c. 2005 Religion News Service
Muslim Group Says 5,000 Free Qurans Distributed
(RNS) Thousands of Americans are lining up to read for themselves the book whose reported defilement last month touched off deadly anti-American protests in the Muslim world: the Holy Quran.
About 5,000 individuals have requested a free Quran from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based civil rights and advocacy group. CAIR launched its “Explore the Quran” campaign May 17 in response to a news report, later retracted, that said interrogators of Muslim detainees had flushed a Quran down a toilet at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
“We’re trying to get Qurans into the hands of the American public because we believe that’s the best way to educate people about what Islam really stands for,” says CAIR spokesman and campaign coordinator Ibrahim Hooper. “Through our polling and our studies throughout the years, we’ve found that prejudice against Islam goes up when you have lack of information.”
To order a Quran, call (800) 78-ISLAM or visit http://www.explorethequran.org.
CAIR had for years harbored hopes of being able to distribute free Qurans, Hooper says. Now that the holy book and its significance for Muslims have become front-page news, CAIR is urging potential donors to seize the opportunity to “give the gift of faith to your neighbor.”
Despite Newsweek magazine’s retraction of its Quran story, international protests have continued. Thousands marched last week (June 3) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Tanzania, for instance, in anti-American marches that cited how the Quran had been desecrated. The same day, the Pentagon confirmed five incidents of Quran mistreatment at Guantanamo Bay.
Meanwhile, CAIR has aimed to use the ongoing controversy as a teaching moment on the Quran’s sacred significance for Muslims. Recipients of the book receive a letter urging them to consider how Muslims show respect for the book. They never bring it into a bathroom, for instance, and always hold it with both hands “as one would a valuable piece of art.”
_ G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Ky. Diocese Agrees to Nation’s Largest Clergy Abuse Settlement
(RNS) The Roman Catholic diocese of Covington in northern Kentucky on Friday (June 3) agreed to pay up to $120 million to settle sexual abuse claims, making the deal the nation’s largest abuse-related settlement.
The diocese, however, will likely end up paying far less because the total number of victims is unknown, and only 10 people filed the suit in 2003 that led to the settlement.
Based on the agreement, victims are eligible for awards between $5,000 and $450,000, based on “the nature and severity of the abuse.” If each of the 10 known victims received the maximum payout, the total would be only $4.5 million.
The fund is available for “all persons, known and unknown,” who file a claim based on alleged abuse over the past 50 years. Alleged victims are asked to file a claim through the court system, “no matter when it occurred.”
Bishop Roger Foys offered a “profound apology” to victims of clergy abuse, and expressed regret for victims who had not been treated with “respect and courtesy” when they reported abuse earlier.
“After personally meeting with more than 70 victims, I am painfully aware that no amount of money can compensate for the harm these victims suffered as innocent children,” Foys said in a statement.
Foys said $80 million would be covered by insurance and $40 million would be covered by investments or property sales. No parishes will be sold or parish funds used to pay the settlements, and any leftover money will be returned to the diocese, he said.
Until Friday’s announcement, the largest settlement was $100 million reached last year by the Orange County, Calif., diocese, and $85 million reached by the Archdiocese of Boston in 2003, according to The Washington Post.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Christian Music Co. Teams With Disney for Access to Christian Retail
(RNS) A top Christian music distributor and Walt Disney Records are collaborating to provide Christian vendors access to Disney’s family-friendly audio products, the companies announced in a joint statement Thursday (June 2).
The deal gives EMI CMG Distribution the sole rights to distribute Disney audio products to retailers affiliated with CBA, formerly the Christian Booksellers Association.
CBA vendors will have access to Disney products dating back 70 years.
“Disney continues to be the most recognized and sought-after brand in family entertainment,” Rich Peluso, EMI CMG Distribution president, said in a statement.
Audio products from the highly anticipated “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” a Walt Disney Pictures film based on C.S. Lewis’ series, will be available in November.
Additional audio merchandise, such as items from the “Baby Einstein” series, Winnie the Pooh, and read-along products “Noah’s Ark” and “David & Goliath,” will be on hand this fall.
“EMI CMG holds an impressive track record in the marketing and distribution of children’s products to Christian retail and shares our goal of offering consumers quality choices in family-friendly entertainment,” said Robert Marick, senior vice president and general manager of Walt Disney Records.
_ Heather Horiuchi
American Baptist Seminary to Be Renamed in Honor of Donor
(RNS) After receiving a $5 million gift from the family of its longest-serving president, Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary will dramatically cut tuition costs and be renamed Palmer Theological Seminary on July 1.
The Rev. Gordon Palmer was president of the Wynnewood, Pa., school from the 1930s to the 1940s and was known for his dedication to scholarship, creating funds for those in need _ a current concern for many of the school’s students.
Founded outside Philadelphia in 1925, Eastern is the flagship seminary of the American Baptist Churches USA. It is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year.
“Our hope is to offer a significant improvement in scholarship aid, so that as many as one-third to one-half of our students may be able to matriculate full-time,” said the Rev. Wallace Charles Smith, Eastern’s current president and former student.
With the boost to its endowment fund, Eastern will begin offering scholarship aid to all of its full-time students regardless of need. A three-year master’s program will drop to roughly $7,600 per year, down from the current price of about $11,000.
“What we’re trying to do is … enable and encourage many more students to come full-time to seminary or at least get through much faster,” said the Rev. Louis Silver, vice president of development at Eastern.
Silver added that the cuts to tuition should help students finish their degrees in three to four years as opposed to five or more. During the 2004-2005 academic year, only about 20 percent of the master’s students were full-time.
The school, he said, is also trying to keep up with the predicted increase in pulpit demand due to the eventual retirement of baby boomer ministers in the next five years. Currently, about 479 students attend the seminary, which offers master’s degrees in divinity, theology and certificate programs.
“By setting the tuition lower, people who are considering a call to ministry will be able to pursue that call,” Silver said.
_ Helena Andrews
Quote of the Day: Muslim Feminist Asra Nomani
(RNS) “I refuse to sit in the back, that’s so demeaning. The mosques are set up like a men’s club. … I just want them to consider women as human beings. Not to throw us into corners. I want the Muslim world to fast-forward into the 21st century and not segregate us into women’s ghettos.”
_ Muslim feminist Asra Nomani of Morgantown, W.Va., who has been campaigning for the right of Muslim women to pray beside men at mosques. She was quoted by The Washington Post.
KRE/PH END RNS
