Faith Digest: Bombing victims honored

Four girls killed in Birmingham blast honored. Fifty years after the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., claimed the lives of three 14-year-old African-American girls and one 11-year old, some of the youngest martyrs of the civil rights movement were honored. Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Denise McNair posthumously received the Congressional Gold Medal Sept. 10, a day after a piece of shattered stained glass from the church was donated to the Smithsonian Institution. Randall Jimerson, who was 14 when his white minister father scooped up the shards of glass from outside the bombed Birmingham church on Sept. 15, 1963, made the donation to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, scheduled to open in 2015. The Congressional Gold Medal will be displayed at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute across the street from the church.

Treasure discovered near Temple Mount. An Israeli archaeologist discovered a treasure trove of gold at the foot of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. A cache of gold coins, jewelry and what is believed to be a Torah scroll decoration were discovered at the foot of the Temple Mount. (RNS Photo courtesy the Hebrew University)The cache contains 36 shiny gold coins, some silver and gold jewelry and a 10-centimeter gold medallion with an etching of a traditional seven-branch menorah. The collection, discovered beneath the floor of a Byzantine building about 160 feet from the southern wall of the Temple Mount—a site holy to Jews and Muslims—dates to the early seventh century. The medallion, on a gold chain, may have been designed as an ornament for a Torah scroll.  The other items, including a smaller gold medallion, two pendants, a gold coil and a silver clasp, are believed to have been intended for use as Torah scroll ornaments, too.

Group distances itself from gay marriage opponents. A new website aims to become a gathering place for Christians who are “Not All Like That” in terms of other Christians’ opposition to same-sex marriage and gay rights. The NALT Christians Project insists many Christians hold the “belief and conviction that there is nothing antibiblical or at all inherently sinful about being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.” Inspired by sex advice columnist Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better” campaign for gay teens, the NALT project aims to be a platform for Christians who post videos in support. Backers of the project include The Evangelical Network, Auburn Seminary and the gay Catholic group Dignity USA. The project is spearhead by Christian blogger John Shore and Wayne Besen, from Truth Wins Out, which was founded to “fight anti-gay religious extremism.”

Muslim wins fight against Abercrombie & Fitch. A federal judge ruled the Abercrombie & Fitch clothing chain violated federal anti-employment discrimination guidelines when it fired a Muslim employee in 2010 for not removing her religious headscarf, or hijab, for work. Abercrombie asserted employed sales-floor personnel are “models” who must follow a “look policy” of grooming and appearance guidelines in order to give customers an “in-store experience.” Umme-Hani Khan began work at Abercrombie’s store in San Mateo, Calif., in October 2009. She worked mainly in the stockroom, but one to four times per shift she restocked clothes on the sales floor. Local supervisors permitted Khan to wear headscarves, as long as they matched company colors, and never complained about Khan’s performance. But about four months into Khan’s employment, a district manager visited the store and noticed Khan’s headscarf. A human resources manager told Khan she could keep working at the store only if she stopped wearing her headscarf at work. Khan was fired on Feb. 22, 2010, and filed her lawsuit with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on March 1.