http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion news about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:35:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23422/religion-news-pareidolia http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23422/religion-news-pareidolia#comments Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:01:07 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23422 The RNB Religion News Roundup for Friday, Apr. 24, 2009 includes items about Scientology, Aum Shinrikyo, Korean cult leader Jeong Myeong-Seok, the continuing popularity of Aum Shrinrikyo's jailed cult leader, and China's on-going ban on Falun Gong.

Also: • A US state must pay benefits to the wife of a Jehovah's Witness who died after refusing a blood transfusion  • A killer turned pastor upsets his victim's son  • Nigerian preacher speaks out against witch hunts  • Vampire story gets demoted...

Plus: what do you see? Pareidolia?]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23422/religion-news-pareidolia/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23410/flds-cult-attempts-suppression-of-evidence http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23410/flds-cult-attempts-suppression-of-evidence#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:49:16 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23410 Attorneys for indicted members of the FLDS dropped a 7,000-page bombshell Wednesday on the 51st District Court, alleging that Texas Rangers misled Judge Barbara Walther into issuing a pair of search warrants that authorized last year's raid on the polygamous sect's Schleicher County compound.

The Texas Attorney General's Office, which is handling the prosecutions, issued a statement Wednesday that called the FLDS motion "baseless and without merit."]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23410/flds-cult-attempts-suppression-of-evidence/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23403/flds-testimony http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23403/flds-testimony#comments Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:46:10 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23403 Last year, Texas Child Protective Services removed 439 children living at a West Texas ranch owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints because caseworkers reported finding evidence of girls being married to adults.

Today, FLDS members will testify before the Texas House Committee on Human Services. Committee members will be discussing what occurred in Eldorado last year, the state’s actions and discussing a new measure that would clarify alternatives CPS workers can take, when child abuse is suspected in a household.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23403/flds-testimony/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23379/flds-raid-one-year-later http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23379/flds-raid-one-year-later#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:56:49 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23379 1 year after the raid on the Yearning for Zion ranch, just one child remains in state custody. Twelve men face criminal charges related to underage marriages; the first trial is set for October. A new legislative committee is set to explore "lessons learned" from the raid, which has cost upward of $15 million.

Texas authorities resolutely defend their actions as necessary for the children's safety. And members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints remain as firmly committed to their faith as ever.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23379/flds-raid-one-year-later/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23363/canada-defends-polygamy-ban http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23363/canada-defends-polygamy-ban#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:41:01 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23363 In January, the RCMP charged two prominent members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect in Bountiful, B.C., with practising polygamy.

The lawyer for one of them has vowed to cite his client's religious freedom as a defence, leading some legal and constitutional experts to speculate the case could go all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23363/canada-defends-polygamy-ban/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23318/flds-mother-accused-of-switching-babies-in-effort-to-avoid-dna-test http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23318/flds-mother-accused-of-switching-babies-in-effort-to-avoid-dna-test#comments Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:20:15 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23318 Texas child welfare authorities are accusing a 17-year-old girl from the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch of switching babies to avoid having to undergo a DNA test.

In a court filing in San Angelo, Texas, made public on Monday, Child Protective Services urges a judge to cancel a Friday hearing over the girl and order her to undergo a psychological evaluation.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23318/flds-mother-accused-of-switching-babies-in-effort-to-avoid-dna-test/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23305/winston-blackmore-2 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23305/winston-blackmore-2#comments Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:46:25 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23305 Winston Blackmore has yet to enter his plea to the criminal charge of practising polygamy, but he's already on his third lawyer, has filed for legal aid and asked Utah's attorney-general for help in having his bail conditions amended.

Blackmore's new lawyer is Joe Arvay, a well-known human rights and constitutional lawyer, whose firm successfully argued before the Supreme Court of Canada that the Constitution protects gays and lesbians from discrimination.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23305/winston-blackmore-2/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23284/warren-jeffs-flds-raid-evidence-questioned http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23284/warren-jeffs-flds-raid-evidence-questioned#comments Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:54:40 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23284 Lawyers for FLDS leader Warren Jeffs are accusing Texas and Arizona authorities of blocking their efforts to ferret out the origins of the raid on the YFZ Ranch.

Their court filings show that a raid on the sect's ranch last year has apparently spurred a federal grand jury investigation into members of the group.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23284/warren-jeffs-flds-raid-evidence-questioned/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23274/pologamy-charges-against-canada-sect-leaders http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23274/pologamy-charges-against-canada-sect-leaders#comments Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:36:54 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23274 Winston Blackmore and James Oler, leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Bountiful, B.C., were charged last month with practising polygamy.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is urging that the constitutionality of the anti-polygamy law be tested by a reference to the Supreme Court of Canada —a recommendation made in earlier legal opinions prepared for the B.C. attorney general.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23274/pologamy-charges-against-canada-sect-leaders/feed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23268/flds-bountiful-polygamy http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23268/flds-bountiful-polygamy#comments Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:44:47 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23268 The arrests in Canada last month of two fundamentalist Mormon leaders are bringing renewed interest to their polygamous communities near Creston, B.C., and loyal followers living just across the border in Idaho’s Boundary County.

Winston Blackmore, 52, and James Oler, 44, who now head factions of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Canada, face prison terms if convicted of violating that country’s polygamy laws.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23268/flds-bountiful-polygamy/feed