c. 2004 Religion News Service
Poll: Teens More Likely to Ask Friends Than Clergy for Ethics Advice
(RNS) Teens are far more likely to seek out their friends for help with ethical decisions than to ask a member of the clergy, a poll shows.
Eighty-three percent of teens said they would turn to their friends for help in making such choices, followed by their parents (68 percent), teachers (27 percent), the Internet (24 percent) and clergy (14 percent).
Harris Interactive conducted the poll for Junior Achievement, an organization focused on educating young people about business, and Deloitte & Touche, a major accounting firm.
The poll also showed that almost one-third of teens surveyed think they have to “bend the rules to succeed.” A smaller percentage _ 20 percent _ gave that answer in a similar poll last year.
“These poll results indicate that teens are getting mixed messages, so we continue to believe that ethics education must begin early, during formative years,” said James H. Quigley, CEO of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, in a statement.
David S. Chernow, president and CEO of Junior Achievement Worldwide, added: “It is imperative that we as adults emphasize the importance of ethics to our young people in order to keep our free enterprise system, and our nation, strong.”
The survey of 624 students was drawn from a larger Harris Interactive poll conducted via e-mail and it was weighted demographically to represent the nation. Conducted in July, it has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
Muslim Player Quits Basketball Team After Making Exemption Request
(RNS) A Muslim convert who wished to wear religiously required clothing while playing on the women’s basketball team of the University of South Florida has quit the team.
Andrea Armstrong, 22, had requested that she wear a scarf, long pants, and a top with long sleeves and the Tampa, Fla., school had asked the NCAA for an exemption to its uniform policy.
But on Wednesday (Sept. 15), Armstrong gave a letter to her coach, Jose Fernandez, saying she didn’t want the issue of her uniform “to cause distraction,” the Associated Press reported.
Earlier in September, the athlete said she had left the team and lost her athletic scholarship after the coach said she could not wear religiously required clothing at practices or games.
But at a later meeting that included a representative of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, university officials agreed to accommodate her Islamic dress and reinstate her scholarship.
Fernandez said Armstrong requested the Wednesday meeting and said her decision to leave was “final.”
Ahmed Bedier, a spokesman for the Islamic council, said Armstrong had not expected the attention the matter would draw, including hate messages.
“She wanted to put her team first, after her faith, and didn’t want to be the center of the controversy,” he said.
Rapper Removed From Stellar Gospel Awards Consideration
(RNS) Officials of the Stellar Gospel Music Awards have announced that they have removed rapper Kanye West’s CD from its ballot for the 2005 honors because of lyrics that contained profanity.
The CD, “The College Dropout,” which is on the Roc-a-Fella label, includes one title that is explicitly religious, “Jesus Walks.” “The reason for removing the CD from the ballot is that some of the songs on the CD contain explicit lyrics and the CD carries an explicit language warning symbol on its cover,” the officials said in a Tuesday (Sept. 14) statement.
The nominating committee had considered the CD because of the one gospel song on it but decided the CD’s overall selections “were not in the best interest and spirit of gospel music.”
West’s publicist could not immediately be reached for comment.
“The Stellar Awards’ senior management and the nominating committee certainly did not intend to offend the gospel music community by this glaring oversight,” the officials said in their statement. “We have implemented corrective actions to make sure that such an error never happens in the future.”
An addendum to the ballot was scheduled to be sent to voters Friday (Sept. 17). The awards ceremony is set for Jan. 15 in Houston.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Lesbian Pastor Gets New Methodist Hearing Due to Procedural Errors
(RNS) A United Methodist official has ordered a new hearing in the case of a lesbian pastor who was facing trial after publicly declaring her homosexual relationship.
Retired Bishop Joseph H. Yeakel, the presiding officer for the trial, determined that the original church investigation committee that filed charges against the Rev. Irene “Beth” Stroud of Philadelphia was not properly constituted, the United Methodist News Service reported.
The committee of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference voted July 23 that “reasonable grounds exist” for a church trial.
Yeakel said the committee erroneously included two lay people in its counting of a quorum for the vote and wrongly included members who said they “do not believe a self-avowed, practicing homosexual in a monogamous, committed relationship engages in practices incompatible with Christian teachings.”
United Methodist Church law bars ordination of people meeting that description.
“The Committee on Investigation, therefore, was not properly constituted to adopt either the charge or specifications,” Yeakel wrote in a letter to the Rev. Kent E. Kroehler of Lancaster, Pa., chairperson of the committee.
He gave Kroehler permission to begin a rehearing of the investigation once the committee is properly constituted.
Stroud did not give a direct response to the latest development when asked by the Methodist news service.
“I’m in good spirits and just trying to be faithful as a pastor,” said Stroud, associate pastor of First United Methodist Church of Germantown. “Nobody ever said it would be easy.”
_ Adelle M. Banks
Tucson Diocese Declares Bankruptcy
(RNS) The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, Ariz., filed for bankruptcy protection Monday (Sept. 20), making it the second diocese in U.S. history to take such a step.
