PRESS RELEASE
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Bud Press
Non-Christian Materials Promoted
on Pro-Family Website
Tupelo, MS
(March 29, 2004)-- In an amazing
turn of events, the nation's
largest pro-family group, the
American Family Association,
continues to advertise and
promote a wide variety of
non-Christian materials within
its two online Christian
bookstores.
"This is
one of the most incredible
situations I have ever
encountered," said Bud Press. "AFA
is on the frontline in the
battle against the gay agenda,
but their online bookstores
offer for sale books written by
cultic, New Age and pro-gay
authors."
Press, a
Christian Investigative
Researcher who has worked
hand-in-hand with AFA on
numerous projects, said his
research into non-Christian
books within online Christian
bookstores began last year.
Since then, he has contacted and
furnished information to
numerous online bookstores,
including AFA and the American
Family Radio Bookstore.
But since
December of last year, Press
says it has been an uphill
battle to get AFA to remove the
books.
"Most of
the bookstores I have contacted
have expressed deep concern and
are appreciative of the
information," said Press. "This
was a simple cut-and-dry
situation with AFA, which began
over three months ago. But in
spite of the overwhelming
evidence, AFA hasn't taken this
seriously. They act as if they
could care less."
When a top
AFA official closed the door to
further negotiation in January
of this year, Press wrote
letters to and left voice-mail
messages for AFA's founder and
chairman, Dr. Don Wildmon. When
there was no reply, Press
directed his concerns to
numerous AFA state directors
nationwide--in the form of "An
Open Letter to Dr. Don Wildmon."
"There were
AFA state directors who found
this very disturbing and
unbelievable, until they saw it
for themselves," Press said.
When asked
to name some of the cultic, New
Age and pro-gay authors whose
books have infiltrated AFA's
bookstores, Press immediately
cited Mary Baker Eddy (Christian
Science), Stephen R. Covey
(Mormon), Matthew Fox and Jon
Mundy (New Age), and Peter
Gomes, Jon L. Berquist and Chris
Glaser (pro-gay).
"But these
are only the tip of the
iceberg," said Press.
"Altogether, there are hundreds
authors and an untold number of
books lurking deep within many
online Christian bookstores."
Press
should know. He has spent
months researching the contents
of online bookstores. From there
he developed a "Master List," of
which he now provides to both
walk-in bookstore managers and
online bookstore webmasters.
"Most of
the online Christian bookstores
offer an affiliate membership
program to their customers,"
Press said. "Certain memberships
allow customers to receive a
percentage from each book sold
on their websites. In this case,
AFA has teamed-up with Spread
The Word Ministries, which
promotes multiple thousands of
books to the Christian
community."
Press
maintains that many of the books
he has researched, whether
cultic, New Age or pro-gay, have
no business in an online
Christian bookstore, whatsoever,
and should be removed
immediately.
And a
growing number of Christian
apologetics ministries agree.
Ray Yungen,
author of A Time of
Departing is an expert on
the New Age Movement. When asked
about the presence of New Age
books within online Christian
bookstores, he wrote,
"A
New Age and Eastern mystical
spirituality has infiltrated
Christian churches around the
country at an alarming rate. A
significant responsibility for
this falls on the shoulders of
Christian online bookstores that
sell the books of hundreds of
New Age/Eastern religion
authors, and by so doing these
bookstores endorse blatant,
anti-Biblical doctrines. We
believe a line must be drawn, a
distinguishment clearly made of
what is and is not contrary to
the basic beliefs of the
Christian faith."
Marcia
Montenegro is no stranger to the
New Age Movement and its
authors. Prior to becoming a
Christian, she was a
professional astrologer for
eight years and was heavily
involved in Eastern and New Age
worldviews. She stands as a
living testimony to God's grace
and sounds an alarm to the
dangers of New Age teachings
that online Christian bookstores
would do well to heed:
"I have to say I am dismayed by
seeing many New Age authors
promoted by online Christian
bookstores. Many New Agers call
themselves Christians and may
even be officially part of a
Christian denomination, such as
Matthew Fox, but their teachings
deny the God and Jesus of the
Bible. Fox's Creation
Spirituality, for example, is
not only New Age but has
influenced the New Age movement.
Others may have more subtle New
Age views, such as M. Scott
Peck, but they are unmistakably
New Age in their thinking."
Continuing,
Miss Montenegro states that,
"One of the characteristics of
the New Age is that it borrows
from other religions and can
camouflage itself in terms that
even sound Christian. New Age
writers and proponents do not
use the label "New Age" but,
nevertheless, they are espousing
New Age worldviews. Having been
delivered by a gracious Savior
from that path in late 1990, I
am grieved that the very beliefs
I was rescued from now mar the
pages of online Christian
bookstores."
"These are
not books that argue the use of
crumbled crackers or
cubed-bread during Communion,"
said Press, "nor are they books
that are balanced with
apologetics. They are the real
thing. Once informed, bookstore
webmasters should not hesitate
from deleting them from their
inventory."
Press says
that one of the ironies of this
issue with AFA is that past AFA
publications have carried
articles mentioning cults,
heretics, factions within the
New Age Movement and even
homosexual activists such as
Chris Glaser and Peter Gomes.
"While a
small handfull of pro-gay books
were recently removed from one
of the AFA bookstores," said
Press, "there are many more that
remain. And until all
of the non-Christian books are
removed from both AFA
bookstores, AFA should refrain
from issuing 'Action Alerts'
and requesting its membership to
contact anyone to remove
anything."
G. Richard
Fisher, co-author of The
Confusing World of Benny Hinn advises Christians
to be alert and on guard,
especially during visits to
Christian bookstores:
"Tread with extreme caution and
discernment in your local
Christian bookstore. It is
really hard to believe but
universalism, Gnosticism,
relationalism, pantheism,
self-atonement, defective
Christology and skewed
bibliology are all available at
your Christian bookstore."
"The enemy
has been allowed to pass through
the gates of the Christian city,
virtually undetected," Press
said. "They no longer sit silent
awaiting the right moment to
strike, but have seductively
slithered from deep within the
belly of their Trojan Horse, and
have crept throughout the city
under the cover of spiritual
darkness into our homes,
businesses, culture
and Christian bookstores."
###
Sources/Contact Info:
Dr. Don Wildmon, American Family
Association (662) 844-5036;
www.afa.net
Mr.
G. Richard Fisher, Personal
Freedom Outreach (314) 921-9800;
www.pfo.org
