Even as dust is about to settle on the horrific black magic murders that shook Kerala, a Pentecostal Church in Pathanamthitta, Kerala has indulged in miracle healing. Church members assaulted media personnel who went to record the footage of the controversial “miracle” based, illegal worship.
The Elohim Gospel Global Worship Center, a Pentecostal Church operates at Santhosh Junction in Omallur Village Panchayat, Pathanamthitta. Pastor Binu Vazhamuttam, the leader of the cult church, claims that he can ‘eradicate’ evil spirits. Their main objective is to increase followers by preying on gullible Hindus and insulting Hindu religious practices.
In a video released by Janam TV, Pastor Vazhamuttam, alleged that a Hindu man took his wife to a temple to ‘suppress evil spirits’, but the man died! It also shows the pastor indulging in the usual Christian “blessings” and dramatized antics like shivering and collapse of his followers in full public view. The quack pastor of the Pentecostal church, allegedly runs several such workshops all over Kerala, and most of his ‘special’ prayer programs are suspiciously conducted at night.
High-ranking police officers who had come to prevent the controversial practices associated with Pentecostal churches as well as alleged forced conversion tactics, were stopped from doing their duty. These officers also allegedly turned a blind eye to the plight of the media personnel who were assaulted by members of the Church.
A Crime Online reporter who needed to be hospitalized said the police witnessed the attack but did nothing to help the journalists.
Congress’ leader Hibi Eden, Member of Parliament (MP) from Ernakulam district, a Christian and an alleged Hinduphobe, has participated in events organized by this cult church. Another prominent regional fraudster is KP Yohannan, the Christian ‘evangelist’ who usurped hectares of local land, with plans to sell it back to the Kerala government for the Aranmula airport. Yohannan allegedly launders black money for Communist leaders.
The Kerala High Court had earlier intervened and ordered the closing of the “worship hall” operating from a commercial facility without authorization, after having received numerous complaints from the general public. Cult members turned against the law enforcement personnel who had arrived to take legal action. The video shows the police remaining mute spectators, even as Pastor Binu’s supporters displayed signs of anger against the journalists and attacked them.
It is reported that this is the second time that police had arrived there. Earlier, criminal elements associated with the Church ripped away a High Court notice, by the Kerala police. This time around, police had gone there to paste another copy of the High Court order that was earlier illegally removed. No one was arrested even after the journalists were manhandled, attacked and their cameras snatched away in full public view. The video shows footage of church members misbehaving with the media personnel and the late intervention by the police, after the violence had already occurred.
This distinctly Christian incident is reported just a few days after reports of a similar tone of prayers in nearby Elathoor, where Mohammad Shafi, a Muslim indulged in sorcery, human sacrifice, and cannibalism. Kerala police claimed that Shafi, was not “cooperating” with the investigations.
The same police force had thrashed thousands of Hindu devotees during the Sabarimala protests a few years ago, citing a much debated Supreme Court order regarding an age-old tradition of non-entry for women of a certain age group, into the famous Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala.
Leftist and Dravidian Stockist propaganda portals like The News Minute who were quick to pounce on the recent incident of black magic attributed to a Hindu family in Kerala, appear to be slow to report on similar instances within the Christian or Muslim communities in Kerala and elsewhere.
Pentecostalism: A Fundamentalist Christian Cult
Pentecostalism is not a church in itself, but a movement that includes many different churches. It is also a movement of renewal or revival within other Christian denominations, with a significant part of its objective being, Conversions. The worldwide Pentecostal church movement is a financially strong one, allowing it to grow at a fast pace and continue to indulge in conversions as it cleverly “encourages” believers to “tithe” or formally donate a minimum of 10% of their income, directly to their church.
It’s not always easy to see if a church is Pentecostal because many Pentecostal denominations don’t include the word ‘Pentecostal’ in their name. Although Pentecostalist Christianity claims to be rooted in a believer’s experiential beliefs in God rather than theology, Pentecostals base their theology firmly on the text of the Bible which they believe to be the literal word of God and totally without any error at all, even in the face of little to no evidence, for many of the Bible’s alleged events and miracles.
Its members believe they are driven by the “power of God” moving within them. They engage in loud, raucous singing, shouting out of alleged “blessings”, often accompanied by dramatic accounts of “miracle” healings and emotional, tearful outbursts of believers, often seen swaying to music, as if in a trance. The Pentecostals preach that the “born again” convert and believer, will be “filled with the spirit of God” . and that the alleged “direct experience of God” will result in miracles and supernatural gifts, such as speaking in tongues, prophecy and healing.
The Pentecostal movement within Chritianity is reputed among the fastest growing Christian sects and involves questionable conversion practices. It has been reported that Pentecostalism grew very strongly during the last three decades of the twentieth century and Pentecostals currently make up more than 10% of all Christians (some writers suggest the number is higher).
A BBC reports states “Pentecostalism is particularly strong in the developing world where it poses a serious challenge to other, more established, denominations”. India should take note of it, as it is a part of the “developjng world”. This observation was included in an article titled “A profile of Pentecostal Christianity, its history and increasing popularity, and Pentecostalist worshippers’ customs of speaking in tongues, prayer cloths, healing by laying on of hands and rarely serpent handling”, in which the controversial subject of snake-handling by over-enthusiastic believers, was mentioned.
It is alleged that Pentecostal churches in India and elsewhere indulge in “miracle” based preaching and practice, including a fundamentalist interpretation of the events mentioned in the Bible, such as miracle healings, imagination of believers in extraordinary God-enabled happenings, claims of the holy “spirit” enabling people to speak in many “tongues”, among others . In the West, the Pentacostal denomination of Christianity and its missionaries have been accused of many scandalous findings including sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement. In India, the practices of many churches have not been questioned by the politicians or courts, citing India’s “Secularism”.
(With inputs from Hindu Post and Janam TV)
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