NOTE: Transcript of the Fox 11 Undercover Program featuring the Jesus Christians, along with our own comments, can be viewed at the bottom of the video!
Dave here with the text of the Fox 11 Undercover News report. There was one line near the end that I missed, and I didn't get the spelling for Joe's basketball coach, but most of it is here. The red bits in square brackets [] are my comments, which I'll try to keep short.
Announcer: They say they do it all for God: Subjecting themselves to pain; handing over everything they own; cutting ties with their families; even donating their organs. Gina Silva got a rare look inside this little known group and here she is now with a Fox 11 exclusive
Gina: Christina, they're called Jesus Christians. They're a small group, only numbering about 50 worldwide [Thanks, Gina, but we told you the truth when we said 30.] mostly young members following the rules of their leader. [Such 'rules' don't exist. What we do we discuss; and the teachings/rules of Jesus act as our common guidelines.]
Announcer: Tonight, Fox 11 Undercover takes you inside their very private world, and we warn you, some of the images may be disturbing.
Inside this middle school auditorium, a small bed takes centre stage. It's not a prop for a children's play. It's the setting for something very real and flat out disturbing--something that has these people running to get their loved one out, only to have the doors slammed in their faces.
[The people running were a hired mob who did not even know Joseph, and it wasn't Joe they were running after; it was Jesus Christians, and we believe their aim was to do as much damage as possible.] Even the police show up.
Police: Hello! Long Beach police!
Gina: Why? Because violent punishment is taking place inside. [No, they showed up because they were called by the Jesus Christians for protection from the angry mob. And the 'violent punishment' was over when those pictures were taken. Gina knew that, because she had been in there and she came out when it was all over.] Some cry in pain. Others try to hold it in. But when the cracking of the whip stops, all of them have the painful red marks to prove it was real.
Dave: I feel that what's important is that a statement has been made that we feel very strongly about this.
Gina: David McKay is the leader of Jesus Christians, a religious group some say is a dangerous cult. That's a claim McKay strongly denies.
Dave: They don't even know what a cult is. Nobody does. It's just used to put down a group you don't like.
Gina: So why did McKay order these lashings? [McKay didn't order anything.] not just on his members, but also on himself? This is a story that begins with a teenager named Joseph Johnson, a kid with a bright future. At Serra High School in Gardena, Joseph was a basketball star. He was so good scholarship offers came pouring in.
Coach Dwan Hird(?): You know, the coach would call and offer a full scholarship; and on the other hand, the schools would be calling to offer him a full academic scholarship.
Gina: Joseph had a 4.5 grade point average. His coach Dwan Hird, says Joseph planned to play ball in college and go to medical school.
Coach: I said, 'Well, when you become a Dr. I want you to be my Dr. because I know you're going to be the best Dr.'
Gina: But just before his graduation, Joseph disappeared. [He didn't 'disappear', although he did leave. He contacted his family AND his coach during the time he was away, and he left a note when he left.] Seven days later he showed up again as a new recruit of the Jesus Christians.
Joe(reading a Bible): "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God."
Gina: Joseph made it clear. His priorities had changed, and he was now following a new set of rules.
Dave: The members move in and live together 24/7. So in living together this way then, of course, there isn't time for a lot of the other activities that we were involved in before.
Gina: That means no college, no family, no former friends. Members have to give up everything, even their kidneys.[A lie] McKay believes Jesus Christians need to be live organ donors. [Another lie]Some might agree that donating a kidney to save a person's life is a noble thing, but making it a necessity raises serious concerns. [Indeed, it would, if that was what we had done; but we have not.]
Rick Ross, an expert on destructive cults [Gotta interject a bit more here. Rick Ross was behind the slaughter of dozens of innocent people at Waco Texas... See the movie Waco: Rules of Engagement for more info... and he has been found guilty of kidnapping and of jewellery theft. He has no professional qualifications, and he's not an expert on anything.] says McKay has way too much power over his young followers.
Rick Ross: It's clear that they would do almost anything for Dave McKay. [How would you know, Rick? You've never talked to any of us? It's a rule on your forum that anyone who says anything good about any group is labelled a cult apologist, and everything they say has to be censored, with much of it never being posted.] And when you have a small group gathered around an absolute leader like this [I live in Australia. And our handful of members in the U.S. are scattered over the entire country.], and the group lives communally and is relatively isolated [Isolated? They meet hundreds of people every day, and they hear lots of criticisms both there and on this forum.] bad things often happen.
Gina: McKay says that's nonsense, and because he says he wants to dispel false accusations, he allowed Fox 11 News access into the private world of the Jesus Christians. (to Simon) What do you get by being a part of this group?
Simon: You get meaning and purpose, because here is a platform to serve God. You know, you lose everything when you die anyway, so why not give it up now for God?
Gina: They move from city to city in these tiny campers, and every day, wearing their red Jesus Christian T-shirts, they hit the pavement. [The shirts were printed up exclusively for the filming of this report, so that we could get out our internet address.] They distribute their books, asking for donations and hoping they'll bring in more recruits.
Woman taking a book: Thank you. Keep on doing God's work.
Gina: And it was this book that first caught Joseph's attention. A Jesus Christian gave it to his mother on the street. She took it home and forgot about it. But Joseph read it, liked it, and he contacted the JCs.
Joe: I read the book and it was just, uh, just very very powerful.
Gina: Powerful enough to convince Joseph to stop what he loved so much... playing basketball. The day we met, he showed up some pretty smooth moves on the court, but he says he had to give it up to follow Jesus. [Hey, it was Jesus Christians that he was playing with in that footage. He gave up doing it to make money, but we don't have any rules against playing basketball as such.]
