Jon Atack has vastly updated his critical book about the Scientology cult.
Also: a man quits his job over the number ‘666,’ and a cult leader who claimed to be an alien from Sirius has been jailed for abusing his followewrs.
Plus: Renegade Amish cult leader Samuel Mullet and 15 members of his clan have been jailed for their hate crimes. More inside…
Muslim-American terrorism has declined for the third year in a row, a study concludes. Plus: Amish ask judge to keep a beard-cutting renegade Amish cult leader jailed.
The niece of Scientology cult leader David Miscavige speaks out in a new book that is sure to have the controversial ‘church’ in damage control mode.
Also, two FLDS cult towns owe lots in back taxes to Utah, Arizona.
Renegade Amish bishop Samuel Mullet and 15 of his followers were convicted Thursday of federal conspiracy and hate crimes for a series of beard- and hair cutting attacks on fellow Amish who rejected Mullet’s edicts.
Their convictions could result in lengthy prison terms.
Defense lawyers in the hate crimes trial of Amish bishop Samuel Mullet and 15 of his followers rested their case Tuesday without calling a single witness.
Each of the 16 defendant faces five years in prison if convicted of conspiracy, but hate crime charges could spell a life sentence.
In today’s brief edition of Religion News Briefs: the death of cult leader and self-proclaimed ‘Messiah’ Sun Myung Moon brings out cult defenders.
An Amish bishop testifies against the cult-like group that attacked him. Plus, an Australian doctor — a member of the extremist Exclusive Brethren sect — has been banned from practicing medicine after prescribing a ‘gay cure.’
In today’s issue of Religion News Briefs: Already jailed for violating residential zoning codes, ‘home bible study’ pastor Michael Salman now faces a series of felony charges.
Plus: the condition of cult leader Sun Myung Moon worsens.
A daughter-in-law of Samuel Mullet, the leader of a breakaway Amish group on trial on hate crimes charges, says he coerced her into sex. Meanwhile his sister says Mullet’s group is a cult.
The Israeli government has distanced itself from a new Scientology cult center in Jaffa.
Also: the authors of a new study say the common assumption that natural and supernatural explanations are incompatible is psychologically inaccurate.
Plus, the latest issue of ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) Today has an in-depth article about the history of the Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center — non-profit residential treatment facility that provides a program of counseling and instruction to victims of cultic abuse, religious abuse and/or mind control.
In today’s edition of Religion News Briefs: Appeals court orders punitive damages against jailed cult leader Tony Alamo reduced from $60M to $24M. Also: cult expert Stephen Kent addresses the decline of Scientology. And the Raelian Movement — a UFO cult — really knows how to latch onto free publicity.
Plus some surprising news in the blasphemy case against a young Pakistani Christian girl. And more…
A breakaway Amish groups considered by prosecutors to be a cult goes on trial today for hate crimes. Also: A young man convicted for his involvement in a vampire cult murder wants to have his sentence reduced.
Plus: In Spain a fresco of Christ, disfigured in a botched restoration attempt, draws throngs of tourists (and is a worldwide internet sensation).
The murderous Aum Shinrikyo cult, best known for its nerve gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system, is still recruiting new followers. And cult expert Steve Hassan has written
Federal prosecutors will be allowed to question witnesses about Amish leader Sam Mullet’s sexual activities when the hate-crime trial of Mullet and 15 followers begins next week, a federal judge ruled Monday.
The judge forbid prosecutors from describing his group with words such cult, sect, clan, band, schism, faction, off-shoot, breakaway, renegade, rogue or splinter group. Witnesses, however, can use any terms they choose.
Jurors should be allowed to hear about alleged sexual “counseling” of Amish wives by a man charged with masterminding beard- and hair-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in Ohio, prosecutors told a federal judge Friday.
Former members of the group say Sam Mullet has been “counseling” married women in his clan, taking them into his home “so that he may cleanse them of the devil with acts of sexual intimacy.”