Holy Roller Took Christians For $25M

(AP)  Federal investigators arrested a man Friday on a charge of wire fraud and alleged he ran a Ponzi scheme that netted more than $25 million by targeting Christian investors nationwide.

Jon G. Ervin, 61, of Mission Viejo, was named Thursday in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. A federal magistrate set bail at $1 million during a brief court appearance Friday and Ervin was not immediately released.

Ervin's public defender, Leon Peterson, didn't immediately return a call for comment.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also filed lawsuits against Ervin and his company, Safevest LLC, on Thursday and obtained federal orders freezing their assets.

According to the criminal complaint, Ervin used Safevest to persuade victims to invest in a fake commodity futures trading program. Investors were told Safevest would use no more than 13 percent of their deposit in hundreds of commodity trades a day on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, with a guarantee of up to 1 percent in returns each day.

Investors could check their returns on a password-protected Web site that was run exclusively by Ervin. The program attracted about 550 investors, officials said.

Investigators alleged, however, that Ervin didn't invest any of the money in commodities trading and instead spent $1 million of the money to invest in a Georgia golf course. He also bought a sport utility vehicle and spent lavishly on air travel, gourmet meals and shopping, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.

Up to 80 percent of investors were churchgoing Christians and many joined the program after being approached by fellow worshippers through a referral system, according to court papers.

Those who referred others in their church would receive a 10 percent "referral fee" from the profits of the new members they solicited; pastors were required to make an initial investment of $5,000, while non-pastors had to put down $25,000, according to federal documents.

Investment materials included the resume of an Arlington, Va., pastor, the Rev. John V. Slye, who was listed as one of the founders of the National Center for Cancer Research and a prominent fundraiser for charities.

The SEC complaint states that Slye was the chief executive and co-owner of Safevest and was a signatory on several accounts, but Mrozek said Slye has not been charged in the criminal case because it's unclear how much he knew about the operation. Investigators have also not determined if all the information on Slye's resume was accurate.

"Basically, what you have here is a scheme that is being orchestrated by Ervin," Mrozek said. "There are people who are wittingly or unwittingly assisting him, and we're still trying to figure out who knew what, and when."

A Web site for Grace Community Church in Arlington, Va., lists a John Slye as pastor. Slye didn't immediately return a message left at his office and did not respond to an e-mail.

Ervin eventually returned about $18 million to investors who grew concerned and asked for their money back, but the rest was never recovered, Mrozek said. Ervin would dodge investors' phone calls or delay returning the money through a series of excuses, the criminal complaint said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Waier, who is prosecuting the case, was traveling and unavailable for comment Friday.

[nothappyatall]

The earliest Waldensians believed in poverty and austerity, promoting true poverty, public preaching and the personal study of the scriptures. The sect originated in the late 12th century as the Poor Men of Lyons, a band organized by Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant of Lyon, who gave away his property around 1177 and went about preaching apostolic poverty as the way to perfection.

In 1179, they went to Rome, where Pope Alexander III blessed their life but forbade preaching without authorization from the local clergy. They disobeyed and began to preach according to their own understanding of scripture. Seen by the Roman Catholic Church as unorthodox, they were formally declared heretics by Pope Lucius III in 1184 and by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215.

In 1211 more than 80 were burned as heretics at Strasbourg, beginning several centuries of persecution that nearly destroyed the sect. Part of their legacy is recognized as works of the writer Henri Arnaud.
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Anyone who disagreed with the CHURCH or didnt do what they were told were burned or otherwise executed as "heretics" or "witches"

[nothappyatall]

One of the most famous examples of religious violence in the Middle Ages is of course the Crusades - attempts by European Christians to impose their vision of religion upon Jews, Orthodox Christians, heretics, Muslims, and just about anyone else who happened to get in the way.
Hardly a noble quest in foreign lands, the Crusades represented the worst in religion generally and in Christianity specifically. The broad historical outlines of the Crusades are available in most history books
Two systems which emerged in the church deserve special mention has having contributed greatly: penance and indulgences. Penance was a type of worldly punishment, and a common form was a pilgrimage to the Holy Lands. Pilgrims resented the fact that sites holy to Christianity were not controlled by Christians, and they were easily whipped into a state of agitation and hatred towards Muslims.

