c. 2003 Religion News Service
Muslim Group Wants Apology From Harvey, $2 Million From Congressman
WASHINGTON (RNS) A prominent Muslim civil rights group has demanded an apology from radio host Paul Harvey, and filed a defamation suit against a congressman who faulted the group for the breakup of his marriage.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations criticized Harvey, a popular syndicated news commentator, for saying on Thursday (Dec. 4) that Islam “encourages killing” and feeds a “thirst for blood” in Iraqi cockfights.
“He falsely attributes to Islam two things that are specifically prohibited by our faith _ murder and cruelty to animals,” said CAIR’s communications director, Ibrahim Hooper.
CAIR filed a defamation suit against Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C., who told the Charlotte Observer in October that living near the group’s Capitol Hill headquarters “bugged the hell” out of his wife, Donna, and led them to divorce.
Ballenger said his wife was nervous CAIR was going to “blow up” the Capitol, and called CAIR the “fund-raising arm for Hezbollah,” a terrorist group.
CAIR officials are seeking $2 million from Ballenger, who has also been criticized by African-American groups for saying a black congresswoman had stirred up “a little bit of a segregationist feeling” in him.
Ballenger’s office would not comment about the suit, according to the Washington Post.
“We are sending a clear message to all those who make malicious and defamatory statements against American Muslims or their institutions that they will be held accountable in a court of law,” said Arsalan Iftikhar, CAIR’s legal director.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Mormon Tabernacle Choir Program to Be Inducted in Hall of Fame
(RNS) The Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s “Music and the Spoken Word” radio program will be inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
The broadcasters association announced in November that the induction will take place at its annual meeting in April 2004 in Las Vegas.
The program began in 1929 and is the longest continuously running network broadcast. The 30-minute program features the choir’s music and short, inspirational messages.
“The show hails from humble beginnings, when a local radio crew ran a wire from a control room to an amplifier where the choir was singing more than a block away,” the association said in its announcement of the upcoming induction.
It is now broadcast on more than 2,000 radio, television and cable outlets across the globe.
Craig Jessop, the choir’s music director, said the choir is pleased with the honor.
“It becomes even more significant for us to receive it during our 75th anniversary year, and when we consider the long list of accomplished names that are part of the NAB Hall of Fame roster,” he said in a statement reported by the Deseret Morning News.
Past inductees have included such legendary broadcasters as Bob Hope, George Burns and Paul Harvey.
The honor was announced around the time that an exhibit marking the 75th anniversary of the program opened at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City. The exhibit, which runs through Oct. 17, 2004, features historical artifacts and memorabilia.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Jakes Nominated Twice for Gospel-Related Grammy Awards
(RNS) Bishop T.D. Jakes, a Pentecostal megachurch pastor in Dallas, has been nominated in two categories for Grammy Awards.
“Follow the Star” by Jakes and various artists was nominated in the best contemporary soul gospel album category. “A Wing and a Prayer” by the Potter’s House Mass Choir, which Jakes directs, is among the nominees for best gospel choir or chorus album.
In addition, recordings by Christian artists were nominated in three categories outside the traditional gospel ones. “Squeeze,” a track from the album “Unclassified” by Robert Randolph & the Family Band, was nominated for best rock instrumental performance. “Three Wooden Crosses,” a track from “Rise and Shine” by Randy Travis, is among the nominees for best male country vocal performance. And “Colors,” a track from the album of the same name by the Oak Ridge Boys, was nominated for best country performance by a duo or group with vocal.
Those albums by Travis and Robert Randolph & the Family Band also are nominated in gospel categories.
The nominations were announced Thursday (Dec. 4) at a Beverly Hills, Calif., news conference. Christian musician Stacie Orrico _ a nominee in the pop gospel category _ was among the artists who announced some of the nominations.
Winners will be announced in a Feb. 8 ceremony in Los Angeles.
Nominees in the gospel categories are as follows:
Best rock gospel album: “Worldwide” by Audio Adrenaline; “Red Letterz” by Fresh I.E.; “Jekyll & Hyde” by Petra; “Unclassified” by Robert Randolph & the Family Band; “Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right … But Three Do” by Relient K.
Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album: “Furthermore _ From the Studio: From the Stage” by Jars of Clay; “Adoration: The Worship Album” by Newsboys; “Stacie Orrico” by Stacie Orrico; “Worship Again” by Michael W. Smith; “Offerings II” by Third Day.
Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album: “Wondrous Love” by Blue Highway; “The Walk” by the Crabb Family; “A Cappella” by Gaither Vocal Band; “Always Hear the Harmony: The Gospel Sessions” by Engelbert Humperdinck, the Blackwood Brothers Quartet, the Jordanaires & the Light Crust Doughboys; “Rise and Shine” by Randy Travis.
Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album: “It’s Your Time” by Luther Barnes & the Sunset Jubilaires; “Go Tell It on the Mountain” by the Blind Boys of Alabama; “Shirley Caesar and Friends” by Shirley Caesar & Friends; “Believe” by Aaron Neville; “Songs to Edify” by the Sensational Nightingales; “Gotta Serve Somebody _ The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan” by various artists.
Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album: “Follow the Star” by T.D. Jakes & various artists; “…Again” by Donnie McClurkin; “Make Me Better” by Ann Nesby; “The Gospel According to Jazz Chapter II” by Kirk Whalum; “Bringing It All Together” by Vickie Winans.
Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album: “Blessed by Association” by New Life; “CeCe Winans Presents … The Born Again Church Choir” by Born Again Choir; “Live in Nashville” by Chicago Mass Choir; “Speak Life” by Colorado Mass Choir; “A Wing and a Prayer” by the Potter’s House Mass Choir.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Irish Abuse Report Finds `Permanent’ Damage to Church
LONDON (RNS) Over 90 percent of those questioned in a survey commissioned by the Irish bishops felt the child abuse scandal had damaged the Roman Catholic Church and over 50 percent thought the damage was permanent.
