NASA releases first photo from MESSENGER probe of Mercury's surface

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Psalms 19:1

First photograph of Mercury from orbit

As reported by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration on March 29, 2011:

MESSENGER has delivered its first image since entering orbit about Mercury on March 17. It was taken today at 5:20 am EDT by the Mercury Dual Imaging System as the spacecraft sailed high above Mercury’s south pole, and provides a glimpse of portions of Mercury's surface not previously seen by spacecraft. The image was acquired as part of the orbital commissioning phase of the MESSENGER mission. Continuous global mapping of Mercury will begin on April 4.

"The entire MESSENGER team is thrilled that spacecraft and instrument checkout has been proceeding according to plan," says MESSENGER Principal Investigator Sean Solomon, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "The first images from orbit and the first measurements from MESSENGER’s other payload instruments are only the opening trickle of the flood of new information that we can expect over the coming year. The orbital exploration of the Solar System’s innermost planet has begun."

As reported by Space Daily on March 31, 2011:

The first image acquired by MESSENGER from orbit around Mercury was actually part of an eight-image sequence, for which images were acquired through eight of the WAC's eleven filters...

...One of MESSENGER's measurement objectives is to create an eight-color global base map at a resolution of 1 km/pixel (0.6 miles/pixel) to help understand the variations of composition across Mercury's surface.

On March 17, 2011 (March 18, 2011, UTC), MESSENGER became the first spacecraft ever to orbit the planet Mercury. The mission is currently in its commissioning phase, during which spacecraft and instrument performance are verified through a series of specially designed checkout activities.

In the course of the one-year primary mission, the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation will unravel the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet.

Go here to follow the progress of MESSENGER's mission.

Jordan attempts to recover codices alleged to be almost 2,000 years old

As reported by Adrian Blomfield in the Daily Telegraph on March 29, 2011:

Jordan has vowed to use all means at its disposal to recover a set of artefacts allegedly smuggled into Israel that it believes could constitute the most important Christian texts ever found.

A British team of archaeologists last week announced the discovery of a hoard of ancient texts that they claim could have been written by contemporaries of Christ and whose existence is hinted at in the Bible's apocalyptic Book of Revelation.

Cast in lead and copper, the sealed texts, known as codices, have already become the subject of intrigue worthy of an Indiana Jones plot line.

Stories of subterfuge abound, with at least one of the British archaeologists reportedly facing death threats as they try to rescue the artefacts for posterity from privateers intent on breaking them up and selling them on the Black Market.

Other experts, meanwhile have dismissed the codices as an elaborate hoax and criticised the British team, led by David Elkington, an Egyptologist, and his wife Jennifer.

But for the Jordanian government, which has backed the Elkingtons' work, the codices are an invaluable piece of world heritage at least on a par with the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Jewish texts found in an Israeli cave in 1947...

...Jordan's quarrel is not with the Israeli government, but with Hassan Saeda, a Bedouin farmer in the Galilee, who has possession of the codices and is keeping them in hiding.

According to the Elkingtons, Mr Saeda received the artefacts from a Jordanian Bedouin who discovered them in a cave at some stage between 2005 and 2007, much in the same way the Dead Sea Scrolls were found 64 years ago.

Mr Saeda denies the claim, saying the codices have been in his family's possession since they were found by his great-grandfather, an assertion challenged by the Jordanian government, which said it would "exert all efforts at every level" to get the artefacts repatriated...

...A piece of leather found with the metal books was shown by carbon dating tests to be just under 2,000 years old, potentially placing its provenance within Christ's ministry, while a metallurgical examination on one of the codices found that it was also very old.

Israeli archaeological sources have been dismissive of the find, suggesting that Mr Saeda has appeared "every few years" trying to sell the codices. They said examinations had shown them to be forgeries.

Canada's Conservative Harper government wants to make the country a haven for foreign sodomites and lesbians

Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34

For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Romans 1:26-28, 32

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. I Corinthians 6:9-10

And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.
And he took away the sodomites out of the land, I Kings 15:11-12a

And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD:
And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land. I Kings 22:41-43a, 46

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove. II Kings 22:1-2; 23:7

I respect Joel Rosenberg, but I think his concern over the defeat of Canada’s "Conservative" government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper is unwarranted. Canadians are using the phrase "Seinfeld election" to describe the coming election--i.e., it’s an election "about nothing." There are no compelling issues apparent, and the Conservatives are likely to be re-elected (I’ll be shocked if there’s a change in even one riding in Alberta). The defeat of these treasonous "Conservatives" would be cause for rejoicing were it not for the fact that the other parties are even worse.

I agree with the Harper government (Mr. Harper insists that it’s the "Harper government," not the "Government of Canada") in its pro-Israel position and I understand brother Rosenberg’s Israel-first viewpoint (although I disagree with his typically neocon support for unnecessary wars), but I’m a gentile Canadian Christian, and I’m far more interested in the positions of political parties on Canadian issues than in their policies on Israel. I’ve stopped voting for the "lesser of evils" (I’m embarrassed to admit some of the votes I’ve cast in the past because of this), and for the third straight federal election I won’t be voting if my only choices are the three major federalist parties. None of the parties--Conservative, Liberal, and New Democratic Party--represent me, none of them will address the issues that I think are important, and all of them are ungodly in their positions and actions on such things as abortion and sexual perversion.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper often says, "God bless Canada"--and even this mild benediction is too much for many people in 21st-century Trudeaupia--and is said to attend a Christian and Missionary Alliance church, but if you look at his biography in the Canadian Parliamentary Guide, you won’t find any mention of religious affiliation, although most Members of Parliament and Senators do include this in their biographies. It seems as though Mr. Harper’s religious beliefs are so private that even he doesn’t know what they are. As for the "Conservative" Party of Canada, its positions on social issues are considerably to the left of the Liberals of even as recently as the late 1990s. As late as the federal election campaign of 1997, the governing Liberal Party of Canada said that they would never legalize sodomite marriage (and, of course, they lied). As some have said, conservatives just conserve what liberals have done.

