Police in Chile have arrested two suspected members of the secretive sect, Colonia Dignidad.

Rebeca Schaefer and Peter Schmidt are accused of kidnapping, manslaughter and membership of an illicit organisation.

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReligionNewsBlog/~3/ka8j8vArL7M/colonia-dignidad-cult-suspects-arrested-in-chile

A mother who exposed her 7-year-old daughter to bloody religious initiation rituals that included making her watch a chicken being sacrificed and feeding the girl its heart pleaded guilty in state court Monday to cruelty and neglect of a child.

The rituals were associated with the Palo Mayombe religion.

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReligionNewsBlog/~3/D-KKifYEJtI/mother-pleads-guilty-over-palo-mayombe-religious-ritual

Jury selection for two more members of the Followers of Christ Church is set to begin Tuesday, a day after the Oregon Senate passed a bill to crack down on faith-healing parents who don’t take their children to the doctor.

Tim and Rebecca Wyland are the third set of parents who belong to the Oregon City church who will stand trial for not getting their child medical attention.

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReligionNewsBlog/~3/9-wAWPhwSCg/followers-of-christ-faith-healing-trial

Oregon is on the brink of ending the legal protection for parents who rely on faith healing instead of seeking medical care for their children.

House Bill 2721 was sparked by the heavily publicized deaths of children whose families belong to an Oregon City church, the Followers of Christ.

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReligionNewsBlog/~3/SWp3Rg7piZg/oregon-senate-votes-to-end-faith-healing-defense-for-medical-care

Pakistani Christians have expressed concerns about renewed kidnappings and abuse of women and girls by Muslims in a country still reeling from the recent assassination of a Christian government minister.

Among those targeted was Sehar Naz, a 24-year-old employee with Pakistan's State Life Insurance Corporation in Punjab province, who was recovering of her injuries Monday, May 23, after she was allegedly kidnapped and raped by a Pakistan Army officer.

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReligionNewsBlog/~3/kW2aqqcKisw/pakistan-christian-women-kidnapped-raped

Doomsday cult leader Harold Camping who predicted — wrongly — that the end of the world would begin on May 21 revised his prophesy on Monday, saying now that the end is due in October.

He now believes that May 21 had been “an invisible judgment day,” of the spiritual variety.

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReligionNewsBlog/~3/esO-6rXgaqY/cult-leader-sets-yet-another-doomsday-date

Cisco, the maker of Internet routing gear, customized its technology to help China track members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, according to a federal lawsuit filed last week by members of the movement.

The lawsuit is based on the Alien Torts Statute, a federal law that permits foreign nationals to bring lawsuits in United States federal court claiming violations of international law

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReligionNewsBlog/~3/13jBNwMKSkg/suit-claims-cisco-helped-china-pursue-falun-gong

Translators of U.S.-based Wycliffe Associates have launched two Bible translation projects in countries where evangelism, or even reading a Bible, is forbidden.

Wycliffe CEO Bruce Smith said among the nations targeted by his organization was at least one predominately Muslim country with a strongly Islamic government, where he claimed Christians face persecution, even from family members and neighbors.

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReligionNewsBlog/~3/v_BytfxRu-E/wycliffe-bible-translators-move-to-most-anti-christian-nations

Translators of U.S.-based Wycliffe Associates have launched two Bible translation projects in countries where evangelism, or even reading a Bible, is forbidden.

Wycliffe CEO Bruce Smith said among the nations targeted by his organization was at least one predominately Muslim country with a strongly Islamic government, where he claimed Christians face persecution, even from family members and neighbors.

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReligionNewsBlog/~3/9ult-CzEQxs/wycliffe-bible-translators

Randy White, who helped found the Without Walls International Church that later came under federal scrutiny for its ostentatious spending, was arrested and charged Saturday night with driving under the influence.

Without Walls was once one of the fastest-growing Christian ministries in the USA and allowed the Whites to enjoy a lavish lifestyle, expensive cars and homes.

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReligionNewsBlog/~3/6ug17P-ioVw/former-without-walls-church-pastor-charged-with-dui