Richard Abanes

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Richard Abanes
Born	1961

Richard Abanes (b. 1961) (pronounced [əˈbɑːnɪs]), who was known as Richie Abanes during his days as a professional singer, dancer, and actor, is an American writer. He is an award-winning author/journalist specializing in the area of cults, the occult, world religions, pop culture, and the entertainment industry. Since 1994 he has authored/co-authored nineteen books (as of 2008) covering a broad range of topics. He also has written for major Christian magazines including Christianity Today, New Man, Charisma, Moody Magazine, and Christian Research Journal.

In 1997, Abanes won the Evangelical Press Association's Higher Goals In Christian Journalism Award for his article on various non-Christian faiths that appeared in Moody Magazine. Also in 1997, he was awarded The Myers Center Award for the Study of Human Rights in North America for his work on intolerance in North America entitled American Militias: Rebellion, Racism, and Religion. His bestselling books according to Christian Booksellers Association listings include Harry Potter and the Bible and The Truth Behind the DaVinci Code.

As an lecturer on many religious topics, he has been a guest speaker at various institutions, including the Simon Wiesenthal Center, CalTech, Mensa, California Baptist University, and Biola University. Abanes also has been interviewed on hundreds of radio/TV programs and networks including BBC, MSNBC, CNN, The 700 Club, Extra!, The Bible Answer Man, and Hard Copy as an authority on cults/religion, pop culture, and the entertainment industry.

Abanes is a lay minister at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, and served as Creative Arts Director from 1998 to 2000.

Contents 1 Early career 2 Harry Potter 3 The LDS Church 4 Christian Music 5 Plagiarism 6 Bibliography 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Early career

Abanes began his career as a professional singer, dancer, and actor (with Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity Association) in local theater (Rockford, Illinois) at the age of thirteen. He began doing semi-professional theater within a year, and during his high school years he was featured in many productions throughout Northern Illinois including West Side Story, Fiddler On the Roof, and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. He also became a featured dancer in the Rockford Dance Company, while simultaneously studying dance in Chicago with professional companies such as The Hubbard Street Dancers and Joel Hall Studios.^{[citation needed]}

Afterf graduating, Abanes moved to Nashville, where he worked as a featured performer at Opryland U.S.A. (eventually starring as George M. Cohan in For Me and My Gal). During the next two years, he also appeared as a dancer in several Nashville-based TV specials such as "Merry Christmas from the Grand Ole Opry" in 1980. He was also a featured dancer for the weekly NBC variety series Nashville Palace (1981).^[1]

Abanes subsequently moved to New York, where he landed a role in the "International" and "Bus & Truck" companies of the 1983 Broadway hit musical A Chorus Line, which became the longest running Broadway show of that era. Soon afterward, Abanes was given a featured dance role on Broadway in the musical Dreamgirls. In the years that followed, Abanes was featured in national television commercials such as Canada Dry, Wendy's, and Nissan. He also played the lead role in two ABC After School Specials, co-starred in the film Rappin', and starred in the Bill Moyers PBS special titled "The Constitution." While in New York, he continued his studies in dance with American Dance Machine, Alvin Ailey Dance Center, American Ballet Theater, Luigi's Jazz Center, Rick Atwell, and Ann Reinking.^[2]

Abanes left show business in 1987, and in 1989, he began working as a mail clerk at the Christian Research Institute, a nonprofit organization. In 1994, he left CRI to pursue a new career as a full-time freelance journalist. His first book, co-authored with three other writers, was Prophets of the Apocalypse: David Koresh and Other American Messiahs, published in 1994 (Baker Books).^[3]

[edit] Harry Potter

Abanes is known for his criticism written on J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels, particularly the bestselling Harry Potter and the Bible (Horizon Books) in 2002 and Harry Potter, Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings (Harvest House) in 2005.

Abanes did not advocate book banning in relation to the Harry Potter novels; rather, he was an outspoken critic of such extreme actions. His position is that the Harry Potter series may be problematic for some young children because the books present certain real-world occult practices, viewpoints, and lore in an appealing way (e.g. divination, alchemy, and spiritualism) and because he believes the series offers moral relativism as its ethical foundation.^[4]

Abanes's first concern is that some children might become so curious about real-world occultism that they will seek to emulate the occult practices they see in Harry Potter. His views are based on child developmental studies and the patterns of copycat behavior that have been exhibited by children/teens in the past in response to popular books, films, and TV programs.^[5] His second concern is that some children might also begin to emulate the subjective morality he sees being exalted in the books by the "good" characters. According to Abanes, the unrelenting "bad" deeds of so-called good characters could be confusing to young children and ultimately set up an unclear sense of right and wrong for them.^[6]Abanes also disagreed with claims made by other Christian writers (such as John Granger) that the Harry Potter series is actually a sort of Christian series of books akin to C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. Abanes extensively covers this controversy in Harry Potter, Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings).

Abanes’s books were written as a resource for Christians (particularly parents) who are researching the Harry Potter books and their relationship to controversies associated with occult/pagan content of some children's fantasy literature, and the influences of witchcraft, Wicca, and similar religions that affect youth.

