Wolrd Religion

Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a Fredrick Merril Jessop, a former bishop of a polygamist FLDS sect. Jessop is accused of officiating at the marriage of an underage girl to the sect's leader, Warren Jeffs, who has since been sentenced to life in prison

 

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Global fears of economic or environmental upheaval feed the growth of gurus and damaging cults that prey on the weak, a French government expert on cults has warned during a visit to Australia.

>Georges Fenech, president of France's Interministerial >Mission for Monitoring and Combating Cultic Deviances, said it was working for greater international co-operation in dealing with sectarian abuses.

 

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A lawsuit by a disabled woman against fugitive Australian cult leader Rocco Leo has not been settled and will go to trial.

Rocco Leo's former followers claim he preached a doomsday scenario, promising them a new life on an island -- financed by their donations -- to save them from the end of the world.

 

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The parents of a newborn who died while they and Followers of Christ members prayed for him to be healed have received the maximum jail terms allowed by law and three years of post-prison probation following their conviction on manslaughter charges.

Dale and Shannon Hickman, who are members of the controversial church and are related to the founder, were both sentenced to six years and three months in prison.

 

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After getting married in 2006 Julie and Bryon Widner, former pillars of the white power movement had worked hard to put their racist past behind them.

And yet, the past was ever-present — tattooed in brutish symbols all over his body and face: a blood-soaked razor, swastikas, the letters "HATE" stamped across his knuckles.

 

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Religious broadcaster Harold Camping says he and his Family Radio network are embarrassed that the world didn't end on Oct. 21 as he predicted.

He also apologizes for saying that Christians who did not buy into his May 21st doomsday prophecy were not saved.

 

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