c. 1998 Religion News Service
Religious leaders call for inquiry into Algeria massacres
(RNS) An interfaith coalition of religious organizations is calling on the U.S. government to take an active role in helping to stop the massacres that have left more than 75,000 dead in Algeria during the past six years as Islamic fundamentalist try to gain control of the North African nation.”The United States and the international community cannot turn a blind eye to these massacres, but rather we must try to protect the innocent citizens who are suffering at the hands of the internal power struggle,”the religious groups wrote in a letter Friday (Jan. 23) to U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
The letter, which also urges an international inquiry into the slayings, was coordinated by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington.”It is clear that a thorough investigation is necessary to develop a strategy in order to end this violence,”the groups wrote.”The (Algerian) government has recently made movement toward allowing an international inquiry into the violence, and we fully endorse this measure.” Signers of the letter include the U.S. Catholic Conference, the National Council of Churches, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the Unitarian Universalist Association, Church Women United, the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the International Religious Liberty Association, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Church of the Brethren, and the Friends Committee on National Legislation.”While the United States cannot be the only peacekeepers … working to secure peace and the protection of human rights, it is imperative that we not become numb to the pain and suffering of others and turn our backs to those who need our help,”the letter said.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick of Newark, N.J., chairman of the U.S Catholic Conference International Policy Committee, sent a separate letter to Albright urging the Clinton administration”to support and encourage all efforts to bring peace”to Algeria.
For now, judge may continue to pray, display Commandments
(RNS) The Alabama Supreme Court has rejected on technical grounds a religious-freedom lawsuit brought against Circuit Court Judge Roy Moore for praying before opening his court and for displaying the Ten Commandments on his courtroom wall.
The suit had been filed by Gov. Fob James and Attorney General Bill Pryor, both supporters of Moore’s religious practices.
But the state’s high court said Friday (Jan. 23) the suit had no legal standing because the two sides had no legal disagreement, the Associated Press reported. In the suit, James and Pryor argued the posting of the Ten Commandments is commonplace in public buildings and is not a coercive practice.
By dismissing the suit, Moore may continue his practices for now. However, anyone who objects to the prayers and the Ten Commandments display is still free to sue on grounds they violate the separation of church and state.
In a separate but related matter, the Alabama house voted overwhelmingly Tuesday (Jan. 20) to require teachers to set aside up to 60 seconds at the start of each day for students to engage in a moment of silent prayer or to think about the anticipated activities of the day, the AP reported.
In March, U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent struck down a 1993 Alabama law that called for nonsectarian, voluntary prayer in schools, and in October, DeMent issued an injunction against religious practices in DeKalb County schools. The governer and attorney general are appealing parts of DeMent’s order.
No suspects found in violence against Orthodox Church in Turkey
(RNS) Turkish law enforcement officials are drawing blanks in the investigations of two recent attacks against the Greek Orthodox Church in Istanbul.”The police have told us they are doing all they can, and we have to take that at face value,”a patriarchate spokesman told the Associated Press Friday (Jan. 23).
On Jan. 12, assailants killed the Rev. Vasilios Haviaropoulos, the 73-year-old caretaker of Shrine of Saint Therapon in downtown Istanbul. They then looted the church and set it on fire. Firefighters quickly put out the blaze, but eight icons, an antique Bible, and a blessing cross are missing, according to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Last month, a priest was injured when a bomb was thrown at the Ecumenical Patriarchate, home of Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world’s more than 250 million Orthodox Christians.”The Ecumenical Patriarchate is shocked, grief-stricken and deeply concerned over this horrific crime,”the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said about the murder and looting in a statement.”Coming a few short weeks since the bomb attack against the Patriarchate, this act of violence has left the remaining Greek Orthodox faithful in Istanbul emotionally shaken and traumatized.” No arrests have been made, and the police have no suspects in the incidents.
After the Ecumenical Patriarchate was bombed, a watchtower, staffed by police 24 hours a day, was erected.
Radical Muslims accuse Bartholomew of trying to create an Orthodox state on Turkish soil and several militant Islamic groups are active in Istanbul, the AP reported.
