FLASHBACK: How I Was Convicted Of Drug-Related Offences In 1996 — TB Joshua

The prophet, who is now dead, in a 2019 documentary, showed his church members how he was prosecuted for an offence he was innocent of, but survived.

SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK

June 08, 2021

Popular televangelist, Temitope Balogun Joshua, was arrested by officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in 1996.

The prophet, who is now dead, in a 2019 documentary, showed his church members how he was prosecuted for an offence he was innocent of, but survived.

Before the video was displayed, Joshua said, “In the college of God, however brilliant you may be, you will not be given double promotion – you must take every course because each course serves a purpose.

“In the University of God, no matter how brilliant you may be, you will not be given a double promotion, you will take every course because each course serves a purpose.”

The video showing TB Joshua in a cell in 1996 was displayed on the screen. He was standing behind iron bars.

The narrator said, “A prophet detained in the cell for taking drugs and harbouring weapons, however, his enemies didn't notice that not even the detention in cell and false accusation could shake his faith in God. To the wise, this was a foolish thing but God used it to reveal his purpose in the life of TB Joshua giving him the necessary experience and maturity to handle the greater responsibilities God was preparing for him.

“Like Joseph in the Bible, he has known what it means to be loved, hated, rejected enslaved accused and falsely convicted, he bore everything that happened to him calmly."

 

On the screen, a written file was displayed as a letter from the NDLEA confirming the prophet's innocence and clearing him from charges of drug dealing after having been detained for 13 days.

The narrator continued, “Remember our enemies might rob us of liberty and confine us now but they cannot shut us out of the throne of mercy and communion with God. Falsely accused of drug dealing by the NDLEA."

The video further showed a 1966 version of TB Joshua after he left detention addressing his congregation for their love and support during his absence.

It was stated that he appeared at the church the following Sunday expressing gratitude to members for faithfulness and love, for standing by him in a hard time.

 

He said, “I am using this opportunity to thank you all for your unequal efforts towards my absence. God Almighty will continue to bless and be with you.

“If you say to yourself why me, of all these troubles, persecutions, tribulations, all sorts of things, I want you to now think back, why me of all the spiritual blessings in my life? When you count the blessings of God in your life doubts will fly away.

“Even if you are suffering and you lack this or that, remember the blessings of God like food, shelter and many others you are enjoying today."

Another video shows the “confession” of a man who claimed to be one of the officers who arrested him in 1996 on the accusation of drug dealing.

Yusuf Hassan, who hails from Adamawa State, said he worked with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency when an informant tipped them off that Joshua was dealing drugs within his church premises.

Storming The Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos with 18 “armed” officers and six soldiers, Yusuf recounted how the cleric was arrested and subsequently incarcerated for 13 days.

“On our way to the office, we asked him that – if he was a man of God, let him disappear,” Hassan reminisced, describing how the operatives all taunted the cleric en route to prison.

“Our officers destroyed a lot of things while searching for drugs – but we couldn’t find anything. On the 13th day he was released because nothing incriminating was found on him or with him,” Yusuf continued.

However, after Joshua’s innocence was established, Hassan revealed that calamity befell all those involved in the operation.

“Among the officers that came to arrest TB Joshua, three of them are no longer alive. All 18 officers, except for myself, have been dismissed,” he revealed.

Yusuf himself said he was “on suspension” after a court case landed him in prison for 10 months.

“I want God to deliver me from the part I took in this arrest,” he concluded.

http://saharareporters.com/2021/06/08/flashback-how-i-was-convicted-drug-related-offences-1996-%E2%80%94-tb-joshua

TB Joshua: A Time To Come And A Time To Leave! By Ozodinukwe Okenwa

Many Nigerians outside the Synagogue family may not have known that TB Joshua's birthday is on June 12. A greater event unfolded on June 12 1993 and it must have overshadowed the late Prophet's birthday. On that historic day of June, the 12th, democracy was gloriously born in Nigeria but was murdered by a military gang led by Generals Ibrahim Babangida and the late Sani Abacha.

OZODINUKWE OKENWA

Sahara Reporters

June 9, 2021

The Nigerian popular televangelist, Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua, popularly known as TB Joshua, the founder of the Lagos-based Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) died over the weekend in Lagos. Prophet Joshua was said to have conducted an evening service in his church and was on his way to the hospital when he died. He was said to have fallen sick two days prior. His 58th birthday was billed for June 12. His megachurch runs the popular Emmanuel TV from Lagos and viewed worldwide. Prophet Joshua was born on June 12, 1963. He hailed from Arigidi Akoko, in Akoko North West Area of Ondo State. He was married and had three children.

According to the widow, Evelyn Joshua, however, the man of miracle had spent about three long hours on the 'mountain' praying before mounting the pulpit for the evening worship. Ministering the gospel to the faithful the Prophet spoke prophetically about a time to come and a time to leave. And suddenly he took his leave retreating to his inner chambers.

As the woman, according to her narrative, waited for some time for her husband to re-emerge to continue the service she decided to check on him. Lo and behold she met the famous Prophet sitting on the chair like someone reflecting but unconscious! Efforts to revive him proved abortive.

It would seem that Prophet Joshua had a premonition of the grim reaper lurking by the corner going by the trending video in which he had exhorted his members to mark his upcoming birthday by praying and fasting. He had these to say: "As things stand, you may have realised it will not be easy for me to celebrate my birthday under the present circumstances. Some of the people who want to come are troubled by the situation all over the world. We see their fear and their worry. I feel their pain; I feel their worry....  Therefore, let us dedicate this day to prayer and fasting. Don't forget the needy. By the grace of God, more birthdays are ahead. God bless you!"

