters. Please see link

The news is abuzz with the question of Mormonism, cults, and Christianity. A cult is often understood as a religious group with strange beliefs out of the cultural mainstream (which many today increasingly consider biblical Christianity). Since "cult" is difficult to define, scholars tend not to use it. However, the question of what beliefs characterize Christianity is not a new debate, and is one we should not shy away from if words and definitions matter. Many people are shocked at the idea that some pastors believe Mormons are not Christians-- "judgementalism" is decried and "intolerance" proclaimed. Yet, as that may...

Beck's Bogus Beliefs March 2011 by T. A. McMahon "Glenn Beck, the television and radio talk show host who is best known for his conservative political views, isn't someone whom we would normally address in our newsletter. Our concerns are usually directed at individuals, programs, or organizations that promote spiritual or theological views contrary to the Word of God. Beck, of late, seems to be making himself at home in that realm, and he's attracting many who call themselves Bible-believing Christians. ... First of all, Glenn Beck is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He...

The Scriptures Teach and Testify of Jesus Christ   "The Scriptures Teach and Testify of Jesus Christ", Ensign, Jan. 2011, 14–15  The scriptures contain counsel from prophets, inspired accounts of God’s dealings with people, and revelations from God to His prophets. Scriptures teach that we are children of our Heavenly Father, who loves us. As part of His plan for our eternal happiness, we have come to earth. While we are here, the scriptures are a spiritual lifeline to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.The main purpose of the scriptures is to testify of Christ, helping us come unto Him and receive...

In my last post I told you that when Jared Loughner's former friend, Zach Osler, spoke to ABC's Ashleigh Banfield, he told her that Jared did not subscribe to the left or the right in politics.  The only problem with that is Zach then told her that Jarred was profoundly influenced by Zeitgeist documentary and that it really altered his mind-set on how he viewed the world. So then what exactly is this Zeitgeist all about? Basically, the documentary, "Zeitgeist", is the propaganda arm of an organization called "The Venus Project". The Venus Project is a movement aimed at...

Have You Been Saved? Elder Dallin H. OaksOf the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles  Dallin H. Oaks, “Have You Been Saved?,” Ensign, May 1998, 55As Latter-day Saints use the words saved and salvation, there are at least six different meanings.   What do we say when someone asks us, “Have you been saved?” This question, so common in the conversation of some Christians, can be puzzling to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because it is not our usual way of speaking. We tend to speak of “saved” or “salvation” as a future event rather than something that has...

Here's an interesting primer on cults that you can find in a book on advertising. The author of Coercion: Why We Listen to What 'They' Say" describes religious cults as powerful pyramid schemes. Author Douglas Rushkoff lists 20 common steps of indoctrination in destructive cults. His steps are quoted in italics with my comments included below each step. 1. The GoalEvery cult has a stated, vague and metaphorical goal. Because this goal must serve as the "illuminated eye" of the pyramid, it cannot be attainable. Rather, it is expressed as an abstract idea - like "salvation" - which the cult...

With the leaders of thousands of different religions and churches attempting to make their beliefs appear authentic, it behooves a person to carefully ascertain truth from error. In fact, many leaders of these faiths may call themselves "Christian" and even attempt to convert Christians into their churches. After all, Jesus Himself said in Matthew 7:15, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." This is why John warned the believers in 1 John 4:1 to "believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false...

A movie starring Anthony Hopkins explores exorcism. The man who wrote the book behind the film talks about what chasing the devil really entails. Matt Baglio’s curiosity was piqued. An exorcism course at a Vatican-affiliated university in Rome? It was an unusual topic. As an American journalist living in the Eternal City, he thought it might make for an interesting article; as a non-practicing Catholic at the time, he approached it with some skepticism. Taught by exorcists and experts in theology, satanic cults, criminology and psychology, the course he took challenged many of his assumptions. But what really intrigued him...

This thread is only for freepers who want Sarah Palin to be President in 2012. Please all (TROLLS)other stay out.

Folks, some introductions are in order. First, top from left to right: David Shayler; Sergei Torop, “The Vissarion”; Pastor Apollo Quiboloy. Bottom line, from left to right: Sun Myung Moon, “Lord of the Second Advent”; José Luis de Jesús Miranda, "Jesucristo Hombre"; Teófilo Vargas Seín, "Prophet Aaron."I didn’t know much about the top three until today when I watched this NatGeo documentary entitled The Second Coming. Shayler is British and the only one without followers, probably because he’s the least articulate of the trio. He went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to let people know that he...

