c. 2003 Religion News Service
Gallup: Voters Who View Religion As Key Factor Tend Toward Bush
(RNS) Registered voters who consider religion to be a significant factor in their vote seem inclined to vote for President Bush over prospective Democratic candidates, a Gallup Poll shows.
The poll found that Republicans and those leaning toward the GOP are also more likely to say religion will be an important factor in their votes in the 2004 presidential election. Almost half of those with Republican tendencies _ 48 percent _ say religion will be important to their votes, compared to 28 percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners.
In hypothetical election matchups, religious voters were more interested in Bush than in possible Democratic contenders by 2-to-1 margins.
Among registered voters who said religion is extremely or very important to their vote, 67 percent said they would vote for Bush over former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, while 30 percent said they would pick Dean.
Sixty-five percent of this voting group would select Bush over 33 percent for Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt. Sixty-five percent would choose Bush over retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, while 33 percent would pick Clark.
At the time of the survey, Bush’s approval rating was 65 percent among those who said their faith would be very or extremely important in their voting decisions, compared to 44 percent among those who said religion would have less of an effect on their vote.
The results are based on telephone interviews of a national sample of 838 registered voters between Nov. 10 and 12 and have a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Information suitable for a graphic follows:
Hypothetical Races Among Voters For Whom Religion Is Significant Factor
Bush: 67 percent
Dean: 30 percent
Bush: 65 percent
Gephardt: 33 percent
Bush: 65 percent
Clark: 33 percent
Source: The Gallup Organization
_ Adelle M. Banks
California Catholics Alter Communion to Prevent Spread of Flu
(RNS) Catholic officials in at least three California dioceses have recommended changes in how parishioners receive Communion to help prevent the spread of the flu.
Worshippers in Sacramento, San Francisco and San Jose have been asked not to shake hands when offering others a sign of peace or hold hands during the Lord’s Prayer, according to the Sacramento Bee. Church officials suggest that parishioners wave or nod during the greeting time.
In addition, the Communion wafer will not be placed on parishioners’ tongues _ instead it will be placed in the hand _ and worshippers will not be allowed to drink from a common chalice of wine.
Parishioners who help distribute the Communion elements _ known as Eucharistic ministers _ will be required to wash their hands with anti-bacterial soap under similar guidelines distributed by the three dioceses.
“I think everyone seems to be very cooperative and understanding,” Maurice Healy, spokesman for the San Francisco Archdiocese, told the Associated Press. “No one came forward and complained that we were putting common sense before faith.”
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs, Colo., issued similar guidelines for his diocese, offering to let parishioners dip their wafer in the wine rather than drink from a common cup.
The guidelines, which are recommended but not mandatory, are expected to remain in effect until the flu season ends, around March. Churches in Asia and Canada took similar precautions earlier this year during an outbreak of the SARS virus.
“Is it a good idea to share a cup with strangers? To hold hands with someone who was coughing or sneezing? No, it’s not,” Dr. Glennah Trochet, public health officer for Sacramento County, told The Bee.
Cheers, Criticism Greet FDA Panel’s Backing of `Morning After Pill’
(RNS) Cheers and criticism have followed a Food and Drug Administration panel’s recommendation that the so-called “morning after pill” be made available over-the-counter.
The panel voted 23-4 on Tuesday (Dec. 16) that the drug, also known as Plan B, should be made available without a prescription. Barr Laboratories, a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company seeking the new status for the drug, said Plan B can prevent 95 percent of expected pregnancies when it is taken within 24 hours of unprotected intercourse.
Conservative Christian groups reacted with disappointment and were especially concerned about the potential influence on teenage sexuality and what they believe are the drug’s abortive effects.
“Parents deserve to know that if this proposal is approved, their teenage daughters will have free access to a powerful, abortion-inducing drug without their knowledge,” said Cathy Cleaver Ruse, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Pro-Life Office.
“This is bad policy and bad medicine.”
Carrie Gordon Earll, Focus on the Family’s senior policy analyst for bioethics, agreed.
“Many women taking this drug may believe that they are preventing pregnancy when in fact the drug can cause an abortion once fertilization has occurred,” she said. “The FDA recommendation to allow Plan B to be sold without medical oversight is irresponsible and dangerous.”
