Apologetics research resources on religious cults and sects (original) (raw)
Apologetics Index - O
O'Brien, Ronald J.
Obermeister, Ruben
Occultism
Odinism
Odinism is another term for Asatru, a pagan religion. But in the FBI's Project Megiddo, it was described as a:
... white supremacist ideology that lends itself to violence and has the potential to inspire its followers to violence in connection to the millennium. What makes Odinists dangerous is the fact that many believe in the necessity of becoming martyrs for their cause.
Articles
The New Romantics ''A Swedish expert on right-wing extremism says that racist Odinism is the radical religion of the future.'' By Mattias Gardell, professor of religious history at the University of Stockholm�s Center for Research in International Migration and Ethnic Relations, writing in the Spring, 2001 edition of Intelligence Report (published by the Southern Poverty Law Center). See also: Clarification, by Mattias Gardell.
See Also
Sites
Odinic Rite "This website describes the customs and values of modern Odinism, which is called by some Asatru. "
Oekumenische Beratstellung - Religiöse Sondergrupen & Sekten
Swiss countercult information agency. Headed by pastor Martin Scheidegger.
Matthofring 4
Postfach 3907
6002 Luzern
Phone: 041 360 78 19
Fax: 041 360 78 01 Email: sektenberatung@pilatusnet.ch
Email Martin Scheidegger: mscheide@webshuttle.ch
O'Hair
Founder, American Atheists. Disappeared without a trace in 1995. It was later discovered that she was murdered (see the news database)
Note: Ms. O'Hair is named in a hoax involving a rumor about the FCC.
O'Meara, Nancy
Scientology minister. CAN volunteer.
Administator, Foundation for Religious Freedom dba (doing business a) Cult Awareness Network (CAN) (Scientology-operated).
Maiden name: Nancy Ann French (the name under which she is said to have authored two books for CAN)
An author blurb at Amazon.com says "She was raised Methodist, baptized as an evangelical Christian in her teens, and joined the Church of Scientology in college which she has been a member of for over 25 years."
The Church of Scientology claims it is compatible with Christianity, but that misinformation has been thoroughly refuted.
Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Omega Code
Movie funded by the Trinity Broadcasting Network (also referred to as "The Blasphemy Network" due to its support for all things heretical). Not surprisingly, the movie includes extra-Biblical speculation regarding the "Bible Codes" - a discredited theory promoted by TBN founder Paul Crouch.
Oneness Pentecostalism
Our entry on Oneness Pentecostalism, also known as Jesus-Onlyism, has moved here.
Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Huge site promoting tolerance toward "all but destructive religions." The site is operated by "a group of 4 volunteers: two Unitarian Universalists , one Wiccan and one liberal but unaffiliated Christian." All are said to be "motivated by a concern about threats to religious freedom, and about religious hatred, misinformation, and discrimination."
The stated purpose of the site is "to disseminate accurate religious information:"
We concentrate on religions which are in a minority status in North America. There are many hundreds of such faith groups in the US and Canada. We believe that there is much good and some evil in all faiths. No one faith is all good; none is all evil. By informing people about various religions (and counteracting misinformation spread by others) we hope that understanding and tolerance will increase; bigotry will decrease.
Additionally, the site aims "to expose religious fraud, hatred and misinformation," and "to disseminate information on 'hot' religious topics:"
Unlike most religious home pages on the WWW, we do not promote a single religious belief. We do not criticize any person or any organized religion for their beliefs. However we do censure individuals and groups for their actions - particularly actions which harm people, limit their personal freedoms, or restrict their spiritual, mental, emotional, or physical growth. Thus, we are anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-homophobic.
Unfortunately, while you'll find an extensive collection of documented, cross-referenced information, many articles are not as balanced as advertised. The site promotes pluralism, and has a decidedly dim view of the anti-cult and counter-cult movements. It prefers to believe cult-apologists, and promotes many of their arguments. In public and private messages, staff and supporters of the Scientology-backed CAN, refer people to the site rather than their own.
Ontology
... a branch of metaphysics [...] and, more specifically, is the study of the nature or essence of Being -- the One -- and its relationship to creation and vice versa.
Open Metaphysics
The idea that reality is multiple and diverse (e.g. different levels of truth of reality). Compare pluralism.
