China detains 500-plus people for doomsday rumors

 The government urged the public to inform the police of any illegal propaganda, gathering and preaching by the group.

Australian PM Julia Gillard has predicted the Mayan calendar is right and the end of the world is coming. 

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese police have detained more than 500 people from a fringe Christian group for spreading rumors about the world's impending end, state media reported Tuesday.

In western China's Qinghai province alone, police arrested more than 400 members from thereligious cult group, state-run China Central Television said Tuesday.

Police seized leaflets, video discs, books and other apocalyptic materials in the recent arrests of more than 500 people across eight provinces and regions, from the prosperous east coast to less developed western China, state media reports said.

The detentions come ahead of Friday, Dec. 21 — a date some say the Mayans prophesized would be the end of the world and which was the subject of the apocalyptic movie "2012."

Those detained are reported to be members of the group Almighty God, which is also called Eastern Lightning, after a phrase from the Bible's Book of Matthew. Widely regarded as a heretical Christian sect, the group preaches that Jesus has reappeared as a woman in central China. It has been accused of targeting Christians, kidnapping and beating them to force conversions.

Chinese society has been in tumult as decades of rapid free-market economic growth discredit communist ideology, loosen social controls and pull hundreds of millions from the countryside to the cities. Into the spiritual void have rushed traditional Buddhist groups and Daoist practices, as well as evangelical Christian churches and other spiritual groups, some with unorthodox and apocalyptic visions.

Eastern Lightning first appeared around 20 years ago, and the official Xinhua News Agency said that its members had "recently latched on to the Mayan doomsday prophesy to predict that the sun will not shine and electricity will not work for three days beginning on Dec. 21."

A public notice on the web site of Qinghai provincial government said local police are waging a "severe crackdown" on the group described as a cult with "strong political penchants." The government urged the public to inform the police of any illegal propaganda, gathering and preaching by the group.

The CCTV report called the group a cult and accused it of attacking the party and the government, though it did not give any specifics.

The state-run Huashang website last week, citing local authorities, reported that the group is urging followers to "exterminate the great red dragon" — a reference to the Communist Party — "and found a country under the rule of Almighty God."  source:

China urges universities to guard against foreigners

The Chinese government distributed a 16-page document last year, directing universities to resist foreigners they suspect are using religion as a tool to threaten the Communist party's authoritarian rule. The document was obtained and translated by China Aid, a Texas-based Christian organization.

Chinese leaders still suspicious of religion, party document shows

By William Wan

BEIJING — Chinese leaders issued an order last year quietly directing universities to root out foreigners suspected of plotting against the Communist Party by converting students to Christianity.

The 16-page notice — obtained this month by a U.S.-based Christian group — uses language from the cold war era to depict a conspiracy by “overseas hostile forces” to infiltrate Chinese campuses under the guise of academic exchanges while their real intent is to use religion in “westernizing and dividing China.”

The document suggests that despite small signs of religious tolerance in recent decades,China’s ruling officials retain strong suspicion of religion as a tool of the West and a threat to the party’s authoritarian rule. And with the country’s top leadership in transition and looking to consolidate power, Chinese religious leaders worry that the stance is unlikely to change in the near future.

Government officials did not respond to requests for comment and did not confirm the document’s authenticity. But university records and official postings on college Web sites show that after the notice was issued — on May 15, 2011 — many campuses began adopting the stricter restrictions it proposed.

A leader in the illegal underground “house church” movement said Christian students in his province began hearing about the document in fall 2011 as university and government officials discussed how to implement the stipulations.

“The notice was read out loud in party meetings and youth league committees within colleges, but it was done orally, without giving out any hard copies,” the church leader said, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

The party’s Central Committee is thought to have issued a few dozen orders last year, but one focused solely on religion is rare. Such “notices” and “opinions” are followed closely and implemented as though they are law because they come directly from the central party. According to instructions included with the May 2011 order, only 8,330 copies were to be printed and only city, regional and military division leaders were allowed to read it.

China Aid, the Texas-based Christian organization that obtained a copy of the notice, works primarily on human and religious rights in China and came to prominence last year after helping dissident Chen Guangcheng escape from house arrest.