With my classic interview with Shirley Phelps Roper becoming part of documentary movie, We decided to share that classic interview as well as the interview with Duane Dog Chapman the "Bounty Hunter" from our archives of the Conscience of Kansas radio program with host Paul A. Ibbetson. We invite you to listen and comment on the show!

Though the word "cult" may have several dictionary meanings, it is largely used to describe a religious organization that centers around a man or a group of men who claim to be God's exclusive channel of truth to the world. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries have seen an abundance of such groups, each with similar roots yet divergent paths. Typical BeginningsGroups such as the Mormons, the Worldwide Church of God and Jehovah's Witnesses all started with a man (or woman in other cases, such as Christian Science) rejecting Christianity in its historical context, and rejecting the churches as well....

If Angle had done a little homework on the net, instead of getting all starry-eyed around Scientology's Hollywood spokesholes, she might have learned that neighboring New Mexico had already dealt with that style group, minus the promised results......

CRI Statement A leading East Coast New Age magazine, New Frontier, recently ran a “dirt for sale” advertisement in its November issue. But this one had a twist — the dirt had allegedly been supercharged by extraterrestrials (ETs). It stated: UFO LANDING site radiates cosmic energy alters psychic awareness. Soil samples $5 + p&h. Not surprisingly, the Boulder, Colorado firm that ran the ad did not respond to a letter asking for proof that there was something unusual about the dirt. While it is not immediately known how many people actu­ally sent in their $5, the appear­ance of such an...

Most people know very little about Scientology aside from the fact that Tom Cruise, John Travolta and other celebrities are a part of it, and that it's had its fair share of controversy over the years. A new book is looking to pull back the curtain on the mysterious religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard, and the author certainly knows her stuff. Amy Scobee is a former Scientologist who was in the church for more than two decades, and worked in the all-important Celebrity Centers portion of the organization. In her just-released book, 'Scientology: Abuse at the Top,' Scobee details...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Raised as Scientologists, Christie King Collbran and her husband, Chris, were recruited as teenagers to work for the elite corps of staff members who keep the Church of Scientology running, known as the Sea Organization, or Sea Org. A portrait of the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, in a church retreat center in Clearwater, Fla. They signed a contract for a billion years — in keeping with the church’s belief that Scientologists are immortal. They worked seven days a week, often on little sleep, for sporadic paychecks of $50 a week, at most. But after 13...

Even with the significant areas of doctrinal agreement between Catholics and Protestants (see Part One), a notable number of Protestant fundamentalists insist that Catholicism is an anti-Christian cult. Organizations and individuals (some of them quite popular) who classify Catholicism as a cult include: Chick Publications, Alberto Rivera's Anti-Christ Information Center, Tony Alamo's Christian Foundation, Bill Jackson's Christians Evangelizing Catholics, Albert James Dager's Media Spotlight, and Dave Hunt's The Berean Call. (This is not to say that all of these people belong in the same category — the latter three are more respectable than the former three.) Actually this is just...

They advanced to the Church of Scientology's highest spiritual level, to "Operating Thetan VIII," a vaunted realm said to endow extraordinary powers of perception and force of will.(edit)Isene left first, a decision that emboldened Leavitt, who inspired Katz. Such departures are rare among the church's elite group of OT VIIIs, who are held up as role models in Scientology. The three each told the St. Petersburg Times that they had spent decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars to reach the church's spiritual pinnacle. (edit)The three OT VIIIs said they want reform of leadership. They pointed to the revelations...

The phrase "doomsday cult" entered our collective vo cabulary after John Lof land published his 1966 study, "Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith." Lofland wrote about the Unification Church. His subject could almost as easily have been the Church of Warmism. Its college of cardinals has gathered in Copenhagen amid professions of an imminent global apocalypse that allow no room for doubt or deviation. "The clock has ticked down to zero," declared UN climate chief Yvo de Boer. Yes, the end is nigh -- just as surely as when the Millerites gathered on Oct. 22,...

