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.

Ancient Wari tombs discovered in Peru

This has nothing directly to do with this blog, but I find it interesting. As reported by Reynaldo Munoz of Agence France-Presse on February 25, 2011:

Archeologists have discovered a group of ancient tombs in the mountainous jungle of southeastern Peru they say is as important as the discovery of the lost city of Machu Picchu.

The tombs belonging to the Wari culture were found on the jungle-covered eastern slope of the Andes in Cuzco department at a long-abandoned city thought to be the last redoubt of Inca resistance to Spanish colonial rule.

The Waris, a pre-Inca civilization, had an enormous cultural impact in the Andean region between 600 and 1200. The Inca empire (around 1400 to 1532) was the largest pre-Columbian empire in the Americas.

"It is an impressive Wari find in the Cuzco jungle that opens a new chapter on archaeological research and forces us to re-write history," said Juan Garcia, the cultural director for the Cuzco region, as he announced the discovery late Wednesday.

"The discovery is one of the most important ever, and is comparable to Machu Picchu... and the Lord of Sipan," said Garcia, referring to the 1987 discovery of the tomb of an ancient Moche lord...

...It is a "spectacular, truly surprising" discovery, said archaeologist Luis Lumbreras, former director of the National Cultural Institute (INC).

"This will make us revise part of Inca history."

It is the first proof of Wari presence in the jungle, and proof that the Waris were in the area much earlier than the Incas, Lumbreras said.

35 years ago: The fall of Billy James Hargis becomes public knowledge

Oral Roberts isn’t the only televangelist to have been based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In the 1950s and ‘60s there was a man named Billy James Hargis, who stood 6’ 6" and weighed almost 280 pounds. For several years in the ‘50s he collaborated with fundamentalist leader Dr. Carl McIntire in publicly opposing Communism, most famously sending 100,000 balloons containing Bible passages across the Iron Curtain into Communist countries. Mr. Hargis eventually went his own way, and at his peak his broadcasts were carried on more than 500 radio stations and 250 television stations, although he reached an audience that was mostly rural.

Mr. Hargis gradually receded from prominence after the 1960s, and he founded American Christian College in 1971 in Tulsa. In the mid-’70s he resigned the presidency of ACC after allegations of sexual misconduct, which became public knowledge when reported by Time magazine in an article titled The Sins of Billy James (February 16, 1976):

TIME Correspondent Anne Constable and Reporters Richard Walker and Tom Carter have learned that five students—four of them men—at his American Christian College in Tulsa have come forward and said that President Hargis has had sexual relations with them. Asked about the charges, Hargis declined to give any specific reply. Through a lawyer, he stated: "I have made more than my share of mistakes. I'm not proud of them. Even the Apostle Paul said, 'Christ died to save sinners, of whom I am chief.' Long ago, I made my peace with God, and my ministry continues."

That ministry centers on the Christian Crusade, which was founded by Hargis in 1950 to promote far-right political and religious causes, and includes radio and TV programs and the Christian Crusade Weekly...Though originally ordained in the Disciples of Christ, Hargis in 1966 organized his own independent Tulsa congregation, The Church of the Christian Crusade. It provided tax deductibility for Hargis contributors after the vocal Christian Crusade lost its tax exemption. Four years later, Hargis founded American Christian College to teach "antiCommunist patriotic Americanism..."

...It was at the college that Hargis' sexual troubles surfaced in October 1974, when the first of the five students confessed to then Vice President David Noebel. Noebel's account: Not long before, Hargis had conducted a wedding for the student; on the honeymoon, the groom and his bride discovered that both of them had slept with Hargis. Later, Noebel says, three more male students told him of having had sexual relations with Hargis over a period of three years. They said the trysts had taken place in Hargis' office, at his farm in the Ozarks, even during his tours with the college choir, the "All-American Kids." Noebel was told that Hargis justified his homosexual acts by citing the Old Testament friendship between David and Jonathan and threatened to blacklist the youths for life if they talked.

Noebel, a Hargis aide for twelve years, described how he felt when he first heard the students' accounts: "For two weeks, I couldn't sleep. I knew we had to get Hargis off campus or we were going to lose the whole school." Finally, on Oct. 25, 1974, Noebel and two other college officials confronted Hargis and two of his lawyers. According to two of those present, Hargis, who has a wife, three daughters and a son, admitted his guilt and blamed his behavior on "genes and chromosomes."

Two days later, Hargis preached a farewell sermon to his Tulsa congregation, then turned the presidency of the college over to Noebel. But Hargis stayed around the campus for weeks before he officially severed ties with the Christian Crusade and allied groups.

The Tulsa district attorney’s office found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing regarding the allegations of sexual misconduct against Mr. Hargis, although I wonder how much of an effort they put in. Deprived of Mr. Hargis’ contacts and fund-raising ability, American Christian College closed in 1977. Mr. Hargis continued to produce radio broadcasts and publications, including an autobiography titled My Great Mistake (1985). Like Jim Bakker and Ted Haggard after him, he admitted to sin, but never admitted to what he was actually accused of. Mr. Hargis developed Alzheimer’s Disease, had several heart attacks, and died in Tulsa on November 27, 2004 at the age of 79. An entertaining--if unflattering--obituary was published in The Economist on December 16, 2004.

Additional articles from Time regarding Billy James Hargis are The Ultras (December 8, 1961); Heavyweight Champ (August 17, 1962); Confrontation in Tulsa (February 7, 1969); The New Crusader (August 29, 1969); and Tidings (January 22, 1973).

Here’s a YouTube clip of Billy James Hargis from the early 1960s, when he was in his prime:

40 years ago: U.S. Senate begins hearings on threats to privacy from computer data banks

On February 23, 1971 the United States Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, whose staff had been probing both federal government and private snooping via computer data banks, opened nine days of public hearings. The panel’s chairman, Senator Sam Ervin (Democrat--North Carolina), who saw an invasion of personal privacy in the use of modern computer technology, warned of the dangers to the U.S. "free society" because Americans’ fear of surveillance could lead to being "afraid to speak their minds freely to the government or anyone else."