According to some online reports some soldiers and other security agents had laid siege to the Synagogue edifice as if something was wrong somewhere. They were said to have molested journalists, preventing people from getting inside the temple of God. Nigeria and her security elements never ceased to amaze the outside world with their unprofessional work ethics. Why preventing legitimate people from getting into Synagogue? Or was there a search warrant or fears of looting following Joshua's sudden demise?

Prophet TB Joshua rose from a poor parental background to become a great man. He touched lives, he empowered lives. He was controversial yet an enigma. In a nation where pentecostalism has become a billion-dollar-spinning 'business' Joshua made name and money for himself building the Synagogue to become one of the greatest christian organizations in Nigeria and Africa. His followers cut across regions and countries.

Scenes of melancholy could be seen on video online as his followers mourned his untimely passage to the great beyond. Men and women, old and young, were seen shedding tears and asking questions over their welfare since their benevolent 'breadwinner' had died. Some were even imploring God to take their lives instead and bring back Joshua!

But regrettably the stunning biblical Lazarus miracle is no longer possible in our generation post-Jesus. No mortal can boast of possessing the power wielded by Jesus the Christ when he raised the dead and buried Lazarus, his friend, from the grave. So Joshua is gone for good, never to return in flesh and blood. To those weeping we ask them to take solace in his good deeds and generosity while he lived. His pentecostal legacy would definitely outlive him from generation to generation.

The general effusion of grief towards the late prophet demonstrated his popularity and the impact he had had on the society. Yet he never endeared himself to many people in Nigeria and outside our shores. At home he was banned from membership of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN). And from Kampala, Uganda came the news that the Pastor of the Christian Life Church, Jackson Senyonga, was celebrating Joshua's death! He described him as the "biggest witch in Africa"!

Nigeria boasts of great flamboyant men of God -- Bishops, Prophets, Apostles and Pastors -- the Oyedepos, Okonkwos, Adeboyes, Kumuyis, Sulemans, Enenches, Oyakhilomes etc. But unlike most of these rich and material-conscious 'servants' of God Joshua was different in many ways. He was stupendously rich yet he lived a normal life devoid of bigmanism. He was munificient and philanthropic. 

While his peers were busy buying limousines and private jets he was content living modestly. Though he possessed the financial resources to indulge in such luxurious lifestyle or fantasy he decided to be himself believing in the vanity of material possessions here on earth. Perhaps that was why he was hated by his pentecostal peers.

When he began his ministry flaks and fireworks followed almost immediately because of his unconventional methods and tactics. He started off as a man of God of questionable credibility and source of spiritual power. But he ended up convincing millions of Nigerians and non-Nigerians of his healing and deliverance powers.

Prophet Joshua courted controversy as he set his eyes on the bigger picture. He began rough and tough! His physical attribute, heavily-bearded and eagle-eyed, was not only intimidating but his manner of deliverance raised questions about his possible involvement in occultism or sorcery. Initially he was alleged to have been using alligator pepper and other traditional instruments to drive away demonic spirits. He did many miracles and predicted events of the future. Some of these predictions hit their marks while others fell by the way side.

In the Holy Book we, as Christians, are admonished against proclaiming or reaching judgement on anyone since the ultimate judgement belongs to the heavenly hosts. But we dare say here that Joshua had this myth about his personality and evangelism that was as perplexing as it was interrogatory. Doubts about his staying spiritual power and his modest academic profile persisted for years even as the membership of Synagogue multiplied.

Many years ago (precisely in 1996) the late Prophet was arrested for drug peddling in Lagos by the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and detained for two weeks. It later turned out to be false accusation as nothing incriminating was found on him or inside his churchor home.

On 12 September, 2014, a guesthouse collapsed in the SCOAN's premises in Lagos killing at least 115 people! 84 of those that perished were South Africans. This tragedy led many into believing that a blood sacrifice could have been the cause of it all! It was not the first time a building under construction had collapsed in Lagos or elsewhere in Nigeria. But what made the Synagogue building collapse more controversial was the large number of foreign victims. Litigation followed and Prophet Joshua survived the storm.

Many Nigerians outside the Synagogue family may not have known that TB Joshua's birthday is on June 12. A greater event unfolded on June 12 1993 and it must have overshadowed the late Prophet's birthday. On that historic day of June, the 12th, democracy was gloriously born in Nigeria but was murdered by a military gang led by Generals Ibrahim Babangida and the late Sani Abacha.

Now that another June 12 is imminently upon us we must, given the Buharian slow but steady loading absolutism, return to the trenches to defend democracy in our country. Bashorun MKO Abiola could not have died in vain while trying to actualize 'Hope-93'.

As for Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua the parting word is instructive for us, the living: 'A time to come and a time to leave'! That is the portion of every living carnivorous and omnivorous animal. From the cradle to the grave remains till eternity our existential reality. Prophet Joshua came, he saw and he conquered. 

Fare thee well, Prophet. We grieve for you!

SOC Okenwa

soco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr

http://saharareporters.com/2021/06/09/tb-joshua-time-come-and-time-leave-ozodinukwe-okenwa

Pentecostals and the spiritual war against coronavirus in Africa

The Conversation
April 30, 2020

Authors

Benjamin Kirby
British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Leeds
Josiah Taru
Lecturer, Great Zimbabwe University
Tinashe Chimbidzikai
Doctoral Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity

Disclosure statement

Dr Benjamin Kirby receives funding from the British Academy.
Josiah Taru has previously received funding from a Human Economy Programme (University of Pretoria) to conduct fieldwork between 2015-17.
Tinashe Chimbidzikai receives funding from Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Germany.

