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Recent Updates & News
Religious Group News, January 2021:
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4-5 Jan (NZ time): US President Donald Trump continues his attack on democracy in the United States with even more notable gaslighting, this time in a one hour phone conversation with the Secretary of State of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, in the process giving himself even more reason to fear the termination of his presidency – see point 5 in  this list from The Guardian. Point 6 in the article gives several examples of follow-up gaslighting tweeted by President Trump the next day, such as "He [Brad Raffensperger] was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as ... dead voters, and more. He has no clue!” Mr Raffensperger actually did answer that in the phone conversation, as mentioned in the article's point 4. There were not five thousand dead voters. There were two.
Update: The incident even has its own Wikipedia page.
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7 Jan: Business as usual in the United States, with the US President now claiming the vice-president can "reject fraudulently chosen electors". It's simply a lie, and intended to mislead Trump's followers, hence why it's gaslighting. The NZ Herald points out:
Neither the US Constitution nor congressional statute grants the vice president any such powers. It is up to the House and Senate to voice objections, and states' electors were chosen in accordance with state law, not fraudulently.
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7 Jan, later: It's now decidedly not business as usual in Washington DC, with a violent attempted coup incited by President Trump's ongoing gaslighting. In a speech he gave at the White House immediately beforehand, he urged his followers to march on Congress, and that's what they did. As a result he has been temporarily banned from Facebook (24 hours), Instagram, and Twitter (minimum 12 hours pending Trump's deletion of three tweets, with threat of permanent suspension for any further infringements). Twitter Safety called it an "unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C." However, before the ban he did blame his vice-president for not having "the courage to do what should have been done" – more gaslighting, of course, because as explained above, the vice-president could not do it. (And so the cult leader throws his deputy under the bus – Editor.) More on the NZ Herald here.
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One woman has died after being shot by Capitol police. The Guardian says: DC police said the woman who was killed at the Capitol was shot as the mob tried to break through a barricaded door where police were armed on the other side. She was hospitalized with a gunshot wound and later died. She was a strong Trump supporter who hours earlier had called for vice-president Mike Pence to be charged with treason. Remember, he could never do what Trump loudly proclaimed he was going to do. (The cult leader has really screwed up his followers' thinking – Editor.) Three others have died in "medical emergencies".
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Former NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark has tweeted: Never in one’s wildest imagination could one have envisaged the dangerous events involving mob violence unfolding in Washington DC today. (Actually, I'd say it was the clearly expected result of four years of continual presidential gaslighting – and more before he was president; the lies, the hate, the division deliberately sown by Donald Trump – Editor.)
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Former US presidents have rebuked President Trump for inciting the violence, including George W Bush who called the violence insurrection and referred to "people whose passions have been inflamed by falsehoods and false hopes". Barack Obama called for Republican leaders to choose reality (complete statement). Indeed, many have. For example, Republican Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina: The President bears responsibility for today's events by promoting the unfounded conspiracy theories that have led to this point. It is past time to accept the will of American voters and to allow our nation to move forward.
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The Guardian reports stronger language from Europe: Poland’s former foreign minister Radek Sikorski, who chairs the EU-USA delegation to the EU parliament, tweeted, “The US Cabinet should immediately, under the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, declare @realDonaldTrump insane and terminate his presidency.” This would be a very interesting development just 14 days away from the inauguration of President Biden. Indeed, there was a call from Democrats of the House judiciary committee for Vice-president Pence to invoke the 25th Ammendment to remove President Trump from office. See this Newshub article for an explanation what it would involve.
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There was also a call to remove from Congress all Representatives who supported the violence, and calls for Trump to be impeached (again).
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Brazillian president Jair Bolsonaro responded to news of the violence with his own gaslighting by repeating unfounded allegations of fraud in the US elections, increasing fears that Brazil might face similar violence in 2022 if Bolsonaro is not re-elected.
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Republican Mitt Romney (video): "The best way we can show respect for the voters who were upset is by telling them the truth!" (The truth always has value for deceived members of cults, even if they refuse to accept it - Editor.)
