c. 2000 Religion News Service
Annan Defends Exclusion of Dalai Lama at UN Religion Summit
(RNS) UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is defending the decision to not invite the Dalai Lama to next week’s historic summit of religious leaders, saying the United Nations is “a house for the member states, and their sensitivities matter.”
More than 1,000 religious leaders from around the world will gather in New York Aug. 28-31 for a historic peace conference. The summit is largely independent of the U.N., but the summit’s first session will be held at the United Natons and U.N. supporter Ted Turner is funding much of the summit.
The summit has come under fire for not inviting the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of 15 million Tibetan Buddhists and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Critics say organizers bowed to Chinese pressure not to invite the Dalai Lama; China and the Dalai Lama have been at odds for decades since China took control of Tibet and forced the Dalai Lama into exile.
The Dalai Lama was invited to give the closing address, but at a hotel and not the U.N. The Dalai Lama has chosen not to accept the invitation.
“Many people are understandably and deeply disappointed that the Dalai Lama will not be here for the religious summit,” Annan told reporters Thursday (Aug. 24), according to The Washington Post. “But let me also say that this … is really a house for the member states, and their sensitivities matter.”
Bawa Jain, the summit’s Secretary-General, said he was “forced” into not inviting the Dalai Lama by Chinese officials. Annan said despite the Dalai Lama’s absence, the summit is nonetheless a historic milestone.
“I have tried to open this house as much as I can,” he said. “You try to make progress, as you get it, and not hold out for the absolute best … I personally believe that having 1,000 religious leaders here next week talking about peace … and praying for peace is progress.”
Survey Finds Support for Death Penalty Among Protestant Pastors
(RNS) An overwhelming majority of Protestant pastors support the use of capital punishment and an even larger majority oppose the practice of physician-assisted suicide, according to a new poll of Protestant pastors.
The survey of 518 Protestant pastors, conducted by Phoenix-based Ellison Research, showed that pastors support the death penalty 72 percent to 28 percent. Only about 15 percent of pastors feel strongly that the death penalty should be abolished.
But a wide middle _ about 37 percent _ do not have strong feelings one way or the other about the death penalty. That figure shows how complicated the issue can be in terms of morality, justice and theology, said Ron Sellers, who conducted the survey.
“Over one-third of all ministers didn’t strongly support or oppose the death penalty,” Sellers said. “It may be that the death penalty isn’t a clear-cut issue for many ministers, who may be struggling over conflicting feelings of the need for justice and punishment on one hand, and the call to mercy and support for life on the other hand.”
The survey also found a difference between pastors in liberal and conservative churches. Pastors in churches affiliated with the National Council of Churches _ the more liberal end of the spectrum _ supported the end of the death penalty 56 percent to 44 percent. Those in churches affiliated with the more conservative National Association of Evangelicals supported the use of the death penalty 88 percent to 12 percent.
Opinion on the use of physician-assisted suicide was more uniform, with only 17 percent of pastors supporting laws to allow physician-assisted suicide, and 83 percent opposing them. The practice found more support from NCC-affiliated pastors, with 33 percent supporting the use of physician-assisted suicide, while 92 percent of evangelicals opposed it.
The survey, conducted in May and June, had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
Petra Named First Rock Band in Gospel Hall of Fame
(RNS) Petra has been named the first Christian rock group to be inducted into the Gospel Music Association’s Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
“For a rock band whose albums were banned in many Christian bookstores over 20 years ago to be inducted into our Hall of Fame indicates how broad our acceptance of music forms has become,” said GMA President Frank Breeden in a statement.
“The doubts about popular music mixing with Christian lyrics have mostly vanished due to their 25-year track record of proven ministry and changed lives. Petra was a true pioneer for our industry.”
Petra is among eight inductees who will be honored Oct. 30 in Nashville, Tenn.
The rock group was formed in 1972 by four men attending a Christian junior college in Fort Wayne, Ind. Their first record was released in 1974 and they remain a top-selling band 11 albums later.
The other inductees are:
_ Shirley Caesar, who has recorded 35 albums, appeared in three Broadway productions, and received numerous Grammy, Stellar and Dove awards. She began singing gospel at the age of 12 and later founded Shirley Caesar Ministries to help the poor in her hometown of Durham, N.C.
_ Bob MacKenzie, who served as creative director of the John T. Benson Publishing Company and produced almost every album the company released in the 1960s and 1970s. He later became president of the Benson Company.
_ The Oak Ridge Boys, which dates back to 1945, when it was called the Oak Ridge Quartet. The group entered the country music realm in 1973 and some of their gospel songs have included “King Jesus” and “Jesus Is Coming Soon.”
_ The Edwin Hawkins Singers, known for “Oh Happy Day,” a gospel song that became a huge hit on secular radio in the 1960s. It was recorded on an Edwin Hawkins live album with the Northern California State Youth Choir, which was later renamed the Edwin Hawkins Singers.
_ The Fisk Jubilee Singers, an African-American group that represents Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn. It has traveled around the globe since 1871 and is known for preserving “slave songs.”
_ The Kingsmen, a Southern gospel group that has won nine Dove Awards from the Gospel Music Association. Known for their song “Excuses,” the group was the first to film and record a live performance at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
_ Roger Breland and Truth, the musical company he founded in 1971 that includes 16 young adult musicians and technicians chosen to travel for three or more years presenting concerts across the globe. Truth has recorded almost 50 albums and presented more than 8,000 concerts in 21 countries.
Fallout Continues From Presbyterian Peacemaker’s Conference
(RNS) Two top officials in the Presbyterian Church (USA) have stepped up to defend controversial remarks made by a Chicago pastor about the role of Jesus Christ, but at the same time said the Rev. Dick Ficca speaks only for himself.
