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Hot picks: Hallowe'en, Heavenly Mother, Hermes Far Eastern Shining, Benny Hinn, His Way Church, Mark Holloway, Holy Laughter Movement, Homeopathy, L Ron Hubbard, Rodney Howard-Browne


H

Hagin, Kenneth E. Danger Kenneth Hagin was a leading Word Faith Movement preacher, regarded by many as being the founder of the movement. He had many false teachings, some of which are so bad he deserves a Danger rating.

You are as much the incarnation of God as Jesus Christ was… the believer is as much an incarnation as was Jesus of Nazareth.

– Kenneth Hagin, The Word Of Faith, December 1980, pg 14.

The Bible makes it clear that the believer is not Christ. Colossians 2:9 says "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (NIV).The idea that believers are God is straight out of the New Age.

If we ever wake up and realize who we are, we’ll start doing the work that we’re supposed to do. Because the church hasn’t realized yet that they are Christ. That’s who they are. They are Christ.

– Kenneth Hagin, The Word of Faith, December 1980.

The Bible makes it clear that the church is not Christ. Ephesians 5:24 says the church submits to Christ (and makes an analogy of the church being the bride of Christ).

[Man] was created on terms of equality with God, and he could stand in God’s presence without any consciousness of inferiority… God made us as much like Himself as possible… He made us the same class of being that He is Himself… Man lived in the realm of God. He lived on terms equal with God… [The] believer is called Christ… That’s who we are; we’re Christ.

– Kenneth Hagin, Zoe: The God-Kind of Life, 1989, pg 35-36, 41.

The Bible makes clear we are not equal with God. Psalm 8:5a says "You have made them [mankind] a little lower than the angels."

The Lord Himself taught me about prosperity. I never read about it in a book. I got it directly from heaven.

The Bible has a lot to say about money, but properity doctrine is not part of it.

Haile Selassie. An Ethiopian king, actual name Ras Tafari Makonnen, who Rastafarians believe is/was the Second Coming of Christ and the Supreme Being. "Emperor Haile Selassie" is a title he claimed on his coronation as king on 2 November 1930, Haile Selassie meaning "Power of the Trinity." Other titles he claimed for himself included Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God, and King of the Kings of Ethiopia. He died 27 August 1975. While (officially) murdered in prison after a coup, some Rastafarians believe the death was fabricated. Many believe Haile Selassie lives on in individual Rastafarians. For more info see Watchman Fellowship's Off site link: Rastafari profile or Fact Monster's Off site link: Haile Selassie entry.

Hallowe'en (Halloween). Caution Held on 31 October, the name itself comes from All Hallows Eve (or Evening), or the day before All Saints Day (1 November), and came about when the Roman Catholic church tried to substitute All Saints Day for the older pagan (see occult) festival. Hallowe'en is a thoroughly pagan festival imported to New Zealand from the USA where it is widely practiced (and has been for more than the last 100 years). Interestingly, the original American settlers were sufficiently devout that it took Irish settlers to bring Hallowe'en across to the New World in around 1890. In the USA it is now second only to Christmas for retail spending. One possibility for the origin of the idea of "Trick or Treat" comes from Druids in Britain many years ago who on the Night of the Dead each year would make the rounds of the nearby villages, going from door to door and asking for certain items of food or a virgin for sacrifice. These were the "treats". If such was not forthcoming the "trick" was played, which was normally killing everyone in the house. We suspect not many kiwi kids (or their parents) know the ghastly origins of the practice. For more info read this Off site link: article on Hallowe'en or Off site link: Halloween – It Isn't What It Seems!! (yes, with two exclamation marks) by New Zealander Selwyn Stevens.