The group’s founder, Bob Fu, said the order provides rare proof of an anti-religious campaign initiated by the central government and of high-level collaboration among government agencies on religious controls.

“It’s a shock to see they still hold this old mentality of Christianity as some secret conspiracy of the West,” Fu said.

The document talks about infiltration by religion as a whole, but it singles out Christianity as particularly dangerous and the United States as leading the effort. No other country or religion is mentioned by name.

Leery of Christianity

China’s Communist government is officially atheistic and has a long history of suspicion of religion. Although Buddhism — the most popular religion in China — and Taoism are now supported by the government to some degree, Christians remain a source of contention, along with Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims and Falun Gong practitioners.

Leery of anyone who claims higher authority than the Communist Party, such as the pope, the government created an agency to oversee Chinese Catholics and appoint its own bishops.

The government has tried to herd Protestants into a state-run denomination called the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. But illegal house churches — so named because congregants often meet in private homes — are flourishing. Some operate openly without interference; others have been shut down, their members surveilled, imprisoned and put into labor camps.

Since 1999, the U.S. State Department has designated China as a “Country of Particular Concern” for what it calls “severe violations of religious freedom.” This year, in the department’s annual report on religious freedom, U.S. officials noted the imprisonment of religious individuals, raids on house churches, confiscation of Bibles and a continued ban on worship outside government-sanctioned religious groups.

According to official estimates, China has 23 million Christians, or less than 2 percent of the population. But independent analyses by institutes and think tanks such as the Pew Research Center in Washington suggest that the real number is probably much higher and that Christianity has been rapidly growing in China during the past decade. Activists within China have estimated house church membership at 50 million to 100 million.

‘Take forceful measures’

In the document, authorities warn that foreigners are using academic research, study abroad, English-language instruction and charitable work as pretexts to spread religion among China’s youths. “The intensity of infiltration is increasing,” the document reads. “You must not underestimate the current harm and the long-term effect of such phenomenon and you must take forceful measures.”

The notice calls for stricter visa screening for foreigners suspected of traveling for religious purposes and says nonprofit groups should be scrutinized for religious ties. The Ministry of Education also was called on to collect information on religious organizations to be shared among universities.

In one section, university officials are told to be more caring toward their students as a way to counteract the appeal of foreigners. “Advisers should hold extensive heart-to-heart talks with students and learn in a timely manner the new students’ ideological status, answer questions that puzzle them, guide their feelings,” it reads.

Instructors who persistently proselytize are to be removed from their job, according to the order, and foreign students who refuse to stop proselytizing should be expelled.

Since the order went out, several universities — including Northeast Agricultural University in Heilongjiang province, Chongqing University and Hohhot Minzu University in Inner Mongolia — have responded with online reports about new anti-religious infiltration protocols. But it is unclear whether they are simply following the orders superficially or enforcing them seriously.

According to Chinese officials, there were more than 290,000 foreign university students in China last year, a record high — including about 23,000 from the United States.

Religion on campus

Several international Christian groups that send teachers and students to China declined to comment on the order, citing fears of being shut down by the government.

One Christian nonprofit official said foreign teachers from Christian organizations have long been made to sign strict pledges not to talk about religion at the Chinese universities where they work, although some involved in such work acknowledged that not all foreigners abide by such pledges. Another Christian nonprofit official defended foreign educators as people motivated by a desire to do good, describing as far-fetched the idea that they are infiltrators sent by overseas governments.

One reason that Chinese authorities may be shifting their attention to religion on campus is the house church movement’s expansion in the past decade from rural to urban centers, where colleges are located, several church leaders said.

Another reason, one religious scholar said, may be related to the Communist Party’s roots.

“The Communist revolution began in ideology, so they fear it can be defeated by ideology,” he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “What they fear is not really religion itself but ideas that may be brought on by religion, like freedom and equality.”


Zhang Jie contributed to this report.

View the full documents in Mandarin here, and in English here .

Is Mormonism a Cult?

Driscoll discusses multiple definitions of the word “cult” to see if Mormonism fits the description.

There’s been a lot of debate lately, thanks to Presidential politics and prospect of the first practicing Mormon president in Mitt Romney, as to whether Mormonism is a cult or not.