Partners

University of Leeds provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK.
Great Zimbabwe University provides support as an endorsing partner of The Conversation AFRICA.

Since the emergence of COVID-19, a number of media commentators and academics have reflected on the “spiritualisation” of the pandemic among responses in different African settings.

There’s been particular interest in the influence of prominent Pentecostal pastors on public health messaging. Some have expressed concern about the possible consequences of their invocations of spiritual warfare.

We’ve examined how idioms of (spiritual) warfare have been deployed in response to the coronavirus pandemic and wish to bring a broader perspective to recent debates about these dynamics. We consider examples from Tanzania and Zimbabwe, drawing on our ongoing research in these settings.

Many Pentecostal Christians, in Africa as well as other continents, portray the coronavirus as a “spiritual force of evil” rather than as a biomedical disease.

Through this lens, the world is presented as a battleground between God and the agents of Satan. For those who enlist to “fight for Jesus”, the most effective weapon is prayer.

Spiritual warfare provides a framework for explaining and responding to both mundane and extraordinary events – from a cancelled flight to a global pandemic. But despite their close association with Pentecostals, these militarised idioms may also resonate with other groups.
The prophet

In Zimbabwe, Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa has been criticised for reassuring his congregants that they will be “spared” from the virus. This will happen through prayer and the divine protection he mediates. “You will not die, because the Son is involved in what we are doing,” he says, calling it

the freedom that no medication can offer.

This declaration epitomises a sense of Pentecostal “exceptionalism”, embodied in the claim to be “in this world but not of this world”. It clearly risks instilling a level of complacency among his followers about the threat of the virus. It amplifies the possibility of noncompliance with government safety measures.

Prophet Makandiwa has also been accused of perpetuating conspiracy theories. Drawing Biblical allusions to the “mark of the beast”, he has warned followers about “microchip” implants. These, he predicts, will accompany future vaccination campaigns. This claim has also been made by pastors elsewhere in the African continent.

In Uganda, steps have already been taken to prosecute pastors spreading misinformation.
The president

Efforts to “spiritualise” the virus have also been pursued by some African leaders. For example, Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli described COVID-19 as a demon (shetani). Through it Satan seeks to “destroy” Tanzanian citizens.

Despite the government promoting physical distancing, he declared that churches or mosques would not be closed because this is where God and “true healing” (uponyaji wa kweli) are found.

Invoking the idiom of spiritual warfare, Magufuli explained that COVID-19

cannot survive in the Body of Jesus (and) will be burned away.

Commentators have observed that Magufuli is himself a Roman Catholic (albeit with Pentecostal ties). Yet few have acknowledged his implication that God can also be “found” in mosques, nor his recommendation that Tanzanians also embrace indigenous medicinal practices for protection.

In a country where Christians don’t constitute a clear religious majority, Magufuli invokes the rhetoric of spiritual warfare to articulate a sense of national religious identity.

These invocations mostly adopt a rhetorical style reminiscent of Pentecostal pastors but maintain a broad, inclusive focus on God (Mungu).

Tanzanians responded enthusiastically to Magufuli’s call for citizens “of every faith” to participate in three days of national prayer. Many took to social media to circulate photos and videos featuring the Tanzanian flag and words of prayer.
Some perspective

Yet a growing number of commentators have criticised Magufuli. As with Makandiwa, they argue that his use of spiritual warfare rhetoric generates a dangerous expectation of viral immunity.

Some commentators have taken Magufuli’s emphasis on prayer to be emblematic of the government’s perceived failure to adequately address the pandemic.

The government, say critics, has fallen prey to “superstitious” thinking. Some draw allusions to the use of water-based medicine in the Maji Maji rebellion against German colonial rule.

As others have observed, the act of giving spiritual agency to the virus as a “personal demon” can also serve to downplay structural failures which have contributed to its spread. It divests responsibility to both COVID-19 as a sentient “enemy” and citizens.

There is a risk, however, that exaggerating the “idiosyncrasy” of the Tanzanian government’s response to COVID-19 – and indeed that of Prophet Makandiwa – may perpetuate another myth of “exceptionalism”. One which echoes colonial depictions of African populations as singularly “superstitious” and “incurably religious”.

In truth, spiritual warfare idioms have been diversely invoked – and unevenly received – across the continent. They have prompted lively “religion and science” debates.

Moreover, the plausibility of spiritual warfare idioms should not be exclusively attributed to people’s religious sensibilities. After all, “warfare” is the signature trope with which global political figures, health experts, and media commentators have framed COVID-19.

Like Magufuli, world leaders like the UK’s Boris Johnson, France’s Emmanuel Macron and the US’s Donald Trump have all invoked warfare motifs against the single, identifiable “enemy”.

European governments have also been accused of using this framing to shift responsibility onto citizens as “combatants”, whether for failing to adhere to physical distancing or for their biomedical frailty. Narratives of individuals heroically “winning their war” against a decidedly personal demon are no less persuasive to some in Europe than to some in Africa.

None of this is intended to take away from the ambivalent and sometimes plainly harmful effects of attempts to spiritualise the pandemic. Nor is it to imply that religiously informed strategies of communication and implementation are incompatible with more “temporal” methods.