These are among the findings of a report, “Time to Listen: Confronting Child Sexual Abuse by the Catholic Clergy in Ireland,” published in Dublin on Thursday (Dec. 4), a scathing self-examination of the church’s response to the clergy sex abuse scandal.
The survey, conducted by members of the Health Services Research Center at the Department of Psychology of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, was commissioned by the Irish bishops in 2001.
The survey polled a sample of 1,000 by telephone. It also conducted 48 face-to-face interviews, many of them with victims of abuse and their families, while a number of clergy convicted of abuse were questioned. In addition, a postal questionnaire was answered by 100 representatives of dioceses and religious orders and 35 bishops.
Of the sample, 77 percent believed the church had mismanaged the crisis; 36 percent said child sex abuse had affected their personal practice of religion; and only 42 percent trusted the church to safeguard children entrusted to its care.
Only 45 percent of the bishops involved in the survey said they were satisfied with the way the church handled cases of sex abuse, while some clergy even tried to conceal their identity in public for fear of recrimination. Also reported among clergy were low morale and a fear of false allegations. In general, clergy described the strategy adopted by the church to deal with child sexual abuse as an attempt to prevent scandal and protect the church as an institution.
One solace for the church was that the survey found that 93 percent of people believed in God and 72 percent believed priests had been judged unfairly because of the sexual abuse of children by some clergy.
The report made “painful reading” for all involved in the church, said Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh. He apologized to all the victims and described as “abhorrent” the actions of those responsible.
_ Robert Nowell
Central Africa, Southeast Asia Anglicans Break Ties With Episcopalians
(RNS) Two more Anglican provinces have severed ties with the Episcopal Church in the United States over its decision to consecrate an openly gay bishop.
Archbishop Bernard Malango of Central Africa told the top U.S. prelate, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, that he would no longer meet with Griswold as a fellow leader in the Anglican Communion.
Griswold supported the election of Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire and presided at his consecration service on Nov. 2. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion.
“Calling sin `righteousness’ does not make it so,” Malango said in a stern Nov. 12 letter. “It is leading people away from Christ. I can think of no greater betrayal for a bishop or an archbishop.”
Similar action has been taken by Anglicans in Nigeria and Uganda, which are the Anglican Communion’s second and third-largest churches.
On Nov. 24, the Anglican bishops of Southeast Asia said they will not treat Robinson’s supporters as “brothers and sisters in Christ until and unless they repent of their action and return to embrace biblical truths.”
In June, the 168,000-member province that spans nine countries broke ties with the British Columbia diocese of New Westminster for its decision to formally bless same-sex unions.
“The act of breaking communion is carried out with the greatest reluctance and pain,” the bishops said in a unanimous resolution. “It is a response of last resort as the actions of (the Episcopal Church) and the Diocese of New Westminster have gone blatantly contrary to the teachings in the Holy Bible.”
In early 2000, the primate of Southeast Asia, the Most Rev. Yong Ping Chung, angered U.S. church leaders by ordaining missionary bishops to shepherd the breakaway Anglican Mission in America. Those six bishops have never been recognized by most of the Anglican Communion.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
CEO of Evangelical Christian Publishers Association to Retire
(RNS) Doug Ross, the president and CEO of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, has decided to resign.
He will continue in the position through July 31, 2004, the Tempe, Ariz.-based association announced Wednesday (Dec. 3).
Ross has been involved with Christian ministries for almost five decades. He became executive director of ECPA in 1988 and his title became president/CEO in 1994.
He previously served on the staff of Seattle Youth for Christ and began his work in Christian publishing as an assistant sales manager for Tyndale House Publishers in 1969. He later began Doug Ross Communications, an ad agency that primarily served Christian organizations.
Ross was a founding board member of ECPA, which has grown from 65 to 280 companies during his time with the organization.
“Under his guidance, ECPA has become a fully professional association that meets the needs of its member houses,” said Mark Taylor, chairman of ECPA’s board and president of Tyndale House Publishers.
Ross said he is ready to slow down.
“Being involved with ECPA has been a great pleasure and a high honor,” he said. “I cannot think of anything I would have rather done for the past 16 years.”
_ Adelle M. Banks
Episcopal Bishop Who Ushered in Women’s Ordination Dies at 87
(RNS) Bishop Robert DeWitt, who ushered sweeping change into the Episcopal Church by breaking rank to ordain women priests in 1974, died Nov. 21. He was 87.
DeWitt, the former bishop of Philadelphia, joined three other bishops in a landmark ordination service for 11 women in 1974 _ two years before the Episcopal Church formally agreed to open the priesthood to women.
The church later went on to ordain its first woman bishop, Barbara Harris, in 1989 and now has nearly a dozen female bishops.
DeWitt retired from Philadelphia in 1976 and became editor of the Witness, a left-leaning social justice journal. He retired again in 1981 to an island in Penobscot Bay, Maine, where he helped form a lobstermen’s cooperative and tutored in a local school, according to The New York Times.
DeWitt, who served as suffragan bishop of Michigan before moving to Philadelphia, is survived by his wife, two daughters, three sons, 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Quote of the Day: Rep. David Obey, D-Wis.
(RNS) “Under the Constitution, the public has a right to know that, in the end, the votes I cast are driven by my own independent judgment and consciences, not be a set of marching orders given by any church hierarchy, prelate or associated lobby group.”
_ U.S. Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., rejecting a letter from La Crosse Bishop Raymond Burke to adhere more strictly to Catholic teaching on abortion. Burke was recently named archbishop-elect of St. Louis. Obey was quoted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
DEA END RNS