[nothappyatall]

later on, crusading itself was regarded as a holy pilgrimage - thus, people paid penance for their sins by going off and slaughtering adherents of another religion. Indulgences, or waivers of temporal punishment, were granted by the church to anyone who contributed monetarily to the bloody campaigns.
ens of thousands of peasants followed Peter the Hermit who displayed a letter he claimed was written by (The big cheese) and delivered to him personally by Geezus. This letter was supposed to be his credentials as a Christian leader, and perhaps he was indeed qualified - in more ways than one.

Not to be outdone, throngs of crusaders in the Rhine valley followed a goose believed to be enchanted by (The big cheese) to be their guide. I''''m not sure that they got very far, although they did manage to join other armies following Emich of Leisingen who asserted that a cross miraculously appeared on his chest, certifying him for leadership. Showing a level of rationality consistent with their choice of leaders, Emich''''s followers decided that before they traveled across Europe to kill (The big cheese)''''s enemies, it would be a good idea to eliminate the infidels in their midst. Thus suitably motivated, they proceeded to massacre the Jews in German cities like Mainz and Worms. Thousands of defenseless men, women and children were chopped, burned or otherwise slaughtered.

[nothappyatall]

This sort of action was not an isolated event - indeed, it was repeated throughout Europe by all sorts of crusading hordes. The lucky Jews were given a last-minute chance to convert to Christianity in accord with Augustine''''s doctrines. Even other Christians were not safe from the Christian crusaders. As they roamed the countryside, they spared no effort in pillaging towns and farms for food. When Peter the Hermit''''s army entered Yugoslavia, 4,000 Christian residents of the city of Zemun were massacred before they moved on to burn Belgrade.
When Muslim cities were captured by Christian crusaders, it was standard operating procedure for all inhabitants - no matter what their age - to be summarily killed. It is not an exaggeration to say that the streets ran red with blood as Christians reveled in church-sanctioned horrors. Jews who took refuge in their synagogues would be burned alive, not unlike the treatment they received in Europe.

[nothappyatall]

In his reports about the conquest of Jerusalem, Chronicler Raymond of Aguilers wrote that "It was a just and marvelous judgment of god , that this place [the temple of Solomon] should be filled with the blood of the unbelievers." St. Bernard announced before the Second Crusade that "The Christian glories in the death of a pagan, because thereby Christ himself is glorified."

Sometimes, atrocities were excused as actually being merciful. When a crusader army broke out of Antioch and sent the besieging army into flight, the Christians found that the abandoned Muslim camp was filled with the wives of the enemy soldiers. Chronicler Fulcher of Chartres happily recorded for posterity that "...the Franks did nothing evil to them [the women] except pierce their bellies with their lances."

Fatal Heresy

Although members of other religions obviously suffered at the hands of good Christians throughout the Middle Ages, it should not be forgotten that other Christians suffered just as much. Augustine''''s exhortion to compel entry into the church was used with great zeal when church leaders dealt with Christians who daredto follow a different sort of religious path. This was not always the case - during the first millennium, death was a rare penalty. But in the 1200s, shortly after the beginning of the crusades against the Muslims, wholly European crusades against Christian dissidents were enacted.

[nothappyatall]

The first victims were the Albigenses, sometimes called the Cathari, who were centered primarily in southern France. These poor freethinkers doubted the biblical story of Creation, thought that Geezus was an angel instead of (The big cheese), rejected transubstantiation, and demanded strict celibacy. History has taught that celibate religious groups generally tend to die out sooner or later, but contemporary church leaders weren''''t anxious to wait. The Cathari also took the dangerous step of translating the biBULL into the common language of the people, which only served to further enrage religious leaders.

