Church's Libel Suit Rejected

Harvest House Publishers v. The Local Church, decided January 5 by a Texas state court of appeals, has rejected a libel claim by a church against a publisher and two authors who included the church in The Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions. The court held that merely being labeled a "cult" is not actionable because the truth or falsity of the statement depends on one's religious beliefs which should not be tried in a court of law. Similarly accusing a church of accepting occult powers or promoting idolatry are statements concerning religious beliefs that cannot be proved true or false. While some of the characteristics of cults discussed in the book may have been defamatory, the court held that it cannot reasonably be found that those characteristics were attributed to every group discussed in the book.