A federal district court in Minnesota threw out a lawsuit charging the Worldwide Church of God with fraud. The lawsuit alleged that the church taught that the world was coming to an end, and yet failed to act in accordance with this belief by recommending that persons take steps to prepare for the catastrophe. The court noted that the church teaches that “members must continue to live their lives normally and that deliverance to a place of safety would come only by supernatural means, not physical means.” This belief, concluded the court, is protected by the first amendment guaranty of religious freedom. Anderson v. Worldwide Church of God, 661 F. Supp. 1400 (D. Minn. 1987).
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