Birmingham mayor holds Christian rally to fight crime

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Struggling to confront a worsening homicide rate, the mayor invited pastors and citizens to don burlap sacks and ashes in a sign of biblical repentance.

Mayor Larry Langford said his "sackcloth and ashes" rally April 25 was inspired by the Book of Jonah, where residents of the ancient city of Nineveh wore rough fabric and ashes as a sign of turning away from sin. More than 1,000 people attended at a local auditorium.

So far this year 27 people have been killed in Birmingham, compared to 19 at the same time last year.

Since he took office last year, Langford has held three prayer rallies to fight crime and violence. Bibles were handed out at one of the events.

"This city needs to humble itself," Langford said.

Olivia Turner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Alabama, said the group has received complaints about the events and has been discussing them.

"The worry I have is that there's a government endorsement of religion," said lawyer Bill Messer, a state ACLU board member. "Certainly, the mayor has a right like anyone else to express his personal religious beliefs. As mayor, acting on behalf of the city, religion should not become part of the government itself. If it's an official government event, that's troubling."

Police Chief A.C. Roper, who is also a minister, supports the repentance rally, but said law enforcement cannot stop there.

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Malaysian Islamic body rejects proposed conversion rule meant to ease religious tensions

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Islamic authorities rejected a proposal by Malaysia's prime minister that would have required non-Muslims to tell their families before converting to Islam.

The decision, announced Tuesday, was made at a meeting of Islamic authorities, according to Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, director-general of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department.

The failure by many converts to inform their families of their conversion has led to many disputes. Islamic officials have sometimes seized bodies for Muslim funerals, while non-Muslim relatives insisted the deceased never converted.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that the government would soon require Muslim converts to produce documents showing they had told their family members.

The move was considered an attempt to calm ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities over perceived religious discrimination, which led to heavy losses for Abdullah's ruling National Front coalition in general elections last month.

Ethnic Chinese and Indians make up more than 30 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people and are mainly Buddhist, Christian and Hindu. They complain that court decisions in religious disputes favor Muslims — who account for more than 60 percent and are mainly ethnic Malay.

Islam is the official Malaysian religion. Non-Muslims can practice their religion, but often lose out in interfaith disputes involving Islam.

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Professor at prominent evangelical college resigns over divorce

WHEATON, Ill. (AP) — An English professor is leaving his job at Wheaton College, a prominent evangelical school, because he is getting divorced.

Kent Gramm, who has worked at Wheaton for 20 years, said he knew that when divorce proceedings started he might have to resign.

Wheaton students and teachers sign a Statement of Faith and Community Covenant which sets standards of conduct, including for marriage. The policy requires Gramm to discuss the cause of the divorce with college administrators. He won't do so and is resigning to avoid being fired.

"I think it's wrong to have to discuss your personal life with your employer," he said, "and I also don't want to be in a position of accusing my spouse, so I declined to appeal or discuss the matter in any way with my employer."

Theological conservatives generally believe that the New Testament permits divorce only in cases of adultery or desertion. The school says it has evaluated several cases of applicants or staff who have been divorced.

"You sign the statement when you accept employment at the college," said Sarah Clark, Wheaton's director of media relations. "Everyone knows it's part of the deal."

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http://www.wheaton.edu/

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A.M.E. Church to hold convention in St. Louis despite calls for boycott

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The African Methodist Episcopal Church will hold its convention in St. Louis this summer despite boycott pleas by local blacks unhappy with the city's white mayor.

More than 40,000 delegates, church leaders and other A.M.E. visitors from around the world will meet July 3-11. The U.S. church, which has roots dating back to 1787, claims 2 million members in three dozen countries.

Mayor Francis Slay joined a dozen A.M.E. leaders at a news conference Tuesday to announce the convention. Slay is the target of a recall effort by a group of black city residents who also have waged a campaign to have conventions boycott the city.

They object to last year's dismissal of the city's first black fire chief, Sherman George.

Bishop John Richard Bryant, whose district includes states west of the Mississippi River, said planners already had signed contracts committing the church, and its estimated $30 million economic impact, to St. Louis before learning of the boycott. Besides, "in speaking with the mayor and the council of local pastors who have worked with Mayor Slay in the past, we have no regrets," Bryant said.

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http://www.ame-church.com/

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Federal court hears case of Muslim woman who says veil cost her claim

DETROIT (AP) — A federal court is taking up the lawsuit of a Muslim woman who refused to remove her veil during a small-claims hearing, prompting a judge to dismiss her case.

U.S. District Judge John Feikens said Tuesday that he will issue a written opinion in the suit filed by Ginnnah Muhammad against Judge Paul Paruk in Hamtramck, a city surrounded by Detroit.

Muhammad, 44, of Detroit, said her religious freedom was violated when Paruk asked her to remove the veil that covered all but her eyes, then dismissed her case last year.

Muhammad was contesting a $3,000 rental-car company charge to repair a vehicle that she said thieves had damaged.

Margaret Nelson, an assistant state attorney general who is representing Paruk, said Muhammad's lawsuit has no merit. She said Paruk needed to "fully observe" Muhammad, and his ruling wasn't based on religion.