The controversy started at the Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference, held in Orange, Calif., July 26-29. At the conference, Ficca talked about the church’s relationships with non-Christians, and some people took his remarks to say that he was downplaying the role of Jesus Christ.
Ficca said some non-Christians view proselytizing and evangelism as a form of religious “ethnic cleansing,” and said that Christianity should be viewed as only one of many forms of truth.
On Wednesday (Aug. 23), two top church officials issued an open letter about Ficca’s comments. John Detterick, the executive director of the church’s General Assembly Council _ an 83-member body that directs the church’s programs _ and Peter Pizor, the council’s chairman, defended Ficca’s remarks but reaffirmed the place of Jesus Christ in Presbyterian theology.
“We want to clearly acknowledge that the Presbyterian Church (USA) firmly believes that God has put all things under the Lordship of Jesus Christ,” the letter said. “We believe that God’s love and grace for us was revealed through the life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus …”
The letter also said the church has long support ecumenical outreach to non-Christians, and that the Peacemaking Conference was “consistent” with the church’s commitment to interfaith work.
“Regardless, Rev. Ficca speaks for himself and not for the Presbyterian Church (USA). Given the open dialogue encouraged at the Peacemaking Conference and given the urging of previous General Assemblies to engage in interfaith relationships, we support discussion that responsibly explores how we are to live faithfully as Presbyterians in a religiously plural world.”
“We Still Pray” Rally Prompts Request for Pagan Counterpart
(RNS) After a Christian rally declared “We Still Pray” in a high school football stadium in North Carolina, a pagan group has asked for equal time for a rally celebrating the autumnal equinox.
The Appalachian Pagan Alliance wants to hold a “We Still Work Magic” rally at Reynolds High School in Asheville on Sept. 22.
Ginger Strivelli, leader of the alliance, sent a letter to the school’s principal and the superintendent of Buncombe County schools on Aug. 18, the day after thousands of people filled the stadium to protest a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The court ruled in June that a Texas school policy allowing a student to lead a prayer before football games was unconstitutional.
Strivelli said her group plans to cast blessing spells asking for acceptance and call for a healing of the earth, the Associated Press reported.
“It would probably be the same stuff the Christians do. It’s just that we have more gods than they do,” she said. “We wouldn’t be up there sacrificing cattle or anything.”
Reynolds High Principal Tony Baldwin said officials are responding to the alliance’s request and referred to the school system’s policy that requires a group to fill out an application form and pay a small rental fee.
“We will follow the policy,” said school superintendent Cliff Dodson.
Update: China Frees Detained U.S. Missionaries
(RNS) Chinese police have released three American missionaries arrested Wednesday (Aug. 23) in a crackdown on a banned evangelical group, according to a statement released by the U.S. embassy.
Dande Lin, 28, Henry Chu, 36, and Patrica Lan, 25 _ all Taiwan-born U.S. citizens _ were among 130 Christians members of the outlawed evangelical China Fang-cheng Church taken into custody by police.
The 500,000-member church was included on a list of 14 Christian groups labeled “evil cults” by the Chinese government last year, according to the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy. Beijing cracked down on the group for its decision not to join the state church, and its association with Christians in other countries.
The three missionaries were detained at Xihua detention center in the central province of Henan for “activities incompatible with the tourist status under which they entered China,” said a statement issued by the U.S. embassy, Reuters reported.
The embassy credited a consular official with securing the release of the missionaries.
In a related development, Chinese police have convicted 151 members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement of various crimes since the group was banned last year, a member of a government delegation to a U.N.-sponsored religious summit told an audience at the University of Los Angeles-California.
“The convicted are those who either leaked state secrets, made use of Falun Gong to create social chaos, or committed other crimes,” Chinese media quoted Ye Xiaowen as saying. Xiaowen, leader of the State Administration of Religious Affairs, said 22 of those convicted since the group was banned were given jail terms as long as five years.
Activists say that at least 5,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been sent to labor camps without trial, and some 27 followers have died while in police custody.
Like Fang-cheng, the group has been branded an “evil cult” by Chinese authorities. Beijing banned the group last year as a threat to public order, and insists the group is responsible for the deaths of about 1,500 followers.
Catholics Plead for Peace in Sri Lanka
(RNS) Roman Catholic bishops in Sri Lanka on Friday (Aug. 25) urged elected officials to resolve the nation’s 17-year-old civil war, and insisted they take steps to ensure peaceful general elections in October.
Fighting between the Sri Lankan government and the ethnic minority separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has killed more than 61,000 people and caused “severe economic hardships, human rights violations, corruption and a general weakening of democracy,” the Catholic Bishops’ Conference said in a statement.
“No lasting solution could be reached by war and violence,” read the statement, Reuters news agency reported. “Immediate steps should be taken toward a cessation of all hostilities between the warring factions and an effective dialogue … should be initiated.”
Leaders of Sri Lanka’s majority Buddhist population on Thursday (Aug. 24) issued a similar call for peaceful elections, which are scheduled for Oct. 10. Two people died earlier this month in violence sparked by the upcoming elections.
Quote of the Day: Family Research Council Senior Fellow William Saunders
(RNS) “CBS may have finished the final episode of its summer hit, `Survivor,’ but the NIH is making the game go on. By funding unethical and unnecessary embryonic research, the NIH is extinguishing the torch of the smallest in our tribe.”
_ William Saunders, senior fellow in human life studies at the Family Research Council, in a statement condemning the National Institutes of Health’s release Wednesday (Aug. 23) of guidelines on embryonic stem cell research.
DEA END RNS
