c. 1997 Religion News Service
Hungarian church leaders warn of moral decline,”double atheism” (RNS) Leaders in two of Hungary’s largest denominations have warned that post-Cold War reforms have contributed to an increase in out-of-wedlock births, more abortions and an ever-growing gap between the rich and poor in the Eastern European nation.”We hoped for high moral standards from the West,”said Bishop Lorant Hegedus, head of Hungary’s Reformed Church,”but instead got libertinism and nihilism, which produced a second form of atheism to add to the still-widespread influence of Marxism-Leninism.” Hegedus made his comments after Hungary’s Central Statistics Office reported earlier this month that, among other things, the number of out-of-wedlock births had more than doubled in the last decade.
Other government statistics reveal that Hungary has Europe’s highest mortality rate, with a life expectancy of just 64.8 years; a decreasing birth rate; a surging abortion rate; and a 10 percent unemployment rate.
Responding to the statistics, church leaders have vowed to make social and moral renewal a new priority.”All religious communities _ Calvinists, Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Jews _ must proclaim the need for real answers, for finding God again in today’s new, troubled environment,”Hegedus told ENI, the Geneva-based church-sponsored news agency.
Laszlo Lukacs, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary, said that the nation’s bishops addressed the country’s social ills in a pastoral letter last August.
The 72-page letter expressed concern over the increasing abortion rate, the social tension caused by the growing gap between rich and poor, and a 23 percent drop in the value of pensions for the elderly.”Although the letter was written by Catholic bishops, we hope to join other churches in initiating a new phase of cooperation between church and society,”he said.”The findings were very positively received by both religious and non-religious citizens as the first full-scale attempt in six years to establish a role for the church in current social issues.” Lukacs, echoing Hegedus, said the joint impact of Marxist indoctrination and liberal capitalist thinking has subjected Hungary to a”double atheism.” In the 1993 census, two-thirds of Hungary’s 10 million population registered Roman Catholic, 22 percent claimed Reformed Church membership and the remainder a variety of smaller Protestant denominations.
Muslim ex-NBA star criticized for beer commercial
(RNS) Retired basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a Muslim who is supposed to avoid alcohol in accordance with the tenets of his faith, has been criticized by a leading Islamic group for appearing in a popular Coors beer commercial.
The Islamic Society of North America, based in Plainfield, Ind., called Abdul-Jabbar’s commercial appearance”a sad act”in view of his position as a role model for Muslim and non-Muslim young people.”(Abdul-Jabbar’s) appearance in commercial messages for alcoholic products destroys the reputation that he had gained as a Muslim and the positive impact it had on youth,”Sayyid Muhammad Syeed, the Islamic Society’s general secretary, said in a statement.
Abdul-Jabbar has not responded to the criticism.
The former National Basketball Association stand out _ who as Lew Alcindor attended Catholic schools as a youngster before converting to Islam in 1971 and changing his name _ appears in a Coors Light TV ad in which he surprises a group of guys playing basketball in the Rocky Mountains. USA Today reported that he was paid a minimum of $100,000 for the ad.
Abdul-Jabbar does not drink or even touch a beer can in the commercial. But Syeed said,”Muslims are not only prohibited from consuming alcoholic products but also barred from producing, transporting, selling, serving or promoting these products. Not only that, Muslims are prohibited from participating in social gatherings where alcohol is served.” Abdul-Jabbar lives in Los Angeles, where some Muslims leaders, while not excusing Abdul-Jabbar’s appearance in the commercial, have criticized Syeed’s handling of the situation.
Maher Hathout, a spokesman for the Islamic Society of Southern California, where Abdul-Jabbar sometimes attends prayer services, told The Los Angeles Times that the basketball star should have been approached”in a more private and dignified way. The issue is how to offer candid advice in a tender and fruitful way.” Salam Al-Marayati, director of the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council, said Abdul-Jabbar”never claimed to represent Islam or Muslims and therefore his decision to accept a role in the commercial was personal. We disagree with the commercial, but it has no bearing on Islam and Muslims in America.” But Syeed said in an interview Tuesday (Jan. 21) that Abdul-Jabbar”did not engage in a private act. It was a public promotion and as such it required a public response disassociating Islam from alcohol promotion.” Syeed also said he acted publicly only after he received”a large number of complaints”from Muslims”who were feeling uncomfortable because of the ad.”
High Court rejects Kansas, Indiana cases with religious issues
(RNS) The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday (Jan. 21) rejected without comment two appeals of cases with religious aspects: one concerning a Kansas church whose members regularly picketed homosexuals and another involving an Indiana public school teacher fired for repeatedly injecting religion into classroom discussions.
