excerpts with commentary
Cult claims God will appear
on TV Wednesday
March 24, 1998
Web posted at: 9:46 p.m. EST
(0246 GMT)
GARLAND, Texas (CNN) -- A
Taiwanese cult leader who
claims he fathered Jesus 2,000
years ago and now talks to God
through a ring on his finger
says
God will appear on television at
12:01 a.m. (CST) on
Wednesday.
A week after God's television appearance, Chen says the Almighty
will take the form of a human being on March 31 at 10
a.m.
And, who would that be? That would be Chen himself.
<So He is talking to himself, as stated by their own facts>
Chen Heng-ming, known as "Teacher Chen," has brought
followers of God's Salvation Church into this Dallas
suburb to
await God's appearance, first on Channel 18 on
television sets
worldwide, then next week in a flying saucer.
<Was anyone watching?>
Police have cordoned off the neighborhood, mobilized
50 officers
and emergency personnel to monitor the situation, even
issued
press credentials for a media center near Chen's
house, which
serves as the cult's church.
The 150 members, who dress all in white, from their
sneakers to
their cowboy hats, sold everything back home in Taiwan
and
moved to Garland because they say it sounds like
"God's land."
In anticipation of God's arrival on
Earth, the cultists have built what
they say is a spacecraft using five
radial tires, some plywood and a
few lamp posts.
They also have prepared a shrine
with fruit, cola and crackers, and
they spend their time in prayer to
get ready for the end of the month, when they claim
God will show
up at 3513 Ridgedale Drive to save mankind from
nuclear war.
<I wonder why soda. While Nuclear War is still a threat, If God Was going
to come down, He would have done it during the Cuban Missile Crisis, or at
least during the Cold War>
"God is coming to the Earth to save all living beings
on the Earth,"
said Richard Liu, a member of God's Salvation Church.
Chen is a 41-year-old former social sciences
professor. He is
often accompanied by two youngsters whom he says are the
reincarnations of Jesus and Buddha.
<A social sciences professor. Who better to create his own religion, make
himself god, and know the strategies needed to hold it together, etc.>
The cult leader says that if God
does not show up on March 31, he
and his followers will not do
anything drastic, such as commit
suicide, like the 39 members of the
Heaven's Gate cult did a year ago
Thursday.
"God prohibits us from hurting even
an ant," Liu said.
"They've been model citizens," said
Garland police Lt. Don Martin.
But, he said, "We would be remiss
in our duties if we didn't consider
that option."
However, Chen says that if God does not show up in
Garland, he
will make himself available for stoning or crucifixion
-- and his
followers will be free to pack up and go home.
<I thought that they would not even hurt an ant? Stoning or crucifixion
isnt drastic?>
And, he adds, everyone will be able to regard the
cult's beliefs as
nonsense.
<because he knows it is the truth that it is nonsense>
Religious experts say the Salvation Church, whose members
include doctors, engineers and teachers, is typical of
the kind of
religious groups that spring up at the end of a century.
"They are comfortable with technology as a means
through which
spiritual powers can work," said Lonnie Kliever, a
professor at
Southern Methodist University.
<See my standard signature>
A neighbor says she does not mind having the sect next
door.
"They are not loud. They keep up their places nice. We
could use
more neighbors like them,"
http://people.clemson.edu/~jmott/
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -
Clarke's Third Law.