c. 2005 Religion News Service

U.S. Islamic Group Launches Campaign to Combat Home-Grown Terrorism

(RNS) An Islamic organization has launched a national campaign that proposes an expansion of Muslim youth in scouting as one way to combat terrorist ideology, violence and extremism within the American Muslim community.

The Washington-based Muslim American Society (MAS) announced its “Faith Over Fear and Justice for All” campaign at a Monday (July 25) news conference, proposing seven “action items” that the American Muslim community should implement.

Included in the list is an increase in the number of Boy and Girl Scout troops and youth centers available to Muslim youth “to inculcate in our youth the proper understanding of Islam, help them fulfill all their potential, and keep them out of range of extremism and moral vices.”

Also proposed was a program in which the MAS would work with local imams, or Muslim religious leaders, to “leave no chance for terrorists and their views to creep into our community.”

In addition, the group proposed an increased outreach effort to prevent terrorist ideology from being the most common view of Islam. It also suggested a focus on alleviating through diplomatic means social injustices that are often cited by terrorists as justifications for their acts. The group also urges American Muslims to participate in national conversations about war, peace, human rights and social justice.

The MAS further pledged to facilitate a national summit on combating terrorism, which the group said would be a precursor to an international conference on global terrorism.

The MAS launched the initiative in the wake of the two terrorist bombing attacks in London this month.

_ Holly Lebowitz Rossi

British Muslims React to Police Killing of Innocent Brazilian

LONDON (RNS) The police killing of an unarmed and innocent Brazilian at a London subway station has left Britain’s Muslims more apprehensive.

The Muslim Council of Britain has received numerous calls from distressed British Muslims since Friday’s (July 22) killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, a 27-year-old electrician from Minas Gerais, Brazil. According to media reports, he was in Britain on a student visa that had expired.

“While we accept that the police are under tremendous pressure to apprehend the criminals who are attempting to cause carnage on the streets of London, it is absolutely vital that the utmost care is taken to ensure that innocent people are not killed due to overzealousness,” said Sir Iqbal Sacranie, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain.

The British Muslim Forum’s secretary general, Gul Muhammad, said: “What was a ripple of concern, apprehension and fear has suddenly overnight become a wave. The Muslim community is left awash with feelings of uncertainty and doubt, and they have every right to be.”

An opinion poll published by the Daily Telegraph on Saturday found that 34 percent of its sample of 526 British Muslims questioned between July 15 and 22 did not believe the perpetrators of the July 7 bombings were Muslims, while 40 percent believed they were.

However, 77 percent of the sample thought the bombings were “not at all justified,” even though 56 percent thought they could understand why some people might carry out such attacks.

Three-quarters (75 percent) felt that since July 7 relations between Muslims and non-Muslims had deteriorated: 53 percent were “very worried” and 35 percent “fairly worried” that further attacks could cause relations to worsen.

_ Robert Nowell

All Catholics in Western Oregon Become Part of Bankruptcy Case

(RNS) A U.S. bankruptcy judge has agreed to expand the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland’s bankruptcy case to include every Roman Catholic parishioner and contributor in western Oregon _ more than 389,000 people.

As a result of the Friday (July 22) decision, about 80,000 Catholic households will soon get the news in the mail that they are defendants in the property dispute between more than 200 sex abuse plaintiffs and the Archdiocese of Portland.

None of the parishioners or contributors will be personally liable for paying claims if they lose the case. But they could see their parish assets sold or put up as collateral for loans to pay settlements.

The legal maneuver, known as a defendant class action, is so rare in bankruptcy court that Judge Elizabeth Perris has never dealt with one in her 21 years on the bench. All parties involved agreed the class action was the best way to get the stalled, 11-month-old property litigation restarted.

The heart of the dispute _ ownership of property by the archdiocese’s 124 parishes and three high schools _ is vital to the case.

If the $500 million to $600 million in disputed real estate, investments and cash is found to belong to the archdiocese, it will become available to pay off abuse claims now totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. It is those claims that the archdiocese said pushed it into bankruptcy last July.

If the property is found to belong to the parishes, as the archdiocese argues, the parish assets will be declared off limits for abuse settlements. At the time of its Chapter 11 filing, the archdiocese said it owned $10 million in real estate and $9 million in cash deposits.

_ Steve Woodward

New Network of Religious Progressives Launched at Conference

BERKELEY, Calif. (RNS) More than 1,200 spiritual progressives from around the country gathered July 20-23 at a conference to begin building an organization for the spiritual and religious left.

Dubbed the Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP), the new organization seeks to challenge not only religious conservatives, but America’s materialistic culture and the anti-religious bias among secular liberals, conference architect Rabbi Michael Lerner said.

“The monologue of the religious right is finally over,” said the Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners, a progressive organization of Christians based in Washington. “(There’s been) one loud voice on faith politics, and this conference shows that’s changing dramatically.”

The Spiritual Activism Conference served to educate, energize and connect spiritual progressives, and to start crafting NSP’s platform on political and social issues.

Participants met in work groups and discussed subjects from a spiritually progressive viewpoint. Work groups included “Values-Oriented Economy,” “Education for Spiritual Health” and “Environmental Policy: Sacred Stewardship of the Earth.”

The groups presented their findings at the conference’s final convocation. These findings constitute the beginnings of the organization’s platform.

In addition to the eight planned work groups, participants created four more groups themselves, partly in response to perceived shortcomings with the conference.

For example, concerns over the conference’s relative lack of female speakers spurred the formation of the “Feminism and Spirituality” work group, according to a participant in the group.

The conference also featured a host of lectures and seminars.

Speakers included Wallis; Lerner; Rep. Lynne Woolsey, D-Calif.; linguist George Lakoff; Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong; and about 35 other progressive religious leaders, activists and intellectuals.

Participants chose from a slate of 35 separate seminars. Topics included the theology of Christian fundamentalists, media outreach, activism training and socially responsible investing.

Throughout the conference, attendees met in groups of 10 with others from their geographic area, with the expectation that they would continue meeting when they return home.

Many participants said the conference was a hit.

“This is the most exciting time I’ve had since Woodstock,” activist David Schultz said.

A follow-up conference is planned for Feb. 10-13 in Washington.

_ Robert Iafolla

Media Watchdog Group Praises Changed Rating of Popular Video Game

(RNS) A media watchdog group is praising the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s decision to toughen the rating on the popular video game “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,” which is published by Rockstar Games.

The violent game, which formerly held a “mature” rating, was recently relabeled “adults only” after it was discovered that downloading a modification allowed players to unlock a portion of the game that contained sexually suggestive content.

The president of the ESRB has said the scenes were supposed to be inaccessible to players.

After the rating was changed, several major retailers said they would stop carrying the game.

David Walsh, president of the Minneapolis-based National Institute for Media and the Family, said the decision represents a victory for his organization, which pushed for the change. But he said the broader issue of indecency in video games is not yet resolved.

Walsh recommended a board be created to issue game ratings “fully independent of the video game industry.”

“It is clear an independent rating system is the only way parents will get the accurate information they need to make wise media choices for their children,” Walsh said.

_ Hugh S. Moore

Quote of the Day: Annie Laurie Gaylor of the Freedom From Religion Foundation

(RNS) “There’s this tendency to litter our landscape with crosses without considering whether this is the best way to memorialize your loved one. We can all feel sorrow about a roadside accident, but do we have to be preached at every time we drive by?”

_ Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Madison, Wis., commenting on roadside memorials placed in memory of victims of traffic fatalities. She was quoted by USA Today.

MO/PH RNS END