HAP Ltd. Caution HAP Ltd, or Health Air Products Ltd run by Carmen Glenn is a vacuum cleaner selling company which uses deceptive selling techniques. The related Healthy Home Solutions run by brother Darin Glenn, and HCC Ltd run by Richard Masih also use the same selling techniques. They place flyers in letterboxes claiming "Please call regarding package we have on hold for you." (Yes, the indefinite article – "a package" – is missing, and has been for years.) Calling the phone number results in a visit from a vacuum cleaner salesman which might take several hours, trying to sell an extremely expensive vacuum cleaner, which has been tested by Consumer as performing as well as a $100 vacuum cleaner. They have been active in Whangarei, Auckland, Tauranga, Napier, Christchurch and Timaru. More information in Off site link: this Stuff article or Off site link: this SunLive article.

Hare Krishna. Danger Also called ISKCON, or International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Strongly unconventional religious cult known for singing and chanting in Queen St, Auckland, while banging tambourines, etc. Also characterised by their pink/orange robes and strange haircuts (eg, bald except for a single plait). The phrase "Hare Krishna" means "praise [to] Krishna" who is their false god (demon?).

Harry Potter. See Potter, Harry.

Hassan, Steven Alan. Steven Hassan is an American who is a former Moonie and the author of the excellent books Combatting Cult Mind Control and The Cult of Trump. He now runs the Off site link: Freedom of Mind Center (in the United States). (FYI listing.)

Hauhau. A branch and extremist form of the New Zealand religion Pai Marire, and the name by which Pai Marire is now better known. The Wikipedia Off site link: Pai Marire listing says the 2006 Census included 609 New Zealanders identifying as Hauhau.

Have Life NZ. Caution This name features in an email address linked to Adam Weal.

Hawkins, David R. Danger Printable version David R Hawkins is said to have a following in New Zealand and Australia. He is described by Wikipedia as being "an American psychiatrist, mystic, author and spiritual teacher in Sedona, Arizona." Robert Todd Carroll, PhD points out "Hawkins, by the way, is not only an MD but a PhD. The latter was earned from Columbia Pacific University, an unaccredited diploma mill that was shut down by court order." To get an idea of what Mr Hawkins is on about, consider a quote promoting one of his books:

The scientific minded reader will be pleased in that for the first time a cogent and verifiable means of verification of spiritual reality is provided by means of an 'objective' reduplicable method of measurement based on physiologically derived clinical evidence.

Which is really nothing but babble (remember GWP healing instruments?), but some people just lap it up. The "'objective' reduplicable [sic] method" mentioned may relate to the God consciousness rating system referred to by this researcher:

Hawkins uses applied kinesiology, a New Age pseudoscience, to calibrate everyone and everything's level of consciousness in the universe. Jesus is at 1000 in his system, and Hawkins himself calibrates one of his books at 999.8. He believes he is God.

He also rates Buddha and Krishna at 1000, indicating they, along with Jesus, have total God consciousness. Anyone who thinks applied kinesiology doesn't work, or in double blind trials is only as good as random chance automatically rates below 200. To stay above 200, contact with unclean "under-200-ers" (my term), which supposedly make up about 80% of the population, must be avoided. Anyone who questions the scale also automatically rates below 200 (and probably only about 140) and is therefore not worth listening to – "I don't like to talk to dumb people" – whereas someone above 700 has reached enlightenment. How George W Bush rated a 460 only Mr Hawkins knows. In fits of self-contradiction "Hawkins repeatedly makes statements such as, 'All opinions are vanities,' and, 'The mind has no capacity to tell truth from falsehood.'" See self-refuting statements for other examples of statements that contradict themselves.

HCBN. HE’S COMING Broadcasting Network (yes, with those capitals) is a ministry run by Seventh-Day Adventists. It is apparently not represented here. A sister organisation is Firstlight Broadcasting Network which runs a TV channel in New Zealand.

HCC Ltd. Caution See Hap Ltd.

Healing Breath. Danger New Age practice.

Healing Water. Danger One of the euphemisms used for the very dangerous Miracle Mineral Solution.

Health Air Products. Caution See Hap Ltd.

Health Association. See New Zealand Health Association Limited.

