c. 1999 Religion News Service
North Carolina Southern Baptist leader to take prominent Dallas pulpit
(RNS) Mac Brunson, president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, has been named the new pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas, a prominent and prestigious Southern Baptist congregation.
Brunson, 41, was chosen May 9 to be the new senior pastor by the historic church, headed for decades by W.A. Criswell, a driving force in the conservative takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1979, Baptist Press, the official news service of the denomination reported.
Paige Patterson, currently the president of the SBC and one of the leading architects of the takeover, was an associate pastor at the church at the time the campaign was launched.
Brunson, elected president of the North Carolina convention in 1997, has served as senior pastor of Green Street Baptist Church in High Point, N.C., since 1992.
He is the third pastor appointed this decade to serve the 26,000-member Dallas church where Criswell remains as pastor emeritus.
Brunson succeeds O.S. Hawkins, who was named president of the SBC Annuity Board 18 months ago.
Wal-Mart won’t sell `morning-after’ contraceptive
(RNS) Wal-Mart, the nation’s fifth largest retailer of pharmaceuticals, has announced it will not sell a controversial”morning-after”contraceptive pill that is already widely available in the United States.
Gynetics, Inc., the New Jersey firm that manufacturers Preven, says the drug does not cause abortions but prevents pregnancy by stopping ovulation and by keeping fertilized eggs from becoming implanted in the uterus. The drug is recommended for use within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse.
Some anti-abortion groups, disputing the company’s claim, say Preven does cause abortions and have opposed its sale and use.
One such group, the American Life League, which calls itself the nation’s largest anti-abortion organization, Friday (May 14) praised the Wal-Mart decision.”It’s clear that Preven can kill a woman’s child before she’s even aware of her pregnancy. That’s called abortion,”the group’s president, Judie Brown, said in a statement.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., said it had made a”business decision”not to sell the drug. The company has pharmacies in all but about two dozen of its 2,450 stores.
However, the company also said that in”the interest of serving and meeting the needs of our customers, our pharmacists will refer any request for (Preven) to a pharmacy that does carry it.” The New York Times reported that Preven is sold by such major drugstore chains as Walgreens, Rite Aid and K-Mart, with annual total sales estimated at $10 million. Alexander C. Sanger, president of Planned Parenthood of New York City, said he was concerned the Wal-Mart decision may make it difficult for women to obtain Preven in small towns and rural areas where Wal-Mart is the only pharmacy.
Pope meets with Iraqi Muslim and Catholic leaders
(RNS) Pope John Paul II on Friday (May 14) met with Iraqi Roman Catholic and Muslims officials and renewed his call for a diplomatic resolution of the conflict between the United States and the Arab nation.
John Paul, an outspoken opponent of the U.S.-led economic sanctions in place against Iraq since the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, met with Iraqi Patriarch Rafael Bedaweed and Imam Hussein Ismail Hayder Al-Sader.
The pope is known to want to visit Iraq _ which today includes the region where the Bible says Abraham was born _ in 2000 as part of a possible Middle East trip to Israel-Palestine as well.
Italian media said the possibility of a papal visit to Iraq appeared more likely following his meeting with the Iraqi delegation. The Vatican did not comment on the issue.
About 5 percent of officially secular but overwhelmingly Muslim Iraq’s 22 million people are Christian. There are about 262,000 Catholics in Iraq, the most numerous being those associated with the Chaldean rite, according to the 1999 Catholic Almanac.
Vietnam breaks up Bible study group, detains 20
(RNS) Vietnamese police raided a Hanoi hotel and detained 20 evangelical Christians gathered for a Bible study last week, sources close to those arrested said Friday (May 14).
The members of the unofficial Vietnam Assemblies of God Church had gathered for a three day spiritual retreat and Bible study _ considered by Vietnamese officials as an”illegal religious event.””We were raided, harassed and interrogated. Our religious books were confiscated, one of our women evangelists was slapped around by the police and our preacher is still detained,”the Christians said in a written appeal.”We appeal to our government to help us realize our simple aspiration to have freedom to live and practice our faith.” Sources who declined to be identified told Reuters the police stormed the gathering and arrested the 14 women and 6 men on May 7. Two days later, 18 people were released after being charged with breaching the peace. Another man, Lo Van Hen, was reportedly escorted to his rural home by police but his current whereabouts remain unknown.
