CUFI Speaker: “666″ is “In the Name of Allah”

*Text has been amended (June 2009) following input from a reader. The “Very Old Text (Rev. 13:18) in glass display” fragment is from the supplement to the Codex Vaticanus; I had originally doubted this.
When Joe Lieberman gives credibility to the upcoming Christians United for Israel with his attendance, he won’t just be lending his reputation [...]

Charismatic Dominionists Endorse Bentley

A few days ago I wrote a blog entry on Todd Bentley’s faith-healing revival in Florida, noting support for Bentley from Steven Strang, the influential editor of Charisma, and from Paul Cain, the neo-Pentecostal revivalist who is now described as a “restored prophet” following past Ted Haggard-like indiscretions. Bentley’s revival has been going on since [...]

Tradition, Family and Property Back in the News

An attack on same-sex marriage in California from the Roman Catholic organisation Tradition, Family and Property has brought the organisation back into the public eye. As in the past, TFP has used newspaper advertisements to get its point across. Bill Berkowitz notes:
In the press release announcing the ads, TFP director Preston Noell hit a handful [...]

Libel Tourism: Then and Now

2004: Lawyer Trevor Asserson denounces Saudi attempts to use British libel law to go after an American writer:
“Some Saudis appear to be using the U.K. as a back door to silence their critics and repress free speech by threatening litigation, persuading publishers to back down rather then face years of expensive litigation — even if [...]

New Book on Satanic Abuse

Private Eye (1213 p. 25) draws attention to a forthcoming book, entitled Forensic Aspects of Dissociative Identity Disorder:
The book’s contributors include…Dr Joan Coleman, founder of RAINS (Ritual Abuse Information Network and Support), writing on “Satanist Ritual Abuse and the Problem of Credibility”; Valerie Sinason PhD, a child psychologist and a psychotherapist who practises in Harley [...]

Todd Bentley: Meet the Man Who Met Saint Paul

The Florida Ledger reports on a neo-Pentecostal faith-healing revival known as the “Florida Outpouring”:
The Pentecostal revival, which began April 2 at Ignited Church in Lakeland, draws an average of 30,000 or more people each week, according to its leaders, with about 50 percent of those from outside the state. In fact, it has become an [...]

Paul Cameron Boasts of Link to Moscow State University

Notorious American anti-gay “psychologist” Paul Cameron (whom I first discussed here) is currently in Russia; Interfax Religion reports:
He urged Russians to back up such politicians as Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov who opposed gay parade in Moscow. Cameron also finds it joyful that representatives of the sociology faculty of the Moscow State University showed interest to [...]

Threat of UK Libel Tourism Leads to Revision of Book Review

British libel tourism is not just for Saudi billionaires and Ukrainian businessmen: an Israeli academic has now used the threat of the London High Court to have passages removed from a book review published in the USA. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports:
The College Art Association has averted a so-called libel tourism action threatened against it in [...]

Zion Oil & Gas Backs John Hagee

From a press release:
Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (Amex: ZN) of Dallas, TX and Caesarea, Israel announced today that it will sponsor the “Night to Honor Israel” banquet at the Third Annual Washington-Israel Summit of Christians United for Israel (CUFI)…It is expected that John Brown, Zion’s Founder and Chairman, will be interviewed by Pastor John [...]

Russian Church Threatens Split with Constantinople

From (inevitably) Interfax:
The Constantinople Church’s actions in church politics is one of the main challenges to Orthodox unity, the Moscow Patriarchate believes.
According to Orthodox Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria, the Patriarch of Constantinople is trying to set himself up as an “Eastern Pope”, so obviously it would be better if Russia just took charge:
“One [...]