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Case Against Sect May Not Be Over
2008-06-04 10:37:00
Child-protection authorities said their investigation will carry on. And legal experts said they might still have a good chance at proving abuse at the Yearning for Zion Ranch, using DNA tests and seized records to show that underage girls were married to and impregnated by older men.
More About: Case

Daughter of Sect Leader Gets Additional Protection
2008-06-04 09:44:00
A 16-year-old girl who, her lawyers said, was sexually abused in a West Texas polygamist group led by her father, Warren S. Jeffs, was given added legal protections on Tuesday by a district court judge who barred any contact between her and Mr. Jeffs.
More About: Daughter , Leader

Sect families hesitant to return to ranch
2008-06-04 08:34:00
Fear and bad memories are keeping the families from returning, sect elder Willie Jessop said, though he added he believes that is what most want to do. Many are still working through the trauma of the massive law enforcement raid that began April 3.
More About: Return , Families , Ranch

You can?t preach the Bible here, this is a Muslim area
2008-06-03 12:38:00
England: Two Christian preachers were stopped from handing out Bible extracts by police because they were in a Muslim area, it was claimed yesterday.They say they were told by a Muslim police community support officer that they could not preach there and that attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity was a hate crime.The community officer is also said to have told the two men: 'You have been warned. If you come back here and get beat up, well, you have been warned.'
More About: Area , The Bible

Scotland: Muslim in call centre abuse wins GBP20,000
2008-06-03 11:57:00
A Muslim worker at a call centre based at the home of Rangers Football Club in Glasgow has been awarded more than £20,000 for racial and religious discrimination, after colleagues abused him for complaining about how they treated Irish and ethnic-minority callers.
More About: Abuse , Scotland , Racism , Call

Son of televangelist Kenneth Copeland defends church and preacher?s spendin
2008-06-03 11:04:00
"There's a lot of doctrine that teaches that you're not a good Christian unless you're poor. But that's not our doctrine, that's not what we believe," the younger Copeland told KTVT-TV.
More About: Church , Preacher , Kenneth , Kenneth Copeland

Families welcome back 400 children taken from sect
2008-06-03 10:11:00
Under the terms of the order issued by the court all the children must remain in Texas, and parents collecting their children must be photographed and agree to cooperate with any inquiry. They must also attend parenting classes.
More About: Children , Back , Families

Elder: FLDS church marriage policy revised
2008-06-03 01:23:00
An elder in a Texas polygamist group says church policy going forward will to be to forbid any girl to marry who is not old enough to legally consent in the state where she lives.
More About: Church , Marriage , Policy

Canada: B.C. launches probe into polygamous community
2008-06-03 00:49:00
The community has come under focus in recent months because of a high profile raid of a polygamous compound in Texas.
More About: Community , Canada , Probe

Texas judge orders children to return to parents of polygamy sect
2008-06-02 17:05:00
A Texas district judge on Monday ordered the immediate return of the more than 400 children taken from a polygamist sect's ranch, bringing a sudden end to one of the largest custody cases in U.S. history.
More About: Children , Judge , Polygamy , Parents

Islamic hard-liners in Indonesian capital break up rally promoting religiou
2008-06-02 13:14:00
The 'religion of peace': Islam ic hard-liners broke up a religious tolerance rally Sunday in Indonesia, beating demonstrators with bamboo sticks and calling for the deaths of members of a Muslim sect they consider heretical, witnesses said.
More About: Islamic , Indonesian , Break Up , Promoting

Saint Death comes to Chicago
2008-06-02 12:58:00
Eduardo Ornelas, a spiritual adviser and owner of the Botanica San Miguel Arcangel, said he tells customers the Roman Catholic Church does not recognize Santa Muerte. Even so, for many in the Mexican community she has emerged as representing a dark, less-traveled path ultimately connected to God.
More About: Chicago , Death , Saint

In Mexico town, icon of death inspires worship and worry
2008-06-02 12:51:00
While a similar shrine to a Catholic saint would likely be a source of pride, many residents are appalled at a 75-foot-tall statue of a skeleton shrouded in black, Santa Muerte (Saint Death ). Although the Santa Muerte icon has existed for decades in working-class Mexican neighborhoods, never has it towered so ominously.
More About: Icon , Mexico , Worship , Worry

Judge delays reunion for sect families
2008-05-31 03:19:00
A Texas judge on Friday refused to sign an order returning more than 300 children seized from a polygamist community, saying she wanted the mothers involved to sign the order first.
More About: Judge , Families , Reunion , Delays

RNB Roundup: Scientology, undercover, exposed, stressed out ? and more
2008-05-31 02:15:00
This RNB Roundup is devoted to Scientology , with items about an undercover operation, a hypocritical Scientology PSA, and a Scientology 'reverend' who smells something. Also: Jason Beghe, Tom Cruise and Kirk Cameron.
More About: Undercover

