Beheading and Religious Profiling

American Muslim leaders have been quick to condemn the beheading of a woman by her Muslim husband in Buffalo, saying it has nothing to do with religion. Is there a connection between religion and domestic violence?

By Aloysious Mowe

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2009/02/beheading_and_religious_profil.html

In April 2008 Jean Pierre Orlewicz was convicted in Michigan for the murder of Daniel Sorensen. The latter was stabbed, and then beheaded. Harrel Johnson was convicted in October 2008 for the murder of his step-daughter, Erica Green, in Missouri. The 3-year-old child was decapitated with hedge-clippers. In the same month, William Perry was indicted for the beheading murder of Brett Smith in Ohio. In Canada last July, Vince Weiguang Li stabbed and then beheaded a man on a Greyhound bus traveling from Edmonton to Winnipeg. Six months later, Virginia Tech student Haiyang Zhu was accused of decapitating a fellow student, Xin Yang.

The more you look, the less you see in Swat sharia deal

February 26th, 2009

Posted by: Tom Heneghan

Ten days have passed since Pakistan cut a deal with Islamists to enforce sharia in the turbulent Swat region in return for a ceasefire, and we still don’t know many details about what was agreed.  The deal made international headlines. It prompted political and security concerns in NATO and Washington and warnings about possible violations of human rights and religious freedom.

(Photo: Supporters of Maulana Sufi Mohammad gather for prayers in Mingora, 21 Feb 2009/Adil Khan)

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/02/26/the-more-you-look-the-less-you-see-in-swat-sharia-deal/

In the blogosphere, Terry Mattingly over at GetReligion has asked in two posts (here and here) why reporters there aren’t supplying more details about exactly how sharia will be implemented or what the  doctrinal differences between Muslims in the region are. Like other news organisations, Reuters has been reporting extensively on the political side of this so-called peace deal but not had much on the religion details. As Reuters religion editor and a former chief correspondent in Pakistan and Afghanistan, I’m very interested in this. I blogged about the deal when it was struck and wanted to revisit the issue now to see what more we know about it.

Mr. Wilders Goes to Washington

February 26, 2009, 3:31 pm <!– — Updated: 5:39 pm –>

By Anahad O’Connor

Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images At a private screening in London, a viewer watches a scene from the controversial film “Fitna,” made by Geert Wilders, a Dutch legislator.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/mr-wilders-goes-to-washington/?hp

On Capitol Hill, the events that usually make the news are the ones that take place in front of television cameras, from votes to testimony to speeches. But an event scheduled to take place today behind closed doors, in a cozy chamber of the Capitol known as the L.B.J. Room, is creating some buzz.

At first glance, the event sounds innocent enough: a screening of a short film.

The Scapegoat: Growing hate groups blame Obama, economy

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/26/hate.groups.report/index.html

– Don Black said he despises Barack Obama. And he said he believes illegal aliens undermine the economic fabric of the United States.

• Story Highlights
• Report: the number of hate groups grew by 54 percent since 2000
• Obama’s election win fueled some to join hate groups, study found
• The FBI’s uniform crime report found 7,624 hate crime incidents in 2007
• Obama is a “visual aid” that helps lure new members, says neo-Nazi

By Stephanie Chen
CNN

(CNN) — Don Black said he despises Barack Obama. And he said he believes illegal aliens undermine the economic fabric of the United States.

Black, a 55-year-old former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, isn’t the only person who holds such firm beliefs, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which today released its annual hate group report.

The Republican Party’s Token Steps Out in the Limelight: Enter Jindal

Tapped by the Republican party to deliver the GOP’s response to President Barack Obama’s congressional address Tuesday night, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal took on the massive stimulus package and big government — and pledged that his party would regain the nation’s trust.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal gives the GOP response to President Obama’s address Tuesday.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/24/sotn.jindal.speech/index.html

“In the end, it comes down to an honest and fundamental disagreement about the proper role of government,” Jindal said. “We oppose the national Democratic view that says the way to strengthen our country is to increase dependence on government. We believe the way to strengthen our country is to restrain spending in Washington, to empower individuals and small businesses to grow our economy and create jobs.