UCKG? If you haven’t already you soon will. August 11, 2010
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Uncategorized.trackback
You may not have heard of the UCKG, but it’s paper may – even now, be dropping through your letterbox. It sure did through mine I didn’t get to scan it in time before it was thrown out, but you can see it here[This is a UK version, but it’s near identical to the Irish one].
It’s a fairly lavish production, something along the lines of those local advertising freesheets on steroids. All big brash headlines, lots of references to sex and true stories. The links into soaps are everywhere.
Clue 1 that it might not be quite what it presented itself came with a heap of ‘ads’ for UCKG services.
Clue 2 was that the initials UCKG are mentioned everywhere throughout but aren’t spelled out.
Thing is that the UCKG is the , a South American Pentecostal and evangelical organisation (actually, that ‘and’ is probably tautological). It’s a most interesting operation, well worth a perusal of the wiki page dedicated to it.
And on this side of the Atlantic it may well be this case jolts memories.
It might be interesting to know how widely this has been distributed around Dublin or other parts of the island.
Here’s an article from the Independent from some years back.
The Cedar Lounge Revolution 
Never heard of them before – their Irish website is “interesting”
http://www.uckgireland.ie/
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I know, I’m overusing that word, but… you’re right.
Neither had I, or at least it hadn’t consciously impinged on me that they were an actual organisation.
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BTW, I presume that’s just a rebadged UK site. It looks very familiar.
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The account of its establishment in Ireland is all about Britain. Now we know how the poor souls worldwide felt when the Christian Brothers rocked up to spread the good news.
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Is true. 🙂
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Page 8/9 banner headline: ‘Does What Happen in Eastenders Happen in Real Life?’
Said it before and I’ll say it again: no one does the high budget/low literacy double like the religious right.
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Does happen. Does happen. What a bunch. Well spotted.
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We’ve been getting their stuff through the letterbox in Stoneybatter for the last few years. I guess that’s because their ‘help centre’ is not too far away (it’s on Phibsboro Road).
Check out their ‘holy oil from Israel’ – it can cure everything from heart disease to unemployment. It’s clean, hygenic and you can annoint yourself in the privacy of your own home.
The poor RCs have to make do with a rub of Padre Pio’s mitten.
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Yeah proximity would be a factor too. Same constituency but different side.
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I think this may be the same organization discussed on the Joe Duffy show a few days ago. I was in the car and only caught a bit of it; my memory is crap so I’ll approximate. One parent rang in to complain about his child being approached by evangelists on the street, who proceded to ask his daughter personal and emotional questions (I think about her feelings and memories generally), in an attempt to butter her up. He had no objection to anyone promoting their religion, but considered the deliberate targeting of young people exploitive. The evangelist rationalized this conduct on the grounds that they do so much youth work and help children stay away from drugs and criminality. He explained that his organization was undertaking a nationwide mission in order to (as he saw it) save souls for Christ. It was a polite discussion but it did raise some disturbing considerations.
There’s going to be an explosion in membership of these evangelical churches in the next twenty years. They are lavishly endowed by Bible-Belt America and boast an almost endless supply of resources. Their membership is young and highly motivated. Indeed not long after I got out of the car I was handed an evangelistic tract (by an American volunteer) while going about my business on the street – although that was commissioned by the local pentecostal church.
Some European countries, such as France, have passed anti-cult laws to protect the vulnerable from being targeted. A list of ‘sectes’ have been blacklisted and are subject to civil restraints (forbidden from proselytizing, or building a church close to a school etc). This raises questions about civil liberties. I’m don’t know where you draw the line between ‘real religions’ and ‘dangerous cults’.
Fascinating to hear that the Church is based in Brazil, where evangelicals are growing rapidly (as in Latin America generally) and have increasingly clout. Interesting article from 2001 in Time on the ‘Battle for Latin America’s soul’: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,156277,00.html
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You’d wonder would people be insulted by the implication their kids were on their way to ‘drugs and criminality’.
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I cannot belive some of the comments to your blog. The UCKG is NOT a Christian Church, no matter how liberal how conservative your view of Christianity is. The UCKG is a complete and utter scam, and the only, not the main, objective of it is to extract money form its victims. Please watch my short video on youtube explaining some of it and please help with letter writing to denounce their pass actions and the lack of vigilance from the authorities and the media.
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I cannot believe you’re reading the same comments I am.
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‘The UCKG is a complete and utter scam, and the only, not the main, objective of it is to extract money form its victims.’
Sounds like most religions to me.
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Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions.
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During the love and peace flower-power 1960s in San Francisco, it used to be said that opium and hash were the religion of the people. Then Don McClean in American Pie declared that the music died.
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Sometimes I feel confused by the methods used in the asking for money; as well as by the lack of some Christian virtues like kindness, in some pastors and especially bishops at UCKG; though, other than this, I have seen, read, heard, etc, I think, since February (2010, when I started attending), literally at least thousands, of testimonials of great miracles in people´s lives. I was invited myself to attend a couple of meetings of the youth group at the city I am at, and this is a superb work; truly amazing, as you see hundreds if not thousands of sanctified teens taken out from Brazilian streets or slums. This is the truth, I have seen it.
I do feel divided, though, sometimes, for not understanding the lack of politeness/polishing; specially, but not only, regarding the asking for money. I do understand, though, that Bishop Macedo wants to serve Jesus, taking the Word/Good News to the four corners; and it is obvious that for this to be done at the rate he (and the uckg) is doing, money is needed; but I believe that with the great blessings which are present in the church, “great care is needed”.
You will find lot´s of horrible things said about the church; but you can also see close to a thousand testimonials of saintly people on youtube (a lot in Portuguese, but you can see their faces; and some in English and probably in hundreds of other languages, as well).
God is there; but beyond disconsidering human error which we definitely need to (all of us err, and in a church of this size this would not be exception), we need to be aware of the works of the one who wants truth be seen as evil; so he will cause error to happen so that truth is seen as evil; or simply, unseen.
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See comment 2
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Instead of ‘disconsidering’, please read ‘disregarding’.
Instead of ‘…seen as evil; so…’,
‘seen as evil, in this way…’
Religious right, them?
Not sure, they are much more social than that (they are for Dilma Roussef, Worker´s Party presidential candidate); and, I am not either, Jesus is not ‘right or left’.
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Beware of this major cult their growing all over the world and only God can stop them. They always say people keep coming back to them and thats because they spiritually enslave the people. I read they might practise witchcraft or ocult spiritism thats how they get people to keep coming back to them. Beware of all their marketing stategies to get u in and u cant ever leave. There could be good people but their all blinded and dont know whats going on or maybe they do but they cant get out their stuck in a nightmare. Beware of those blogs nanda bezera cristiane cardoso their just to pull u in and make a lot of money they dont care and they have big egos and from the same family from edir macedo. I read they marry each other so every thing stays in the family inside the group. BEWARE!
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Money-making is the by far the main purpose of this cult, which was started in the 1970s by a Brazilian called Edir Macedo. The cult is growing like wildfire in African and Latin American countries, where people with little or no education and extremely arduous lives fall prey to the promises of earthly financial success in exchange for tithing and donations, which sometimes include family homes and inheritances. More recently, on top of the tithing, Evil Edir and his “pastors” have demanded that the cult victims beg on the streets during the Christmas season. This begging has been going on in London for about three years,
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uckg is not a religion mind you, also uckg dosent have laws to be followed .
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