Healthy Home Solutions. Caution See Hap Ltd.

Heaslip, Peter. A licensee of the United Pentecostal Church International (UCPI) in New Zealand, which is a denomination of the heretical Oneness Pentecostal movement. He tells us that a licensee is the first of three steps toward ordination in the UCPI and allows the use of the title "Reverend". Peter Heaslip has claimed to have an earned doctorate degree, a D Soc Sci (which he always writes with the spaces), but the New Zealand Cult List has questioned this degree and suspects it is from an overseas degree mill. As far as we are aware an earned DSocSci degree is not available from any New Zealand educational organisation (Lincoln University has bestowed it as an honorary degree, Doctor of Social Science honoris causa). It should be an easy matter to be assured of its authenticity but Mr Heaslip has refused multiple times to provide details of the degree, calling it his "private life", unless the New Zealand Cult List pays him $100,000. In response to that request the New Zealand Cult List editor asked if there were any mature ways he could use his doctorate to earn money. Mr Heaslip has also ignored questions about any supporting masters or bachelor level degrees. The New Zealand Cult List notes he has publicly claimed the doctorate degree, for example signing off his congratulations for the Watchman Fellowship web site, which Off site link: he says "shows dedication, scholarship and a willingness to walk in the truth. Congratulations !". The NZ Cult List agrees with his description of that site and ironically notes that, like the New Zealand Cult List, Watchman Fellowship calls Oneness Pentecostalism Off site link: a heresy. For more information on that see Watchman Fellowship's Off site link: Oneness Pentecostalism profile (which even more ironically appeared in the same issue of the Watchman Expositor that Mr Heaslip's congratulatory letter appeared in) or CARM's Off site link: Oneness Pentecostal pages.

In response to the charge of Oneness Pentecostalism being a heresy Peter Heaslip has responded:

As to me being a heretic ..... I follow God's own statement (Deuteronomy 6:4) that He is ONE God and that there is NONE beside Him.

It is the (non-scriptural) Trinitarians that are heretical to God's own statement.

Peter Heaslip thus regards all orthodox Christians as heretical. The essential Christian doctrine of the Trinity is addressed in the Oneness Pentecostal listing.

Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light. Danger A front group for the dangerous Shincheonji cult. The cult abbreviates it as HWPL. The front group is Off site link: said to have been active in Fiji since about 2013.

Heavenly Mother. Danger An alternative name for Mother Jerusalem, the present Korean-based leader of the World Mission Society Church of God.

Hellerwork Structural Integration. Not Yet Rated Branch of Rolfing.

Henry, Tyler. Danger Tyler Henry is a con artist and fake medium. He has been screened on New Zealand television.

Herbalife. Danger Hot Topic A multi-level marketing scheme selling weight-loss, nutrition and skin-care products. Serious doubts have been raised about the Off site link: lead levels in some of their products including those aimed at children, hence the Danger rating. Arsenic and cadmium has also been found – more reason for the Danger rating. But wait, there's more: Doctors in Off site link: Switzerland and Off site link: Israel have also found links between Herbalife products and hepatitis – yet more reason for the Danger rating. In this case, "herbal" does not mean "healthy". In November 2015 a lawsuit accusing Herbalife of being a pyramid scheme Off site link: was dismissed. (A pyramid scheme is not the same as a multi-level marketing scheme.)