But other groups were more supportive.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Gloria Feldt called the recommendation “a victory for all women and for sound public health policy. … Wider access to emergency contraception will prevent hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and abortions every year.”
Tony Hileman, executive director of the American Humanist Association, called the panel’s vote “a responsible decision.”
“They refused to bow to the pressures of political and religious leaders who are voicing emotional opposition,” he said. “Instead the FDA panel followed the facts and made their recommendation based on the scientific merits of Plan B, including the pill’s safety, efficacy and value to women’s health.”
FDA officials are expected to make a final decision “in a matter of months,” said spokesman Jason Brodsky.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Robertson Urges Israeli Leaders to Stand Firm on Concessions
HERZLIYA, Israel (RNS) Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson pleaded with Israel’s leaders to stand firm against those calling on the Jewish State to relinquish land to the Palestinians.
Robertson’s remarks on Tuesday (Dec. 16) to the Herzliya Conference, an annual gathering devoted to Israel’s national security, centered on the Jews’ rights to the biblical land of Israel and the threat to these rights posed by those urging territorial compromise.
“The return of the Jewish people to Israel is a miracle of God,” Robertson exclaimed. “The wars Israel has gone through and won are miracles of God.”
Evangelical Christians, said Robertson, “support Israel because the words of Moses are the words of God. We support Israel because it is a democracy, and is morally right in its war against the Arabs.”
Robertson rejected Palestinian claims to Jerusalem, stating, “King David is our hero and Jerusalem is the city that needs to be in control of the Jews.”
The evangelist renounced efforts by the world community to force Israel to relinquish land.
Referring to Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from south Lebanon in May 2000, which it invaded during the Lebanon war, Robertson said, “Southern Lebanon was given up. Did that (bring) peace?”
Sounding a somber note, Robertson said that “the entire world is in a struggle of religions.” He added that anyone who thinks “the United Nations is the answer” is “wrong. Only God knows the answers.”
“Thirty years ago I promised to be strong towards Israel, and to this day I have done that. God will be with you and so will the evangelical Christians,” Robertson said.
_ Michele Chabin
Jewish Groups Collaborate on Anti-Poverty Initiative at Hanukkah
(RNS) Three major Jewish groups have joined forces to urge Jews to give gifts not to each other, but to the needy this Hanukkah.
The initiative, which is called “Ner Shel Tzedakah,” or “Light of Righteousness,” asks Jewish families to donate the money they would have spent on gifts for the sixth night of Hanukkah to a local organization that helps the poor and needy.
Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish festival of lights, begins at sundown on Dec. 19. Ner Shel Tzedakah is a project of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ). The groups have launched two Web sites, one at the JCPA homepage, http://www.jewishpublicaffairs.org and the other at the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, http://www.rac.org. The Web sites contain resources for synagogues, community councils and individuals to use in devoting some time and energy to the 10 percent of Americans who live in poverty. Notices about the program have gone out over e-mail lists to rabbis, community leaders and local Jewish organizations. In addition to concern for the American population in general, the groups are reacting to recent reports that poverty within the Jewish community is growing. The National Jewish Population Survey, which was published this year, reported that 5 percent of American Jews and 9 percent of Jewish elderly live below the poverty line. In response, the JCPA and the URJ both launched anti-poverty campaigns this year. The URJ adopted an anti-poverty resolution at the group’s biennial meeting this fall. The Hanukkah initiative is a major push of this larger campaign, and leaders say they hope it will begin a tradition of giving to the needy during the winter holidays. “We hope that this is not a one-year initiative, but that every year at the holiday season, families will stop and think about those that are not having a happy holiday,” said Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, who is the director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism. _ Holly Lebowitz Rossi Quote of the Day: Institute on Religion and Public Policy President Joseph K. Grieboski (RNS) “The issue of conspicuous display of religious garb cuts right at the heart of religious rights. … External actions create internal awareness; wearing a symbolic, tangible `something above us’ reinforces that idea that God is always watching.” _ Joseph K. Grieboski, president of the Washington-based Institute on Religion and Public Policy, commenting on the debates in Western Europe about the wearing of religious symbols in public schools. KRE END RNS