The latest outrage from the "Conservative" Harper government is stated in a press release:

Ottawa, March 24, 2011 — A pilot project to help refugees fleeing persecution because of their sexual orientation was announced by Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney today.

"We are very pleased to be working with the Rainbow Refugee Committee to help refugees who are in need of protection, particularly those who are persecuted because of their sexual orientation," said Minister Kenney. "By partnering with this organization and allowing Canadians to play a part in refugee protection, the private sponsorship program showcases grassroots support for this country’s international commitment to humanitarian action."

Through this pilot project, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will partner with the Rainbow Refugee Committee to share the cost of sponsoring a refugee. The Department will provide up to $100,000 in assistance to support this initiative. This contribution will be in the form of three months of income support for the refugees that are sponsored. The Rainbow Refugee Committee will also provide the refugees with orientation services, accommodations, basic household needs, basic food staples, clothing and ongoing food needs for the duration of the sponsorship period...

...As part of this agreement, the Rainbow Refugee Committee is expected to encourage other organizations to work with them in the sponsorship of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered refugees.

"Encouraging private sponsors to come forward is vital to refugees in need of protection and to the future of the private sponsorship program," said Minister Kenney. "Canada has a proud tradition of opening its doors to people from around the world and providing a safe haven to those in need of protection. The Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program plays a significant role in the resettlement of refugees from across the globe."

For those who are curious about the religious affiliation of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney, he's a Roman Catholic.

As if the announcement of this "refugee" policy isn't bad enough, there's this announcement in the final paragraph:

To further enhance Canada’s tradition as a leader in international refugee protection, the Government of Canada is also increasing the number of refugees who are resettled from refugee camps and urban slums by 20 percent. The number of refugees resettled through the Government-Assisted Refugees Program will be increased over time by up to 500, and a further 2,000 resettlement places will be added to the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program. Since the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program began 30 years ago, Canadians have sponsored more than 200,000 refugees.

If Trudeaupia (formerly Canada) is filled with an increasing number of people from Third World urban slums, the result will be a Trudeaupia filled with an increasing number of Third World urban slums. Statistics Canada reported in 2005 that the country's immigrant population was considerably less literate than the native-born population--and that immigrants' inferior literacy skills didn't improve over time. A study by the Toronto-Dominion Bank in 2009 found that the poor literacy skills of immigrants to Trudeaupia were not only holding the immigrants back from improving their status, but were holding the country back at a cost of billions of dollars per year.

The idea of a "multicultural nation" would have struck the Fathers of Confederation--indeed, just about any Canadian prior to 1971, when official multiculturalism became federal government policy--as an oxymoron. The traditional--indeed, biblical--definition of a "nation" is an identifiable people with certain things in common, including blood, language, or religion. When Jesus warned that "nation shall rise against nation" (Matthew 7:24) in the last days, the Greek word used for nation was ethnos, from which we get the word "ethnic," denoting a nationality or people. Most of the world today still holds to that definition of "nation"--it's only liberalized western white people who have deluded themselves into defining a nation as a geographical entity based on ideas or "values." No one asked Canadians if they wanted the population of the country to be radically altered; like so many other things, this redefinition of a nation was just forced on us, and anyone who dared to express any opposition was (and is) regarded as a racist and not in line with Canadian "values." To quote Sir John Harrington (and John Stormer), "none dare call it treason"--or national suicide.

My Word Like Fire points out another distortion in The Message

About 1995 I first became aware of the unsoundness of The Message when Dave Hunt quoted I Corinthians 6:9-10, and Eugene Peterson had removed homosexuals from the list of those who won’t inherit the kingdom of God and added "those who use and abuse the earth." John Lanagan at My Word Like Fire has a good post on this as well as Mr. Peterson’s removal of the word "sodomites" from I Kings 22:46. It isn’t just The Message that has removed "sodomites" from the Old Testament. The New International Version has substituted "male shrine prostitutes" for "sodomites in I Kings 22:46 and similar passages. I suspect the NIV’s removal of "sodomites" is related to the fact that the head of the NIV’s Old Testament translation committee was a man named Marten Woudstra. Do a Google search using the terms "Marten Woudstra" and "NIV," and you’ll find plenty of items mentioning his homosexuality.

The perceptive reader will also notice that Mr. Peterson has also removed idolaters and drunkards from the I Corinthians 6 hall of shame (The NASB hasn’t removed drunkards from the list--Mr. Lanagan mistakenly omitted the word).

In regard to Mr. Lanagan’s post on The Message’s rendering of I Timothy 1:9-10, here’s what I Timothy 6:9-11 looks like in The Message and the King James Version. As with I Corinthians 6:9-10, The Message’s version is so far removed from a true biblical translation as to be unrecognizable. If I hadn’t entered the relevant references while searching Bible Gateway, I wouldn’t know from Mr. Peterson’s versions that these are from I Corinthians 6 or I Timothy 1.

It's obvious, isn't it, that the law code isn't primarily for people who live responsibly, but for the irresponsible, who defy all authority, riding roughshod over God, life, sex, truth, whatever! They are contemptuous of this great Message I've been put in charge of by this great God. 1 Timothy 1:9-11 (The Message)

Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. 1 Timothy 1:9-11 (KJV)

It came as no suprise to this blogger to see Eugene Peterson’s endorsement on the cover of William P. Young’s novel The Shack (or, as I prefer to call it, "The Outhouse")--a writer of one notorious work of blasphemous fiction endorses another. Antichrists of a feather flock together.

