c. 1999 Religion News Service
Mississippi school board reverses Star of David decision
(RNS) A Mississippi school board has reversed its controversial decision that barred a Jewish student from openly displaying a Star of David necklace.
On Monday (Aug. 23), the Harrison County School Board voted unanimously to exempt religious symbols from a policy that prohibits students from wearing items that could be considered gang symbols that might prompt violence.
The parents of Ryan Green, an 11th grader, requested that school officials rethink the policy. Mississippi American Civil Liberties Union officials had also filed suit in an effort to overturn the board’s initial vote.
The board had originally said that the boy’s necklace could only be worn inside his shirt while he was at school. But the board, which meets in Gulfport, Miss., reconsidered its stand following an onslaught of criticism. “We realized that it infringed on freedom of religious expression, and that freedom supercedes the safety issue,”said board president Randy Williams.
The six-pointed Star of David, one of Judaism’s central symbols, is sometimes incorporated into gang symbols, law enforcement officials have said.
The change in policy was cheered by the Christian Coalition and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.”It is a victory for religious expression for people of all faiths,”said Christian Coalition President Pat Robertson.”They showed real courage by reversing their earlier decision and restoring this student’s constitutional right.” Mark J. Pelavin, associate director of the Religious Action Center, also praised the board.”This decision is the right one, the just one, and the appropriate one, as well as a resounding affirmation of our first freedom, religious liberty,”he said.
China vows to punish leaders of Falun Gong
(RNS) Chinese officials pledged Tuesday (Aug. 24) to punish leading members of the outlawed meditation group Falun Gong.
The executive offices of the ruling Communist Party’s Central Committee and the State Council issued an order outlining how government workers involved in the crackdown should treat practitioners of the movement.”That extremely small number of backbone elements who organized and plotted behind the scenes to deliberately undermine social order must be punished by law,”the order said.
The order counseled work teams to treat most members as victims who are unaware of the”political goals and evil motives”of Falun Gong leaders, the Associated Press reported.
The official Xinhua News Agency said the order noted that ordinary members should be treated with leniency if they renounce belief in Falun Gong and promise not to take part in its activities.
Leading members who renounce the movement and give information about its inner workings also will be granted immunity.
The group gained attention _ and the concern of Chinese officials _ in April when it staged a protest by more than 10,000 members outside the Communist Party’s headquarters in Beijing.
Falun Gong teaches a mix of Buddhist and Taoist ideas combined with slow-motion exercises that are supposed to improve health. On July 22, China’s leaders banned the group, fearing its popularity could threaten the communists’ claim to be the legitimate leader of the Chinese populace. The government has estimated that the group has about 70 million members in China.
China has issued an arrest warrant for Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, who now leads the group from New York City. Interpol has refused to consider him an international criminal and the United States has said it will not send Li back to China.
Li canceled plans to meet with his followers in Great Britain, organizers of the meeting said Tuesday. That decision ends a diplomatic dispute between British and Chinese officials.
New York school teacher who prayed with students sues for job
(RNS) The Rutherford Institute, a conservative civil liberties organization, has filed suit on behalf of Mildred Rosario, a former New York City public school teacher who was fired after praying with her class.
The suit charges that Rosario was wrongfully terminated, in part because of her religious beliefs.
The suit details how Rosario was asked by a student where a classmate was who had recently drowned. Rosario replied that the drowned student was”in heaven.”When students then began asking more questions, Rosario gave students the option of using computers or workbooks or taking part in a conversation about religious matters.”In response to a direct question from one of the students whether Jesus was the Son of God and if one must come through Jesus to get to God, Mrs. Rosario briefly explained that that is what she believed as a Christian,”the suit states.”At the conclusion of the discussion, the students asked Mrs. Rosario if she could pray for them. She agreed and prayed a simple prayer for each of them, `God protect this child and his (or her) family.” The suit alleges that Muslim school administrators objected to her actions and school board officials”impugned”her religious beliefs.
Rosario hopes to get her job and teacher’s license reinstated. She also is seeking punitive and compensatory damages because she believes her constitutional rights were violated.
School officials did not respond to requests for comment from Religion News Service.”The New York City School Board stripped Mildred Rosario of her livelihood based solely on the prejudices of the authorities,”said John W. Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute, which is based in Charlottesville, Va.”The Rutherford Institute has intervened on Mrs. Rosario’s behalf to restore her rights and hold the city accountable for its outrageous conduct.” In June, when Rosario was fired, she received support from Sen. Robert C. Smith, R-N.H., and the New York Post, who compared her firing to the milder discipline received by another city teacher whose membership in a support group for pedophiles was disclosed.
Messianic Jews see”significant increase”worldwide
(RNS) Leaders in the Messianic Jewish movement are reporting a”significant increase”in the number of Messianic Jews across the globe over the last three decades.
The growth of the movement was discussed at the Aug. 12-17 meeting of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism, attended by 130 participants from 16 countries at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.”The modern movement of Jewish believers in Yeshua (Hebrew for Jesus) cannot be ignored; it has come to stay and will not go away,”a statement from the consultation’s sixth international conference reads.
It notes growth and outreach efforts in the former Soviet Union, Germany and Israel.
Tuvya Zaretsky, the new president of the consultation, told Religion News Service that the numbers of Messianic congregations in Israel has grown from”six or eight”in the early 1970s to more than 35. He said the new number has been reported in a book published by the Caspari Center, a theological study center in Jerusalem.
Zaretsky, the Southern California director of Jews for Jesus, said the number of Messianic congregations in the United States has grown from a handful in the 1970s.”Today, they number themselves probably around 80 to 85,”he said, noting the new estimates are based on reports from North American Messianic networks.
The conference’s statement reiterated the movement’s belief that Jews who believe in Jesus do not forfeit their Jewish identity.
Addressing the church at large, the leaders emphasized their belief in evangelism of Jews.”We are deeply grieved that, in recent decades, some churches and denominations have stated that Jewish people do not need to hear the gospel,”they stated.”We rejoice in the renewed emphasis some churches and denominations have placed on Jewish evangelism and we urge all churches to recognize their responsibility to witness to Jewish people.”
Quote of the day: Southern Baptist pastor Dwight Huffman.
(RNS)”One of the things you really struggle with when you come back is this tremendous guilt. God has given us so much. It just blows my mind how much we have and how much they don’t have.” _ Dwight Huffman, pastor of Kennewick Baptist Church in Kennewick, Wash., speaking of his return from a missions trip to Albania where he worked with Kosovo refugees. He was quoted by Baptist Press, the official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.
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