Religion

Bill Donohue, President of Catholic League, Claims New York Times Makes "Malicious" Attack on OC's Worst Pedo-Priest

The ink hadn't even dried (or whatever the digital equivalent of that dead-tree era metaphor is) on author Daniel A. Olivas' moving New York Times op-ed piece on OC's worst-ever pedophile priest, Eleuterio Ramos, before Bill Donohue, the president of the long-irrelevant Catholic League, began compla ... More >>

Luis and Rocio Garcia, Former Prominent OC Scientologists, Sue Scientology for Fraud Over Donations

While New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright continues to do his victory tour for his magnificent book-length exposé on Scientology, Irvine residents Luis and Rocio Garcia are getting sue-y against their former church.You might remember the couple from 2011, when the St. Petersburg Times revealed they h ... More >>

Loretta Sanchez Gave Certificate of Congressional Recognition to Orange County Church of Scientology in August

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez has done many dumb things in her 16 years representing the wabs of OC. There was her refusal to co-sponsor the DREAM Act, the 2010 slamming of Vietnamese on Univisión, the rambling speech she gave to Pomona College students a couple of years back...the list can go on a ... More >>

Bill Morgan Is Captain Creationist

The activist is waging a war against evolution, one lecture at a time

Candlelight Vigil in Buena Park Honors Victims of Sikh Temple Tragedy in Wisconsin

No sooner had Rusty Kennedy, executive director of OC Human Relations, sent the following information that Mary Platt, Chapman University's communications director, forwarded the same on behalf of the Orange institution's partners in the Orange County and Los Angeles Sikh communities that present th ... More >>

The OCeeker: Guru Nanak Sikh Temple and the Headwear Mishap

Everybody loves a play on words, ye heathen, so let's get this outta the way real quick-like: The OCeeker transformed his glorious person into the O'Sikher on a recent Wednesday night in Buena Park, when his graceful footfall blessed the grounds of Guru Nanak Sikh Temple of USA.He committed one fuck ... More >>

Rafael Venegas and Luis Jose Cuevas, Catholic Priests, Accused of Sex Crimes Against Females

At least this can be said of the pending charges against two Roman Catholic priests from Southern California parishes--including St. Athanasus Church of Long Beach: only one of the four accusers is a child and all are female. The latest case involves Father Rafael Venegas, who is accused of sexual b ... More >>

Five Ways to Make a More Efficient Ramadan Kitchen

Ramadan--the holy month where Muslims forgo food and drink, including water, from sunup to sundown--is here. One of the five pillars in Islam, this month is one of spiritual discipline and renewal, as Muslims are instructed to spend extra time in worship and try to cut back on bad habits. The fast t ... More >>

OC Register Columnist David Whiting Gives Blowjob Review to New OC Church of Scientology

When Orange County Register columnist David Whiting wrote solely about the outdoors, he was entertaining, informative, and offered a valuable perspective to county readers. But as the Reg's main columnist, he's what Moxley accurately, hilariously refers to as a bootlicker--and he's being nice as to ... More >>

L. Ron Hubbard Answers Scathing KABC-TV Report on Scientology

We here in one of the least-respected professions in America talk often about the "news hook" when kicking around story ideas. It's a term pregnant with high-minded concern for the readers and why a story matters. Or, it's a way to justify writing about crap we personally find interesting. But th ... More >>

Matt Skiba & the Secrets

Glasshouse

Ex-Scientologist to Garden Grove Mayor: Do Your Research Before the Grip-n-Grin

Politicos beware: if you're ever caught glad-handing the Church of Scientology, one of its former members will pay you a visit at a public meeting and give you the verbal version of "Scientology for Dummies." Paulien Lombard, the former Scientologist who used to spy for church, is continuing her rel ... More >>

WWJD? Who Would Jesus Deport? Evangelical Leaders, Including a Santa Ana Preacher, Weigh In With Political Statement