HT: Marsha West

Liberty University (and another "Christian" school) stage a work by Jesus Christ Superstar composer

One would think that a "Christian" university would be unwilling to stage a theatrical work by the composer of the music for Jesus Christ Superstar,but Liberty University has no such qualms, as they will be staging a production of The Phantom of the Opera (with its distinctively Christian content) in April 2011. As reported by Mitzi Bible of Liberty University News Service on March 23, 2011:

The Liberty University Theatre Arts Department will have a few surprises in store when Phantom of the Opera opens April 8 in the new Tower Theater.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s story of a masked figure who lurks beneath the catacombs of the Paris Opera House, wreaking havoc for all who enter, will be told with many creative sets and illusions.

"The sets are intricate because they’re basically magic tricks — we don’t want to reveal how they’re done, but they’re being built into the sets," said Linda Nell Cooper, director and head of the Theatre Arts Department...

...There is much anticipation for the near-sold-out show, which could be called the largest endeavor for Liberty’s theater program.

May 31, 2011 update:
It seems that Liberty University isn't the only "Christian" school presenting The Phantom of the Opera. From Elk Island Public Schools in the County of Strathcona in Alberta comes this media release (link in original):

Media Releases
SCA Secondary Presents The Phantom of the Opera

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

Sherwood Park… Strathcona Christian Academy (SCA) Secondary Fine Arts is proud to present The Phantom of the Opera from May 17 to 20 at 7:00 p.m. Two matinee performances will run May 18 and 20 at 12:00 noon.

Download the full Media Release: SCA_PhantomoftheOpera.pdf

Canada's "Conservative" government pays for more New Age meditation for its employees

The reader may be excused for thinking this is a reprint of my post from August 10, 2010. This is happening in a different federal department, but under the same government. As reported by Don Butler of the Ottawa Citizen on March 17, 2011:

OTTAWA — Stressed-out employees at Justice Canada in Ottawa will soon be able to seek relief in a taxpayer-funded program that uses the Buddhist concept of mindfulness to help them cope with personal and workplace pressures.

The department invited bids this week for two nine-week "mindfulness-based stress reduction" sessions designed to help up to 40 public servants "learn to relate more consciously and compassionately to the challenges of work and personal life."

According to Justice Canada’s request for proposals, the program will help employees "deal more effectively with difficult thought and emotions that can keep you feeling stuck in everyday life.

"The practice of mindfulness can support you to work with and understand the nature of your thought and perceptions so that you can take control and responsibility for your health and well-being," the document says.

The maximum budget for each of the two sessions is $11,000 plus GST. The request for proposals gives the department the option of adding four more sessions later this year, which would increase the cost by up to $44,000.

Asked why the program was necessary, a departmental spokesman replied by e-mail that the need for effective tools to manage stress and promote mental health in the workplace is "widely recognized. The beneficial effects of this program are well documented."

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) was founded in 1979 by Jon Kabat-Zinn, a medical professor at the University of Massachusetts. According to the website mindfulnet.org, 18,000 people have since completed MBSR programs.

It’s now used in hospitals, schools, courtrooms, prisons and boardrooms around the world. Corporate disciples include Apple, Yahoo!, Google, Starbucks and Procter&Gamble.

Mindfulness, which has its origins in ancient meditation practices, "helps you choose to become more aware of your thoughts and mental processes," says mindfulnet.org, "allowing you to choose how you respond to them, rather than responding on autopilot."

In the workplace, the website says it can help reduce tensions, improve communications, defuse conflict and promote more creative thinking. Participants are taught a number of meditation techniques designed to reduce "brain chatter" and respond more appropriately to thoughts and feelings.

Most MBSR training includes a "body scan exercise, two sitting meditations, walking meditation, gentle stretching and body awareness exercises," the website says.

Freemasonry, ancient paganism, and the Manitoba Legislative Building

I recently came across a fascinating book published in 2007 by the Winnipeg Free Press titled The Hermetic Code: Unlocking One of Manitoba’s Greatest Secrets. It was written by Carolin Vesely and Buzz Currie and was originally published in the Free Press as a series of articles in November and December of 2006. The book is based on interviews with and research conducted by Frank Albo of the University of Winnipeg, who should really be given credit as a co-author. Mr. Albo is a specialist in ancient religions and western esotericism who discovered that the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg has been heavily influenced by Freemasonry and ancient Egyptian and Greek paganism in its design on both the outside and inside of the building. Mr. Albo says, "There is a famous Masonic maxim: Hidden in plain view." Indeed, the symbolism is plain to see for those who are familiar with Greek paganism or Freemasonry, but will likely pass unnoticed by most others. The Premier of Manitoba (Sir Rodmond Roblin); the architect (Frank Worthington Simon); and the contractor (Thomas Kelly) were all known to be Freemasons or were familiar with Masonic symbolism. Mr. Albo joined the Freemasons several years ago, so he doesn’t approach the subject from an anti-Masonic viewpoint.

Mr. Albo mentions that Mr. Simon, the building’s architect, would likely have known about, and perhaps sought out membership in, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which was founded in London by three Freemasons in 1888, and which opened a temple in Mr. Simon’s home town of Edinburgh in 1893. According to Mr. Albo, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn believed their rituals to be handed down from Hermes Trismegistus:

"He’s a fusion of the Greek god--your [FTD] florist trademark--and the Egyptian god Thoth.
"Some believe Hermes Trismegistus was not a mythical deity, but a real human...He was a master architect of temple building, and in Masonic lore, he is revered for the discovery of all human knowledge. His philosophy became known as Hermeticism and he became the patron of occultism throughout the history of the western world...He’s the father of alchemy, but not the mere changing of base metal into gold...His famous dictum is ‘As above, so below.’ To some Hermeticists, true alchemy meant elevating the base human soul to godlike wisdom." (p. 95)

