c. 2004 Religion News Service
At Request of Jewish Group, Target Pulls Kabbalah `Red String’
(RNS) Target has stopped selling bracelets made popular by pop icon Madonna and other celebrities after a Jewish group said the item commercialized a sacred religious tradition.
The International Society for Sephardic Progress (ISFSP), a Florida-based advocacy group for Jews of Spanish descent, protested when the Target Corp. began selling a red string bracelet it called “Kabbalah Red String.”
The string is believed to ward off evil. It is literally wrapped around what is believed to be the tomb, in Israel, of the biblical matriarch Rachel, who is seen as a protector and mother figure to adherents of Jewish mystical philosophy. The string is then sent to the United States to be sold under the auspices of the Kabbalah Centre, a Los Angeles-based organization.
Controversial in Orthodox Jewish circles for teaching that Kabbalah is not a Jewish philosophy but available to all people, the Kabbalah Centre sells a length of red string that makes between eight and 10 bracelets for $26.
Adherents wear the bracelets until they fall off, a period of time that they believe depends on the amount of evil the person is exposed to.
The ISFSP wrote to Target in early August, asking the company to halt sales of the product. The group noted that the U.S. government had denied the Kabbalah Centre a patent and trademark for “Red String” because of its religious meanings.
Target responded with a letter that stated the string had been removed from the stores and Web site and is no longer advertised or offered for sale. Target did not respond to a request for public comment, but the ISFSP celebrated the decision.
“The Jewish people should not allow the corporate exploitation of their religion,” wrote Shelomo Alfassa, executive director of the ISFSP, in a statement lauding Target’s decision.
“Judaism, as well as Kabbalah, which is an inherent part of our sacred tradition, is not for sale, period.”
Kabbalah Centre co-director Rabbi Michael Berg said the commercial aspect of his center’s work is not a detriment to the ideals of the Kabbalah because all proceeds of the sales benefit the nonprofit organization.
“None of it goes into my pocket,” Berg said in an interview. He said proceeds go to a “Spirituality for Kids” program, which provides free after-school programs in a dozen cities and operates two day schools in the United States. Bracelet revenues also go toward courses offered at Kabbalah Centres worldwide and even telephone lessons for people who do not live near a center, he said.
Berg added that anyone who cannot afford books, red string bracelets or other products his center sells will be given one for free.
_ Holly Lebowitz Rossi
Atlanta-Based Ministries Will Merge TV and Radio Programming
(RNS) The Protestant Hour, which produces a weekly preaching program called “Day 1,” has merged with the Episcopal Media Center.
The two Atlanta-based ministries will share trustees and staff while retaining individual identities.
“It couldn’t be a more natural development for both organizations,” said the Rev. Canon Louis C. Schueddig, president and executive director of the Episcopal Media Center, in a statement. “Our ministries really overlap. After much prayer, conversation and reflection, both of our boards decided merging was the right thing to do and this is the right time.”
About 160 radio stations carry “Day 1,” which formerly was known as “The Protestant Hour” and dates to 1945.
The Episcopal Media Center does audio, video and television productions such as the Emmy Award-winning PBS film “Shadowlands.”
“The pieces have really fallen together,” said Peter Wallace, executive producer of “Day 1,” in a statement. “When they learn about it, people get excited about the opportunities created by this merger.”
_ Wangui Njuguna
Religious Groups Oppose Mandatory Drug Sentences
(RNS) A coalition of religious organizations has voiced support for a bill that would repeal federal mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders, and vowed to fight a competing bill aimed at strengthening current laws.
The Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative (IDPI) brought together leaders from a broad base of religious organizations and the NAACP on Tuesday (Sept. 21) to support a bill by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
“We cannot incarcerate our way out of our country’s drug problem,” said Waters.
More than 20 organizations are opposed to mandatory minimum sentences, including the National Council of Churches, the United Methodist Church, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Union for Reform Judaism, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Church Women United and the Episcopal Church.
While Waters’ bill is unlikely to pass in the few weeks left in the current session, she is expected to reintroduce it when the new Congress convenes in January.
