Cult predicts Second Coming in March

TEXAS, DEC 24: There was hardly a ripple here as dozens of Taiwanese began moving into this quiet, middle-class suburb of Dallas, one famil...

TEXAS, DEC 24: There was hardly a ripple here as dozens of Taiwanese began moving into this quiet, middle-class suburb of Dallas, one family at a time a few months back.

But this week a newspaper in Taiwan reported that the newcomers were members of a cult whom officials in their homeland feared planned a mass suicide. The reports fired curiosity and concern shared by the group’s neighbours in this middle-class north-east Dallas suburb of about 140,000 residents.

Charles Amyx said on Tuesday that his neighbours have caused no problems since moving in over

the summer, but he was concerned about the talk of flying saucers and mass suicides.

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“They say my house isn’t insured for acts of God,” he said. “So I guess I’m not covered if God comes down in a spaceship.”

The curiosity was enough to draw about 20 local reporters, twice as many foreign journalists, several followers and a few curious neighbours to the news conference, conducted in the cold and rain of Chen’s backyard.

Although Chen denied any suicide plans on Tuesday, the former Taiwanese sociology teacher did claim to be the father of Jesus Christ and said God will assume his body at 10 am on March 31 in this increasingly diverse Dallas suburb of about 140,000 people.

Speaking through an interpreter, the bespectacled father of two in his 40s promised that on March 25, God will announce his arrival during a commercial-free appearance on Channel 18 of all US television sets.

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“Other nations would not receive the message because they have been announced to be the world of devils,” he said.

Chen’s group whose Taiwanese name translates roughly into `The true way’ has about 150 followers, including 30 to 40 children.

Chen was joined at a table by two young boys. One of them, wearing a white cowboy hat, was described by Chen as the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. The other, who wore a white ski jacket with the word `Phenom’ stitched in blue on the back of the neck, was introduced as the reincarnation of Buddha. Neither spoke.

So far, one of Chen’s prophecies has come true. The Taiwanese dollar has lost about 16 per cent of its value against the American dollar since June, around the time Chen told his followers to convert their funds into United States currency.