c. 1996 Religion News Service

Welfare bill divides religious community but most see potential peril

(RNS) President Clinton’s pledge to sign Republican-sponsored legislation to overhaul the nation’s welfare system, ending a 60-year federal commitment to the poor, has drawn reactions in the religious community ranging from anger to dismay and disappointment.

But some providers of social services to the down-and-out said the legislation could provide opportunities for rescue missions and other faith-based services.

The bill turns most welfare responsibilities over to the states, puts a time limit on benefits and tightens eligibility for a number of programs, including food stamps and Medicaid, the medical program for the poor.”The bill has tremendous opportunities for rescue missions and other faith-based social service organizations,”said the Rev. Stephen Burger, executive director of the International Union of Gospel Missions, the Kansas City-based network of mostly inner-city rescue missions.

He pointed especially to a clause in the legislation that allows states to contract with religious organizations to provide social services to the poor but bars the use of welfare funds”for sectarian worship, instruction, or proselytization.””This is where it gets muddy,”Burger said.”If you say `God bless you’ to a homeless person, is that proselytizing? Can we pray before meals in the presence of people who come to us using government vouchers?”These are tough questions that must be answered before faith-based charities will line up to help the government overhaul the welfare mess.” Other groups involved in aiding the poor, however, responded with dismay.”Congress’ action on welfare reform and the president’s decision to sign such fatally flawed legislation is distressing to all who care about the most vulnerable among us: poor children born and unborn, their families, and newcomers to our shores,”said Roman Catholic Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston.

The bishops have fought the legislation from the beginning, charging that it would throw more people into poverty, result in a rise in the number of abortions and unfairly punish legal immigrants.

Law said the current legislation is not”authentic”reform and the present legislation is about”short-term political gains at the expense of the most vulnerable.” The Rev. Albert Pennybacker, associate general secretary for public policy of the National Council of Churches said he was”disappointed”at Clinton’s pledge and renewed the council’s call for a veto of the legislation.

David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, the grassroots Christian anti-hunger lobby, noted that”virtually all the charities of the religious organizations in the country”are opposed to the law.”All of us who work with the poor know it’s going to hurt them really bad.”

Bishops decry decision to replay sacramental tape

(RNS) Bishop Anthony Pilla of Cleveland, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, has sharply rebuked the Lane County Circuit Court in Oregon for letting defense lawyers listen to a recording of a sacramental confession secretly taped in the county jail.”This is proof that the existence of the tape is indeed a continuing violation of the religious rights of all Catholics,”Pilla said in an Aug. 2 statement.

Pilla’s protest, along with that of the American Civil Liberties Union, however, went unheeded by Judge Jack Billings. He allowed lawyers for Conan Wayne Hale, a suspect in a triple homocide, to listen to the tape of Hale’s sacramental confession to the Rev. Tim Mockaitis.

The judge reasoned that the defense lawyers were entitled to review all information in the possession of the prosecution.

The secret tape was made in May and state officials have since apologized for the act and said that it would not be used in Hale’s prosecution. But Terri Wood, one of Hale’s lawyers, said she may use the tape as she defends Hale in his trial, scheduled to begin next May.

Both the Portland archdiocese and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops have argued that making the tape violated the sanctity of the confessional and that it should be destroyed.”Until it is destroyed, there can be no guarantee that other uses of this kind and perhaps even more abusive uses will not be made of the tape,”Pilla said in his statement.”The lack of respect for the sanctity of the Sacrament of Penance (confession) shown in this case is a dangerous precedent which must be reversed.”

Christian Coalition accused of trying to hide money intended for Bush

(RNS) The Christian Coalition’s suspended chief financial officer has claimed she was asked to hide a $60,000 contribution given with the intent of aiding President George Bush’s 1992 re-election bid.

The donation was made by John W. Wolfe, then a wealthy Ohio businessman who’s family owned the Columbus Dispatch newspaper. Wolfe, who has since died, reportedly sent a letter to Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson in which he said”it is my understanding you could use some financial help with that (campaign literature) project for the President and therefore, on the recommendation of Lyn, I am pleased to send you a contribution of $60,000.””Lyn”was a reference to Lyn Nofziger, a longtime Republican political consultant who was President Ronald Reagan’s political director, The Washington Post reported.

Judy Liebert, the Christian Coalition’s chief financial officer, told the Associated Press that she was instructed by the group’s executive director, Ralph Reed, to list the contribution as coming from an anonymous source.

The Christian Coalition’s non-profit status makes it illegal for the group to support or oppose specific candidates. The group argues that it also seeks to influence the discussion of”family values”issues in the political debate.

Wolfe’s contribution would also have exceeded the $1,000 federal limit for personal contributions to a presidential candidate.

However, Mike Russell, the Christian Coalition’s chief spokesman, said the group’s records show that Wolfe’s name was listed as the donor and he denied Liebert’s allegation about Reed.

Russell said in a statement released Sunday (Aug. 4) that Reed”has always insisted that (the) Christian Coalition strictly adhere to the law. Reed has instructed Christian Coalition employees, including its chief financial officer, to comply with the law in every respect, including filing accurate federal tax returns listing contributors where appropriate.” Russell also said that Wolfe’s letter reflected a misunderstanding of the organization’s activities. He said Wolfe was contacted about the misunderstanding, asked if he wished to withdraw his donation, and must have said no.

The Christian Coalition already is the target of Federal Election Commission charges that it has illegally spent more than $1.4 million to elect Republican candidates in violation of its non-profit status.

