c. 1999 Religion News Service
Bank of Scotland nixes proposed Pat Robertson deal
(RNS) The Bank of Scotland plans to end a proposed deal with evangelical Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson because of televised comments in which Robertson called Scotland a”dark land”for its tolerance of homosexuals.
A British Broadcasting Corp. Web site report Thursday (June 4), citing an unidentified source, said the Bank of Scotland would cancel a planned launch of a U.S. telephone banking service in cooperation with the evangelist’s financial services company.
Robertson, who founded the Christian Coalition, was reported to be paying $50 million for a 25 percent stake in the venture.
Iain Fiddes, the bank spokesman, would not confirm the report but said that several issues were to be discussed at a Friday meeting of bank officials.
The BBC said bank executives made the decision after viewing the May 18 episode of Robertson’s “700 Club” television show in which the former presidential candidate called Scotland a”rather dark land.””In Europe, the big word is tolerance,”Robertson said.”Homosexuals are riding high in the media. … And in Scotland, you can’t believe how strong the homosexuals are. It’s just unbelievable.” Following the broadcast, the bank came under increasing pressure to drop the Robertson deal. Recently several organizations threatened to boycott the Bank of Scotland, including the Trades Union Congress, a British labor union umbrella group with 100,000 members currently holding Bank of Scotland-issued credit cards.
Bank officials said some 500 people cancelled their accounts, apparently to protest the deal.
A spokesperson for Robertson said Wednesday (June 2) that the broadcaster’s comments were taken out of context. “He indicated that Scotland has a great, proud history and like many places in Europe and the United States, what really needs to happen is a return to the more traditional values, period. It really had nothing to do with the homosexual issue,”said Gene Kapp.
Alabama Ten Commandments judge may have broken ethics laws
(RNS) In the high-profile battle to keep the Ten Commandments displayed in his Gadsden, Ala., courtroom, Judge Roy Moore may have violated ethics laws by soliciting donations to support the campaign, a state panel has ruled.
On Wednesday (June 2), the Alabama Ethics Commission voted 5-0 for a ruling saying Moore likely violated a state law prohibiting public officials from using their offices for private financial gain.
Ethics Commission Director Jim Sumner said the members believed Moore used”the mantle of office”to solicit funds and spent the money on more than legal bills. Sumner declined to elaborate.
The”Judge Roy Moore Fund”founder, who is also Moore’s spokesman, said the fund raised over $100,000 two years ago. Recent figures were not immediately available, the Associated Press said.
Moore, who sees himself as suffering for defending Christianity, denied personally raising or receiving any fund money. Moore said his attorney manages the fund.
The case now goes to Attorney General Bill Pryor, who spoke at a 1997 rally for Moore and who jointly filed a recent lawsuit supporting the Ten Commandments’ display. Pryor must decide whether the case should go to a grand jury.
If Moore is brought to trial and found guilty, penalties could include 20 years in prison, a $10,000 fine and removal from the bench.
The struggle over the Ten Commandments began in 1995 with a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging the courtroom display. That suit was eventually dismissed but others followed.
Update: Feed the Children fires Nashville employees after thefts
(RNS) Feed the Children fired the 14 employees at its Nashville, Tenn., distribution center after a local television station aired a videotape of some of them taking home donations authorities said were meant for the poor.
Larry Jones, founder and president of the worldwide Christian charity, said Thursday (June 3) the center will remain closed during an investigation of who stole boxes of donated goods and how much is missing.
In the interim, more than 200 aid agencies will be deprived of food usually received from the charity based in Oklahoma City, Okla., the Associated Press reported.”For it to just sit here while agencies are really begging for it, that’s really a sin,”said Jones.”I’m saddened for Feed the Children. I’m also saddened for the children who are hurt right now. But you have to remember that every company in America has this problem.” Jones closed the 274,000-square-foot warehouse on Tuesday and fired the staff after state authorities found boxloads of donations in the homes of several upper-level employees. Investigators located the boxes after a four-month investigation by WTVF, a Nashville TV station, secretly videotaped administrative staffers removing boxes of food, clothes and toiletries and placing them in their cars and homes.
