http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion news about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:58:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26538/islamic-love-guru-mama-widad-urges-women-to-enjoy-sex http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26538/islamic-love-guru-mama-widad-urges-women-to-enjoy-sex#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:49:42 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26538 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.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26538/islamic-love-guru-mama-widad-urges-women-to-enjoy-sex/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26495/muslim-teenager-attacked-by-brother-and-sisters-for-kissing-white-man http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26495/muslim-teenager-attacked-by-brother-and-sisters-for-kissing-white-man#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:08:46 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26495 A Muslim teenager in England was kidnapped, beaten and threatened with hammers and knives by her brother and sisters after kissing a white man, a court heard yesterday.

The barbarians deny kidnap, actual bodily harm and false imprisonment charges.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26495/muslim-teenager-attacked-by-brother-and-sisters-for-kissing-white-man/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26483/dutch-government-going-ahead-with-burqa-ban http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26483/dutch-government-going-ahead-with-burqa-ban#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:52:43 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26483 People wearing burqas, balaclavas or all-in-one motorbike helmets in public in the Netherlands will soon face fines. On Friday, government ministers voted to outlaw all clothing which covers the face.

"People must be able to look each other in the face and be recognisable to one another. The wearing of face-covering clothing does not fit in with the Netherlands' open society, in which participation in social traffic is actually crucial," the cabinet said Friday.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26483/dutch-government-going-ahead-with-burqa-ban/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26464/seven-christians-killed-in-bauchi-state-nigeria http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26464/seven-christians-killed-in-bauchi-state-nigeria#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:58:54 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26464 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.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26464/seven-christians-killed-in-bauchi-state-nigeria/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26456/christians-in-sudan-and-south-sudan-facing-death-and-detention http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26456/christians-in-sudan-and-south-sudan-facing-death-and-detention#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:53:28 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26456 Christians in Sudan and newly created South Sudan face possible detention, beatings and even death amid a "deteriorating humanitarian situation" with thousands of people being killed this year alone, aid workers and Christians say.

In Sudan's capital Kharthoum, minority Christians have also been pressured to leave the country towards South Sudan, with reports of detentions and beatings, church leaders said. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26456/christians-in-sudan-and-south-sudan-facing-death-and-detention/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26453/uk-muslims-convicted-in-gay-hatred-case http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26453/uk-muslims-convicted-in-gay-hatred-case#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:19:29 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26453 Three Muslim men in England have been found guilty of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation after distributing a leaflet that said Islam called for anyone caught committing homosexuality to be executed.

Ihjaz Ali, Kabir Ahmed and Razwan Javed handed out the pamphlet, called The Death Penalty?, which showed an image of a mannequin hanging from a noose and quoted Islamic texts that said capital punishment was the only way to rid society of homosexuality.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26453/uk-muslims-convicted-in-gay-hatred-case/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26448/sudan-threatens-to-arrest-church-leaders http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26448/sudan-threatens-to-arrest-church-leaders#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:02:55 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26448 Sudan’s Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments has threatened to arrest church leaders if they carry out evangelistic activities and do not comply with an order for churches to provide their names and contact information.

The warning arrived a few days after Sudan President Omar al-Bashir told cheering crowds that the country’s constitution will be more deeply entrenched in sharia (Islamic law). ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26448/sudan-threatens-to-arrest-church-leaders/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26441/ugandan-teenager-tortured-for-becoming-a-christian-regaining-use-of-legs http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26441/ugandan-teenager-tortured-for-becoming-a-christian-regaining-use-of-legs#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:40:19 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26441 A 15-year-old Christian girl in western Uganda who lost the use of her legs after her father locked her in a room for six months for leaving Islam has begun to take tentative steps.

Susan Ithungu had been hospitalized since September 2010 after neighbors along with police rescued her.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26441/ugandan-teenager-tortured-for-becoming-a-christian-regaining-use-of-legs/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26432/muslim-men-accused-of-hate-crime-over-anti-gay-leaflet http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26432/muslim-men-accused-of-hate-crime-over-anti-gay-leaflet#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:29:56 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26432 Five Muslim men from Derby, UK, have gone on trial for allegedly handing out leaflets calling for gay people to be killed in the first ever prosecution under new legislation making such actions a hate crime.

They are accused of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26432/muslim-men-accused-of-hate-crime-over-anti-gay-leaflet/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26421/anti-christian-incidents-nearly-doubled-in-indonesia-in-2011 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26421/anti-christian-incidents-nearly-doubled-in-indonesia-in-2011#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:51:02 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26421 Acts of violence and intolerance against Christians in Indonesia almost doubled in 2011, with an Islamist campaign to close down churches symbolizing the plight of the religious minority.

The worst is perhaps yet to come if authorities continue to overlook the threat of extremism, said a representative from the Jakarta-based Wahid Institute, a Muslim organization that promotes tolerance.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26421/anti-christian-incidents-nearly-doubled-in-indonesia-in-2011/feed 0