Liebert was suspended by the Christian Coalition after taking complaints about the organization’s financial dealings to federal authorities.

AME Zion delegates affirm ecumenical effort

(RNS) Delegates to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church’s quadrennial general conference have reaffirmed their commitment to the Consultation on Church Union, an initiative aimed at improving relations among nine mainline Protestant denominations.”We have a like concern about the unity of the … Christian church,”said Bishop Joseph Johnson, president of the AME Zion’s Board of Bishops.”We hope that one day we will live out the mandate of Christ who said that we all may be one.” The AME Zion action affirming a”covenanting proposal”of the Consultation on Church Union follows a similar vote in July by the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Thus, the three historic African-American denominations _ including the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church _ involved in the process have all urged that it continue.

Delegates to the United Methodist Church General Conference adopted the proposal at their meeting in April and the Presbyterian Church (USA) affirmed its commitment to the idea in early July. The Episcopal Church will consider the proposal when its triennial meeting is held in 1997.

Three other faith groups _ the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the United Church of Christ and the International Council of Community Churches _ already have joined the partnership agreement.

In other ecumenical action, the AME Zion delegates urged that a separate process towards merging the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and the AME Zion Church continue.

Delegates also passed a resolution calling for the development of a sexual misconduct policy.

In addition, two bishops were elected during a lengthy balloting process. The Rev. Nathaniel Jarrett, pastor of Martin Temple AME Zion Church in Chicago, and the Rev. Warren M. Brown, pastor of Trinity AME Zion Church in Washington, D.C., are the two newest bishops in the denomination.

In the early balloting, delegates considered a woman candidate for bishop, the Rev. Ocie Brown, a presiding elder from Staley, N.C.

The AME Zion Church, which is celebrating its 200th anniversary, has about 1.7 million members. Its general conference ended Saturday (Aug. 3).

Poll shows religious right’s support of”Christian nationalism” (RNS) A new poll sponsored by the American Jewish Committee indicates strong sentiments within the religious right for”Christian nationalism,”the notion that America’s political problems can be solved by focusing government more on a Christian outlook.

The survey found that 76 percent of people who align themselves with the religious right think”Christians should get involved in politics to protect their values”; 48 percent think a constitutional amendment should be adopted”declaring that the United States is a Christian nation”; and 44 percent think that”on most political issues there is one correct Christian point of view.” The poll was conducted by the Gallup International Institute and analyzed by Tom W. Smith, director of the General Social Survey at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.”The religious right is very supportive of Christian nationalism and of having the state become the partner of the church in carrying out God’s plan,”Smith concludes.”While the movement is not intolerant toward minority groups in general, nor in favor of a homogenous Euro-Christian society, it is wary of outsiders and nontraditionalists.” The poll showed that people aligned with the religious right have far more negative feelings than other Americans toward atheists, homosexuals, feminists and Muslims, but fairly similar attitudes toward Asians, blacks, Catholics, Hispanics and Jews. For example, 79 percent of those affirming the religious right think that gay-rights groups have too much influence in American society (compared to 46 percent of other Americans).

Smith found that 79 percent of those aligned with the religious right might vote for a Jew for president and 96 percent are willing to live with Jews as neighbors. On the other hand, it found that 58 percent of those on the religious right disagree with the statement”Jews do not need to be converted to Christianity.”Twenty-two percent of other Americans disagreed with that statement.

The survey, taken in May and June of this year, polled 507 Americans aligned with the religious right and 503 other Americans. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Egyptian court upholds ruling ordering professor to divorce his wife

(RNS) Egypt’s highest appeals court has upheld a ruling ordering a prominent, happily married professor to divorce his wife because his writings are considered insulting to Islam and he is thus unfit to be married to a Muslim woman.

The ruling was handed down Monday (Aug. 5) at the Cairo Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest appeals court, according to news service reports.

It involves Abu Zeid, 53, an Arabic literature professor, and his wife, Ibtihal Younis, an art history professor. The two, who were reported out of the country, have been married four years and said they would not divorce.

The case began two years ago when conservative Islamists sued Abu Zeid, arguing that his writings on the Koran, Islam’s holy book, made him an apostate _ one who has denounced his Muslim faith. Under Islamic law, a Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man.

The case is part of an effort by conservative Muslims to replace Egypt’s secular law with Islamic law.

Abu Zeid has rejected the charge that he has abandoned Islam and said his writings are a scholarly analysis of the language of the Koran.

According to Islamic lawyers, if Abu Zeid and his wife return to Egypt and continue living together, it would be viewed as adultery.

Quote of the day: The Rev. Emilio Castro, former general secretary of the World Council of Churches, on Colombia.

(RNS) The Rev. Emilio Castro, a former general secretary of the World Council of Churches, recently represented the WCC on an ecumenical fact-finding team that visited Colombia at the request of that nation’s Presbyterian, Lutheran and Mennonite churches. Colombia has been plagued by violence _ an estimated 38,000 violent deaths in 1995 _ including drug-related killings, human rights abuses and fighting between guerrilla groups and paramilitary organizations. But Castro, in a report on his visit, said that wasn’t the whole of the story:”There is more than drugs in Colombia. We met many struggling to build a culture of peace and to bring comfort to the suffering. The national churches are involved in this work; the world church must be also. We have seen peace processes beginning in most of the countries of Central America and it is not too naive to believe that something similar could be possible in Colombia.”

MJP END RNS