Oral Roberts University (ORU)
Established by word-faith teacher Oral Roberts. Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Orden Fiat Lux (Uriella)
Order of St. Charbel
Order of the Solar Temple
Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO)
Occult movement.
History of the OTO Article on the U.S. Grand Lodge site.
OTO U.S. Grand Lodge The Ordo Templi Orientis Phenomenon "A detailed historical field research on the psycho-sociology of a modern secret society..."
Orthodox
Orthodox Church
Orthodoxy
The body of essential biblical teachings. Those who embrace them should be accepted as Christians. The opposite of heresy. Adj.: "orthodox."
Definition from: "A Biblical Guide To Orthodoxy And Heresy Part One: The Case For Doctrinal Discernment" (an article from the Christian Research Journal, Summer 1990, page 28) by Robert M. Bowman.
Note: the term can also refer to orthodoxy in other religions. For example: ''The body of essential koranic teachings. Those who embrace them should be accepted at Muslims.
Alan Gomes writes:
- ''Central doctrines'' of the Christian faith are those doctrines that make the Christian faith Christian and not something else.
- The meaning of the expression ''Christian faith'' is not like a wax nose, which can be twisted to mean whatever the speaker wants it to mean.
- The Christian faith is a definite system of beliefs with definite content (Jude 3)
- Certain Christian doctrines constitute the core of the faith. Central doctrines include the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the bodily resurrection, the atoning work of Christ on the cross, and salvation by grace through faith. These doctrines so comprise the essence of the Christian faith that to remove any of them is to make the belief system non-Christian.
- Scripture teaches that the beliefs mentioned above are of central importance (e.g., Matt. 28:19; John 8:24; 1 Cor. 15; Eph. 2:8-10).
- Because these central doctrines define the character of Christianity, one cannot be saved and deny these.
- Central doctrines should not be confused with peripheral issues, about which Christians may legitimately disagree. Peripheral (i.e. non-essential) doctrines include such issues as the timing of the tribulation, the method of baptism, or the structure of church government. For example, one can be wrong about the identity of "the spirits in prison" 1 Peter 3:19) or about the timing of the rapture and still go to heaven, but one cannot deny salvation by grace or the deity of Christ (John 8:24) and be saved.
- All Christian denominations -- whether Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Protestant -- agree on the essential core. The relatively minor disagreements between genuinely Christian denomination, then, cannot be used to argue that there is no objectively recognized core of fundamental doctrine which constitutes the Christian faith.
Orthopraxis
Orthopraxis is the theological term for ''correct practice.''
Christian orthodoxy leads to orthopraxis. Unsound theology, however, leads to unsound practices (aberrant behavior).
A church or movement that persists in unsound practice - all or not supported by unbiblical and/or extra-biblical teachings - may be (or may eventually turn into) a cult of Christianity.
Correct practice required of anyone who would be regarded as a Christian.
Definition from: "A Biblical Guide To Orthodoxy And Heresy Part One: The Case For Doctrinal Discernment" (an article from the Christian Research Journal, Summer 1990, page 28) by Robert M. Bowman.
OSA
Osho
Hindu meditation group founded by the late Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
In 1988 thirty years after taking the title, ''Bhagwan,'' (which means ''the embodiment of God'') Rajneesh admitted the title and his claim to be God were a ''joke.'' ''I hate the word... I don't want to be called Bhagwan (God) again. Enough is enough. The joke is over,'' stated Rajneesh saying he was really the reincarnation of Buddha and claiming for himself the new title of ''Rajneesh Gautaman the Buddha,'' (Star Telegram, Dec. 29, 1988; Sec.1, p. 3). Later he took the title, ''Osho Rajneesh,'' a Buddhist term meaning ''on whom the heavens shower flowers.'' (Ibid, 1/20/90).
Old Bhagwan, new bottles ''A 'new' spiritual guru turns out to have a past that includes lavish spending, orgies and bacterial terrorism.'', Salon.com, Oct. 20, 1999
Ever wonder what ever happened to the guy whose religious followers were linked to the only episode of domestic mass bioterrorism in America? Well, in the case of the late, notorious Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, old renegade sex gurus never die. He just ''left his body'' somewhere in India in 1990 and later emerged as a thriving, modern-day publishing machine known as Osho.
Rajneesh's flock caught much of his meditative bon mots on tape, and now incessantly recycle these ponderings as spiritual wisdom under the author name of Osho.
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