In the News.

BRANCH DAVIDIAN INVESTIGATION CONCLUDES

St. LOUIS, Mo. (EP)-Federal agents did not begin the 1993 fire that killed 80 members of the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, former Sen. John Danforth said July 21. Danforth said his extensive investigation of the government's actions during the siege led him to conclude "with 100 percent certainty" that federal agents did not start the fire, shoot at cult members, improperly use military personnel, or engage in a major cover up.

"The blame rests squarely on the shoulders of David Koresh," Danforth said, referring to the late leader of the cult. However, Danforth acknowledged that the Justice Department and FBI failed to disclose that FBI agents fired three pyrotechnic tear gas canisters toward the compound four hours before the fire began. Shells and pyrotechnic projectiles are missing from evidence in the case.

SCIENTOLOGY FILM A MAJOR FLOP

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (EP)-When actor John Travolta announced plans to turn L. Ron Hubbard's novel Battlefield Earth into a major motion picture, some Christians were worried that the film would become a blockbuster recruiting tool for Scientology, the faith founded by L. Ron Hubbard and practiced by Travolta.

Those fears appear to have been unfounded. The $80 million movie named after the novel is at best an ineffective Scientology recruiting tool-and is certainly not a blockbuster.

Reviews of the film have been almost uniformly hostile. Roger Ebert wrote that watching the film "is like taking a bus trip with someone who has needed a bath for a long time. It's not merely bad; it's unpleasant in a hostile way."

There are Scientology themes embedded in the movie, including Hubbard's bizarre and secret cosmology based on intergalactic travel, space battles and encounters with aliens, as well as Hubbard's well-documented hatred of traditional psychology. But the movie makes no direct reference to the bizarre cult.

Travolta has reached the highest levels of Scientology, and is an "Operating Thetan." According to church teachings, this gives him the power to control "Matter, energy, space, time, form and life."

Travolta used his Hollywood clout to get the movie made. It's the pinnacle of using my power for something," Travolta told the New York Daily News." I can get things done that a studio might not normally do."

But Travolta has insisted that the film is not a religious tract. "I'm very interested in Scientology, but that's personal," he has said. "This is different. This has nothing to do with Scientology."

Ebert agreed in his review, writing, "The film contains no evidence of Scientology or any other system of thought."

Former Scientology public relations official Robert Vaughn Young says that while the movie doesn't directly proselytize for the cult it could still be dangerous. "In one sense, John Travolta is right-this is not a book about Scientology," he told the Washington Post. "But it's a way for people to discover Scientology. It's a lead-in."

WEIGH DOWN AUTHOR IN DOCTRINAL CONTROVERSY

Gwen Shamblin, the author of the popular book Weigh Down Diet is embroiled in controversy over her doctrinal views.  Thomas Nelson Publishers recently made the decision to cancel Shamblin's latest book on weight loss after attention was brought to Shamblin's website where she states that she doesn't believe in the equality of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that the Trinity is an unbiblical concept. Shamblin appears to hold anti-Trinitarian views similar to Jehovah's Witnesses. Other theologians state that her views also sound like modalism and subordinationism, heretical views rejected by the early church. There are some 30,000 Weigh Down Workshop meetings around the world, many held in evangelical churches.

CONTROVERSY CONTINUES FOR POLYGAMOUS GROUPS

Last year members of polygamous Mormon splinter groups gained national attention when they were arrested for alleged incidents of abuse and sexual mistreatment of teenage girls taken as polygamous wives. Authorities once again took notice when members of such groups took their children out of public schools along the Utah-Arizona state line. Teachers from the schools who are also members of one of the groups, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, did not return for the new school year. This departure fueled concerns that the followers are preparing for what they consider the imminent return of Christ. Spokespersons for at least some of the groups deny this allegation.

"BORN AGAIN" CHRISTIANS DOCTRINALLY WEAK

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (EP)-"Born again" doesn't mean what it used to, according to researcher Wade Clark Roof of the University of California-Santa Barbara. Roof's newest book, Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion, argues that today's "born again" Christians are united by emotions and experiences, not be shared doctrines or moral beliefs. One-third of America's 77 million baby boomers identify themselves as born-again Christians, but only 5 percent of those have any link to a conservative Protestant denomination. Half say that religions other than Christianity are "equally good and true," and one-third of born-again boomers believe in reincarnation and astrology. Nearly half support abortion.

