Religion News Blog

Prosecutor not malicious in Satanic sex abuse case, Canada’s Supreme Court says

Religion News Blog — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:33:28 +0000

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday that a Crown prosecutor was not acting maliciously when he prosecuted 12 members of a Saskatchewan family in the early 1990s after three foster children accused them of sexual abuse and bizarre satanic ritual abuse.

In 1993, criminal charges against all but one member of the Klassen family were stayed and the children later admitted they had made up the story.

Supreme Court upholds cult AUM Shinrikyo members’ death sentences

Religion News Blog — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:03:26 +0000

Two former members of the cult AUM Shinrikyo, Toru Toyoda (41) and Kenichi Hirose (45), had their death sentences upheld by the Supreme Court on Friday for their involvement in the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 12 people and hospitalized thousands.

Jury takes 14 minutes to convict self-proclaimed pot pastor

Religion News Blog — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:09:50 +0000

Steven Swallick says he runs a ministry about marijuana. He says he mixed the marijuana with other ingredients to create anointing oil, a recipe he says he got out of the Bible.

But the jury didn't have to address the religious issue, just whether he grew it, possessed it and stole electricity to do it.

Fort Hood shooting: imam says Nalid Malik Husan ‘didn’t seem like an extremist’

Religion News Blog — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:49:39 +0000

An American imam who once led the mosque attended by Nalid Malik Hasan, the man suspected of shooting 13 people dead at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, has said the army major did not seem to be an extremist.

But a former aremy colleague quoted Hasan as saying Muslims should "rise up" and attack Americans in retaliation for the US war in Iraq.

Polygamist Sect Leader Convicted of Sexual Assault

Religion News Blog — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:22:26 +0000

Raymond M. Jessop, one of the leaders of a polygamist sect was convicted Thursday night of sexually assaulting an under-age girl whom the church elders had assigned to him as one of his nine wives.

The state used birth records, a marriage certificate and FLDS church records to show Jessop, already married, took the girl as a spiritual wife in 2004 when she was 16. [video]

Hindus, yoga teachers question US sales tax

Religion News Blog — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:38:08 +0000

Yoga practitioners are criticizing a Missouri sales tax that applies to yoga classes, claiming they should be exempt because the lessons include spiritual elements.

Some practitioners think such a tax is unconstitutional. They argue that yoga, with roots in ancient Indian meditation, is as much a spiritual practice as an exercise routine and should be exempt from taxation.

Healthcare provision seeks to embrace Christian Science prayer treatments

Religion News Blog — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:42:04 +0000

Backed by some of the most powerful members of the Senate, a little-noticed provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses.

The measure would put Christian Science prayer treatments -- which substitute for or supplement medical treatments -- on the same footing as clinical medicine. While not mentioning the church by name, it would prohibit discrimination against "religious and spiritual healthcare."

New Dimension in India’s Anti-Christian Violence Feared

Religion News Blog — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:50:15 +0000

After the recent arrests of numerous Hindu terrorists for exploding bombs, authorities increasingly view Hindu rightwing extremists as a threat not only to Muslim and Christian minorities but also to national security.

Historically Hindu terrorist groups have traded blows with India’s Muslim extremists, but because of a perceived threat from Christianity many analysts believe Hindu terrorists increasingly pose dangers to Christians as well.

Witness: FLDS men lead all aspects of sect life

Religion News Blog — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:31:38 +0000

Women in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints polygamist sect were taught that their fathers or husbands and the sect's prophet had the right to direct every aspect of their lives, a former member testified Wednesday in the child sexual abuse trial of a current sect member.

Prosecutors asked Musser to talk about her experience in the FLDS and how church records are kept, as they are relying heavily on records and dictations by jailed FLDS leader Warren Jeffs that were seized from the ranch.

Cult leader Warren Jeffs’ attorneys argue sect leader faced wrong charge

Religion News Blog — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:52:43 +0000

Cult leader Warren Jeffs' attorney, Walter Bugden Jr., said the state could have charged Jeffs with performing an illegal marriage, but instead decided to charge an unpopular religious figure with a serious crime that didn't fit the facts of the case.

Note that Jeffs -- notorious for his ruthlessness -- told the girl in question she would lose her salvation if she did not obey.