A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.This week’s item is from Time Magazine, Canada, April, 2000.“More than a week after an obscure, indigenous, Christian cult led, or perhaps forced their followers into the building, poured gasoline around and then set, or had their followers set fire to the place, the site has become a macabre graveyard.Police bulldozed the building and its grizzly contents, at least 330 and as many as 550 charred corpses, into a trench dug by prisoners burying the physical evidence, but not erasing the horror of one of Uganda’s worst atrocities.Officials were still trying to determine whether cult leader, Joseph Kibwetere, 68, died in the blaze, or escaped. The one time devote Roman Catholic teacher, along with former prostitute and visionary, Cledonia Mwerinde, helped create the movement for the restoration of Ten Commandments of God sect, ten years ago after claiming he had been told by the Virgin Mary that the world would soon end.In the mid 1990s, he established a base in remote Kanungu, using money provided by followers who commonly sold their homes and possessions upon joining, and funds from groups and individuals overseas.Kibwetere built a small complex of houses, office, and a school.He recruited followers from nearby rural districts and from as far away as the capital, Kampala.The tragedy has focused attention on the rise of fringe Christian groups in Uganda and elsewhere in Africa.Christianity is growing faster in Africa than anywhere else on earth.The new churches use local languages and mixed traditional African spiritual beliefs with Pentecostal style worship including the use of drums, guitars, and charismatic preachers.They also address local problems: poverty, drought, corruption, and offer a sense of belonging that is rare on a continent whose politicians so often fail their people and where traditional social structures are coming apart.Like the movement for the restoration of the Ten Commandments sect, many of the new churches are built around charismatic and exploitative leaders and often fade once those leaders leave or die.Last week, the Ugandan government suspended registration of all new religious organizations and said it would stop all night services in existing churches.“We have to do something,” one member of some slain cult members stated.Adding, it defeats my understanding as to why my family would abandon their home and come here for this. Why?”
Tom:
Dave the actual deaths here—again this is cult related, obviously.The actual deaths here to this date are anywhere from 780 to 1000, which certainly the 1000 number exceeds Jonestown and that massacre basically.The cult leaders prophesied the world would end December 31, 1999 and then when that didn’t happen—
Dave:
It almost sounds like Y2K.
Tom:
This is apocalyptic, so then they said it would be December 31, 2000, but obviously this took place back in March and their claim was that Mary—this was a Marian cult—and the claim was she was coming to take them to heaven, not unlike Heaven’s Gate, you remember out of San Diego and waiting for the comet?This is tragic.
Dave:
Well Tom the tragedy could be averted if each of these people had done what we are trying to tell people to do that are listening to this program.Search the scriptures daily!They were caught up here with apparently a dynamic, charismatic leader.This is generally what happens.Remember Paul in Acts 20 said to the Ephesian elders, “Of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.”So that’s what happened here.Someone is speaking perverse things; things that are not true in order to get a following.And Paul even warned the Ephesian elders about that.Now if they would pay attention to the Bible—but they don’t.So it came out of visions of Mary, there were some prophecies and it was all mixed in with the spiritism of the Africans.
Tom:
The Catholicism of—for example some of these leaders were former Catholic priests.One of them has an advanced degree, got his advanced degree from Loyola-Marymount in Los Angeles, so these are not stupid people.Some people think this whole cults thing, this must be ignorant.Well ignorant of the truth, but not stupid people.
Dave:
They did not follow the Word of God.They did not pay attention to the Bible and they allowed themselves to be led astray by as you say, apocalyptic delusions which seem to attract attention; attract a following because people want to believe that sort of thing.So all I can say is Tom, let’s get back to the Bible.Let’s follow the Lord and through his Word.However, Mary in other apparitions makes similar claims.
Tom:
Right.
Dave:
Mary for example, in many apparitions around the world says my presence will be with you.I will never leave you nor forsake you.Well then she must be omnipresent.This is what Christ said.Only God himself can be with everyone.But the Catholic Church accepts this sort of thing and allows it to happen.So in a sense, we would have to blame them because there are many superstitions in the Catholic Church.The prayers to the saints, wearing the scapular which promises if you die wearing this scapular, you won’t suffer eternal fire and so forth.That together with the native superstitions set them up for this.But the Word of God is the truth that alone would deliver us and in fact Jesus said you be my follower, you will know the truth.You continue in my Word, the truth shall set you free.These people could have been set free from that by God’s Word.
Tom:
Right.Dave, this is creating all kinds of problems for true believers, true Christians in Africa and the growth of Christianity there is incredible.But Dave, there’s a proliferation in Africa of cults.People start churches, they develop their own theology as you said, through a kind of syncretistic mode they introduce other ideas into what their beliefs are so they’re not checking things out from the Word of God.But now the government has come down on it.
Dave:
You can’t blame them.
Tom:
This is Uganda, although hundreds of thousands died under Idi Amin, they instituted a—
Dave:
And he was killing Christians.
Tom:
Right, so they wanted religious freedom.But now they want to cut that back because of what’s going on among these different groups.
Dave:
You can’t blame it on Jesus Christ.They are not following him or his Word.