THE CHURCH MILITANT
Ephesians 5:11-"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them". This Christian News Blog maintains a one stop resource of current news and reports of its own related to church, moral, spiritual, and related political issues, plus articles, and postings from other online discernment ministries, and media which share the aims to obey the biblical commands to shed light on and refute error, heresy, apostasy, cults, and spiritual abuse.
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
“It is believed that Bilal had beaten a female worker at the store
and grabbed her by the throat prior to officers’ arrival. Bilal
reportedly had become upset while attempting to convert the employee to
Islam.”
Well, if she didn’t immediately see the light of Islam, you can see why he was upset.
“According to reports, Bilal then went on to break an officer’s hand
after an attempt to place Bilal into custody….He faces preliminary
charges of battery on police, resisting law enforcement, disorderly
conduct, battery with injury, intimidation and strangulation.”
Quite an eventful dawah session! And much, much more of this sort of
thing is coming, in Muncie and elsewhere in the land of the free and the
home of the brave.
“Police: Man tased after striking officer, yelling ‘Allah Akbar’ in Goodwill scuffle,” WISH, March 28, 2017 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — One man is facing charges after he
struck an officer for attempting to restrain him following a commotion
in Muncie.
It happened just before 2 p.m. Saturday inside a Goodwill store when officers were responding to a call for a fight.
Upon arrival, officials found 24-year-old Khalid Bilal confronting store employees.
According to reports, Bilal then went on to break an officer’s hand after an attempt to place Bilal into custody.
Bilal was later tased after charging another officer that arrived on
scene. After the tasing, the officer was eventually able to corral Bilal
into handcuffs. The suspect then began to kick the officer repeatedly
with both legs, causing authorities to shackle his legs.
Reports stated that Bilal was yelling “Allah Akbar” throughout the ordeal.
One customer told 24-Hour News 8 she was scared for her life. She was
inside the store shopping with her three children when she heard a man
screaming at the front.
“A guy had become very irate and was screaming at one of the
employees and then grabbed him by the collar and start pushing him and
screaming are you scared,” said Chasity Fraley, customer.
“He was just so full of rage and violence I never seen anything like that before,” Fraley added.
Not sure what was going on, Fraley said she began moving her kids.
“We moved to a different aisle… so I could take my kids away from the
situation because they got very scared at that point and then I heard
him say ‘I’m going to kill everyone in here,”’ she said.
That’s when Fraley says a female employee stepped in trying to calm the man down.
“With her, she kinda used a softer tone with him at first, ‘let’s
talk about this, what’s the matter can we take it outside,’” Fraley
recalled.
But out of nowhere, she said the man attacked that employee.
“He violently grabbed her around the neck and just was punching and
whatever he could to her,” she said. “A bunch of employees came out to
keep him away from customers.”
It is believed that Bilal had beaten a female worker at the store and
grabbed her by the throat prior to officers’ arrival. Bilal reportedly
had become upset while attempting to convert the employee to Islam.
Fraley believes employees handled the situation very well.
“They were protecting one another and protecting us they (did) an
excellent job at keeping him in a somewhat secured area,” she said.
“They were telling people to get back trying to protect people in the
store and one another.”
Police said the man was taken to the hospital and continued to attack officers when they tried to restrain him.
Once at the hospital for treatment, Bilal went on to strike an
officer three times when the officer attempted to secure a restraint
that held Bilal to a hospital bed.
He faces preliminary charges of battery on police, resisting law
enforcement, disorderly conduct, battery with injury, intimidation and
strangulation….
“Silicon Valley fund gives $330 thousand to CAIR, Islamic Relief,” by Hillel Fendel, Arutz Sheva, March 28, 2017:
The Middle East Forum research center has revealed that
the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) has donated a total of
over $330,000 to two extremist organizations: the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Islamic Relief.
The Philadelphia-based Forum contacted SVCF with evidence of the
extremist links of CAIR and Islamic Relief, but received no response.
The Middle East Forum is now publicly calling for an immediate and
permanent termination of SCVF’s funding of these organizations, and has
started a nationwide campaign to this end.
The SVCF is the country’s wealthiest community foundation, with more
than $8 billion in assets. It has enjoyed positive press coverage during
its 10-year history, but has also come under some criticism. Worst of
all, the MEF states, is its flowing generosity to the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Islamic Relief.
MEF says it privately contacted SVCF last month with evidence of the
extremism of CAIR and Islamic Relief, including the bigotries and
prejudices of its officials and speakers. SVCF officials essentially
“refused to discuss the matter,” MEF reports, but rather “engaged in a
flurry of ad hominem attacks on the Forum.”
It is “unconscionable that such a leading institution as SVCF, which
claims to support ‘understanding and tolerance,'” should help
organizations that rely on ignorance and hatred,” the Forum declares.
“To be precise, CAIR and Islamic Relief have a long history of providing
platforms to speakers who denigrate and threaten women, Jews,
Christians, the LGBTQ community, and Muslims belonging to minority
sects.”
As examples, the Forum cites regular speakers at the two
organizations’ events who have rationalized honor killings or said that
men may beat or rape their wives. “It should not be politically
divisive,” the Forum states, “to state that these ideas are incompatible
with SVCF’s self-proclaimed commitment to diversity and tolerance.”
SVCF did say that CAIR is in “good standing with [U.S.] federal
agencies,” but the MEF counters that the FBI and the Justice Department
have blacklisted CAIR since it was named an unindicted co-conspirator
during a terrorism financing case in 2008. Both CAIR and Islamic Relief
are designated as terrorist groups in the United Arab Emirates, while
the Anti-Defamation League has said that CAIR promotes anti-Jewish
sentiment….
Charlotte City Forum About No-Parking Outside Of Abortion Clinic
Published on Mar 29, 2017
On
Monday, March 27th, activists from both pro-life and pro-choice groups
showed up to the Charlotte city council to speak their mind about the
new no-parking signs the city wants to install outside of the Latrobe
Abortion Clinic.