More than 150 evangelical leaders, including one of our very own right here in Orange County, have signed on to a statement calling for what they say is a righteous solution to immigration reform. The "Evangelical Statement of Principles for Immigration Reform" calls for a bipartisan policy that " ... More >>

Video of Ex-Scientologist: "I Never Said to Myself, Wow the Church is Fucked Up"

More former Scientologists are coming out of the auditing room to tell their stories. During the protest last Saturday at the grand opening of Scientology's Ideal Org at the former Santa Ana Performing Arts and Event Center, Andrea Lombard, a 20-year member of the church, spoke about the psycho ... More >>

Scientologists Are Shining Examples of Cesar Chavez's Ideals, According (Scientology Says) to Garden Grove Mayor William Dalton

Let's play word association: Cesar Chavez. If you said "Scientology"...you win! Among the civic leaders at last weekend's grand opening of the church's Ideal Org in downtown Santa Ana, was Garden Grove Mayor William Dalton, who compared (according to a church news release) the work of Scientologi ... More >>

Deconstructing Scientology's Press Release on its OC Center's Grand Opening, and Possible Found Footage of Genuine Spies in Orange County!

Scientology didn't invite the Weekly to the grand opening Saturday of its Ideal Org at the former Santa Ana Performing Arts and Event Center, which was SanTana's Masonic Hall back when non-hipster gabachos actually lived in the city. But who needs to get inside an event when those hosting it send yo ... More >>

Scientology Grand Opening: Walls! Weirdos! Whacking a Weekly Reporter!

As the Church of Scientology was stalling the opening of their new Ideal Org in downtown Santa Ana, they told me the media would be alerted about the big debut. I never got the memo.But if I did, it likely would've said, "You're not welcomed."That was the message I got Saturday when I walked three f ... More >>

Anti-drug Pamphlets Linked to Scientology Gone From Santa Ana Police Department

It appears that drug-prevention literature connected with the Church of Scientology will no longer be distributed by the Santa Ana Police Department. Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, the department spokesman, said he was told that "none of the brochures we talked about" are being passed out by the ... More >>

Is The Santa Ana Police Department Collaborating With Scientology? Yes, Says The OC Org's Executive Director; No, Says SAPD

A recent YouTube video features Ed Dearborn, executive director of the Orange County Scientology "org", touting the merits of the organization's Narconon program. Dearborn says Scientology has been "collaborating with the Santa Ana Police Department on our anti-drug education program, which has bee ... More >>

Are Scientology's Ideal Orgs 'Islands of Sanity'? No, Says Former Scientologist Paulien Lombard

Scientologists in Orange County continue to move forward with the transformation of the former Santa Ana Performing Arts and Event Center at the corner of Sycamore and Fifth streets into an Ideal Org.According to the website OCideal.org, L. Ron Hubbard envisioned Ideal Orgs as "islands of sanity ... More >>

Tariq Ramadan: Shariah Law and U.S. Constitution Go Hand-In-Hand

A small group of about a dozen protesters gathered outside the Embassy Suites in Anaheim where a prominent Muslim theologian was scheduled to deliver a lecture on Shariah - the Islamic legal code akin to canon law in Christianity or Judaic law in Judaism. The Islamic Shura Council of Southern Califo ... More >>

Namastey India Chaat Up the Haters

[Hole In the Wall] This Buena Park Indian restaurant is leading the city's subcontinental renaissance

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Scientology Protester on Allegedly Being Followed: 'It Was Actually Pretty Mind-Boggling'

​She received a cease and desist order. Laguna Beach resident Susan Elliott said she's among those whose efforts to combat alleged abuses in the Church of Scientology have been met with spy tactics and harassment at her doorstep.

The OCeeker: Temple Beth Shalom and the Rabbi From Cuteyville

​Shalom, y'all. That's right, the OCeeker recently drove his goyisher self to Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Ana for a Shabbat evening service. First things first: Rabbi Heidi Cohen is one cute clergygirl! Decked in black slacks and a red blouse, with a loose-fitting, long-sleeve black outer gar ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Scientology Strikes Back Against Former Spy--But Do Commendation Letters Prove Ex-Spy Right?

