A
group of funeral directors in South Africa say they will sue a self-styled
prophet who claims to have resurrected a dead man.
A
viral video of Pastor Alph Lukau shows him shouting "rise up" to a
man lying down in a coffin who then jerks upright to cheers from worshippers.
The
funeral companies say they were manipulated into being involved.
The
spectacle, seen outside Pastor Lukau's church near Johannesburg, has been
ridiculed and condemned by many.
"There
are no such things as miracles," the Commission for the Promotion and
Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights
Commission) told South Africa's national broadcaster.
"They
are made up to try to get money from the hopelessness of our people."
'Tricked'
three companies
Three
funeral companies who say they were manipulated by the "scheme" are
now taking legal action for damage to their reputation.
Kingdom
Blue, Kings & Queens Funeral Services and Black Phoenix told local media
that church representatives tricked them in different ways.
"Alleged
family members of the deceased" told the Kings & Queens Funeral
Services they had had a "dispute with a different funeral service
provider".
The
customers also allegedly placed "Black Phoenix stickers on their private
car" to look credible to Kings & Queens Funeral Services when they
went to hire a hearse from them.
National
debate
The
coffin, the funeral directors say, was acquired from Kingdom Blue.
Pastor
Lukau's church, Alleluia Ministries International, has not responded to the
BBC's request for comment.
The
Sowetan news site reports that the church has since backtracked on its
resurrection claim, saying the "dead" man was in fact "already
alive" when he was brought to the premises in Kramerville.
Pastor
Lukau had only "completed a miracle that God had already started",
Alleluia International Ministries is quoted by The Sowetan as saying.
The
BBC's Milton Nkosi says the video has sparked a national debate on fake pastors
and had been widely condemned by established religious groups.
However
some South Africans have taken to social media with the hashtag
#ResurrectionChallenge to see the funny side.
Source: BBC
No comments:
Post a Comment