Christian leaders urge sparing of `transformed’ murderer’s life
(RNS) Christian leaders from mainline churches to religious broadcaster Pat Robertson are urging Texas Gov. George W. Bush to spare the life of Karla Faye Tucker, a murderer scheduled for execution on Feb. 3.
Three national church groups sent a plea on Tucker’s behalf to Bush Monday (Jan. 26).”We urge that the life of Karla Faye Tucker be spared, and that the nation rethink its current commitment to the death penalty,”wrote leaders of the three groups.
It was signed by the Rev. Paul H. Sherry, president of the United Church of Christ; the Rev. Richard L. Hamm, general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); and the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary of the National Council of Churches. Their three organizations have opposed capital punishment for decades.
Tucker, 38, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1984 for her role in the two brutal killings in Houston in 1983. She admitted her guilt, but the church leaders say she has been”transformed”after a conversion to Christianity and involvement in prison ministry work.”This case forces our society to a decision,”the letter said.”Do we believe only in punishment, an eye for an eye? Do we reward transformation with death? Do we want a criminal justice system that does not want repentance and rehabilitation and will not accept it when it happens?” The groups did not receive an immediate response from Bush.
Robertson has long commented on Tucker’s case.”I understand that there is, within the ranks of Christianity as well as among other people of faith and people of good will, a wide disagreement about capital punishment,”he wrote in a December op-ed piece in the Plano (Texas) Star Courier.”However, this case crosses the gulf between the camps. There are times when justice must be trumped by mercy. This is one.” American Atheists President Ellen Johnson has accused Robertson of being hypocritical.”Robertson has been a big supporter of the death penalty, but now he wants a `Christian’ exemption,”Johnson said.”And what if Karla Tucker were an atheist, Jew or Muslim? And what if this involved Karl Tucker rather than Karla Tucker?”
Hindu sues Taco Bell after being served beef burrito
(RNS) A Hindu is suing Taco Bell, claiming he suffered emotional distress after being given a beef burrito at the Mexican fast-food restaurant in Ventura, Calif.
Mukesh Rai argues he specifically ordered a bean burrito and repeated the order two times. But he was served a beef burrito instead. Hindus consider cows to be sacred.
Rai realized the error when he bit into the burrito, USA Today reported.”It was a really devastating experience,”Rai said Friday (Jan. 23).”So much so that I had to go to a psychiatrist. I went to a doctor. I couldn’t sleep.” His lawsuit also seeks loss of wages and medical expenses. Taco Bell had no comment, the newspaper reported.
Social work school transferred from seminary to Ky. university
(RNS) The controversy-wracked social work school formerly affiliated with Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has been transferred to a liberal arts university associated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention.
The closing of the deal was announced by Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Ky., Jan. 19, reported Associated Baptist Press, an independent news service.
In 1995, trustees at the seminary in Louisville, Ky., voted to close the school after major conflicts arose between Carver School Dean Diana Garland and seminary President Albert Mohler. Garland said Mohler had placed restrictions on hiring that made it impossible to maintain accreditation and hire qualified faculty. Mohler fired Garland, accusing her of insubordination.
The seminary last offered classes through the school in the spring of 1997.”The Carver School of Social Work already has established itself nationally as a leading academic center for graduate studies in social work,”said Ken Winters, president of Campbellsville College.”We at Campbellsville University will continue that standard of excellence.” Winters said the Carver School could reopen as soon as next fall.
Quote of the Day: Evangelicals for Social Action president Ron Sider
(RNS) Ron Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action, wrote an open letter in the January/February issue of Prism, his organization’s magazine, about how opponents, spearheaded by Focus on the Family’s James Dobson, prompted the International Bible Society and Zondervan Publishing House to drop plans last May for a”gender-accurate”new translation of the New International Version Bible. According to Associated Baptist Press, an independent news service, he wrote:”That two of evangelicalism’s most respected and influential agencies (IBS and Zondervan) would allow an ad hoc, one-sided (though admittedly powerful) group to dictate their publishing decisions is extremely disturbing _ indeed, potentially disastrous for the future of evangelicalism. It is disturbing because it represents the triumph of economic hardball in the realm of theological debate. And it is disturbing for its immense lack of grace.”
DEA END RNS