​Last week's cover story and subsequent Navel Gazing post on the Church of Scientology garnered a fair amount of comments from OC Weekly readers. And some may recall that your humble scribe was called out by Karin Pouw, a Scientology spokeswoman, for not immediately responding to her request ... More >>

How the Church of Scientology Responds to a Reporter's Repeated Requests for Comment

​Asshole. Prick. Handsome. I've been called all three. But Karin Pouw, a spokesthetan for the Church of Scientology, dropped a u-bomb on me in a Feb. 20 email. She called me "unprofessional." Sniffle. Between Feb. 13 and 18, I called the church's media-relations outfit in Los Angeles t ... More >>

Paulien Lombard Was a Spyentologist

A former spy for Scientology came clean on abuses. Now, she says, the church is chasing her

Rick Santorum, Hot Off Victory, Laps Up Praise From Santa Ana Religious Freedom Nonprofit

​Last night, Rick Santorum trumpeted his solid GOP presidential primary defeats of Mitt Romney in Minnesota and Missouri and narrow win over the former Massachusetts governor in Colorado.This morning, a Santa Ana-based nonprofit boasted that the former Pennsylvania senator was the first--and so ... More >>

Is Mitt Romney Really Part-Mexican?

[¡Ask a Mexican!] And how popular is Mormonism among Mexicans?

The OC Couple Who Gave More than $1.3 Million to the Church of Scientology--Only to Leave

​Over the past couple of weeks, the St. Petersburg Times has been publishing their latest blockbuster series on the Church of Scientology, that ever-mockable collection of has-been movie stars and good people being driven to donate more and more money just to realize an intergalatic overlord name ... More >>

Does the Vatican Think the Crystal Cathedral is Fugly?

​Sure, so Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown thinks he scored a coup by purchasing the Crystal Cathedral from the Schuller clan. But the move isn't being universally celebrated by conservative Catholics, many whom long derided the Crystal Cathedral as the antithesis of Catholic church beauty an ... More >>

Mormons: A Shallow Yet Helpful Guide to See If You Should Hate Them or Not

[UPDATED with Clarification:] Oscar D. Perez Perez, Iglesia Antigua Católica Bishop, Accused of Lewd Acts with Boys

​UPDATE, SEPT. 19, 2:15 P.M.: Bishop Oscar D. Perez Perez, who faces up to 60 years to life in state prison for alleged sex crimes involving two 11-year-old boys, met the victims though his Iglesia Antigua Católica congregation and not St. George's Parish of Laguna Hills.Iglesia Antigua Católica ... More >>

Whole Foods Scrambles To Do Damage-Control After One Region Buckles Under Islamophobic Pressure

Whole Foods​Whole Foods wants to get one thing straight: Addressing a report from our sister paper Houston Press--Whole Foods: "We Should Not Highlight Ramadan"--which set off a maelstrom of attacks on the haute-hippie market, the corporate-run @WholeFoods has spent the day doing damage cont ... More >>

Olive Tree's Annual Iftar Begins

Olive Tree's Facebook page​All is quiet on Brookhurst Street these days. It's Ramadan, the holy month of Islam. Muslims fast during the day (called sawm) in order to be reminded of the virtue of patience and humility, and restaurants are normally closed during the day.At the end of each day's sawm ... More >>

Anarchy in the SC! Posters for Global Revolution Group Anonymous Paper San Clemente

​Mysterious posters popped up on trees and light poles along Avenida Pico, Avenida Del Mar and the downtown in San Clemente over the weekend, just as they have in other Orange County cities lately.They advertise the "global revolution group" Anonymous and direct people to whatis-theplan.org, an eq ... More >>

Locals Push Bill Spreading Religious Freedom

​A Santa Ana-based group pushing for religious freedom worldwide has launched a new advocacy campaign aimed at beefing up the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 and, with it, U.S. foreign policy. Turmoil in Nigeria, the Middle East, Northern Africa and Pakistan--including the burning of ... More >>