Brian David Mitchell and a murderous polygamous family patriarch shared many similar traits and operated in very similar ways, an expert on religious cults and their members who commit crimes testified Wednesday. Richard Forbes, a retired law enforcer for both Salt Lake and Los Angeles counties, investigated killers Ervil LeBaron and Charles Manson during his career. Forbes is an expert on LeBaron and his followers. During the third day of Mitchell's competency hearing in federal court, Forbes compared the man accused of kidnapping and raping Elizabeth Smart to LeBaron and other religious cult leaders. Both men used revelation as a...

Elementary Epidemic: 11 Uncovered Videos Show School Children Performing Praises to Obama By John Nolte Created 2009-11-04 10:29 Big Hollywood has already posted [1] a couple [2] disturbing videos of young school children singing/speaking praises to President Obama, but when eleven more dropped in our email box it came as quite a shock. What seemed like an aberration now appears to be a troubling pattern. Maybe “epidemic” is a better word. Each one of the videos below is creepier than the last because the further down you go, the younger the children — brace yourself for kindergartners – except for...

  Cults, wonderful on the outside but on the inside are very manipulating. Cult leaders are desperate to trick you into joining. They are after your obedience, your time and your money. Cults use sophisticated mind control and recruitment techniques that have been refined over time. Beware of thinking that you are immune from cult involvement, the cults have millions of members around the world who once thought they were immune, and still don't know they are in a cult! To spot a cult you need to know how they work and you need to understand the techniques they use....

Are radical environmentalists members of a political movement or more like the devotees of a religious cult, one that might dubbed the Branch Carbonians? Truespeak.org’s Jim Guirardi suggests the label and offers an illuminating case for the latter in this post from the American Thinker. There is much more to Guirardi’s piece, but as a sample, here are his 10 reasons these fanatical devotees qualify as participants in a cult. If these sound somehow familiar, they are based on the criteria elaborated upon in the 2003 book, “Kingdom of the Cults,� by Walter Martin and Ravi Zacharia:     1....

“HI, we’d like to talk to you about Jesus Christ!” Standing tall, two young and well-dressed American boys at my door broke the ice instantaneously. Happy to see them, I said that we were Christians too. What happened next, however, took me by surprise and left me scrambling for words. Stating that they were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they said they wanted to talk about a prophet and a book given to the prophet by God. Though a little shaken, I refused to hear their ideologies — they left only to return another day...

In a groundbreaking case, a Paris court will decide for the first time whether to dissolve the Church of Scientology in France, which is facing charges of organized fraud. The demand was made by French prosecutors on Monday (June 15) as they wrapped up their case against the church's Paris headquarters and bookshop. If found guilty, the institutions may also face a nearly $6 million fine. Six members of the church are also on trial, and may also face heavy fines along with prison sentences if convicted. The plaintiffs, two former Scientologists, claim the church conned them into spending tens...

In the interest of fairness, cultural diversity, and moral ambiguity, The Last Crusade takes pleasure in publishing a rebuttal to our article “Meet America’s First Muslim”. From; Supreme Minister Chief Minister Dr. Ra Saadi El The Moorish Science Temple Islam & Greetings, Would like the opportunity to defend the integrity of our religious organization and to give light as to what is The Moorish Science Temple of America and what we actually stand for. Presently, Islam is seen as being the most rapidly growing religion within the United States and more so within the Federal and State prisons. In addition...

Why does the politcally correct left act the way they do? What makes them incapable of listening to reason and what is the driving motivation in their behavior? Political correctness is a religious cult. These are people who have replaced God in their lives with a God substitute that seeks to create a utopian world. So many politically correct leftists are athiests, others are neo-pagans and liberal Christians. The liberal Christians are the hardest to understand because they are the most confusing. They may go to the church where they grew up but their beliefs are not quite the same...

An American cult is what happens when radical individualism meets religion and philosophy. A cult becomes cut off from the mainstream of traditional religion and the global community of faith. It begins to converse only with self. This dangerous isolation is an important topic, as American religious communities such as the Episcopal Church drift in this direction. Mainstream global Christians do not delight in this drift as they recognize the temptations of the cult all too well from their own temptations to isolation. Extreme stories litter the paper every day that show the consequences of isolation. Cults begin to delight...

