Bizarre World News At The End Of Work Week

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I finished a twelve hour shift of corporate security, filling in for the corporate manager. Seems to lead to the end of week bizarre news.

Reuters

UK Reuters Oct 11

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China sentences two cult members to death for McDonald's murder (Reuters) - China on Saturday sentenced two members of a banned religious cult - a father and daughter - to death for the murder in a McDonald's restaurant of a woman who refused an apparent attempt by the group to recruit her, state media said. The 37-year-old woman, surnamed Wu, was attacked in May in the eastern province of Shandong by members of Quannengshen, the Church of Almighty God, which had preached that a global apocalypse would take place in 2012.

Another religious cult which does not follow Biblical Scripture correctly in context. 

No religious group which claims any affiliation to the Bible or New Testament should be dating global apocalypse or eschatology.

Matthew 24: 34: 41 New American Standard Bible

34"Truly I say to you, (AS) this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 
35"(AT)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
36"But (AU) of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
37"For the (AV) coming of the Son of Man will be (AW) just like the days of Noah.
38"For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, (AX) marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that (AY)Noah entered the ark,
39and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the (AZ) coming of the Son of Man be.
40"Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41"(BA) Two women will be grinding at the (BB) mill; one will be taken and one will be left.

Matthew 24: 24, Jesus warned against false Christs and false prophets that would show great signs and wonders, and if possible even mislead the elect.

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The case sparked a national outcry after it was revealed that Wu was beaten to death for refusing to give her telephone number to members of the group. The Yantai Intermediate People's Court sentenced Zhang Fan and her father, Zhang Lidong, to death for intentional homicide and gave another member of the group, Lu Yingchun, life in prison, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Were they taking evangelism tips from ISIS?  Also in the news of course.

Minus the beheading. 

Perhaps a reasonable punishment would be to penally lock Quannengshen, the Church of Almighty God members in cells with members of ISIS and allow them to 'evangelize' each other.

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"Zhang Hang and Zhang Qiaolian, another two cult members, were sentenced to ten and seven years of jail terms respectively," Xinhua said. Zhang Hang is also a daughter of Zhang Lidong. Xinhua did not report ages of the five defendants, who were tried in August.

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According to Xinhua, Zhang Fan and Lu had called Wu an "evil spirit" and the group beat, kicked, and stomped on her head until she died on the scene.

And on what basis did they discern such an evil spirit?

Because there was disagreement?

Hyper-cultist assumptions. If one disagrees with us, he/she is of the devil.

Common sense at all would have led to the conclusion that kicking and stomping someone was an evil act!

Interesting is the Biblical idea of Doctrines of Demons

Perhaps relevant here

1 Timothy 4:1-3 English Standard Version (ESV)

4 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

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The Quannengshen group, which originated in central Henan province, believes that Jesus was resurrected as Yang Xiangbin, wife of the sect's founder, Zhao Weishan, according to previous Xinhua reports.

The Gospels make it clear that the historical Biblical Jesus Christ was male and was resurrected in the first century (according to our historical records), Matthew 28, Mark 16, although there are variant versions as some manuscripts do not contain verses 9-20, Luke 24, John 20-21. And Acts 1 and 9 feature the resurrected Christ.

South China Morning News October 12

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Chinese cult members sentenced to death for brutal murder of woman at McDonald's Father and daughter get death penalty, while another sentenced to life for killing a woman they tried to recruit Two members of a banned religious cult in China were sentenced to death on Saturday for the murder of a woman at a McDonald’s restaurant after she refused an apparent attempt by the group to recruit her.

The 37-year-old woman was attacked in May in the eastern province of Shandong by members of Quannengshen, the Church of Almighty God, which had preached that a global apocalypse would take place in 2012.

The Yantai Intermediate People’s Court sentenced to death Zhang Fan, 29, and her father Zhang Lidong, 55, for intentional homicide and gave another member of the group, Lu Yingchun, 39, life in prison, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The three told the court that they acted in self-defence after they were attacked by the “demon’s supernatural powers”, referring to the victim.

'Demon's supernatural powers' not an effective legal defence in secular, communist China.

Not a good Biblical defence either, based on the group's unbiblical teaching.

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The killing sparked a national outcry after it was revealed the woman was beaten to death for allegedly refusing to give her telephone number to members of the group.

I cannot blame her, in hindsight...

It was bad enough choosing to dine at McDonalds, not exactly known for Five Star Cuisine and cleanliness standards and residing in totalitarian China...

Daily Mail October 9

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Bought a can of Red Bull in the past 12 years?

Claim a $10 cash refund! Soft drink firm forced to pay out $13 million because drink 'doesn't really give you wings'

Red Bull GmbH settled two class-action lawsuits this week

They agreed to pay $13 million because their slogan 'Red Bull gives you wings' isn't true

The offer of $10 back only applies to customers in the U.S.

The website to claim the settlement has been going in an out of service for two days

Speculation now the payouts may be diluted to less than $10 per person

Daily Mail

I have only tried Red Bull once or twice and do not care for it. 

It seems like distilled 'bull something'.

It had an off-putting taste, in my opinion. There is something strong smelling and tasting in the ingredients and I am not sure what it is, but it is unique, but not in a tasty way, in my opinion.

On the other hand, I think the logos, colours and marketing is well-done. The figurative claims of 'Red Bull gives you wings' obviously figurative language not to be taken literally.

Philosophically at least, without knowing the legal details, the case seems ridiculous if just based on that copywrite.

However... 

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In one of the lawsuits, a consumer who had been drinking the product for years wrote that they had experienced no increase in performance, concentration of reaction speed. 'Such deceptive conduct and practices mean that [Red Bull's] advertising and marketing is not just "puffery," but is instead deceptive and fraudulent and is therefore actionable,' the suit says.

'Even though there is a lack of genuine scientific support for a claim that Red Bull branded energy drinks provide any more benefit to a consumer than a cup of coffee, the Red Bull defendants persistently and pervasively market their product as a superior source of "energy" worthy of a premium price over a cup of coffee or other sources of caffeine,' the suit says Red Bull has agreed to change their marketing campaign, but insists their advertising was never misleading to begin with.

That seems a reasonable critique as in how much of an energy drink scientifically is Red Bull?

Or is it a lot of Bull?