c. 1996 Religion News Service
Administration asks Supreme Court to overturn church-state school ruling
(RNS) The Clinton administration has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a 1985 ruling by the justices that set limits on how federally funded remedial education for needy students is provided to pupils in religious schools.
In a brief filed on behalf of Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, the administration asked the justices to accept a case brought by New York City seeking the overturn of the 11-year-old ruling known as Aguilar vs. Felton.
New York argues that because of the ruling the so-called Chapter One program, which provides remedial education for students from poor families, has proven to be burdensome and expensive.
The ruling banned public school teachers charged with providing remedial and compensatory education and counseling to students at religious schools from entering the religious schools. Instead, the religious school students are transported to public school or given their special instruction in mobile vans parked near the schools.
In its brief, the Clinton administration said that public schools are spending”hundreds of millions of dollars”to comply with the ruling that has a”significant, adverse impact”on the public schools’ ability to serve low-income students.
Until the 1985 Aguilar ruling, most public schools _ which run the federally financed remedial education program _ sent their teachers into the religious schools to provide the instruction. The Aguilar ruling said such a practice amounted to excessive entanglement in religion on the part of the government.
Earlier this year, the New York City Board of Education, which claims it spends $6 million annually in Chapter One funds on transportation costs rather than on instruction _ moved to reopen the case under federal rules that allow courts to release parties from earlier judgments on the basis of”newly discovered evidence.” In the Clinton administration brief, government lawyers argued that views expressed by current members of the court _ only three of whom were on the bench in 1985, and two of whom dissented from the majority _ on a variety of church-state cases since 1985 indicate a changed view on how rigidly separation of church and state should be enforced.
These changed views, the brief said, could justify the Supreme Court in determining that there are”sufficient intervening circumstances to warrant reconsideration of Aguilar.” But the government’s action drew a rebuke from Marc Stern, a lawyer from the American Jewish Congress who specializes in church-state separation issues.”It’s mind-boggling to think that every time the Court blinks, you should be able to reopen judgments you don’t like,”he said.
United Methodist court rejects challenge to gay and lesbian welcome
(RNS) The United Methodist Church’s Judicial Council, the denomination’s equivalent of the Supreme Court, has turned down a challenge to the Wisconsin Annual Conference’s decision to declare it welcomes all people into its churches _ including gays, lesbians, and bisexuals.
The denomination, the second-largest Protestant body in the nation, has been fighting over the homosexual issue since 1972. Virtually every twist and turn in the debate has been brought to the nine-member Judicial Council and three issues relating to homosexuality were before the council at its semi-annual meeting in October.
The Wisconsin conference, similar to a Catholic diocese or Lutheran synod, took its action at its 1996 meeting in June, just months after the church’s highest decision-making body, the General Conference, reiterated church belief that homosexuality is”incompatible”with church teaching.”Only a public statement can begin to overcome (the) perceived reality”that gays, lesbians and bisexuals”are not welcome in churches,”the Wisconsin statement said.
The Wisconsin declaration drew fire from 43 pastors in the conference who said they found the action”unacceptable”because it”rejects scriptural teaching and spurns the consistent stance of the United Methodist Church.” But Wisconsin Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader ruled that the conference was entitled to take such an action. Her ruling was appealed to the nine-member Judicial Council. On Oct. 25, with eight members present, the council unanimously sided with Rader, saying the conference action”clearly only welcomes all people into its churches”in accord with official denominational pronouncements.
In two other gay-related rulings, the Judicial Council upheld Bishop Raymond Owen of the Southwest Texas Annual Conference, who refused to rule on whether a church law requiring clergy to practice”fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness”can be applied to lay members of the church. Owen said the question was”hypothetical.” But by a 6-2 vote, the court sent back to Owen a separate request that he rule on whether a person can be denied”the right to lead and/or participate in activities and programs of the church on the basis of his or her sexual orientation.”Owen said this request was also hypothetical but the court said the request for a ruling related to action taken by the conference and thus required him to make a ruling.
Australian Anglicans condemn euthanasia measure
(RNS) Two top bodies of the Anglican Church in Australia have voiced their opposition to a law permitting euthanasia in the country’s Northern Territory and called on the federal Parliament to overturn the measure as”contrary to God’s law and the values of a civilized society.””We believe that there is considerable confusion in the mind of the Australian public between the use of the term `euthanasia’ to describe the intentional killing of a fellow human being and its use to describe the cessation of futile treatment that results in unnecessary prolongation of life and suffering,”the Standing Committee of the Anglican General Synod said in a resolution adopted Oct. 25.
The Standing Committee oversees the day-to-day operations of the church.
On Wednesday (Oct. 30), on the eve of debate in the federal Parliament on overturning the Northern Territory legislation, the Synod of the Diocese of Sydney, the diocese’s top decision-making body, also passed a resolution opposing euthanasia.”To condone the deliberate killing of the most vulnerable in society is to risk the status of all human life in our community,”the synod’s resolution said.
The Northern Territory legislation allowing voluntary euthanasia for terminally ill people went into effect on July 1 and in late September, Bob Dent, a 66-year-old carpenter suffering from prostrate cancer, became the first person to take advantage of the law.
The law has caused a worldwide controversy, drawing a rebuke from the Vatican and condemnations from virtually all of Australia’s church leaders.
The law is being challenged before Australia’s High Court as well in the Federal Parliament, where several members have moved to use national legislation to overturn the territory’s law.
Update: Death of archbishop in Zaire brings fresh plea from pope
(RNS) Pope John Paul II, who learned late Wednesday (Oct. 30) that a top leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Zaire had been killed in fighting in the eastern part of the country, made his second appeal for peace in as many days Thursday (Oct. 31).”I beg the Lord to touch the hearts of men so that the guns are finally silenced and that feelings of hate disappear and give way to the search for peace and justice for all,”the pope said in a telegram of condolence to the head of Zaire’s bishop conference.
