Police in east China's Jiangsu Province said they have detained eight more members of a cult for spreading rumors of an impending apocalypse, bringing the total to 101 nationwide.

　　The people, all belonging to the "Almighty God" cult, spread doomsday rumors door-to-door or at public venues and claimed that only the cult could save people's lives, according to police。

　　Police said they were detained for spreading rumors and disturbing social order in the name of religion。

　　China recently launched a nationwide crackdown on the cult, and more than 100 members have been detained。

　　In the largest case, 37 members of the cult in northwest China's Qinghai Province were detained。

　　These cult members recently latched on to the Mayan doomsday prophecy to predict that the sun will not shine and electricity will not work for three days beginning on Dec. 21, according to the public security bureau of Xining, the provincial capital。

　　A large number of banners, discs, slogans, books and printing machines have been seized by police。

　　Thirty-four people in Fujian, four in Inner Mongolia, four in Chongqing, two in Sichuan, seven in Shaanxi and five in Hubei were also recently detained for handing out leaflets about the apocalypse and spreading rumors, according to respective local public security departments。

　　The "Almighty God" cult was established in 1990 in central China's Henan Province. It requires its members to surrender their property to the group。

　　新华社英文版消息，我国已拘捕101名“全能神”邪教人员，该组织成员在全国范围内散布世界末日谣言。

　　“全能神”邪教组织体系中，最高者为女神，下设祭司，教会分大区、小区、分号教会，负责人叫“带领”。其传教如同传销一样，采用“人际关系网络滚动法”，单线联系。只管入教，不准问姓名，在交流中只称假名。被公安部门或政府部门发现叫“出环境”。传教者一般不准带任何通讯工具，联系时，有人接送。

　　记者了解到，“全能神”邪教组织又名“东方闪电”、“实际神”，其教义是引用和曲解基督教的《圣经》而来，主要反借“基督教”名义从事非法活动。

　　该组织是上世纪70年代末由美国传入我国的邪教“呼喊派”分化衍生而来，其创始人赵维山原是“呼喊派”骨干，因与同党不和而另起炉灶。“全能神”打着基督教旗号，散布从基督教改编的所谓《东方发出的闪电》、《全能神你真好》(又称《跟着羔羊唱新歌》)等歪理邪说非法传教。

　　该组织宣扬耶和华统治的“律法时代”、耶稣统治的“恩典时代”已过去，“全能神”统治的“国度时代”已来临，神以一个东方女性的形象第二次道成肉身，降临中国，将对人类进行审判。并声称“世界末日就要来临”，只有信“全能神”才能得救，凡不信和抵制的都将被“闪电”击杀。还攻击称“当今中国是一个没落的帝王大家庭，受大红龙(指共产党)支配”，煽动信徒要在神的率领下与“大红龙”展开决战，“将大红龙灭绝，建立全能神统治的国度”。(据新华社)