COMMITTING RELIGIOUS LEADERS

[Robert Sheridan]

Article:Missing sect members found; leader 
hospitalized:/c/a/2010/09/19/MN7H1FGCKF.DTL
Article:Missing sect members found; leader 
hospitalized:/c/a/2010/09/19/MN7H1FGCKF.DTL
This seems an interesting use of the state police power to involuntarily 
commit a religious leader on the ground of dangerousness BEFORE the 
followers drink the Kool-Ade, or Janet Reno sends in the tanks...

The power to commit for 72-hours of psychiatric observation is found in 
CA Welfare & Institutions Code Sec. 5150.  More advanced cases can be 
5250'd for longer...

Since we all think that anyone who disagrees with us is a little bit 
nuts, anyway (or a lot), do you think this exercise of power has 
implications on the national scene, constitutionally speaking, of course?

In Salem they believed in the Devil and hanged 19 innocent women.

We, "under God," claim to believe in some sort of God, although how one 
tells which God is somewhat beyond me.  Do they take fingerprints of 
gods to make an I.D.?  Or do we all just agree?

Some of us good all-American types handle snakes and speak in tongues, 
and more power to them, but we don't commit them, so far.

Are we breaking new ground here, in committing religious leaders for 
being...how shall I say...religious?  For having followers who believe 
what they preach?

Maybe the world IS coming to an end.

You get committed for preaching that?

For having followers who believe it?

If I were a popular leader preaching that the country is lost and we 
need to take it back, I'd be looking over my shoulder for the men in 
white coats...

rs


SFGate


  Missing sect members found; leader hospitalized

Jacob Adelman, Associated Press

Monday, September 20, 2010

Reyna Marisol Chicas, leader of a Christian group awaitin... 
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2010/09/20/MN7H1FGCKF.DTL&o=0&type=printable> 
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2010/09/20/MN7H1FGCKF.DTL&o=1&type=printable> 


*(09-20) 04:00 PDT Palmdale, Los Angeles County* -- The leader of a 
breakaway religious sect was hospitalized Sunday for a mental 
evaluation, after members of her group went missing and left behind 
evidence that they were awaiting the rapture or some catastrophic event.

Reyna Marisol Chicas was placed under a 72-hour mandatory hold after it 
was determined she was not able to care for herself or others, said Los 
Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Thomas Kim.

Chicas gave investigators a false name and was rambling during 
questioning, Kim said. She told deputies she had no children, even 
though her two kids were with her.

Ending a frantic search, deputies found Chicas and 12 others just before 
noon at Jackie Robinson Park near Palmdale after getting a tip from a 
local resident, said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore. He said all 
members are safe.

Officers had been searching a wide swath of Southern California since 
Saturday after family members found letters saying the group was 
awaiting an apocalyptic event and would soon see Jesus and their dead 
relatives in heaven.

The group of Salvadoran immigrants described as "cult-like" by sheriff's 
officials, was led by Chicas, a 32-year-old from Palmdale, sheriff's 
Capt. Mike Parker said.

Members left behind cell phones, identifications, deeds to property, and 
letters indicating they were awaiting the rapture.

The items came from a purse that a member of the group had left with her 
husband Saturday and asked him to pray over. He eventually looked inside 
and he and another member's husband called authorities, officials said.

"These letters read like a will and testament," said Whitmore. "Coupled 
with the two husbands that come in and tell us 'Our wives are missing, 
we believe they are under the spell of this lady,' " deputies had no 
choice but to treat the matter seriously, he said.

Sheriff's officials said there was no criminal investigation planned.

The men told investigators they believe group members had been 
"brainwashed" by Chicas, Parker said. One of the children in the group 
is 3, and the others range from 12 to 17.

Chicas used to be a member of Iglesia De Cristo Miel, a Christian 
congregation in Palmdale, but left about two years ago, said Pastor 
Felipe Vides.

"She appeared normal, calm. We didn't see anything strange," Vides said 
Sunday.

Chicas apparently had formed her own religious group, Parker said. About 
12 to 15 people would gather at her home in Palmdale.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/20/MN7H1FGCKF.DTL

This article appeared on page *A - 5* of the San Francisco Chronicle

© 2010 Hearst Communications Inc. 
<http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/info/copyright/>
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