c. 2005 Religion News Service
New England Methodists Join Push to Divest From Israel
(RNS) The mainline Protestant movement to divest from companies that do business in Israel has gained more momentum with a vote by the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church to join the effort.
At the group’s annual conference June 11, a resolution passed calling for creation of a committee to determine within six months which of the denomination’s investments “support Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories” and to consider divesting from those companies.
The United Methodist Church, the largest of the mainline denominations, had not previously joined the divestiture movement, though in 2004 the denomination adopted a resolution called “Opposition to Israeli Settlements in Palestinian Land.”
Other denominations, chiefly the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ and the worldwide Anglican Communion, have taken up the divestment issue as a way to protest what they say is unjust Israeli occupation of and expansion into Palestinian-held territory.
The New England Conference of the United Methodist Church said in its resolution that companies “should not profit from the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land or the destruction of Palestinian homes, orchards and lives.”
The goal of divestment, the resolution said, is not to damage Israel’s economy or the U.S.-based companies that do business there. Rather, it said, “the goal is to make all United Methodists and other Americans aware of their relationship to companies that benefit from the Israeli occupation and give them an opportunity to withdraw from such relationships, so they are not participants in human rights violations that violate Christian principles and international law.”
The committee established by the resolution will gather information on companies that are believed to have a financial relationship with Israel. The committee will then contact each company and request “a change in the company’s relationship to the Israeli occupation.”
If the company does not change its policy, it will be placed on the committee’s “divestment list” to be shared with the New England Conference.
_ Holly Lebowitz Rossi
Frail Graham, 86, `Looking Forward to Heaven’
(RNS) A frail Billy Graham talked to Larry King about his multiple ailments and said that he was “looking forward to heaven.”
“I’m looking forward to this,” Graham said during his 24th interview with King, on Thursday (June 16). “But I am looking forward to heaven even more.”
King introduced Graham as “the world’s most famous evangelist.” Graham began the interview with a hoarse voice that gradually grew more steady, and talked about a career on the revival trail that spanned over 60 years.
The broadcast was punctuated with short clips from Graham’s appearances on-camera since 1949. The opening clip showed a vigorous 30-year-old Graham in Los Angeles, gesticulating with fervor, a sharp contrast to the 86-year-old man in the studio. “As I got older, I guess I got more mellow,” said Graham.
During the interview Graham occasionally became confused, once substituting “the Nigerian Creed” for the Nicene Creed, the basic Christian beliefs adopted during the fourth century. “I’m getting mixed up,” he said to King.
Graham has been struggling with hydroencephaly, a brain condition that has required four surgeries in the last four years. He also has prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease. He broke his hip on two recent occasions and now must use a walker.
“If I fall again, that might be the end of me,” said Graham.
As usual, Graham steered clear of controversy. He stayed consistent with his previously stated views, that he opposes gay marriage and abortion. “But I’m not getting into it,” Graham said. “I’m trying to stay out of politics.”
Graham, who has been friends with all American presidents since Harry Truman, said that talking politics was one of his greatest regrets in his close friendship with Richard Nixon. As for Nixon tapes that revealed Graham making seemingly anti-Jewish comments, Graham says he told Jewish leaders “I’d crawl to them and ask for forgiveness.”
Graham will conduct a crusade in New York City June 24-26 at Flushing Meadows Park. He said he suspects that this will be his last such event. As for a future event in London, Graham allowed that “there’s a possibility I may go, but I’d say that is a small possibility.”
Reflecting on his life as the world’s most widely known evangelist, he told King, “I’ll ask the Lord the first thing when I get to heaven _ why me?”
_ Jason Anthony
American Missionaries Attacked in India, Sent Back to U.S.
(RNS) Christian groups in India are condemning attacks on four American missionaries in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on June 11.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, in a statement to the media, described the violence as an attack on a peaceful religious gathering.
“It is very unfortunate that foreign nationals are not being treated well in our country, which has a rich tradition of (welcoming) guests,” said spokesman Babu Joseph.
John Dayal, president of the All India Christian Council (AICC), said in an interview that his group will make an independent inquiry into the incident and expressed concern about the escalating violence in states like Maharashtra.
The four American missionaries _ Philip Allan, Clover Edward, Craig Allen and Richard Jenal _ are from a Church of Christ congregation in North Carolina. They were attacked with clubs and swords on June 11 in Malsani, a suburb close to the western Indian commercial capital of Bombay, for being involved in a Bible reading session.
The police, instead of nabbing the attackers, bundled up the Americans and sent them back to the United States, saying they were violating visa regulations.
Indian law forbids those entering on a tourist visa to indulge in preaching or religious activity. The missionaries refute the police theory, saying they were only in a Bible study.
According to a Bible study regular and eyewitness to the attack, Jinsi John, “The missionaries were praying when they were beaten up.”
In 2003, 68-year-old American missionary Joseph William Cooper was attacked with swords and sticks in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Cooper, now a bishop in a Pentecostal fellowship headquartered in Marietta, Ohio, was injured in the attack.
Police arrested 10 members of a Hindu fundamentalist organization but no one has been sentenced.
