c. 2004 Religion News Service
Christian Leaders Say Bush Environmental Policy is Immoral
(RNS) One hundred Christian leaders told President Bush in a pointed Earth Day rebuke on Thursday (April 22) that they have “grave moral concern” about his clean air policy.
The letter, coordinated by the National Council of Churches, accused Bush of weakening air quality standards and putting the elderly and young children at particular risk through his “Clear Skies” initiative.
“He says that moral values are a cornerstone in this administration, but this administration is failing the call to protect God’s children,” said the Rev. Bob Edgar, the NCC’s general secretary.
The letter faulted Bush’s plan for not setting reduction standards for carbon emissions from power plants, which are believed to be the primary source of global warming. In addition, the letter said “powerful corporate interests have had disproportionate influence” in shaping environmental policy.
“We believe that the administration’s energy, clean air and climate change programs prolong our dependence on fossil fuels which is depleting Earth’s resources, poisoning its climate, punishing the poor, constricting sustainable economic growth and jeopardizing global security and peace,” the letter said.
The letter, which will be followed by a full-page ad in The New York Times, was signed by officials from the United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), the Swedenborgian Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Church of the Brethren, among others. Two Roman Catholic bishops _ Archbishop John Vlazny of Portland, Ore., and Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, also signed their names.
On Thursday, President Bush traveled to Maine to unveil a new program to protect wetlands but did not mention his Clear Skies initiative. “Since 2001, the condition of America’s land, air and water has improved,” he said.
In a separate statement, leaders of the Reform Jewish movement also faulted Bush for his environmental policy. “We ignore the environment at our peril,” warned Barbara Weinstein, legislative director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Seton Hall Regrets Honor to Abortion Rights Supporter
(RNS) NEWARK, N.J. _ Under heavy criticism from anti-abortion advocates, Seton Hall University acknowledged Tuesday (April 20) that as a Catholic institution it should not have conducted an awards ceremony last week involving two judges whose decisions have supported abortion rights.
On April 16, U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Maryanne Trump Barry received the Sandra Day O’Connor Medal of Honor, an award sponsored by three student groups at Seton Hall University School of Law.
O’Connor, the first female U.S. Supreme Court justice, was there to present the award.
University spokeswoman Natalie Thigpen subsequently said: “As we have always stated, Seton Hall’s commitment to the gospel of life is absolute. The conferral of awards to people who publicly espouse views that are contrary to the university’s fundamental Catholic identity is a serious lapse.
“There will be a thorough review of all aspects of this matter, and the policies involved.”
Thigpen would not say if the 11-year-old award in O’Connor’s name will be discontinued, nor would she otherwise elaborate on the statement.
This is not the first time the award has led to controversy. Past recipients include Hillary Rodham Clinton and Christie Whitman, both of whom favor abortion rights.
When Whitman, then New Jersey governor, won it in 1998, school officials forced the event off campus because of her views on abortion.
In the April 21 Catholic Advocate, the Newark Archdiocese’s newspaper, Archbishop John J. Myers criticized Seton Hall for hosting the ceremony.
Myers wrote that he first learned of the invitations to O’Connor and Barry during Easter Week, a few days before the event. University officials approached the law school about the ceremony, but Law School Dean Patrick Hobbs wanted to hold the ceremony, said James Goodness, a spokesman for Myers.
“I find this action profoundly offensive and contrary to the Catholic mission and identity of Seton Hall Law School, Seton Hall University and the Archdiocese of Newark,” Myers wrote.
Although Seton Hall has an identity as the archdiocesan university, it is not run by the archdiocese. However, Myers is president of the school’s two governing boards, the 33-member board of regents and the 13-member board of trustees. He has one vote on each board.
O’Connor’s judicial history includes siding with a 5-4 majority in 2000 that struck down a Nebraska law forbidding a controversial late-term abortion procedure opponents call “partial-birth” abortion, on the grounds it could criminalize other types of abortion and did not make an exception when a woman’s health was at stake.
_ Jeff Diamant
Ohio Church Sues City Government Over Zoning Rules
(RNS) EUCLID, Ohio _ A Cleveland church meeting resistance from residents as it seeks to move into Euclid fought back Wednesday by suing the city in federal court.
Providence Missionary Baptist Church asked the U.S. District Court in Cleveland to declare Euclid zoning regulations unconstitutional and allow construction of a church surrounded by as many as 110 new houses. It also asks for damages.
The Euclid City Council voted Monday (April 21) to place rezoning for the project on the November ballot. The council voted 5-4 in February to approve the rezoning, but a group of residents collected signatures for a referendum. That put the zoning changes on hold, the suit says.
Providence supporters have claimed racism is behind the opposition because the church is predominantly black; opponents say they want to keep 68 acres of scarce open land zoned for industry to boost Euclid’s economy. Mike Mihalich of the Euclid Awareness Committee said 30 percent to 40 percent of the signatures on the group’s petitions were from black voters.
Race is not mentioned in the court action. The suit says Euclid violates rights to religious freedom and free speech by using a specific zoning classification for churches while allowing theaters and other gathering places in broad categories. All the land zoned for churches is occupied.
“That’s not what zoning is for,” said the church’s lawyer, Sheldon Berns. “It’s not made to exclude people.”
_ Thomas Ott
Update: Jury Awards $37 Million to Victims of Abusive Lutheran Pastor
(RNS) A Texas jury has awarded nearly $37 million to nine victims who accused a Lutheran governing body of hiding the history of a pastor who was later convicted of child abuse.
The nine plaintiffs said former Lutheran Bishop Mark Herbener, and his assistant Earl Eliason, should have warned Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Marshall, Texas, about allegations involving former pastor Gerald Thomas.
Thomas, who served as the church’s pastor from 1997-2001, is currently serving a five-year federal prison term on child pornography charges. Last year, he was sentenced to an additional 397 years in state prison for 11 counts of multiple sex crimes against children.
Thomas is no longer listed on the clergy roster of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Herbener is retired as bishop of the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod.
According to the Associated Press, plaintiffs accused the synod of not telling the church that Thomas had given tequila shots to two teenage boys, and possessed a pornographic video, when he was an intern at a church in Wilson, Texas, in 1996.
Eliason said he did not know about the allegations, but lawyers cast doubt on his testimony after noting that Eliason himself pleaded no-contest to charges of indecent exposure in 1987, 1996 and 2003.
The jury’s award against the synod comes after a $32 million settlement approved on April 12 involving the denomination, an Ohio seminary, a clergy screening committee in Michigan and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.
Terms of the settlement were not released until Thursday. ELCA spokesman John Brooks said the denomination will pay $8 million of the April 12 settlement, which will be covered by insurance.
“The ELCA churchwide organization is distressed and disappointed at the outcome of the civil trial in Texas,” Brooks said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the … Synod and its leaders.”
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Quote of the Day: An Editorial by National Catholic Reporter
(RNS) “Were Jefferson and Lincoln good Deists? Hoover and Nixon exemplary Quakers? Kennedy a committed Catholic? George H.W. Bush a first-rate Episcopalian? Clinton a quality Baptist? George W. Bush a pious Methodist? Who cares? History judges these men not on their religious zeal, but on their performance in office. How God judges them is for God to decide.”
_ The National Catholic Reporter, responding to criticism of Sen. John Kerry’s Catholic credentials from some church bishops. The newspaper concluded that “Catholics can, in good conscience, vote for either George W. Bush or John F. Kerry.”
DEA/JL DEA END RNS
