Yet more on the Benny Hill/nn show

February 2nd

January 25, 2005, 7:24 pm

V SUNDARAM
News Today, Chennai

'Be ye men of valour and be in readiness for the conflict. For it is better to
perish in battle than to see the outrage of your altar. If that be the will of
God, let it be'.

Till recently all enlightened people in India were generally shocked by the
conduct and behaviour of most politicians in India. Now the stage of shock is
over. We have moved over from the STAGE OF SHOCK to the STAGE OF ABSURD
AMUSEMENT. The prima donna of this stage today is N Dharam Singh, Chief Minister
of Karnataka, who participated with gusto and secularly religious fervour at the
prayer meet conducted by the American Pastor Benny Hinn, a gigantic global
fraud, at Bangalore on 21 January 2005 Friday night. His participation is no
doubt amusing. But what is shocking about him is his Himalayan ignorance about
the conduct, character and past antecedents of Benny Hinn. Swami Vivekananda
went to America in 1893 carrying the universal message of Hinduism and Sanatana
Dharma to the West. He did not go there for conversion or proselytisation. Nor
did he go to USA to attack the Americans as heathens and barbarians having faith
in a false God and requiring the healing touch and light of Hinduism to save
their souls.

Great deception is afoot in the church today, happening right before our very
eyes. In fact, it may have already come to your church. False doctrines, a
different gospel, and even doctrines of demons have been introduced into many
churches via books, music, videos, teachers and movements that claim to be of
God. Viewed against this background, the known facts about Benny Hinn are not
only shocking but also revealing.

Benny Hinn is a Roman Catholic mystic, who is taking the Pentecostal and
Charismatic Church down the ecumenical road towards Rome.

This has been known for some time. For example the Italian Assemblies of God
refused to endorse his crusade in Rome (1996), sponsored by the independent
Pentecostals, who themselves were shocked when Mr Hinn failed to even once open
his Bible on the first night of the Crusade. On the second night the interpreter
refused to interpret Hinn's favourable comments about the Pope and the Catholic
Church and the music group refused to sing. The up-shot was that the organisers
signed a document of 'non-association' with Benny Hinn, and promised never to
invite him to Italy again. Despite this he was invited as guest speaker to the
Australian Assemblies of God Conference in May 1997, where once more he spoke
favourably of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church.

At that Conference he told how he had met with Cardinal Sin of the Philippines,
with whom he formed an agreement to encourage people who attended his crusade
not to leave the Roman Catholic Church. The Cardinal in turn promised to
encourage Roman Catholics to attend the Hinn Crusade. Things have become worse
since then! There is documented evidence that Hinn is into necromancy .

Wayne Hughes is the General Superintendent of Assemblies of God in New Zealand
and was one of the Church leaders who, together with Ian Bilby, former President
of the New Zealand Elim denomination, endorsed the visit of Rodney Howard-Browne
whose 'laughing revival' has caused so much division among Churches and
Christian families in New Zealand and Australia. It is also reported that Wayne
Hughes was alerted to the fact of Benny Hinn's documented necromancy in late
January or early February '98. Despite this he has continued to endorse Hinn and
his ministry, although it is rumoured that he is concerned that he might be
doing the wrong thing. Council for World Mission (CWM) has advised all true
Christians in the world: 'Our strong recommendation to all Christians is that
you do not participate in any supportive way - by means of donations or
otherwise - in the Benny Hinn Crusade or to the Benny Hinn Ministries'.

John the apostle of Lord Jesus Christ wrote: - 'Whoever transgresses and does
not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the
doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and
does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him
(bid him God speed - AV) for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds (
biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds - AV)' - 2 John 9-11. This
is THE WORD OF THE LORD.

Further documented proof about the necromancy practiced by Benny Hinn is
supplied in the book - The Confusing World Of Benny Hinn.