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hundreds of Christians flooded the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center on Monday night to stand
against a request from abortion advocacy groups that would ban a mobile
pro-life pregnancy center from parking outside of an abortion facility.
For more than a decade, both pro-life and pro-abortion residents have
gathered outside of A Preferred Women’s Health Center, with numbers
fluctuating from dozens to thousands. On a regular basis, pro-lifers
offer literature and free assistance, as well as gift bags to mothers
who decide not to go through with their appointment with death.
Because of the volume of traffic at the location, the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has now requested that the
Charlotte Department of Transportation study potential changes. The
abortion facility and its advocates have also requested that “no
parking” signs be placed in the immediate area.
They claim that the mobile pregnancy center and the signs displayed by pro-lifers cause traffic visibility hazards.
“This is about patient safety and safety of staff and traffic and
even neighboring businesses that are having issues delivering services
to people as needed due to the influx of people on Latrobe,” facility
administrator Calla Hales told TWC News Charlotte.
But members of the group Cities4Life note that the work of the Monroe
HELP Center, which offers free help to mothers, would be hindered if
the “no parking” signs are installed. They believe that abortion
advocacy groups and the city are just trying to get rid of them.
“We’re there … where and when they most need it,” center volunteer
Vicki Kaseorg testified on Monday. “[It] would not be possible if all
these regulations to limit our ability to do so were enacted.”
Lakilra Flowe, a mother who chose life because of the mobile HELP
Center, stood by Kaseorg’s side, holding her infant child and nodding in
agreement. Flowe now volunteers herself to help save lives outside of
the abortion facility. As previously reported, Courtney
Parks, a nurse with the ministry, told Christian News Network in 2015
that the RV parks along the street four times a week, and has been a
blessing in the lives of many women. Flowe holds her baby—saved from abortion—as Kaseorg speaks.“We’ve
had many instances where these ladies think that there is nothing in
their womb but what the liberal media tells them—it’s just a clump of
cells, just a blob of tissue, nothing there—and when I’m able to show
them their eight-week little baby in their womb with a heartbeat, arms
and legs moving around, …. it kind of turns a light bulb on in their
head,” she explained, noting that some mothers have even seen their
babies sucking their thumb.
“I’ve had so many women say, ‘That’s my baby!”” Parks continued.
“People are just so grateful for us standing for the truth and standing
for the babies. … They see you care, they see you want to help them and
it makes them want to choose life for their baby.”
She said that hundreds have been saved from abortion each year
because of those who have been ministering outside of abortion
facilities in the city. A number of the women are gifted with baby
showers and provided with presents to help them in welcoming their
bundle of joy.
On Monday, so many Christians—all donning teal “love life Charlotte”
t-shirts—packed the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center that there
were not enough seats in the chambers or the overflow room to hold them
all. The rest gathered in the lobby exhorting one another, praying for
the unborn and singing songs of praise.
“[Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police] notified CDOT of recent pedestrian
and traffic changes along Latrobe Dr.,” CDOT Director Danny Pleasant
told the Charlotte Observer. “CDOT is in the process of evaluating
operations along the street to check for adequate sight distances at
driveways. So far, CDOT has made no decision to change parking
regulations in the vicinity.”
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California state prosecutors
have charged the pro-life investigator behind the 2014-2015 undercover
Planned Parenthood videos with 15 felonies less than a year after Texas
officials dropped all charges.
State Attorney General Xavier Becerra alleges that David Daleiden of
the Center for Medical Progress, along with his co-worker Sandra
Merritt, wrongfully recorded Planned Parenthood employees and others
without their consent in capturing the undercover footage.
Daleiden is therefore charged with 14 counts of covertly recording confidential conversations—one for each person—and one count of conspiracy to invade privacy.
“The right to privacy is a cornerstone of California’s Constitution,
and a right that is foundational in a free democratic society,” Becerra
said, according to the LA Times. “[We] will not tolerate the criminal
recording of confidential conversations.”
Daleiden said in a statement that he believes prosecutors are going after the wrong party.
“The public knows the real criminals are Planned Parenthood and their
business partners like StemExpress and DV Biologics—currently being
prosecuted in California—who have harvested and sold aborted baby body
parts for profit for years in direct violation of state and federal
law,” he remarked.
Daleiden advised that additional videos are forthcoming, which he
plans on “showing the entire world … in vindication of the First
Amendment rights of all.”
As previously reported, Daleiden, 28, had posed as a representative of a fetal tissue
procurement company in order to engage in discussions with Planned
Parenthood officials as a potential buyer of bodily organs. He recorded
the interactions, conducted at various locations across the country, as
part of his “human capital” investigative series that was released
beginning in July 2015.
The first of nearly a dozen videos released
by CMP featured Planned Parenthood Medical Director Deborah Nucatola,
who nonchalantly munched on salad and sipped wine as she talked about
adjusting the child so as not to crush certain organs due to the demand
for the body part.
“I’d say a lot of people want liver. And for that reason, most
providers will do this case under ultrasound guidance, so they’ll know
where they’re putting their forceps,” she explained.
“[Y]ou’re just kind of cognizant where you put your graspers,”
Nucatola outlined. “You try to intentionally go above and below the
thorax, so that—-you know. We’ve been very good at getting the heart,
lung, liver, because we know that, so ‘I’m not gonna crush that part.
I’m gonna basically crush below, I’m gonna crush above, and I’m gonna
see if I can get it all intact.’”
The second video
showed Mary Gatter, the president of Planned Parenthood’s Medical
Directors Council, haggling with the undercover investigators about the
compensation for the fetal organs, laughing, “I want a Lamborghini.”