The telegram was in response to news that Archbishop Christophe Munzihirwa Mwente Ngabo of Bukavu was killed on Tuesday (Oct. 29) as fighting raged in the town between the Zairean soldiers and Tutsi Banyamulenge rebels.
Reuters reported that church sources in Rome believe Munzihirwa, a Zairean Jesuit, had been killed in an ambush.
The pope said the archbishop had”given his life while sharing the trials of the people entrusted to him.” On Wednesday, before news of the death of Munzihirwa reached Rome, John Paul had warned that God will”call everyone to account”for their part in the ethnic-based slaughters going on in the central African nations of Zaire, Burundi and Rwanda.
Munzihirwa is the second Central African prelate to be killed in as many months. On Sept. 9, Archbishop Joachim Ruhuna of Gitega, Burundi, was killed, apparently by Hutu rebels.
Indonesia sees action on church burnings; Baptists in Asia ask prayers
(RNS) The government of Indonesia says at least 54 people are suspected of taking part in a wave of arson attacks on Christian churches in an East Java town and legal proceedings against them are expected to begin soon.
At least five people died and 25 churches were either burned or damaged by vandals in the town of Situbondo when a riot broke out among Muslims gathered at the town’s courthouse.
Reuters, quoting the Jakarta Post, said that 40 people have been arrested in connection with the attacks on the churches. Maj. Gen. Sumarsono, chief of the East Java police, said a group of 15 people were suspected of instigating the attack.
The attack in Indonesia was one of several incidents that have prompted Baptists in Asia to ask other Christians to pray and speak out on religious freedom issues.
In Indonesia, Ingrid Subagyo, president of the Women’s Fellowship of the Union of Indonesian Baptist Churches, said that the church in Indonesia is no longer free to evangelize and that Christians are being accused of buying the conversion of Muslims.
A similar plea for prayer and action has been issued by the Evangelical Alliance and the Christian Consultation of Sri Lanka. According to those groups, there is an organized campaign in the country to enact legislation to forbid conversions, according to Baptist Press, the official news agency of the Southern Baptist Convention.”The claim is that this is a Sinhala Buddhist country and other religions have no place,”Baptist Press quoted one Christian leader as saying.”We are not anti-government,”another said.”We just want religious freedom.”
Ordained Southern Baptist woman drops sex discrimination lawsuit
(RNS) An ordained Southern Baptist woman who filed a sexual discrimination lawsuit against two Baptist organizations in Texas has dropped her suit.
Raye Nell Dyer, a former Baptist Student Union director at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, sued the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) and the Galveston (Texas) Baptist Association in 1995 after being fired by the convention in 1994. She has said that her removal, based on a recommendation from the Galveston association, was related to controversy over her ordination.
On Oct. 23, Dyer said she had dropped her suit because recent court decisions make it likely that her case would be dismissed on church-state grounds, said Associated Baptist Press, an independent Baptist news service.
Dyer believed that since other courts have refused to consider cases similar to hers due to”religious entanglement,”her case could possibly be thrown out as a”frivolous”lawsuit, for which she could be fined.
But Dyer continues to claim that her complaint is valid and she believes she has been forced to drop the suit because of a legal technicality that exempts some religious organizations from federal rules against sexual discrimination by employers.”This means that clergy have virtually no constitutional rights regarding discrimination by their employer if the employer is a church or religious institution,”said Dyer, who was ordained in 1993.
Although she supports the separation of church and state, Dyer said,”this is a gray area … that needs to be addressed.” Roger Hall, the BGCT’s treasurer and chief financial officer, said his office has learned of Dyer’s decision to drop the suit.”We are pleased that Ms. Dyer, a valued former campus minister of the BGCT, has chosen to dismiss the suit,”said Hall.”We are of the opinion that the courts would have ruled in our favor. We wish her well.” About 1,300 Southern Baptist women are ordained, though many Southern Baptists do not favor female ordination. There are more than 40,000 churches in the Southern Baptist Convention.
Dyer’s lawsuit was considered to be the first lawsuit related to the ordination of a Southern Baptist woman.
Rabbi Leon Klenicki honored for interfaith work
(RNS) Rabbi Leon Klenicki, director of interfaith affairs for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and for 20 years a leader in promoting better Christian-Jewish relations, has been honored by the 15th National Workshop in Christian-Jewish Relations.
Klenicki was presented with a special award Sunday (Oct. 27) by workshop participants during its annual meeting in Stamford, Conn.
He was singled out for his role in educating Christian leaders about Judaism.
A prolific author, Klenicki has edited several volumes on Catholic-Jewish relations and most recently collaborated with Eugene Fisher, associate director of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ committee on ecumenism, on the book,”A Challenge Long Delayed: The Diplomatic Exchange Between the Holy See and the State of Israel.” Klenicki, born in Argentina, is also a professor of Jewish theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, N.Y.
Quote of the day: Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey
(RNS) As hundreds of thousands of refugees in eastern Zaire found themselves caught between the possibility of being killed in fighting between rebel and government troops or starving to death, Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey recalled the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. In an Oct. 30 letter to The Times of London, Carey made these observations:”At that time (1994), the international community, including the churches, stood accused of failing to take decisive action as those terrible events unfolded. Today, we stand on the verge of renewed disaster in the region. … The world cannot stand by and watch again. No one wishes to interfere in the internal affairs of independent nations, but the people of that war-weary region of Central Africa can surely bear no more.”
MJP END RNS