Government of Canada funds Muslim Brotherhood schools and a Muslim school that brands Israel as a terrorist state

From the blog Blazing Cat Fur, posted February 21, 2011 (links in original):

Your Tax Dollars At Prayer Part 3: Ottawa has used $53,540.00 of your tax dollars to fund École Ali Ibn Abi Talib in Montreal under the SIP, Security Infrastructure Program, the purpose of which is to "Improve and enhance the safety of Canadian communities at risk of hate-motivated crime through the enhancement of their security infrastructure."

A bit about the school: "ALI IBN ABI TALIB SCHOOL strives to preserve the culture and languages of the international Muslim community by seedling into the children a pride in their heritage. We put a great emphasis on Qur'anic teaching and a proper Islamic conduct. As well we enable children to master the Arabic language to provide access to the original sources of Islamic knowledge." Oooo! That's nice and MultiCulty.

This is the sort of "seeding" that goes on at École Ali Ibn Abi Talib:

"l'invasion israelienne qui a permis a l'etat israelien de gagner le trophee de l'etat officiel du terrorisme de racisme et de crimes contre l'humanite" Roughly translated "The Israeli invasion has won (Israel) the trophy as the Offical State of Terrorism, Racism & Crimes against humanity"

"...elle fait maintenant l'objet d'attaques criminelles continuelles par les soldat de l'armee d'occupation israelienne qui mene un nouveau genocide contre les enfants et les civiles rappelant les massacres de kana,sabra, chatila..." Rough translation "...the Israeli army is conducting a new genocide against children..."

"...notre celebration cette annee prend une autre dimension a cause des evenements tragiques qui a resulte le terrorisme zionnistes racistes" Rough translation "our celebration this year takes another dimension because of the tragic events due to the terrorist racist zionists"

More fun with your tax dollars. This is rich. Saudi Arabia has removed Muslim Brotherhood Books from schools because they preach violence and extremism. Ottawa, perversely, funds Muslim Brotherhood schools...

... Ottawa has funded the Olive Grove School run by the Muslim Brotherhood in Canada, to the tune of nearly $10,000.00 dollars under the Security Infrastructure Program

The Muslim Association of Canada follows the teachings of Hassan al-Banna founder of the Muslim Brotherhood; "MAC adopts and strives to implement Islam, as embodied in the Qur'an, and the teachings of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and as understood in its contemporary context by the late Imam, Hassan Albanna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. MAC regards this ideology as the best representation of Islam as delivered by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). "

I don’t believe for one minute that the anti-Israel positions of these schools represent the views of the present Canadian government, which is notable for its pro-Israel stands. Nor is the hatred expressed by thses schools a rejection or the antithesis of Canada's policy of official multiculturalism. Rather, this is among the natural consequences and predictable results of the suicidal policy of multiculturalism which all Canadian governments have espoused for the last 40 years. Unfortunately, the present "Conservative" government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper is as gutless, clueless, and suicidal as those of his predecessors. What passes for Canada in 2011 is really, to use Mark Steyn’s appropriate term, Trudeaupia. The policies of immigration and multiculturalism that have been in place since the days of Pierre Trudeau as Prime Minister (1968-1979; 1980-1984) are a rejection of the traditional idea of what a nation is, i.e. an identifiable people, usually united by such things as common ancestry, religion, or language.

"Multiculturalism" means that there’s no such thing as an identifiable Canadian culture. All cultures are relative, and it doesn’t matter what cultural prejudices people bring with them (and keep)--they’ll just automatically become Canadians because Canada is so wonderful. Of course, such policies ignore the fact that some of these cultures carry some pretty unpleasant baggage, which is not necessarily compatible with traditional Canadian ways. When it comes to citizenship, you can keep the citizenship of your old country, and just add Canada to the list of countries on your passport. Few will condemn such policies for fear of being called racist, and there isn’t an elected (or unelected) politician in Trudeaupia that I can think of (in contrast to some European leaders in recent weeks who can no longer ignore the obvious) who has the guts or wisdom to suggest scrapping policies that have destroyed a once-great and identifiable nation--which is a major reason I no longer vote in federal elections.

HT: The Blog of Walker

30 years ago: Illicit drug use by young people in U.S. levels off

A survey of high school seniors released on February 18, 1981 showed that the use of illicit drug use by young people in the United States ceased to rise in 1980. This was the first year since the beginning of the survey in 1975 that the upward climb had levelled off, and the number of students admitting to the use of marijuana had declined. Dr. Lloyd Johnston, the leader of the study for the National Institute of Drug Abuse, predicted that the rise in drug use among teenagers seemed to be at an end. A similar trend had been reported by the military.

40 years ago: U.S. Census Bureau report shows economic gains made by blacks

A report issued by the United States Census Bureau on February 18, 1971 showed that many blacks (then still commonly called "Negroes") were rising economically. The median income of Negro families in northern and western states was "more comparable to that of white families than was the case in the south," according to the study. The 532,000 young Negro couples under the age of 35 living outside the southern states had made the biggest gains, while the economic lot of all Negro families with both parents living in the home made substantial gains.

The biggest problem of Negro families, however, was not geographical location, but the broken home. The report indicated that almost 1/3 of the Negro families in the U.S. were headed by only one parent. These broken families, usually headed by the mother--with the father missing--had made virtually no income gain in the previous decade, and more than half had incomes below the officially recognized "poverty" line.

Those "missing links" may be missing because evolution may be going in the opposite direction

...avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: I Timothy 6:20b (KJV)
Turn away from godless chatter ad the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, I Timothy 6:20b (NIV)

Christians, of course, have no right to question any evolutionist dogma, since evolution is "science." However, a Université de Montréal biochemist questions whether evolution necessarily involves moving from the simple to the complex. As reported by EScience News, February 10, 2011:

Evolution is not a steady march towards ever more sophisticated beings and therefore the search for the living "missing links" is pointless, according to findings published by a team of researchers led by Dr. Hervé Philippe of the Université de Montréal's Department of Biochemistry. "Aristotle was the first to classify organisms – from the least to the most sophisticated. Darwin's theory of evolution continued this idea, with the concept of a hierarchy of evolution. This way of thinking has led researchers and skeptics alike to look for less sophisticated ancestors in order to prove or disprove evolution," Philippe explained. "What we now know is that evolution does not happen in a single direction – when people talk about a missing link, they're generally excluding the possibility of more sophisticated ancestors." The researchers compared the genomes of two kinds of marine worms with simple morphology – Xenoturbellida and Acoelomorpha – with those of other animals. They demonstrated that their previous position at the base of the bilateral symmetry animal group – that includes insects, mollusks and vertebrates – was inaccurate. "Instead, we determined that Xenoturbellida and Acoelomorpha are closely related to the complex deuterostomes, which is a major lineage containing sea urchins, humans and sharks," Philippe said. "I've put them in that order intentionally because it seems strange, which demonstrates our tendency to always put organisms in order of complexity." The findings mean that the worms had evolved from a more sophisticated ancestor through major simplifications.