Other footage showed an actual aborted baby being dissected in a dish,
with an assistant declaring, “Another boy!” and another video showed an abortionist laughing about how harvesting an intact baby head would be “something to strive for.”
Planned Parenthood apologized
for the insensitive “tone” of the first video, but denied that it
profits from its agreements with scientific organizations. It soon
announced that it would stop receiving reimbursement
for “expenses” surrounding the provision of body parts of aborted
babies. The abortion giant argued that the dead babies were beneficial
in research to find cures for diseases.
The organization also contended that the videos were misleading
because they had been edited, but the Center for Medical Progress
also publicly posted the hours-long unedited footage for viewing as
well.
In January of last year, the Harris County district attorney’s office in Texas charged Daleiden
with a felony count of “tampering with a governmental record” for
creating a fake driver’s license in conducting his undercover
investigation, as well as a misdemeanor count related to the purchasing
of aborted babies. All charges, which centered on Daleiden’s undercover
investigations in Texas, were dismissed by the end of July.
However, in the meantime, representatives for Kamala Harris, the attorney general of California at the time, searched Daleiden’s apartment
and seized all of his videos from the undercover investigation.
Daleiden posted a statement afterward, remarking that the investigation
was lopsided as Harris’ office ignored information surrounding the
working relationship between former buyer StemExpress and Planned
Parenthood.
StemExpress discontinued its work with the abortion giant after CMP
released videos revealing its involvement with the organization.
Planned Parenthood partner DaVinci Biosciences and its sister company DV Biologics were then sued
last October by Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckus after
he found evidence that the company had profited from the bodily organs
of aborted babies.
“From 2009 to 2015, the defendants obtained aborted fetus donations
from Planned Parenthood and turned those donations into a profit-driven
business,” he declared.
“They did so by selling tissues and cells from the heart, lungs,
kidneys, brain, intestines, skeletal muscle and bones of the aborted
fetus donations.”
Rackauckus outlined that the companies hired a marketing consultant
to create promotional materials, including a catalog, to boost sales.
His office found that profits included up to $674 in profit for each
fetal heart, up to $233 in profit for each liver, up to $221 in in
profit for each stomach, and up to $664 in profit for each small
intestine.
The companies are accused of generating $1.5 million in sales, while also marking up shipping and processing costs.
The Congressional Select Panel on Infant Lives also issued numerous criminal referrals last year while investigating Planned Parenthood and its partners, including an allegation that Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast unlawfully sold baby body parts to the University of Texas.
It likewise came to believe from evidence that the University of New Mexico violated of the state’s Anatomical Gift Act, that Stem Express
violated HIPPA to increase the harvesting of body parts for profit, and
that DV Biologics received revenue for the body parts of aborted
babies.
Sen. Chuck Grassley of the Senate Judiciary Committee separately issued his own letter and report calling for the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a federal investigation.
Specifically, the Committee noted in its report
that StemExpress, Advanced Bioscience Resources (ABR) and Novogenics
Laboratories purchased the bodily organs of aborted babies from several
California Planned Parenthood locations, and then resold them at
substantially higher prices. The organizations are also accused of
hiking the prices above costs for “transportation, implantation,
processing, preservation, quality control or storage of” the body parts.
“[I]n June of 2014, an ABR technician obtained a 20-week-old fetus at
a Planned Parenthood clinic, for which it paid $60,” the report
outlines. “From that one fetus, ABR sold its brain to one customer for
$325, both of its eyes for $325 each ($650 total) to a second customer, a
portion of its liver for $325 to a third customer, its thymus for $325
and another portion of its liver for $325 to a fourth customer, and its
lung for $325 to a fifth customer.”
StemExpress is accused of similar actions, paying Planned Parenthood
$55 for a baby and then selling his or her body parts for $250 each,
making $1000 from just one child.
The Committee also noted that despite Planned Parenthood’s “constant
statements to the media that [its] affiliates had merely been recovering
their costs” in receiving payment from ABR, StemExpress and other
companies, its attorneys told the investigative Congressional panel that
the Planned Parenthood offices only sought to determine their costs
after-the-fact in light of national scrutiny.
“Around that time, Planned Parenthood announced it would no longer
accept any payments in connection with its fetal tissue transfer
programs,” Grassley explained.
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
Dan Boone, president of Trevecca Nazarene University, was recently
selected as the new president of Eastern Nazarene College, which is also
being discussed as a possible merger with Trevecca. He will step in
sometime after Dr. Corlis McGee leaves her current position later in the
summer. The “leaders” of the denomination are cheering, no doubt. They
have always been complicit, or at the very least willfully ignorant,
with everything that has been destroying the Nazarene denomination
spiritually.
I am not surprised at this choice. Dr. Boone and Dr. McGee share some
views that make this selection understandable. To many of us who have
voiced our concerns about the denomination for years, it further
indicates full steam ahead towards a practical marriage between
Nazarenes and Roman Catholics. The only major item that will be missing
soon is to have pope Francis as the keynote speaker at a future General
Assembly. And why not? The prayer stations are already in place, the
Roman Catholic practice of Lent and ashes to the forehead is everywhere,
and the Roman Catholic retreat is scheduled for a pre-Assembly event
this summer.
If you believe in the Bible- truly believe in it, not just parts of
it as Dan Boone does- then I could not warn you any more than I do now.
You are placing your child in danger by sending them to Eastern Nazarene
College, and frankly, there is hardly a Nazarene college now that has a
strong biblical foundation anymore.
So here is why Dr. Boone’s appointment bodes very badly, especially for those who have children of college age. Ecumenicists Promoting Roman Catholicism
Dr. Boone and Dr. McGee are both ecumenicists. Dr. McGee has
expressed to me in a past meeting with her and the ENC provost that
Roman Catholics are our brothers and sisters in Christ. On the ENC
website, you will find Roman Catholic churches on the list of available
churches to attend in the community. In the ENC bookstore (last time I
visited), you would also find Roman Catholic related books, including a
Roman Catholic bible, along with many books by authors that promote an
ecumenical belief system.