IDPI is fighting a bill by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., R-Wis., to strengthen current laws, including a mandatory 10-year sentence for adults who try to sell drugs to minors.
His bill, scheduled to be considered next week in the Judiciary and Energy and Commerce committees, also would lengthen sentences for offenses committed near a public school or drug treatment facility.
Saying the nation’s war on drugs has been a failure, Waters wants to restore authority to judges to decide whether jail is warranted, and for how long. She said federal sentencing laws disproportionately harm minorities and women, and urged that the focus be on rehabilitation and treatment for low-level offenses.
Other supporters included Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., the NAACP, and religious leaders from the United Methodist Church and the Progressive National Baptist Convention.
“It is time to restore common sense and decency to our nation’s judicial process,” the United Methodist Church said in a statement. “Two decades after the enactment of mandatory sentences, these laws have failed to deter people from using or selling drugs. The church has a fundamental role in reorienting the public debate by shifting focus from punishment to prevention and treatment.”
Charles Thomas, executive director of IDPI, said he knows of no religious groups that support minimum mandatory sentencing.
_ Itir Yakar
Crisis Magazine Publisher Hudson to Resign After Controversy
(RNS) Deal Hudson has announced that he will resign from his position as publisher of Crisis magazine, a decision the Catholic leader made a month after stepping down as an adviser to President Bush’s re-election campaign.
The conservative publisher announced in an e-mailed statement Tuesday (Sept. 21) that he told the magazine’s board he will step down as of Jan. 1 and move on to direct a new Morley Institute that will work to continue financial support for the publication.
The plans come a month after he resigned as a Bush campaign adviser when a decade-old sexual misconduct charge against him resurfaced.
“As you can imagine, the past month has been very difficult for both me and my family,” he said. “There’s no doubt that the recent adverse publicity about me, and the criticism that followed, influenced my decision. As long as I remain publisher of Crisis, I’ll be a source of controversy.”
Hudson, who said the decision was “my call,” added that the controversy had caused “great pain” to his family members.
“The plain fact is, I’m tired of being a lightning rod.”
Hudson said earlier that he was questioned by a Catholic newspaper about sexual harassment charges filed against him by a student while he was an assistant professor at Fordham University, a school he left in 1995.
“No one regrets my past mistakes more than I do,” he said in a column posted in mid-August on the Web site of National Review Online.
Prior to his previous resignation, Hudson was an adviser to the White House and a close associate of White House political adviser Karl Rove.
He plans to work on a book on how Catholics can be politically involved.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Muslim Advocacy Group Decries Barring of Peace Activist
(RNS) A U.S. Muslim advocacy group has asked the Bush administration to explain why Yusuf Islam _ a peace activist formerly known as singer Cat Stevens _ was not permitted to enter the country Tuesday (Sept. 21).
Islam was removed from a plane from London that was bound for Dulles International Airport near Washington. The plane was diverted to Bangor International Airport in Maine and met by federal agents.
“Treating mainstream and moderate Muslims like Yusuf Islam as if they are criminals or terrorists, without bringing charges or allowing for due process, sends the message to the Islamic world that even those who seek peace and condemn terror are not fit to enter the United States,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement issued Wednesday (Sept. 22).
The Associated Press reported that Islam was denied entry to the country because he was on a government watch list.
“He was interviewed and denied admission to the United States on national security grounds,” said Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy.
Islam, who recorded such 1970s hits as “Morning Has Broken,” was to be deported Wednesday, the AP reported.
The council, a Washington-based civil rights group, called a news conference Wednesday at which it also reiterated concerns about the revocation of a visa for an Islamic scholar who had planned to teach at the University of Notre Dame this fall. The visa of Swiss citizen Tariq Ramadan was revoked in mid-August at the request of the Department of Homeland Security.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Quote of the Day: Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo.
(RNS) “To all our Native American friends here today, I say: `The sacred hoop has been restored. The circle is complete.’ The re-emergence of the native people has come true.”
_ Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe, welcoming the crowd of Native Americans gathered Tuesday (Sept. 21) in Washington to mark the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian. He was quoted by The Washington Post.
MO/PH END RNS