In 1208, Pope Innocent III raised an army of over 20,000 knights and peasants eager to kill and pillage their way through France. When the city of Beziers fell to the besieging armies of Christendom, soldiers asked papal legate Arnald Amalric how to tell the faithful apart from the infidels. He uttered his famous words: "Kill them all. (The big cheese) will know His own." Such depths of contempt and hatred are truly frightening, but they are only possible in the context of a religious doctrine of eternal punishment for unbelievers and eternal reward for believers.

[nothappyatall]

Followers of Peter Waldo of Lyon, called Waldensians, also suffered the wrath of official Christendom. They promoted the role of lay street preachers despite official policy that only ordained ministers be allowed to preach. They rejecting things like oaths, war, relics, veneration of saints, indulgences, purgatory, and a great deal more which was promoted by religious leaders. The church needed to control the sort of information which the people heard, lest they be corrupted by the temptation to think for themselves. They were declared heretics at the Council of Verona in 1184 and then hounded and killed over the course of the following 500 years. In 1487, Pope Innocent VIII called for an armed crusade against populations of Waldensians in France. Some of them still apparently survive in the Alps and Piedmont.


Dozens of other heretical groups suffered the same fate - condemnation, excommunication, repression and eventually death. Christians did not shy away from killing their own religious brethern when even minor theological differences arose. For them, perhaps no differences were truly minor - all doctrines were a part of the True Path to heaven, and deviation on any point challenged the authority of the church and the community. It was a rare person who dared to stand up and make independent decisions about religious belief, made all the more rare by the fact that they were massacred as fast as possible.

[nothappyatall]

Pagans honour the Divine in all its aspects, whether male or female, as parts of the sacred whole. Every man and woman is, to a Pagan, a beautiful and unique being. Children are loved and honoured and there is a strong sense of community. The woods and open spaces of the land, home to wild animals and birds, are cherished. Paganism stresses personal spiritual experience, and Pagans often find that experience through their relationship with the natural world that they love. We seek spiritual union with Divinity by attuning with the tides of Nature and by exploring our inner selves, seeing each reflected in the other. We believe that we should meet the Divine face to face, within our own experience, rather than through an intermediary.

Christianity by comparison has a long history of violence, bloodshed, murder of innocent non-believers (or adherents of other religions and beliefs)
Some selected highlights from it''s history;

[nothappyatall]

Blessed are You for not making me a woman.

It seems that religion (and lack of it) is
Posted by down-ndirty

Yeah isnt that amazing? im sure that made women feel REAL c=valued! hypocrits, subversive, sick.
Compare that to paganism;


Paganism is a spiritual way of life which has its roots in the ancient nature religions of the world. It is principally rooted in the old religions of Europe, though some adherents also find great worth in the indigenous beliefs of other countries. Such belief in the sacredness of all things can be found world-wide. Pagans see this as their heritage, and retain the beliefs and values of their ancestors in forms adapted to suit modern life. We celebrate the sanctity of Nature, revering the Divine in all things; the vast, unknowable spirit that runs through the universe, both seen and unseen.

[nothappyatall]

Some good past posts:

It seems to me that we all fail to ask the fundamental question. If in the begining there was nothing. (I mean nothing except god of course) that means there was nothing. Then god in his infinite wisdom decided that there should be something. So he created the universe.
He create the stars, the planets and put life on one of them.

Then he went about creating Satan, evil, hunger, war, famine, and all the other ills of this world. Then he went and created sin. (And before you say that he did not create sin, he must have as in the begining there was nothing which of course would include SIN.

) Then he decided that he could not tolerate this particular creation so he created his only begotton son, to come and be kill by his creation so that he could forgive us for something he created, LOL that''s got to be the most phuxed up garbage I ever heard.

Sorry but this does not make very much sense to me. Regardless of what the biBULL says.