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New York Times, 2003-05-26
San Luis Obispo, California, USA—...Six California firefighters have gone to federal court seeking an end to the
chaplain's corps of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, saying it impermissibly mingles church and state.
The middle-level officers brought the lawsuit earlier this year, saying that the chaplain's corps, run by an evangelical minister
who is also a senior official of the department, was almost exclusively Christian and had improperly injected religious faith into
a government organization.
...
The complaining officers, who sardonically call themselves the Satanic Six, object to the chaplains' wearing religious insignia
while on duty and say it is only a short step from counseling fellow firefighters to proselytizing them. The plaintiffs include
a Baptist, an Episcopalian, a Christian Scientist, a Jew and a self-described "rationalist agnostic."
Their suit asks that the official chaplain's corps be disbanded and replaced with a nonuniformed, volunteer group of
religious counselors. It also asks that no state money be spent for the training or services of chaplains, and that no
explicitly religious language be used at public ceremonies, like fire academy graduations.
Webmaster's comment:
If all religious believers had the same respect for church-state separation as do the plaintiffs in this case, there would
be little need for web sites such as this one.
Globe and Mail —
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2003-05-23
A 19-year-old is murdered in an "exorcism" performed by religious zealots, including his own
parents.
London, Ontario, Canada—Walter Zepeda was possessed by the devil. His parents, devoutly religious members of a
Pentecostal church that believes in such manifestations, knew that much to be true. They had seen their shy 19-year-old
son engage in behaviours that could only signal the presence of Satan. So Diego Zepeda-Cordera called his friend Alex Osegueda,
a fellow member of the Missionary Church of Christ and a man of equal devotion, to help him rid his son of the evil. They had
no idea the seven days of forced confinement it took to drive away the devil would also, literally, drain the life out of Walter.
He lost nine litres of fluid as he lay strapped with men's ties to metal chairs in the basement apartment he shared with his
family in this western Ontario city. Ultimately he died of dehydration. Yesterday, the squarely cut shoulders of Mr. Zepeda-Cordero
heaved silently as a judge sentenced him and Mr. Osegueda to four years in jail for the ritual that caused the teen's death.
...
Both Mr. Zepeda-Cordero and Mr. Osegueda have agreed in the months since Walter died that they were performing an exorcism.
But it was not a botched exorcism, they said. Mr. Zepeda-Cordero's lawyer, Andy Rady, told the court his client takes some
solace in his belief that, in the hours before Walter's life ebbed away, the devil also left his body. "When Walter died,
he [Mr. Zepeda-Cordero] believed that he returned to Jesus," Mr. Rady said. "Although he still believes in the
rightness of the ends he was trying to achieve, he understands the wrongness of the way he went about it."
...
The two men [Zepeda-Cordero and Osegueda] wrestled him into submission on Jan. 2, 2002, and tied him to the chairs in the
apartment. His mother, who didn't originally agree with the action, acquiesced because she too believed Satan had control
of her son. Walter struggled against his restraints to the point that his wrists and ankles were a mass of bruises, but that was
interpreted "as an example of the devil or the demon doing what he would with Walter," Mr. Arntfield said.
The morning after he was tied up, Rev. Guillermo Fabian, the pastor of the church, was summoned to the home. As Walter swore
and squirmed, Mr. Fabian prayed with the family to help exorcise the demon. He came back the next day and Walter was lying in
his own urine -- a problem solved by dressing him in adult diapers. Over the weekend, at least 10 other members of the church
visited the home and joined in the prayer sessions.
...
...it is obvious the trio "genuinely believed that Walter was possessed," Judge Livingstone said. "They
only wanted to help him, wanted to save his soul, but the facts of the matter show that despite their prayer and the zealousness
of their religious convictions, what they did -- and what they did not do -- caused Walter's death."
Webmaster's comment:
An extreme case of religious pathology. The guilty still believe that they performed a successful exorcism!
Notice that, in spite of the horror of the act, the judge adopted a sympathetic attitude towards the guilty because they
sincerely believed they were helping the boy they killed. Obviously, religious belief enjoys respect and deference far beyond
its merit.
Globe and Mail —
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2003-05-13
An article discussing religions in Canada according to the census done May 15, 2001. The bottom line:
Catholic and Protestant Christians remain in the majority, but there is an increase in those reporting
"No religion" and growth in Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism.
Roman Catholics are still the biggest religious group in Canada, but the church’s devotees are dropping steadily while
the number of Canadians affiliating themselves with religions such as Islam or Buddhism are rising, new census data show.
Seven out of 10 Canadians identify their religion as Roman Catholic or Protestant, information released from Statistics
Canada’s 2001 census showed Tuesday. But the downward trend in the number of Canadians who call themselves Protestants or
Catholics has continued over the 10 years since the previous census...
"Major Protestant denominations that were dominant in the country 70 years ago, such as Anglican and United Church,
are declining in numbers, in part because their members are aging and fewer young people are identifying with these
denominations."
...
While the number of Canadians associating themselves with Islam Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism was small in comparison,
these religions showed large increases during the 1990s because of the large number of immigrants coming to Canada from
regions outside of Europe, including Asia and the Middle East, the agency said.
For example, people who identified themselves as Muslim recorded the biggest increase. Muslims in Canada more than doubled
during the last decade to 579,600 in 2001 from 253,300 in 1991, so that they now make up 2 per cent of the population.
The number of those who say they are Hindu has also increased significantly—up 89 per cent since 1991, Statistics Canada
says. The number of those identifying themselves as Sikh also rose 89 per cent, and Buddhists, 84 per cent.
Each of these religions now make up about 1 per cent of the country’s population, Statistics Canada says.
...
As well, the percentage of the Canadian population claiming to have no religion rose to 16 per cent from 12 per cent from
a decade earlier. Prior to 1971, only 1 per cent of Canadians would admit to having no religion.
...
In a provincial and territorial breakdown, Yukon had the highest percentage of people with no religion (37 per cent) while
Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest (2 per cent).
See also:
CNN, 2003-05-13
Deanna LaJune Laney, 38, of Tyler, Texas, member of the choir at the First Assembly of God Church, beats to death her 8- and
6-year-old sons, telling authorities afterward that God told her to kill them. Her 14-month-old son was also found beaten and
bloodied, but still alive, under a pillow in his crib.
The case bears similarities to that of another Texas woman, Andrea Yates, who was sentenced to life in prison for drowning her
five children. Yates believed that she was possessed by Satan and that by killing her children she was sending them to heaven
and saving them from the fires of hell.
See also:
Webmaster's comment:
No, Christians are not in general psychopaths. But superstitious belief in gods and demons is a factor which may make a
mentally disturbed person a little less stable, just a little more likely to act out their insanity.
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