Some groups like the Mormons were considered too outrageous and cult-like to find acceptance. ibid.
That dangerous mix of power, profit and paranoia. ibid.
Helicopters, tanks and armoured vehicles arrived at the Branch Davidian's compound at six in the morning. ibid.
The Council for National Policy: This group was founded by Tim LaHaye in 1981. Again we have shown definite ties between this Christian organization and the Reverend Moon’s openly anti-Christ organizations.
This ... group is also associated heavily with the controversial and cultic Church of Scientology, the John Birch Society (known for its espionage work), and the intelligence community. (Note: we attempted to get JBS board member lists but the Society returned a response that it was their policy not to reveal names of its board members).
It was stated by Congressman Woody Jenkins (Newsweek,1981): ‘I predict that one day before the end of this century the Council [for National Policy] will be so influential that no President, regardless of party or philosophy, will be able to ignore us or our concerns or shut us out of the highest levels of government.’
In October, 1999 George W Bush addressed the CNP. His campaign refused to release the full text of his remarks. Why the secrecy?
Beverly LaHaye, as was previously noted, is the wife of Tim LaHaye. She also was and still may be part of the CNP, and also founder of Concerned Women for America. She joined forces with Citizens Council on Human Rights, a group affiliated with Scientology, and Gary Bauer’s Family Research Council, which has benefited as well from Reverend Moon’s organizations and money.
This all under the umbrella of social change and ‘Christian family values’ in America. Mrs LaHaye and Bauer appeared and spoke together in a 1995 rally against psychiatric practices on children. The question is, regardless of a good cause, is it necessary for these evangelical leaders to join forces with Moon, Scientology and the Intelligence community?
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize that many groups use charitable giving/participation, patriotic associations and demonstrations of community or national good will to obfuscate their true objectives and agenda, or to conceal and deflect attention from their wrong-doing.
LaHaye’s group, the Council for National Policy, is just one example of evangelical organizations being filled with Intelligence officers, Moon representatives and Scientology members. Eric Jewell, article The Unholy Alliance – Christianity and the New World Order
For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.
After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. Acts 5:36&37
Religion, cult, there's no real definition of which is which. It’s more like ‘if the shoe fits’. I personally define a ‘cult’ as any religion with fewer followers than Snooki has on Twitter. Also, Mormonism is secretive, and that’s another trait I associate with cults. Catholics own their crazy. It’s right on the table. Mormons are more like Fight Club. Bill Maher
Most Christians would not recognize Mormonism as part of the Christian faith. Franklin Graham
The European Court ruled recently that cults and religions were granted charitable status and public tax relief status as a privilege, not as a prerequisite. The Court of Appeal holds that cults and religions must satisfy the public duty of care test of being for the public benefit. And for action in the High Court, you must show that on the balance of probabilities, that the cult fails to provide reasonable charitable public benefit.
But when is your Brethren not your Brethren? The Charity Commission supports the 2012 case of the Bad Boys Brethren – as reported:
‘MPs have made a robust defence of the exclusive Brethren church that has been denied charitable status by the Charity Commission in an important test case for churches and Christian organisations throughout the country.
‘In a well-attended debate led by Fiona Bruce, Conservative MP for Congleton, in Westminster Hall on Tuesday (13 November), members discussed the implications of the decision against Preston Downs Trust, which owns gospel halls in Torquay, Paignton and Newton Abbot.
‘The Brethren church was denied charitable status over concerns that it does not satisfy the ‘public benefit’ requirement; the lack of public access to the communion services held in gospel halls was specifically mentioned.
‘Ms Bruce and numerous other MPs highlighted the extensive work carried out by the Brethren in their communities, including support for families, care for young people, disaster relief, visits to prisons, hospitals, and donations of substantial funds to many charities. She said, ‘Surely no one can argue that they do not provide public benefit’ and also defended the ‘openness’ of the Brethren; they actively share their faith and make information about their services available to non-Brethren. Ms Bruce said, ‘Restricting access to Holy Communion should not be a reason for refusing charitable status.’
