Swiss tabloid likens evangelical churches to cults

Blick, the most-read tabloid newspaper in Switzerland, published on October 21 a list of the “14 most powerful cults and dangerous gurus” in the country. Three free evangelical churches were included.

The three evangelical groups accused in the report are growing evangelical churches with hundreds of members in the regions of Bern, Zürich and Winterthur. They are included in the list of cults based on alleged informations provided by Infosekta, an organisation that reports the abuses of cults in Switzerland.

The article published by Blick tabloid.

But the Swiss Evangelical Alliance (SEA) has taken a stance in favour of these evangelical communities in a statement. The SEA believes the accusations are false.

“Members of the Evangelical Alliance that do an exemplary work and regularly work with other free evangelical churches and with historic Protestant churches have been slandered”, the SEA says.

The churches described as “cults” are members of a network of 870 churches and Christian organisations that subscribe the statement of faith of the European Evangelical Alliance, the SEA explains.

 These kind of information “contradicts the journalistic duty of treating information carefully, and becomes very problematic when individual people are described as having ‘cult-like behaviours’”, the SEA says.

The statement of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance goes on saying the work of these churches is much “esteemed”.

The Blick article continues to be available online and the tabloid newspaper has not edited its content.