We also have a list of religious tolerance news for this month. 
Sad to say, these are usually much shorter lists.

2001-OCT-1: UK: Church of England in decline: Crosswalk/Religion Today reported on a University of Sheffield project which found that only 21% of infants born during 1999 were baptized into the Church. This compares to 75% in 1933. With the church on the way to minority status, it may eventually be disestablished. This happened to the Church of Ireland and the Church of Wales in the past when they were found to be serving only a minority of the population. A Church of England spokesman said that "Baptism introduces people into the Christian family and not into any particular denomination, and so it is difficult to calculate how many end up as Anglicans ... We may be less than half the population, but we are still the largest religious group in the country."

2001-OCT-1: Indonesia: Muslim militants attacked Christians:  Crosswalk/Religion Today reported that churches and homes were attacked on 2001-SEP-17 in Klaksanaan village. Two church buildings, 23 Christian houses were burned. Fifty-eight Christian families are homeless. "No one was killed or seriously injured in the attack, according to The Voice of the Martyrs (Canada). But Muslim militants in Indonesia have killed 10,000 Christians in just the past two years, according to reports by The Persecution & Prayer Alert service of VOM."

2001-OCT-1: Republic of Georgia: Defrocked Orthodox priest attacks Protestants:  Crosswalk/Religion Today published a report by Keston News Service about an alleged attack by defrocked Orthodox priest, Basil Mkalavishvili, and 25 of his supporters. They are reported to have burst into a Georgian Evangelical church in Tbilisi on SEP-23, wielding truncheons, and beating choir members. About 100 local residents observed the attack but refused to join in. The ex-priest allegedly shouted that the Protestants were Satanists and that he and his followers would drive them out of the Republic of Georgia. Baptist, Pentecostal and in particular Jehovah's Witnesses have been the victims of a high levels of violence in recent years in Georgia.

2001-OCT-3: Republic of Georgia: Three mob assaults during the previous week: Human Rights Watch reports a rapidly degenerating situation in the Republic of Georgia. "On September 28, Georgian police reportedly stood aside to allow a mob of 100, armed with clubs and stones, to erect a roadblock on a highway leading out of the capital, Tbilisi. The mob stopped buses and cars transporting some 100 Jehovah's Witnesses to a religious convention, dragged them out, kicked and beat them. They injured up to forty people, nearly a dozen of them seriously. The mob then attacked the convention site in the town of Marneuli, ransacking and burning property, injuring more people, and firing shots into the air. Police not only failed to intervene to stop the assaults, but allegedly confiscated film and a video camera from Jehovah's Witnesses, and verbally derided them." On September 30, a group of approximately fourteen men reportedly attacked a Jehovah's Witness prayer meeting in the town of Rustavi.

2001-OCT-5: USA: The American Civil Liberties Union ask for sign removal: The ACLU asked that a "God Bless America" sign be removed from a marquee in front of the Breen Elementary School in Rocklin, CA. They feel that it is "a hurtful, divisive message ... that is a clear violation of the California and U.S. constitutions,  as well as the California Education Code." 250 people, parents, students and administrators, held a rally at the school. Attorney Phillip Trujillo, said the words don't violate laws on the separation of church and state.  "It's simply not a religious expression...It is, instead, a patriotic expression."

2001-OCT-15: USA: U.S. Supreme Court to decide case on religious canvassing: An ordinance passed in Stratton, OH in 1998 prohibits canvassing by religious groups unless they first obtain a permit. They must divulge their names, current address, past addresses over five years, and the name and addresses of the group with which they are affiliated. The Jehovah's Witnesses feel that the ordinance was intended to target them. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear their case. Lawyers for the Jehovah's Witnesses asked the Supreme Court: ''Are religious ministers engaged in a scripturally based centuries-old practice of communicating their religious beliefs from door to door constitutionally equivalent to peddlers of merchandise?" Lawyers representing Stratton said that the permits are free and that nobody has been denied one. They feel that the ordinance is reasonable ''weighing the First Amendment rights of canvassers against the right of homeowners to security, privacy and peacefulness in their homes.''

2001-OCT-19: CO: Church organizes Hell House for Halloween: The Abundant Life Christian Center will sponsor its  7th annual Halloween Hell House this year. It will feature four scenes which the church feels are consequences of sinful behavior: abortion, a rave party, gay marriage and teen suicide. Cost will be $7.00 per person. The church is considering a $12.00 admission to an "express line" and a $20.00 personal seasonal pass. Liberty for Women, a pro-choice organization, will be holding seven silent protests nearby, in opposition to the Hell House. They will show the names of abortion providers who have been killed by anti-abortion individuals and groups. They will also display drawings of fetuses aborted illegally in the 1970s. Executive director Peggy Loonan commented: "It's graphic, yes, but we want to be in their faces." She feels that church members will be "stunned to have their tactics used against them." Associate pastor Keenan Roberts said: "We're just showing the truth. Nobody is going to change what we say or how we say it."

Feminist Majority Foundation Online reports that "Believing that the Bible should be the basis of government, education, and law, Reconstructionists envision an extremist society in which public schools, most social service programs, and welfare would be obliterated. According to Reconstructionist belief, the Bible allows liberal application of the death penalty for crimes including homosexuality, abortion, adultery, child disobedience, and witchcraft." Execution of the criminals would be by burning alive, stoning and hanging. The Feminist Majority did not mention additional grounds: blasphemy and prostitution. Slavery would once more be made legal. ₁₂