Dr. Boone, as Trevecca president, has long promoted yearly trips for
students to the Gethsemani Monastery in Kentucky, a site that was the
spiritual home of the Roman Catholic mystic, Thomas Merton. Here at this
retreat, students from ENC have the opportunity to “practice the
silence”, which is nothing more than Catholic mysticism that has no
roots in biblical teaching. The “spiritual discipline” of silence is a
doctrine of demons. This retreat is scheduled for this year again: https://www.trevecca.edu/community-life/faith-service/spiritual-formation-retreat
Dr. Boone also has promoted the use of prayer labyrinths, and has had
one there for years at Trevecca. After I exposed this more fully, he
made excuses about it, and later re-named the labyrinth and called it
something else. It is not just Trevecca doing this: https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/labyrinths-prayer-stations-yoga-in-the-nazarene-church/ An Uneasy Accommodation To The LGBT Community
At Eastern Nazarene College, an LGBT support group was allowed to be
established at Munro Hall. I sent a letter to Dr. McGee wondering how
Bertha Munro would have felt, knowing an LGBT group was meeting in a
building named in her honor. I received a reply their from former
chaplain, with an excuse that the school does not necessarily sponsor
the group, which was a lame excuse because all they had to do was say no
to a group whose basic premise goes against Biblical values. And this
same chaplain spoke in a chapel service several years ago, all but
promoting a relaxation of biblical standards regarding homosexuality.
For Dr. Boone, all those things at ENC fit right in with his track
record. He is known for accommodating the LGBT agenda at Trevecca,
having allowed an extreme LGBT group to come on campus to have “a
dialog.” https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/a-response-to-dan-boones-report-on-soulforce/
And lest we forget, at the last General Assembly, Dr. Boone was one
of those most instrumental in arguing for postponing an attempt to
strengthen the Church statement on homosexuality. It will be interesting
to see what the arguments for this will be this year. I working on
evidence that indicates that the denomination is in for a very difficult
time regarding the homosexuality issue, which will lead to further
division in the Church. Hostility Towards Bible Believers
Dr. Boone has an utter disdain for Bible believing Christians, as
shown in this article I wrote a few years ago. He has compared Bible
Believing Christians to Islamic fundamentalists. He says that our
appetites have been whetted “by religious blood in the water.” (https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/dan-boone-goes-after-bible-believers-again/) Promoting False Teachers
Dr. Boone is certainly no Bible traditionalist. He has very bad
theology, he promotes false teachers, and he does not believe in the
creation as told in Genesis. He was a prominent member of the group,
Nazarenes Exploring Evolution, before it’s website suddenly closed down
for no apparent reason. Until it closed down, folks like Dr. Boone were
heartily endorsing the idea that God used evolution to create us. He was
not alone in that group, and was joined by many well-respected pastors,
professors and national leaders. Very frightening indeed.
In an older profile at Nazarene Theological Seminary, which is no longer posted, he said the following: “…I am deepening in the mystical forms of prayer.”
Dr. Boone promotes one of the leading teachers of contemplative
mysticism, false teacher Richard Foster. As an example, Foster makes the
amazing claim that non-believers can also practice the Christian
spiritual disciplines: “We need not be well advanced in matters of
theology to practice the Disciplines. Recent converts–for that matter
people who have yet to turn their lives over to Jesus Christ–can and
should practice them” (Celebration of Discipline, 1978, p. 2).
Dr. Boone has called Thomas Merton and Ignatius of Loyola spiritual giants.
Merton was not a spiritual giant- he was a monk who said that he was
“deeply impregnated with Sufism” because he believed that Eastern
mysticism was compatible with and could be incorporated into
Christianity. He placed Mary high on a level equal to Jesus, he prayed
to many catholic saints. He was influenced by Aldous Huxley, who found
enlightenment through hallucinogenic drugs.
Ignatius of Loyola was no wiser, and as the founder of the Jesuits he
brutally persecuted Christians and swore complete submission to the
pope. As most Roman Catholics do, he venerated Mary. He practiced
extreme asceticism, living in a cave for a year and never bathing. He
also promoted and taught visualization prayers, breath prayers, and
other unbiblical practices (Source: Way of Life). Yet, Dan Boone calls him a spiritual giant.
In a Letter to Pastors he wrote in 2009, Dr. Boone not only
erroneously claimed that the Roman Catholic church was the only church
for 1500 years after Christ, but he also exposed more error along with
his ecumenical get along with everyone philosophy. How is it that we
can “be one” with the Roman Catholic Church? “While Nazarenes are different from Catholics in very significant
ways, we believe that we will share eternity with them in the presence
of the Christ who prayed that we might be one.”
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will roll back
many of former President Barack Obama's efforts to curb global warming.
The order is aimed at helping create more American energy jobs,
although Democrats say it's a step backward in the quest for alternative
power sources. The president signed the order at the headquarters of
the Environmental Protection Agency, declaring "the start of a new era"
in energy production
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
About time. Now can the Trump administration muster this same focus and
decisiveness in its other endeavors? Or are we to be sentenced to four
years of drift and confusion, followed by the final victory of the
global internationalist establishment elites?
“Nikki Haley to the UN: ‘The Days of Israel Bashing Are Over,’” by Cameron Cawthorne, Washington Free Beacon, March 27, 2017:
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley
received loud applause on Monday when she delivered a message at the
annual AIPAC conference defending Israel from Palestinian Authority….
“The United States tells them what we’re not going to put up with, ”
Haley said. “We start to change the culture to what we should be talking
about and then we actually act on what we say.” “I wear heels. It’s not for a fashion statement. It’s because if I
see something wrong, we’re going to kick them every single time,” Haley
added.
