Spiritual Counterfeits Project
Encyclopedia
The Spiritual Counterfeits Project (also known as SCP) is a Christian
evangelical
parachurch organisation located in Berkeley, California
. Since its inception in the early 1970s it has been involved in the fields of Christian apologetics
and the Christian countercult movement
. Its current president is Tal Brooke. In its role as a think-tank SCP has sought to publish evangelically-based analyses of new religious movements, New Age
and alternative spiritualities in light of broad cultural trends. SCP has also been at the center of two controversial US lawsuits, one involving church-state issues (Malnak v. Yogi) and the other being a religious defamation case (Lee v. Duddy).
or Jesus People) of the late 1960s. In 1968 some staff members of Campus Crusade for Christ
conceived of the need to contextualize the Christian message for radical and revolutionary university students. The key figures were Jack Sparks and his wife, Patrick and Karry Matrisciana (also known as Caryl Matrisciana), Fred and Jan Dyson, Weldon and Barbara Hartenburg. In April 1969 Sparks and his colleagues commenced their ministry at the University of California, Berkeley
, and along the famous street in Berkeley, Telegraph Avenue
.
The ministry adopted the name Christian World Liberation Front (CWLF) as a challenging counterpart to the politically revolutionary group called the Berkeley Liberation Movement. The CWLF began producing an underground newspaper called Right On. In this newspaper the CWLF staff wrote articles that expressed the Christian message in the language of revolutionary and radical politics.
According to Edward Plowman the CWLF had five objectives:
"1. Determine the real social problems; try to right them. 2. Relate Christ to the important issues and speak out. 3. Befriend those to be reached. Identify with them. 4. Publish mountains of literature. 5. Get the people together once a week."
The CWLF attracted into its membership many Christians and new converts who were interested in its ministry objectives. Among those who were attracted were three men who later collaborated in the formation of the SCP: Brooks Alexander, David Fetcho (who named the ministry), and Bill Squires. Both Alexander and Fetcho were converts to Christianity from the counterculture. Alexander had participated in the psychedelic drug usage of the counterculture, was an initiate of Transcendental Meditation
, and lived in the famous Haight-Ashbury community in San Francisco. Fetcho had been involved with the Ananda Marga Yoga Society before converting to Christianity.
(EOC) in 1979. In April 1987 the EOC was accepted into full communion with the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
.
, a festival held at the Houston Astrodome by Guru Maharaj Ji's
Divine Light Mission
. That same year Alexander, Fetcho and Haddon launched a grass-roots campaign to oppose the practice of Transcendental Meditation
within US public high schools. In 1975 the SCP was formally incorporated as an "independent Christian nonprofit organization."
The four primary purposes of SCP included:
"1. To research today's spiritual movements and critique them biblically. 2. To equip Christians with the knowledge, analysis, and discernment that will enable them to understand the significance of today's spiritual explosion. 3. To suggest a Christian response which engages the church with all levels of situation. 4. To bring the good news of Jesus Christ and extend a hand of rescue to those in psycho-spiritual bondage."
(TM) was premised on the grounds that transcendental meditation represented itself as a non-religious activity and was promoted as the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI). The SCP staff maintained that transcendental meditation was not religiously neutral, and that its SCI was based on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
's Hindu faith. The SCP's Right On newsletter was the first to publish portions of the TM teacher's manual, including details of the Puja ceremony.
The focal point for an anti-Transcendental Meditation campaign was a civil action lawsuit No.76-431 in the US District Court of New Jersey. The lawsuit known as Malnak v. Yogi contested whether transcendental meditation was religious or not, and if the former then it could not be taught in US public high schools. The plaintiff
s, which included the SCP, presented evidence to show that the initiatory ceremony of transcendental meditation (known as the puja) was religious in nature and the practice of meditation presented as SCI involved chanting Hindu
mantra
s. Justice Curtis Meanor who presided over the case concluded that transcendental meditation/SCI are "religious in nature within the context of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and the teaching thereof in the New Jersey public schools is therefore unconstitutional."
The success of this campaign catapulted the SCP into prominence among evangelical Christians in North America and internationally.
, California in December 1980 and known as Lee v. Duddy.
