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|
We also have a list of religious tolerance &
information news for this month. |
Events:
 | 2007-APR-04: UK:
Advertising agency messes up: Hayley Booth of the agency Somerfield
wrote a news release to promote the sale of Easter eggs. After providing
data from a poll that showed increasing ignorance about the meaning of
Easter, they wrote:
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| 2007-APR-04: NY: Anger generated be artistic depictions of Jesus: Cosimo Cavallaro formed a 200 pound, 6 foot tall, sculpture of Jesus made out of chocolate. It is called "My Sweet Lord" and is an accurate portrayal of a crucifixion; it showed a naked, anatomically correct male with arms outstretched and feet overlapped, identical to the appearance of a crucifixion victim from the first century. The only inaccuracy seems to be the sculpture's height; Jesus was probably about 5 ft. 1 inch tall. It was on display at Ranieris Sculpture Casting studio in New York City but was removed after complaints from Roman Catholics. Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League, said: |
"This would rank as one of the worst, most vile, obscene and blasphemous assaults on Christian sensibilities that I have ever seen."
A second statue in Chicago also generated controversy. It features a depiction of Jesus with the face of Barack Obama. 2
| 2007-APR-05: FL: Man arrested for emulating actions of
Jesus: Eric Montanez, 21, was charged with a misdemeanor. His crime was
to feed hungry people within two miles of the Orlando city hall. He works
for a non-profit group called "Food Not Bombs." In Orlando, it is illegal to
feed more than 25 destitute people near the city center without a permit. A
group can obtain a maximum of two permits a year. His arrest warrant accuses
him of feeding "30 unidentified persons food from a large pot utilizing a
ladle." They collected as evidence a sample of the stew being served.
Local business owners support the bylaw, apparently believing that cutting off food supply of starving homeless people will drive the homeless from Orlando and perhaps increase local business. 3 |
| 2007-APR-05: NJ: School test of terrorist precautions enrages conservative Protestants: During late March, the Burlington Township High School in New Jersey scheduled a mock hostage taking to test preparedness against a terrorist attack. They designed a scenario in which a student was expelled because she prayed before class. The test involved two police detectives playing the role of angry religious fundamentalists crashing through the school's front door, pretending to shoot students in the halls, taking ten students hostage and barricading themselves in the media center. The perpetrators were described as "members of a right-wing fundamentalist group called the 'New Crusaders' who don't believe in separation of church and state. Bob Pawson, a Trenton public school teacher, asked |
"So what allegedly real condition was imagineered? … A grotesque scenario saturated with Christian-bashing prejudice and bigotry; a scenario which could never possibly occur."
The American Center for Law & Justice is demanding:
"... an official apology by the Burlington Township School District acknowledging that the story-line for the hostage drill was inappropriate and will not be used again in the future." 4,5
| 2007-APR-12: USA: Hate Crimes legislation in House: H.R. 1592,
the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007, (LLEHCPA)
is moving quickly. The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on
APR-17. A sub-committee markup is scheduled on APR-18. The following week
will probably see the bill approved by the full committee and moved to the
House for a vote. The law augments the present federal hate crimes law by adding gender, sexual orientation, sexual identification, and disability as protected classes. Some religious conservatives are fighting the bill because they feel it will criminalize religious speech that deals with homosexuality. Rev. Lou Sheldon of the traditional values coalition wrote:
|
| 2007-APR-12: USA: Embryonic stem cell bill
passes Senate: Senate bill S. 5 which would authorize embryonic stem
cell research on unused embryos passed 63 to 34. President Bush promises to
veto the bill when it arrives at his desk. He said:
|
| 2007-APR-18: USA: U.S. Supreme Court upholds constitutionality of federal anti- partial birth abortion law: By the usual 5 to 4 vote, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the 2003 federal law banning most intact D&X abortions. The court overturned the decisions of all six lower courts. 7 More info. |
| 2007-APR-19: NH: New Hampshire may create civil unions: The House of
Representatives has passed a bill, by an almost 2 to 1 majority, to create a
system of civil unions in the state. If signed into law, same-sex couples would
be granted the same benefits and obligations as married opposite-sex couples. Governor John Lynch (D) discussed the bill with lawmakers, including most of the 24 state senators. He announced that he would sign the bill if it is approved by the Senate. He told the Associated Press:
The vote in the Senate is scheduled for the week of 2007-APR-22. More info. |
| 2007-APR-20: World: Catholic Church releases document on Limbo: The
Roman Catholic Church has historically taught that embryos, fetuses, and
infants who die unbaptized will either go to Hell directly to be tortured
forever, or will spend eternity in Limbo -- a rather pleasant place. But
lately, belief in Limbo has fallen on hard times. The
Church's International Theological Commission has studied the matter and has reported that
that there are:
|
| 2007-APR-23: USA: VA caves in and follows U.S. Constitution: For
almost a decade, the Veterans Administration had refused to place Wiccan
symbols on grave markers of Wiccan soldiers. Faced with a lawsuit brought by
Americans United for Separation of Church and State that the VA was
certain to lose, the agency arranged an out-of-court settlement. It calls for the
Wiccan symbol, a pentacle, to be placed on grave markers within 14 days for all
families who have pending pentacle requests with the VA. This will provide the symbols in
time for Memorial Day. They also agreed to add the pentacle as #37 in a list of
allowable religious symbols so that future requests will be facilitated. The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, director of Americans United said:
|
| 2007-APR-26: Mexico: Women have limited access to abortion in Mexico City: Against overwhelming opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, lawmakers in Mexico City have authorized abortions on request for women in their first trimester: i.e. less than 12 weeks from conception. Women who are near the first trimester limit will be given abortions immediately; those whose pregnancies are less advanced will have to wait until after the rules are published -- probably during the week of APR-28. More details. |
Links to religious news sources:
| Links to general religious, conservative Christian, other Christian, and non-Christian news sources is available elsewhere on this web site. |
References used:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- Ruth Gledhill, "Store gets egg on its face over Christ’s Easter 'birth'," The Times, 2007-APR-04, at: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/"
- "Jesus sculptures stir controversy," ABC News, 2007-APR-04, at: http://www.abcnews.go.com/
- Florida police arrest activist for feeding homeless," Reuters, 2007-APR-05, at: http://today.reuters.com/. This is probably a temporary listing.
- "School Alleges Christian Terrorists," American Center for Law and Justice, 2007-APR-05, at: http://www.aclj.org/
- Letter to Burlington Township School District from the ACLJ, 2005-APR-04, at: http://www.aclj.org/
- "Senate 'Cells' out," Family Research Council mailing, 2007-APR-12
- Mark Sherman, "Court backs ban on abortion procedure," Associated Press, 2007-APR-18, at: http://news.yahoo.com/
- Nichole Winfield," Pope revised doctrine on limbo," Associated Press, 2007-APR-21, at: http://www.thestar.com/
- "Catholic Church buries limbo after centuries," Reuters, 2007-APR-20, at: http://www.religionnewsblog.com/
- Scott Bauer, "VA Allows Wiccan Symbols on Headstones," Associated Press, 2007-APR-23, at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Copyright © 2007 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2007-APR-06
Latest update: 2007-APR-24
Author: B.A. Robinson
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