Hermes Far Eastern Shining NZ Pty Limited. Danger Hot Topic Printable version Scam, cult, led by a man (Gerald Hart Attrill, now called Jessa O' My Heart) who considers himself to be God. Followers believe him to be God, or Jesus Christ incarnate, and that they are all reincarnated people who lived with Jesus 2,000 years ago. Ordinary water is sold for $80 or more for a 50mL bottle, an estimated markup of 400,000%. Other products are Off site link: reported to sell for up to AU$30,000. Formerly called Infinity Forms of Yellow Remember NZ Limited. Directors are listed as (get this!) Lightly Tossing Sunlight and Quantum Leaps. The group is described in Australia (where it started) as one of the fastest growing cults in that country. From it origin in Tasmania, Australia, the group has spread to Queensland, and also New Zealand and the United States. Separation of families has occurred in Australia due to the group, which uses strong mind control to get money out of followers. The Australian Fair Trading Minister, John Watkins has named the group as an unfair trader under Section 86A of the New South Wales Fair Trading Act. For more information see the Off site link: Infinity Forms of Yellow Remember articles on the Rick Ross web site or the Off site link: Infinity Forms of Yellow Remember info at Apologetics Index. Or read Off site link: this testimony of someone who spent thousands of dollars on the water (scroll down to interview with Nicola). In Off site link: this story of a family broken up by the cult, Hermes Far Eastern Shining is described by the New South Wales Fair Trading minister as "a mean con trick aimed at the most vulnerable people in our society".

People connected in some way:

  • Jessa O' My Heart (founder/leader), aka the Alchemist; formerly Gerald Hart Attrill
  • Clover Bright Heart (leader)
  • Elara Rainy Day Asteroid (follower)
  • Emerald Astroturf (follower)
  • Lightly Tossing Sunlight (NZ director)
  • Omni (recruiter)
  • Quantum Leaps (NZ director)
  • Rondo Blue Brain Me (follower)
  • Showme Showers Heaven’s Bliss (recruiter, second-in-charge, fills the role of Gerald Attrill's "wife"); formerly listed here as "Show Me Shower Seven Splits" which we presume is just an inaccurate roughly phonetic transcription
  • Soon Gathers Delight in Grace (former member, left in 2001 and calls it a cult)
  • Sirrah Delphi Lore (male follower in Texas)
  • Wadan Kurare (as general manager of Hermes Far Eastern Shining Pty Ltd until at least 2006 he actively Off site link: promoted and defended the scam; this name possibly pronounced the same as "wade in Off site link: curare" which would fit with the rest of the names except for the obfuscated spelling)

Potions/elixirs:

  • Batman in Paris
  • Chemical Warfare
  • Dolphins Under Orion
  • Earth Rising Miracle Lotion (sold by "Earth Nucleus - Wild Fire" in the USA)
  • Elan Vital
  • Embalming Fluid
  • Full of Holes at the OK Corral
  • Hallucinogenic(s) Elixir
  • Hand of God
  • Harry Lime Theme
  • Heart Spider
  • Iron Heart
  • Junkie Atheist
  • Knock-out Drops
  • Pink Beloved
  • Puff The Magic Dragon
  • Radical Diagnosis
  • Stargate box (a collection of vials for AU$6,000)
  • Threshold pack (100 vials for AU$5,000)

Other products:

  • The Blindness of the Clueless Rabbit (tape message, said to be periodically interrupted by giggling fits – with a title like that, go figure)
  • Excaliber (a AU$55 pendant selling for AU$475 in Australia, $AU990 internationally)
  • 'It Looks Like Rain,' 4108 August Way (an 11cm square model house)
  • Luffley Cafe (cafe in Murwillumbah, NSW, Australia)
  • More Questions from Rin Tin Tin (tape message, the other side of the tape to The Blindness of the Clueless Rabbit, and also said to be periodically interrupted by giggling fits)
  • Saturn Bubbler (an array of coloured plastic tubes – cost AU$6,000)

Jargon:

  • Red Realm – the world on which we live, a hell world.
  • Yellow Realm – a higher place that we came from.
  • "These vials and waters are literally the Radiant Vibratory Current of Jessa O’ My Heart’s Recognition and Radiance of his own awakening as Only God" – sales waffle from promotional literature.

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. See Whare Ra.

