A “Friday of Wrath” has arrived in Egypt, with tens of thousands of protesters pouring into the street in what the AP calls “the most violent and chaotic scenes yet in the challenge to President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.”
Surprisingly, religion, often a powerful mobilizing force in Egypt, has not played a large role in the protests, according to the NYT. But that may soon change, says the Old Gray Lady.
The Vatican will launch a new permanent structure in March called “Courtyard of the Gentiles” to promote dialogue with nonbelievers. As a young priest, Pope Benedict XVI signed a petition calling for the Catholic Church to seriously investigate the priestly celibacy requirement, according to a German newspaper.
Turkey held its first state ceremony in memory of Holocaust victims, JTA reports.
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) introduced a bipartisan bill to create a new special state department envoy to promote religious freedom for minority faiths in the Near East and South Central Asia. He emphasized the recent attacks upon, and arrests of Christians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, and the persecution of Bahai’s in Iran.
The U.S. embassy in Kabul and Christian organizations are calling on Afghanistan to release two men, including a Christian convert, arrested on apostasy charges. Afghanistan’s Justice Ministry said there are no exceptions to the death penalty for apostasy.
A Christian missionary from Texas was murdered in Mexico on Wednesday. A fight over a pool game (or, “snooker,” as Reuters has it) sparked religious violence in Nigeria, leaving at least four people dead.
A Wyoming legislator wants to change the state’s constitution to deny legal recognition of Shariah. Rep. Gerald Gay (who was tortured as a child for that name, I’m guessing) says Shariah is too much like “Old Testament-type legalism” to be compatible with “American liberty.”
A Pennsylvania teacher is challenging the teaching of evolution at public schools, saying it amounts to government endorsement of atheism.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius hosted a telephone conference call with faiths leaders to discuss the Affordable Care Act.
The number of religious-themed selections at the Sundance Film Festival suggest a cultural shift may be underway, as filmmakers address the nature of belief, reports the NYT. One film even features a Fred Phelps-type character. To nobody’s surprise, Westboro Baptist Church brought their traveling show to Utah to protest the film.
British poptart Lily Allen (pic, top left) has given her blessing to a Bible study course in England featuring her hit “The Fear.”