Britain's "Conservative" government "permits" sodomite and lesbian "marriage" ceremonies in churches

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...
...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 1:26-27, 32

Today, sodomite and lesbian "marriage" ceremonies are "permitted" in British churches. Tomorrow they will be compulsory. Contributing to the issue, at least as far as the Church of England is concerned, is the union of church and state; the Church of England is "by law established." Please note that this latest development comes from an ostensibly "conservative" government. As reported by Agence France-Presse, February 13, 2011:

The British government said Sunday it was planning to change the law and allow same-sex couples to have civil partnership ceremonies in places of worship.

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper said such ceremonies could be permitted to include religious elements for the first time.

The Sunday Times newspaper said the proposed marriage law reforms could also end the legal definition of marriage pertaining only to a man and a woman, in a highly symbolic move.

"The government is currently considering what the next stage should be for civil partnerships, including how some religious organisations can allow same-sex couples to register their relationship in a religious setting if they wish to do so," a Home Office spokesman said.

"Ministers have met a range of people and organisations to hear their views on this issue. An announcement will be made in due course."

While the changes will be welcomed by gay equality campaigners, they could provoke a strong reaction from some traditionalists and church groups.

The Church of England has already said it will not allow any of its buildings to be used for civil partnership ceremonies.

However, other groups including Quakers, Unitarians, and Liberal Jews are likely to be more sympathetic, The Sunday Telegraph said...

...Under current rules, ceremonies must be secular and cannot contain religious elements, such as hymn singing and Bible readings.

The Sunday Telegraph said equalities minister Lynne Featherstone was expected to outline shortly plans to lift the ban.

The weekly broadsheet warned that the new move could open a "legal minefield", with gay couples possibly taking action against faith groups if they were barred from tying the knot in their chosen place of worship.

Large numbers of New Agers won't be welcome in Bugarach on December 21, 2012

As reported by Henry Samuel in the Daily Telegraph on December 21, 2010:

The mayor of a picturesque French village has threatened to call in the army to seal it off from a tide of New Age fanatics and UFO watchers, who are convinced it is the only place on Earth to be spared Armageddon in 2012.

Bugarach, population 189, is a peaceful farming village in the Aude region, southwestern France and sits at the foot of the Pic de Bugarach, the highest mountain in the Corbières wine-growing area.

But in the past few months, the quiet village has been inundated by groups of esoteric outsiders who believe the peak is an "alien garage".

According to them, extraterrestrials are quietly waiting in a massive cavity beneath the rock for the world to end, at which point they will leave, taking, it is hoped, a lucky few humans with them.

Most believe Armageddon will take place on December 21, 2012, the end date of the ancient Maya calendar, at which point they predict human civilisation will come to an end. Another favourite date mentioned is 12, December, 2012. They see Bugarach as one of perhaps several "sacred mountains" sheltered from the cataclysm.

"This is no laughing matter," Jean-Pierre Delord, the mayor, told The Daily Telegraph.

"If tomorrow 10,000 people turn up, as a village of 200 people we will not be able to cope. I have informed the regional authorities of our concerns and want the army to be at hand if necessary come December 2012."

The Isaiah 22:13 "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" award goes to Valerie Austin, formerly of Newcastle, England:

"It has a magnetic force in the scientific sense of the word. There is a special feeling here, but if I really believed the world were about to end, I'd have a whale of a time over the next two years" rather than look for salvation, she said.

May 14, 2012 update: As reported by Oliver Pickup in The Independent, March 25, 2012:

A mountain looming over a French commune with a population of just 200 is being touted as a modern Noah's Ark when doomsday arrives – supposedly less than nine months from now.

A rapidly increasing stream of New Age believers – or esoterics, as locals call them – have descended in their camper van-loads on the usually picturesque and tranquil Pyrenean village of Bugarach. They believe that when apocalypse strikes on 21 December this year, the aliens waiting in their spacecraft inside Pic de Bugarach will save all the humans near by and beam them off to the next age.

As the cataclysmic date – which, according to eschatological beliefs and predicted astrological alignments, concludes a 5,125-year cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar – nears, the goings-on around the peak have become more bizarre and ritualistic.

For decades, there has been a belief that Pic de Bugarach, which, at 1,230 metres, is the highest in the Corbières mountain range, possesses an eery power. Often called the "upside-down mountain" – geologists think that it exploded after its formation and the top landed the wrong way up – it is thought to have inspired Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Since the 1960s, it has attracted New Agers, who insist that it emits special magnetic waves.

Further, rumours persist that the country's late president François Mitterrand was transported by helicopter on to the peak, while the Nazis, and, later, Israel's Mossad, performed mysterious digs there. Now the nearby village is awash with New Agers, who have boosted the local economy, though their naked group climbs up to the peak have raised concerns as well as eyebrows. Among other oddities, some hikers have been spotted scaling the mountain carrying a ball with a golden ring, strung together by a single thread.

A grizzled man wearing a white linen smock, who calls himself Jean, set up a yurt in the forest a couple of years ago to prepare for the earth's demise. "The apocalypse we believe in is the end of a certain world and the beginning of another," he offers. "A new spiritual world. The year 2012 is the end of a cycle of suffering. Bugarach is one of the major chakras of the earth, a place devoted to welcoming the energies of tomorrow."

Upwards of 100,000 people are thought to be planning a trip to the mountain, 30 miles west of Perpignan, in time for 21 December, and opportunistic entrepreneurs are shamelessly cashing in on the phenomenon. While American travel agents have been offering special, one-way deals to witness the end of the world, a neighbouring village, Saint-Paul de Fenouillet, has produced a wine to celebrate the occasion.