Hinduism. False Religion Major world religion, and one of the oldest religions in the world. Every Hindu believes in reincarnation and karma, but not all Hindus have the same view of God. Off site link: Wikipedia explains it thus (emphasis added):

Contemporary Hinduism has four major divisions: Saivism, Shaktism, Smartism, and Vaishnavism. ... A Smartist would have no problem worshiping Shiva or Vishnu together as he views the different aspects of God as leading to the same One God. It is the Smarta view that dominates the view of Hinduism in the West. By contrast, a Vaishnavite considers Vishnu as the one true God, worthy of worship and other forms as subordinate. ... Accordingly, many Vaishnavites, for example, believe that only Vishnu can grant moksha. Similarly, many Shaivites also hold similar beliefs for Shiva.

...

There are some Hindus who consider the various deities not as forms of the one Ishvara, but as independently existing entities, and may thus be properly considered polytheists.

It is said that although there are millions of gods in Hinduism, not one is a god of love. (There are many gods of lust.) You are invited to read an Off site link: open letter to Hindus on the Off site link: Christian Answers site.

Hinn, Benny. Danger Hot Topic Printable version Benny Hinn is false prophet and World Faith Movement preacher. He has visted NZ several times, most recently in June 2007, and has had a show on NZ television. At his most recent appearance in Auckland he is said to have healed a woman who had been deaf since birth. If this healing is medically verified it will be the first significant miraculous healing performed by Benny Hinn, despite his many claims to the contrary. At the Auckland meeting his evangelistic message was reported to be good, but this stands in contrast to his healing ministry, prophecies, and theology, which are all in serious doubt. His theology is profoundly unorthodox at times (eg, Off site link: nine gods) and he repeatedly makes false prophecies – for example, that Fidel Castro of Cuba would die in the 1990s (Off site link: ram audio file), that God would destroy America's homosexual community by fire in the mid 1990s (Off site link: ram audio file), etc. Off site link: Deception in the Church has other examples of false predictions. Benny Hinn has also talked to the deceased Kathryn Kuhlman (yes, after she died), and regularly visits her grave.

His Way Church. Danger Hot Topic An Auckland church founded in May 2003, pastored by Word Faith preacher Rob DeLuca. (As of August 2013 this may no longer be the case. We have received reports of a change in leadership, and information indicating sufficient mind control may be present for the group to be regarded as a cult. We are seeking further information on both matters.) This report from someone who attended what they were later assured was a normal Sunday service:

When I turned up they were very welcoming. The music was fairly typical, Pentecostal church styles, no problems so far. It was when Rob got up to preach that I became concerned. I was the only one with a Bible there but there was little need as he didn't use the Bible, except once when he misquoted a parable in such a way that the whole point of the story was missed ... It was when he began prophesying that it got really interesting. He pulled people out of the crowd and would prophesy stuff over them (no problem) and then would pray for them. One man refused to fall over in prayer and so Rob proceeded to shoulder ram him so he hit the floor. Then Rob spent 30 mins prophesying about himself. He told the church that God had told him that he was a great Redwood Cedar and they were the birds in his branches and that if they just followed him they would be kept safe. He saw more birds coming and knew that one day the whole of New Zealand would hear the truth about God from him. The church then started to chant his name and get into ecstatic frenzies over the fact that God had sent them such a divinely appointed leader.

Another person who attended for some time said the church reminded them of the shepherding movement (see the International Church of Christ Closeup section on Discipling), and recommended a couple of Bible passages.

So don’t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you — whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

– 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 (NLT).

"Don't let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don't set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of 'Father'; you have only one Father, and he's in heaven. And don't let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them – Christ.

"Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty. Frauds!

"I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God's kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won't let anyone else in either.

"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned.

– Matthew 23:8-15 (The Message).

Submissions for this listing are now being accepted. Please see the Contact page.

