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Religious change, conflict and/or intolerance
News items during 2007-November
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Events:
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2007-NOV-1: Canada: Strong opposition to
death penalty: Canada abolished the death penalty in 1967 in spite of
strong public support in favor of continuing executions. Ever since, the
Federal government has gone to bat for Canadian citizens on death row in
foreign countries. They have tried to trade their death sentence for life
imprisonment in Canada. This policy came to a crashing halt on NOV-1 when
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day announced that the Federal government
would no longer seek clemency for Canadians on death row if they had been
convicted in "a democratic country that supports the rule of law."
A Canadian Press- Decima survey taken a few days later found that 50% of
those sampled opposed this policy, whereas 43% supported it and 7% were
undecided. As expected, younger, female, and urban voters and those not
supporting the Conservative Party were more likely to be against the
government's position. Prime Minister Harper has stated that he does not
plan to bring back the noose in the future.
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2007-NOV-28: WA: 14-year-old dies from
leukemia: Dennis Lindberg of Mount Vernon, WA, an eighth grade student,
died from leukemia. Doctors gave him a 70% chance of surviving his next five
years, but the treatment that included blood transfusions. Being a Jehovah's
Witness, he refused because his faith group teaches that transfusions is
equivalent to eating blood -- a practice forbidden in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Superior Court Judge John Meyer denied a motion by the state to force
the child to have a blood transfusion. He said: |
"I don't believe Dennis' decision is the result of any coercion. He
is mature and understands the consequences of his decision. I don't
think Dennis is trying to commit suicide. This isn't something Dennis
just came upon, and he believes with the transfusion he would be unclean
and unworthy."
His parents, classmates cried at the ruling. His legal guardian, who is
also a Jehovah's Witness, supported his decision.
Links to religious news sources:
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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.
- "50% oppose death-penalty policy shift, survey finds," The Toronto Star,
2007-NOV-13, Page A21.
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"Report: Boy who refused transfusion dies," ABC News, 2007-NOV-29, at:
http://abcnews.go.com/
How you got here:
Copyright © 2007 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2007-NOV-07
Latest update: 2007-NOV-30
Author: B.A. Robinson
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