c. 1997 Religion News Service

Metropolitan Community Churches condemn bombing

(RNS) The predominantly gay and lesbian Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches has condemned the Friday (Feb. 21) bombing of an Atlanta bar frequented by homosexuals.”Once again we are reminded that we must be vigilant in the face of increasingly hostile rhetoric and actions against the gay community,”said the Rev. Troy D. Perry, founder and moderator of the denomination’s 300 congregations.

A device filled with nails exploded on the patio of the Otherside Lounge, injuring five at the predominantly lesbian bar. Police found a second bomb in the club’s parking lot and detonated it.”Our prayers and support go out to the five persons who were injured in the Friday night blast,”Perry said.”We are thankful that no lives were lost.” Three churches in the Atlanta area that are affiliated with Perry’s fellowship increased security measures during services Sunday (Feb. 23).”We also pray that the individual who has committed this terrorist act against the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered communities in Atlanta will be swiftly arrested and prosecuted,”Perry added.”We do not seek vengeance but we absolutely seek justice for our people.” In a related matter, authorities are investigating a letter that claims credit for the bombings at the club and at an Atlanta abortion clinic on Jan. 16.

The letter, which claims to be from the Army of God, reportedly supports”total war”against homosexuals, the federal government and people involved in abortion, which it calls”murder.” In the 1980s, a militant Christian group called the Army of God was known for its distribution of a guide that taught abortion foes about bomb-making and other violent means of opposing abortion clinics.

In 1995, the National Abortion Federation and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, released a copy of an Army of God manual at a press conference.”Terrorism carried out in the name of God is blasphemy,”said the Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, president of the coalition, in a statement issued Tuesday.”If this group is indeed responsible for these two recent bombings, they misunderstand God’s will. They may have declared themselves an `army,’ but their actions are hardly `of God.'”

Catholics, S. Baptists and evangelicals criticize Sony

(RNS) Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention and the National Association of Evangelicals have joined Roman Catholic Cardinal Bernard Law in protesting an album distributed during the 1996 Christmas season that raised money for abortion rights causes.

Law sent a letter Jan. 15 to Sony Music Entertainment President Thomas Mottola in New York to complain about the album which he called a”mockery of Christmas”that is”offensive to every Christian and Christianity itself.” Dissatisfied with a reply received from another Sony executive, Law sent a letter Feb. 20 to Norio Ohga, Sony Corp.’s chairman of the board, whose office is in Japan. The second letter was also signed by Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Christian Life Commission, and the Rev. Don Argue, president of the National Association of Evangelicals.

The three leaders said Sony’s decision to distribute the”O Come All Ye Faithful”album”deeply offended the religious sensibilities of Christians across the United States.”They also said the album parodies Christian songs.

Sony describes the album as a”benefit compilation”to raise funds for Rock for Choice, which supports the repeal of restrictions on federal funding of abortions and objects to laws requiring parental consent to a minor’s abortion.

In a response to Law’s original letter, Patricia Kiel, Sony Music Entertainment’s senior vice president for communications, said that Rock for Choice”does not advocate abortion, adoption, abstinence or any other option”but works to educate women about health choices.”I can assure you that there was no intent on Sony Music or Rock for Choice’s part to mock or attack Christianity or Christmas, nor should this project be interpreted in that manner,”Kiel wrote.

But the Christian leaders believe offense has been taken, they told Ohga, whose Sony Corp. is the parent company of Sony Music Entertainment.”We have no reason to doubt Ms. Kiel’s statement that Sony Music did not `intend’ to mock or attack Christianity,”they wrote.”But Sony has. And she is simply wrong to state that the project should not be interpreted this way.”

UCC urges FCC to maintain personal attack rules

(RNS) A coalition of broadcast advocacy groups, led by the communications office of the United Church of Christ, is urging the Federal Communications Commission to maintain rules dealing with political, editorial and personal attacks.

Calling the rules”a bedrock”of broadcasters’ public trust responsibilities, the coalition voiced its support for rules requiring broadcasters to give reply time to individuals whose honesty and integrity is attacked on the air and to political candidates whose opponents receive a station’s editorial endorsement.

The broadcast coalition filed its comments Feb. 10 to oppose a petition by the Radio and Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) to eliminate the rules. The RTNDA said because the commission scrapped the fairness doctrine in 1987, attack rules should be removed as well.

In support of the RTNDA petition, the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) adopted a resolution in January that says personal attack and political editorial rules”impinge upon broadcasters’ journalistic freedom”and”chill broadcast speech.”The NRB resolution urged the FCC to abolish the attack and editorial rules. The NRB passed another resolution in January to oppose the reimposition of the fairness doctrine.

Attack rules were upheld in a 1969 U.S. Supreme Court decision ordering a Pennsylvania radio station that attacked an author in a broadcast to offer him free time to respond.