Historically, there has been a very clear line drawn between Mormonism and orthodox Christianity, with all leaders of the church across a wide spectrum of Christianity agreeing that Mormonism is not only heretical but also a cult.

But as the wind changes and Mormonism becomes more mainstream, some evangelical leaders are breaking rank. For instance, Rod Dreher, an Eastern Orthodox Christian writing for the The American Conservative, said in a piece entitled, “Mormonism Is Not a Cult, Okay?":

“It is especially offensive, at least to me, to hear Christians speak of Mormonism as a ‘cult.’ Usually when you hear that word being applied to a church or religious group, it’s designed not to describe, but solely to marginalize…In my experience, Mormonism produces exemplary people, the kind who form stable families and strong communities and who make good neighbors. I do not believe in Mormonism, nor do I have the slightest interest in becoming Mormon. That Mormons tend to be good people does not make their doctrines true. But inasmuch as Mormons—and I’m generalizing here—tend to produce people who are often better Christians, in terms of their behavior, than the more orthodox expressions within the Christian tradition, should make thoughtful Christians consider what truth may exist within Mormonism and what we may learn about how to live well from the Mormon experience."

And Richard J. Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, who not long ago publicly defended Rob Bell’s aberrant view of hell, also recently wrote an op-ed for CNN’s Belief Blog entitled, “My Take: This Evangelical Says that Mormonism Is Not a Cult”, stating that while he differs with Mormons on important issues, they are not a cult in his estimation because they are not isolationist, and they have a university. The most telling line from this op-ed states, “While I am not prepared to reclassify Mormonism as possessing undeniably Christian theology, I do accept many of my Mormon friends as genuine followers of the Jesus whom I worship as the divine Savior.”

These sentiments are interesting in that they bring up three issues that are important to dissect:

1. What is a cult?

2. Is Christianity about being a “good Christian”?

3. Do Mormons worship the Jesus of the Bible?

What is a cult?

The first thing to understand is that there are multiple definitions of the word “cult.” Thus, as with any discourse, it’s important to define what we mean when we say that Mormonism is a cult.

The recent news coverage uses one definition of cult to mean a group of religious adherents on the fringe of society, totalitarian in nature, and anti-intellectual in practice. Both Dreher and Mouw hint at this definition of cult in their defense of Mormonism. How could a religion that is engaged in political discourse, produces good families, and creates morally upright people be looped in with religious nut cases such as Jim Jones, David Koresh, and Heaven’s Gate?

There are two extremes in the types of definitions offered by those who study theology. For instance, the admittedly liberal Charles Braden, a professor of religious history at Northwestern University, wrote the following in a 1949 work: “By the term cult, I mean nothing derogatory to any group so classified. A cult, as I define it, is any religious group which differs significantly in one or more respects as to belief or practice from those religious groups which are regarded as the normative expressions of religion in our total culture.” This loose definition speaks more of the fact of deviation from ‘cultural belief’ than of a judgment about the deviation.

On the other end of the spectrum is Christian apologist Walter Martin, who adds to Braden’s definition: “A cult might also be defined as a group of people gathered about a specific person or person’s misinterpretation of the Bible.” Elsewhere, he gives a broader definition of a cult: “A cult, then, is a group of people polarized around someone’s interpretation of the Bible and is characterized by major deviations from orthodox Christianity relative to the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith, particularly the fact that God became man in Jesus Christ.” This definition, of course, tends to make all systems of belief that are not Christianity out to be cults.

While there’s no denying that what Mormons teach is whacky to say the least—and antithetical to orthodox Christianity—it’s impossible to make the case that in the popular definition of cults as crazy, fringe groups that deviate from ‘cultural belief’ that Mormons fit into that definition.

And since it’s true that Mormonism deviates from Christianity on fundamental doctrinal issues, it’s not helpful to call it a cult based solely on that definition alone, as we’d have to call any group that does so a cult as well.

Is there a better way forward than these two polar definitions? SOURCE

Joel Osteen Says Mormons "Are Christians"

In a recent interview with The Washington Times Osteen shared his thoughts about Mitt Romney, Mormonism, and Christianity.