Religious groups like Pentecostal congregations may indeed constitute an important “public health resource” when it comes to delivering services and messaging. And they can cultivate a sense of hope and mutual care in the face of uncertainty.

Rather, we suggest as anthropologists and scholars of religion, this warfaring rhetoric might stem from a shared discomfort among Africans and Europeans alike at the prospect of an adversary without discernible self-will or conscience. An impersonal demon.

As literary critic Anders Engberg-Pederson articulates it:

We declare war on the virus, because we want it to be something that it is not.



https://theconversation.com/pentecostals-and-the-spiritual-war-against-coronavirus-in-africa-137424

CultNEWS101 Articles: 9/9/2019

Religious Freedom, Neno Evangelism, NXIVM
 

Bitter Winter: Persecution and Sexual Abuse of Tibetan Buddhist Nuns by the CCP

"Expelled from their monasteries, nuns face violence and rape in horrific 'detention centers.'"

 

Mwakilishi: 'I Will Tie Your Manhood': Controversial Pastor James Ng'ang'a Warns Journalists in New Video

"A new video of Neno Evangelism pastor James Ng'ang'a warning journalists and Kenyans online against publishing stories about him has emerged on social media.

In the video, Ng'ang'a, who is no stranger to controversy, vowed to deal with anybody who writes about him online or in newspapers."

Nairobi Wire: Gilbert Deya Defends "His Son" Pastor Ng'ang'a, "He Made No Mistake"

"Gilbert Deya has jumped to the defense of his equally controversial preacher James Ng'ang'a over the recent foul-mouthed rant.

Ng'ang'a, the Neno Evangelism founder, was subjected to backlash for a viral video in which he castigates and insults Neno Evangelism's bishops for disrespecting his wife."

Court House News: NXIVM Cult Must Pay Private Eye's Legal Bills

"A federal judge ordered the now-defunct sex cult NXIVM to foot $1.3 million in legal bills incurred by private investigators that it hired to follow an anti-cult specialist.

Billing itself for years as a self-help group, NXIVM shut down in 2018 after its leaders, including "Smallville" actress Allison Mackm were arrested as part of a sweeping racketeering and sexual slavery case. The group's founder, Keith Raniere, was convicted of sex trafficking, forced labor and wire fraud earlier this year. 

The secretive and bizarre group had a history of investigating critics, including allegedly trying to hack into computer of billionaire Edgar Bronfman Sr., the former chairman of the Seagram beverage company who spoke out against NXIVM as two of his daughters became increasingly involved as members.

In one such investigation, the group retained Interfor Inc. to investigate the 2003 disappearance of one of its members, Kristin Snyder. Allegations that Snyder was pregnant with Raniere's baby have led some to speculate the woman was murdered or killed herself.

NXIVM sued anti-cult crusader Rick Ross around the same time, accusing that Ross had infringed the group's copyright by publishing several pages of a NXIVM manual on his website. Ross obtained the manual from a former member of NXIVM, then known as Executive Success Programs Inc., who had signed a nondisclosure agreement."

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Four voices, one concern – Addressing “faith-healing only” in context of HIV

World Council of Churches (WCC)

September 5, 2017

“I believe we need an advocacy strategy to listen, share experiences, and address the issues we face in working for treatment adherence,” said Rev. Dr Nyambura Njoroge, World Council of Churches Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy (WCC-EHAIA) coordinator as she addressed a consultation on HIV Treatment Adherence and Faith Healing in Africa on 5 September.

Two days later, religious leaders and governmental organization representatives from across Africa and beyond met in Kampala, Uganda, to explore what it means to be healed and to offer healing, in the context of a disease that has no cure.

At the heart of the issues addressed at the consultation lies the phenomenon of “faith-healing only”, where some faith communities have begun encouraging people living with HIV to stop taking their anti-retroviral drugs, claiming that they can be healed by faith alone – a practice that can have devastating consequences for the work towards overcoming HIV and AIDS.

So how can the issue of “faith-healing only” be understood and addressed, to ensure that people living with HIV adhere to treatment? How can bridges be built to those among “faith-healing only” practitioners who are open to dialogue? And what does it mean to believe, to be healed, in a context where there is no cure?

Medicine and faith healing: science, spirituality or both?

“I believe, to overcome HIV,” said Rev. Canon Prof. Gideon B. Byamugisha from the Anglican Church, Province of Uganda, “we need to overcome the dichotomy between science and spirituality. The God of life is also the God of science. Everything that gives life, that encourages life – and this includes not only the air we breathe and the water we drink, but also the wonders of science, such as medicine and anti-retroviral treatment – we should view as a gift from God.”

Reflecting on the issue of “faith-healing only prophets”, Gideon added, “We should not be afraid that there are those who call themselves prophets. We are all in a prophetic movement. People who are saying human rights and human dignity must be affirmed, that is a prophetic movement. So let us not be intimidated, but pray for the wonders of science too.”

Aisha Usman, Northwest Zone coordinator for the Nigeria chapter of the International Network of Religious Leaders Living with or personally affected by HIV and AIDS, continues, “we need to take a common stand. It happened to me long ago, when I was very sick, I was told I shouldn’t take my drugs, that I should go for deliverance instead. Refusing, I was locked up in a room for two years, until I was discovered by the Catholic Church.”

“What the Catholics did,” Usman said, “was they brought me out, took me to their church and let me stay there, they bought the drugs for me. I took the drugs for a year right there in their church, and I got well. Now that is what I call faith healing.”