Her comment received lots of cheers and applause from the crowd,
including Senor. Following the applause, Haley went into specifics about
what needed to be done.
“We are kicking by number one, putting everybody on notice. Saying
that if you have our back, we’re going to have the backs of our friends,
but our friends need to have our backs too, ” Haley said.
She continued by declaring that the days of Israel bashing are “over,” which received applause and cheers for several seconds. “There are a lot of threats to peace and security, but you are not
going to take our number one Democratic friend in the Middle East and
beat up on them,” Haley said….
Jan Groenveld (1945 – 22 October 2002) was a member of the LDS Church and the Jehovah's Witnesses.
She spent fifteen years in these and other organisations before leaving
them in 1975 and resolving to make more information about what she saw
as "cults" available to the general public.
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
Why I Believe the Bruderhof is a Cult
I wanted to include the article below to help people asses
their respective groups and help them heal more rapidily by removing any
guilt they have for being sucked into the group by recognizing the
deceptive practices and other mind control techniques used by the
destructive cult.
I found that writing this down for myself
helped to crystalize in my mind exactly what was wrong. After posting to
alt.support. bruderhof, it also forced me to take a stand publicly
against the Bruderhof.
As a result [of the stand] I have lost all
contact with my parents and sibings in the cult. The sacrifice, while
painful, is necessary for me to live out my belief in truth and to warn
others regarding the true nature of the Bruderhof. My grieving for my
parents and siblings started when the Bruderhof sued an organization I
started called the Children of the Bruderhof. I asked my mother if she
would support me going to jail if necessary over the lawsuit. Her
response was "If it is for the greater good, yes!" I responded, "Whose
greater good mom? My kids? My wife?" She could be heard softly weeping
in the background. I had reached my true Mom then. I recently met with
them to try to determine if there was any way to bridge the current
impasse. My brother was there and did most of th talking *for* my
parents. In the end it was clear that they would hold to the "party
line", and wouldn't even consider a next step in attempting to heal the
rift. I now give them and the Bruderhof entirely up to the Creator to
sort out. Due to the grieving I had done prior [as a result of the
lawsuit] I was able to almost ignore the pain of this last abandonment.
I
write this to let people know you can heal, even from the family
wounds. Yes, cults will use the leverage of families to attempt to stem
the flow of the truth to the outside world. They are fighting for
survivial, and the ends justify the means in their eyes.
Why I Believe the Bruderhof is a Cult.
Below
is an expansion of Liftons characteristics. I wanted to follow it up
with why I see the Bruderhof as a destructive cult. I do this in hope
that their road to eventual decline can be turned into a renewal for its
membership. Opening up of the Bruderhof to change and meaningful
discussion with its ex-members and children would go a long way to bring
positive change. Holding up the Bruderhof to close scrutiny about the
difference between its espoused beliefs and how it acts can only will
benefit the group in the long run. I am only doing what they taught
me... to live my life the way I think Christ would have me. I cannot
suborn my relationship to God either to a group or another individual.
*******************
While
the argument rages as to what group is or isn't a cult or to what
degree a group displays cultic tendencies, cult observers and
ex-cultists alike will agree that a destructive group or cult is best
defined as a group that espouses one thing, yet its actions are quite
another. In other words, does a group practice what it preaches? Do its
members exhibit positive influence on each other and the world around
them? Or do they withdraw? How do they treat ex-members?
The
following borrows heavily from Lifton's and others work. While every
group or religion may possess one or more of the characteristics, cults
will usually exhibit almost all of them. The degree as to which each is
met is also telling. Rate your group, and if they exhibit most or all of
these... your group is probably a destructive cult. If you are a
parent, sibling, or friend of a cult member, investigate the group. A
good place to start is by contacting ex-members. Find out how the group
teaches its ex-members or others critical of the group. Observe the
current member inside and out of the group's compound or away from other
group member. Is critical thinking impaired? Has the members thinking
taken a radical turn? What is the positive effect of this thinking on
the individual?
Cult Characteristics:
The
group is focused on a living (or dead) leader to whom members seem to
display excessively zealous, unquestioning commitment. The group focuses
on the leaders special insights that he/she alone can possess. These
insights are often surreal or mystic in nature. "Deification" of
leadership to the point of disregarding critical thought for oneself,
changing thought patterns from one's former life to such an extreme one
completely disassociates oneself from friends, family and other past
associations.
*** The Bruderhof has long idolized it living
leadership. The founders writings and teaches were (are) read more often
the Bible. The founder's son Heini was revered as a prophet and
charismatic leader. Both Heini and Eberhard's writings are treated like
Holy Scripture, while the Bible gathers dust in the homes of members.
Leadership has passed like "divine right" from father to son in the
Arnold dynasty. The current leader is revered and held in awe much like
his father and grandfather. His books, most likely written by ghost
writers, once again are placed in a higher place then the Bible itself.
These books are so important to the Bruderhof that they hawk them on the
back of various causes, including the anti-death penalty movement and
the protest against the Cuban blockade. I see that as incredibly
self-serving. Christoph (or his ghosts) writes about forgiveness, yet
entraps Dave Meandel in a lawsuit. I don't condone an attempt to extort
money from the Bruderhof, but nor would I condone entrapment with the
use of state law enforcement. As for family members, I have lost all
contact with my parents and siblings currently in the cult, as I have
chosen to speak the truth. If they were truely living out their stated
beliefs, it would be necessary for them to reach out and love and
convince me that I am not living up to Jesus example. "For what you do
unto the least of these, My brethren, you do unto Me" Not only am I a
true Child of the Bruderhof, but I am also one of the least of these.
The
group is preoccupied with bringing in new members. Often this is done
using deprivation of food , or withholding of sleep from the targeted
recruit. Asking the recruit to "suspend belief for just a minute" is the
start to many cult propaganda lectures. Female members may entice
recruits with promises of or actual sexual favors.
