Religion News Blog

Judge cancels hearing in case against Warren Jeffs

Religion News Blog — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:50:13 +0000

An Arizona judge has canceled a two-day hearing in the state's case against polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs after granting a defense motion barring use of any evidence found at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' Texas ranch in 2008.

Wanda Barzee pleads guilty to charge in Elizabeth Smart case

Religion News Blog — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:34:41 +0000

Prosecutors on Monday dropped state charges against a woman in the 2002 abduction of Elizabeth Smart in exchange for a guilty plea related to the attempted kidnapping of Smart's cousin.

Doctors at the Utah State Hospital said last fall that Barzee had responded to the treatment and was competent.

Atherton accepted that determination Monday but said Barzee remains mentally ill.

Atheists ‘just as ethical as churchgoers’ research shows

Religion News Blog — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:14:12 +0000

Atheists are just as ethical and have as strong a moral compass as churchgoers, new research shows.

People who have no religion know right from wrong just as well as regular worshippers, according to the study.

The team behind the research found that most religions were similar and had a moral code which helped to organise society.

But people who did not have a religious background still appeared to have intuitive judgments of right and wrong in common with believers, according to the findings, published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

NewsChannel 10 allowed inside self proclaimed messiah’s compound

Religion News Blog — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:08:56 +0000

Nearly two years after the arrest of self proclaimed messiah Wayne Bent, a New Mexico TV news station became the first media allowed inside his cult's compound.

If you spend a day walking around the remote property of the Lord Our Righteousness Church you wouldn't believe you were amongst what State Police call an apocalyptic cult. [video]

FLDS has new president, but is Warren Jeffs still their prophet?

Religion News Blog — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:11:19 +0000

A new president has been called to lead a controversial polygamous sect, replacing jailed leader Warren S. Jeffs in that post.

Wendell Nielsen, 69, is now president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and of the corporate entity that handles the faith's business dealings, according to a document filed with the state of Utah.

Street Preachers Killed In United States

Religion News Blog — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:52:54 +0000

A religious liberty group warned Saturday, February 6, that "Anti-Christian hostility is getting increasingly deadly" in the United States after two street preachers were shot and killed by a teenager who apparently opposed their message.

"The increasing demonization of Christians in our culture makes some feel its open season on Christians," said Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission.

Scientology: The Religion of the Stars, infiltrated

Religion News Blog — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:56:18 +0000

In Scientology: The Religion of the Stars author Ian Halperin goes undercover to reveal never-before-told secrets of the strange, science-fiction inspired church of the stars.

Halperin infiltrates the Church of Scientology posing as a gay actor attracted by the church's claim that it can cure homosexuality. Rebuffed until he claims that his uncle is a rich millionaire thinking of joining the church, he is given unprecedented access and allowed to video his entire experience. The results are explosive.

Australian Senator challenges Scientology cult to agree to Senate inquiry

Religion News Blog — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:42:36 +0000

''I challenge the Church of Scientology - if they are so confident of their position, they should welcome a Senate inquiry where they can give evidence,'' Senator Xenophon said yesterday.

The 'Church' meanwhile portrays a group of its critics as a 'hate group' -- an act of hypocrisy given Scientology's lengthy history of hate- and harassment activities.

Dutch church retains atheist preacher

Religion News Blog — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:31:15 +0000

An atheist preacher has been allowed to stay in office by the Protestant Church of the Netherlands.

The regional church assembly in the southwestern town of Zierikzee decided that preacher Klaas Hendrikse's views do not fundamentally differ from those of other liberal theologians in the Protestant Church.

Self-help guru James Arthur Ray arrested over sweat lodge deaths

Religion News Blog — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:00:23 +0000

Police arrested self-help guru James Arthur Ray on Wednesday for the manslaughter of three people who fell ill during a ceremony in a "sweat dome" at a retreat in northern Arizona last year.

Two people passed out inside the sweat lodge and died that night at a hospital. A third person slipped into a coma and died a week later.

Authorities said they quickly determined the deaths were not accidental and focused their investigation on Ray. [video]