http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion news about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:15:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23921/scientology-quackery-practices-putting-people-at-risk http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23921/scientology-quackery-practices-putting-people-at-risk#comments Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:10:24 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23921 Dangerous dismissal of psychiatry and mental health problems must be part of a Senate inquiry into the Church of Scientology, a Melbourne cult-counsellor said yesterday

Cult Counselling Australia director Raphael Aron said Scientologists put vulnerable people at risk by taking them off psychiatric drugs and treatment, instead treating them with vitamins and E-meter readings.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23921/scientology-quackery-practices-putting-people-at-risk/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23918/anwar-al-awlaki-muslim-terrorism http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23918/anwar-al-awlaki-muslim-terrorism#comments Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:03:22 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23918 In nearly a dozen recent terrorism cases in the United States, Britain and Canada, investigators discovered the suspects had something in common: a devotion to the message of Anwar al-Awlaki, an eloquent Muslim cleric who has turned the Web into a tool for extremist indoctrination.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex., on Nov. 5, is only the latest suspect accused of perpetrating or plotting violence to be linked to the cleric. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23918/anwar-al-awlaki-muslim-terrorism/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23917/australian-police-take-up-complaints-about-scientology http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23917/australian-police-take-up-complaints-about-scientology#comments Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:43:30 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23917 Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd raised concerns about the Church of Scientology yesterday, as police began investigating complaints from seven former Scientologists.

As highlighted by senator Nick Xenophon, the former cult members allege abuses including coerced abortions, assault, imprisonment, the covering up of sexual abuse, the embezzlement of church funds and blackmail. [video]]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23917/australian-police-take-up-complaints-about-scientology/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23914/australian-senator-tells-parliament-widespread-criminal-conduct-within-the-church-of-scientology http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23914/australian-senator-tells-parliament-widespread-criminal-conduct-within-the-church-of-scientology#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:36:34 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23914 The Australian Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has used a speech in Parliament to raise allegations of widespread criminal conduct within the Church of Scientology.

Senator Xenophon says he's received letters from former followers of the religion detailing claims of crimes and abuses. [video]]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23914/australian-senator-tells-parliament-widespread-criminal-conduct-within-the-church-of-scientology/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23903/jailed-muslim-terrorists-promote-jihad http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23903/jailed-muslim-terrorists-promote-jihad#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:56:37 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23903 In an authoritative report, Quilliam, a counter-extremism think tank funded by the UK's Home Office, claims “mismanagement” by the Prison Service is helping Al Qaeda gain recruits and risks “strengthening jihadist movements”.

For instance, Abu Qatada, described by MI5 as “Osama Bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe”, has published fatwas -- religious rulings -- on the internet from Long Lartin prison, in Worcestershire, calling for holy war and the murder of moderate Muslims, it reveals.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23903/jailed-muslim-terrorists-promote-jihad/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23894/ibn-warraq-on-islamic-terrorism http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23894/ibn-warraq-on-islamic-terrorism#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:56:19 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23894 Jihad is “a religious war with those who are unbelievers in the mission of Muhammad. It is an incumbent religious duty, established in the Koran and in the Traditions as a divine institution, and enjoined specially for the purpose of advancing Islam and repelling evil from Muslims.”

That is how it is described in no lesser source than the Dictionary of Islam, so we should not pretend surprise if Islamic terrorists see their mission in such terms. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23894/ibn-warraq-on-islamic-terrorism/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23876/scientology-disconnection-policy-destroys-relationships http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23876/scientology-disconnection-policy-destroys-relationships#comments Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:16:53 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23876 I knew Scientology was in trouble when the media moved on from the usual silly gossip about its celebrity members to much darker, disturbing issues at the heart of the movement – issues, as I have come personally to understand, that actually matter, Jonny Jacobsen writes in Herald Scotland.

After a Paris court last month convicted several Scientologists and two organisations associated with the movement in France of organised fraud, and amid other investigations in France looking at a suicide and an alleged abduction, Oscar-winning film-maker Paul Haggis, a long-time member, quit Scientology.

Haggis, who wrote and directed Crash, denounced the practice of "disconnection", which sees members forced to cut off contact with anyone – even their loved ones – if they are deemed an enemy of Scientology.

In Edinburgh in the early 1990s, I found out just what the practice of disconnection could do to ordinary people when a close friend became involved in Scientology. It was an experience which marked me so profoundly that I have been tracking the movement ever since...]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23876/scientology-disconnection-policy-destroys-relationships/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23855/theo-van-gogh-murdered-by-islamic-hate-criminal http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23855/theo-van-gogh-murdered-by-islamic-hate-criminal#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:45:19 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23855 The Dutch are marking the fifth anniversary of the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a Muslim fanatic, a brutal killing that continues to shape politics in the Netherlands, AP writes.

Watch the movie Van Gogh was murdered for.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23855/theo-van-gogh-murdered-by-islamic-hate-criminal/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23854/newspaper-continues-series-of-exposes-of-scientology-cult http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23854/newspaper-continues-series-of-exposes-of-scientology-cult#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:11:05 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23854 The St. Petersburg Times is continuing to expose the Church of Scientology to daylight -- by reporting on the destructive cult's unethical tactics.

Billed as The Truth Rundown, its series of special reports highlights the alleged abusive behavior of current Scientology leader David Miscavige, as well as other criticism leveled at Scientology by a number of high-level defectors. [video]]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23854/newspaper-continues-series-of-exposes-of-scientology-cult/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23853/islamic-hate-group-calls-cancels-pro-sharia-demonstration http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23853/islamic-hate-group-calls-cancels-pro-sharia-demonstration#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:08:02 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23853 A demonstration of Muslim hardliners calling for sharia law to be imposed in Britain was cancelled in London over the weekend amid planned counter-protests by democratic Muslims.

Anjem Choudary, leader of the radical Islamic group Al Muhajiroun, said that organisers of the Islam4UK demo had cancelled the march from the Houses of Parliament to Trafalgar Square on 31 October 2009 because of security concerns.

The Islamic Society of Britain, which was planning to join other organisations in staging a "dignified, non-violent" counter-demonstration, hailed the cancellation as a "great success".]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23853/islamic-hate-group-calls-cancels-pro-sharia-demonstration/feed 0