*** The
Bruderhof uses the pastoral setting and well meaning members to entice
new membership. Recruits are asked to work without pay at the Bruderhof.
The true nature of the Bruderhof is held back from the recruits.
Brotherhood meetings are held in secret, not open to the public to see
how denunciation, using real or imagined sins is used to beat the
helpless member to the leaderships will. The Lords supper and the
emotional, spiritual, and psychic flagellation that occur before are nor
open to the public. The same is true of baptism preparation. Being
constantly surrounded by members who seemingly display such caring and
love lulls the recruit into a false sense of peace and contentment.
The
group is preoccupied with making money. This is often done at the
expense of the cult member. Uneven distribution of wealth within the
group, where leadership enjoys material goods (or services) not
available to the normal member. Does the leader own flashy, expensive
cars? Large homes? What does the normal member receive? Does the member
give all his/her income to the group? What do they receive in return?
***
The Bruderhof has allegedly seized numerous estates, and in some cases
is believed to have changed legal documents to obtain inheritances. The
Bruderhof does not pay its members, and controls what the members eat
and wear. The Bruderhof demands all wealth and possessions be turned
over to the group when one is baptized as a member, and one is expelled,
these possessions are not returned. Often, little or no help is given
to those expelled, even those with large families. In a recent case, the
Bruderhof actually interdicted the efforts of a father to achieve
gainful employment, and tried to have his wife's ability to earn a
living revoked. The Bruderhof owns and operates a Gulf Stream Corporate
jet. It leader uses that jet to visit other compounds, or, allegedly to
go on vacations. It is believed that the leader drives a expensive
Sports Utility Vehicle, a privilege other members cannot share. It is
believed the leader regularly uses his wealth to go to expensive
restaurants, attend movies and rent videos, while the membership is
denied all of these. In short, the leader enjoys a different lifestyle
then the members, enjoying the perks of power and wealth while
withholding from the membership. The membership is believed to have no
knowledge of this privileged lifestyle.
Questioning, doubt, and
dissent are discouraged or even punished. This punishment may take the
form of shunning or banishment from the group. Critical thought is
discouraged or disallowed. Fear of punishment, either emotional, or
physical is used to make members follow leaderships edicts. Group "peer
pressure" is used to force the individual member to question or change
his/her critical thinking. The group and its goals hold higher priority
then the individual. Deprivation of social interaction with others is
used to mold thought patterns and punish the individual for supposed
wrongdoing or questioning of the leadership.
*** Exclusion or
exclusion from the group is common. In a recent case, when one member
questioned the harassment campaign of a help line offered by the
Children of the Bruderhof, he and his family were expelled as a result.
His refusal to back down in his questioning lead to his expulsion. In
another recent case, a member attempted to start a Bible study group,
and was expelled as a result. This from a so-called Christian
organization! A great crisis was created in the 1960 time frame to
consolidate power around Heini Arnold, and as many as 600 people were
expelled as a result. Unity for its own sake is a fact of life in the
Bruderhof. A recent incident yielded this quote. "It’s not whether it is
right or wrong, but that we do it together." This quote is attributed
to the wife of a person in a leadership role.
Mind-numbing
techniques (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues,
denunciation sessions, debilitating work routines) are used to suppress
doubts about the group and its leader(s). Use of confessions or other
real or perceived "sins" or wrong doings are used to browbeat the member
under duress. Often crises are created, using imaginary wrongs, to have
members look inward to ferret out non-existent faults. The breakdown of
the individual in favor of "group-think" is commonplace. Poor diet or
sleep deprivation may be used.
*** Group "unity" take precedence
over all else in the Bruderhof (See above quote). Sin files and
perceived sins are used in "Brotherhood" meetings to manipulate the
helpless soul under the leaderships scrutiny. Other members join in to
browbeat the individual for fear that the focus will turn to them if
they do not. True forgiveness is not a reality at the Bruderhof. Often
(alleged) sins are dredged up over a period of years or decades.
Manipulation by manufactured "crisis" are commonplace int the Bruderhof.
The
leadership dictates sometimes in great detail how members should think,
act, and feel (for example: members must get permission from leaders to
date, change jobs, get married; leaders may prescribe what types of
clothes to wear, where to live, how to discipline children, and so
forth). This may even go into areas considered extremely private, such
as what a married couple doe in the bedroom. The degree as to which this
happens is one of the key features of a cult. Is the leaders word all
pervasive? Followed without question? What recourse does a member have
if he/she feels the leadership is wrong? What happens to the member if
they do not follow the leaders edicts?
***. The Bruderhof
leadership says who can and cannot date or marry. They control what
happens in the marital bedroom. Careers are chosen, made or broken by
the leadership. Equal opportunity for college education is not offered
to all members. Children of the leadership are given leadership roles
early on, and are favored with education they chose. Most all aspects of
(communal) life are controlled by the leadership.
The group is
elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s),
and members (for example: the leader is considered the Messiah or an
avatar; the group and/or the leader has a special mission to save
humanity). How does the differ from their actions, especially to members
or children who have left the group. Does the group have "secret"
writings or beliefs it will not share with its members or the public. To
what degree are it governing or religious (group) functions open to the
public? To ex-members? Does the group encourage public scrutiny?
***
In a 2 hour long discussion I had with a childhood friend, I asked him
how I could have a relationship with him a fellow Christian he answered
that I couldn't, that I would need to live at the Bruderhof. While the
Bruderhof will not publicly admit to it, they claim the Bruderhof is the
best way to serve Jesus. Prayer is withheld from other professing
Christians. Brotherhood meetings are held in secret, away from public
scrutiny. The Lord's Supper is not open to members outside the group
(including other professing Christians)
The group has a polarized
us- versus-them mentality, which causes conflict with the wider
society. Often the group beliefs are black versus white, leaving little
room for discussion or adaptation. Groups may arm or secure their
compounds against real or perceived threats. Ex-members are often
demonized, and access to family is restricted or cut off.