When I researched about the Spurious Spiritual Voyage of Benny Hinn, I read
about the Curing Ministry conducted by Benny Hinn on 7 June 2002 at The Sydney
Entertainment Centre. I am quoting verbatim from an article in the September
2002 edition of The Skeptic, The Journal of the Australian Skeptics:

'The Sydney Entertainment Centre can hold 12,500 people when the seating is
configured for the maximum capacity. On 7 June, 2002, more than that number
turned up to see faith healer Benny Hinn do his act of curing people of many
illnesses through the power of Jesus. A team of observers from the RatbagsDotCom
Empire and the Australian Skeptics went along to see the magical Benny but,
alas, they got there too late and were left standing outside with the many
hundreds of other people who had also not bothered to start queuing ten hours
before the show started. Buses emblazoned with the names of Christian
congregations from various parts of Sydney arrived, only to have the occupants
be told that they could hit the freeway again because there was no room for
them. People in wheelchairs moved through the crowd, and people stared at closed
doors and security guards. There was a pall of disappointment that was almost
palpable. INSIDE, THE BUCKETS WERE PASSED AROUND TO COLLECT THE TAX
-FREE CASH.

We asked some of the waiting people about their disappointments and what were
their expectations, had they been able to get into the building. What they said
was depressing and bewildering. Some of the ones in the wheelchairs had expected
to walk home. Some with diseases and ailments had expected relief. Some had
brought written prayers from members of their families. All had expected that
this slimy charlatan would perform miracles. Inside, the buckets were passed
around to collect the tax-free cash. As we moved through the crowd, Hinn's
henchmen followed, asking people what we had spoken to them about. We were told
to get off the private property (it was a public footpath). Earlier in the day,
a crew from a television current affairs programme had fared even worse and were
ordered to stop speaking to people waiting in line to get into the building. IT
SEEMS THAT HINN DOESN'T WANT ANY PUBLICITY UNLESS HE CONTROLS IT. The fact that
bookings could not be made for the show suggests that Hinn is just as shy about
accounting for the tax-free cash that he steals from the gullible and
desperate.'

'It did not seem possible that all of the thousands crammed into the building
could be there to be cured of something and we were pretty sure that all of the
skeptics were outside in Harbour Street, so we wondered about the motivation of
the other people who had come to see Hinn. We received a clue when we fell into
conversation with a young lady in a bar across the street from the venue. This
girl (who was about 18 or 19) had travelled about 100 kilometres to not get in
to the Hinn show, and she invited herself to our table knowing who we were. She
expressed a theology and knowledge of Christianity which were so confused and
incoherent that it seemed that she was totally detached from reality and had
never absorbed even the rudiments of the teachings of any mainstream Christian
church. It was quite unnerving to sit next to an extremely attractive girl who
just talked nonsense. I spoke to her mother at another table and she seemed to
be a normal church-goer. I got the impression she was only there because her
daughter wanted her to come, so I guess that the silliness was not hereditary. I
realise that a sample of one cannot be representative of much, but there is
certainly the possibility that Hinn and his like attract people who are
desperately seeking some sort of meaningful religious experience, as well as
those who are desperately seeking relief from illness. TO HINN THEY WOULD ALL BE
THE SAME, ANYWAY, AS LONG AS THEY HAVE MONEY TO PUT IN THE PLASTIC BUCKETS.'

'I should make it clear that I do not object to Hinn on any religious grounds. I
have no idea what his theology is or what he preaches beyond a banal, infantile
reading of the Bible. In fact there was a gospel revival meeting at the nearby
Sydney Town Hall on the same night and what was going on there was of no concern
to me. What I object to about Hinn is that he is exploiting people's hopes and
fears for nothing beyond his own financial gain. He does no missionary or
outreach work, he funds no shelters for the homeless, the indigent, for orphans
or abused women. He simply takes money and keeps it.'

'The Sydney Entertainment Centre is in the city's Chinatown district. Within
that area it is easy to find prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, fantan games and
other illegal gambling games and producers of pornography. The difference
between these criminals and Hinn is that they at least provide some value for
money. Hinn just takes and in return offers lies, false hope and (if the stories
about people throwing insulin and other drugs onto the stage at his shows are
true) potential death.'

