c. 2000 Religion News Service
Tired and Frail Tutu Returns to South Africa for Rest
(RNS) Archbishop Desmond Tutu has returned to South Africa to fight his battle with prostate cancer and resume private life after a two-year teaching stint in the United States.
The 68-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, who was the public voice of opposition to apartheid during the 1980s, returned to Cape Town Thursday (Aug. 17) “to sleep” and recover from his November cancer surgery.
“As you can see, I am a great deal more decrepit than I was two years ago,” Tutu told reporters, according to the Reuters news agency.
Tutu spent two years in the United States as a visiting professor at Emory and traveled extensively on speaking engagements. Known as “the Arch,” in South Africa, Tutu said he needed rest.
“The Arch is going lala,” Tutu said, using a native word for sleep. Doctors said his recovery from the cancer surgery has been slower than expected.
Tutu, who retains the rank of archbishop emeritus in the South African Anglican Church, urged his countrymen to continue the fight for equality and to confront the nation’s problems.
“We in South Africa should be celebrating our achievements,” Tutu said, looking tired and frail. “Can you tell me one country in the world that does not have problems?”
Religious Summit Leaders Call for `Day of Prayer For World Peace’
(RNS) Organizers of the upcoming World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders are urging people worldwide to join in a “Day of Prayer for World Peace” on Aug. 28, the day the summit begins.
About 1,000 religious leaders from across the globe are expected to gather at the United Nations for the summit, which will focus on ways religious and spiritual communities can work together to foster peace, eradicate poverty and work on environmental issues.
“We are asking for people around the world, at any time during the day, to gather in their houses of worship, businesses, streets or homes to join these religious leaders as they enter the United Nations and gather in prayer for peace,” said Bawa Jain, the summit’s secretary-general.
One event during the opening day of the summit will be a walking meditation for world peace, led by the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk known for emphasizing contemplative activism.
Focus on the Family Fights `Will & Grace’ on Ex-Gay Episode
(RNS) The NBC hit comedy “Will & Grace” offended Focus on the Family this summer with an episode poking fun at “ex-gay” ministries. But the flap extends beyond the show’s May episode mocking an ex-gay ministry and involves the show’s response to the conservative Christian group’s request for a meeting.
The episode about ex-gay ministry aired first on May 5, with references to homosexuals who use controversial Christian-based therapy to become heterosexuals as “self-loathing closet cases,” “morally wrong” and “freaks.”
Mike Haley, a public policy/youth and gender specialist at the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based group, wrote “Will and Grace” executive story editor Jon Kinnally in June. He wrote that as a former gay man he felt the show “grossly misrepresented thousands of individuals struggling to come out of homosexuality. … You may vehemently disagree with this position, but I’d at least like the opportunity to sit down with you and talk about it.”
Kinnally’s July 14 response, which Focus on the Family issued with a press release, said the episode was produced, “solely in the interest of creating the most comedic episode possible. And it was certainly not our intention to offend you in any way.”
Kinnally’s letter then jokingly noted that since Haley requested a meeting, the “Will & Grace” executive cited his personal statistics as if the request was for a date. “I’m 6’1,” brown hair, green eyes and I’m into rollerblading, baking cookies and cleaning up afterwards. My dislikes include game-playing, negative attitudes and condoms.”
In a follow-up interview with Family News in Focus, a Focus on the Family radio show, Kinnally stood by his comments and said he felt ex-gay ministry is, “damaging … Our intention was only to make them look like idiots, ’cause, y’know, we write a comedy show.”
Kinnally told Focus on the Family that “What you people are doing is reprehensible, wrong and fear-based.” When asked if he questioned Haley’s experience as an ex-gay, Kinnally said, “Yes.” Haley said in the radio interview that he felt the letter was “flippant” and “disrespectful.”
Life Sentence for Suspect in Atheist O’Hair Disappearance Case
(RNS) A Texas district court has sentenced a man to life in prison for his involvement in the 1995 disappearance of atheist activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair and two of her relatives.
Gary Karr, 52, received two life sentences and was ordered to pay about $542,000 in restitution to O’Hair’s estate and United Secularist of America, one of her atheist organizations, the Associated Press reported.
Prosecutors claimed Karr and two accomplices kidnapped, killed and dismembered O’Hair and her son and another relative (Jon Garth Murray and Robin Murray O’Hair), who have been missing since September 1995. The men forced the family to relinquish items such as cars and coins worth thousands of dollars before killing them.
The bodies of the O’Hairs were never found, but prosecutors believe they may have been disposed of on a ranch in southwestern Texas. Since no bodies have been discovered, murder charges have not been filed and the case is still open.
Karr is the only person who has faced criminal charges in connection with the disappearance of the O’Hairs, though authorities have identified others who may have been involved.
In June, Karr was convicted of extortion and three other charges in connection with the family’s disappearance, though he was not found guilty of plotting their kidnapping. Still, Karr was eligible for life imprisonment under the federal “three strikes” statute, according to Reuters news agency, because of at least two previous felony convictions.
Karr’s attorneys argued that prosecutors had no proof a murder ever occurred, and claimed that O’Hair may have moved away from the United States in order to evade the Internal Revenue Service.
Karr’s attorney said he would challenge the constitutionality of the sentence in an appeal.
O’Hair gained fame in the 1960s for launching a lawsuit that led to the Supreme Court’s 1963 ruling that banned prayer in the nation’s public schools. She was 77 years old when she disappeared.
Update: Taliban Allows Widows to Reopen Bakeries
(RNS) One day after ordering the United Nations to shut down bakeries managed by widows, Afghanistan’s harsh Taliban government has reversed its decree and will permit some 360 women to return to work.
