http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion news about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:41:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24162/scientology-putting-lives-at-risk-says-mental-health-expert-pat-mcgorry http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24162/scientology-putting-lives-at-risk-says-mental-health-expert-pat-mcgorry#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:19:18 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=24162 Scientology's quackery is highlighted once again, this time by renowned mental health expert Pat McGorry who has joined psychiatry boss Louise Newman and the Brain and Mind Institute's Ian Hickie in urging senators to vote for an inquiry.

"They are the deniers of the realities of mental illness, which I find incredibly irresponsible and dangerous," he told ABC Radio on Wednesday.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24162/scientology-putting-lives-at-risk-says-mental-health-expert-pat-mcgorry/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24027/scientology-cult-releases-l-ron-hubbard-lectures http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24027/scientology-cult-releases-l-ron-hubbard-lectures#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:05:05 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=24027 More than 1,000 unreleased recordings of lectures by L. Ron Hubbard and reams of corresponding writings have been unveiled in the culmination of a 25-year project to locate, restore and transcribe lost pieces of the Scientology founder's work.

Records show that the science fiction author made up many details of his own life.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24027/scientology-cult-releases-l-ron-hubbard-lectures/feed 0 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/23840/scientology-fraud-quackery http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23840/scientology-fraud-quackery#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:57:36 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23840 French judges said they did not order the church offices closed because they did not want to drive Scientologists underground, where they could not be monitored.

At least five other cases involving complaints against the church are under investigation by courts around France, according to press reports. [video]]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23840/scientology-fraud-quackery/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23759/christine-daniel-arrested http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23759/christine-daniel-arrested#comments Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:10:17 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23759 A doctor who is also an ordained minister was charged by federal prosecutors after claiming that her 'C-Extract' was an alternative to traditional cancer treatments.

Using her influence as an ordained Pentecostal minister, Christine Daniel tapped into the vessel of faith to entice people from across the nation to try her regimen. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23759/christine-daniel-arrested/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23694/garri-r http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23694/garri-r#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:14:23 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23694 A group session at a doctor's house in northern Berlin left two men dead and another in a coma after their therapist gave them a dangerous cocktail of drugs.

The doctor was arrested on Sunday evening with two counts of assault leading to death and six counts of dangerous assault, the police announced on Monday.

The doctor, Garik "Garri" R., is reported to have been born in Uzbekistan. He is a registered doctor with insurance companies and is accredited to work as a psychotherapist.

The suspect is an adherent of the controversial Swiss psychiatrist Samuel Widmer, who promotes the use of drugs in therapy.

Widmer lives with two women and has 11 children by them. In an interview on his own Web site, he criticized the taboo surrounding incest.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23694/garri-r/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23689/john-travolta-son-had-autism http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23689/john-travolta-son-had-autism#comments Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:58:55 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23689 While giving testimony in an extortion trial, John Travolta acknowledged publicly for the first time that his late son had suffered from autism.

The admission puts Travolta at odds with the Church of Scientology in which he is a leading figure. The cult, which among other things practices quackery, does not acknowledge autism as a real affliction.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23689/john-travolta-son-had-autism/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23638/new-french-law-blocks-scientology-dissolution http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23638/new-french-law-blocks-scientology-dissolution#comments Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:05:47 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23638 A new French law means the Church of Scientology cannot be dissolved in France even if it is convicted of fraud, it has emerged during a trial of the organisation.

A prosecutor has recommended that a Paris court dissolve the church's French branch, which has been charged with fraud after complaints by former members who say they gave huge sums to the church for spiritual classes and "purification packs."]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23638/new-french-law-blocks-scientology-dissolution/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23544/jehovah-s-witness-refuses-medical-treatment http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23544/jehovah-s-witness-refuses-medical-treatment#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 07:18:35 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23544 A dying Jehovah's Witness has been granted the right to refuse life-saving medical treatment on the grounds of his religious beliefs.

Mr A's guardians produced two Jehovah's Witness "worksheets'' indicating his attitude to various forms of medical treatment. Justice Robert McDougall found Mr A's directives should be followed "even if the likely consequence of giving effect to Mr A's wishes ... is that he will die".]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23544/jehovah-s-witness-refuses-medical-treatment/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23505/scientology-exposed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23505/scientology-exposed#comments Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:21:38 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23505 Marty Rathbun and Mike Rinder, the highest-ranking executives to leave the Church of Scientology, are speaking out for the first time.

Two other former executives who defected also agreed to interviews with the St. Petersburg Times: De Vocht, who for years oversaw the church's spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, and Amy Scobee, who helped create Scientology's celebrity network, which caters to the likes of John Travolta and Tom Cruise.

One by one, the four defectors walked away from the only life they knew. That Rathbun and Rinder are speaking out is a stunning reversal because they were among Miscavige's closest associates, Haldeman and Ehrlichman to his Nixon.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23505/scientology-exposed/feed 0