From witness to strategy, finding common ground for action

The consultation in Kampala is one of two similar consultations on HIV treatment adherence and faith healing in Africa taking place this month, the second one convening in Kigali, Rwanda on 25-29 September. Among the expected long-term outcomes are a manual on capacity building for people living with HIV and faith leaders on treatment adherence and advocacy on positive use of faith in HIV response; and to inspire a counter-movement against ”faith-healing only”, led by faith communities in each country represented.

Charles Serwanja, programme manager of health and HIV/AIDS at the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, reflected on the importance of communities from a variety of faiths finding common ground on concerns of health and healing.

“From the Ugandan context, we know that until we as faith-based organizations can come together to agree on common positions, on common messages, common processes together, we will have fragmentations and interventions across the board, and the government becomes suspicious about what we are doing.”

“But we also know that there is a power in religious leaders coming together, generating common positions and speaking with one voice, on many issues, including HIV and AIDS. If we could mobilize those faith communities that are today not part of our inter-religious work to become part of the discussion, I believe many of the challenges we see today, in communities issuing controversial statements on faith healing and encouraging people to stop taking their anti-retroviral drugs, could stop.”

“Because with testing for HIV and for treatment, common messages are very key in mobilizing the communities to uptake services.”

“After two days listening to testimonies, presentations, and crying with people whose stories are so touching,” reflected Julienne Munyaneza, consultant with the PEPFAR-UNAIDS Faith Initiative, “I ask myself if we shouldn’t review our funding mechanisms for some of the issues we are addressing, or the way we are addressing them. Sometimes we seem to be stuck in old stories, in the way we have been doing things, and we miss the new developments around HIV and AIDS, especially in connection with the theme of ‘faith-healing only’.”

“But this theme is not new,” Munyaneza concluded. “It has come up in many of our discussions during the PEPFAR-UNAIDS Faith Initiative. Although we don’t really have the statistics, we know people in various countries have died because of ‘faith-healing only’. But what has become clear at this consultation, is that God uses also medication to heal people, and that there are many different definitions of what it means to be healed. I believe it is time to take this theme and the concerns we have raised and addressed here, to the next level.”

Distributed by APO on behalf of World Council of Churches (WCC).

https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/402564800/four-voices-one-concern-addressing-faith-healing-only-in-context-of-hiv

Preachers of Prosperity—Faith as Business

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Nigeria

Aarni Kuoppamäki
AllAfrica
Deutsche Welle (Bonn)
22 MAY 2017

Five centuries ago, Martin Luther reformed the Christian church to prevent the marketing of religion. But in Africa, the debate over blending God and money is a very timely one.

Every miracle grows from a seed - at least that's the main tenet of the "prosperity gospel" as preached in an online video by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Nigeria. According to the pastor, a believer seeking God's help should first consider which seed is the most likely to produce his hoped-for crop. Someone who is in financial dire straits or is praying for a miraculous recovery from a disease must sow this "precious" seed. But Pastor Chris, as he calls himself, is actually talking about money.

"All giving is a demonstration of our faith in God and his word," he says. To the believers who give generously, the preachers of the prosperity gospel promise wealth, health and good luck. Those who sow a lot will reap even more later, they say.

Pastor Chris is the founder of one of many African churches that celebrate wealth. His "Christ Embassy" is one of the most successful, with two million followers on the social media platform Facebook. Three satellite TV-channels broadcast his sermons, miracle cures and exorcisms to Nigeria, South Africa ad Great Britain. And the pastor's acolytes are pretty generous. In 2011, Forbes Magazine estimated his wealth to be between 30 and 50 million USD (26 - 44 million euro). Wealthy preachers often live in luxury, as proof of the power of their prayers. But heavenly intervention is not responsible for this kind of success - all of the money comes out of the pockets of the faithful.

Blessed are the rich

Using faith as a money-maker is an age-old tradition. 500 years ago, the Catholic Church allowed sinners to redeem themselves by buying so-called "indulgences". The money was then channeled to the Pope in Rome. Martin Luther criticized the practice and started the Reformation of 1517, spliting Christianity into two and leading to the founding of Protestantism. The division persists to this day, although indulgences were abolished in 1562.

The prosperity gospel took over the practice of selling the blessing of the church. Critics say that this is tantamount to modern indulgences. Zambian pastor Conrad Mbewe, a 55-year-old Baptist who has a blog on Christian faith, sees an increase of people who go to the church hoping only for wealth, instead of building their relationship with God. "Rather it's that attraction that if they do so, they will get the money. It's superstition that is moving them," Mbewe told DW.

In Luther's time it was difficult to check whether an indulgence was really saving souls from purgatory, Mbewe pointed out. But today anyone can see that the faithful who trust prosperity preachers are not getting rich. "A lot of people are embittered because they have parted with the little money that they had and it has not multiplied. Consequently, the name of God is getting a lot of bad publicity from these bitter individuals."

A global movement

The prosperity theology propagated mostly by Pentecostal churches is not a purely African phenomenon. In Latin and North America, as well as in Asia and Europe, there are self-appointed prophets and apostles who trade salvation for cash. Often this brand of Christianity has elements of spiritualism and shamanism, which attribute supernatural powers to the priests and pastors. According to Mbewe, the promises made by the churches' propaganda are similar to the ones made by traditional witch doctors.

Both market themselves as all-purpose weapons against disease, poverty, unemployment and childlessness. Often they are sought out by the poor who are looking for an explanation for their place in the world through the prosperity gospel and hope for a miracle to escape poverty.

