Atheist group appeals decision on Jesus statue
KALISPELL, Mont. – A Wisconsin-based atheist and agnostic organization is appealing a federal judge’s ruling that a 6-foot-tall statue of Jesus can remain on Forest Service land on a northwestern Montana ski hill.
The Flathead Beacon reports the Freedom From Religion Foundation appealed U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen’s decision that allowed the Flathead National Forest to re-issue a 10-year permit for the statue the Knights of Columbus placed on Big Mountain as World War II memorial.
The FFRF filed a lawsuit in February 2012, arguing the statue violates the Constitutional separation of church and state. Christensen ruled in June that the statue is more often used as a meeting point for skiers than as a solemn place for religious reflection.
Swedes don headscarves to support Muslim victim
STOCKHOLM – Scores of Swedish women from various faiths have posted pictures of themselves online wearing hijabs, or traditional Muslim headscarves, to show solidarity with a Muslim woman who was attacked in a Stockholm suburb for wearing one.
Police spokesman Ulf Hoffman says an unknown assailant attacked the pregnant woman in the suburb of Farsta on Friday by banging her head against a car. Hoffman said the man shouted slurs which have led police to believe the attack was motivated by the woman’s religion.
Among the women posting photos in headscarves on the social network site Twitter Monday was Green Party leader Asa Romson and Social Democrat lawmaker Veronica Palm. The initiative’s organizers say they want to raise awareness of the harassment women wearing headscarves face in Sweden.
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