http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion news about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:54:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 en http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23138/bountiful-polygamy-6 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23138/bountiful-polygamy-6#comments Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:38:35 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23138 After decades of controversy and allegations, RCMP swept into the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., on Wednesday and arrested two sect leaders, including one who had bragged of multiple wives and dozens of children and all but dared police to stop him.

Some anti-polygamists were jubilant at the charges laid yesterday but others were bitterly disappointed that B.C. officials chose not to proceed with sexual exploitation charges against Bountiful leaders.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23138/bountiful-polygamy-6/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23135/bountiful-winston-blackmore-james-oler http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23135/bountiful-winston-blackmore-james-oler#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:00:55 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23135 Two top leaders of the controversial polygamous sect in Bountiful, B.C., have been arrested and charged with practising polygamy.

Oppal said Blackmore is alleged to be married to 20 women, while Oler is accused of committing polygamy by being married to two women.

"This has been a very complex issue," he told The Canadian Press. "It's been with us for well over 20 years. The problem has always been the defence of religion has always been raised."]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23135/bountiful-winston-blackmore-james-oler/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23133/warren-jeffs-child-bride-2 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23133/warren-jeffs-child-bride-2#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:40:01 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23133 A fight for the custody of the 14-year-old bride of jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs could be heating up, according to a document filed in West Texas over the holidays.

In previous filings, CPS officials have presented records, including excerpts from Jeffs' journals, that indicate the girl was married to Jeffs when she was 12 years old. Jeffs is the jailed leader of the FLDS, a breakaway Mormon sect that practices polygamy.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23133/warren-jeffs-child-bride-2/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23125/flds-welfare-fraud http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23125/flds-welfare-fraud#comments Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:12:02 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23125 Allegations that members of a southern Utah polygamous sect are guilty of widespread welfare fraud were raised repeatedly this summer during a U.S. Senate judiciary committee hearing.

But welfare data from Utah, Arizona and Texas do not support the claims.

Yet six speakers at a July 24 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing said fraud and misuse of welfare funds is a primary reason the federal government should be more involved in investigating the sect. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23125/flds-welfare-fraud/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23099/flds-116 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23099/flds-116#comments Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:38:19 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23099 Nearly nine months since state authorities raided the Yearning for Zion polygamist ranch and took hundreds of children into temporary custody, the families upended by the largest-ever U.S. child welfare case cling to their culture.

Some members of the Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints hunker down in suburban subdivisions across Texas, struggling to maintain piety and an austere lifestyle in the face of influences they consider immoral. Others have moved back to the ranch, trying to restore sanctity and self-sufficiency to their once-thriving community.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23099/flds-116/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23100/flds-117 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23100/flds-117#comments Sun, 28 Dec 2008 02:38:21 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23100 A polygamist group accused of widespread abuse and neglect of children at a Texas ranch called the allegations "manufactured" Saturday in a lengthy rebuke of a state report released this week.

The Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado called the findings "as false and fraudulent as the original hoax telephone call" that initiated an April raid of the ranch, and said the saga has left their community poverty-stricken.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23100/flds-117/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23093/flds-child-abuse http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23093/flds-child-abuse#comments Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:17:14 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23093 A dozen girls in a polygamist sect have been sexually abused in underage “spiritual marriages” performed with their parents’ consent, Texas Child Protective Services said Tuesday.

More than one of every four pubescent girls at the Yearning for Zion ranch near Eldorado was married at an inappropriate age, Texas Child Protective Services found.

“The 12 girls were ‘spiritually’ married at ages ranging from 12 to 15, and seven of these girls have had one or more children,” CPS said in a report wrapping up a nine-month investigation in the largest-ever U.S. child welfare case. [video] ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23093/flds-child-abuse/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23071/mark-shurtleff-flds http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23071/mark-shurtleff-flds#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:05:22 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23071 Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff accepted his first-ever invitation from a polygamous sect to tour its embattled community Thursday, the clearest signal yet of high-level interest in resolving disputes over the group's property trust.

Shurtleff's staff has taken a leading role in negotiating a resolution to lawsuits over the sect's United Effort Plan Trust, which for the past three years has been under court oversight.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23071/mark-shurtleff-flds/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23070/flds-cps-findings http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23070/flds-cps-findings#comments Thu, 18 Dec 2008 23:47:33 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23070 Texas Child Protective Services, the agency that last spring removed 439 children from a polygamist ranch in West Texas because caseworkers suspected child abuse, is refusing to release the findings of their completed abuse investigation to the Houston Chronicle.

On Wednesday, agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins confirmed that the abuse investigation is finished but said the findings would not be released because CPS officials want to release them later in an upcoming report. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23070/flds-cps-findings/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23064/fundamentalist-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-2 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23064/fundamentalist-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-2#comments Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:02:39 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23064 Since June the grand jury has charged 12 sect members, including sect leader Warren S. Jeffs, with crimes related to underage or plural marriages. A new grand jury was seated in October but won't take over until January, a Schleicher county clerk said.

"Our investigation is ongoing and, if needed, we will request another grand jury be empaneled to hear evidence," Strickland said.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23064/fundamentalist-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-2/feed