According to Mr. Albo, the famous statue known as the Golden Boy that stands on top of the building is actually a statue of Hermes Trismegistus:

"What’s the Hermetic principle again?" I [Carolin Vesely] asked. "As above, so below?"
"That’s right, Frank said. "What appears on the earthly plane mirrors the greater truth in the spiritual plane. Transmuting the base elements into gold is the lower manifestation. Hermes Trismegistus aims to teach the greater alchemy--the means by which men transform themselves to the perfection of gods, as he did.
"As I said, Gardet, the sculptor, and Simon never called him the Golden Boy. They gave a broad hint of his true identity though, when they named him ‘Eternal Youth’--immortality, in other words." (p. 117)

"As above, so below." Where have we seen that before? In that perverted paraphrase, The Message, of course (bold added):

Set the world right; Do what's best— as above, so below. Matthew 6:10

For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. Colossians 1:16

In addition to the highlighted phrases, the perceptive reader will notice that "Thy kingdom come" has been changed to "set the world right," demoting God from Lord to social reformer. The passages cited above appear in the King James Version as:

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: Colossians 1:16

Here's a segment on Mr. Albo's research that appeared as a news item on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation under the title Manitoba's Secret Code:


For a more detailed examination of Mr. Albo's research, a seven-part series is available on YouTube. For reasons of space, I prefer to post the links to the video clips rather than the embed codes: Manitoba Legislative--Esoteric Symbolism Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7.

Moon Song - Pool of the Blackstar is the title of a YouTube clip of a pagan celebration that took place inside the Manitoba Legislative Building. According to the clip's explanatory note:

On the night of August 17th, 2007, a meeting of freemasons and elders met at the Manitoba Legislature for a ceremony of peace on the night of the Venus inferior conjunction of the sun. Lyna Hart, a Cree elder sang the Moon Song to honour the return of the sacred feminine in all of our lives.

30 years ago: 1/3 of U.S. high school students found to be problem drinkers

On March 19, 1981 the Research Triangle Institute, which had conducted a study for the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Use and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, reported that 1/3 of the nation’s high school students were problem drinkers, and that 13% more girls than boys were moderate drinkers and 14% more boys than girls were heavy drinkers. The problem drinker was defined as someone who was drunk at least six times per year or experienced alcohol-related problems with friends, family, school, the police, or while driving.

Adulterer and New Ager-turned Roman Catholic Newt Gingrich to speak at The Awakening 2011 conference at Liberty University in April

And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another, committeth adultery against her. Mark 10:11

It comes as no surprise to this blogger that notoriously adulterous politician and New Ager-turned Roman Catholic Newt Gingrich will address a major conservative conference at Liberty University in April 2011. As reported by Liberty University News Service on March 15, 2011:

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich will join more than 40 conservatives at The Awakening 2011 conference to be held on Friday, April 8, and Saturday, April 9, at Liberty University.

The Awakening is sponsored by the Freedom Federation, a group of the nation's largest multiracial, multiethnic and multigenerational faith-based and policy organizations representing more than 30 million Americans united by core values...

..."The Awakening is a celebration of a new movement composed of many voices echoing across racial, ethnic and generational lines," said Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law. "Our shared values unite those concerned with social, economic, national defense, domestic and justice issues. Political parties may seek to divide us, but our values unite us."

Apparently, being faithful to one's marital vows isn't one of the "core values" that unite the more than 30 million Americans supposedly represented by the Freedom Federation.

Evangelicals and Moonies Together?

Another backlog item:

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Ephesians 5:11

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. II Corinthians 6:14-17

Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. II John 9-11

The issue of fellowship between evangelicals and the Unification Church (popularly known by the derogatory term "Moonies") isn't just a matter of Rev. Jerry Falwell accepting money from Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon. In fact, such a movement goes back more than 30 years. Look for the following book in a university library or at Advanced Book Exchange. Below is the entry as it formerly appeared in the catalogue of the University of Alberta library:

Evangelical-Unification dialogue
Title: Evangelical-Unification dialogue / edited by Richard Quebedeaux, Rodney Sawatsky.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publication info: Barrytown, N.Y. : Unification Theological Seminary ; New York : distributed by the Rose of Sharon Press, c1979.
Physical descrip: 374 p. ; 23 cm.
Series: Conference series (Unification Theological Seminary) ; no. 3.
Corporate subject: Unification Church.--Doctrinal and controversial works--Congresses.
Subject term: Evangelicalism--Congresses.
General Note: Transcription of a dialogue held in June and October, 1978 at Unification Theological Seminary, Barrytown, N.Y.
Series: (Conference series - Unification Theological Seminary ; no. 3)
Added author: Quebedeaux, Richard.
Added author: Sawatsky, Rodney.
ISBN: 093289402X

The discussion topics were: Testimonies; "Heavenly Deception;" Jesus Christ and Rev. Sun Myung Moon; Authority, Word and Spirit; Salvation (Conversion and Faith; Deprogramming; Salvation and Restoration); Heresy and Cooperation.

The participating evangelicals (at least a few of whom could probably be accurately termed "liberals," especially by 1978 standards), most of whom were of a Calvinist persuasion, were:

Charles Barfoot, author, Berkeley, California
Thomas Bower, Director of Development, University of Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa
Mark Branson, Secretary, Theological Students’ Fellowship, Los Angeles, California
Roy Carlisle, Chairman of the Board, New College, Berkeley, California
Virgil Cruz, Professor of New Testament Studies, University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa
Donald Deffner, Professor of Christian Education and Homiletics, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, California
Paul Eshleman, Assistant to the President, Campus Crusade for Christ, San Bernardino, California
Irving Hexham, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia
Joseph Hopkins, Professor, Westminster College, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania
Patrick Means, Campus Crusade for Christ, Monterey, California
Richard Quebedeaux, author, Berkeley, California, convenor of dialogue
Rod Sawatsky, Director of Academic Affairs, Conrad Grebel College, University of Waterloo, Waterloo Ontario, moderator of dialogue
John Scanzoni, Professor of Sociology, North Carolina State University, Greensboro, North Carolina
Letha Scanzoni, author, Greensboro, North Carolina
Pete Sommer, San Francisco Bay Area Director, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, Redwood City, California
Evangelical X
Evangelical Y

I suspect that Evangelicals X and Y were professors at Christian colleges who didn’t want their schools to know what they were up to.

