What are some religions that criminal activity was involved?

Tory: What are some religions that criminal activity was involved?
I am trying to write a topical paper in my World Religions class, and I am trying to write it over a criminal activity or beliefs because my major is Criminal Justice. The first thing that comes to my mind is Charles Manson and what his and his followers beliefs were. I would like to interpret both religion and my major but I am having trouble finding topics through google. Any Ideas?

Answers and Views:

Answer by FiddleSticksandRice
Islamic terrorists……..ya know, 9/11??

Answer by Richie
Stalin- crimes on humanity under the guise of atheism thought. 20-80 millino people.

Answer by Joe
Islam. 9/11/01.

Answer by Bean
If you research Ma Barker, John Dillinger, Clyde Barrow and the Britain’s acid bath killer you will find they all had a “strict religious upbringing”

Answer by pugjw9896
What religions do the crime families of America claim to follow?

Answer by Mark
Most people in the Mafia are Catholic, and most gangsters were Catholic or Jewish… but few have been driven to crime BECAUSE of religion. The closest thing I can think on is the Jim Jones debacle in 1979…

Answer by Matt
There are lots of instances where people used religion to justify crimes. 9/11 as was pointed out, but also Jonestown, Nazi Germany… But these are not real religions, nor are they core of any real religion.

Answer by HereIAm
ALL religions. Humans are human. Regardless if you sit in a Church each Sunday/Saturday or a Mosque or dance under the Full Moon, evil/crime has been committed.
I’d use the Catholic religion…obviously much info to be found regarding criminal activity on Google.

Answer by WellTraveledProg
Every religion that has ever existed has had “criminal activity” in it. Every single one.

Islamic terrorists, Catholic child molestation, Evangelical preachers hiring hookers (male and female) and using drugs, killing of abortion doctors by fundamentalists, etc. etc. etc.

Peace.

Answer by tagboy
When it comes to religion you aren’t looking very hard. Something going on n any religion just happen to pick this one

how about this one

Look harder.

Answer by Bob W
The ancient Canaanites engaged in child sacrifice. I have seen on television that there was also a lot of child sacrifice in South America. The Aztecs also performed human sacrifice.

I think that you could look into the Hindu practice of throwing the widow alive into the fire that burns her husbands body. Many say that such a practice continues today and that the English were unable to stamp it out.

Oriental religions are notorious for encouraging suicide. For example, Buddhist Japan engaged in Kamikaze as a military strategy.

I think that you have a good idea for a very interesting paper. A lot of US cults have been guilty of bilking their members. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses once had a fund raiser that involved selling what they claimed was super wheat seed at a very high price and the US Dept of Agriculture examined the seed and ruled that it was just ordinary wheat seed.

They say that Hare Krishna used to shortchange and overcharge anyone that they could when they sold flowers, etc., at airports and on the streets.

I hope that you get a very high grade for a very good idea!