The News Wire

2013-06
2013-06-07	North Fla. county to allow atheist monument The bench will include quotes from Thomas Jefferson, as well as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the founder of American Atheists.
2013-06-07	Valedictorian Rips Up Preapproved Speech, Recites Prayer Instead Most commenters think highly of Costner and his courage to exercise his First Amendment right.
2013-06-06	Western feminists ignore Muslim issues On Saturday, Canadian woman Xenia Chernyshova stormed the stage, topless, at a Montreal speech given by former Tunisian prime minister and Muslim conservative Hamadi Jebali. Men assaulted her as she cried “Free Amina.
2013-06-03	Islam and human rights: Beyond the zero-sum game It is easy to find verses of the Qur'an that apparently support various modern human rights principles. But one can equally quote verses that seem to support the opposing view.
2013-06-01	Controversy erupts over Aceh's dancing ban Islam forbids women from dancing in front of men. He cited the Turmizi Hadith, which lists various activities that are prohibited for women. "The dance can invite many bad thoughts,"
2013-06-01	Leading neuroscientist: Religious fundamentalism may be a ‘mental illness’ that can be ‘cured’ “Somebody who has for example become radicalised to a cult ideology – we might stop seeing that as a personal choice that they have chosen as a result of pure free will and may start treating it as some kind of mental disturbance.”
2013-06-01	Police: Evidence in killing of former beauty queen points to ex-priest . "So he told you also, sir, that he had killed her?" asked Sigler. "Yes," O'Brien answered

2013-05
2013-05-30	DNA unacceptable as primary evidence in rape cases: CII The council said that DNA test is not acceptable but it could be considered as supporting evidence in rape cases.
2013-05-29	'I've rid the world of 160,000 demons', says Catholic Church's leading exorcist as he calls on the Pope to allow all priests to perform the ritual 'Yoga is the Devil's work. You think you are doing it for stretching your mind and body but it leads to Hinduism. All these oriental religions are based on the false belief of reincarnation.'
2013-05-29	Where do the world's atheists live? A recent poll conducted by WIN/Gallup International concluded that ~13% of the globe self-identifies as atheist (more than twice the percentage seen in America)
2013-05-28	Christians' discrimination cases rejected by human rights court "The principle of equality for all, including for religious believers, is now established and they should stop wasting the time of the courts with these vexatious cases."
2013-05-24	The real enemy in London hacking death Their political/religious ideology has motivated killers in Madrid, London, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, as well as Syria, Nigeria, Indonesia and Iraq. The creed that demands murder, sometimes murder-suicide, for perceived offenses against Islam and against Muslims constitutes a threat to societies at large, not just to Westerners and non-Muslims
2013-05-23	Losing Our Religion - Atheism Gains Popularity "Religion is decreasing, and atheism is absolutely exploding right now, and we're loving it," said David Silverman, President of American Atheists.
2013-05-22	'We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you': What man holding bloody cleaver said after 'hacking soldier in Help For Heroes T-shirt to death just yards from Woolwich barracks 'They started slashing him up with the knife and hitting him in the stomach with the machete. I don't think it took long before he was dead. There were people passing by who were screaming and running away. I've never seen anything like it. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2329089/Woolwich-attack-Two-men-hack-soldier-wearing-Help-Heroes-T-shirt-death-machetes-suspected-terror-attack.html#ixzz2U3xW0aCs Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter \| DailyMail on Facebook
2013-05-22	The Land without Muslims the Japanese tend to lump all Muslims together as fundamentalists who are unwilling to give up their traditional point of view and adopt modern ways of thinking and behavior. In Japan, Islam is perceived as a strange religion, that any intelligent person should avoid.
2013-05-21	2 ultra-Orthodox soldiers attacked in Mea She'arim “There were two male soldiers in uniform walking in the neighborhood and all of a sudden there were calls from people around the area to rough them up,” said Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld on Monday. “The two soldiers were repeatedly punched and beaten by a group of over 30 men.”
2013-05-21	N.J. priest arrested, charged with violating ban on ministering to children His spokesman, Goodness, initially defended Fugee’s interactions with children, saying they were within the scope of the agreement because he was supervised at the time. Days later, Goodness reversed course, saying that while Fugee clearly violated the agreement, he did so without the knowledge or permission of officials in the archdiocese.