The Rev. Tran Dihn (Paul) Ai, one of the group’s leaders, however, remained under arrest in Hanoi but exact charges against him have not been announced.
In the past, Hen and Ai have been imprisoned for activities related to their faith. Hen, an evangelist pastor from the Black Thai ethnic minority, was released from jail on Jan. 28, after serving three years for”illegal religious activity.” Ai, who currently operates a church out of a home in Ho Chi Minh City, was jailed for more than two years in the early 1990s for proselytizing.
Ai was one of the only religious leaders without government ties who met with U.N. Special Rapporteur for Religious Intolerance, Abdelfattah Amor, on a visit to Vietnam in October.
Amor’s report slammed the communist-ruled nation for failing to observe the fundamental right of religious freedom. Amor said Protestants in Vietnam face bans on religious services, fines, confiscation of literature, harassment and arrest.
Vietnam condemned Amor’s assessment and charged the U.N. Special Rapporteur with showing bad will. Hanoi also denied charges leveled by some foreign governments and international human rights groups that Vietnam imprisons people for peaceful expression of political or religious views.
At a separate conference on religion in Vietnam, held this week in Hanoi, the head of the Vietnam government’s Committee on Religion told 300 delegates from across the nation that progress in religious affairs had been made but that problems remained.
Mississippi TV station ends its local broadcast prayerfully
(RNS) A CBS television station in Meridian, Miss., is ending its 10 p.m. local newscast with prayer.
The segment on WMDM called”Keep the Faith”lasts 60 seconds and features local clergy.
Station manager Marc Grossman said the addition to the newscast is meant”to convey a message of a higher calling beyond the news, sports and weather. Most Americans attend some form of religion on a weekly basis, but the news media has just not picked up on that.” The prayer segment began on Monday (May 10) with a Baptist minister discussing the school massacre in Littleton, Colo., and concluding with a 10-second prayer, USA Today reported.
Barbara Cochran of the Radio and Television News Directors Association believes the offering is unique.”It’s an interesting way to use air time,”she said.”My guess is the audience will like it.” Bob Steele of the Poynter Institute, a Florida school for journalists, thinks the station’s use of prayer is inappropriate.”A newscast is not the place to insert prayer,”he said.”Newscasts would benefit from better reporting on religion, spirituality and faith.” ABC News religion reporter Peggy Wehmeyer predicted the newscast would prompt mixed reaction.”Many people might see interfaith prayer at the end of a newscast as something upbeat and positive, but I’m sure other people will be offended,”she said.”Who asks for prayer when they think they’re tuning in to news?”
Catholic layman to lead National Interfaith Cable Coalition
(RNS) A Catholic layman from St. Louis has been named the new president and chief executive officer of the National Interfaith Cable Coalition.
Edward J. Murray currently serves as head of Oblate Media and Communication Co., a St. Louis company that specializes in productions about stories of faith.
Effective June 1, he will lead the NICC, a New York-based consortium of 80 diverse faith groups that founded a cable network featuring faith-and-values programming in 1988. The network, now known as Odyssey, is co-owned by NICC, Hallmark Entertainment, the Jim Henson Company and Liberty Media Corp.
NICC’s members represent Protestant, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish, evangelical and Pentecostal faith groups and traditions.
Odyssey is a 24-hour television network available to about 29 million U.S. homes through 1,500 cable systems.
Top Saudi Muslim theologian dies
(RNS) Abdul-Aziz bin Baz, Saudi Arabia’s leading Muslim theologian, has died of cancer. Bin Baz was in his late 80s and reportedly died Thursday (May 13).
Bin Baz, who was blind, was a staunch conservative, and his opinions often carried the weight of law in Saudi Arabia.
Two years ago, the Saudi government heeded his advice and banned the import and production of veils that did not completely cover a woman’s face. But he also ruled that Muslim men could use the anti-impotence drug Viagra.
Quote of the day: Baptist missionary Shelia Earl
(RNS)”He was excited to get a Bible in his own language and began reading the book of John. What an open door! We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide him to truth.” _ Cooperative Baptist Fellowship missionary Shelia Earl on doing relief and missionary work among the mostly Muslim Kosovar refugees, as quoted May 12 by Associated Baptist Press.
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