Criticism of the prosperity gospel is also growing outside the churches. In 2015, Ghanaian artist Wanlov the Kubolor published a satirical song in which he prophesized the deaths of two famous TV-preachers. For Pastor Chris Wanlov he predicted death by an overdose of skin bleach. The artist was imitating the preachers who terrorized people with their prophecies only to sell them their personal prayers as a form of salvation. His song tried to turn the tables on the preachers.

"It's a game of numbers. They just try to keep increasing their congregation and membership size," Wanlov told DW, because this increases the chance that someone has a stroke of luck. Then the preacher can tell it happened as a result of their prayers "and people will show them their gratitude financially," Wanlov said.

Indulgence selling as a modern business

"It was the same in Luther's day," Conrad Mbewe told DW. "There were no indulgences in the Bible for anybody to refer to. It is the same today. There is nowhere in the Bible where they can go and point at a verse that says if you give your money to a preacher, God will multiply it." And as was the case in those far-off times, the people selling salvation are very powerful, Mbewe added.

According to the Baptist pastor, the preachers of the prosperity gospel increasingly occupy leading positions in church circles and are enhancing their political influence. Most clerics dare to complain only behind closed doors. Mbewe says he can afford to criticize the prosperity preachers publicly because he leads his own "Kabwate Baptost Church" [sic]. Others would risk their jobs. But Mbewe hopes that more spiritual leaders will grow the courage to preach against the "modern business of indulgences", as happened once upon a time in the Protestant Reformation. "Individuals like Martin Luther spent their time teaching the word of God publicly in such a way that it clearly showed the error of those who ere abusing the people," Mbewe said.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201705230572.html

CultNEWS101 Articles: 12/2/2016

Jehovah's Witnesses did not protect children from abuse, inquiry finds

"Organisation relies on old policies, including a two-witness rule, and has weak internal sanctions that leave perpetrators at large, says royal commission."

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/nov/28/jehovahs-witnesses-did-not-protect-children-from-abuse-inquiry-finds

Trial to begin for woman who used holistic medicine to treat fatally ill son

"Experts say the trial of a woman who turned to holistic medicine before the death of her seven-year-old son is likely to reignite a debate over the use of natural and alternative treatments."

"An autopsy revealed the boy died as a result of a Group A streptococcus infection."

http://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/trial-to-begin-for-woman-who-used-holistic-medicine-to-treat-fatally-ill-son

Leah Remini shines light on dark side of Scientology

The new docuseries — “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath” — in which she meets with those whose families have been torn apart by the church’s more abusive practices.

http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/television/2016/11/leah_remini_shines_light_on_dark_side_of_scientology

Africa: The Men Who Claim to Be Africa's 'Miracle Workers'

"Pastor Lesego Daniel heads the Rabboni Ministries based in South Africa's capital, Pretoria.

He famously instructed members of his congregation to drink petrol, claiming that he had turned it into pineapple juice."

http://allafrica.com/stories/201611280022.html

​​

Ask Our Experts - Rachel Bernstein

Q: What is a collapsed narcissist?

​"

You bring up a subject that not a lot of people know about. Collapsed narcissists are an interesting breed. As many people already know, narcissists are sometimes called “high-functioning social predators”; they acquire power by taking it away from others. They feel predestined for greatness and lack self-reflection, insight, remorse or empathy, and they don't learn from the past. The finger is always pointed outward when blame is assigned. They behave with grandiosity and are egocentric.

​"​

​

http://openmindsfoundation.org/advice-and-guidance/ask-our-experts-rachel-bernstein3

Australian Jehovah’s Witnesses protected over a thousand members accused of child abuse, report says

"Over the course of about six decades, more than 1,000 members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses were accused of sexually abusing Australian children, according to a new report. Victims were ordered to keep quiet. Not one of the alleged perpetrators were reported to the police."

"A 107-page-long report released Monday detailed a number of ancient policies that exhibited what the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse referred to as a “serious lack of understanding of the nature of child sexual abuse.”"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/28/australian-jehovahs-witnesses-protected-over-a-thousand-members-accused-of-child-abuse-report-says/

Leah Remini’s Scientology and the Aftermath review

"Leah’s series is such a breath of fresh air. In her own unique and bold style, she is taking the fight to Scientology’s doorstep by calling it out for ruining lives and breaking up families through what it euphemistically calls disconnection."

http://mncriticalthinking.com/2016/11/28/leah-reminis-scientology-aftermath-review/

Pastor Shares the Danger of “Eastern Lightning” to Local Churches and Society

"Pastor He Zenghai of Qinghai Xining Dongchuan Church shared "Resist Heresy and Prevent Penetration by Cults." He demonstrated the influence caused by heretic cults to Qinghai Churches and the society by using actual cases. This article is part of his sharing about the danger to the locals caused by the cult "Eastern Lightning"."

http://chinachristiandaily.com/2016-11-29/church/pastor-shares-the-danger-of--eastern-lightning--to-local-churches-and-society_3363.html

Despite scrutiny on a polygamous sect, mystery grows in South Dakota

"Sheriff Rick Wheeler would like to serve a search warrant on the polygamous compound owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in his county.

He would like to know what's going on inside, but there's just one problem: He has no probable cause."

http://www.sltrib.com/home/4617334-155/despite-scrutiny-on-a-polygamous-sect

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House votes to repeal ‘spiritual treatment’ exemption to child-abuse law

Richard Locker of The Commercial Appeal

Commercial appeal
April 15, 2016

NASHVILLE — The House gave final legislative approval Thursday to a bill repealing a controversial 1994 law that was at the center of a long court fight over the 2002 death of a Loudon County child whose mother refused medical care in favor of "spiritual treatment" and prayer.