The Taliban’s foreign minister offered no explanation for the sudden change, the Washington Post reported.
On Wednesday (Aug. 16) the Taliban closed 25 of the U.N. World Food Program’s bakeries, which were managed by widows and sold bread at reduced prices to other widows. About 360 women were left jobless by the closings.
Women in Afghanistan have lived under strict controls since 1996 when the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the Afghan capital.
Strict laws such as those that bar women from working and attending schools have increased the number of children and women (often widows) begging for food and money on the street, according to the United Nations. The group estimates that about 28,000 widows are among Kabul’s 750,000 population, most of whom depend on international aid for survival.
A spokesman for the U.N.’s food program said he was pleased with the new order.
Vatican Condemns British Moves Toward Cloning Research
(RNS) Vatican officials on Thursday (Aug. 17) condemned moves in Britain to amend the country’s ban on human embryo research as a dangerous step toward eventually cloning humans for reproduction.
On Wednesday (Aug. 16), British officials said they would introduce legislation to allow researchers to use stem cells found in human embryos to search for cures for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
The method is controversial because it essentially involves creating life _ a human embryo _ and then destroying it for scientific reasons. The Vatican’s newspaper on Thursday said even though the research would not be used for reproduction, there was no guarantee that reproduction would not be a logical extension of the research.
“Even now they reaffirm the ban on human cloning for reproductive purposes,” said L’Osservatore Romano, according to the Associated Press. “But will it always be so? Once the door is open to human cloning … won’t there be those who find strategic motives to justify even this second possibility?”
The Vatican also took aim at the British proposal to only use embryos that are younger than 14 days old, saying it would split human life “into two times, as if it were a soccer match.”
“A human is an individual before 14 days and after 14 days,” the newspaper said.
Company Linked to Black Denominations Offers Debit Card
(RNS) A Memphis, Tenn., company partly owned by five African-American denominations is working with major financial companies to offer a debit card designed to help people who don’t have bank accounts or credit cards.
The Revelation America Western Union MasterCard Card was announced at the recent annual meeting of the Progressive National Baptist Convention in Louisville.
The product is a joint project of Revelation America, Western Union Financial Services, MasterCard and Memphis First Community Bank, the minority-owned bank that will be the principle issuer of the card.
The prepaid debit card will allow consumers to pay for goods and services at ATMs and locations where MasterCard is accepted. Cardholders can load the card with cash at Western Union locations or have their payroll checks transferred to the card through direct deposit.
The Rev. C. Mackey Daniels, president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, told Religion News Service he views the card as a good alternative for some consumers.
“It certainly pulls them away from liquor stores to get their checks cashed, where many times they have to pay a percentage, and from check-cashing companies where they must pay to get their own checks cashed,” he said.
The other denominations associated with Revelation are the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, National Baptist Convention USA, National Baptist Convention of America and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
“Our goal with this card is to provide access to electronic banking services, the Internet and bill paying at reasonable rates,” said John Lowery, executive vice president and part owner of Revelation America, in a statement dated Aug. 9.
“People without credit cards and/or bank accounts are being left behind in the information revolution. … Those who have the card will have greater control over their own financial affairs and greater, more convenient access to goods and services.”
The card has a $50 activation fee; a $50 annual fee, which is waived for the first year; and a $5.50 monthly maintenance fee. It costs $1 per transaction to receive cash using the card and $1 per inquiry to check on available funds at ATM and Western Union locations.
Lowery told Religion News Service that the cost will be about half of the total fees from the average bank account, which he said is about $217 a year. He said $10 of the $50 annual fee will be sent to the church or charity chosen by the cardholder.
Lowery estimates that the debit card project will earn the company about $100 million this year. He said earnings will be used to provide downpayment assistance to inner-city residents seeking home mortgages.
Eds: Further information is available at Revelation America’s Web site: http://www.revelationamerica.com)
English Priest Loses Court Battle with His Bishop
(RNS) A Church of England priest who took his bishop to court when he was not reappointed after his term of office as team rector had run out has lost his case in the High Court in London.
The Rev. Ray Owen, 63, was appointed team rector of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, in 1991 for a term of office of seven years. Under team ministry rules, consultations with the congregations involved are usually held a year before a team minister’s term of office ends.
In the case of Owen, Bishop Christopher Hill of Stafford, decided as a result of the consultations the churches would benefit from a change of leadership. Owen disputed this and applied to the High Court for a judicial review of the bishop’s decision.
The three judges who heard the case were unanimous in deciding the bishop had acted fairly.
Clergy are exempt from Britain’s employment legislation and cannot bring the church before an employment tribunal claiming wrongful dismissal. Traditionally the clergy of the Church of England have enjoyed what is known as the “parson’s freehold” meaning that once appointed as rector or vicar they hold office for life or until they reach the retirement age of 70, unless they commit some gross misdemeanor.
But increasingly, a decline in congregations and shortage of clergy have resulted in parishes being linked together and served by team ministries whose members are appointed for a fixed term. Today only about two-thirds of the Church of England’s clergy still enjoy the parson’s freehold.
Quote of the Day: Rabbi Avi Shafran, Public Affairs Director of Agudath Israel of America
(RNS) “He’s running for vice president, not chief rabbi.”
_ Rabbi Avi Shafran, public affairs director of Agudath Israel of America, an Orthodox Jewish organization, on criticism that vice presidential nominee Sen. Joseph Lieberman does not observe all the tenets of the Orthodox Jewish faith. Shafran was quoted in the Aug. 18 edition of The New York Times.
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