Marxists claim that Marxism is a science. It is not. It is a sort of pagan religious cult. It is a theology. It is a form of superstition. Marxists claim that Karl Marx understood capitalism and economics. He did not. They also claim that the entire validity of Marx's set of theories on all subjects rests ultimately on how valid Marxist economic thought is. Marxist economic thought was completely wrong. Marx claimed that all products contain value that is directly proportional to the amount of labor embodied within them. He was wrong. All the rest of Marxism is based entirely...

Euro chiefs ban 'Miss' and 'Mrs' The European Parliament has banned the terms 'Miss' and 'Mrs' in case they offend female MEPs. By Simon Johnson 15 Mar 2009 The politically correct rules also mean a ban on Continental titles, such as Madame and Mademoiselle, Frau and Fraulein and Senora and Senorita. Guidance issued in a new 'Gender-Neutral Language' pamphlet instead orders politicians to address female members by their full name only. Officials have also ordered that 'sportsmen' be called 'athletes', 'statesmen' be referred to as 'political leaders' and even that 'synthetic' or 'artificial' be used instead of 'man-made'. The guidance...

Scientology Spokesman Tommy Davis Confirms Xenu Story Los Angeles, CA - After years of dismissing the story as false, Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis has confirmed that the story of mankind's origins involving an alien overlord named Xenu is indeed authentic Scientology teaching. In the exclusive interview with KESQ News Channel 3 reporter[1], Nathan Baca, Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis was asked about the story of Xenu, known to senior Scientologists as part of "Operating Thetan Level III", or "OT III" for short. Davis denied the story at first (as he has done in the past), stating that these were claims "forwarded...

... Dawkins loves ‘science’, Darwinism in particular, and delights in singing its praises. Christians delight in science as well—as the handiwork of God. But Dawkins loves science as god, and consciously tries to build a world and life view around science, wearing many hats in the process...

Scientology, Seizures, and Science by Edward Hudgins January 13, 2009 -- Jett Travolta, the sixteen-year-old son of actors John Travolta and Kelly Preston, died recently of what the autopsy found to be a seizure. The boy had a history of seizures and unconfirmed reports suggest that his parents acted responsibly to ensure he was on medication to mitigate his condition. We don’t know yet what caused the seizure—a change in medication or dosage, or a worsening of the underlying condition that caused the seizures. I’ve held in my arms a dear loved-one during her seizures, someone who fortunately now survives...

Some interesting new audio and video of Jim Jones and the citizens of Jonestown doing, among other things, declaring that their "Revolutionary Suicide" is to further the cause of Marxist-Leninism. They took a vote three weeks before Ryan arrived and unanimously voted for it. It includes some video of members specifically discussing dying for Maxist-Leninism. Also, unseen VIDEO (not just audio) of the various members singing the Soviet National Anthem (note: I actually have them doing this 2 times all the way through and the third time for just the last part of the song). Also includes more previously heard...

The radio call came before the suicides began. On Nov. 18, 1978, Jim Jones Jr. was 18 years old and living in a Peoples Temple compound in Georgetown, Guyana, 150 miles from the Jonestown settlement. The previous night, he and his teammates on the Peoples Temple basketball team had played in a tournament, narrowly losing to the Guyanese national team. That afternoon, via shortwave, the Rev. Jim Jones, the boy's adoptive father, contacted him with a chilling order: All 60 Temple members living in Georgetown should immediately "get knives, wire and scissors and take our own lives." The son tried...

Congresswoman remembers day of horror Rep. Jackie Speier November 16, 2008 "I'm 28 years old, and I am about to die." I was curled up behind the wheel of an airplane on a jungle airstrip in Guyana, South America. This isn't what I expected when I signed on to work for a United States congressman. Our fact-finding trip to investigate the Peoples Temple in Jonestown had gone horribly wrong. I lay as still as I could, pretending to be dead, as an unknown gunman pumped five bullets into me at close range. Pop-pop. Pop. Pop-pop. When the shooting stopped, I...

Hundreds of thousands of tourists flock each year to the Virginia estates of George Washington, at Mount Vernon, and Thomas Jefferson, at Monticello. Now, a Dutch businessman in Jakarta is hoping a Nov. 4 victory for Sen. Barack Obama will turn a house where he once lived into a presidential landmark—though on a much smaller scale.Bartele Santema, who runs a string of bars in the Indonesian capital, already has a name for the cafe-museum he wants to open where Sen. Obama lived between the ages of 8 and 10 with his mother and Indonesian stepfather: Sweet Home Obama.Mr. Santema...