Jean-Pierre Delord, the perplexed mayor of Bugarach, has flagged up the situation to the French authorities, requesting they scramble the army to the tiny village for fear of a mass suicide. It has also caught the attention of France's sect watchdog, Miviludes.

A genial sexagenarian, Mr Delord says: "We've seen a huge rise in visitors. Already this year more than 20,000 people have climbed right to the top, and last year we had 10,000 hikers, which was a significant rise on the previous 12 months. They think Pic de Bugarach is 'un garage à ovnis' [an alien garage]. The villagers are exasperated: the exaggerated importance of something which they see as completely removed from reality is bewildering. After 21 December, this will surely return to normal."

Masking his fears of what might happen on 21 December, Mr Delord jokes that he will throw a party and supply vin chaud and cheese. "I'm sure we'll have a little fete to celebrate that we're still alive," he smiles. "I suppose it's up to each of us to find our own way."

Zechariah's tomb may have been discovered

As reported by Ari Rabinovitch of Reuters on February 2, 2011:

The pursuit of a gang of grave robbers has led to the discovery of an ancient church outside Jerusalem that may contain the burial place of the biblical prophet Zechariah, Israeli authorities said Wednesday.

The hill-top church was destroyed by an earthquake some 1,300 years ago and lay partly buried until detectives from Israel's Antiquities Authority, pursuing a gang of antiquity thieves, noticed an elaborate doorpost poking through the earth. The robbers got away -- they were caught a few months later at a site nearby -- but after weeks of digging, archaeologists uncovered the remains of the church. It was about the size of a basketball court and contained fallen marble pillars and a nearly pristine 10-meter-long mosaic floor.

Beneath the church's altar is a burial chamber that the Antiquities Authority said may have been the tomb of the prophet Zechariah, known from the eponymous book in the Bible, written around 520 BC.

The claim, which a number of experts have based on Christian sources and an ancient diagram known as the Madaba Map, has not been proved and is still being studied, they said.

Italy blocks European Union statement on religious persecution

As reported by David Brunnstrom of Reuters on January 31, 2011:

BRUSSELS, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The European Union failed to agree on a statement against the persecution of religious minorities on Monday after Italy objected to the omission of any reference to the protection of Christians.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said a draft proposed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers expressing concern about increasing numbers of attacks on places of worship and pilgrims showed an "excess of secularism".

"The final text didn't include any mention of Christians, as if we were talking of something else, so I asked the text to be withdrawn, so in fact it has been withdrawn," he told reporters.

France backed Italy on the need to include references to specific minorities, including Christians and Shi'ite Muslims, diplomats said.

30 years ago: Muslim nations call for the expulsion of Israel from "occupied territories"

File under "the more things change, the more they remain the same:"

On January 25, 1981 at Taif, Saudi Arabia, leaders of 37 Muslim nations and the Palestine Liberation Organization convened for the beginning of a five-day conference. Missing was the five-member Iranian delegation, which had been instructed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to boycott the meeting because Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would be there. Libya also boycotted the meeting to protest the presence of U.S. surveillance planes based in Saudi Arabia. Afghanistan was barred because its government was attempting to suppress Muslim rebels, and Egypt was barred because of its peace treaty with Israel.

In an opening speech read by Crown Prince Fahd, King Khalid of Saudi Arabia urged the group to drive Israel out of the Arab territories it had occupied since 1967, and to secure the rights of the Palestinians.

25 years ago: Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard reportedly dies

On January 24, 1986 L. Ron Hubbard, a prolific writer of science fiction whose book Dianetics (1950) served as the foundational text for a criminal organization masquerading as a religious movement called the Church of Scientology, reportedly died at the age of 74 at his ranch in California. A number of books under his name were published in subsequent years, so it seems that Mr. Hubbard was not one to let such a trifle as his reported death interrupt his lucrative career. For useful information on this evil organization, check the Scientology file at the Ross Institute. See my previous post for an article on the purported decline of Scientology under the leadership of Mr. Hubbard’s successor.

The spiritual climate of Pasadena, California in the 1930s and ‘40s is a worthy subject for investigation, and George Pendle’s biography Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons (2005) describes much of the occultism going on there at that time. Mr. Parsons was a brilliant scientist working at what later became the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. He was also heavily into the occult, and was one of the most fervent American admirers of "the wickedest man in the world," English occultist Aleister Crowley. Mr. Hubbard lived in the same house as Mr. Parsons for a time, and Mr. Pendle’s book goes into detail about their relationship.

One new religious movement based in Pasadena in those days that isn’t mentioned in Mr. Pendle’s book is the Radio Church of God--eventually to be known as the Worldwide Church of God--led by Herbert W. Armstrong. The death of Mr. Armstrong took place just eight days before the reported death of Mr. Hubbard; oddly, Mr. Armstrong, on his radio broadcasts of The World Tomorrow, occasionally mentioned the long-forgotten American philosopher Elbert Hubbard, who perished in the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915. There’s no connection between the Hubbards that I know of, but one can’t help but notice the similarity between the names Elbert and L. Ron. Is this coincidence--or decadence?

New Year’s Conclave 2011 of The Temple of the Presence offers instruction from the Ascended Masters

If the following is any indication, the New Age movement seems to be getting more up-front and "in your face" with its doctrines.
From Press Release Distribution, December 20, 2010:

Ascended Masters’ New Year’s Conference and Acropolis Sophia® Wisdom School Announced by The Temple of The Presence
Spiritual seekers and those interested in the Ancient Wisdom will want to attend The Temple of The Presence New Year’s Conclave 2011 to learn more about the Ascended Master Teachings.

Ascended Master Teachings
GOD INDIVIDUALIZED
ONE GOD – ONE PRESENCE
Many Sons – Many Daughters

Tucson, AZ (Vocus/PRWEB) December 20, 2010

From December 29 to January 2 gather with other Ascended Master students in Tucson, Arizona, to participate in planetary releases of Spiritual Light and to receive direct instruction from the Ascended Masters. Experiencing this Light and spiritual enlightenment in person at this 5-day Conference, entitled "I AM Thy Kingdom Come!" offers an unprecedented opportunity to understand how to make the Kingdom of God manifest on Earth as it is in Heaven. Live audio broadcasts of all Conference events are available free of charge through The Temple of The Presence website. A live, streaming video broadcast program is also available through The Temple’s e-commerce site. Seeing and hearing the live broadcasts is like sitting just feet away from the Ascended Masters as they deliver their Message of personal and planetary Freedom.