I must admit that I just skimmed through the book (theological dialogue among academics isn’t my idea of exciting reading).

Joseph Hopkins’ prayer at the conclusion of the conference includes:
"Thank You for the bonds of love which have developed among us and between us...We confess our sins of intolerance and bigotry, our lack of compassion and understanding for one another...So bless us all and help us to devote ourselves to loving and serving You and one another, as we seek to grow in the likeness of Christ, and to achieve our common goal of building a better world. This we pray in His name." (pp. 363-364; emphasis added).

And from Rod Sawatsky:
"Our God, we are not sure how to pray together. We’re not sure how to pray together because our understandings of Your revelation to us differ. They differ rather widely and the chasms are fairly deep. Yet we know that You are a God of love, and that we share that love and are called to share that love...Thank You for bringing us together, dismiss us with Thy blessings...We pray these things together in the name of our common Father, our God, Yahweh, Amen." (p. 364)

The second conference included a Sunday morning worship service at the Unification Theological Seminary in Barrytown, New York on October 29, 1978. The sermon, by Don Deffner, called on the listeners to "faith in and forgiveness from the God who is only revealed in Jesus Christ." (p. 371)

Richard Quebedeaux:
"Others: Catholics, liberal Protestants, and maybe I should say Moonies, too, may have as much to teach the Evangelicals as we them...Let me tell you what you Unification people have taught me and how you have affected me. Eight months ago, I wanted to pretend that you didn’t exist...I really wanted to treat you as non-persons; not that I hated you, but I just wished you weren’t there. Then I met one of you--which is always the key--who was a very persuasive person and very "non-Moonie" in my stereotype. He was auditing a class I was teaching in the G.T.U. and he new I had a new book in press, so he said, "Why don’t you go back to Barrytown and lecture on your new book?" I said, "That’s interesting," and he said, "O.K., I’ll arrange it"...So I came here expecting to be terribly bored...and wasn’t bored at all--not one minute...I left here feeling very, very bad about what I consider the media’s unjust treatment of you...I found something here that I’ve never found anywhere, and I’ve had a lot of experience with Christian groups and other religious groups. There was a phrase, I think, in Sontag’s book* that said he thought that you were the nicest people he’d ever met...it’s true. More importantly, I have never seen a place where agape is worked out so well. That is quite an admission since I’ve had a lot of experience and I’m very critical and very skeptical. What I mean by agape is the kind of genuine hospitality and concern that really comes across here...And even though you may be heretics--let God make that decision--I really am glad you’re around, and I think that the world’s going to be a better place because of your presence here." (pp. 355-357)
* Frederick Sontag, Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church, Nashville, Tenn. : Abingdon Press, 1977

Philadelphia Roman Catholic Archdiocese places on administrative leave 21 priests accused of sexual abuse of minors

As reported by Peter Loftus of The Wall Street Journal on March 8, 2011:

PHILADELPHIA (Dow Jones)--The Philadelphia Catholic Archdiocese placed on administrative leave 21 priests accused of sexual abuse of minors, weeks after a grand jury criticized the diocese for failing to remove priests who face credible abuse charges.

The action is one of the largest the Philadelphia diocese has taken in the abuse scandal, which has gripped the diocese for the past decade.

The diocese said Tuesday it acted after an initial examination of the substance of allegations against the priests and the process by which the allegations were reviewed. The diocese said it would conduct further investigations to determine the priests' status...

...A grand jury last month criticized the diocese for allowing 37 priests to continue in roles in which they were around children, despite "substantial evidence of abuse."

The diocese hired a former prosecutor to review the cases, ultimately deciding to remove 21 of the priests.

Supreme Court of India permits passive euthanasia

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: Deuteronomy 30:19

For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord.
But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death. Proverbs 8:35-36

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14:12 (also Proverbs 16:25)

Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,...
...And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Romans 1:22,28

Surely some future historian, surveying our times, will note sardonically that it took no more than three decades to transform a war crime into an act of compassion, thereby enabling the victors in the war against Nazism to mount their own humane holocaust, which in its range and in the number of its victims, may soon far surpass the Nazi one. It is significant that, whereas the Nazi holocaust has received lavish TV and film coverage, the humane one goes rolling along largely unnoticed by the media. Malcolm Muggeridge, Sanctity of Life, Chatelaine, December 1979, p. 138

"Passive" euthanasia that's permitted today will become active euthanasia that's compulsory tomorrow. As reported in the University of Pittsburgh School of Law publication JURIST on March 7, 2011 (links from original included):

The Supreme Court of India on Monday rejected a petition for mercy killing, but ruled that passive euthanasia was permissible under certain circumstances. The case centered around Aruna Shanbaug, a former nurse who was raped and strangled at work 37 years ago and has been in Mumbai's King Edward Memorial Hospital in a blind and vegetative state ever since. Pinki Virani, a journalist and friend, petitioned the court to stop hospital staff from force feeding Shanbaug and allow her to die. The court stated that, while there is no statutory provision to support active euthanasia, where an individual dies by lethal injection, passive euthanasia through a withdrawal of life support would be permissible with approval by the high court after receiving requests from the government and close family members of the individual and getting the opinions of three respected doctors. The court determined that Virani was not as close to Shanbaug as hospital staff and rejected her petition.