The bill repeals the "spiritual treatment" exemption to Tennessee's child abuse and neglect statute. The exemption was intended to provide a shield from child abuse and neglect prosecution for parents and others if a child "is being provided treatment by spiritual means through prayer alone, in accordance with the tenets or practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by a duly accredited practitioner" of the church or denomination in lieu of medical or surgical treatment.

The repeal bill, Senate Bill 1761, is sponsored by Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, a cardiac surgeon, and Rep. Andrew Farmer, R-Sevierville, a lawyer. It won unanimous Senate approval in March and an 85-1 vote Thursday in the House and now goes to Gov. Bill Haslam, who's expected to sign it into law.

The exemption came into play less than a decade after its enactment, in the 2002 death of Jessica Crank, 15. Her mother Jacqueline Crank was a follower of Ariel Ben Sherman, who conducted religious services under the name of the Universal Life Church in a rented house in Lenoir City.

Jessica became ill with what was diagnosed later as Ewing's Sarcoma. Her mother and Sherman declined, after an initial visit with a chiropractor and later a walk-in clinic, to pursue doctors' urgent referrals to hospitals for treatment. After the child's death, her mother and minister were indicted on child neglect charges. Both were eventually convicted after courts ruled that Sherman's group was not a "recognized church or denomination" covered by the exemption.

Sherman died during appeals. But the mother's conviction was finally upheld by the Tennessee Supreme Court in February 2015, in a ruling that also held the spiritual treatment exemption is not so vague as to render it unconstitutional.

Briggs and Farmer introduced the bill this year in an attempt to repeal the exemption. Briggs cited his experience with a similar case years ago, when he was a general surgeon in another state and teen boy was brought to see him with a ruptured appendix. His parents initially opposed surgery on religious grounds but later agreed to treatment.

The bill was backed by a Kentucky-based group, Children's Healthcare Is Legal Duty (CHILD), that works for repeal of similar spiritual treatment exemptions across the country. Its president Rita Swan issued a statement thanking lawmakers for repealing the exemption in Tennessee.

"CHILD believes all parents, regardless of their religious belief, should have a legal duty to obtain medical care for their child when necessary to prevent serious harm," Swan said. "Courts have never ruled that parents have a constitutional right to abuse or neglect children in the name of religion, and Tennessee should not give them a statutory right to do so."

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/government/state/house-votes-to-repeal-spiritual-treatment-exemption-to-child-abuse-law-30749c67-1f54-5f3a-e053-01000-375735951.html

Transcendental Meditation being used to treat African victims of post-traumatic stress disorder

Big News Network.com
October 14, 2015


 

For over a decade, 18 African nations have been ravaged by war, exposing military personnel and civilians to violence and trauma. As a result, one hundred million Africans now suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and in parts of Africa, 50 percent or more of the population is afflicted with PTSD. Its effects debilitate individuals and ripple into their families and communities. PTSD affects not only military combatants but also anyone who witnesses or experiences extremely terrifying, tragic or traumatic events such as natural disasters, rape, torture or kidnapping.

PTSD comes with a variety of symptoms, including inability to sleep, horrific and intense flashbacks to high-stress combat experiences, depression, and difficulty relating to friends, family and spouse, etc. The brains and personalities of those with PTSD simply have not been able to process the intensity of past trauma. These experiences continue to haunt and debilitate the lives of those suffering from its effects.

Research has shown that the practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique can result in large reductions in PTSD symptoms in short periods of time. In a study on Congolese refugees, 90% of subjects improved into the "non-symptomatic" range within 30 days and stayed that way throughout the 135 days of the research (2). A follow-up study replicated those findings and showed that two thirds of the benefit occurred within 10 days of learning the TM technique (3). Effect sizes were larger than those seen with other behavioral and meditation, relaxation or stress management techniques.

American Vietnam-era veterans with PTSD were taught TM and showed significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and negative personality traits (4). Similarly, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans had a 50% reduction in PTS symptoms in a three-month period after learning the TM technique (5).

TM is a cost-effective, easily learned, effortless mental technique from the ancient meditative traditions of India. Over five million people worldwide have learned this non-religious technique. It is taught in a systematic, highly structured and standardized manner by trained teachers. Over 350 peer-reviewed studies have documented its positive effects on mental and physical health.

The efficacy of TM practice has been confirmed by the American Heart Association, which concluded that TM is the only behavioral technique that can be recommended for lowering hypertension (6). Previous meta-analyses have also shown TM to be the most effective behavioral technique in reducing anxiety (7).

TM practice produces a state of "restful alertness" - deep rest that allows for a kind of passive processing of trauma. TM dissolves the deep stresses incurred by trauma on the physiological level and thereby attenuates identification with the trauma on the mental level.

During TM practice brain wave activity becomes highly coherent, an indicator of orderliness and brain integration. Biological age and stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine decrease. Indices of relaxation and well-being such as serotonin levels, galvanic skin resistance, and immune-modulatory effects all increase (8).

Although conventional approaches to PTSD can improve self-confidence, sense of mastery and coping mechanisms, TM practice apparently goes deeper. It provides a broader spectrum of benefits, including increases in ego development, executive functioning, personality integration, creativity, problem-solving abilities and intelligence. More "side benefits" of TM practice include significant global improvement in psychological functioning and well-being beyond disorder-specific symptom reduction (8).