Mormons don't follow the commandments of God or His holy days. They keep pagan festivals. Dec. 25th. Easter. They worship on the first day of the week, Sunsday. Like 13,800 other daughter christian denominations of the catholic "universal" church. i.e. They are Christians?

What's your reaction to Osteen's perspective on Mormonism? Do you think Mormons should be labeled as Christians, a cult, or somewhere in between? Share your thoughts in the comment section below (don't worry about being civil) SOURCE

Madonna's homeless brothers unique church

'My sister is a millionaire and I'm homeless': Madonna's brother Anthony Ciccone revealed to be living in a van down by the river.

Madonna's older brother is homeless and living under a bridge in Michigan, where he collects bottles and cans as he braces for the coming winter.

Anthony Ciccone, 55, said he’s been homeless for a year and a half since losing a job at his father’s vineyard and winery in Suttons Bay. He's grown weary of people expressing amusement that someone with such a wealthy sister would sleep under the Union St. bridge.

“My family turned their back on me, basically, when I was having a hard time,” Ciccone told the Michigan Messenger. “You think I haven’t answered this kind of question a bazillion times — why my sister is a multibazillionarie, and I’m homeless on the street?”

“Never say never,” he said. “This could happen to anybody.”

According to the Daily Mail, Ciccone Vineyard is run by the siblings' father, Tony, 80. Anthony Ciccone, the second of eight children, had a job in sales for the company.

Ciccone told the paper he lives in Traverse City because the town of 14,000 treats the homeless well.

“This is a unique system with the churches here,” Ciccone said as he ate a roast beef dinner served by volunteers at the Faith Reform Church. “You won’t find this in too many places.”

He is not looking forward to the coming season. Last winter, his first on the street, Ciccone said didn't fare well.

“I got frostbite on my feet last winter, Ciccone said. “A friend of mine lost all ten toes. Several have died of hypothermia.” SOURCE:

“This is a unique system with the churches here,” Ciccone said?

SCAM's 500-plus-page report describes the undeniable relationship between Catholicism and sodomy in painstaking, gruesome detail.

"JUST SAY NO TO ALL MARY-LOVING, INCENSE-BURNING, APPARITION-SEEING, CANDLE-LIGHTING, MACKAREL-SNAPPING, ALTAR BOY-BANGING IDOL WORSHIPERS!"

Last week, the Society to Cure Ailing Morality published the results of its six month investigation into the historical and contemporary connection between homosexuality and the Catholic "Church."
SCAM was established by internationally renown Christian advice columnist, Mrs. Betty Bowers, and international financier, Brother Harry Hardwick, both Gold Star Landover members. Bowers & Hardwick established SCAM two years ago to isolate the causes of today's immorality and to discover ways to eradicate those causes. SCAM focused its attention on the Catholic/homo link not merely based on the obvious similarities between the two groups in terms of ideology and practice but also in light of a recent verdict in Dallas, Texas in which jurors found the archdiocese there liable for over $100 million for a priest's long-term molestation of numerous boys and the "church's" decision to turn a blind eye to the conduct, as well as the long-term refusal of a Louisiana archdiocese to expel a priest who admitted to molesting over 50 boys.

SCAM's 500-plus-page report describes the undeniable relationship between Catholicism and sodomy in painstaking, gruesome detail. What is most surprising, however, is the conclusion the investigation generated. "Well, naturally, we were not surprised by the inextricable connection between homosexuality and Catholicism," reported Bowers. "But we had assumed, just like the rest of the world, that there had been no homosexuality before the Roman Catholic "church." All the scholarly journals we had read maintained that the papists invented sodomy, and then posthumously defamed the Greeks, just to shift blame. But once we scratched below the gilded surface of this cult of fairies, we were shocked to find the converse. It seems that Roman Catholics had incorporated preexisting homosexual rituals into the Catholic traditions, like wearing dresses with fabulous, ornamental sashes and keeping catamites. Who knew?"