As passive euthanasia is permitted in India, there are forces active on behalf of active euthanasia, as reported by Satya Prakash in the New Delhi newspaper Hindustan Times on March 9, 2011:

Even as the Supreme Court legalises passive euthanasia in India, at least two petitions seeking legal sanction for active euthanasia remain pending before it. One such petition is by an NGO — Society for the Right to Die with Dignity — which had in February 2009 moved the apex court seeking legalisa tion of voluntary euthanasia.

Citing Indian cultural and religious traditions in Jainism and Hinduism, the NGO has demanded that voluntary euthanasia should be allowed for terminally ill patients.

Maintaining that the objective of euthanasia was relief from unbearable sufferings and pain, the NGO said there should be legal recognition of "an advanced directive" in the form of a "living will" executed by an individual in full possession of his/her decision-making capacity, without any duress, enunciating the condition of ill health in which he/she would not like to prolong life by artificial support. In such a situation, persons duly authorised by the patient should be allowed to arrange for termination of his/her life.

The NGO’s petition was clubbed along with another petition filed by Common Cause, which contended that "right to die with dignity" was included in the "right to live with dignity" guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

The petitioner also demanded amendment to Section 309 of the IPC (which makes attempt to suicide punishable) to exclude euthanasia. A SC bench headed by justice Markandey Katju, which legalised passive euthanasia on Monday, also recommended scrapping of Section 309 of the IPC.

Priyanjali Ghose of the Mumbai/Bangalore newspaper MiD DAY reported the concerns of one Indian physician on March 9, 2011:

MiD DAY spoke to Dr Devi Shetty, a noted cardiologist and chairman of Narayana Hrudaylaya -- a health care institute -- about thoughts on the SC ruling in the Shanbaug case and what lies in store for India if mercy killing is legalised.

"Personally I am dead against it. I am happy with the judgment in the Shanbaug case, but the moment you legalise it, you are opening a 'Pandora's Box'. It will be misused as there is no mechanism to control or monitor the process of euthanasia," said Dr Shetty.

Dr Shetty explained that passive euthanasia is when one is brain dead and the life support system is removed and feeding of the patient is stopped. The body then dehydrates and the patient dies. While active euthanasia is when an injection is administered to stop the heart.

However, Dr Shetty said that under no circumstances should euthanasia should legalised. "India is not mature enough to handle it. It will take another 20 to 30 years for us to be ready," said Dr Shetty. "It won't go through. Supreme Court has made a recommendation but is not a law yet. A committee will be formed in coordination with the medical council and health ministry."

I have news for you, Dr. Shetty: India will never be "mature enough to handle it." The limited euthanasia program that began in Germany in the 1920s expanded into the murders of millions of Jews and others in the 1940s. During the early years of euthanasia in that country, the Germans were probably the most literate, educated, and cultured people on Earth. If they weren't "mature enough to handle it"--and they weren't--no other nation can hope to do better. The real problem, of course, isn't "maturity"--and note how the adoption of an ethic calling for the destruction of innocent life is equated with "maturity"--but the rejection of the belief that life is a gift from God.

For a survey of "passive euthanasia" in other countries, see this article from the New Delhi newspaper The Hindu on March 7, 2011.

Contract law and Islamic law in Iraq

To paraphrase my friend Peter Wood, those who are interested in this sort of thing will find this to be the sort of thing that interests them:

From the University of Pittsburgh School of Law publication JURIST, February 10, 2011:

JURIST Contributing Editor Haider Ala Hamoudi of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law says that a recent decision by Iraq's Federal Supreme Court is the first opportunity to understand the Court's position on the interpretation of Article 2 of the Iraq Constitution, which prohibits law from violating the settled rulings of Islam...


Quite recently, in an opinion dated December 21 of last year (but published on its website sometime thereafter,) the Iraq Federal Supreme Court in a short, scantly heeded but quite significant decision, made its first important interpretation of Article 2 of the Iraq Constitution, which prohibits law from violating the "settled rulings" of Islam. There has been much academic speculation respecting what the clause means, and I have been, and continue to be, very much of the opinion that the clause is more ornamental than real and meant to assert a Muslim identity more than act as a real constraint on past or existing legislation. This decision is the first opportunity to understand the position of the Iraq Federal Supreme Court on the matter.

The case itself, Decision 60 of 2010, involved an alleged construction contract between two parties. One of the parties had sought to prove the existence of the contract by means of "personal evidence," meant generally to refer to oral testimony. The lower court refused to hear the evidence and dismissed the case, pursuant to Article 77(2) of the Law of Evidence, which, in a manner that loosely resembles our own Statute of Frauds, requires the existence of a contract over a set amount to be in writing. The allegation made by the appellant was that requiring a writing to satisfy evidentiary requirements was a violation of Article 2 because it conflicts with shari'a...

...But the jurists are not all powerful, and Iraq's legislature is decidedly more secular this term than it was in the previous one. While this hardly signals the end of Islamism as a political force, it does suggest a greater willingness on the part of the Court to rise to the challenge of offering competition, albeit very much at the margins, on the meaning of Islam in our challenging times. Certainly the Court's assertion of power is real, if cautious. In upholding the lower court decision, and by extension, Article 77 of the Law of Evidence, the Court's language was provocative and one must assume intentionally so. This was not strictly necessary based on the shari'a rules concerning contracts in writing...

...The Court instead took a different, and more potentially incendiary, approach. In concluding Article 77 did not contradict a "settled ruling" of Islam, the Court argued that requiring a written contract harmonized with Islam, citing two verses of the Qur'an in order to reach this conclusion. In other words, it challenged the jurists, stating on the basis of Qur'anic text, that written contracts were at the very least Islamically recommended, if not required. The implicit conclusion is that the jurists got it wrong in failing to at least recommend written contracts, that the juristic derivations that presume mostly oral contracts, and that in the classical tradition discounted written contracts severely, were simply mistaken interpretations of the Holy Text.

