Tests Them For What!?

City of Atlanta's
Board of Astrology!?
by Chuck Chepherd
source: AP wirecopy

April 27, 1992

Among the information that came to light as a result of Atlanta's new government officials' financial disclosure law was the existence the city's not-well-known "Board of Astrology." The Associated Press could find no records of the board at City Hall but concluded after interviewing its three smoked-out members that the board administers tests to, and licenses, prospective astrologers.

Graphic Rule

Worship Ignored

Vicar Unfrocks a Ferret
London Daily Telegraph

May 3, 1996

A vicar continued praying when a ferret disappeared up his cassock during a communion service.

The Rev Stephen Grey, of St Michael's Church, Bamford, near Rochdale, Greater Manchester, was alerted to the interloper when a woman worshipper screamed and jumped upon a pew.

"I looked up and there it was, staring at me," he said yesterday. "It went three times around my cassock and then stuck its head underneath."

Eventually, the ferret -- believed to be a pet -- was ejected from the church after biting a parishioner's thumb.

"I was trained to carry on regardless, but I must admit the prayers speeded up a bit towards the end," Mr Grey said.

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

Beijing's Oldest
Buddha Statue Swiped
by Cliff Walker
from wire reports

March 30, 1998

Beijing -- Thieves stole the oldest known statue of Buddha, a 1,500 year-old treasure, reported the Xinhua news agency Sunday. The five-foot, four-inch-high statue was torn from its base with crowbars Tuesday night, or early Wednesday morning.

Carved in C.E. 499, it had stood ever since in the same stone house in the village of Dong'erying in the western part of Beijing. The family which has looked after it for four generations immediately raised the alarm.

Police had urged the family to take better precautions after they opened the house to the pubic, Xinhua said.

Graphic Rule

Worship Ignored

Seventh-Day Adventists
Couldn't Walk On Water
by Chuck Shepherd
source: Orlando Sentinel

October, 1993

In May; ten Tanzanian Seventh-Day Adventists drowned trying to walk on water as a test of faith near Dar Es Salaam.

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

Hindu Worshipers Drown
Returning From Pilgrimage
by Chuck Shepherd
sources: New York Times, Reuters

January 16, 1994

More than 100 drowned near Calcutta as two boats returning from a Hindu pilgrimage collided.

Graphic Rule

Worship Ignored

Minister Electrocuted
in Baptismal
by Chuck Shepherd
sources: Wilmington Morning Star, New York Times Regional Newspapers

February 23, 1994

A 45-year-old minister was electrocuted at the Christian Fellowship Church in Larose, Louisiana, as he was standing in a pool about to baptize a dozen people. According to the coroner's office, the cause was either the microphone he was holding or a faulty pool heater.

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

Three Drown
in Baptism Accident
by Chuck Shepherd

August, 1992

A pastor and two members of his Zion Christian Church near Johannesburg, South Africa, drowned in a baptism accident. The pastor and his subject slipped during a dunking, and the third man died trying to rescue them.

Graphic Rule

Religion Can Be Gross!

Kentucky Rivers
Unfit for Baptisms
by Chuck Shepherd
source: Knoxville News-Sentinel

June 26, 1994

According to two officials of Kentucky Baptist organizations, a recent trend to move baptisms indoors was caused primarily by the increasing pollution of creeks and rivers. Said Pastor Dick Verhoose, "You've got dead animals, you've got open sewers" that make such baptisms unsafe. Said Rev. James Kelly Caudill, "There's [no nearby river] fit to baptize a dog in, to be honest with you."

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

Holy Water Infects Child
by Chuck Shepherd
source: Globe & Mail

December 18, 1992

Two doctors, writing in a December 1992 issue of the British Medical Journal, reported that a teenager, hospitalized after a fall from an apartment building, came down with a severe bacterial infection. The doctors traced the infection to holy water sprinkled on him by his aunt, who was trying to help him survive the injuries from his fall.

Graphic Rule

Worship Ignored

Virgin Idol Kills Child
by Chuck Shepherd
source: The Globe and Mail

May 27, 1993

A 4-year-old boy, visiting his grandmother at work at a spiritual retreat near Baltimore was killed when a statue of the Virgin Mary fell on his head.