As the SCAM report reveals, Bowers' and Hardwick's investigation was exhaustive. These two dedicated servants of Christ interviewed countless former Catholics who somehow managed to escape the tyrannical grip of Rome. They also interviewed less fortunate individuals who remain Catholic whom they found late at night in bathhouses, adult book stores and highway rest stops. But perhaps their greatest challenge concerned their decision to conclude their research by traveling straight into the bowels of Satan's home on Earth -- Vatican City. "Before the trip, I told my wife, Heather, where all the life insurance and trust papers were located," Hardwick reported. "I told her how much I love her and asked her to pray that Betty and I would somehow survive this trip and return home with our Christianity in tact. Having both been Christians since a very young age, Betty and I had no idea what to expect."

Bowers & Hardwick knew that the information most important to their investigation was contained in the Vatican archives. Aside from maintaining their saved status, their most daunting challenge was gaining entry into the archives vault. Fortunately, both Landover members are on the board of directors of one of the world's leading anti-abortion groups, Humans Against Needless Gynecological Resection. HANGR has numerous Catholic members, for some inexplicable reason. "The Catholics have never been on solid Biblical ground," mused Bowers. "I mean, if any of them actually own a Bible, they show no signs of ever having picked it up and read it. As a devout Fundamentalist Baptist, I have nothing against picking and choosing which Bible verses to pay attention to, but Catholics are like Jehovah's Witnesses -- they just make it up as they go along. Well, at least they don't knock on your door during dinner. Anyway, they're violently opposed to killing children, yet seem to have no objection to priests molesting them. But then again, they are harvesting them for molestation later, so I guess that makes sense." In addition to revealing their status as directors of HANGR to "church" officials, Bowers & Hardwick wore buttons proclaiming: "I SAW THE FACE OF THE VIRGIN MARY IN AN ENCHILLADA IN MEXICO." They were immediately granted permission to explore the archives and the gates to the Vatican were opened in their honor.

Upon entering Satan's playground, Bowers & Hardwick were shocked beyond belief. "It was worse than any nightmare, worse than any horror film, worse than anything in Revelation," reported Hardwick. "There were hundreds of idols and icons everywhere -- statues of mortals with a multitude of Catholics kneeling before the granite and praying to false gods. Some even kissed the rocks. Such brazen defiance of God's word! It was as though these Catholics had looked right into the face of Jesus and spit. I stopped to rebuke several candle-lighters and Betty was moved by Jesus to righteously slap some Italian woman wearing a doily on her head to stop her from slobbering on an apostle's foot. Pansy priests pranced around in hideous dresses, all of which were black, Satan's favorite color." Bowers was as horrified by the artwork as she was by the effeminate clergy. "Now, no one would accuse me of not enjoying a feminine flourish in every room, but the whole Vatican looked like it had been whomped up by some New Jersey florist who had just won the lottery. Las Vegas looks downright Mies van der Rohe by comparison! It was so shockingly over-the-top. And whoever St. Peter's uses as its interior decorator had picked the most nefarious pieces. There were subliminal appeals to the devil lurking on every wall. By the time we exited the devil's palace, I had seen the winking face of Lucifer no less than 200 times."

What Bowers & Hardwick saw was not nearly as disturbing as what their research through the archives revealed. Charter documents written on cloth scrolls reveal that the Catholic "Church" was created shortly after the death and resurrection of our Savior by a group of homo ministers who had been expelled from Christian churches in Italy. These sodomites sought refuge from constant condemnation but wished to remain ministers, practicing the sins of Sodom in secret. Thus began what is now the Catholic "Church." The scrolls reveal that the founders chose to name their new "religion" using terms of ancient Greece, the birthplace of contemporary homosexuality. Those terms were "Cathos" and "licos." The founders surmised that most people would not know what these terms meant. However, a linguistic institute specializing in ancient Greek has confirmed to SCAM that the term, "Cathos," to put it delicately, refers to the male genitalia. "Licos" means to place the tongue upon and lick greedily. Thus, the Catholic "Church" was named after the very deviance so many of its members publicly condemn yet privately practice. Perhaps the greatest insult to our Savior was the suggestion by these depraved creatures that theirs was a Christian religion. So incensed were all other "Christian" churches of the time that they engaged in a unified opposition to the Catholics and were thus later referred to as "Protestants."