In most instances, this would be sure to provoke a reaction, given the central Shi'i assumption that it is the jurists of Najaf who are alone capable of deriving the rules of shari'a from sacred text. It is as if the Supreme Court had chided the Pope on a matter of Catholic doctrine. As to how and why the Court felt confident enough to do something this radical, the particular subject matter of the dispute before the Court provides the basis. The reality is that even though the jurists describe in detail the rules on shari'a as they concern matters of commerce, the relevance of those juristic rules in the modern world is exceedingly slight, with only minor discrete exceptions. Even in Iran, where jurists control the state, the state freely adopts transplanted French civil rules for contracts, and not the rules of the very jurists who run the state. The shari'a as concerns such matters is purely conceptual, theory without the slightest intent of practice, because the rules as they exist are simply incompatible with running a modern economy...

...Given the material realities, to ignore the bulk of Islamic rules as they pertain to commerce seems the only option, and the one taken by Islamic states and commercial actors alike, even devout ones...

...The juristic reaction would certainly not be the same were the Court to tread upon areas of religious doctrine that modern Muslims take more seriously, outside of commerce. If the Court, for example, were to reinterpret the Qur'an to adopt more expansive rights to women's divorce than those the jurists provide, the reaction would almost surely be swift and vociferous, and the Court would almost surely find its legitimacy challenged. While it is growing in strength and independence, the Court has nowhere near the authority to challenge the jurists on such core matters of shari'a as family law. Its influence for the moment probably lay at the very margins of modern shari'a, specifically, those areas where the historic rules are not taken very seriously at all and where their basis in Sacred Text is the most tendentious. Still, the fact that the Court is willing to offer competition to the jurists on interpretation of Islam's sources is quite interesting, and worth following in more detail as the months and years progress.

Anglican Church of Canada mulls open communion

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. I Corinthians 11:26-29

As reported by Charles Lewis in the National Post, March 8, 2011:

Canadian Anglicans will hold discussions this spring about whether baptism is necessary for taking part in communion -questioning a requirement of Christianity that has existed for 2,000 years.

"Official teaching is you have to be baptized first. But a number of clergy across the country feel strongly about this as an issue and many have approached their bishops about allowing for an 'open table' in which all could take communion," said Archdeacon Paul Feheley, who is the principal secretary to Archbishop Fred Hiltz, head of the Anglican Church of Canada.

It will be discussed when the House of Bishops meets in April, but not as an official topic, he said.

The idea -already rejected as a dangerous step by more orthodox Anglicans -was raised in an article this week in the AnglicanJournal.com in which an Ontario church pastor argues that removing the requirement of baptism would help stop the decline in the number of Anglicans attending services.

Rev. Gary Nicolosi said that if Jesus did not discriminate about who he invited to his table, then the Church should follow his lead.

"How, in our multicultural and pluralistic society, can our churches be places of hospitality if we exclude table fellowship with the non-baptized? This is not an academic question," wrote Rev. Nicolosi, the pastor at St. James Westminster Anglican Church in London, Ont., and an official Church consultant on how to build membership...

...In an interview, Rev. Nicolosi noted the Church is losing 13,000 members a year and that those who remain now have an average age of 60. He estimates that just 500,000 Anglicans are left in Canada, down from 1.3 million only a few decades ago.

Dr. Nicolosi's article is titled A Case for Open Communion.

I'm surprised that with the large number of members the Anglican Church of Canada has lost over the years, that they still have any left. Here's a suggestion for stopping the decline: proclaim the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, the mainline churches are so far and so long removed from the true gospel that I don't think they'd recognize it.

Diary record of 17th century English witchcraft trial is now online

As reported by Michelle Martin of Reuters on March 4, 2011:

A 350-year-old notebook which documents the trials of women convicted of witchcraft in England during the 17th century has been published online.

The notebook written by Nehemiah Wallington, an English Puritan, recounts the fate of women accused of having relationships with the devil at a time when England was embroiled in a bitter civil war.

The document reveals the details of a witchcraft trial held in Chelmsford in July 1645, when more than a hundred suspected witches were serving time in Essex and Suffolk according to his account.

"Divers (many) of them voluntarily and without any forcing or compulsion freely declare that they have made a covenant with the Devill," he wrote.

"Som Christians have been killed by their meanes," he added.

Of the 30 women on trial in Chelmsford, 14 were hanged.

Wallington also recounts the experiences of Rebecca West, a suspected witch who confessed to sleeping with the devil when she was tortured because "she found her selfe in such extremity of torture and amazement that she would not enure (endure) it againe for the world." Her confession spared her.

The notebook can be found here.

Another argument against assisted suicide: Many people with "locked-in" syndrome are happy

As reported by Agence France-Presse on February 24, 2011:

Many people with "locked-in" syndrome, in which they are conscious but completely paralyzed, indicate they are happy, a finding with repercussions for assisted suicide, European doctors reported on Wednesday.

Investigators asked 168 members of the French Association for Lockedin Syndrome about their medical history, emotional state and quality of life, with the responses noted by caregivers.

Of those who replied in full, 72 per cent said they were happy and 28 per cent said they were unhappy. Four per cent said they wanted to opt for suicide...

...More than 80 per cent of patients with locked-in syndrome survive 10 years, and some live on for decades.

"Our data show that, whatever the physical devastation and mental distress of patients during the acute phase of the condition, optimal life-sustaining care and revalidation can have major long-term benefit," says the paper. "We suggest that patients recently struck by (the syndrome) should be informed that, given proper care, they have a considerable chance of regaining a happy life."