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

Boy Crushed To Death
At Bible School
by Chuck Shepherd
source: Chattanooga Times, AP

August 8, 1996

A 9-year-old boy was crushed to death when a granite tombstone fell over on him at a Bible school in Summerville, Georgia.

Graphic Rule

Worship Ignored

Shrine Kills 300 Worshippers
by Chuck Shepherd
sources: New York Times, Reuters

July 4, 1993

A floating shrine in the Bocaue River in The Philippines capsized in July, drowning more than 300 worshipers who had boarded it in prayer as part of the annual nine-day religious festival in the town of Bocaue.

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

Hindu Worshipers Trampled
by Chuck Shepherd
source: Tuscaloosa News, AP

July 16, 1996

In July, 58 worshipers, seeking divine protection on an astrologically unlucky day, were crushed to death by other stampeding worshipers at two Hindu shrines in the cities of Haridwar and Ujjain, India.

Graphic Rule

Worship Ignored

Muslim Worshipers Trampled
by Chuck Shepherd
source: New York Times, AP

May 25, 1994

At least 250 Muslims were trampled to death while inching toward a cave for the symbolic stoning of the devil during the annual pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

Roman Catholic
Worshipers Trampled
by Chuck Shepherd
source: Boston Globe, Reuters

August 14, 1994

In Brazzaville, Congo, 142 Roman Catholics died in stampedes when 50,000 showed up to meet a priest who supposedly performed miracles.

Graphic Rule

Worship Ignored

Palm Sunday Tornadoes
Kill 19 Worshipers
by Chuck Shepherd
sources: Chicago Sun-Times, AP

March 28, 1994

Three churches were destroyed and 19 worshipers killed during Palm Sunday services when tornadoes struck in Piedmont, Alabama.

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

Ship Overturns; Pilgrims Drown
by Chuck Shepherd

November, 1995

At least 25 religious pilgrims drowned in November when an overcrowded ship sank in the Acara River in northern Brazil; the boat was headed to the town of Acara to celebrate the Virgin of Nazareth.

Graphic Rule

Worship Ignored

Nude pilgrims die en route
to worship god's phallus
by Chuck Shepherd

August, 1996

At least 113 Hindu pilgrims, nude and smeared with ash, died in a snowstorm in the Himalayas as they were en route to worship a stalagmite believed to be the phallus of the god Shiva.

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

Holy Ghost Causes Injury;
Woman Files Suit
by Chuck Shepherd
source: Baton Rouge Morning Advocate

November 18, 1995

Loresa Goodly filed a lawsuit in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, for injuries she incurred just after she had received the Holy Ghost at a tent revival meeting and passed out on the floor. Moments later, another woman received the Holy Ghost and fell on top of Goodly before ushers could catch her, breaking three of Goodly's ribs.

Graphic Rule

Worship Ignored

Man, Sons Die
Going To Church
by Chuck Shepherd
sources: St. Petersburg Times, AP

November 21, 1994

In Los Angeles, a man and his two sons were asphyxiated by exhaust fumes after he started to warm up his van in the garage preparing for Sunday church services.

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

Man Hacks Arm
Thinking Jesus
Would Replace It
by Chuck Shepherd
source: Tampa Tribune

July 20, 1994

In Riviera Beach, Florida, police gunned down Gustavus Jody Francis, 22, who lunged at them with a knife because they tried to stop him from hacking his arm off in an exercise to prove that Jesus would replace it if he did.

Graphic Rule

Worship Ignored

Family Prayer
Triggers Family Fighting
by Chuck Shepherd
source: USA Today

October 18, 1994

In Provo, Utah, Scott Hone, 23, was charged with attempted murder of his wife in a fight that started during a family prayer.

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

Elephant Ritual Backfires
by Chuck Shepherd

January, 1997

In Bangkok, Thailand, Wien Sudpleum, eight months' pregnant, crawled under the belly of an elephant three times, which is supposed to bring good luck in her delivery.

However, the third time she was gored.

The owner agreed to pay her about $240 compensation, but it was not reported whether the baby survived.