2013-05-21	How religions change their mind So, while there is a verse of the Koran which appears to permit beating a woman, "the best example was the Messenger himself never beating a woman,"
2013-05-20	Mother of Oxford grooming sex gang pair blames their VICTIMS: She says schoolgirls 'should have been playing with toys' Mrs Dogar, believed to be called Bashira, accused the police, social services and the girls themselves of being complicit in creating Britain’s ‘grooming culture’
2013-05-20	Indonesia Minorities Slam President’s Interfaith Award “The cases of intolerance should not be a yardstick against which to measure Indonesia,”
2013-05-20	Iran moves to legalize marriage for girls under 10 years old "we must regard 9 as being the appropriate age for a girl to have reached puberty and qualified to get married. To do otherwise would be to contradict and challenge Islamic Sharia law."
2013-05-20	Crowd Led by Priests Attacks Gay Rights Marchers in Georgia The priests entered, the priests broke the fences and the police didn’t stop them, because the priests are above the law in Georgia.
2013-05-19	More than 500 imams in landmark gay marriage protest “The Muslim community will take this issue very, very seriously because now the Government has interfered with family.
2013-05-19	‘Imams promote grooming rings’, Muslim leader claims The activities of the Oxford sex ring are “bound up with religion and race” because all the men - though of different nationalities - were Muslim and they “deliberately targeted vulnerable white girls, whom they appeared to regard as 'easy meat',
2013-05-19	Bangladesh Bloggers Face Constant Death Threats Since Government Labeled Them 'Atheist' After his release from jail, some of his most vociferous critics took to Facebook to offer rewards to anyone who killed Parvez, with one offer as high as $12,871 in U.S. dollars. (Per capita income in Bangladesh in 2010 was $641 a year.)
2013-05-19	Chinese man held in Kashmir over 'Koran desecration' Dr Sajid then told other employees that a copy of the Koran and some other religious books in his luggage were "thrown out" of his room.
2013-05-18	COMMENT: Canberra proves there is no God Indeed, it should be a source of pride for non-believing Australians that our national capital is itself proof that there is no supreme being. Were anybody watching over us there is no way they would allow such a place to exist.
2013-05-16	Bangladesh: Islamists accused of burning Holy Qur'an Moulana Abul Khayer, an imam at a mosque in northern Dinajpur district, told Khabar that the protestors' actions would be grounds for execution under the very blasphemy law they are seeking.
2013-05-16	Woman accused of using Bible as a weapon Evelyn Mills Moore, 57, of Kings Mountain struck the other woman "numerous times about her body with a closed fist and striking her with a Bible about her left arm,"
2013-05-16	Twitter Users Risk Damnation, Saudi Religious Police Say Leaders on the Web have been detained while others have been charged with apostasy and other crimes for statements made on these sites.
2013-05-16	Viewpoint: When did people stop thinking God lives on a cloud? It happened 50 years ago, in the spring of 1963. A book called Honest to God appeared on the shelves and caused a storm.
2013-05-14	Gunmen attack Baghdad liquor stores, 12 killed "Gunmen in four SUV vehicles stopped near the liquor stores and gunmen equipped with silenced weapons started shooting at everybody near the stores,"
2013-05-14	Complaints over use of 'Asian' label in grooming cases It says the reluctance of the media and the government to discuss the "disproportionate representation of Muslims in such cases" and the fact victims are "almost always non-Muslim girls" is adding to the cause of far-right groups
2013-05-14	Muslim Imam Who Said Women Deserve to Be Raped Arrested for Attempted Rape Now, however, he is accused of pulling his penis out and chasing a 23-year-old woman around in a park in Malmö in August 2012, according to the court in Malmö
2013-05-13	The World’s Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society This report examines the social and political views of Muslims around the world. It is based on public opinion surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center between 2008 and 2012 in a total of 39 countries and territories on three continents: Africa, Asia and Europe.