Over a period of four and a half years the pre-trial preparations and depositions, involved expenditure that brought SCP into legal debt with their defense lawyers. The defamation trial was scheduled to commence on March 4, 1985. According to Bill Squires "the lawfirm representing us withdrew from the case" and so the decision was taken to file for a reorganizational bankruptcy in the Bankruptcy Court. Squires states, "that move imposed an immediate stay on the plaintiffs' action against us, thus ending the financial drain of litigation. On that day, SCP, while continuing its larger ministry, officially dropped out of the lawsuit."
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
parachurch organisation located in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. Since its inception in the early 1970s it has been involved in the fields of Christian apologetics
Christian apologetics
Christian apologetics is a field of Christian theology that aims to present a rational basis for the Christian faith, defend the faith against objections, and expose the perceived flaws of other world views...
and the Christian countercult movement
Christian countercult movement
The Christian countercult movement is a social movement of Christian ministries and individual Christian countercult activists who oppose religious sects thought to either partially abide or do not at all abide by the teachings that are written within the Bible. These religious sects are also known...
. Its current president is Tal Brooke. In its role as a think-tank SCP has sought to publish evangelically-based analyses of new religious movements, New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
and alternative spiritualities in light of broad cultural trends. SCP has also been at the center of two controversial US lawsuits, one involving church-state issues (Malnak v. Yogi) and the other being a religious defamation case (Lee v. Duddy).
Background
The origins of the SCP are grounded in the Christian counterculture movement (also known as the Jesus MovementJesus movement
The Jesus movement was a movement in Christianity beginning on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and spreading primarily through North America and Europe, before dying out by the early 1980s. It was the major Christian element within the hippie counterculture,...
or Jesus People) of the late 1960s. In 1968 some staff members of Campus Crusade for Christ
Campus Crusade for Christ
Campus Crusade for Christ is an interdenominational Christian organization that promotes evangelism and discipleship in more than 190 countries...
conceived of the need to contextualize the Christian message for radical and revolutionary university students. The key figures were Jack Sparks and his wife, Patrick and Karry Matrisciana (also known as Caryl Matrisciana), Fred and Jan Dyson, Weldon and Barbara Hartenburg. In April 1969 Sparks and his colleagues commenced their ministry at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, and along the famous street in Berkeley, Telegraph Avenue
Telegraph Avenue
Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland, California, USA, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of California campus in Berkeley, California...
.
The ministry adopted the name Christian World Liberation Front (CWLF) as a challenging counterpart to the politically revolutionary group called the Berkeley Liberation Movement. The CWLF began producing an underground newspaper called Right On. In this newspaper the CWLF staff wrote articles that expressed the Christian message in the language of revolutionary and radical politics.
According to Edward Plowman the CWLF had five objectives:
"1. Determine the real social problems; try to right them. 2. Relate Christ to the important issues and speak out. 3. Befriend those to be reached. Identify with them. 4. Publish mountains of literature. 5. Get the people together once a week."
The CWLF attracted into its membership many Christians and new converts who were interested in its ministry objectives. Among those who were attracted were three men who later collaborated in the formation of the SCP: Brooks Alexander, David Fetcho (who named the ministry), and Bill Squires. Both Alexander and Fetcho were converts to Christianity from the counterculture. Alexander had participated in the psychedelic drug usage of the counterculture, was an initiate of Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation refers to the Transcendental Meditation technique, a specific form of mantra meditation, and to the Transcendental Meditation movement, a spiritual movement...
, and lived in the famous Haight-Ashbury community in San Francisco. Fetcho had been involved with the Ananda Marga Yoga Society before converting to Christianity.
CWLF splits
Sparks and the others formed the New Covenant Apostolic Order, which then became the Evangelical Orthodox ChurchEvangelical Orthodox Church
The Evangelical Orthodox Church is an Eastern Orthodox Christian movement with its origins in Evangelical Protestantism, particularly in the Campus Crusade for Christ student missionary organization, that came to embrace an Eastern tradition of Christianity....
(EOC) in 1979. In April 1987 the EOC was accepted into full communion with the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America is the sole jurisdiction of the Antiochian Orthodox Church in the United States and Canada with exclusive jurisdiction over the Antiochian Orthodox faithful in those countries, though these faithful were originally cared for by the...
.
History of SCP
In 1973 Brooks Alexander and others distributed Christian leaflets at Millennium '73Millennium '73
Millennium '73 was a three-day festival held on November 8–10, 1973 at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, United States, by the Divine Light Mission . It featured Prem Rawat, then known as Guru Maharaj Ji, a 15-year-old guru and the leader of a fast-growing new religious movement...
