c. 1997 Religion News Service

Judge rules against Ten Commandment display in South Carolina

(RNS) South Carolina Circuit Court Judge R. Markley Dennis Jr. has ruled that the posting of the Ten Commandments by the Charleston County Council violates the U.S. Constitution and must come down.”Government may not affiliate itself with religious symbols or doctrines in a manner that suggests an endorsement of a particular religious faith,”Dennis said in a written opinion released Monday (Aug. 4).”Though religion may be acknowledged and accommodated by the state, it may not be promoted,”Dennis added.

The ruling came in a suit filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina.

In arguments before Dennis Friday (Aug. 1), county attorney Arthur Rosenblum argued that the Ten Commandments are posted in an”obscure”location so as to not offend minority faiths.

But Steven Green, legal director of Americans United, argued that any display of one religion’s sacred text by a government body violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

Dennis said his decision was based on a 1990 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that barred the Ten Commandments from being posted in public schools in Kentucky.

Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United, hailed the decision.”The Ten Commandments should never be used for political purposes, and thanks to decisions like this one, they won’t be,”he said.

Some church-state separationists believe the Charleston council’s action in posting the Ten Commandments is part of a nationwide campaign by religious conservatives to adorn all public buildings with religious symbols.

A similar case is pending in Alabama, where County Circuit Judge Roy Moore has posted the Ten Commandments in his courtroom.

New bishop urges Rwanda’s Anglicans to seek forgiveness for genocide

(RNS) Bishop Emmanuel Kolini, the new Anglican bishop of Kigali, has called on the Anglican Church in Rwanda to seek forgiveness for its silence during the 1994 genocide that claimed some 500,000 lives.”You can be silent or you can raise your voice,”Kolini said in an interview with the Associated Press Monday (Aug. 4).”But when you don’t stop, when you don’t help the person, the victim, then to me it’s the same as being a party to the killing.” Kolini said petty infighting during the four years leading up to the genocide had made the Anglican diocese in Rwanda’s capital of Kigali fail to recognize the suffering of others and thus an accomplice to the genocide.

Kolini, who was consecrated Sunday (Aug. 3) as the new head of the Kigali diocese, said in his installation homily that the church must exhibit repentance and forgiveness if it is to play a role in Rwanda’s recovery from the slaughter of more than 500,000 mostly Tutsi Rwandans at the hands of an extremist Hutu government.”That’s why I have to apologize on behalf of the church, on behalf of Christianity, and in particular for the diocese of Kigali,”he said.”The church has to feel ashamed for what happened in this country.”

Baptist leader to sever business ties with public relations director

(RNS) The president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, who recently faced questions about his marital fidelity and his finances, has decided to sever business ties with the woman he hired as the denomination’s public relations director of corporate affairs.

In addition to breaking ties with Bernice Edwards, a convicted embezzler, the Rev. Henry J. Lyons announced Sunday (Aug. 3) _ in his church’s bulletin _ he plans to”take a moment of rest and reflection during the month of August.”Lyons is pastor of Bethel Metropolitan Church in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Before delivering his sermon Sunday, Lyons said that although he will sever business ties with Edwards, he and his wife, Deborah, will continue their personal commitment to her, the Associated Press reported.”Mrs. Edwards has three children and Sister Lyons and I have agreed that if something were to happen to her we would take them and raise them,”Lyons said.”There’s nothing going on. Nothing illicit. Just family friends.” He did not give further details on his plans to sever business links with Edwards.

Henry Lyons was elected president of the 8.5 million-member National Baptist Convention, USA, in 1994, the same year Edwards was sentenced for embezzling from a school she operated in Milwaukee.

Questions arose about the relationship between Henry Lyons and Edwards when Deborah Lyons was charged July 6 with setting fire to a $700,000 Florida house co-owned by her husband and Edwards. Henry Lyons, who has been married to Deborah for 25 years, listed himself as unmarried on the property deed.

Sheriff’s deputies said Deborah Lyons told them she suspected her husband and Edwards were having an affair. Deborah Lyons denied that Sunday.

Calif. court: Teens can decide for themselves on abortions

(RNS) The California Supreme Court Tuesday (Aug. 6) struck down a never-enforced law that would have required minors seeking an abortion to get parental approval or the consent of a judge.

The court, in a 4-3 ruling, said the law violated a minor’s right to privacy under the California constitution. Court challenges had kept the law from taking effect ever since 1988, according to the Associated Press.”No one would doubt the value to a pregnant minor of wise and caring parental guidance and support … assuming such support is available and the minor is willing to seek it,”Chief Justice Ronald George wrote in the court’s majority opinion.

However, he continued, the law”has its most significant impact in those instances in which a pregnant minor is too frightened or too embarrassed to disclose her condition to a parent.” George noted that California already allows minors to seek mental health treatment, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and prenatal care without parental approval. California law also allows minors to give up a child for adoption. George said the decision to have an abortion required no greater maturity than that required to take action on these other issues.

Each year, about 30,000 California teens have abortions, according to federal statistics.

New York legislature again passes Hasidic school district bill

(RNS) The New York State Legislature _ defying the courts yet again _ has approved a bill establishing a new school district for disabled Hasidic Jewish school children in Kiryas Joel.

The legislative action, taken Monday (Aug. 5), followed two previous court rejections of the special district. In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the constitutionality of such a district on church-state separation grounds. Last May, the New York State Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, citing similar church-state separation concerns, rejected a second legislative attempt to create the special district.

Gov. George Pataki said he would sign the new legislative initiative if state legal experts decide it overcomes the courts’ constitutional objections, according to news reports.

Sponsors of the latest Kiryas Joel bill say their measure has been written to circumvent the courts’ objections. They say the new bill is applicable to other jurisdictions besides Kiryas Joel, thus eliminating the charge of improper favoritism.

Critics say the legislature is only pandering to a politically powerful minority whose bloc voting habits can decide close elections.

Kiryas Joel is a town of 12,000 Hasidic Jews established some two decades ago, in part to allow members of the Satmar Hasidic sect to live apart from the larger society. The town’s non-disabled children attend private, religious schools. However, town leaders want the state to fund special education costs for some 200 disabled Kiryas Joel youngsters.

Jewish groups are divided on the issue, with liberal organizations generally opposed, and Orthodox or politically conservative groups generally in favor.

In a statement, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America welcomed the new legislative effort, saying”just because a generally drawn statute benefits a religious community or religious citizens, that does not automatically make it constitutionally suspect.” The American Jewish Congress took an opposing position.”Once again,”said the liberal Jewish group,”the New York State Legislature has sacrificed constitutional values and sound educational policy on the altar of political expediency.”

Quote of the day: Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal

(RNS) Famed Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal has called on Jews to moderate their criticism of Switzerland for not being forthright about the role of Swiss banks in the handling of wartime Nazi assets and Jewish accounts. In comments quoted by the Associated Press, Wiesenthal urged Jews to weigh their comments carefully:”The whole of Switzerland, all Swiss must not be held responsible for possible wrongdoing. Guilt is individual, not collective. That should be known on the side of the Jews, because we have been dealt with collectively for 2,000 years.”

END RNS