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The following appeared in Nov
2, 2000 Hallelujah Health Tip #154, which is published by Hallelujah
Acres
In Halllelujah Health Tip numbers 68, 69, and 70,
back in late winter 1999, I, along with a number of our readers, expressed
concerns about the Weigh Down Diet. Through the years I have become increasingly
concerned, not only that it teaches you can eat anything
you want, but also for its departure from and misuse of Scripture.
You can access these back issues at http://www.hacres.com/html/tiparchives.html
On October 30, the Wall Street Journal ran a front-page
feature article titled "Church Lady of Diet Weighs In On Trinity and Her
Flock Flees." The article was written by Ianthe Jeanne Dugan, staff reporter
of the Wall Street Journal. Following are some excerpts from the article:
"With a diet based on the Bible, Gwen Shamblin taught
people how 'God can transform their hearts and minds so that they can
rise above the magnetic pull of the refrigerator.' The Nashville surgeon's
daughter rolled her program into 36,000 churches around the world, espousing
a simple philosophy: 'God loved brownies.'
Eat what you want -- just eat less of it.
"A 45-year-old dietitian, she published two best-selling
books and produced videos. . . . Now, lots of people are focusing on Mrs.
Shamblin, but with anger in their hearts.
"What has them cross: e-mail to 40,000 people on
Aug. 10, in which Mrs. Shamblin disavowed the Trinity, the Christian belief
that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are united in one Godhead. She also
invited people to the Remnant Fellowship, an 80-member nondenominational
church she and her accountant husband had formed.
"Almost overnight, what slimmed down fastest were
the ranks of Mrs. Shamblin's Weigh Down Workshop followers. Thousands
of churches that embraced Mrs. Shamblin in their battle against gluttony
have dropped the program. A religious publishing house, Thomas Nelson,
canceled her new book. And workers in her warehouse say they are taking
back more of her products than they are sending out.
"'She made all this money by deceiving all of us
into thinking she was one of us,' says Pam Sneed, a volunteer coordinator
who three months ago had happily paraded onto the stage at the annual
convention of Mrs. Shamblin's adherents. . . .
"This month, the spat got messier. Four former employees
filed a religious-discrimination lawsuit against her company in county
court in Franklin, Tenn., alleging that they were fired for refusing to
embrace Mrs. Shamblin's theological views and to attend her church. ..
. Mrs. Shamblin acknowledges that 25 of her 90 workers departed recently.
. . .
"Moody Church in Chicago dropped the program. Lifeway
Christian Stores and Christian Book Distributors returned her books to
the publishers. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod denounced her theology
on its Web site. Brethren Church, a denomination based in Ashland, Ohio,
revoked its support.
"Outside Chicago, Willow Creek Community Church,
which bills itself the largest in North America, recently broke the news
to 17,000 parishioners that it would cancel the Weigh Down Workshop."
Wall Street Journal
October 31, 2000
Subscribers to the Wall Street Journal
Online can find the full text of the article from the archives at http://www.wsj.com
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