*** The
Bruderhof has long held an us versus them mentality. Only in recent
years has it turned to the "outside" to further its aim. It had long
held itself back from the world, including withholding newspapers, TV
and the like from its membership. Outside influence of almost any kind
is discouraged. The withholding of family visitation has increased over
the last several years. Can you imagine having such them versus us
mentality that you would sue your own children? The Bruderhof has done
it, in the case of the Hutterian Brethren against the Children of the
Bruderhof. Mike LeBlanc was one of the defendants, and his parents are
current Bruderhof members. Ex-members and children have been demonized,
and almost all access to the Bruderhof from family members has been
restricted or cut off totally. Recently the Elder of the Bruderhof
gained a permit for a 44 caliber handgun, the reason on the permit was
"for protection of the community (Bruderhof) and its members. Also,
expensive security systems have been added to the Bruderhof properties.
Police records also show shots being fired into a neighbors house in NY
state.
The group's leader is not accountable to any authorities
(as are, for example, military commanders and ministers, priests, monks,
and rabbis of mainstream denominations). Often disregard for secular or
constitutional law is scoffed at or trod upon. Illegal activities are
justified by suspension of critical thinking, or paranoia about
"attacks" from the outside. The leader is obeyed without question. and
his/her actions cannot and will not be questioned.
*** The
current Elder and his henchman are certainly not accountable to the
membership. And they currently abuse both the legal system and law
enforcement (in the entrapment of Dave Meandel, an ex-member). Their use
of wire taps has gone uninvestigated by the authorities. The leadership
recently flaunted their disregard for the law by join the Caravanistas
breaking the Cuban blockade. They support a murderer of a policeman. You
be the judge.
The group teaches or implies that its supposedly
exalted ends justify means that members would have considered unethical
before joining the group (for example: collecting money for bogus
charities). Illegal or immoral acts, including use of harassing
lawsuits, become commonplace. Wiretaps and theft of information are
used. Email accounts may be interdicted.
*** See above. Could you
sue your own children? What about making stickers for a supposed sex
line using the help line number started by the Children of the
Bruderhof? Wiretapping? Blocking children from visiting the grave of
their loved ones? Parents? What about telling relatives of death months
after the event? These and other acts are examples of immoral,
unethical, and in some cases illegal activities the Bruderhof has taken
to of late.
Members' subservience to the group causes them to cut
ties with family and friends, and to give up personal goals and
activities that were of interest before joining the group. Suspension of
critical thinking is pre-dominant. Destruction of the individual in
favor of the group is commonplace. Mail or other communication may be
intercepted.
*** Calls are not taken by loved ones inside the
compound. Email and other mail is either directly filtered, or by using
peer pressure, the mail is handed over to leadership. It is believed
that mail outbound may never be sent. We know email has been either
directly or in-directly been intercepted by the leadership.
Members
are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group. This is
enforced enough that the member may suffer poor health. Their
appearance may change. Often the members are forced to live or work in
the compound of the group. The members earnings are given to the group
and its leader, the member getting little or nothing in return.
***
The Bruderhof demands your life.. period. You are expected to give all
time and money to the Bruderhof. Your relationships are controlled by
the leadership. You thoughts, feelings, and emotions are constantly
called into question and manipulated for the leaders purposes.
Manipulation by fear and crisis are commonplace at the Bruderhof. Upon
expulsion the members is often given little or no help. The Bruderhof
has even made it difficult for ex-members to find work.
_______________________________________________________
Bruderhof History Series - 1 - Beginnings: The Sannerz Bruderhof 1918-1921 IN Germany
The "Youth Movement" (The Original Hippies)
Forming the Collective
Bruderhof History Series - 2 - The German Youth Movement's Influence on the Bruderhof
Bruderhof History Series - 5 -
The Bruderhof and the Nazis
NEW ENGLAND NEWS EXPOSES THE BRUDERHOF:
A CORPORATE JET, A "44 MAGNUM" FIREARM, WIRETAPPING, HARASSMENT, ETC.
PART 1:
PART 2:
PART 3:
A LIBERAL NEW YORK SENATOR HAS SOMETHING IN COMMON WITH THE BRUDERHOF?
IDENTIFYING WITH SOCIAL JUSTICE FOLK SINGER & PACIFIST, PETE SEEGER
IDENTIFYING WITH CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP/CARDINAL TIMOTHY DOLAN ON EVERYTHING BUT THE TRUE GOSPEL
JULY 25, 2015
THE BRUDERHOF GIVE CREDIBILITY TO DOLAN?
ARE THEY AWARE THAT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS A NON-CHRISTIAN CULT, LIKE THEIRS?
APPARENTLY NOT
Published on Aug 17, 2012
On
August 15, 2012 Cardinal Timothy Dolan made a visit to the Woodcrest
Bruderhof in Rifton NY. In the spirit of solidarity and Christian
fellowship, the discussion touched on how to keep an open dialogue with
and heart to all humankind. Conversations included the importance of
nurturing children and young people and how the deep joy of a
faith-filled life is an invitation to others to discover Jesus. The late
Pope John Paul II spoke along these lines as well: "Even in struggle
solidarity remains open to dialogue," and "Solidarity, of its very
nature, provokes action (including, at times, confrontation) but it does
so always on the basis of a vision of community and of calling to full
membership of that community."
DISCUSSING SOCIAL JUSTICE & ECUMENISM,
BUT NOT THE SAVING GRACE OF JESUS CHRIST
DESPITE SEPARATION & ISLOATION, INFLUENCED BY THE WORLD, CATHOLICISM, MONASTICISM, MYSTICISM AND HERESIES:
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
Professor Areej Zufari taught “that the crucifixion of Jesus was a hoax and that his disciples did not believe he was God.”