Hohepa Charles. Danger Con man. Illegally sold an Auckland church building in 2002 without the congregation – the Peoples Worship in Freedom Mission – knowing about it. The building had been owned since 1962 by a trust, and Charles Hohepa became the sole trustee after the only other trustee died in 2001. More information in a NZ Herald Off site link: article says Charles Hohepa now lives in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and tells people he is a Maori chief who must be addressed as "His Excellence" ... [and] claims to work for a non-governmental organisation called the "World For World Organisation" as "executive chairman of resource mobilisation team". The article says a High Court judgment called him "a liar, a fantasist, or both".

Holloway, Mark. Danger Very Hot TopicVery Hot Topic Printable version Mark Holloway is a false prophet. He is a New Zealander and is the author of The Freedom Diaries. He is married to Miriam Holloway who is co-author of the sequel My Freedom Diary. They both claim to have back and forth conversations with God. Mark Holloway is rated Danger for claiming to be speaking the words of God but contradicting Scripture, and for teaching that supposed conversations with God have greater authority than Scripture. What Mark Holloway has written will encourage Christians to not discern, and not test against Scripture the heretical things he writes.

All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations.

– Isaiah 65:2 (NIV).

Holmes, Ernest Shurtleff. Danger Ernest Shurtleff Holmes founded Religious Science in 1927. Ernest Holmes also wrote The Science of the Mind, which was published in 1926. He was born in 1887 and died in 1960.

Holy Laughter Movement. Danger See False Revival Movement.

Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. Danger Cult. One of the formal names for the Moonies.

Homeopathy. Danger Hot Topic Printable version (Sometimes spelt homoeopathy – "oeo"? Ugh! Also "homœopathy" with the oe ligature, but almost no one these days knows that symbol exists.) A New Age and occult "medication" made by successively watering down a substance (which itself is often toxic) way past the point where not a single molecule of the original substance remains, while shaking it with each dilution. No reliable studies to date have shown homeopathic treatments work any better than placebos (think "sugar pill"). Browse through the Off site link: Quackwatch archives for more information or their offshoot Off site link: Homeowatch. Keep an eye out for their Off site link: article that mentions the $20 million duck – one duck is killed per year by a certain company and its liver is diluted into US$20 million worth of products. (That's pretty dilute, by the way.) Skeptic Off site link: James Randi has offered a US$1,000,000 prize to "anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event." That includes homeopathy. No researchers have yet applied for the prize even though many claim to have proof that it works. So the BBC's documentary programme Horizon had a go at winning it. It made for another great Off site link: Horizon documentary, and James Randi still has his money.

The New Zealand Cult List is of the firm opinion there is no published evidence to support the use of homeopathy as anything other than a placebo but homeopathy is assigned a Danger rating here because of the incredible amount of money wasted on it and because the blind faith that many homeopathy believers place in it causes spiritual blindness in other areas. Lives have also been put at risk by people relying on homeopathy to protect them from disease.

In August 2005 a significant study appeared in the British medical magazine Off site link: The Lancet which shows homeopathic treatments are no more effective than a placebo. (As if we didn't already know that.)

Clinical effects of homoeopathy are placebo effects
The evidence for a specific effect of homoeopathic remedies is weak, according to a study. The investigators conclude that the clinical effects of homoeopathy are compatible with placebo effects. Aijing Shang and colleagues compared randomised placebo-controlled trials of homoeopathy with matched RCTs of allopathy. When the analysis was restricted to large trials of high quality there was no convincing evidence that homoeopathy was superior to placebo, whereas for conventional medicine an important effect remained.

A Off site link: review of the study appeared in the Guardian newspaper and an Off site link: article appeared in Time magazine, which stated (emphasis added):

Chances are that The Lancet is somewhat premature in announcing the "death" of homeopathy, which involves a large and very profitable industry and the loyalty of many of the consumers it has duped. In fact, The Lancet notes, ""the debate continues, despite 150 years of unfavourable findings. The more dilute the evidence for homoeopathy becomes, the greater seems its popularity."

But there are encouraging signs. The Swiss Government, after a five-year trial, has withdrawn insurance coverage for homeopathy. Even the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which has been criticized for being too open to spurious alternative medicine claims, has little good to say abut homeopathy. Its website states, "Systematic reviews have not found homeopathy to be a definitively proven treatment of any medical condition."