, a festival held at the Houston Astrodome by Guru Maharaj Ji's
Prem Rawat
Prem Pal Singh Rawat , also known as Maharaji and formerly known as Guru Maharaj Ji and Balyogeshwar, teaches a meditation practice he calls Knowledge....
Divine Light Mission
Divine Light Mission
The Divine Light Mission was an organization founded in 1960 by guru Shri Hans Ji Maharaj for his following in northern India. During the 1970s, the DLM gained prominence in the West under the leadership of his fourth and youngest son, Guru Maharaj Ji...
. That same year Alexander, Fetcho and Haddon launched a grass-roots campaign to oppose the practice of Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation refers to the Transcendental Meditation technique, a specific form of mantra meditation, and to the Transcendental Meditation movement, a spiritual movement...
within US public high schools. In 1975 the SCP was formally incorporated as an "independent Christian nonprofit organization."
The four primary purposes of SCP included:
"1. To research today's spiritual movements and critique them biblically. 2. To equip Christians with the knowledge, analysis, and discernment that will enable them to understand the significance of today's spiritual explosion. 3. To suggest a Christian response which engages the church with all levels of situation. 4. To bring the good news of Jesus Christ and extend a hand of rescue to those in psycho-spiritual bondage."
Transcendental Meditation
The campaign against Transcendental MeditationTranscendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation refers to the Transcendental Meditation technique, a specific form of mantra meditation, and to the Transcendental Meditation movement, a spiritual movement...
(TM) was premised on the grounds that transcendental meditation represented itself as a non-religious activity and was promoted as the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI). The SCP staff maintained that transcendental meditation was not religiously neutral, and that its SCI was based on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , born Mahesh Prasad Varma , developed the Transcendental Meditation technique and was the leader and guru of the TM movement, characterised as a new religious movement and also as non-religious...
's Hindu faith. The SCP's Right On newsletter was the first to publish portions of the TM teacher's manual, including details of the Puja ceremony.
The focal point for an anti-Transcendental Meditation campaign was a civil action lawsuit No.76-431 in the US District Court of New Jersey. The lawsuit known as Malnak v. Yogi contested whether transcendental meditation was religious or not, and if the former then it could not be taught in US public high schools. The plaintiff
Plaintiff
A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
s, which included the SCP, presented evidence to show that the initiatory ceremony of transcendental meditation (known as the puja) was religious in nature and the practice of meditation presented as SCI involved chanting Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
s. Justice Curtis Meanor who presided over the case concluded that transcendental meditation/SCI are "religious in nature within the context of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and the teaching thereof in the New Jersey public schools is therefore unconstitutional."
The success of this campaign catapulted the SCP into prominence among evangelical Christians in North America and internationally.
Local church controversy
In 1977 InterVarsity press released an 80 page booklet by the SCP called The God-Men: Witness Lee and the Local Church. It was updated and released as a full-length book in 1981 as The God-Men: An Inquiry into Witness Lee and the Local Church. The book presented the results of SCP's investigations into the theology and practices of the Local Church. The SCP findings alleged that the Local Church was promulgating heresy. The dispute between the Local Church and the SCP escalated into a lawsuit for defamation that was filed in OaklandOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, California in December 1980 and known as Lee v. Duddy.
Over a period of four and a half years the pre-trial preparations and depositions, involved expenditure that brought SCP into legal debt with their defense lawyers. The defamation trial was scheduled to commence on March 4, 1985. According to Bill Squires "the lawfirm representing us withdrew from the case" and so the decision was taken to file for a reorganizational bankruptcy in the Bankruptcy Court. Squires states, "that move imposed an immediate stay on the plaintiffs' action against us, thus ending the financial drain of litigation. On that day, SCP, while continuing its larger ministry, officially dropped out of the lawsuit."
Background
- "A Brief History of SCP," SCP Newsletter, 17/1 (April 1992), p. 16
- "A Brief History of the SCP," (slightly different from the account in SCP Newsletter April 1992)
- Robert Digitale, "Major Shift at Spiritual Counterfeits Project?" Christianity Today, (January 15, 1990), pp. 53–54.
- Peter D. Dresser, Research Centers Directory 1988, 12th ed (Detroit: Gale, 1988), p. 1224.
- Ronald M. Enroth, "Evangelical Orthodox Church vs. Spiritual Counterfeits: New Denomination Debates Critic over Authority," Christianity Today, (August 7, 1981), pp. 33–34.