Like the Portland, Ore., archdiocese, which declared bankruptcy in July, the Arizona diocese sought legal protection after dealing with ongoing lawsuits concerning sexual abuse of children by parish priests.
The Tucson diocese also made the move because it is facing serious debt, the Associated Press reported.
It had a $7 million deficit in unrestricted net assets and $4.64 million in long-term debt as of June 30, according to its financial statement.
Bishop Gerald Kicanas, spiritual leader of the Tucson diocese, sent a letter in June to parishioners warning them that the diocese might have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The letter said such a step might be “the only option for the diocese.”
With the decision, the financial functions of the Tucson diocese will be subject to court scrutiny for the first time.
The diocese settled 11 suits by 16 plaintiffs in 2002, including 10 victims who claimed they had been abused by four of its priests. Most of the abuse allegedly occurred between the 1960s and the 1990s.
Since that time, 22 more lawsuits with 34 plaintiffs have been filed against the diocese, all regarding allegations of abuse.
Kicanas, in a letter Monday to the Catholics in his diocese, said the filing of a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization represents “the best opportunity for healing and for the just and fair compensation of those who suffered sexual abuse by workers for the church in our diocese.”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs who are suing the diocese believe there is money to settle the pending cases. They recently filed a court motion to try to block the diocese from transferring properties to affiliated Catholic organizations before a trial that was scheduled for late September.
On July 6, the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It chose that option rather than proceeding with a priest-abuse trial that was scheduled to begin that day.
Toledo Catholic Diocese Considers Parish Closures
(RNS) The Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo, Ohio, has recommended closing or merging 33 churches due to a declining number of priests and shifting populations.
The proposal would decrease the number of parishes from 157 to 131. The diocese, with about 307,000 Catholics, expects to finalize the reduction in March, the Associated Press reported.
Several of the churches expected to close are in rural villages and have been central to the life in those communities.
“For some, their grandparents built the churches,” said Sister Joyce Lehman, a member of the committee that recommended the closings.
“They were married there. It’s not just a church. It’s really a significant part of their life.”
Bishop Leonard Blair, the spiritual leader of the Toledo diocese, said the plans are not related to the clergy sex abuse scandal that began in 2002 in Boston and has affected the nationwide Catholic Church.
He also said he was open to ideas that might help prevent some parishes from closing.
“This makes sense to me, but I haven’t made my decision,” Blair said. “I’m open to any observations and counter-suggestions.”
The church committee that studied the matter for two years also suggested that 16 other churches remain open but share pastors.
Mt. Olive Pickle Agreement Ends Boycott by Religious Groups
(RNS) The National Council of Churches has applauded an agreement unionizing foreign farmworkers who pick cucumbers sold by the Mt. Olive Pickle Company, which it had boycotted in protest of previous treatment of the workers.
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee, the North Carolina Growers Association and the Mount Olive, N.C.-based pickle company reached an agreement Thursday (Sept. 16) that permits the workers to join the organizing committee and receive union membership benefits. The company will increase what it pays for the crops and give a financial incentive to growers who compensate farmworkers.
“This agreement represents the kind of mutual benefit that we hope will become an example for all of American industry, pointing toward a new era where profits are measured not only in share values, but in human values as well,” said the Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the New York-based ecumenical body, in a statement.
Benefits now afforded the workers include improved pay, grievance procedures and bereavement leave when a close relative dies in another country.
In 2003, the National Council of Churches voted to endorse the consumer boycott that the organizing committee started in 1999. It called the boycott a “measure of last resort.”
It joined more than 300 groups in endorsing the boycott, including Catholic bishops in Raleigh, N.C., and other dioceses, the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ.
Jim Winkler, general secretary of the United Methodist board, also hailed the juncture.
“This agreement, by providing grievance procedures, monitoring committees and other mechanisms to improve housing, health care and wages for farmworkers across the state, is an important step toward fulfillment of a faith-filled vision of worker justice,” he said in a statement.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Dobson Urges Boycott of Procter & Gamble Over Gay Rights Issue
(RNS) Focus on the Family Chairman James Dobson has encouraged listeners to his radio program to boycott products of the Procter & Gamble company because of a “tacit endorsement of gay marriage,” but the Cincinnati manufacturer says conservative groups are mistaken about its stance.
“For Procter and Gamble to align itself with radical groups committed to redefining marriage in our country is an affront to its customers,” Dobson said in a statement released Thursday (Sept. 16) by his Colorado Springs, Colo.-based ministry. “An overwhelming majority of Americans _ the men and women who buy this company’s products _ oppose same-sex marriage.”
Procter & Gamble’s donation of $10,000 to a campaign for the repeal of a city ordinance barring enactment of gay rights laws is not related to the marriage issue, said company spokesman Doug Shelton.
