Anglican Vicar and African Pastor Found Guilty in Wedding Scam involving Ukrainian Sausage Factory Worker

An interesting tale of globalization, from the Anglican church of St Peter and St Paul in St Leonards-on-Sea on the south coast of England; the Independent (among others) reports: A jury at Lewes Crown Court decided that Vladymyr Buchak, a Ukrainian national, Michael Adelasoye, a Nigeria-born solicitor, and the Anglican vicar Alex Brown were all guilty […]

Karl Rove at Apocalyptic Christian Right Rally in Canada

   Karl Rove needs no introduction; Grant Jeffrey, by contrast, will perhaps be unknown to most people who don’t consume Christian fundamentalist apocalyptic paperbacks and DVDs. Rachel Tabachnick, who discusses the above event at Talk to Action here (which brought it to my attention), notes that Jeffrey is the author of works such Shadow Government: How the Global Elite Plan […]

Documentary Shows Child-Witch Stigmatisation Still Occurring in UK Churches

That act from pastors pointing the fingers, pronouncing in front of the congregation that the child is a witch, we are pressing for that to be recognised as abuse. Because emotional abuse starts from that point. That’s a quote from Romain Matondo of the Congolese Family Centre in London, speaking on tonight’s Channel 4 Dispatches documentary […]

Child-Witch Stigmatisation in UK Churches to be Highlighted by Channel 4 Tonight

Channel 4 Dispatches is tonight broadcasting a documentary on child-witch accusations in churches in the UK (8pm, or 9pm on Channel 4+1). From the blurb: Dispatches goes undercover in some African churches in the UK, where evangelical pastors perpetuate a strong belief in witchcraft. They preach that some people are possessed by evil spirits, and […]

Former Trinidad PM’s “Spiritual Advisor” Gone to Africa; Church Construction Scrutinized

A follow-up to a subject I blogged in March; the Trinidad Express Newspaper reports: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is questioning whether the “lifestyle” of Rev Julia Pena [var. Juliana Pena] was financed under the People’s National Movement (PNM) administration. Speaking to supporters at a campaign meeting in Penal on Thursday night, Persad-Bissessar said, “I want to […]

Breitbart’s Mullah Omar Story Under Fire

Instaputz notes: …check out today’s New York Daily News, which reports that NATO blames Mullah Omar for the mortaring of civilians this week. Last month, Omar “instructed his commanders to capture and kill any Afghan supporting or working for coalition forces.” The fact that Omar was roaming freely in June and coordinating attacks must be […]

Documentary on Child Witchcraft Confessions in South Africa

The Sowetan reports on a television documentary airing in South Africa about witchcraft accusations, entitled Troubled Souls and part of a strand called Special Assignment. According to the programme’s website: Witchcraft accusations are still rife in South Africa, but something must be quite worrying when these are increasingly driven by the church. A further blurb adds: […]

UNICEF Report Highlights African Child Witchcraft Stigmatisation

 “Pastors are important opinion leaders and have considerable influence over child witchcraft accusations.” UNICEF has published a new report by anthropologist Aleksandra Cimpric on the problem of children being stigmatised as witches in Africa. The report is nuanced and balanced, and it surveys the reasons for the increasing number of accusations in various contexts. A range of socio-economic […]

Geert Wilders Announces New Group: Few Details, Lots of Headlines

As is being widely reported, Geert Wilders has announced his intention to create a new anti-Islamic group, since presumably there’s not enough of those around just now. A report in the Nederlands Dagblad appears to have the most backgroun detail. It’s to be called the “International Freedom Alliance” (according to some reports, the ” Geert Wilders International […]

Controversial Preacher Seeks to Establish “Outreach Center” Near Ground Zero

A new player has stepped into the controversy over a proposed Islamic Centre close to Ground Zero in New York. Charisma reports: A Florida evangelist is responding to efforts to build a multimillion-dollar mosque two blocks from Ground Zero with plans to open a religious center of his own. Bill Keller (pictured), host of the evangelistic website Liveprayer.com, said […]