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Right's Ridicule of Obama 'Cult' Appeal Masks Jealousy

Conservatives 'freaked out' by rabid following

(Newser) - Conservative griping about Barack Obama’s supposed cult of personality is both misplaced and hypocritical, Jonathan Chait writes in the New Republic. Pundits’ case against the Democrat relies on willful misinterpretation of his slogans. “Did you know that McCain’s slogan, ‘Country first,’ could be translated via...

Cult Starved Toddler Who Wouldn't Say Amen: Cops

Mom and 4 others charged in boy's death

(Newser) - A toddler was starved to death in a religious cult for refusing to say "amen" at the end of meals, according to police. The body of the 2-year-old was stuffed in a suitcase when the 1 Mind Ministries cult fled from Baltimore to Philadelphia, authorities said. The toddler's mother...

Cannibal Family Ate Boy's Flesh
 Cannibal Family Ate Boy's Flesh 
Jun 20, 2008 11:35 AM CDT

Cannibal Family Ate Boy's Flesh

Cult skinned 7-year-old alive

(Newser) - A family of Czech cannibals is on trial for hacking off pieces of a 7-year-old boy who survived the ghoulish abuse, the Sun reports. The horror unraveled last year when a neighbor’s baby monitor picked up images of the chained-up boy meant to be seen by the boy's mother.

No Charges for Scientology Protester

Court rules sign not 'abusive, insulting'

(Newser) - Charges against a 15-year-old who called Scientology as a ‘cult’ were dropped today, the BBC reports. The London police issued a mea culpa after a court ruled that the teen’s holding up a sign reading, "Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult," did...

'Big Dig' Seeks More Manson Bodies
'Big Dig' Seeks More Manson Bodies
May 20, 2008 2:06 PM CDT

'Big Dig' Seeks More Manson Bodies

Investigators pore over cult's Death Valley ranch

(Newser) - Investigators with high-tech equipment and shovels will be spending the next few days combing the Manson Family's desert hide-out for bodies, the Los Angeles Times reports. Rumors that murder victims are buried at the isolated ranch have persisted for decades. Police called in scientists after corpse-sniffing dogs became agitated at...

Final Doomsday Cultists Exit Russian Cave

Stench of corpses trumped need to await apocolypse

(Newser) - The final nine members of a Russian doomsday cult holed up in a cave to await the apocalypse (coming this month) have abandoned ship, unable to stand the stench of two people who had died. Thirty-five followers of a self-declared prophet calling himself Father Pyotr climbed into the cave in...

Mom, Kids Lived With Corpse of Woman, 90

'Bishop' of tiny sect told her to pray to bring dead back to life

(Newser) - A  woman and her self-proclaimed "bishop" have been arrested after cops found the decomposing corpse of a 90-year-old woman on a toilet in the house she shared with her two kids, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. The woman said the bishop of her tiny religious group told her her...

Kids Removed From Doomsday Compound

Claims of abuse by 'messiah'

(Newser) - Police in New Mexico have removed three children from the compound of an apocalyptic church, AP reports. The action followed allegations of inappropriate contact by the 66-year-old leader of Lord Our Righteousness church, who believes he's the "messiah," and has admitting having sex with adult church members, including...

Outside Sect, Life is Tough
Outside Sect, Life is Tough
Apr 17, 2008 6:00 PM CDT

Outside Sect, Life is Tough

Free from polygamous compounds, escaped women often turn to drugs and alcohol

(Newser) - Even for those women who escape the forced marriages and controlling patriarchy of polygamous sects like the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, life isn’t easy. Many turn to drugs and alcohol to escape the mental burden, CNN reports. And some never leave because they’re programmed to think...

Top 10 Crazy Cults
 Top 10 Crazy Cults 
Apr 12, 2008 10:04 AM CDT

Top 10 Crazy Cults

Polygamists, UFOs, and apocalyptic prophesies abound

(Newser) - Experts are debating whether the polygamist sect raided in Texas last week is a cult. Meanwhile, LiveScience has cooked up a list of bona fide cults—the top 10 craziest of them all:
  1. Raëlians: Followers believe that UFOs spawned most religions and cloning can lead to reincarnation.

Texas Polygamists: Sect or Cult?
Texas Polygamists: Sect or Cult? 
Apr 10, 2008 2:12 PM CDT

Texas Polygamists: Sect or Cult?

Sociologist explores such groups and what keeps people there

(Newser) - While much of the media is calling the polygamous group raided in Texas a “sect,” some experts say it’s better defined as a cult, LiveScience reports. One scientist points out that the word “cult” is often avoided in academia for its negative connotations. But “if...

7 Russian Cultists Quit Cave
 7 Russian Cultists Quit Cave 
Mar 29, 2008 5:49 AM CDT

7 Russian Cultists Quit Cave

Melting snow dooms end-of-the-world cult's hideout

(Newser) - Seven members of a Russian doomsday cult, all women, have emerged from the cave where they have been holed up since November, awaiting the end of the world (note: in May), Itar-Tass reports. Twenty-eight more remain in the cave southeast of Moscow—but they are expected to come out soon,...

Peeps Fans Sweet on Easter
 Peeps Fans Sweet on Easter 
Mar 23, 2008 7:30 AM CDT

Peeps Fans Sweet on Easter

Devoted fans hatch odd films, microwave jousting, and diorama contests

(Newser) - Brightly colored, sticky-sweet marshmallow Peeps have spawned a cult following unparalleled in the candy world. Aficionados of the line of Easter treats—ranging from sun-yellow chicks to bunnies and tulips—have created bizarre videos, Internet fan sites, diorama contests, and a microwave jousting game, the Palm Beach Post reports.

More Manson Victims?
More Manson Victims?
Mar 16, 2008 9:37 AM CDT

More Manson Victims?

Amateur sleuths and a corpse-sniffing dog search Manson ranch in the Calif. Desert

(Newser) - A rag-tag group of forensic investigators, a gold miner, and a corpse-sniffing dog say they have turned up evidence of long suspected killings by the Manson family in the California desert, AP reports. Using the tools and techniques of chemistry and archeology, the group has concluded that there may be...

Germany to Try Scientology Ban
Germany to Try Scientology Ban
Dec 7, 2007 10:22 PM CST

Germany to Try Scientology Ban

Lawmakers order domestic spies to gather a decade of data on the group

(Newser) - German ministers accused Scientology of being unconstitutional today and took steps to ban it from the country, Der Spiegel reports. They ordered spies to assemble a dossier on the group, based on 10 years of surveillance, to support the ban. Scientologists were outraged, and called themselves victims of "on-going...

Doomsday Cult Leader Pleads With Holed-up Flock

Followers refuse to release children

(Newser) - Self-declared prophet Pyotr Kuznetsov today asked the doomsday cult he started to release four children from their underground cave, the AP reports. Confined to a psychiatric ward and charged with setting up a violent religion, Kuznetsov was brought to the site and spoke through a ventilation hole, telling adults and...

Network Beams Dissidence Into China
Network Beams Dissidence
Into China
Nov 15, 2007 2:20 PM CST

Network Beams Dissidence Into China

Satellite TV station part of media blitz by outlawed Falun Gong

(Newser) - A US-based satellite TV station staffed mainly by members of spiritual movement Falun Gong is broadcasting a dissident message into China, the Wall Street Journal reports. With Falun Gong called an "evil cult" and outlawed by the Chinese government, its members have started New Tang Dynasty, a radio station,...

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