Category: Religion

Coercion to Commit Sin: Dubai Arrests Couple for Sending Explicit Text Messages

We learned recently that you had to be careful how you say goodbye in Dubai (here) after a couple was arrested for kissing on the streets. It appears that you cannot even opt for texting your desires without ending up in the Dubai hoosegow. Two Emirates airlines cabin crew have been ordered jailed for three months over sexually explicit text messages. The Indian flight attendant and her cabin services supervisor were convicted of “coercion to commit sin.”

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Fall From Grace: “Prophet of God” Charged After “Marrying” Ten Year Old Niece

In Minnesota, James Wallace Fall, 58, is accused of marrying his ten-year-old niece. Fall insists that he is a “prophet of God.” He insists that the marriage is sanctioned by the Bible, which is full of accounts of figures with multiple and often adolescent wives.
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Until Nothing Remains: Scientology Accused To Trying To Block Film on Church Abuses

Bis Nichts Mehr Bleibt, or Until Nothing Remains, is a movie based on an account of how a German family was ripped apart by its associations with Scientology, which is depicted as authoritarian, abusive, and cult-like. The Church is being accused of campaigning to block the airing of the film on German television and has charged that it should be blocked as fostering “intolerance and discrimination against a religious community.” It appears to be the latest version of a blasphemy claim in the West, here.
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A Kiss Before a Flogging: Western Couple Arrested for Kissing in Public In Dubai

One must take care how you say Goodbye in Dubai. A British couple was spotted kissing in public in Dubai by an Emirati mother and quickly arrested. The British man named Ayman Najafi and female friend now face a month in jail for indecency.
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Pride in His Work: Rove Publicly Rejoices in the Use of Torture

With President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder blocked any investigation or prosecution of those responsible for the torture program, Bush officials like Vice President Dick Cheney have been publicly celebrating the use of torture. Now, Karl Rove says that he is “proud” that the administration used torture “that broke the will of these terrorists.”

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Singer Faces Two Years in Prison For Tearing Up Bible and Insulting Catholic Church

We have been following the crackdown on free speech in the West and particularly the alarming trend toward Western blasphemy prosecution, here. Now, in Poland, one of the lead signers and guitarists in the heavy metal band Behemoth has been criminally charged with insulting Roman Catholics for tearing up a Bible on stage and calling the Catholic Church “the most murderous cult on the
planet.” For a video, see below.

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Team of Scientists Affirm Giant Asteroid Theory . . . Despite Alleged Miscalculation of 64,994,999 Years

A leading group of scientists have concluded that a single giant asteroid killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago — finding overwhelming evidence to support the theory over alternative theories such as a massive earthquake or multiple asteroids. The team, however, failed to include a single creationist who could point out that, since the Earth is only 5000 years old, leading scientists like Sarah Palin have found that they are 64,994,999 years off.

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Loose Canonization: Nun’s Relapse Leaves the Late Pope John Paul II Short a Miracle for Beatification and Eventual Sainthood

It appears that the late Pope John Paul II may be short one miracle. Supporters of an expedited process for sainthood for John Paul suffered a blow this month with the news that accounts of Sister Marie Simon-Pierre’s recovery from Parkinson’s disease may have been premature. Three years ago, the sister explained how she regained her health after a night of prayer to John Paul. That miracle was the basis for the call for rapid canonization.

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New York Times: Scientology Defectors Report Coercion, Beatings, and Threats After Seeking To Leave Church

The New York Times has a striking account today of Scientologists who allegedly faced threats and coercion in seeking to leave the church. Christie King Collbran and her husband, Chris, gave a detailed account of they were effectively raised to serve the ultra-secret Sea Organization, or Sea Org in the Church. After signing a “billion year contract,” they say that they were faced with fines and forced confessions in seeking to break free from the Church.

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Virginia Is For [Straight] Lovers: Virginia Attorney General Orders Colleges and Universities To Lift Ban on Discrimination Against Gays and Lesbians

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has not wasted time carrying out his conservative social agenda. He has sent a letter to the state’s public colleges and universities to rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation — advising them that they have no authority to ban such discrimination.
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Bad Prediction: Psychic Charged With Fraud in Financial Investments

Sean David Morton apparently did not see this one coming. The self-proclaimed psychic who called himself “America’s Prophet” claims to be able to predict future changes in the stock market. There are of course always skeptics. In this case, the sober people at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Morton is now charged with fraud.
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