Free Republic

At least 90 Iraqi teenagers with "emo" appearances have been stoned to death by religious extremists in Baghdad in the past month after an inflammatory interior ministry statement dubbed it "devil worshiping", activists said. Iraq's Moral Police released a chilling statement on the interior ministry's website condemning the "emo phenomenon" among Iraqi youth, disturbingly declaring its intent to "eliminate" the trend. "The 'Emo phenomenon' or devil worshiping is being followed by the Moral Police who have the approval to eliminate [the phenomenon] as soon as possible since it's detrimentally affecting the society and becoming a danger," the statement read. "They...

Los Angeles • Ever since Bram Stoker’s Dracula began haunting the imagination in 1897, popular culture has identified Christian symbols — crucifixes, holy water, communion wafers — as weapons to ward off a blood-thirsty vampire. The Twilight novels and film franchise have religious associations, too — most of them from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As the film’s “Twi-hard” fans get ready for the third “Twilight” installment, “Eclipse,” to open in theaters Wednesday, few are likely to recognize the religious references in the film based on the novels by Stephenie Meyer, herself a Mormon. “People make up...