[UPDATED with Sentence for Deborah Pauly Threats:] Video Captures Protesters, Politicians Berating Muslims at Yorba Linda Charity Function

Paul Dean Andrews​UPDATE, MAY 25, 3:46 P.M.: A San Pedro man was sentenced today to 97 days in jail, three years probation and an order to stay away from Deborah Pauly for threatening violence against the Villa Park city councilwoman via a Facebook message. Paul Dean Andrews, 28, was slapped with ... More >>

[UPDATED with New Anti-Muslim Rally Plans:] Video Captures Protesters, Politicians Berating Muslims at Yorba Linda Charity Function

Muzammil Siddiqi​Here we go again.Organizers of February's controversial and much-blasted anti-Muslim rally in Yorba Linda have issued an ultimatum to the Orange County Human Relations Commission: rescind the Community Leader award it is presenting to Islamic Society of Orange County Imam Muzammil ... More >>

Locals Seek Support for Harassed Christians in Egypt and the Middle East

​As the attention of the world seems to have shifted to Libya (or Charlie Sheen), some locals would like the media light to shine on Christians who were struggling to survive in Egypt even before the Hosni Mubarak government collapsed."Three weeks ago, nine out of ten tweets I received were relate ... More >>

Jagdish Saini of Punjabi Tandoor, Part Two

Todd Barnes / OC Weekly​For a while, the corner of Anaheim and Broadway was the place to get Cuban pastry and cortaditos in Orange County. Now that Punjabi Tandoor has taken over the space, it's the destination for pakoras, tikka masala and saag paneer. This week, we have chef Jagdish Saini on the ... More >>

Priest Blesses Surf City Waves Sunday

​One day at band camp, this kid was shredding at Bolsa Chica when he slipped off his board and yelled, "Jesus Christ." So, it is not without precedence that a priest from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange will wade into the waters near Huntington Beach Pier Sunday morning to bless the waves.

OC Church of Scientology Can't Pay Water Bill?

​Over the past couple of weeks, the influential anti-Scientology message boards Operation Clambake and Why We Protest have reported with glee that the Church of Scientology in Orange County can't pay its water bill on its downtown SanTana building. The source is a former Scientologist who, like so ... More >>

OC Church of Scientology Needs to Work on their Proselytizing

​I read more about Scientology than normal people should, only because I'm a bit obsessed about religions, pseudo-religions, and their secrets. So when the followers of L. Ron Hubbard bought a historic SanTana building a couple of years ago, I figured they were about to launch a massive outreach e ... More >>

Bishop Tod Brown Asks Pope for Five More Years to Further Embarrass OC Diocese

Brownie: Just leave us be already!​The Catholic Church mandates that its bishops retire at age 75. Most bishops accept this rule, but those who don't must write a letter to the pope asking to postpone their retirement.It's the latter scenario that Orange County Catholics must face, as Diocese of O ... More >>

Forget Arresting the Pope--What About John Urell?

Urell: Wanted for crimes against humanity--one can only wish...​Sloppy drunkard Christopher Hitchens and wacky atheist Richard Dawkins made news recently because they want Pope Benedict XVI arrested when His Eminence visits Great Britain in September on account of the pontiff's pedo-protecting way ... More >>

Jaime Soto Gets Punked by Pope Benedict XVI!

Wonder if Soto is still smiling...​SO...the media is going gaga over the successor to Archdiocese of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony: Diocese of San Antonio Archbishop Jose Gomez, who's a pedo-protector himself. The Orange County Register did one of its classic county barometer pieces where it g ... More >>

Tariq Ramadan's Looming OC Speech Draws Warning From Muslim Group

Wikipedia CommonsTariq Ramadan​What the American Islamic Forum for Democracy derides as the "Tariq Ramadan American Islamist Victory Tour 2010" includes a May stop near Disneyland, where American Muslims are being warned by the self-described liberty lovers to "be on guard" as the Swiss academic ... More >>