Now, The Lancet concludes, it's up to the doctors, who "need to be bold and honest with their patients about homeopathy's lack of benefit." For scientifically-literate physicians, that shouldn't be so difficult to do.

Some embrace homeopathy as a treatment that won't cause any harm, since homeopathic remedies are widely proclaimed to not have any side effects. However, such is not the case. In July 2006 the New Zealand Herald published an Off site link: article warning of the dangers of relying on homeopathic remedies for treating malaria, a potentially fatal disease. Last year some British travellers contracted malaria after doing just that.

Professor Nicholas White of the University of Oxford said: "This is very dangerous nonsense and needs to be stopped. The prescribing of homoeopathic remedies to prevent malaria is a reprehensible example of potentially lethal duplicity."

Ron Behrens, director of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases Travel Clinic, said: "The misleading travel advice being given by homoeopaths is not a trivial problem. We have treated people at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases who thought they were protected by homoeopathic medicines and contracted malaria. The messages given by some homoeopaths are inaccurate, counter productive and place lives at risk."

...

Peter Fisher, clinical director of the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital said: "Malaria is a life threatening disease and there is no published evidence to support the use of homoeopathy in the prevention of malaria."

Also, the UK Skeptics has this to say on Off site link: homeopathy:

Another danger lies in the fact that many homeopaths believe in what they call a "healing crisis". This is where a person who takes a remedy will actually get worse before getting better. This is put down to "toxins" being expelled from the body. Of course if someone is seriously ill and their condition is getting worse then they may not seek proper medical treatment as they put their declining physical state down to a healing crisis.

Other medical problems have arisen when homeopathic treatments have not been diluted sufficiently to avoid side effects. Off site link: For example, there have been incidences of arsenic poisoning (arsenic is a common ingredient in homeopathic treatments), and hundreds of people lost their sense of smell after taking zinc gluconate in a cold remedy.

In homeopathy, diseases are said to be caused by miasms, a "peculiar morbid derangement of [the] vital force". The vital force, or vitalism, is the Western equivalent of the Eastern qi, or life force. Being strongly occultic, this gives Christians in particular another reason to keep well clear of homeopathy. Wikipedia's article on Off site link: vitalism mentions the occult teachings of the founder:

The founder of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann, promoted an immaterial, vitalistic view of disease: "...they are solely spirit-like (dynamic) derangements of the spirit-like power (the vital principle) that animates the human body." [...] the view of disease as a dynamic disturbance of the immaterial and dynamic vital force is taught in many homeopathic colleges and constitutes a fundamental principle for many contemporary practising homeopaths.

It is also interesting to note that in 1803 Hahnemann published a paper in which he proposed that most diseases are caused by coffee. Understandably that idea did not catch on, so he tried different angles (including in 1827 that most diseases are caused by Off site link: scabies), eventually settling on the vital force explanation mentioned above, in 1828.

Hooper, Jason. Caution Under investigation. Jason Hooper is rated Caution here for having ministered in New Zealand with Joshua Mills and Jason Westerfield.

Hongzhi, Li. Li Hongzhi is the Chinese founder of New Age cult Falun Gong.

Hope International. Seventh Day Adventist-based company/"health ministry". Publishes a newsletter called Kiwi Green, Health Researcher.

Horoscopes. Danger Supposedly personal predictions based on astrological principals such as zodiacal signs. The actual descriptions seem relevant largely due to the Forer effect but are normally so general that they could apply to any zodiacal sign equally well. Something for Christians to completely avoid.

