http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion news about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:59:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26518/russian-mission-group-warns-of-crackdown-on-evangelicals http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26518/russian-mission-group-warns-of-crackdown-on-evangelicals#comments Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:00:26 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26518 As protesters demanding more freedom and fair elections prepared to demonstrate in freezing temperatures in Moscow last Saturday, a major Russian mission group warned of more difficulties for evangelical Christians and other religious minorities in Russia and other former Soviet Union nations. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26518/russian-mission-group-warns-of-crackdown-on-evangelicals/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26404/russia-court-declares-hindu-book-bhagavad-gita-legal http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26404/russia-court-declares-hindu-book-bhagavad-gita-legal#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:53:04 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26404 A Russian court has dismissed a call to ban an edition of the Hindu holy book Bhagvad Gita, in a case that triggered protests in India.

Prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk wanted the edition to be ruled "extremist".]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26404/russia-court-declares-hindu-book-bhagavad-gita-legal/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26221/moscow-church-of-scientology-raided http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26221/moscow-church-of-scientology-raided#comments Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:48:30 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26221 Moscow police have been searching the Church of Scientology on Taganskaya Street since Thursday morning.

According to a source who spoke to Russian news agency Interfax, "The search could be part of a criminal investigation by the Moscow region's Investigative Committee into the distribution of scientology literature of the extremist nature."]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26221/moscow-church-of-scientology-raided/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25184/jail-dodging-%e2%80%9csex-guru%e2%80%9d-arrested http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25184/jail-dodging-%e2%80%9csex-guru%e2%80%9d-arrested#comments Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:12:30 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=25184 The leader of a notorious quasi-religious cult, suspected of recruiting thousands of people and turning them into voluntary sex slaves, has been arrested in Russia.

Konstantin Rudnev, leader of the “Ashram Shambala” sect has been put in custody in the Western Siberian city of Novosibirsk and charged with sexual assault, rape and the creation of a society involved in violence and the violation of human rights, police said.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25184/jail-dodging-%e2%80%9csex-guru%e2%80%9d-arrested/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25143/russia%e2%80%99s-witches-and-wizards-face-ad-ban-to-protect-cancer-victims http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25143/russia%e2%80%99s-witches-and-wizards-face-ad-ban-to-protect-cancer-victims#comments Thu, 23 Sep 2010 04:30:40 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=25143 witch or a wizard from advertising their services in the media in an effort to combat a controversial national obsession with the occult.

According to the Orthodox Church, Russia has 800,000 practitioners of the occult, many of whom advertise in newspaper small advertisements offering cures for alcoholism and spells to lift curses and return errant husbands for a fee.

One report claims almost one in five Russians have consulted occult ‘healers’ but MPs have warned they are risking their health and possibly their lives by trusting in such quackery.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25143/russia%e2%80%99s-witches-and-wizards-face-ad-ban-to-protect-cancer-victims/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24763/russian-boy-dies-during-exorcism-ritual http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24763/russian-boy-dies-during-exorcism-ritual#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:23:32 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=24763 A four-year-old boy has died during an exorcism ritual carried out by a traditional healer in the Far East of Russia, investigators say.

The boy apparently suffocated during the ritual, after healers held him face-down to the ground.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24763/russian-boy-dies-during-exorcism-ritual/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24349/satanic-cult-teens-sacrificed-victims-then-ate-them http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24349/satanic-cult-teens-sacrificed-victims-then-ate-them#comments Mon, 24 May 2010 23:28:47 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=24349 Seven young members of a satanic sect have gone on trial in Russia accused of four gruesome murders in which they "ritually sacrificed" their victims before cooking and eating parts of them.

The case is being held behind closed doors but local media say all seven defendants admit their guilt. They are officially charged with murder, theft and the desecration of human remains.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24349/satanic-cult-teens-sacrificed-victims-then-ate-them/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23957/russian-supreme-court-bans-regional-jehovahs-witnesses-branch http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23957/russian-supreme-court-bans-regional-jehovahs-witnesses-branch#comments Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:29:49 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23957 The Supreme Court rejected an appeal against a previous court ruling of the Rostov regional court issued on September 11, 2009, which declares the Jehovah's Witnesses' branch in the southern Russian city of Taganrog an extremist organization and bans its activities.

A plot of land, an office building and other property belonging to the group were also seized.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23957/russian-supreme-court-bans-regional-jehovahs-witnesses-branch/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23220/satanic-cult-russia http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23220/satanic-cult-russia#comments Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:56:46 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23220 The leader of a satanist sect in Russia's Republic of Mordovia that included more than 60 members has been arrested and the group shut down, investigators announced on Wednesday.

Investigators said the members rented a house where they "conducted cult ceremonies, including illegal acts of alcoholic binge drinking, sexual practices and antisocial behavior."]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23220/satanic-cult-russia/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23084/russia-new-age-quackery http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23084/russia-new-age-quackery#comments Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:43:41 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23084 So far, 130 healers, including Fadkin, have passed the service's voluntary testing program, which promoters in the government say can determine whether someone has the inherent ability to cure. The program is limited to Moscow, but a Russian lawmaker is pushing to extend it nationwide and make it mandatory.

Skeptics scoff at the notion that such testing is meaningful and criticize the government for lending credibility to people who claim paranormal powers.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23084/russia-new-age-quackery/feed 0