The Ascended Master School of Ancient Wisdom, Acropolis Sophia, follows the New Year’s Conclave from January 3 to 9. This Ascended Master retreat offers students spiritual Teachings and training on the Path of self-mastery and the realization of the God Self, the Mighty I AM Presence. During this 7-day session, receive live Dictations and Discourses from the Ascended Masters and engage in in-depth group discussions on the principles of Cosmic Law. This January’s Acropolis Sophia session, entitled "The Keys to the Kingdom," will teach students how to unlock the full force of the Christ Light by allowing the Mighty I AM Presence to act through them.

The Temple of The Presence makes the Teachings of the Ascended Masters available to all who desire to gain their eternal Freedom and serve God in Life. Learn who you really are, why you are here on this planet, and where you are destined to go. Find out how to use the Violet Flame, a gift to humanity from Saint Germain. Participate in live, scheduled broadcasts and view streaming video of Ascended Master Instruction on the great mysteries of life anytime through The Temple’s Helicon Broadcasting®. Watch our new, introductory video series to learn more about your own, indwelling Divine Self, the individualized I AM that I AM.

The Temple of The Presence is in the direct lineage of the ancient mystery schools that the great Ascended Masters of East and West have brought forth before the Western world over the past 150 years. These activities are organized by those Initiates on the Path for the great awakening of humanity. Please visit The Temple of The Presence (link) to learn more, to participate in scheduled live broadcasts, and to view top-quality streaming video of Ascended Master Instruction and spiritual awareness.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this press release is where I came across it--at a link on the home page of Synagogue 3000, a movement dedicated to reaching out to Jews who may have strayed from the religion in order to draw them back into the flock. Knowledgeable readers will recognize S3K as the organization whose leaders met with Rick Warren in 2005 "to specifically discuss the techniques and strategies pioneered by megachurches in building spiritual community." S3K leader Ron Wolfson's 2007 book God's To-Do List was endorsed by Rick Warren; see my post on that topic.

25 years ago: Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, goes to the "wonderful World Tomorrow"

On January 16, 1986, Herbert W. Armstrong, founder and Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God (and "Ambassador for World Peace"), died at the age of 93 after several years of declining health. Mr. Armstrong, who began preaching in 1927, founded the WCG--originally known as the Radio Church of God--in 1933 and began broadcasting on January 7, 1934. Mr. Armstrong proclaimed a number of false doctrines, such as the idea that God is a family and that believers can become part of the "God family." Traditional Armstrongism taught a false, legalistic "gospel" that emphasized the importance of tithing (as much as 30% of one’s income) and keeping the seventh-day Sabbath and observing Old Testament holy days. I can understand how someone can be deceived by the doctrines of Armstrongism. In the late 1970s I was a young Christian, but I hadn’t yet begun reading the Bible with any seriousness. I began listening to Mr. Armstrong’s broadcasts, and what he said seemed to make sense. However, I followed his advice to "blow the dust off your Bible," and began reading it for myself, and exposing myself to better teachers, and I soon concluded that Mr. Armstrong was not teaching the "plain truth."

Mr. Armstrong was also a proponent of British Israelism--the idea that the British and American people are the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. Mr. Armstrong wrote the book The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy, which was first published in 1967 and underwent several revisions over the years after Mr. Armstrong’s predictions failed to come true.

The Worldwide Church of God was known for its school, Ambassador College, which at one time had campuses in Pasadena, California, Big Sandy, Texas, and Bricket Wood, England. The WCG published The Plain Truth magazine, which at its peak was said to reach as many as 8.4 million readers.

Mr. Armstrong had originally intended his oldest son, Dick, to eventually take over "the Work" from him, but Dick was killed in a car accident in 1958. Mr. Armstrong’s second son, Garner Ted, eventually took over the radio and television broadcasts, titled The World Tomorrow. Garner Ted was more telegenic and charismatic than his father, and GTA became a well-known personality. Garner Ted was also known for frequent fornication, and it was this, along with differences of opinion over the direction of the WCG that led to Herbert W. giving his son the boot in the summer of 1978. The elder Armstrong regained his role as the public face and voice of the WCG, but the broadcasts declined in popularity with the expulsion of Garner Ted.

After his forced exit from the WCG, Garner Ted Armstrong founded the Church of God, International, based in Tyler, Texas, but was forced to leave in January 1998 after numerous verified instances of being caught with his pants down. He remained in Tyler and founded the Intercontinental Church of God (also based in Tyler), which he was leading at the time of his death on September 15, 2003 at the age of 73.

It's not known if Herbert W. Armstrong's last words were "And so, this is Herbert W. Armstrong saying, 'Goodbye, friends'," but apparently the WCG wasn't expecting him to ever die. His successor, Joseph Tkach, began his Personal From the Publisher column In Remembrance in the May 1986 issue of The Plain Truth by saying, "Herbert W. Armstrong's illness ended in the manner least expected by all of us. Mr. Armstrong died peacefully in his sleep..."

Within a few years of Mr. Tkach's assumption of leadership, the church began repudiating the doctrines of Armstrongism, to the point that by the mid-1990s the Worldwide Church of God became largely accepted as part of mainstream evangelicalism. In April 2009 the WCG changed its name to Grace Communion International in the United States.

William C. Martin, a professor at Rice University, wrote an article titled Father, Son, and Mammon (Atlantic Monthly, March 1980, pp. 58-65), which he concluded by saying:

Those who continue to regard Mr. Armstrong as God’s Only Apostle for Our Time will accept his claim and follow him to the end. But when the end comes, as it must, the WCG is certain to experience devastating trauma.

