Religion News, Opinion & P.R.
Iranian authorities this week arrested Christian converts from Islam while they were meeting for worship at a home in the southern city of Shiraz, according to sources. The sources put the number of the arrested Christians, who belong to one of Iran’s many underground house churches, at between six and 10. »
Burma/Myanmar • Religious Persecution:
Burmese troops kill or torture civilians and destroy churches and even entire villages of the predominantly Christian Kachin minority despite pledges from Burma’s nominally civilian government that it seeks ceasefire agreements with ethnic groups, investigators say. Rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said it recorded “grave human rights abuses” during a three week visit to the Rangoon and Kachin State on the China-Burma border. »
al-Shabab | Al Shabaab • Hate Groups • Islam:
Islamic extremists from the rebel al Shabaab militia in Somalia beheaded a Christian on the outskirts of Mogadishu last month, sources said. The youn man had converted from Islam to Christianity. »
Column: Sightings:
The recent release of Adam Arcuragi’s album Like a Fire that Consumes All Before It… has raised interest in the popular-musical category of “Death Gospel,” a metaphysically attuned variety of the Americana genre named by Arcuragi. Death Gospel is not sonically related to “Death Metal” (a heavier Heavy Metal music); nor is it overtly “gospel” music. »
Religious Persecution • Russia:
As protesters demanding more freedom and fair elections prepared to demonstrate in freezing temperatures in Moscow last Saturday, a major Russian mission group warned of more difficulties for evangelical Christians and other religious minorities in Russia and other former Soviet Union nations. »Mexico:
A married couple who had served for 28 years as Baptist missionaries in Mexico were murdered on last week Tueday at their home near Monterrey in El Cercado, Santiago, Nuevo Leon. The area has suffered heavily from attacks by drug cartels in recent weeks, including the murder of the mayor of El Cercado, leading to the tentative conclusion that the crime was committed by people serving narcotics traffickers. »
Column: Sightings:
In the study of religion, we long ago gave up on creating a taxonomy that would—once and for all—allow us to demarcate the sacred from the profane and religious groups from secular. Nevertheless, there is something profoundly unreligious about Kopimism, and it is hard to overlook this glaring reality. »
Boko Haram • Hate Groups • Islam • Nigeria • Religious Persecution:
Early morning attacks in Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi state on Sunday left at least seven Christians dead and a church building destroyed. The attack on the Evangelical Church Winning All Church 2 was carried out by area Islamic extremists alongside members of the Boko Haram sect, with the church building and surrounding houses bombed. »
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Religion News Blog
Two former Scientology ministers want the 9th Circuit to let them sue the church for forced labor, rejecting application of the First Amendment’s ministerial exception.
Courthouse News Service reports
Husband and wife Claire and Marc Headley each filed complaints against the Church of Scientology under the Trafficking Victims Act after leaving the Sea Organization, an order of Scientology in which members work long hours and perform hard labor without pay.
The Headleys worked at the church from the early 1990s until 2005. Claire Headley claimed that the church prohibited her from having children and was coerced into having two abortions. She also alleged that members who tried to leave the church were followed, brought back, and deprived of food and sleep, among other punishments.
In his complaint, Marc Headley said ministers at the church physically abused him. He also claimed that he was told that he would be excommunicated from his family if he left the church without first going through a “routing out” process that requires members to continue their duties for free and perform hard labor.
Marc Headley has published a book about his experiences at the church, “Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology.”
In 2010, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer threw out the Headleys’ complaints because he found their claims failed under the First Amendment’s ministerial exception.
On Thursday, a three-judge appeals panel heard arguments to revive the case.
Cult Experts: If your loved-one is caught up in a manipulative cult, abusive church, or destructive relationship (so-called 'one-on-one cult') you may need a cult expert. Avoid the bad apples. Here's how to select a cult expert.
In the middle of suburban Australia is a secret compound that’s labelled ‘degrading’ and ‘inhumane’, with allegations of keeping children prisoner. Australia’s current affairs program Tonight Today reports on Scientology’s prison camp. »
The Philippines Supreme Court has denied with finality the appeal of Dinagat Islands Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr. seeking to reverse the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court’s 2006 ruling convicting him and two other people of graft and sending them to 31 years in prison. Ecleo still faces an often-delayed trial on charges that he committed parricide by murdering his wife Alona in January, 2002. »
Wearing a full-length black niqab — with only her brown eyes showing through narrow slits — Widad Lootah does not look like a sexual activist. Yet this conservative Muslim is one of the best known — and most outspoken — marriage counselors in the United Arab Emirates. »
Police in South Korea arrested a pastor and his wife Saturday after three of their four children were found dead. The couple has been detained on suspicions of assaulting and starving their children to death »
The granddaughter of Trinity Broadcasting Network’s Paul and Jan Crouch has accused the world’s largest Christian broadcaster of unlawfully distributing charitable assets worth more than $50 million to the company’s directors. Koper’s complaint is directed against two attorneys who handle some of TBN’s legal work. »
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Religion News Blog (RNB) is published by Apologetics Index. It highlights news items and other resources on world religions, cults, religious sects, new religious movements, alternative religions, abusive churches and - to a lesser extent - related issues (e.g. ethics, human rights).
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