In the Kansas case, the justices let stand a ruling that bars members of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka from picketing outside the city’s St. David’s Episcopal Church shortly before, during or immediately after a religious service.
Westboro members began picketing the church in 1991 after the Episcopal congregation’s leadership criticized the independent Baptist church’s tactic of publicly and loudly demonstrating at the site of gay events with signs that read”God Hates Fags.”St. David’s Episcopal was attacked as a”Fag Church.” Attorneys for Westboro contended that St. David’s had lost its claim to privacy by engaging in counter-picketing before filing its court case, an argument rejected by the High Court.
In the Indiana case, the court rejected the claim of Peter Helland, a former substitute teacher in South Bend, Ind., public schools, that he was fired in violation of his religious freedoms.
South Bend school officials dropped Helland from their list of substitute teachers in 1993 after fifth-graders complained about his injecting religious issues such as evolution into his classroom discussion.
In firing him, school officials said Helland repeatedly failed to heed warnings that he was not following established lesson plans and was not properly managing his classes. He was also reprimanded for bringing a Bible into the classroom.
Helland claimed he was fired solely for his religious beliefs and that carrying a Bible was part of his religious beliefs.
Russian Orthodox officials express concern about poverty
(RNS) The Russian Orthodox Church has issued a statement expressing its”deepest anxiety”about the future of Russia and the growing numbers”caught between life and death because of poverty.” The statement, issued by Patriarch Alexii II and the Holy Synod, marks the first time church officials have issued such a high-level document on social and political concerns, reported ENI, a Geneva-based religious news agency.
The statement, made public recently, was adopted by the synod on Dec. 28.”Today benefiting from her new-found freedom, the church once again has an opportunity to fulfill her role of intercessor for the people before the powerful of this world,”the statement reads.
Russia’s social problems have come in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet state economy, which had guaranteed each citizen a basic, but low, income. Inadequate means for tax collection and a fledgling post-communist economy have emptied the government’s coffers. Tens of millions of people have not received pension payments or salaries for months.
The government announced last October that state and private sector employers owed $7 billion in wages. That figure increases by $500 million each month.
While stressing their support of democratic reform in Russia, the church leaders noted that the dire economic straits have prevented most people from enjoying the advantages that come with democracy.”What good is it to speak of freedom and the advantages of democracy when people suffer from hunger, poverty and lack of social welfare?”they asked.
Netherlands announces rules that further decriminalize euthanasia
(RNS) The government of the Netherlands introduced new measures Tuesday (Jan. 21) that further decriminalize euthanasia, but a justice official said the controversial procedure will not yet be legalized.”There are no plans to amend the criminal code (to legalize euthanasia) because … public debate on the issue has not been rounded off,”said Justice Minister Winnie Sorgdrager.”Public feeling about euthanasia must stabilize.” Dutch right-to-die supporters and doctors have urged the government to change the law to guarantee that doctors performing euthanasia under strict conditions would be free from prosecution.
Although euthanasia is tolerated if certain guidelines are followed, current law in the Netherlands does not guarantee such immunity.
Under the current guidelines, patients must have repeatedly asked to die, be in unbearable mental or physical pain and be of sound mind. Before a physician ends a patient’s life, there must be a consultation with a second, independent doctor.
Under the new measures, reported euthanasia cases will be submitted to an independent committee of ethical, medical and legal experts rather than automatically being referred to the public prosecutor.
These regional evaluation teams will determine whether doctors followed the appropriate measures when dealing with a patient’s death request. Cases where the doctors’ actions are in doubt would be referred to the public prosecutor, Sorgdrager said.”The nature of criminal law is very black and white,”she said.”We need a more nuanced assessment (of euthanasia cases).” The changes in euthanasia rules would make prosecution of doctors unlikely, the minister said.”The cabinet believes the proposed measures will … enhance the legal security of both patient and doctor,”she said.
Dutch doctors reported 1,466 euthanasia cases in 1995. A government inquiry concluded that 2,734 more cases went unreported because doctors feared prosecution.
Quote of the day: Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Christian Life Commission
(RNS) Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Christian Life Commission, speaking in Atlanta shortly after the Jan. 16 bombing of a suburban Atlanta building that housed an abortion clinic, denounced the use violence in the struggle against legal abortion:”It is never permissible to do an evil thing for any ostensibly good or redeeming motive. Pro-life Christians everywhere should condemn people who seek to take the law into their own hands and put other people’s lives at risk. If this bombing is proved to have been done by people identifying themselves as pro-life, they need to be repudiated by the pro-life movement and they need to know their actions harm and not help the true pro-life cause.”
MJP END RNS