Other MPs raised concerns about the wider implications of the Charity Commission’s decision for churches and Christian groups.
Charlie Elphicke, Conservative MP for Dover, said: This is a test case on religion and the thin end of the wedge, particularly given that the Charity Commission’s letter says that even the Church of England would have to prove public benefit.
Amendments under the Charities Act 2006 removed the presumption of ‘public benefit’ for organisations that advance religion and required charities that had been registered under the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 to seek registration with the Charity Commission.
Churches therefore now have to demonstrate how they are of benefit to the public, whereas before it was taken as a given that they were.
‘Public benefit’ is not clearly defined in the Act, but the Charity Commission states that it must be identifiable, balanced against any harm, appropriate to the charity’s aims, and not ‘unreasonably restricted’ in a way that might prevent some people from benefiting from the charity’s work.
The Brethren, which has over 370 gospel halls throughout the UK, has enjoyed charitable status for over 50 years. Following the changes to the law under the 2006 Act, they had to re-apply. Brethren representatives met with the Charity Commission in 2008 to discuss a programme for registering all their gospel halls, and it was agreed that a sample application would be submitted by one of their trusts, Preston Downs. This was made on 18 February 2009
The third Plague Upon all their houses was the curse of the judges that temples and houses of worship were not worthy of tax relief status.
My Lords, The Morg fails the duty of care test of public benefit, and the sooner they're forced to account the better. esias, Board post 20th May 2014 ‘Beware the Brethren Who Are Not Your Brethren’
I consider Mormonism to be a non-Christian cult that is deeply deceitful, historically dishonest, chauvinistically controlling, absolutely authoritarian, pathologically anti-individual, patronizingly anti-woman, viciously anti-Gay, homophobically anti–Lesbian, racistly anti-Black, obnoxiously pro-White and inherently anti-American in its lack of tolerance and respect for pluralism, diversity and self-expression.
Put another way, I regard Mormonism to be a clannish, backward religion, founded by a notorious charlatan named Joseph Smith who bedded other men’s wives, who slept with under-aged girls, who mistreated and abused his own spouse, who squinted at so-called ‘peep stones’ inside of his hat pretending to translate supposed ‘ancient scripture’, who invented these alleged ‘scriptures’ out of the thin air of his own imagination (with the help of his co-conspiring friends), who never saw or talked to God or Jesus floating in the trees behind his house, who never communed with angels, who never dug up any golden plates, who was found guilty of fraud in a New York court for making false treasure-finding claims, whose ‘sacred’ temple endowment was nothing more than a clunky, amateurish rip-off of secret Masonic rites and who died in a hail of bullets from fellow Masons after being unmasked as a party to a patently unconstitutional effort to shut down a newspaper which had dared publish accounts of his philanderous, adulterous, polygamous behavior and the lies which he told his followers as he denied it all.
Given my views on these matters, I would sincerely appreciate it if, in the future, you would cease and desist from any and all efforts to bring me back into the Mormon fold. Steve Benson, letter to family members Holly and Karl
We’re not a cult. I’m not an idiot, you know. I’ve read a couple of books and I’ve been to a pretty good school, and I have chosen to be in this church because of the faith that I feel and the inspiration that comes. I’ve met people, and if people want to call us a cult, they can call us a cult and you can call us a cult, but we are 14-million and growing, and I’d like to think that your respect for me would be enough to know that this man doesn’t seem like a dodo. Elder Jeffrey ‘Dodo’ Holland, interview This World: The Mormon Candidate
The Church vehemently denies being a cult. John Sweeney, This World: The Mormon Candidate, BBC 2012
I hear of an organisation called the Strengthening Church Members Committee, set up to investigate polygamists. ibid.
John Sweeney: What’s the Strengthening Church Members Committee, and does it still exist?