“Our company supports repeal of Article 12 in the city of Cincinnati, which removed from our City Council the authority to enact any ordinances that would protect individuals from discrimination,” he told Religion News Service. “The two issues are separate and distinct and our company has not taken a position on the definition of marriage.”
He said Dobson correctly stated that the company “will not tolerate discrimination in any form, against anyone for any reason.”
Shelton said his company thinks the city’s ordinance, which he said is the only one of its kind in the country, has hurt the economy of the region.
“The perception with this ordinance on the books is that Cincinnati is not a very welcoming place to live or to start a career, so we lose a lot of people who do not want to come to Cincinnati because they feel that the city is intolerant,” he said.
Dobson recommended that his listeners boycott two of the company’s best-known brands: Crest toothpaste and Tide laundry detergent.
The American Family Association, a conservative Christian organization based in Tupelo, Miss., has asked its supporters to participate in the same boycott.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Imam of Ohio’s Largest Mosque Sentenced for Lying About Jihadist Group
AKRON, Ohio (RNS) Fawaz Damra, called an interfaith peacemaker by some and a fund-raiser for terrorists by others, has been sentenced by a federal judge for lying on his immigration papers.
The leader of Ohio’s largest mosque was sentenced Monday (Sept. 20) to two months in a federal prison and four months under home confinement for lying on his immigration papers about raising funds for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Damra, a Cleveland imam known for his work promoting harmony with non-Muslim religious leaders, also must pay a $5,000 fine.
He must report to prison Nov. 22, after the holy month of Ramadan’s 30 days of fasting for Muslims. A judge will rule on Damra’s citizenship later this week. His attorneys want the issue decided after an appeals court rules on his conviction, and prosecutors want the matter settled immediately.
“It’s only a matter of time,” U.S. Attorney Gregory White said. “It’s going to happen.”
White’s office sought a five-year sentence for Damra, who was born in Palestine.
“At the very time that he asks to be a citizen of this country, he is raising funds for terrorists,” the prosecutor said. “That organization was as anti-American as any.”
The elders at Damra’s mosque, the Islamic Center of Greater Cleveland, will meet next week to decide the imam’s future with the house of worship.
In June, a jury convicted Damra, 42, of lying on his citizenship application about his past links to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In tapes of various meetings from 1991, Damra is seen ranting about the need to kill Jews.
In one tape, Damra says the crowd must help pay for the battle in the Middle East, describing how cash would “direct all the rifles at the first and last enemy of the Islamic nation, and that is the sons of monkeys and pigs, the Jews.”
On Monday, shaking and with his voice cracking, Damra apologized before a crowd that included more than 70 people who stood shoulder-to-shoulder to support him.
“I admit the hateful, foolish statements against Jewish people,” he told U.S. District Judge James S. Gwin. “They’re indefensible. … I sincerely pray to God that they forgive me.”
John Hexter, executive director of the American Jewish Committee in Cleveland, said the conviction is difficult for Muslims and Jews.
“It is a shame that it has come down to this,” Hexter said. “It’s a sad state of affairs that such a strong leader, one who had such potential and such a great following, would besmirch the relationships that Muslims and Jews can have.”
_ John Caniglia
Religious Leaders Protest Use of Cross at Nightclub
LONDON (RNS) British church leaders have roundly condemned the prominent use of a Christian symbol in the refurbishment of a popular nightclub in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Charlie’s Nightclub has reopened as The Cross, and uses the cross as the central theme of its decor, with a huge metal cross adorning the main door and mock church notice boards with illuminated crosses.
In a joint statement, Bishop Bruce Cameron of Aberdeen and Orkney (who is also primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church); Roman Catholic Bishop Peter Moran of Aberdeen; the Rev. Ian Aitken, on behalf of the Aberdeen presbytery of the Church of Scotland; and other church leaders described the use of the cross as offensive and tasteless.
“Christians are a minority in Scotland, but the cross is a powerful symbol of suffering and hope to literally billions of people across the globe, many of them in some of the poorest places on Earth,” they said in the statement. “So it reveals remarkable indifference, not to say tastelessness, to use it as a decoration for a nightclub.”
It was difficult to believe that the nightclub’s owners would show the same disrespect to the sacred symbols of Muslims or Jews, added the church leaders.
“The offensive use of Christianity’s most revered symbol, presumably for some perceived commercial advantage, has not been done in ignorance,” they commented.
The owner, G1 Group, described itself as Scotland’s leading bar and restaurant company.
“It is all the more regrettable, therefore, that the company is unable to endorse the vision of Scotland as a pluralist tolerant society, one that accords respect to the different religious and moral traditions that comprise it,” they said.
_ Robert Nowell
Quote of the Week: Desiree Walker of Washington
(RNS) “Resurrection! He’s just like Jesus, and he’s back, and now it’s time for Ward 8 to be resurrected.”
Desiree Walker of Washington, celebrating the election of former District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry to the D.C. Council as a representative of Ward 8. She was quoted by The Washington Post.
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