Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Police Arrest U.S. Pastor Prior to Planned Burning of Qurans

Two weeks ago, a Gainesville-area pastor named Terry Jones was arrested by local police prior to carrying out his plans to burn almost three thousand Qurans.  Jones planned the book-burning as a statement about the role of Islam in the 9/11 attacks and says he was targeted by police.  Police said they arrested Jones not because of his views, but because he was carrying fuel in an unlicensed vehicle.  There is continuing controversy about whether the stop was pretextual in nature.  A good report on the incident is here.

Monday, September 2, 2013

"Black Magic" Banned in Indian State

Religion Clause Blog reports that the Indian state of Maharashta has banned the practice of "black magic" and related practices after the murder of a rationalist reformer.