- Matthew 7:15-20 (NIV):
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
- Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV):
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
- 8 Jan: Facebook and Instagram have now placed indefinite bans on Donald Trump (to last at least until President Biden is sworn in). The Democrats and some Republicans are rather keen an impeaching Donald Trump again if the 25th Amendment is not used to remove him from power, which seems unlikely in light of continued Republican support – a poll has found that more Republicans support the storming of the Capitol than are against it. However, there is much concern that a president (cult leader! – Editor) who incited an attempted coup still has the nuclear launch codes. Even before the insurrection, ten former defence secretaries issued a warning against the military interfering in the transfer of power, which they feared Trmp would attempt. More in this article and this article at The Guardian, the second of which finishes:
Michael D’Antonio, author of The Truth About Trump, said: “He has always been a monstrous narcissist – the monstrous part is key – and he is now that monster in its death throes.”
He added: “He could attempt things similar to what happened yesterday and worse. I don’t think that he recognizes that this is real. Everything to him is TV drama and people are not real to him. So I think he’s capable of seeking further violence, I just don’t know if he can carry it off. He would love to burn the whole thing down but I don’t think that he’ll be able to.”
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9 Jan: Donald Trump has been permanently banned from Twitter "due to the risk of further incitement of violence." Directly resulting from that, "Thank you, Twitter" is trending. Donald Trump started using Twitter in 2009, and started using it for spreading conspiracy theories in 2011, targeting Barack Obama with the "birther" conspiracy theory. Donald Trump, gaslighting on Twitter 2011-2021.
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If it was still in any doubt at all, Trump Cult is alive and well in New Zealand, and along with it come appalling and ludicrous conspiracy theories that are used to justify why President Trump really is God's Gift to Earth. For example, one Trump fanatic I (the Editor) spoke with today claimed that it was only Trump who had stopped the practice of smuggling drugs into the US from Mexico in hollowed out dead children, because only Trump cares enough about children to do it. I pointed out that it was Trump who separated children from their parents after they had illegally crossed the border (so it didn't sound consistent at all), and asked him for a reference. He declined, and told me to look it up. I pressed him for a reference, since, I said, without a good reference it simply sounded like a conspiracy theory. He refused several times, insisting I look it up.
So I looked it up. Guess what? IT'S A LIE. Snopes has a page on it, Hoax-Slayer has a page on it. The Snopes article finishes by quoting crime reporter Edna Buchanan:
The dead baby is reported at least once a year. Each time, I am one of the many reporters assigned to check it out. It is fiction. It did not happen. I have laid the dead baby to rest so often that I can now see its poor little pasty face in my mind’s eye.
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When people are so willing to embrace conspiracy theories and Trump's gaslighting, even in New Zealand, what can we do about it? And how do we ensure that we don't fall for the deception ourselves? John 8:31-32 (NIV):
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
1 John 4:1 (NIV):
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Five things we can do:
- Read our Bibles. By knowing what Jesus actually taught, we can be more aware of falsehood when it's presented to us.
- Actively test what we're presented with. Does it line up with Scripture? Test what we are told against the Word of God. For examples, see this page at Huff Post, 10 Trump quotes vs the Bible.
- Be willing to reject false teachers and prophets, no matter how worthy they may seem. This may take courage. See Matthew 7:15-20 quoted above.
- Look out for warning flags. If a leader implies he or she is Christion but does not show the fruit of the spirit – love, self control, or anything in between – they are not a leader we should be blindly following. See Galatians 5:22-23 quoted above.
- Present the truth with love. And patience (and sometimes that's really hard – Editor).
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16 Jan: Earlier this week Newshub ran an interview which referred to the Trump cult:
Stephen Hoadley, associate professor of politics and international relations at the University of Auckland, says they – and their base – will likely be around for a while yet.
"Republicans elected locally at the state level or even at the Congressional district level, if their base is pro-Trump or radical right Republican or fundamentalist, then their seats are secure," he told Newshub.
"They're probably reinforced in their views that we liberals think are wrong, but they live in a political bubble in which they will get support. And consequently they will continue to be a force in US politics.
"There's not a great deal anyone can do about that. They seem to be impervious to what we would call rational political argument - it's more, as some people describe it, a cult following than a serious political movement."
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Dr Hoadley suggested if "respectable" Republicans can't rein in their radical colleagues, they might have to start a new party altogether or kick out the Trump loyalists.