Professor Martin’s prediction came true, although it took a few years for it to become apparent just how devastating the trauma would be. As might be expected, not everyone was willing to go along with the changes instituted by Mr. Tkach, and a number of groups split from the WCG. Partial lists of groups that have split from the WCG (including those that subsequently split from splinter groups) may be found here and here. Among the dizzying array of WCG splinter groups (and splinters of splinters) are the following, with the year of founding (where known) in parentheses:

Christian Biblical Church of God (1983)
Church of God (based in Chickamauga, Georgia)
Church of God, an International Community (1998)
Church of God Faithful Flock (2002)
Church of God Fellowship (1992)
Church of God of the Firstfruits (1991)
Church of God Philadelphia Era (1991)
Church of God, The Eternal (1975)
Church of God--21st Century (2004)
Church of God’s Faithful (2006)
Church of the Great God (1992)
Global Church of God (1992)
Church of God--A Christian Fellowship (with Global Church of God)
Church of the Eternal God (with Global Church of God)
Independent Church of God 7th Day (1999)
Living Church of God (1998)
Philadelphia Church of God (1989)
Restored Church of God (1998)
Sabbath Church of God (2006)
Twentieth Century Church of God (1990)
United Church of God (1995)

It should be mentioned that the Church of God denomination based in Anderson, Indiana was founded in 1881 and has nothing to do with Armstrongism.

The Painful Truth is a site expressing an anti-Armstrong, anti-WCG point of view. The site isn’t run by a Christian, but contains much useful information.
I particularly recommend the complete archive of Ambassador Report, the exposé by WCG alumni that was published from 1976-1999.

Additional information on the Armstrongs and WCG can be found at The Ross Institute. Use "Armstrong" as your search term, and you’ll find enough information to occupy you for a while. A short entry on Mr. Armstrong is at Battered Sheep.

Stephen Flurry of the Philadelphia Church of God has written a book titled Raising the Ruins: The Fight to Revive the Legacy of Herbert W. Armstrong (2006), written from a pro-Armstrong point of view and scathingly critical of the direction of the WCG under the leadership of Joseph Tkach, Sr. and Jr.

Pro-Armstrong blogs can be found at Worldwide Church of God and Herbert W. Armstrong. The World Tomorrow radio broadcasts by Mr. Armstrong are available here and here. Television broadcasts may be found here.

January 16, 2021 update: Go here to see an archive of Herbert W. Armstrong's materials, including magazines and broadcasts. The World Tomorrow telecast Ambassador for World Peace aired several days after his death, and was, as far as I recall, the program's last new broadcast on television. Reruns of radio broadcasts continued for several months thereafter.

Astrological signs won't be changing

And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. Deuteronomy 4:19

Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts. Amos 5:25-27

Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Acts 7:42

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. Romans 1:18-25

Some blondes and other airheads who believe in astrology almost had a collective nervous breakdown when a brief item by Bill Ward of the Minneapolis Star Tribune on January 9, 2011 that gave the impression that the astrological signs have gotten out of line down through the centuries went viral:

A recent Harris Poll found that 31 percent of Americans believe in astrology. They're wrong - although not necessarily in the way their detractors might cite.

The ancient Babylonians based zodiac signs on the constellation the sun was "in" on the day a person was born. During the ensuing millenniums, the moon's gravitational pull has made the Earth "wobble" around its axis, creating about a one-month bump in the stars' alignment.

The result?

"When (astrologers) say that the sun is in Pisces, it's really not in Pisces," said Parke Kunkle, a board member of the Minnesota Planetarium Society.

The article provoked a strong reaction from some believers in astrology, especially when they read that a thirteenth sign may be required for the zodiac:

Sofia Whitcombe began her day with the startling realization that she might not be exactly who she thought she was.

"My whole life, I thought I was a Capricorn," the 25-year-old New York publicist said. "Now I’m a Sagittarius? I don’t feel like a Sagittarius!"

Countless people were astonished by the "news" in Monday’s Star Tribune in which Minneapolis astronomy instructor Parke Kunkle affirmed that the Earth’s "wobble" has shifted the zodiac signs. The buzz has raced across the Web like a shooting star.

Some people seemed angry. "I believe it’s a zodiac scam," said Jose Arce, 38, from Fort Lee, N.J., who runs a body shop. "I’ve known myself to be a Sagittarius, I believe, since I was born. So to come up now with some new sign? It’s unacceptable!"...

...Astrologers across the country reported a wave of calls, e-mails or website hits from concerned clients. "People are more attached and loyal to their signs than they thought," said Eric Francis, editor of PlanetWaves.net, who said he had had 25,000 hits on his site since midnight. "It’s interesting how many people are panicking their sign is wrong."

New news or old, most people had never heard it before. And one of the more fascinating elements was talk of a new sign altogether.

By the reckoning of Kunkle and other astronomers, astrologers are not only a month off in their zodiac signs, but they are neglecting a 13th constellation, Ophiuchus (Ooh-FEE-yew-kus) the Serpent Bearer, for those born from Nov. 30 to Dec. 17.

However, astrologers are reassuring their clients that there's nothing to be alarmed about:

Robin Armstrong, an astrologer and astrology teacher based in Toronto, said the issue comes up every few years.

The mixup stems from the fact that the zodiac signs have the same names as the constellations, he said.

"It's just semantics," Armstrong said Friday. "They (astronomers) are measuring a certain thing, and they...assume astrology must mean this because what they're measuring has the same names."

And:

Linda Zlotnick, an astrologer for 32 years in St. Paul, said she and fellow astrologers have long known of the issue raised by Kunkle, but that the most commonly used zodiac — tropical — isn’t affected by it. Zlotnick, also known as "Moonrabbit," said the sidereal zodiac, which isn’t as widely used, IS based on the constellations.

It seems, then, that believers in astrology can relax and not have to concern themselves with adjusting their personalities to fit their signs.

Instead of looking to the stars for guidance, I suggest looking to the God who made the stars:

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
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:
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Colossians 1:13-17

A useful book on the subject is Astrology: Do the Heavens Rule Our Destiny? by John Ankerberg and John Weldon (1989).

30 years ago: 1,000 people killed by members of Islamic cult in Nigeria

On January 9, 1981 it was announced in Nigeria that at least 1,000 people had been killed in two weeks, as followers of renegade Islamic cult leader Alhaji Mohammadu Marwa had attacked local authorities with bows and arrows, daggers, and swords. Nigerian officials stated that the revolt was backed by Libya.