Pope says Vatican will excommunicate women priests
2008-05-30 20:06:00
Advocates of women ordination cite the letters of Saint Paul, some of the earliest texts of Christianity, to show that women played important roles in the early church.
More About: Women , Vatican , Catholic Church , Pope

Texas takes DNA from sect leader Warren Jeffs
2008-05-30 19:45:00
A search warrant for the DNA samples alleges that Jeffs had so-called ?spiritual? marriages with four girls, ages 12 to 15.
More About: Warren , Texas , Leader , Warren Jeffs

Texas Loses Court Ruling Over Taking of Children
2008-05-30 09:52:00
In its petition to overturn the appeals court ruling, the Department of Family and Protective Services said girls in the compound had reported being consigned to marriages by a church elder, ?Uncle Merrill,? and ?no age was too young to marry, and they wanted to have as many babies as they could.? Boys, the agency said, ?were groomed to be perpetrators.? But the Supreme Court ruled that the agency had means short of wholesale removal to protect children in danger.
More About: Children , Texas , Ruling , Taking

Muslim group to help keep peace in Miami?s Overtown
2008-05-30 04:49:00
As Miami steps up police presence in Overtown, it is starting a community outreach program run by a group affiliated with the Nation of Islam.
More About: Peace , Muslim , Hate Groups , Group

British UFO shocker! Government officials were telling the truth
2008-05-30 04:31:00
"The government has been telling us the truth," declared David Clarke, a senior lecturer in journalism at Sheffield Hallam University, who has a side interest in UFOs. "There are a lot of weird things in the sky, and some of them we can't explain, but there's not a shred of evidence for a single alien visitation."
More About: Truth , Government , British , The Truth

Texas High Court: Sect Children Can Return to Families
2008-05-30 03:39:00
The ruling does not end the dispute between the sect and the government. The state can continue its investigation into allegations of abuse and can still attempt to remove the children from their homes permanently.
More About: Children , Texas , High , Return , Families

Sect Mothers Say Separation Endangers Children
2008-05-29 18:50:00
Many child-welfare experts across the nation, who have as a group watched the high-profile Texas case closely, say the raid on the polygamist ranch diverged sharply from the recommended practices both in Texas and elsewhere in the country.
More About: Children , Separation , Mothers

Polygamist Sect Custody Hearings on Hold as Parents Await Court Decision
2008-05-29 18:38:00
Texas officials say they have additional evidence of abuse among the hundreds of children who were taken into state custody last month from a polygamist sect's West Texas ranch. Some of that evidence, including testimony from an alleged child bride shown in photographs kissing sect leader Warren Jeffs, was to be presented Tuesday at a custody hearing for the child of one of the sect mothers.
More About: Decision , Parents , Custody , Court , Hold

Texas officials fear polygamist sect might flee
2008-05-28 16:05:00
An appeals court ruled last week that the state failed to show that the youngsters were in any immediate danger, the only grounds under Texas law for taking children from their parents without court action.
More About: Fear

Muslim women: Dress code violates faith
2008-05-28 15:46:00
Mission Foods, a New Brighton tortilla maker, is accused of religious intolerance for requiring six Muslim workers to wear uniforms that include pants they say are too revealing.
More About: Women , Faith , Dress , Code

Big Brother?s David to write ?cult? book
2008-05-28 15:38:00
Big Brother evictee David Tchappat wants to release a book about his experiences growing up in the Exclusive Brethren sect.
More About: Big Brother , Cult , Write , Book

Great sin condemned by Muslim leader
2008-05-28 15:34:00
A Muslim leader in Exeter has "utterly condemned" acts of terror after last week's bomb blast in the city.
More About: Great , Condemned , Leader

Late deal by CPS keeps sect girls off witness stand over their alleged abus
2008-05-28 15:30:00
Lawyers for the state had indicated they would testify about being "spiritually" married as minors to older men at the Yearning for Zion Ranch outside Eldorado. They sought the testimony in a case involving an infant born two weeks ago to Dan and Louisa Jessop, a couple in a monogamous marriage who lived on the ranch until authorities raided it on April 3.
More About: Girls , Witness , Deal , Late , Stand

CPS retains custody of infant from polygamist sect
2008-05-27 21:51:00
Louisa and Dan Jessop decided not to keep fighting for their infant's release because a Texas Supreme Court decision affecting all 450 or so sect children in CPS care is expected shortly, said Rod Parker, a Salt Lake City lawyer representing the group.
More About: Custody , Infant

Protesters celebrate city?s ?cult? stance
2008-05-27 13:49:00
Protesters who branded Scientology a "cult" were celebrating today after Edinburgh council bosses said they had "no objection" to the use of the word.
More About: Protesters , Cult , Celebrate , City