Feed the Children is not sure all of the employees were stealing but fired everyone at the warehouse”to restore the trust in our donors. We wanted to let them know that we were doing all that we could,”Jones said.
Jones said some employees could be rehired. Employees from the Oklahoma City headquarters are taking inventory at the Nashville location.
District Attorney Torry Johnson said he will decide whether to file charges pending his receipt of a report from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
The distribution center’s director resigned May 28 after the airing of the television news report.
Federal panel on gambling completes its report
(RNS) The final report of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission encourages a curb by states on political donations from companies tied to the gambling industry and an increase in the minimum betting age to 21.
The panel’s two years of work ended Thursday (June 4) with members divided about what they think their proposals will accomplish.”We put four or five big issues on the table,”said commissioner Richard Leone, who made proposals to limit gambling and hopes the report will prompt action by civic groups and governments.”We got the point across that we’ve come very far, very fast (on gambling expansion) without thinking about what we’re doing.” Leone’s proposals included language calling for states to require”gambling impact statements”before approving new gambling and encouraging a moratorium on further expansion of the industry, the Associated Press reported.
Commissioner William Bible, former chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, believes ideas like the moratorium and limits on campaign contributions would be”discounted, blown off by the states.” But Bible said the nine commissioners’ agreement on the need for education, research and treatment of problem gambling”will probably be the legacy of this commission.” At the end of their two-day meeting in San Francisco, the nine panel members voted unanimously to adopt a report that was close to 300 pages long. Commissioners, who ranged from casino industry leaders to James Dobson, host of the conservative Christian radio talk show”Focus on the Family,”are scheduled to submit their report June 18. It will be presented to the White House, Congress, state governors and Indian tribes.
Among other recommendations are:
_ Betting on college athletics _ which are part of legal sports betting in Oregon and Nevada _ should be prohibited.
_ Government-sponsored gambling, including state lotteries, should halt aggressive marketing that targets the poor and young people.
_ Indian tribes that operate casinos should use some of the revenue as”seed money”to reduce dependence on gambling and diversify their finances.
_ Automated teller machines should be prohibited from betting areas at racetracks and casinos.
First woman chosen deputy general secretary of British Baptist group
(RNS) A woman known for her work in interdenominational relations has been named deputy general secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain.
Myra Blyth, a former Baptist pastor on the staff of the World Council of Churches, is the first woman to be elected to the position, reported Associated Baptist Press, an independent news service.
Blyth will be in charge of day-to-day operations of the union’s Didcot, England, offices. She also will be national ecumenical officer, representing British Baptists in several organizations.
Blyth, who is expected to begin the post later this year, currently is the executive director of the cluster on relations for the World Council of Churches, the Geneva-based international ecumenical agency including Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox communions.
`Noah’s Ark’ beats out `Joan of Arc,’ `Cleopatra’ in TV sweeps
(RNS) Sagas about Joan of Arc and Cleopatra could not overcome a historically loose, tongue-in-cheek retelling of the Old Testament flood during TV’s May ratings”sweeps”month. NBC’s”Noah’s Ark”was the most watched miniseries out of the month’s three religious and historical movies.
The May 2-3 airing of”Noah’s Ark”found more than 20 million American households watching all or part of it, TV executives told RNS.
At CBS,”Joan of Arc”dominated screens when it aired May 16 and 18, attracting more than 15 million American households the first night, then losing about 15 percent of its viewers the second evening. Executives said ABC’s May 23-24 broadcast of the new TV”Cleopatra”miniseries was turned on in less than 15 million households the first night, with viewership dropping off the second night, including a 26 percent decline in ABC’s key 18-to-49 adult demographics.”Noah’s Ark”was made for an estimated $30 million, while”Cleopatra”cost $28 million and”Joan of Arc”$25 million.
Quote of the day: The Rev. Gianbattista Antonini, Roman Catholic missionary.
(RNS)”There are lots of Kosovos in the world, and Congo is one of the most tortured of them.” _ Roman Catholic missionary Gianbattista Antonini in an appeal to the international community, issued Friday (June 4), to pay more attention to the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo.
DEA END RNS
