Skip to main content.
Religion News Blog is a non-profit service providing academics, religion professionals and other researchers with religion & cult news
ReligionNewsBlog

Religion news articles about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues

Navigation:
Home | Site Menu | About RNB | Cult FAQ | Cult Experts | Apologetics Index | Cult Information Search Engine
A Random Image


 Search



 Share & Follow Religion News Blog


 Remember These Stories?


 Amazon

More articles about: Christian Research Institute:

Christian author says he was defamed

The Orange County Register, USA
Apr. 1, 2005
Peggy Lowe
www.ocregister.com

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Friday April 1, 2005

SANTA ANA — The Bible Answer Man has a question.

What’s the difference between a fact and, well, something else?

That’s at the heart of a defamation lawsuit filed by Hank Hanegraaff, a Christian author and radio personality known as the “Bible Answer Man.”

Hanegraaff has filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court against another Christian writer, Bill Alnor. Hanegraaff’s evangelical ministry, Christian Research Institute, is based in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Hanegraaff claims he was defamed after Alnor’s online magazine, Christian Sentinel, in January reported that Hanegraaff had solicited contributions from his listeners to make up for what he said was hundreds of thousands of dollars lost in the mail. Alnor’s story said Hanegraaff was the subject of a “federal criminal mail-fraud investigation” for falsely blaming the U.S. Post Office for the mix-up.

Alnor’s story was false because Hanegraaff was not under investigation and Alnor’s claims were made out of “personal animosity, hatred and ill will,” said the lawsuit, made public Friday.

“Before he publicizes something like that he better be sure it’s a fact rather than something he wishes would happen,” said Tom Chun, Hanegraaff’s lawyer. “That’s how peoples’ lives and reputations get ruined.

Alnor defended the story as true.

“To me, this is rather silly,” Alnor said. “There’s a long history between them and me, but there’s not hatred or animosity.”

Randy DeGasperin, a U.S. postal inspector, said allegations of mishandling mail were brought to the agency’s attention but the agency didn’t feel “there was sufficient evidence there for a criminal investigation” into Hanegraaff’s dealings.

Alnor, who was an editorial consultant to Hanegraaff’s predecessor, has been a frequent critic since Hanegraaff took over the ministry in the late 1980s.

Bookmark share or email this Religion News Blog page Bookmark, Share, or Email This Page

Comment Comment

Join Religion News Blog at Google+ to comment, share, and follow.

Read another article Read Another Article

Tags and keywords for this Apologetics Index entry Related News Articles

arrow

Religion News You Might Like These Articles As Well

RSS Feed Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates

Religion News Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com

Religion News Search Search Religion News Blog