Religious hate crimes dropped last year. Hate crimes directed against people on the basis of religion decreased in 2007, according to the FBI. In 2006, the FBI reported 1,597 hate crimes motivated by a religious bias. That figure dropped to 1,477 in 2007, the bureau reported. Of the religiously based hate crimes, attacks against Jews rose from 64 percent in 2006 to 68 percent in 2007. Anti-Muslim hate crimes decreased from 12 percent in 2006 to 9 percent in 2007. Hate crimes against Catholics accounted for 4 percent of the reported hate crimes motivated by religious biases — down from 5 percent in 2006. Four percent of the hate crimes were motivated by anti-Protestant biases, and 9 percent were against other religions. Of the reported hate crimes motivated by religious bias, 18 percent occurred in churches, synagogues or temples; 26 percent occurred in or near residences or homes; and 12 percent occurred in schools or colleges.
Luther's trash found in German dig. Archaeologists have discovered Martin Luther's kitchen trash, revealing new personal information about the father of the Protestant Reformation, the German publication Der Spiegel reports. The dig that started in 2003 took place at three different excavation sites in Germany — Luther's parents' house in the town of Mansfeld, his estate in Wittenberg, and the floor of the building where he was born in Eisleben. So far, archaeologists have found broken dishes, food remains, toys, and what they think is his wife's wedding ring along with 250 silver coins. The article claims the new discoveries reveal Luther's parents were more affluent than Luther claimed they were. But his adult home was “in keeping with his economic standing.”
Queen asked to pardon witches posthumously. A campaign has been launched in Britain to try to persuade Queen Elizabeth II to grant a royal warrant pardoning more than 400 men and women executed as witches in England four centuries ago. A petition citing eight grave “miscarriages of justice” and bearing hundreds of signatures is on the way to the British government's justice secretary, Jack Straw, whose support is needed to put the issue of posthumous pardons before the monarch. In the 16th and 17th centuries, when crops failed, butter would not churn, and cattle sickened and died, blame was heaped on alleged practitioners of witchcraft. The 1735 Witchcraft Act ended the trials in Britain — if not the controversy.
Brits see room for Islamic law. The British government has ruled some aspects of Islamic sharia law can be accepted into the country's legal framework, provided they comply with standard practices of jurisprudence. Bridget Prentice, a justice minister in Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government, told Parliament family courts in England and Wales could “rubber stamp” sharia decisions if they decide the Islamic rulings are fair. Sharia is a set of principles governing the lives of Muslims, 1.6 million of whom live in Britain, and occasionally has come into conflict with traditional British law.
Compiled from Religion News Service