Following Thursday’s stampede during the hajj in Saudi Arabia, RNS is transmitting an updated version of a story by Andrea Useem that first ran on September 6, after the stampede in Baghdad. A sidebar lists deadly stampedes at religious events: When at least 363 people were trampled to death near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday during the hajj’s symbolic stoning of the devil, it was not the first time a large number of Muslims have died as they performed a religious ritual. Experts say mass religious gatherings always carry the danger of stampedes-and that such danger is sometimes seen as a sacrificial aspect of the pilgrimage. Nonetheless, they say history proves practical steps, such as the installation of clear signage, can and should be taken to control crowds and save lives. Unfortunately, that hasn’t always happened. An Aug. 31 stampede during a Shiite religious pilgrimage in Baghdad, Iraq, left nearly 1,000 dead. In 2004, nearly 250 pilgrims died in a stampede near Mecca during an annual Muslim pilgrimage. An earlier stampede during the hajj, in 1990, left more than 1,450 dead in a pedestrian tunnel.

In time for Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday on Monday, Kim Lawton of Religion & Ethics Newsweekly writes about the often forgotten role Dr. King as a local pastor: Martin Luther King Jr. led a nonviolent freedom movement and became a world figure. But he was first and foremost a pastor. “The pastor role was central to everything, virtually everything, that Dr. King achieved,” Lewis Baldwin, professor of religious studies at Vanderbilt University, told the PBS program “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.” As the nation prepares to mark King’s birthday Monday (Jan. 16), Baldwin said he fears King’s pastoral side is being forgotten. He believes the nation must develop an appreciation for that part of King’s life if it is to fully grasp the whole of King’s life and legacy. “Being a pastor, for him, was being a civil rights leader,” Baldwin said.