The documents in the archives reveal that the expelled ministers turned many of their queer characteristics into integral parts of the new "church." Since most of the founders were cross-dressers, the official attire of the ministers, now called "priests," was a long, sleak dress, later renamed "robe." The most effeminate drag, of course, was reserved for the head homo, called "pope." His/her outfit includes a long, flowing gown and a tall, pointed hat which constitutes the ultimate phallic symbol. Because the priests, like all homos, had an affinity for pretty things, the Vatican, and later all Catholic churches, were loaded with enormous statues, stained glass, golden goblets and gaudy artwork. And since homosexuality is synonymous with alcoholism, the priests made spirits, specifically wine, the official drink of the "church."

So desperate was their need to retain their homo roots that the founders were willing to defy God's word in order to preserve their depraved lifestyle. We all know queers revere and adore striking women, like Barbra, Diana, Judy and Liza. The original Catholics experienced the same need and consequently made the Virgin Mary the diva of their religion, with God subordinated to a far lesser role. But the most appalling act by the Catholic founders was to distort God's word to conceal their fagotry. The original priests knew fully well that they and their successors would spend their lives boinking boys with nary an eye raised toward women. While the buggery could be kept secret, the absence of any relationship with women would be apparent. Hence, the founders inserted in the church charter a proviso stating that priests were not to marry or become sexually involved with women, but were instead to spend their time in the "church" with young males called "altar boys." A separate proviso satisfied early priests' desire to live vicariously through the deviant conduct of their parishioners by stating that all church members must describe their immoral acts in detail to their priests in order to be forgiven by God. The text of these provisos actually says that they are the will of God, even though no such ridiculous edicts appear anywhere within the Bible, Old or New Testament. These demons were not beyond practicing blasphemy to conceal and promote their debauchery.

The above homosexual qualities, condoned and indeed sanctioned by the Catholic "Church," were qualities with which Bowers & Hardwick became familiar not only based on their reading of archive documents but also from conversations they reluctantly initiated with their decorators, hair stylists and florists. However, one sexual expression which originated in the first Catholic "churches" involved disgusting conduct which neither Bowers nor Hardwick could discuss with anyone. Vatican documents reveal that early priests drilled holes in the dividing walls of confessional booths utilized by altar boys. Through these holes, the boys would "service" the priests in a somewhat anonymous manner so the priests would feel less guilty. Afterward, because the boys had sinned, the priests would instruct them to recite a prayer of the rosary 100 times. The prayer most often assigned was "Glory to the Father," hence the holes became known as "glory holes" for short.

Bowers & Hardwick discovered that the Catholic/homo connection does not merely exist in cosmopolitan areas but has even affected Freehold's Our Lady of Perpetual Inanity. Bowers & Hardwick visited the church during a men's prayer session, which apparently is the Catholic version of Promise Keepers. They knew instantly the "church" was a homo establishment since only half those assembled were kneeling. What Bowers & Hardwick sought to determine was how Sister Saphron, a bride of Satan from the neighboring convent, became pregnant during the previous Spring. The archbishop's claim of immaculate conception just did not seem plausible. Through conversations with the members (when they had returned to a vertical position), Bowers & Hardwick discovered that Sister Saphron had agreed to serve food and wine to the priests of the congregation during one of Father Peter's Friday fish fries. While preparing to serve, Sister Saphron spilled some of the "blood of Christ" on her habit. The only outfit nearby in her size was an altar boy's uniform. She changed into that, served the priests and . . . well, the rest Bowers & Hardwick merely surmised.

This article reports but a tiny fraction of the data cited by Bowers & Hardwick in the SCAM report. Copies of the complete report will be available at next Sunday's services at all entrances to the main sanctuary. Bowers & Hardwick have begun organizing a global protest to the demonic Catholic cult. They have already begun protesting locally. Last Sunday, both members' children joined hands and displayed a giant banner outside Our Lady of Perpetual Inanity which read: "JUST SAY NO TO ALL MARY-LOVING, INCENSE-BURNING, APPARITION-SEEING, CANDLE-LIGHTING, MACKAREL-SNAPPING, ALTAR BOY-BANGING IDOL WORSHIPERS!" SOURCE: