In this Sunday's reading from the Acts of the Apostles Saint Peter summarizes the mission of Jesus succinctly: "He went about doing good." Nine members of a militia group calling themselves "Christian warriors" were rounded up Monday for allegedly being up to no good. They are accused of planning an attack against law enforcement officials involving weapons of mass destruction.

Eight of the suspects were arraigned Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, including the alleged ringleader, 44-year-old David Brian Stone. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Waterstreet said in court that an undercover agent had infiltrated the militia group and built explosives under Stone's guidance.

In arguing for their detention, Waterstreet told the court the suspects' conduct was at issue. "It's not about a religious group," Waterstreet said. "It's not about the militia. It's about a group who decided to oppose by force the U.S. by using violence and weapons."

In Indiana Judge Paul Cherry ordered the ninth suspect, Thomas W. Piatek of Whiting, Indiana, held without bond and transferred to Michigan to face weapons and conspiracy charges with the other defendants. FBI agents reported finding 46 guns and 13,000 rounds of ammunition in Piatek's home.

The so-called patriot movement has grown dramatically since the election of President Barack Obama, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit civil-rights organization in Montgomery, Alabama that tracks hate-group activity.

Analysts see a combination of factors contributing to the rise in militias: a faltering economy, changing roles within the traditional family structure, and shifts in the racial makeup of the country's population among them. They said that shared anxiety among lower-to-middle-class people is often a catalyst for generating conspiracy theories that have the potency to provoke people to take up arms and commit violence.

Source: Articles by Ben Schmitt, Niraj Warikoo, and Tammy Stables for the Detroit Free Press, Mark Guarino for the Christian Science Monitor, and David Runk, Corey Williams, Jeff Karour, and John Seewer for the Associated Press