Tag: Samuel Mullet

In this issue: cult leader Debra Burslem, of the Magnificat Meal Movement, has fled Australia for the island nation of Vanuata. An Australian current affairs program tracked her down and confronted the ‘prophetess’ with claims that she has misused funds provided by her followers.

Plus: Does evangelist Reinhard Bonnke perform miracles?

Also: next month marks the 20th anniversary of doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo’s sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway.

And and in-depth look at the apocalyptic theology that fuels ISIS and other Muslim radicals around the world.

Many more religion news items…

Beard-cutting cult members sent to prisons around the US A renegade Amish cult leader and seven of his followers, convicted last September of federal conspiracy and hate crimes, have been assigned to prisons scattered across the country — some as far as 1,000 miles away from Cleveland, Ohio, where they were sentenced three weeks ago. Samuel Mullet was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Fifteen of his followers received prison terms ranging from one to seven years. The clan was prosecuted for engaging in beard- and hair cutting attacks against fellow Amish they disagreed with. According to The Plain Dealer,

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 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

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.”