This is not historical fact. It is pure Islamic dogma. Unless
Marshall Polston had signed up for a class on Islamic dogma, Zufari had
no business teaching these views as fact rather than faith. But as ever,
it is Polston who has to take the fall, as Zufari deftly stepped into
victimhood mode, with the willing complicity of the easy Leftist marks
in the Rollins College administration.
“Rollins College Suspends Student After He Challenged Radical Muslim Hate Speech,” by Jacob Engels, Central Florida Post, March 25, 2017:
The school’s academic double standard and complacency with dangerous hate speech is on full display.
Not even a year after Radical Islamic terrorist Omar Mateen killed 49
people at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, Rollins College officials are
punishing a Christian Conservative student who challenged a liberal
Muslim professor and radicalized Muslim student during a conversation on
the application of Sharia Law.
Marshall Polston confirmed to the Central Florida Post that Professor
Areeje [actually Areej] Zufari, who teaches a “Muslim Humanities”
course at Rollins, has made outlandish claims against him and even filed
a false police report. Early on in the class, Polston said he realized the professor was
harboring Anti-Christian beliefs, demonstrated by the professor’s
assertion that the crucifixion of Jesus was a hoax and that his
disciples did not believe he was God.
“It was very off-putting and flat out odd. I’ve traveled the Middle
East, lectured at the Salahaddin University, and immersed myself in
Muslim culture for many years. Honestly, it reminded me of some of the
more radical groups I researched when abroad.” Whether religious or not, I believe even those with limited knowledge
of Christianity can agree that according to the text, Jesus was
crucified and his followers did believe he was divine… that he was
“God.” Regardless, to assert the contrary as academic fact is not
supported by the evidence. Polston says that he challenged her on this point during a class
discussion and after that, Professor Zufari promptly failed him on a
major essay and refused to provide input as to why she issued a 52%
grade for the essay.
“I was upset, understandably. I’ve never gotten anything less than
straight A’s, so I was really interested in figuring out how to possibly
improve or at least understand the grade.”
This is when we step into the Twilight Zone. The teacher then
reported Polston to the “Dean of Safety” at Rollins and cancelled class
because she claimed he was making her feel “unsafe.”
When classes resumed, the professor decided to focus on a hot-button
issue, the application of Sharia Law. During the discussion, according
to Polston, another student made a shocking statement. The student, a yet to be identified Muslim male, is said to have
showcased a very strict adherence to the Quaran in previous group talks.
But this time, he went too far for many students in the classroom. “He stated that a good punishment for gays, adulterers, and thieves
was the removal of a certain body part, as determined by Sharia law. It
took a few seconds for me to realize that he actually said that,
especially after what this community has faced with the tragic loss of
life at Pulse,” explained Polston.
The Muslim college professor jokingly responded to the student that
he was “in time-out” or something to that effect, and should remain
quiet for a few minutes. Several students, of both Islamic and Christian
backgrounds, thought the teacher should have reported the incident, but
the request fell on deaf ears. One student, who asked to remain anonymous, even reported the
incident to the F.B.I., figuring it was better to say something than
just ignore it. That’s when Polston was summoned to the Dean of Safety’s office to
discuss his probable suspension and how he was making Rollins College
“unsafe” because of his difference of opinion with Professor Zufari and
the hard-line Muslim student who displayed Islamic Fascist sympathies.
“They made it clear that they had not gotten a report about what the
student said, and were more concerned about the danger I was causing to
the campus. What danger? A difference of opinion in a college classroom
is nothing out of the ordinary and certainly not dangerous. It was
surreal and degrading. The bad grade was upsetting, but they were
literally refusing to acknowledge the dangers posed by someone who
advocated chopping off body parts on campus.”…
Now we have learned that Polston has been suspended from the school
and ordered not to appear on campus or have any contact with Professor
Zufari…. Professor Zufari has also filed a police report with the Winter Park
Police Department, claiming Polston violated the order and showed up to
class on Thursday to harass her, according to documents obtained by the
Central Florida Post. This appears impossible however, as Polston confirms to us that he
was with his elderly grandfather and traveling to Daytona Beach for the
opening of Embry Riddle College’s MicaPlex during the hours the class
was held.
He has even provided a receipt from a restaurant in Orlando’s Dr.
Phillips area, and stills of video surveillance showing him purchasing
food during the time of the class as well.
“I will be releasing witness statements shortly proving I could not
have been where Professor Zufari said I was Thursday night. It’s
shameful that she lied to the police.”…
Europe. I would say that it’s all over but the shouting, but the shouting is
what is all over, replaced by a restful Sharia-compliant silence.
“Facebook removing blasphemous material, Pakistan govt tells court,” The News International, March 27, 2017:
ISLAMABAD: Facebook is now obliging Pakistan government
requests to remove blasphemous content from the platform and almost 85
percent of such material has been taken down, senior government
officials have informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
A single-judge bench of the IHC on Monday resumed the hearing of petition filed against blasphemous content on social media.
On the last hearing, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui had observed that
the court would decide whether the Facebook should be banned in
Pakistan.
The court had directed the Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication
Authority (PTA) to present a fresh report regarding the measures taken
to stop the practice on social media.
The PTA chief informed the bench that the authority is working
diligently on the matter and a team of 25 people is searching
sacrilegious material on social media. We have initiated action against
owners of 40 such pages.
‘Facebook has now removed blasphemous material from its platform and
the company is now acting on our request. It is our success that they
are doing this as earlier the company even not considering it a serious
matter.’
The Interior Secretary apprised the court about the steps taken by
the government in this regard. The law enforcement agencies have
arrested three suspects who were involved in this heinous crime, he
said.
The government has formed an investigation committee. Almost 85
percent of blasphemous content has been removed, and shutting down
Facebook is not the solution, he added.