Graphic Rule

Worship Ignored

Carbon Monoxide Intoxication
At Christmas Mass
by Cliff Walker

December 28, 1998

Saverdun, France -- Defying the notion that the gods of religion protect the faithful, a faulty heating system spewed deadly carbon monoxide into a church where 300 worshippers celebrated Christmas Mass. Forty people suffered carbon monoxide poisoning at midnight mass in the small southwest France village of Saverdun on Christmas Eve. About 15 people were kept in hospital for further treatment.

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

Bingo Bust Nets
Five In Church
from the Associated Press
(reprinted verbatim to show biased journalism and just plain bad writing)

May 14, 1998

New York (AP) -- A lesson to those thinking about placing illegal bets at church-run bingo games: God wins. And he tells the cops.

Or at least he points church officials in the right direction. Such was the case with St. Christopher's Roman Catholic Church on Staten Island. Like many churches, it has bingo games to help raise money. This is legal.

What is illegal is making side bets on which bingo line would win, according to Sgt. David Felix of the Staten Island vice squad.

"These people were working the crowd, taking cash bets," Felix said. "Small wagers, usually $10 to $25, were placed."

Church officials called the cops, and undercover officers began playing bingo. Ultimately, five people were arrested and charged with possession of gambling records and promoting gambling.

Michael Hoblock, chairman of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, most gambling is illegal in New York, but not games of chance, raffles, bell jars and bingo conducted by nonprofit or charitable organizations.

But Hoblock said illegal betting at bingo games is common: "I can't even begin to tell you how rampant it is."

Graphic Rule

Worship Ignored

Children Injured At
Religious Celebration
by Chuck Shepherd

May, 1998

Every year at Easter, a few egg hunts get out of hand, usually from older kids' or even parents' crashing the parties.

This year's worst was probably the one at the World Harvest Church in Daytona Beach, Florida, in which thousands of plastic eggs containing candy and Bible verses were placed in a pile. As children approached with their baskets, parents rushed ahead, ostensibly to make sure their own kids got their fair share, trampling many of the kids, causing minor injuries.

Said an observer, "This isn't an Easter egg hunt; it's an Easter egg massacre."

Graphic Rule

Worship Ignored

50 Die in India Temple Fire
by Cliff Walker
from wire reports

June 7, 1997

At least 50 Hindu worshippers were killed and more than 100 injured today when fire tore through an 11th century temple in southern India on the eve of major religious ceremony, police said. It started when holy fire used for prayer set alight a thatched structure inside the famous Brihadeeswara temple in Thanjavur about 200 miles southwest of the capital of Tamil Nadu state, Madras.

Police suspect many worshippers burned to death while others died in a stampede to escape the flames and smoke. The Press Trust of India said rituals were underway in the temple ahead of the culmination of the Hindu ceremony Kumbabhishekam tomorrow.

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

Kentucky Preachers
Get Arms Permits
by Chuck Shepherd

April, 1998

The Kentucky legislature approved a bill to permit preachers to carry concealed weapons in church.

Some ministers had claimed they needed protection when transporting their offering-plate proceeds.

The executive director of the Kentucky Council of Churches said she was "appalled" by the legislature's decision.

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

New Crucifix Actually Protects
by Chuck Shepherd

May, 1998

Avon Silversmiths of London introduced a $280 crucifix containing a built-in screeching alarm, designed for clergy who are apprehensive about violence at work.

A recent survey revealed one in three British clergy have at some point been attacked on church grounds.

Graphic Rule

Religion: Does it Help?

Don't Mess With These Nuns

July 26, 1999

Bogota (Reuters) -- Two Roman Catholic nuns shot and killed a thief who broke into their sanctuary in central Colombia, authorities say.

The sharp-shooting nuns, who have not been named, blasted the intruder in the head with a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver after they heard strange noises in the corridors of the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Miracles, the patron saint of aviators.

Police said the fatal shooting occurred Wednesday night at the cloister in the city of Tunja but only gave details Saturday after releasing the two nuns on bail.

A police spokesman in Tunja said nuns at the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Miracles began night-time patrols early this year following seven previous break-ins during which chickens and some religious relics were stolen.

Local military commanders had given the nuns the revolver, together with the relevant gun license, so that they could protect themselves from potential attack.

Graphic Rule