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Muslims attack Christians in Uganda
Only 6 percent of the Ugandan population is Muslim, says Operation World, but the book notes that "there has been a rise in Islamist extremism" as "Arab states have poured large sums of money into education."

According to common practice in Pallisa, Uganda, only Muslims slaughter animals for sale. But evangelist Umar Mulinde told local Christian butchers they shouldn't defer to the tradition — after all, he reportedly said, there was no law saying only Muslims can butcher animals.

When Christians started buying meat from Christian butchers instead of Muslim ones, Muslim activists turned violent. "Muslims reacted and burnt butcheries," police commander Phinehas Arinaitwe told The Monitor of Kampala. "We arrested three of them and they have been prosecuted." Arinaitwe also confirmed that there's no law prohibiting Christians from being butchers.

Christians attack Muslims in Malawi
Christians attacked a mosque in Nthawira, Malawi, reports Channel Africa. Roman Catholic priest Bernard Tiyesi told the news service that a group called the Apostles started preaching against the Qur'an in a market square. Muslims got upset, and violence broke out.

Ugandan imam: Night prayers spread AIDS
Sheikh Mohammed Senjala, the imam of Muslim community in Kamwokya, Uganda, told his local congregants that night prayers are a major contributor to the spread of AIDS, reports The Monitor. "Children escape from their homes; how are they protected from the many activities that take place during the night prayers?" he said in his AIDS Day address. He says the kids aren't praying — they're having sex.

The Monitor's story is only three paragraphs long, but don't be deceived: it's short because the story is so complicated.

On one hand, there's ample evidence to support Senjala's claim. "[The teens] say they are loving Jesus when there is a danger of another kind of loving happening there," Anglican priest Bernard Tusiime told The Guardian of London last year. "We had the same problem with night dancing. It encourages sex."

On the other hand, night prayers have been a touchy subject in Uganda. Local governments have banned night prayers in various parts of the country, sometimes arguing that it was an issue of safety, sometimes out of suspicion that they were being used to recruit rebels, and most often to protect against "noise pollution." The prayers are most commonly practiced by the country's "born again churches," which argue that the bans are an effort to infringe on their religious liberties.

Man who shot Baltimore priest acquitted, jury asks for leniency on gun convictions
Dontee Stokes admitted shooting Roman Catholic priest Maurice Blackwell three times, but said he did so in a kind of out-of-body experience. He says Blackwell abused him a decade ago, when he was just a teen. Stokes said he shot Blackwell because he was frustrated that the church didn't believe his accusations.

"This was not an intentional act of violence," Stokes explained. "This was something that was a result of the violence that was done to me."

That was good enough for the jury, which acquitted Stokes of all felony charges, including attempted murder, and only found him guilty of three misdemeanor weapons charges. And even on these charges the jury asked the judge to be lenient in sentencing. Stokes is therefore likely to receive only probation.

"With the decision of the jury tonight, one sad chapter is concluded, but there remains much healing ahead," said Cardinal William H. Keeler, who showed support for Stokes and told the jury that he regretted not being able to stop the abuse. "Many of us have been praying for this healing. My prayers are with Dontee Stokes and his family. He is a young man who has shown much promise; may God bless him now and in the days and years to come."

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December (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46