Matthew 24, the New Age "Master Jesus," and The Message

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. Matthew 24:4-5 (KJV)

Lighthouse Trails Research Blog, one of the best resources available, has just published a fascinating post by Ray Yungen (taken from the 2007 edition of his book For Many Shall Come in My Name (Lighthouse Trails Publishing), pp. 151-156) on Matthew 24. This paragraph in particular (from page 152) got my attention:

A basic tenet of New Age thinking is that of the Master Jesus. Adherents to this idea believe during the unrecorded period of His life, Jesus traveled to various occult centers and mystery schools in such places as Tibet, India, Persia, and Egypt; at these places this same Jesus learned the metaphysical secrets of the ages. Therefore, they claim this Jesus spent seventeen years of travel on a pilgrimage of higher consciousness. According to this viewpoint, Jesus of Nazareth became the Master Jesus, one who allegedly gained mastery over the physical world by becoming one with his higher self.

I knew I’d seen the phrase "Master Jesus" before, and I remembered where I'd seen it: The Message. As I’ve previously posted, the phrases "Lord Jesus" and "Lord Jesus Christ" aren’t found in The Message even once, but a quick search at Bible Gateway finds that the phrase "Master Jesus" is used in The Message 73 times (!)--in each instance, a change from the word "Lord."

One such passage that struck me was Philippians 3:20. For purposes of comparison, here’s how that verse reads in the King James Version, New American Standard Bible, and New International Version (2010), followed by The Message’s rendition:

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: KJV

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; NASB

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, NIV (2010)

But there's far more to life for us. We're citizens of high heaven! We're waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, The Message

The perceptive reader will notice that in The Message’s rendition of Philippians 3:20, there's no statement that we’re waiting for the "Master, Jesus Christ" to come from heaven. To read this version, the "Master" could well be someone who’s already on Earth when he’s revealed as the Saviour--a change in the text that I regard as very suspicious!

Superstitious man in Malaysia leaves his "demon" wife after consulting a medium

As reported by Shaun Ho in the Malaysia Star on January 6, 2011:

KUALA LUMPUR: A superstitious husband stopped having sex with his wife after a temple medium convinced him she was a danger to his life.

The wife, who only wanted to be known as Loh, said her husband has now abandoned her and their two teenage children and is refusing to meet them as he fears for his life.

Self-employed Loh, 44, said her husband first started consulting the medium to solve personal problems.

She claimed her husband’s personality changed after daily meetings with him.

"The medium told my husband I had been casting spells on him for the past 15 years and that I was a demon trying to kill him.

"He refused to eat or drink at home because he thought I poisoned the food," Loh told a press conference held at the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department yesterday.

Loh also said there were no prior family problems and that her husband was very loving although he was superstitious...

...She said her husband, a factory manager, moved out of the house on the medium’s advice in August and had been paying very little for living expenses and their children’s school fees.

He withdrew the children’s savings totalling RM37,000 before moving out and recently asked for a divorce.

Loh is worried the medium is taking advantage of her husband’s trust in him, claiming the medium is also heavily in debt.

Loh had also found a newspaper report published in 2002 about another man who had neglected his family after he was "helped" by the same medium.

Loh has lodged two police reports...

...Department head Datuk Michael Chong said he had received three complaints this month involving victims who were duped by mediums.

According to Reuters:

Malaysians often seek spiritual aid from an assortment of faith healers, mediums and witch doctors to solve personal problems and work issues.

But there has been a steady increase in complaints of cheating and sexual abuse, which has prompted the government to announce it will table a bill this year requiring faith healers to register with the Ministry of Health.

Hindu guru in India paid blackmailer £1.4 million over sex video

The U.S.A. has had its televangelist scandals, and India has a scandal with a Hindu guru. As reported by Dean Nelson of the Daily Telegraph on January 5, 2011:

The broadcast of a sex tape showing Swami Nithyananda and Tamil actress Ranjitha last year caused outrage among his followers who rioted near his ashram retreat near Bangalore, Karnataka.

Nithyananda, 32, has built an international following for his 'Life Bliss' programme of yoga and meditation with devotees in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Guadeloupe and Singapore.

The programme takes followers through a 'death experience' for rebirth into a 'new life.' His youthful good looks and charismatic style brought vast wealth to his organisation and personal fame and celebrity, with television appearances throughout India and the world.

But his supporters felt betrayed when the sex tape was broadcast on India's Sun Television channel, portraying him as 'impure'...

...A police investigation brought further allegations of sexual abuse within his ashram and claims of financial impropriety.

According to the Midday newspaper, Nithyananda told detectives he was approached by a journalist last year who told him he had video footage of him with the film actress and threatened to release it to the media if he did not pay him more than £3.5 million. He told detectives the demand was reduced to £1.4 million in negotiations and that the money was paid by one of his followers.

According to detectives, he told them he had had sex with up to 20 of his devotees and had won over many followers by hugging them. He said his success in attracting non-Hindus had caused some resentment.

Focus on the Family's newspaper columns are devoid of Christian content

"Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"
"To the curious incident of the use of the Bible in the Focus on the Family newspaper columns."
"There hasn’t been any use of the Bible in those columns."
"That was the curious incident."
--paraphrased from the Sherlock Holmes story Silver Blaze by A. Conan Doyle

Focus on the Family claims to be a Christian ministry, but you wouldn’t know it to read its newspaper columns. I haven’t read the columns by James Dobson, but I have read those by Jim Daly and Juli Slattery, who took over after Dr. Dobson’s departure in 2010. There’s not one quote from the Bible in any of their columns so far, and no advice given that couldn’t as easily have been given by Ann Landers, who wasn’t a Christian (and whose columns were more entertaining). A particularly offensive example (offensive because the authors rely on human reasoning rather than on God's wisdom) was the column of September 23, 2010:

Make a commitment before making a move
By Jim Daly, Juli Slattery

Published September 23, 2010

Question: I’ve been dating the same guy for a year, and he’s wonderful. We’re not ready to get married yet, but we’re talking about moving in together. My very traditional parents don’t approve. What do you think?