A Mississippi court decision later that year also ruled against a radio station promoting a segregationist point of view, saying a station”cannot be operated at the whim or caprice of its owners … (but rather) is a public trust subject to termination for breach of duty.” The comments filed by the broadcast coalition support the court rulings and assert that”there clearly is no net overall chilling effect, as the rules simply represent sound journalistic practice.” Members of the coalition supporting the attack rules include Media Access Project, the Center for Media Education and Washington Area Citizens Coalition Interested in Viewers’ Constitutional Rights.

Catholic bishops in Italy ask Protestants for forgiveness

(RNS) In an unprecedented move, Roman Catholic bishops in Italy have asked Protestants for forgiveness for the”suffering and injury”inflicted on them by the Catholic majority throughout the centuries.

During a Feb. 16 service at one of Italy’s biggest Waldensian churches, Archbishop Guiseppe Chiaretti of Perugia told the Protestant congregation that Italian bishops wanted”to begin in earnest to work for the reconciliation of memories … to accept the burden (of history) and salve the wounds of memory by recognizing their existence and, when necessary, by forgiveness asked and given.” The address was given on the 149th anniversary of the day King Charles Albert of Savoy put an end to centuries of discrimination against Protestants, issuing a decree extending civil and political rights to Waldensians.

Chiaretti offered the address as a step to help the churches prepare for the second European Ecumenical Assembly in Graz, Austria, this summer, which will have the theme”Reconciliation _ Gift of God and Source of New Life.”Protestant, Anglican, Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches will be represented at the assembly.

The Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the Waldensian Church have had positive relations for many years, but Italian bishops had not asked the minority church for forgiveness for past grievances before Chiaretti’s recent address.

Waldensian theologian Paolo Ricca, writing in Italy’s main Protestant newspaper, Riforma, described the date the bishops chose as”highly symbolic”and praised the address as a”courageous gesture.” Waldensians trace their roots to the 12th-century lay preacher Peter Valdes, who ignored a ban by the bishop and began preaching the gospel. His followers were persecuted by bishops and popes. There are about 30,000 Waldensians in Italy today.

New Age guru suffers stroke

(RNS) Ram Dass _ the former Richard Alpert who went from Harvard professor to New Age guru _ was reported Tuesday (Feb. 25) to be improving steadily following a stroke that has left him unable to speak and partially paralyzed.

Ram Dass, 65, suffered the stroke Feb. 19 while at home in San Anselmo, Calif., and was taken to a local hospital where he remains.

His secretary, Marlene Roeder, said Ram Dass, suffered”a massive stroke”and has”some paralysis”on his right side and that”his speech center was affected.”She said doctors are optimistic about Ram Dass’ chances for recovery.

Ram Dass, born in Boston, first gained attention in the early ’60s when he began experimenting, along with the late Timothy Leary, with psychedelic drugs while still a Harvard psychology professor.

After being dismissed from Harvard because of his drug use, he went to India to study Hindu meditation. He received the name Ram Dass from an Indian guru. Over the years, Ram Dass has become one of the New Age movement’s best known spiritual guides.

Nuns sue N.J. law firm, claim malpractice in land deal

(RNS) An order of nuns has taken one of New Jersey’s prominent law firms to Superior Court and accused it of malpractice.

The Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth, based in Convent Station, N.J., charged the firm of Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti with a conflict of interest in a land deal the firm negotiated for them, the Associated Press reported.

The nuns are asking for $24 million from the Morristown firm to compensate them for a loss on the 207-acre property the Roman Catholic order owned in Florham Park, N.J. The sale of the land was to cover health care and retirement costs for the order.

Peter Sarasohn, the nuns’ new lawyer, charged in opening arguments Feb. 20 that the firm was working with two land development companies that purchased the nuns’ property during the same time that Peter Berkley, who led the firm’s real estate division, was representing the nuns.

Berkley represented them in the 1988 land deal with Linpro Florham Park Land Ltd., but also began working with a second company, Sammis Morristown Associates. Linpro purchased the religious order’s property for $10 million in 1988. Sammis then paid Linpro $34 million for the rights to the land.

Sarasohn said Berkley should have informed the religious order of his relationship with Sammis and told them that Sammis was willing to pay $34 million for the land.

Thomas Campion, who represented the law firm, said Berkley acted in an ethical manner and was unaware of the deal between Linpro and Sammis until after the nuns closed on the purchase.

Quote of the Day: Author Ken Gire

(RNS) In the introduction to his new book,”Between Heaven and Earth: Prayers and Reflections that Celebrate an Intimate God,”author Ken Gire gives his own definition of prayer:”Prayer is nothing more than the soul’s longing for God _ and the words nothing more than a child’s attempt to describe them.”

MJP END RNS