Religion News in Brief
The Associated PressA campaign to give elderly Netherlands residents the right to assisted suicide has gathered more than 100,000 signatures, enough to force a parliamentary debate on the matter.
Though the idea faces a host of ethical and practical challenges, the campaign is noteworthy in a country that first legalized voluntary euthanasia for the terminally ill, under stringent conditions and medical supervision.
"Of Free Will" campaign spokeswoman Marie-Jose Grotenhuis says the group plans to bring the matter to a debate after the June 9 national elections. It is not likely to be drafted into law anytime soon.
Opinion polls show significant support for the idea, depending on how it is formulated. Many religious groups and the main Dutch doctors' association oppose the proposal.
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Malaysia Muslim magazine apologizes for upsetting Christians over church masquerade
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian magazine has apologized for upsetting Christians after it published an article researched by two Muslims who pretended to be Roman Catholics and took Holy Communion in a church.
The apology aims to ease tensions with religious minorities who feel that overzealous government authorities and clerics are trying too hard to champion the interests of Islam and ignoring the rights of non-Muslims.
The Al Islam monthly magazine, which focuses on issues affecting Malaysian Muslims, acknowledged in a statement on its publisher's Web site last week that the article had "unintentionally hurt the feelings of Christians, especially Catholics."
The article, published in May last year, was meant to investigate rumors that Muslim teenagers were being converted in churches. The article said its two reporters had found no evidence supporting those claims.
The apology came after Archbishop Murphy Pakiam, who heads the Catholic Church in peninsular Malaysia, criticized government authorities earlier this week for not prosecuting the two magazine researchers. Pakiam, however, said that church leaders would be satisfied if the magazine issued a formal apology.
The men had spat out the Eucharist and took a photograph of a partially bitten one. Communion is a sacrament for baptized Catholics in good-standing. The church teaches that the Eucharist is transformed into the body of Christ by the priest during Mass.
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Muslim group files complaint with Henderson police after 7 men detained while praying
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A national Muslim advocacy organization filed a complaint with police in a Las Vegas suburb, saying seven Muslim men from southern California were detained and told they were acting suspiciously while praying in a shopping center parking lot.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said it filed the complaint last week against the Henderson Police Department. "Our main concern is the police department looking at praying and the way they looked as probable cause for investigating those men," said CAIR spokeswoman Munira Syeda. "They did nothing illegal."
Henderson police spokesman Todd Rasmussen said the complaint internal affairs would investigate, but would not discuss the case.
The Muslim group said the men were performing one of five required Muslim daily prayers in the lot while they stopped to buy gas and food Dec. 20 during a road trip.
Two police cars arrived as the men returned to their car and they were held for 40 minutes while three officers questioned them, checked their backgrounds and searched their car, Syeda said. Syeda said the men were not blocking traffic or preventing other cars from parking. Afterward, the men were let go.
CAIR attorney Ameena Qazi said in a letter to Henderson police that during the incident, one of the officers commented that the men hypothetically might have been saying "I hope that I kill a police officer today" during their prayer.
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10 former Agriprocessors workers to be deported to Mexico by March 31
POSTVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Ten undocumented aliens who were arrested and charged in the May 2008 raid at the former Agriprocessors kosher slaughterhouse in Postville have learned that they will be deported by March 31.
The 10 workers, who were all from Mexico, picked up deportation papers Monday at the Immigration Customs and Enforcement office in Cedar Rapids.
The 10 were among the 389 arrested and charged in the raid. They pleaded guilty in court proceedings a few days after the raid.
A volunteer at St. Bridget's Church in Postville, which has been helping the immigrants, says a number of former Agriprocessors workers from Guatemala will receive their paperwork for deportation on Wednesday.
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Cathedral bells ring too long, neighbors say
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — St. Marks Episcopal Cathedral in Shreveport has a new set of bells — and some neighbors are unhappy about all the practice the bell-ringers are putting in.
The bells were made by the English foundry that made the Liberty Bell. They arrived late last year.
Some neighbors say the bells sometimes ring for hours on end, especially on weekends. They ring for calls to services, religious holidays and during funerals — then for more time when the ringers practice.
The Rev. Michael Millard says he's only heard positive comments about the new bells and would like to speak with neighbors upset by the ringing.
Millard says the bell tower shutters are closed during practices to help muffle the noise.