Jim: Listen to your parents, and don’t move in together until after you’ve tied the knot. This isn’t about being "old fashioned." Social science research indicates that couples who live together prior to marriage are much more likely to get divorced than those who don’t. You and your boyfriend might think that moving in together will help you build a stronger foundation for marriage later. But you’ll actually be increasing your chances of ending up in divorce court.

This all has to do with the concept of commitment, which is essential to any marriage. The two of you may be very much in love, but the plain truth is that nothing is set in stone. There is no engagement, no ring, no public profession of your lifelong love. Without these things in place, your living together will mimic marriage in some respects, but it will lack that critical element of commitment.

Generally speaking, men tend to take relationships less seriously – and view them as temporary – when marriage vows are not involved. All too often, the woman in a cohabiting relationship ends up getting hurt when the man moves out and moves on. Professor George Akerlof at the University of California, Berkeley put it this way: "Men settle down when they get married. If they fail to get married, they fail to settle down."

Maybe this is true of your boyfriend, and maybe not. The point is that you both need to continue dating and decide whether you’ll ever be ready to get married to one another. If and when that happens, you’ll have the rest of your lives to spend together under the same roof.


Question: But we’re already committed to each other. Is living together really a "death sentence" for the relationship?

Juli: An increasingly common form of "family" in the United States today is a man and woman living together without a wedding ring. So, you are certainly not alone in your consideration of living with your boyfriend as a step toward or even around marriage. In fact, over 50 percent of marriages today are preceded by cohabitation.

But remember that just because something is common, doesn’t mean it’s the best for you. An awful lot of people have cancer, too!

Jim hit the nail on the head here: When you really think about it, cohabitation is giving guys intimacy on their terms. Throughout history, women have naturally longed for the security of a consistent, committed relationship in which to make a home and raise children. Men have been more prone to seek companionship and sexual fulfillment without the responsibilities and limitations that come with marriage. By moving in with your boyfriend, you are taking away any incentive he may have to grow up and make a lifelong commitment to you.

Don’t buy the line that living together before marriage will be a good trial run. As Jim noted, cohabiting couples are much more likely to end up divorced. They’re also more likely to experience depression, poverty, infidelity, and domestic violence.

I know your parents sound old-fashioned and traditional to you, but some traditions persist because they actually work. Marriage is one of them. I’d encourage you not to compromise on this one. If this relationship has the potential to go the distance, don’t saddle it with the burdens that come with cohabitation. And if this guy is worthy of committing your life to, he’s worth the wait – and so are you!

Living together in a sexual relationship outside of marriage is included in what the Bible refers to as "fornication." God’s word has a fair amount to say on the subject--all of it negative, and all of it realistic. See, for instance, Acts 15:20 and 21:25; Romans 1:29; I Corinthians 5:1, 9-11; 6:9, 13; 7:2; 10:8; II Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; I Thessalonians 4:3; Hebrews 12:16; Jude 7; Revelation 9:21.

The Calgary Sun runs the Focus on the Family columns in its Sunday editions on a page that’s supposed to be expressing Christian perspectives. Apparently the editor of that page hasn’t noticed that those columns have no Christian content whatever. As Ingrid Schlueter has noted at The Crosstalk Blog and the now--unfortunately--departed Slice of Laodicea blog, evangelicalism has substituted "conservative family values" and a desire to get back to 1960s’ Mayberry for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For a particularly striking example of an ostensibly Christian ministry that has gone in a completely secular direction, one need look no further than eHarmony. Those who have become familiar with that name just from their television ads of recent years might be surprised to learn that eHarmony started in 2000 as a dating service for Christians. Its business grew tremendously after Dr. Dobson had eHarmony founder Neil Clark Warren as a guest for two days on the Focus on the Family radio show in 2001. However, around 2005 Dr. Warren (what is it with men in evangelical circles with the surname "Warren"?) apparently got greedy decided that the Christian market wasn’t broad enough, bought back the rights to his books from Focus on the Family--which had published them--and to the reported ire disappointment of Dr. Dobson, who rightly regarded himself as being largely responsible for eHarmony’s success, broadened eHarmony’s base to the point that it now includes people of "all religions," as well as sodomites and lesbians among potential customers. Any Christian emphasis of eHarmony is long gone.

Keep an eye on Focus on the Family; if their newspaper columns are any indication, the rest of the ministry will be heading in the same direction.

25 years ago: Jerry Falwell announces the formation of the Liberty Federation

On January 3, 1986, Rev. Jerry Falwell, who had founded the advocacy organization Moral Majority in 1979, announced that he was forming a new organization, to be called the Liberty Federation, that would deal with a broader spectrum of political issues. The Moral Majority, which was believed to have about five million members, had concentrated on social issues such as abortion and pornography.

Rev. Fatwhale Falwell, who was associated with the Republican Party and was widely regarded as a spokesman for American conservative evangelicals, said that the Liberty Federation would absorb the Moral Majority and would confront such issues as Communist threats around the world, and would support a strong military defense for the United States.

The Moral Majority received a lot of publicity, and is widely remembered; it disbanded in 1989, which will come as a surprise to those who think it still exists. Does anyone remember the Liberty Federation? This blogger doesn't; it's so obscure that it doesn't have its own Wikipedia entry. I've been unsuccessful in determining when the Liberty Federation ceased to exist, but I assume that it's no longer with us. My guess is that the Liberty Federation was disbanded along with the Moral Majority in 1989.

Israel believes that Iran can attack her with 10-12 minutes' warning--WikiLeaks

As reported by Voice of America News, January 3, 2011 (with spelling mistake corrected):

U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks reveal that Israel believes it would have 10-12 minutes' warning should Iran launch a rocket attack against the country.

The Norwegian daily Aftenposten published a cable from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv Monday that discusses a November 15, 2009 meeting between an American congressional delegation and Israel's military chief.

According to the daily, Gabi Ashkenazi told the delegation that Iran has 300 Shihab missiles that could reach Israel. He added that Israel's biggest threats were the Iranian-backed Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has more than 40,000 rockets that can reach almost any point in Israel...

...The Israeli defense chief said Israel is not able to protect its entire population despite its anti-missile defense systems. He said 1 million Israelis could be exposed to missiles that cannot be fought from the air.