In addition, African military personnel and veterans may be hesitant to seek PTSD treatment because doing so might be viewed as a sign of weakness. TM is a self-sufficient technique, free from the possible stigma of mental health services.

The faces and words of people with PTSD whose lives have been changed by TM practice can reveal far more than this article. To hear one woman's experience, please visit http://tinyurl.com/oqdmdep.

Available data indicate that TM is effective in decreasing symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Delay in its implementation allows that suffering to persist.

About the authors:

Colonel (Ret.) Brian Rees, a former VA doctor, is a graduate of the US Army War College who served in the Army Reserve for 37 years, including five deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He was the lead author of the two studies on TM for PTSD in Congolese refugees. His most recent book, Detained: Emails and musings from a spiritual journey through Abu Ghraib, Kandahar and other garden spots, was published this month.

Dr. David O'Connell is an author and has been a clinical and forensic psychologist for over 35 years. He most recently edited Prescribing Health: Transcendental Meditation in Contemporary Medical Care (New York, London: Rowman Littlefield; 2015).

Dr. David Leffler is the Executive Director at the Center for Advanced Military Science (CAMS). He served in the US Air Force for nearly nine years and has published articles about TM in over 1,000 locations worldwide.

http://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/237633817/transcendental-meditation-being-used-to-treat-african-victims-of-post-traumatic-stress-disorder

Zimbabwe: Faith Healing Puts Young People Living With HIV At Risk

Samantha Nyamayedenga
All Africa
October 12, 2015

Faith healing can have a huge impact on adolescents living with HIV with many defaulting on their medications after being told they have been healed spiritually.

Imagine you are on lifelong antiretroviral treatment and suddenly you are assured you do not have to worry about treatment any longer. You have been taking medication that raises a lot of eyebrows, so much so that sometimes you are not confident to take it in public. Imagine being told that your struggle can come to an end: all you have to do is have faith and you are healed. Would you say 'no' to such an opportunity?

Being an adolescent itself is a piece of work, dealing with the physical and emotional changes which happen during this time. Living with a chronic ailment such as HIV imposes an extra burden. Maintaining adherence to antiretroviral drugs at this stage can be difficult because of fear of stigma and drug side effects. Adolescent life is filled with many activities and the responsibility of having to take medication every day at the same time can be burdensome. Therefore there is a chance that adolescents living with HIV will accept the easiest way possible to make them free from medication. This is where faith healing comes into play.

Defaulting on medication

Africaid is an organisation in Zimbabwe that has been supporting children and adolescents living with HIV, to help keep them safe and confident, since 2004. Counsellors for Africaid have seen how adolescents living with HIV have stopped taking their antiretroviral drugs after being promised that they have been healed by religious prophets or traditional healers.

"I am not sure about the specific statistics of children who have defaulted under Africaid's Zvandiri programme. However I can assure you that some of our children have defaulted on their medication due to faith healing," says Charity Maruva, who is one of the Africaid Zvandiri counsellors.

Edna (not her real name), a peer counsellor from Harare, Zimbabwe, spoke about cases of faith healing she had come across, when providing psychosocial support to peers living with HIV.

She spoke of children who were forced into faith healing by family members. "Some of these children are being taken to different religious cults, at one time, in order for them to be healed. Their conditions are deteriorating day by day, each time I pay a visit to some of them," Edna says.

Take and believe

Another counsellor, who asked not to be named, spoke about the impact of faith healing on some of the children within support groups. She spoke of how Africaid lost beneficiaries due to HIV-related illnesses caused by non-adherence.

In 2010, the organisation embarked on a campaign to address non-adherence caused by faith healing. The counsellor says: "The name of the campaign was 'Take and Believe'. After some of our children died, we carried out discussions in all our support groups.

"We encouraged the children to continue taking their medication even after being healed. We also discussed that the coming of antiretroviral drugs itself was a miracle from God. Therefore they should take their medication and believe that they are being healed by God through antiretrovirals."

Science versus faith

However Emmanuel Ranganai, a youth leader of a Christian church in Harare, Zimbabwe, believes that science is at war with faith and that what seems real to a person of faith might seem unrealistic to a person of science. He said faith healing had once cured him of an asthmatic condition. Emmanuel however emphasises that faith healing depends on each individual and cannot be taken as a national practice.

He says that before a person stops his medication, he should confirm that he has been healed with a doctor. "You know in the Bible, when people suffering from leprosy were healed, they were told by Jesus to go and show themselves to the priest. It still remains the same. If you know that you have been healed go and confirm with the doctor."

Working with faith communities

It is vital to make sure that adolescents living with HIV are getting the right information about the importance of adhering to their medication. Without this, faith healing will continue to have a negative impact, if the young person believes they can stop taking antiretroviral drugs.

In order to do this, organisations involved in the HIV response need to work with churches to get the right information across. UNAIDS is strengthening its partnership with faith-based organisations and is encouraging young people living with HIV to take leadership roles in local faith communities and find ways to challenge misconceptions about HIV*. The World Council of Churches has also called for churches to provide accurate information about HIV and AIDS.

In Zimbabwe, Africaid is working with local churches to address the issue. Charity Maruva says: "At the moment, we are carrying out campaigns in church and making videos with church leaders who encourage viewers to go for testing. We are also carrying out campaigns in schools and are developing information materials and pamphlets to educate adolescents on treatment."

http://allafrica.com/stories/201510121128.html