[edit] The LDS Church

Abanes has written two books critical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (2002) and Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st Century Mormonism (2004), which was later re-titled in a subsequent printing as Inside Today's Mormonism. These works, particularly One Nation Under Gods, have been criticized by members of the Mormon Church for allegedly relying entirely on websites and anti-Mormon literature as primary sources of documentation.^[7] Abanes has additionally been criticized by defenders of Mormonism for and labeling any anti-Mormon source as "excellent," but any pro-LDS source as "biased". ^[8] In One Nation Under Gods, Abanes states that "scholarly sources" from a particular pro-LDS website run by an organization called FARMS (Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies) are not reliable: "FARMS, under auspices of BYU, a highly scholarly site, seeks to validate Mormonism on an academic/intellectual level, [but is] highly biased, very unreliable, can be confusing to the average reader due to the use of technical terminology--often misleading due to its use of historical, archaeological, and linguistic arguments unverifiable by persons not possessing higher education."^[9]

One Nation Under Gods uses as its primary sources of documentation a wide array of official writings from the church and unofficial Mormon writings from well-respected leaders throughout LDS history. These sources are quoted extensively and form the bulk of references: Book of Mormon (original 1830 edition), Book of Mormon (modern edition), Articles of Faith, Book of Moses, Book of Abraham, Book of Commandments, Doctrine and Covenants, A Comprehensive History of the Church, Documentary History of the Church, Journal of Discourses, Millennial Star, The Latter-day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, Pearl of Great Price, and Times and Seasons.^[10] Internet sources cited in the endnotes of One Nation Under Gods are websites of the above resources that can be accessed by the general public.

Becoming Gods (aka Inside Today's Mormonism) heavily cites many of these same sources used in One Nation Under Gods, but pays more attention to the doctrinal statements they contain. Becoming Gods also includes hundreds of quotations from contemporary defenders of Mormonism based at Brigham Young University (i.e. LDS scholars connected to the FARMS organization) and lay Mormon apologists connected to FAIR (Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research). Abanes attempts to interact from a theological perspective with the latest LDS arguments that support Mormon theological views. The book's appendix includes an essay written by one of Mormonism's most notable apologists from BYU, Daniel Peterson (professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic), titled "Why I Am A Mormon."^[11]

[edit] Christian Music

Abanes has produced three inspirational albums featuring songs he wrote with his wife Evangeline and performed to orchestral arrangements. His first album was released January, 1999 and received critical praise from both Christian and secular reviewers, such as CBA Marketplace and South Florida's music magazine RAG. His follow-up album was released in April, 2001, and his third CD, Jesus Loves You, is a compilation of the best songs from his first two albums.

[edit] Plagiarism

In April 2003, the Christian Sentinel (published by Bill Alnor) alleged that Abanes, in his 1998 book Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family, had plagiarized approximately ninety words from researcher Kurt Van Gorden's chapter on Scientology in The Kingdom of the Cults. Alnor later offered Abanes an opportunity to respond to the charges in his publication, but Abanes declined. As of 2008, his responses to Alnor and Van Gorden have appeared only on various Internet message boards.

[edit] Bibliography

• A New Earth, An Old Deception: Awakening to the Dangers of Eckhart Tolle's #1 Bestseller (ISBN 978-0-7642-0664-1, 2008)
• He Is Risen: Reflections On Easter & the Forty Days of Lent (ISBN 978-0-446-69679-1, 2008)
• Homeland Insecurity: A Novel (ISBN 0-7369-1469-2, 2007)
• What Every Parent Needs to Know About Video Games: A Gamer Explores the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Virtual World (ISBN 0-7369-1740-3, 2006)
• Rick Warren and the Purpose that Drives Him: An Insider Looks at the Phenomenal Bestseller (ISBN 0-7369-1738-1, 2005)
• Harry Potter, Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings: What You Need to Know About Fantasy Books and Movies (ISBN 0-7369-1700-4, 2005)
• The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code: A Challenging Response to the Bestselling Novel (ISBN 0-7369-1439-0; 2004)
• Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st Century Mormonism (ISBN 0-7369-1355-6; 2004); re-titled and re-covered as Inside Today's Mormonism (ISBN 0-7369-1968-6, 2007)
• One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (ISBN 1-56858-219-6; 2002); paperback edition (ISBN 1-56858-283-8, 2003)
• Fantasy and Your Family: Exploring the Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Modern Magick (ISBN 0-87509-975-0, 2002); revised, updated, and expanded into Harry Potter, Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings (see above).
• Harry Potter and the Bible: The Menace Behind the Magick (ISBN 0-88965-201-5; 2001)
• Defending the Faith: A Beginner's Guide to Cults and New Religions (ISBN 0-8010-5782-5, 1998)
• Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family: A Guide to Ten Non-Christian Groups Out to Convert Your Loved Ones (ISBN 0-89107-981-5, 1998)
• End-Time Visions: The Road to Armageddon? (ISBN 0-8054-1769-9); paperback edition titled End-Time Visions: The Doomsday Obsession (ISBN 0-8054-1965-9, 1998)
• American Militias: Rebellion, Racism & Religion (ISBN 0-8308-1368-3; 1996)
• Journey into the Light: Exploring Near-Death Experiences (ISBN 0-8010-5480-X, 1996)
• The Less Traveled Road and the Bible: A Scriptural Critique of the Philosophy of M. Scott Peck (ISBN 0-88965-117-5; 1995)
• Embraced by the Light and the Bible: Betty Eadie and Near-Death Experiences in the Light of Scripture (ISBN 0-88965-111-6, 1994)
• Prophets of the Apocalypse: David Koresh and Other American Messiahs (ISBN 0-8010-8367-2, 1994)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Richard Abanes Author Web Site
• Richard Abanes's WordPress Blog
• Richard Abanes's Blogspot Blog