2013-05-13	$600,000 grant to city's Catholic high schools The Philadelphia School Partnership will announce Monday that it's giving the Faith in the Future Foundation a $600,000 planning grant to aid the eight Catholic high schools in the city. Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20130513__600_000_grant_to_city_s_Catholic_high_schools.html#pw0PvLtgTuuHitjj.99
2013-05-12	Abandoned she had been savagely raped by three of her colleagues. Alone and frightened, she took herself to hospital. What Alicia didn’t know is that under the UAE’s strict sharia laws, if the perpetrator does not confess, a rape cannot be convicted without four adult Muslim male witnesses. She was charged with having illicit sex outside marriage, and thrown in a filthy jail cell for eight months.
2013-05-10	Qatar jails a Nepali teacher on charges of insulting Islam one student put his hand on Gurung’s shoulder and a finger in his nose. At this point, Gurung grew agitated and said remarks to the effect of, how would you like to be stereotyped i.e. called a terrorist?
2013-05-10	Church of England facing new child abuse allegations He also acknowledged that in the past procedures had fallen short of protecting abuse victims.
2013-05-10	Pakistan's hardliners' political clout protecting them from the law has been linked to hundreds of murders of Shias, a minority sect of Islam in Pakistan. In recent years gunmen have hauled Shias off buses on remote mountain roads and suicide bombers have brought carnage to major cities.
2013-05-10	3 Ultra-Orthodox Men Arrested in Confrontation at Western Wall Heeding calls from their rabbis, hundreds of teenage girls crammed into the women’s section in front of the wall before 6:30 a.m., forcing the group known as Women of the Wall to conduct their service farther back, in the plaza, as black-hatted Orthodox men whistled, catcalled, and threw water, candy, a rock and other items at them
2013-05-09	Met police chief orders investigation after death threats made to Bangladeshi activists “We will exterminate all the atheists like you who work against Islam. Final warning.”
2013-05-08	Politicians ‘have responsibility’ to legislate on abortion issue “Everybody’s entitled to their opinion here but as explained to the Cardinal and members of the church my book is the constitution and the constitution is determined by the people. That’s the people’s book. We live in a Republic and I have a duty and responsibility as head of Government to legislate in respect of what the people’s wishes are,”
2013-05-08	HONOR KILLING: MUSLIMA DIES AFTER BROTHER STABS HER 20 TIMES IN FACE, CHEST FOR "STAINING FAMILY'S HONOUR BY LEAVING THE HOUSE ALONE" In the case of the latest victim, police know that there is no ‘victim family’ to take into consideration and often do not bother filing charges. Murder is however punishable by death in Jordan but in honour killings courts can commute or reduce sentences, particularly if the victim's family asks for leniency.
2013-05-07	Pakistan's minorities have no faith in democracy egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief," the report said. "Sectarian and religiously motivated violence is chronic, especially against Shiite Muslims, and the government has failed to protect members of religious minority communities, as well as the majority faith.
2013-05-07	Morocco: Christian Converts Unsettled by Fatwa Calling for Execution of Those Who Leave Islam In a publication explaining its ruling, the high council said it based its decision in part on verses from the Koran, and in part on verses from the Hadith – one that quotes Muhammad, Islam’s prophet, as saying, “If somebody [a Muslim] discards his religion, kill him” (Sahih al-Bukhari 3017).
2013-05-05	Riot police battle Islamists in Dhaka Bangladesh Chanting "Allahu Akbar!" ("God is greatest!") and "One point! One demand! Atheists must be hanged", the activists marched down at least six main roads as they headed for Motijheel,
2013-05-04	Italian Catholic Priest Welcomes Believers with Swastika On His Right Arm Fascist Father Angelo Idi, 51 – who once saw off a charity box thief with a truncheon at his church in Vigevano, Italy – confessed: “I am proud of my right wing beliefs. But people shouldn’t care about my politics, they should care about how good a priest I am.”
2013-05-04	Mississippi school principal sued for come to Jesus programs The suit names Frazier personally and seeks punitive damages from him.
2013-05-04	Richard Dawkins, 'Islamophobia' and the atheist movement it's clear that there's a line between criticism (or ridicule) of Islam, and bigotry against Muslims. Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins have blundered into that line with an alarming degree of recklessness.

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