Hovind, Kent. Caution A creationist (who goes by the name "Dr Dino") and Independent Baptist pastor and evangelist from Pensacola, Florida. His creationist teaching materials (eg, DVDs) are available in New Zealand, although some of his views fall outside of "mainstream" creationism. He holds a PhD from Off site link: Patriot Bible University, an unaccredited school in Colorado, USA. The New Zealand Cult List does not recognise his doctorate or any degrees or diplomas from Patriot Bible University, which it regards as a degree mill. Wikipedia's Off site link: Kent Hovind entry has more information about his and his wife's tax evasion convictions, which it summarises thus:

On November 2, 2006, Hovind was found guilty by a jury in a Pensacola, Florida federal court of fifty-eight federal tax and tax-related offenses; his wife, Jo, was also convicted on 44 counts. On January 19, 2007, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, three years of probation after his sentence is served, and $640,000 in restitution. He had been previously ordered to forfeit $430,400 and faced a maximum of 288 years.

Notwithstanding the tax-related convictions, we have been informed that he believes salvation is through the blood of Christ alone and that the Bible is the infallible Word of God – good stuff. It's a pity that his religious beliefs apparently also led him to avoid paying taxes and to "not recognize the government's right to try him on tax-fraud charges" (Wikipedia).

Howard-Browne, Rodney. Danger Printable version Rodney Howard-Browne is a false prophet and Word Faith Movement preacher. Has visted NZ twice in the last few years. The first time he visited, at a public meeting to discuss him and the Holy Laughter Movement in general, it was reported that nobody had anything good to say about him – comments ranged from "plagiarist" to "false prophet" and worse. With this in mind, strangely the second time he came he was praised by a particular announcer on Radio Rhema as being "a mighty man of God." Howard-Browne has claimed the title Dr but this has been questioned by Off site link: Cultwatch Education Officer Trevor Mander BSc, MDiv, DipTchg. Mr Howard-Browne is assigned a Danger rating here because of his teachings. His Off site link: teachings and beliefs have been examined in some detail on the Into Truth web site. Their article concludes: Howard-Browne through his teaching, brazenly denies the sovereignty of God, denigrates the Holy Spirit, disregards the centrality of the Person of Jesus Christ, despises the use of the mind, and identifies with false teachers. Rodney Howard-Browne's ministry Revival Ministries International is not a member of the (United States-based) Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability.

If you're here looking for "Rodney Howard-Browne weight loss" Off site link: this Twitter tweet may be what you're after. Good on him – he'll have added years to his life. Ed.

Hubbard, Dick. Dick Hubbard is the founder and MD of Hubbard Foods Ltd (breakfast cereals) and founder of Businesses for Social Responsibility NZ. Update: As of August 2004 in the running to be the Mayor of Auckland, later confirmed Mayor of Auckland. (FYI listing; do not confuse with L Ron Hubbard.)

Hubbard, L Ron. Danger Lafayette Ron Hubbard is the founder of Scientology. A photo of him testing tomatoes is in the Scientology Closeup on the Practices page. L Ron Hubbard died in 1986 aged 74.

Do not confuse with Elrond Hubbard (satire)...

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Or crooked accountant Elron Hubbard (satire)...

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Human Evolution Specialists. Danger Scam/business cult. Based in Hamilton. Also called Radical Life Mastery Training.

Humana. Danger Also known as Humana People to People or Humana People-to-People (hyphenated). See Tvind.

Humble, Jim. Danger Jim Humble founded the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, a scam to promote Miracle Mineral Solution, a toxic bleach falsely claimed to be able to cure almost any disease. He claims to have traveled through space. Visited New Zealand in 2014. Off site link: The NZ Herald reported in December 2023 "Humble and his three sons were recently given lengthy prison terms for selling the products which they claimed could remove Covid-19 from the body if ingested in “appropriate doses”."

Hutchinson, Doug. Doug Hutchinson is the contact person for The Church in Rotorua, a branch of the Local Church of Witness Lee. He is also involved with Bibles For New Zealand in an official capacity, distributing the Recovery New Testament (and mailing follow-up letters).

HWPL. Danger Abbreviation for Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light, a front group for the dangerous Shincheonji cult.

 
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