"We can only hope that the sensible centre of that party will regroup, will part company with Trump and the Trumpists and return to be a respectable alternative party in government with serious policies that serve the national interest, both domestically and internationally. This is our hope – time will tell whether the Republicans will reform and return to respectability."
This is significant, because Trumpists will be around in New Zealand for a long while too.
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17 Jan: More than a week ago Phil Quin claimed a public relations company is gaslighting New Zealanders – elaborated on in this article on Newshub – on what Chris Liddell has been doing in his role in the Trump administration for the past four years. His Wikipedia listing points out he holds the dubious distinction of being "the only non-family senior staff member to last the full four years of the Trump Administration without being fired or resigning." He is expected to return to the country at some point.
Site Changes, January 2021:
- New Books
- Updated Listings
Site Changes, December 2020:
Site Changes, November 2020:
Site Changes, October 2020:
Religious Group News, September 2020:
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A Mt Roskill church has hit the news for the wrong reason during a COVID-19 outbreak: it's at the centre of a sub-cluster of COVID-19 cases. At time of writing (10 September) the sub-cluster has 45 cases, making it New Zealand's seventh biggest COVID-19 cluster. (The parent cluster is our largest cluster by a wide margin, even without counting the sub-cluster.)
Why has the sub-cluster grown so large? The situation is a complicated one, and changing every day as new cases are found, but it is clear that anti-scientific teachings have played a part, along with distrust of and lack of cooperation with the initial team of people doing testing and contact tracing. For example, reports of "gatekeepers who wouldn't allow the teams in to try and get at everyone that was exposed". A member visited a bereaved family home during the August Alert Level 3 lockdown, leading to 24 new cases. The church member was not a member of the beleaved family and was meant to be in self isolation for 14 days due to being a close contact of a positive case. The church also held at least one prayer meeting during the Alert Level 3 lockdown.
The Guardian reports on some of the troubles created by the church.
Health authorities say they have struggled to isolate and lock down the cluster as some people have refused to co-operate, saying they do not believe in the virus, and will not share their close contacts
“Repeated, deliberate and malicious spread of misinformation” is also proliferating online, health minister Chris Hipkins said, prompting him to issue a stark warning that lives are at stake.
“We do have to accept the science,” the minister said.
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Students at St Dominic’s Catholic College have had to be sent home and tested this week, after a member of the Mt Roskill church failed to disclose all their close contacts, and one, who tested positive, continued going to school. Health authorities are investigating whether the non-disclosure was deliberate.
With police now involved and with encouragement from the church's minister, at time of writing 213 of its 332 members have been retested. Even so, the church members' actions have delayed New Zealand's return to Alert Level 1 by weeks.
An article from the NZ Herald looks at the church itself, and includes a hint that at least some of its leadership are New Zealand members of "Cult Trump".
[Glen] Taka said he had been tested for Covid six times. Asked about Hipkins's comment, he turned it round and said: "What would Trump say?"
This particular church is not the only one to believe and teach that SARS-CoV-2 is not a serious virus, and that members should not be responsible with their safety precautions. Other churches also have the same problem, including the Seventh-day Adventists. From the Guardian article linked above:
Pakilau Manase Lua is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist church and told RNZ he regularly receives private messages from fellow church-goers casting doubt on on the seriousness of Covid-19.
“I’ve personally received lots of private messages regarding information that people think is useful but is purely disinformation, either about the virus itself or fear around the vaccine,”, Lura, who is also part of the Pacific response team in Auckland, said.
“It’s been spreading like wildfire through social media.”
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Update 11 September. An elder of the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship who spoke with RNZ has only just been tested for the first time (apparently only after being told to by his minister). He said he was a born again Christian who did everything for the community. Everything except being tested in a timely fashion, or making sure his church members understood the importance of complying with all scientific and medical safety precautions such as staying in self isolation, perhaps?
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Update 12 September: An article on the NZ Herald site about the same elder mentioned yesterday: "[The elder] said God is his healer but he also believes it's important to use wisdom and abide by the law. ... [He] said he attended the prayer meeting last month which was broken up by the police because it was a larger gathering than level 3 rules allowed." This highlights just how irresponsible some religious groups can be in their teaching – at least, before the consequences of their behaviour is made apparent.
[The elder] was aware of critical comments about the congregation.
