Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
One would be hard-pressed to envision a scenario more sinister and rooted in the deepest evil of hell than a cult leader who compelled well over 100 people to starve themselves to death in a misguided attempt to gain entry to heaven.
Yet, as investigators in Kenya continue to uncover ever-more-disturbing details of life inside the Good News International Church and under the satanic leadership of Paul Mackenzie, international observers are being forced to do just that.
Even as investigators continue to work through numerous shallow graves in the Shakahola forest near the small town of Malindi on the Indian Ocean coast, horrific details have begun to leak about how adherents were treated both in life and death.
Earlier this week, The Guardian reported that some bodies have been found to be missing organs, leading to fears that a sinister harvesting operation might have also been afoot.
“Postmortem reports have established missing organs in some of the bodies of victims who have been exhumed,” The Guardian quoted chief inspector Martin Munene as writing in a sworn affidavit. Munene added he “believed that trade on human body organs has been well coordinated involving several players.”
As of this writing, the death toll has risen to 145 victims, most of whom died of starvation, but some of whom were beaten, strangled, or suffocated to death.
There is lingering hope that, given the size of the cult compound — about 800 acres surrounded by wilderness — other cult members might yet be found alive and hiding in thickets or other concealed areas, but such hopes are necessarily paired with the real possibility that even more corpses will be discovered.
At present, Mackenzie has not been formally charged with a crime connected to most of the bodies found on his church’s property. He had been previously arrested on suspicion of murdering two children but was released on bail. He was later arrested again, this time after a raid on his compound
Reuters reported Wednesday that Mackenzie has been denied bail at least while the investigation is ongoing, although his legal team has promised to appeal.
Details about Mackenzie have been far less surprising than information of the horrors he is believed to have overseen.
Like so many other cult leaders, he is known to have some amount of charisma and a great deal more ignorance of the word he pretends to preach or has convinced himself he understands.
Mackenzie shares with other cult leaders the trait of thinking he can forecast the fate of earth but, like false prophets dating into antiquity, has been proven a fraud.
After he was released on bail the first time, Mackenzie “prophesied” that the world would end by April 15, 2023. It is not yet known if he has adjusted his doomsday prediction from behind bars or if he has explained how he miscalculated so badly on the early attempt.
MACKENZIE’S LONG-TERM EFFECT ON KENYA
As heinous as the apparent actions of Mackenzie are, his most lasting legacy might turn out to be that of a person who inspired a national crackdown on religious movements.
Thursday, French news site Le Monde reported that scores of high-placed individuals in Kenya are calling for something to be done to prevent other heathens from destroying lives.
“It is likely that other fake pastors similar to Mackenzie are operating in the country today, under the radar,” Chris Kinyanjui, secretary general of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), told Le Monde.
The NCCK is a Protestant organization supported by mainline congregations.
Kenyan President William Ruto, who professes to be a born-again Christian, has announced the creation of a commission to examine the appropriateness of adjusting the nation’s laws concerning religion.
As of this writing, there has been no indication from Kenya as to how or if religion law reform would be shaped, but there are few ways to curtail religious practice for one group without at least threatening the practice of others.
Americans steeped in the First Amendment understand the danger of governments meddling in religion, even if initially for good reason. What begins as an anti-cult movement can easily spiral into an anti-Christian one.
It would be the cruelest of ironies if a man like Mackenzie, whose religion is one of self-service and destruction, proves the genesis point for a move toward secularism and anti-religion in a nation that, at present, is 85% Christian.