Gina (to Joe): I've spoken to your mother. She says that you are part of a cult and that you have been brainwashed.
Joe: I'm not brainwashed. I can think for myself. I can speak for myself. You know, I like to think that I'm an individual with important things to share."
Gina: Joseph's family declined an on-camera interview [Very true, and they said that it was because their lawyer had advised them against it, knowing as they do that they tried to kill Reinhard.. not that the odd murder attempt upsets Gina so much as an 18yo choosing not to play basketball when his parents have told him that it is what he must do with his life.] but they say that when Joseph was 16, the Jesus Christians began secretly meeting with him.
[Don't you mean that Joe met secretly with the Jesus Christians? The issue is really one of their relationship with their son, and how much interest they do or do not take in what he does.]
Coach: I just couldn't believe it when I got a phone call from his mom stating that he was missing, and that he was ging to join a cult.
Gina: When Joseph returned to pick up his belongings and say goodbye to his family, he came with two Jesus Christians: Jeremy and Reinhard. A fight broke out [Lie. Reinhard never lifted a finger. It was a totally crazed assault aimed to kill Reinhard if a crowd had not gathered and started to take pictures.] and Reinhard ended up in the hospital.
Reinhard: I was attacked and punched unconscious. [We had the hospital report there, listing all the stitches, broken teeth, bleeding on the brain, fractured spine, but Gina cuts Reinhard off here, as though the details of his injuries are irrelevant to what the report is about.]
Gina: The Jesus Christians are outraged, and they want justice. [What about mercy? That was an important part of what the whole trial was about; but that would have spoiled a good story tries to paint us as people who were out for revenge.] So they've decided to put Joseph's family on trial... a Jesus Christian trial.
Dave: The family has refused to even offer a statement in their defence.
Gina: Joseph's family won't have anything to do with this trial, but they are waiting outside with some of Joseph's old friends. [Lie. They are waiting with some strangers that Joseph has never even seen before and that he believes his father may have bribed into coming to make trouble. After all, they were being offered a chance to make a statement inside, but they declined. We even telephoned them and his mother quoted a verse to Joseph about him being Judas, betraying her. Some grieving mother, eh? No, they were out there to physically drag Joseph away, and it was only the police presence that stopped them.] all of them angry with the Jesus Christians for not letting them communicate with Joseph.
[Lie. Joseph had been in regular touch with his family by phone and email all week, and Gina knew it. ]
Lamar Lane (tearing open a box of books that the Jesus Christians dropped when they fled from him and his friends): This is poison to your kids, so you better beware, cuz these people out here are manipulating minds.
Gina: Inside, the trial has been going on for nearly two hours, with numerous witnesses and exhibits. [How did she know? Because she had been there; which is also why she knows that the trial is all over at this stage, and that it did not take two hours. There was a long delay at the start as we tried to get Joseph's family on the phone, so they would be able to give their side of the story, but Joseph's mother just played time-stalling games with him instead.]
Finally the verdict: Jeremy (speaking to John Onyejiaka, Joe's half-brother): I hereby judge you as guilty, and deserving 25 lashes.
Gina: Four members of Joseph's family are found guilty (at least in this Jesus Christian court) of beating up Reinhard [No, two were only found guilty of aiding the other two to beat up Reinhard: Sheila for holding a gun over the scene and for planning the getaway, and Josh for physically restraining Joe from coming to Reinhard's aid. Sheila and Josh were only awarded five lashes each, and Sheila was given an option of shaving her hair instead, as a sign of repentance.] and since they're not here, four Jesus Christians have decided to take the punishment for them. McKay, his wife Sheri [C'mon, Gina, get it right. You've left her out of everything else, and now this. Her name is Cherry, you know, just like we spelled it out for you.]
Jeremy and Joseph. (to Joe) Why are you doing this?
Joe: I think it's loving for me to take the punishment for him.
Gina: For McKay there is a different motive. He tells me the whippings are meant to embarrass Joseph's family. [Did I, Gina? Then why don't you show the viewers? Isn't that the sort of thing they expect from undercover TV interviewers with a camera poking over their shoulder? Mind you, I do believe that the whippings had that effect, but only because we returned good for evil.]
Dave: God wants us to recognise our guilt.
Gina: You are trying to humiliate them, and is that a godly thing to do?
Dave: They've humiliated themselves, okay?
Gina: McKay says he's afraid of Joseph's family, and he calls the police.
Dave: We would like to get an escort out of here.
Gina: With officers escorting the Jesus Christians, Joseph's family and friends are kept back.
'Friends': You should be ashamed of yourself. You are manipulating people's minds. You're not God.
Jared: Officer, that's my son, and the Jesus Christians brainwashed him, sir. His mother is so hurt.
(missing couple of lines from the crowd)
Gina: Joseph finally respons, but it's far from what his family expected.
Joseph: I don't know you. I've never seen you in muy life. I don't know you. [This one is the nastiest trick in the whole report. They obviously had to get this one by their lawyers, because Gina is careful not to SAY to whom Joe was talking, even though she has clearly implied that it was to his family. But what she knows is that he said it to Jared's hired mob, who were coached to plead with him like they were his friends.]
Gina: And just like that, Joseph leaves with the Jesus Christians, leaving broken hearts and so many unanswered questions. [Hey, Gina, you want some answers? Fire away! We'll even do ANOTHER interview with you. But don't you mean that it's his family who refuse to answer your questions?] And that was just a devastating end for the Johnson Family. Because Joseph is now 18, there is nothing the police can do. The Johnson Family not only lost their son to the Jesus Christians, Josephs' father and brother have now been charged with assault on Reinhard.