Go here to see the full text of the original article in BMJ Open.

Those "tolerant" pro-abortionists

This column by Christie Tucker in The Gateway, the student newspaper of the University of Alberta, is from September 26, 2000, but is still relevant, although I don’t know if she still holds those views (I hope and pray that the Lord has gotten Miss Tucker’s attention since then and granted her repentance to salvation). The perceptive reader will notice that Miss Tucker, like other pro-abortionists, doesn’t question the authenticity of photos of aborted babies. An acquaintance of mine named Harold Peacock perceptively observed that pro-abortionists accuse others of what they’re guilty of themselves, and Miss Tucker is no exception, accusing pro-lifers of distributing hate literature and comparing them to Holocaust deniers. She’s also guilty of a factual error in assuming that because the Student Union permitted Campus Pro-Life to have an information table, that it meant the Student Union was supporting the group. When I was in my first year as a U of A student in 1979-80, the Divine Light Mission, the organization associated with since-forgotten Guru Maharaj Ji, had an information table in the Student Union Building every Friday, and I never assumed that because the SU permitted this, that it implied that the SU supported the group’s beliefs. It doesn’t speak well for the state of education in 2000 that Miss Tucker was unable to understand that. The perceptive reader will notice that Miss Tucker doesn’t attempt to argue a factual case against Campus Pro-Life, but states that they shouldn’t even be allowed to present their views. For Campus Pro-Life to have an information table--which no one is required to visit--is to "passively antagonize" and is "harassing women." Isn’t "tolerance" wonderful?

I find it amusing that Miss Tucker says that pro-life groups "have the good fortune of being able to use the image of the fetus in their anti-abortion campaigns." That is, pro-lifers have the "good fortune" to have the medical facts on their side!

A decade before Miss Tucker’s column appeared in The Gateway, I was a member of U of A Campus Pro-Life, and I never saw any harassment or heard anyone in the group accuse women of murder (even just in the privacy of the group’s meetings). Speaking from experience, I’ve never attempted to prevent pro-abortionists from stating their views (I'm glad The Gateway published Miss Tucker's column), but when I put several dozen posters up on the U of A campus advertising a pro-life speaker’s appearance, all but one were torn down within one day of my putting them up (and those posters were put up in places where I didn’t have to get anyone’s permission before posting anything). I once had a bumper sticker that said "Choose Life" (or some similarly innocuous slogan), and even that was too much for a pro-abortionist, as I discovered when I came out of a grocery store one day and saw that the bumper sticker had been torn off the car in the parking lot. It would be nice if pro-abortionists would grant pro-lifers the tolerance that they claim to believe in.

Superfluid found inside neutron star

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Psalms 8:3-4

As reported by Andrea Sands in the Edmonton Journal of February 28, 2011:

EDMONTON — A University of Alberta astronomer and his team have uncovered “weird” physics inside the youngest-known neutron star in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Craig Heinke and his colleagues have discovered the core of the Cassiopeia A neutron star — the remains of a supernova — contains a frictionless superfluid that seems to defy gravity, as well as a superconductor that keeps electricity flowing without ever losing energy.

Scientists had long suggested this “weird state of matter” might exist inside the cores of neutron stars, but there had been no direct evidence of it before, Heinke said in an interview Sunday.

“We’ve seen superfluids in liquid helium on the Earth but this is the first time that we have direct evidence of it in the cores of neutron stars,” he said.

“We’re really understanding something that’s fundamentally important about what’s going on in the interiors of neutron stars,” Heinke said. “Neutron stars are some of the weirdest things in the universe and the things that are the most exotic in terms of how they behave, so it’s really fascinating.”

A neutron star is the ultradense core left behind after a supernova.

A supernova happens when a massive star collapses at its core and releases a blast of energy that blows off its outer layers. Such a collapse can produce a black hole or its more visible cousin, a neutron star.

“Neutron stars are the densest matter that has not disappeared forever, beyond our universe, which is what black holes are,” Heinke explained.

Good riddance to Roch Thériault, Canada's most evil cult leader

His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate. Psalms 7:16

"Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent..." Sherlock Holmes to Doctor Watson in The Adventure of the Speckled Band by A. Conan Doyle, The Strand Magazine, February 1892

Roch Thériault, probably the most evil cult leader in Canadian history, died in his cell in New Brunswick's Dorchester prison on February 26, 2011 after being attacked "in the vicinity of his cell." He was 63. As reported in the Montreal Gazette on February 28, 2011:

Theriault, a self-styled prophet, was sentenced to life in prison in 1993 after he was found guilty of second-degree murder for killing his wife Solange Boislard.

Theriault killed Boislard while trying to disembowel her with a kitchen knife during a cult ritual.

Her body was found in 1989 at the cult’s camp near Coboconk, Ont., northeast of Toronto.

In the fall of 1978, persuaded that the world would end the following February, Theriault and a group of followers set up camp in a log cabin in the Gaspe bush about 15 kilometres from New Carlisle, Que. When the world failed to end, they stayed on at the Eternal Mountain retreat until 1981, when Theriault and three cult members were charged in the death of a two-year-old boy.

Evidence at the coroner’s inquest suggested that the child had been beaten for crying and that Theriault used scissors sterilized with alcohol to cut into a lump on the child’s penis.

When the boy died, his parents — also members of the cult — had the body burned.

In November 1988, Theriault used pliers to remove at least eight teeth of one of his concubines after she had complained of a toothache.

The next year, he used a knife to cut off an arm of the same woman.

Maclean's magazine published a cover story on Mr. Thériault's cult titled The Ant Hill Kids in its February 8, 1993 issue. Unfortunately, Maclean's' online archive goes back only to 2003, so the interested reader will have to go to a library to find the 1993 article. The Maclean's website has published an article on the death of Mr. Thériault.