_ Steven David, in Bangalore, India
University of Akron Expert on Religion and Politics to Join Pew Forum
(RNS) John Green, an often-quoted expert on the intersection of religion and politics, will be a senior fellow at the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life for the 2005-06 academic year.
Green teaches political science and heads the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron in Ohio. Long a valuable source for statistics and analysis of the influence of religion on American politics, Green was especially quotable when Ohio became a battleground state during the 2004 presidential election.
“My goal is not to be quoted, but rather to be helpful,” Green told “Crain’s Cleveland Business” in an interview last October. “My biggest thrill is reading an article and seeing it was a better article because I helped give the writer the perspective, not because I was quoted.”
Green holds a doctorate in political science from Cornell University and is the co-author most recently of “The Values Campaign: The Christian Right in American Politics,” published this year by Georgetown University Press.
The Pew Forum announced Green’s new role Tuesday (June 14). During his fellowship at the Pew Forum, Green will study the role of religion in American politics. He will continue to be based at the University of Akron.
Plan for a Conservative Federation of Anglican Churches Emerges
(RNS) Days before a major meeting in England, a draft constitution for a federation of Anglican churches opposed to gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex unions surfaced on the Internet.
The June 19-28 meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council will bring representatives of all the provinces of the Anglican Communion to Nottingham, England.
Representatives of the Episcopal Church of the USA and the Anglican Church of Canada will be excluded from this meeting, apart from sessions Tuesday (June 21) when they will be able to put their case to representatives of the rest of the Anglican Communion.
The draft _ dated 2004 _ was circulated by Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh, and has been the subject of news stories in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Guardian (London) and the Church Times, the English Anglican weekly.
The president of Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh, Dr. Lionel E. Deimel, said: “While this document seemingly has not been put into effect, its existence shows that this group no longer has any real commitment to maintaining traditional Anglican values of unity, charity and theological diversity, or to respecting diocesan boundaries.”
The Anglican Global Initiative that the draft constitution envisages would be co-chaired by the primates of Nigeria and the West Indies, Archbishops Peter Akinola and Drexel Gomez. Its aim would be to unite Anglicans in the Global South with like-minded Anglicans in North America and the United Kingdom, and above all to provide pastoral care and alternative episcopal oversight for those disagreeing with the policies followed by the leadership of the U.S. and Canadian provinces.
Commenting on the document, the secretary general of the Anglican Consultative Council, Canon Kenneth Kearon, told the Church Times: “This is one of a number of documents in circulation. I am not aware that this particular document _ which I note is dated 2004 _ has received any formal backing and has any formal status.”
According to the report in the Guardian, conservative Episcopalians in the U.S. denied knowledge of the plans, as did a spokesman for the archbishop of Canterbury.
_ Robert Nowell
Editors: Search the RNS photo Web site at https://religionnews.com for a photo of the “Bewitched” statue.
`Bewitched’ Statue Unveiled in Salem, Mass.
(RNS) After months of debating whether big business is trying to make light of a dark past, the Massachusetts city infamous for the witch trials of 1692 has erected a statue dedicated to the 1970s sitcom “Bewitched.”
Local dignitaries, network executives and stars from the show gathered Wednesday (June 15) in Salem to unveil the 9-foot bronze statue that features the character of “Samantha Stevens” (actress Elizabeth Montgomery) on a broomstick. The statue, now located in a downtown park, is a gift from TV Land, a Viacom network that broadcasts reruns of the show.
“The series filmed several episodes in Salem, so it is truly fitting that we would celebrate it with a statue here,” said Larry W. Jones, president of TV Land and Nick at Nite. “We are excited to honor the show with a statue in this great city.”
Most of the 1,500 or so in attendance seemed to be fans of the show, but a few brought signs to protest. One sign, described in the Boston Globe, read “Tragedy Is Not a Joking Subject.”
“They’re trampling on my heritage,” John Reilly of Gloucester, Mass., told the Globe, explaining that his ancestors included witch trial victims Mary Estes and Rebecca Nurse.
The Salem statue marks the fifth “TV Land Landmark” erected in remembrance of a popular show from years ago. The network unveiled the first one in 2000, a statue of Ralph Kramden of “The Honeymooners” at New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal. Others commemorate the characters of “Mary Tyler Moore,” “Andy Griffith” and “Bob Newhart” in cities affiliated with their shows.
In Salem, selling the witch motif is hardly new for the many shops and museums that reap the proceeds of witch-centered tourism, especially at Halloween. Even the local newspaper’s masthead features a witch on a broomstick.
“This sculpture blends contemporary art and pop culture together in this great historic city,” said Salem Mayor Stanley J. Usovicz Jr. “We are very excited to be the home of TV Land’s next landmark.”
_ G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Quote of the Day: Evangelist Billy Graham
(RNS) “In my mind, it is. I wouldn’t like to say `never.’ Never is a bad word.”
_ Evangelist Billy Graham in an interview with the Associated Press, stating that he thinks his last crusade may be the one he will lead June 24-26 in New York.
MO/PH END RNS
Editors: Search the RNS photo Web site at https://religionnews.com for a photo of the `Bewitched’ statue to accompany the last digest item.
