As we went to press...
This news digest was prepared from news and wire reports by Witness news editor, Pat McCaughan.

Jubilee USA acts up

About 700 demonstrators rallied in front of the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury September 28 to demand money for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment and to denounce the policies of the World Bank and the IMF. They later joined a larger rally of about 10,000 at the Sylvan Theatre on the Washington Monument grounds. The feeder rally/march was coordinated by Jubilee USA and ACT-UP.

ACC passes anti-war resolutions

The Anglican Consultative Council, a widely representative Anglican group of clergy and lay persons from each of the 38 Provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion, unanimously passed two resolutions regarding proposals for war against Iraq during its recent meeting in Hong Kong. The first resolution expressed opposition to any unilateral action by the U.S. against Iraq. The second resolution affirmed ACC solidarity with the position taken by the Episcopal Church, USA in a statement issued by the church’s Presiding Bishop in June 2002.

Protest swells over Nigerian stoning sentence

Amnesty International representatives stepped up pressure on Nigerian government officials to rescind a death sentence imposed upon Amina Lawal, a 30-year-old woman sentenced to be stoned to death for having sex outside of marriage. Amnesty International delivered opposition petitions signed by 1 million people to Nigerian officials on September 27. The sentence, imposed under Islamic law, or Shariah, has evoked a worldwide outcry. Government and human rights groups worldwide have urged Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo's government to intercede on Lawal’s behalf. Shariah was introduced in a dozen predominantly Muslim northern states of Nigeria in 2000, shortly after civilian rule replaced military dictatorship. Obasanjo's government has declared Shariah punishments such as beheadings, stonings and amputations unconstitutional. Lawal is the second Nigerian woman to be condemned to death by Islamic courts for having sex out of wedlock. The first, Safiya Hussaini, had her sentence overturned in March on an appeal. For more info about the Amnesty International campaign: http://www.mertonai.org/amina

Topeka church to picket on anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death

Anti-gay Baptist pastor Fred Phelps planned to picket a football game in Fort Collins, Colo., on the Oct. 12 anniversary of the murder of Matthew Shepard. The website of Phelps’ church, Westboro Baptist of Topeka, Kan., says the group will picket the University of Wyoming vs. Colorado State football game "in religious protest and warning: ‘God is not mocked.’" The website also says that WBC "engages in daily peaceful sidewalk demonstrations opposing the homosexual lifestyle." The group received national attention when it picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student who died after being beaten and hung on a fence during a 1998 hate crime in Laramie. A group of local Wyoming Christian leaders has written to Phelps to request that the WBC stay away.

LGBT high-school students protest budget cut

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (lgbt) students and their allies rallied at the Massachusetts State House in late September to protest the Governor’s recent budget cuts that eliminated funding for the Safe Schools Program for Gay and Lesbian students at the Massachusetts Department of Education. Founded in 1993, the program supported Gay/Straight Alliances in high schools, teacher training and enforcement of the Student’s Right Law, which protects students from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Without the Safe Schools Program, students have nowhere to go and no resources to keep them safe from harassment and physical attacks. According to Massachusetts’ Youth Risk Behavior Survey, lgbt youth are four times more likely than their heterosexual peers to have attempted suicide in the past year, more than twice as likely to have been injured or threatened with a weapon at school and twice as likely to miss school because they feel unsafe.

More U.S. parishioners ‘charging it’ rather than passing the plate

More and more frequently, when U.S. churches pass the collection plate, parishioners are saying: "Charge it." A recent survey indicated that parishioners are growing fonder of paying their monthly donations by credit card. Electronic giving is increasing in numbers and popularity. It is also becoming an increasingly popular way to donate to local parishes and congregations. But some churches object, saying offerings within a service are an integral part of worship.