WALTER MARTIN FAMILY QUESTIONS CRI LEADERSHIP

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. (EP)-Relatives of the late Walter Martin, founder of the Christian Research Institute, say that successor Hank Hanegraaff has departed from the ministry's original mission and are demanding his resignation, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. Hanegraaff, whose Bible Answer Man show is on 125 radio stations nationwide, was Martin's hand-picked successor. But Martin's relatives say he has strayed from the ministry's original purpose of debunking unusual religious claims. Martin's widow Darlene resigned from the ministry's board after a public rift with Hanegraaff in 1996, and last October the family sent Hanegraaff a letter detailing objections to his leadership. Hanegraaf says the ministry's mission has not changed since he took over in 1979: "The basic concept has always been to equip people with the truth so when a counterfeit looms on the horizon they know how to recognize it," he said.

ANGLICAN CHURCH LEADER DENIES CHRISTIAN EXCLUSIVISM

SYDNEY, Australia (EP)-Buddha and Mohammed offer salvation equal to Christ, the newly inaugurated head of the Anglican Church of Australia wrote in an article published for Easter. Archbishop Peter Carnley was installed as primate of the Anglican Church on April 30 at St. Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney, despite protests that his views were at odds with church doctrine. "In the context of the tragic brokenness of the present world, we also have responsibilities to foster dialogue with other faiths," said Carnley on April 30. Carnley's installation was boycotted by two bishops. Petitions affirming traditional Christian teachings were circulated among churches as a show of protest. In a rally outside the Cathedral protesters waved posters with anti-Anglican and anti-Carnley slogans painted on them.

ENERGETIC TOMATOES

LONDON, England (EP)-Are your tomato plants aligned for maximum energy flow? That's the question British tomato growers are asking-and it's led some to quit. The management of Arreton Valley Nurseries on the Isle of Wight is using the Chinese occult practice of feng shui in an effort to increase output. The decision caused a Sunday school teacher and his son to quit their jobs as tomato growers. Martin Kelly, 45, and his son Paul, 20, both of whom are committed Baptists, said the ancient Chinese art of channeling energy flows was a "godless creed" that insulted their religion. Kelly said he initially thought all the talk about yin and yang was a publicity stunt. He quit when he learned management was serious about applying the philosophy to tomato growing. "I had no choice," he said. "I made it clear that the reliance of the company on the forces compromised my position as a Christian."

METHODISTS DECLARE MORMONISM OUTSIDE OF CHRISTIAN FAITH

The General Board of Discipleship for the United Methodists declared that "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not fit within the bounds of historic, apostolic tradition of Christian faith." At their national convention they also considered a resolution requiring "Mormons who convert to Methodism to be rebaptized." The recent statements of the United Methodists parallels similar views held by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Southern Baptist Convention.1

1"Methodists Back Proposal to Have LDS Converts Rebaptized," The Salt Lake Tribune, May 26, 2000, http://www.sltrib.com/2000/May/05062000/Saturday/46811.htm.

BIBLE READING DECLINING

PRINCETON, N.J. (EP) - Bible reading in America is declining. According to a recent Gallup Poll, only 59 percent of the people in the U.S. say they read the Bible at least occasionally, down from 73 percent in the 1980s. The number of people who read the Bible regularly (at least weekly) has also dropped from 40 percent in the 1980s to 37 percent today. Two out of three people questioned agreed that the Bible answers most of all of the basic questions of life. Only 14 percent said they are members of a Bible study group, but 35 percent said they are "very interested" in deepening their understanding of the Bible.

WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD PREVENTS REPRINT OF MYSTERY OF THE AGES

PASADENA, Calif. (EP) - The Worldwide Church of God, which abandoned past cultic teachings and is now a mainstream evangelical denomination, won a court battle and can keep a breakaway group from reprinting a book by the church's founder which contains false teachings. The 380-page book Mystery of the Ages was written by Herbert Armstrong, who founded the Worldwide Church of God. The church's copyright ownership was affirmed by an appeals court, which ruled that the breakaway Philadelphia Church of God may not make copies for its own use.

SALT LAKE TRIBUNE ATTEMPTS TO PREVENT TAKEOVER BY LDS CHURCH

 SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (EP) - Claming the Mormon church is trying to take control of the newspaper, managers of the Salt Lake City Tribune are asking their parent company, AT&T, to honor a previous agreement and sell the paper back to them. The chairman of the Mormon church-owned Deseret News said the church has no interest in buying the Tribune.

WATCHTOWER SOCIETY REORGANIZES

On October 6, 2000, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society announced a major reorganization of the Society's corporate structure. Two significant events occurred in relation to this reorganization.

First, seven members of the Governing Body resigned their positions as members of the Board of Directors of the Society; they nonetheless remain members of the Governing Body.

Second, the Watchtower Society formed three new non-profit corporations to run the Society's operations in the United States: the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses (coordinating all evangelism-related activities); the Religious Order of Jehovah's Witnesses (coordinating full-time evangelists); and Kingdom Support Services, Inc (titleholders for all Watchtower properties and vehicles).