False prophet Bob Jones has died — again. And a snake-handling preacher known from the reality TV show ‘Snake Salvation’ has died after he was bitten by a snake.
A recently-married teenage mother claims she is a Satanist who has murdered more than 20 people. And the Son God Movie can count on sold-out theaters. Here’s why…
Among today’s religion news briefs: A U.S. watchdog charged with investigating violations of religious liberty throughout the world is being sued for religious discrimination.
A dentist has been ordered to pay nearly $350k to settle allegations that he threatened to fire a dental assistant unless she attended a Scientology-related training session.
And seven people will stand trial in the death of a 3-year-old toddler during a botched exorcism.
Joshua Cookson, convicted of murdering an acquaintance at his mobile home in 1999 wants a federal court judge to require Maine prison officials to allow him to practice Satanism as a religion.
Cookson is allowed to practice Satanism in his own cell, but he wants permission to practice with others.
Plans by a group to hold a “satanic exorcism” at the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall prompted citizens to telephone and e-mail the city, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.
In Tuesday’s Oklahoman, Civic Center officials confirmed that the Church of the IV Majesties has booked one of the smaller rooms at the Civic Center for a meeting on Oct. 21. The group’s leader said they will perform a parody of a Roman Catholic exorcism.
Satanic cults constitute a world in which evil reigns, so keeping them clandestine is essential. But one young German woman has dared to speak openly about growing up in such a cult.
Brigitte Hahn, the sect commissioner for the Catholic Diocese of Muenster, says 30 victims of such Satanic cults have sought help from her office. Some of the women described black masses, which also included ritualistic abortions and even murder.
Six members of a Satanic cult were jailed for up to 20 years in Russia on Monday for four murders in which they “ritually sacrificed”, dismembered and then ate their teenage victims in a forest.
The members of the gang called themselves Satanists and earlier carried out animal sacrifices, Komsomolskaya Pravda, the Russian daily, reported, citing investigators.
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.
The last hours of Kimberly Simon’s life in 1985 were likely spent with a group of young men who worshiped the devil, tortured cats, used hallucinogenic drugs and sexually abused women, according to investigators who have been probing her homicide for the past 16 months.
By disclosing the new information, investigators hope to stir public interest in watching the “America’s Most Wanted” episode scheduled to feature Simon’s case.
A North Carolina couple whose crimes were linked to Satan worship pleaded to misdemeanor charges and will serve probation, a defense attorney said.
The case against a third person was dismissed last January.
In Today’s RNB Roundup, • Inmate says jailers interfered with his Satanic religious practices. • Rastafarians tells an Italian judge their pound of marijuana was for religious purposes. • Quick, sell your TV: The PTL Club may soon be back on the screen • A look at Scandinavia’s kinder, gentler atheists.
Also: • Leonard Cohen returns to the road, for reasons practical and spiritual, • Transcendental Meditation taught in American schools. And more…