Against the above background I would like to put the following questions to the
Karnataka Chief Minister:

a) If BJP and Sangh Parivar are reactionary forces, in what way are you less
reactionary by supporting a known International Fraud like Benny Hinn?

b) Are you supporting Benny Hinn because he is more 'secular' and less
'communal' than the BJP and Sangh Parivar?

c) Are you aware of the fact that under the Indian Penal Code Section 153A,
promoting enmity between groups in religion is a cognizable offence?

d) Are you aware of the fact that Benny Hinn was guilty of an offence under this
section for making provocative anti-Hindu statements before large crowds?

e) Is it part of Sonia Congress ideology that anti-Hindu statements made by
Indian Nationals are only ordinarily 'secular' and non-communal and those made
by foreigners are extraordinarily 'secular' and non-communal in character?

f) Is there any proposal sent by Government of Karnataka to the Government of
India for the appointment of Benny Hinn as Chairman of the Christian Minorities
Commission at the national level?

g) Are you aware of the view that with Benny Hinn praying for India and the
stories of sick people being cured through necromancy, Benny Hinn can also be
arrested by the police on charges under the Drugs and Magic Remedies
(Objectionable Advertisement) Act-1954? (This Act gives power to arrest the
offenders even when there are no complaints lodged by anybody. Police can
initiate action suo motu and charge-sheet the accused).

h) Do you sincerely believe that Benny Hinn is in the authentic tradition of
great and revered saints like Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis Xavier,
Saint Loyola and the like?

Dr.S.L.Bhyrappa, a noted litterateur, has come down heavily on the 'Pray for
India' mission of Benny Hinn. He has stated: 'Christian Missionaries have
millions of dollars, donated by rich Christian Nations to be used for the
conversion of the gullible into Christianity'. In my novel Dharmashree I have
written about how Christians use their religion to convert the credulous
multitude in India.

The eminent Kannada litterateur also expressed his reservations about Chief
Minister N.Dharam Singh attending religious prayer meetings of Benny Hinn at
Bangalore on 21 January.

In June 1995 the Chicago Tribune reported that Pope John Paul II had urged the
Roman Catholic Church to seize the 'particularly propitious' occasion of the New
Millennium to recognize the 'dark side of its history'. In a 1994 confidential
letter to Cardinals which was later leaked to the Italian Press, he asked:

'How one can remain silent about the many forms of violence perpetrated in the
name of the Faith-wars of religion, tribunals of the Inquisition and other forms
of violations of the rights of persons?'

Unfortunately too many have remained silent While historians have certainly
written about the dark side of Christian history, their words have largely
stayed within the confines of academe. And few have written of Christianity's
role in creating a world in which people feel alienated from the Sacred. In this
context Helen Ellerbe in her popular book The Dark Side of Christian History has
observed:

'The Christian Church has left a legacy, a world view, that permeates every
aspect of Western Society, both secular and religious. It is a legacy which
fosters sexism, racism, the intolerance of difference and the destruction of the
natural environment. The church, throughout much of its history, has
demonstrated a disregard for human freedom, dignity, and self-determination. It
has attempted to control, contain and confine spirituality, the relationship
between an individual and God. As a result, Christianity has helped to create a
society in which people are alienated not only from each other but also from the
Divine'.

As we have ignored the horror of Christian history, so we have ignored the
scrutiny of Christian beliefs and their pervasiveness in our seemingly Godless
modern world. Without scrutiny, the destructive patterns have continued to
alienate people from God, their natural environment, and each other.

The only statesman in world history who clearly saw the real horrors of
Christianity like a hedgehog was Thomas Jefferson who observed with clairvoyancy
in 1785:

'Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of
Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not
advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To
make one-half of the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support
error and roguery all over the Earth'.

Fortunately for Thomas Jefferson he was an American and not an Indian. If he had
been in India today, Dharam Singh would have dismissed him as a rabidly communal
and non-secular Hindu. In addition in Tamilnadu, he would have qualified for
arrest under the Goondas Act.

Thomas Jefferson made it clear that the belief in a singular supremacy lies at
the root of chauvinism, racism and totalitarianism. It is a reminder to us all
that we must move towards a world that values diversity, freedom and human
dignity. Why should we not embrace the hope and pursue the dream that humanity
can be free to act humanely?

(The writer is a retired IAS officer)