"You're going to get that with a lot of critical people that are not Christians, they don't understand where we stand," Kotuku said.
"I see a lot of criticism but that doesn't worry us. We're doing what God has instructed us to do through the word of God."
It's also Christians annoyed with them. Most Christians are very responsible citizens and many are horrified that this church and its members have acted so irresponsibly. New Zealand's return to Alert Level 1 has been delayed by weeks because of the actions of this church group, in particular the member who should have been self isolating (being a close contact of a confirmed case) and instead visited a bereaved family. There are presently 15 cases just in the bereavement sub-cluster, including two new cases today.
Site Changes, September 2020:
Religious Group News, August 2020:
- Following on from the raid on Ngatea resident Roger Blake's property near the end of last month, Mark Grenon and one of his sons have been arrested in Colombia. He and three of his sons were charged last month by state prosecutors in Florida. The two men will be extradited to the USA. More details at Business Insider, in an article which says seven people have died in the United States from Miracle Mineral Solution.
Site Changes, August 2020:
Religious Group News, July 2020:
- Miracle Mineral Solution is back in the New Zealand news, with four men in Florida, USA, charged with "Selling Toxic Bleach as Fake “Miracle” Cure for Covid-19 and Violating Court Orders". More specifically, the Miami Federal Court court press release says they are charged "with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to violate the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and criminal contempt." This has made the news in New Zealand because of the New Zealand links
– namely Roger Blake and the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing. But – as RNZ reports – the claims made by Roger Blake are apparently being ignored.
In May, RNZ revealed Mark Grenon's associate, Ngatea man Roger Blake, was selling MMS in New Zealand as a Covid-19 cure. Blake calls himself a 'bishop' of Genesis II.
At the time, New Zealand authority Medsafe warned consumers not to buy or drink MMS, or associated products described as water purification solutions.
"Consuming these products is the same as drinking bleach… these products can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and symptoms of severe dehydration," the agency warned. "These may be life-threatening, and you should seek medical advice as soon as possible".
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Under New Zealand's Medicines Act, it's unlawful to advertise the use of a product to prevent, alleviate, or cure any disease, without approval. Medsafe will not say if it is investigating Blake.
Authorities in the USA, Australia and Ireland have taken action against the false claims. Why hasn't Medsafe taken similar action in New Zealand?
Update, 27 July: The police have raided the property of Roger Blake and "seized chemicals, business records and a computer". More details can be found in this NZ Herald article.
- Chlorine dioxide is also being taken in Bolivia: "Provincial health authorities reported 10 cases of poisoning from chlorine dioxide in the past week."
Site Changes, July 2020:
- New Listings
- Updated Listings
- Updated Closeup
Site Changes, June 2020:
Religious Group News, March 2020:
- Abortion in New Zealand has been decriminalised. Stuff reports the Abortion Legislation Bill passed its third reading with 68 in favour and 51 votes opposing. The article highlights that there are still members of parliament who care for all human life:
National MP Simon O'Connor referenced Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's speech following the March 15 mosque terror attacks.
"They are us and we are them. I've said many, many times before that human rights apply to all humans.
"And I find it sadly sad ... that for people to say they are us and we are them but when it comes to the unborn child, according to those who will support the bill, unborn children are certainly not with us and we are not with them and I condemn this position."
He said he wouldn't support the bill as it gave no rights or dignity to the human child developing.
Also:
National MP Chris Penk said it was wrong to suggest the current law criminalised women who got procedures as it instead was the health practitioners who were subject to the Crimes Act.
"Much of the debate from those who have put forward this legislation as supposedly needed to this nation at this time has been founded on the argument that the unborn child deserves no protection under our law – that is wrong."
- The NZ Herald reports "... Justice Minister Andrew Little ... said women should not be subjected to harassment when going to receive a medical procedure." It's rather disturbing that a New Zealand MP can confuse a medical procedure – which saves a life – with a capital procedure – which terminates a life.
Site Changes, March 2020:
Religious Group News, February 2020:
- Cult group Shincheonji has made the news in South Korea for being a hotbed of COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. Stuff reports 200 of the 433 new cases of the disease in South Korea are connected to the cult. More than a thousand people who were at four worship services in February have been asked to isolate themselves.
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