- Donald Heinz, "The Christian World Liberation Front," in The New Religious Consciousness, Charles Y. Glock and Robert N. Bellah, eds., (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1976), pp. 143–161. ISBN 0-520-03083-4
- John A. SalibaJohn A. SalibaJohn A. Saliba is a Maltese-born Jesuit priest, a professor of religious studies at the University of Detroit Mercy and a noted writer and researcher in the field of new religious movements.Saliba has advocated a conciliatory approach towards new religions...
, "The Christian Response to the New Religions: A Critical Look at the Spiritual Counterfeits Project," Journal of Ecumenical Studies 18, 3 (Summer 1981), pp. 451–473. - Tim Stafford, "The Kingdom of the Cult Watchers," Christianity Today (October 7, 1991), pp. 18–22.
Representative publications
- SCP Journal (published since April 1977–)
- SCP Newsletter (published since February 1975–)
- Frances Adeney, "The Attractive Cults and how to counter them," HIS magazine, (March 1981), pp. 22–25.
- Mark Albrecht, "UFOs: The Devil’s Chariots?" Christian Life 40/12 (April 1979),pp. 38–39, 59–60, 62, 65.
- Mark Albrecht, "Eckankar: A Classic Study of a NRM," New Religious Movements Up-Date 4/4 (December 1980), pp. 36–41.
- Mark Albrecht, "Gnosticism, Past and Present," New Religious Movements Up-Date 5, 3/4 (December 1981), pp. 19–23.
- Mark Albrecht, Reincarnation: A Christian Appraisal (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1982).
- Brooks Alexander, "The Final Threat: Apocalypse, Conspiracy, and Biblical Faith," SCP Newsletter 10/1 (January–February 1984), pp. 1, 6–8, 11–12.
- Brooks Alexander, "Theology from the Twilight Zone," Christianity Today (September 18, 1987), pp. 22–26.
- Brooks Alexander, Witchcraft Goes Mainstream (Eugene: Harvest House, 2004). ISBN 0-7369-1221-5
- Tal Brooke, Lord of the Air: Tales of a Modern Antichrist (Eugene: Harvest House, 1990).
- Tal Brooke, When The World Will Be As One: The Coming New World Order in the New Age (Eugene: Harvest House, 1989).
- Robert J. Burrows, "Americans Get Religion in the New Age," Christianity Today, (May 16, 1986), pp. 17–23.
- David Fetcho, "Disclosing the Unknown God:Evangelism to the New Religions," Update: A Quarterly Journal on New Religious Movements 6, 4 (December 1982), pp. 7–16.
- David Haddon and Vail Hamilton, TM Wants You! A Christian Response to Transcendental Meditation (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976). ISBN 0-8010-4151-1
- Dean C. Halverson, Crystal Clear: Understanding and Reaching New Agers (Colorado Springs: NAV Press, 1990).
- Karen Hoyt & J. Isamu Yamamoto, eds., The New Age Rage (Old Tappan: Revell, 1987). ISBN 0-8007-5257-0
- Michael J. Woodruff, "Religious Freedom and the New Religions," International Review of Mission 57, 268 (October 1978),pp. 468–473.
- J. Isamu Yamamoto, The Puppet Master: An Inquiry into Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1977). ISBN 0-87784-740-1
- J. Isamu Yamamoto, Beyond Buddhism (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1982). ISBN 0-87784-990-0
SCP v. Witness Lee/Local Church
- Brooks Alexander, "Expert Opinion and the Bias of Experts," SCP Newsletter 11/4 (November 1986), pp. 11–15.
- Brooks Alexander, "When Talk Isn’t Cheap and Speech Isn’t Free: The Abuse of Libel Law," SCP Newsletter 11/4 (November 1986), pp. 4–5.
- Neil T. Duddy and the SCP, The God-Men: An Inquiry into Witness Lee and the Local Church, 2nd ed., (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1981). ISBN 0-87784-833-5
- J. Gordon Melton, An Open Letter Concerning the Local Church, Witness Lee and the God-Men Controversy (Santa Barbara: Institute for the Study of American Religion, 1985). (Critical of the Duddy-SCP book)
- Local Church articles replying to SCP and other critics, transcript of court documents in Lee v. Duddy
- Bill Squires, "The Lawsuit in Perspective," SCP Newsletter, 11/4 (November 1986), pp. 6–10.