c. 2006 Religion News Service
In Britain, Little Sympathy With Muslims’ Reaction to Cartoons
LONDON (RNS) A newly published opinion poll indicates the British public has little sympathy for Muslims angered by cartoons satirizing the Prophet Muhammad that have been printed in European newspapers.
The YouGov survey for the Sunday Times newspaper (Feb. 12) showed 88 percent of the more than 1,600 men and women who were interviewed thought the violent protests the 12 Danish caricatures sparked around the world were a “gross exaggeration.”
Some 58 percent vented their own fury over the placards some Muslim protesters carried during a demonstration in London, one of which demanded, “Behead those who insult Islam.” More than three-fourths _ 76 percent _ said the police should have arrested those carrying offensive or provocative banners.
Scotland Yard police insisted their priority at the time was public safety and that film and photographs would be examined later to determine whether any charges should be made. One protester, a convicted drug dealer, was sent back to prison for parole violation after he was photographed wearing a suicide bomber-style vest.
The Sunday Times poll was published a day after an estimated 5,000 Muslims, many waving posters calling for unity against Islamophobia, staged a peaceful demonstration in London’s Trafalgar Square. Some 500 police officers patrolled the event.
But the global violence attending the publication of the cartoons has already left many Britons pessimistic about the future of relations between Muslims and the rest of the population. Only 17 percent of respondents in the Sunday Times poll said they believe Muslims can co-exist with others peacefully in Britain.
The vast majority of the interviewees said tensions will get much worse, and 87 percent expect further attacks by Islamic groups along the lines of the July 7 suicide bombings of three London underground trains and a bus that left 52 dead, plus the four Muslim bombers.
The Sunday Times said its survey showed that “where foreigners stir up racial and religious hatred, 81 percent of (British) people think they should be sent back to their own countries, even if to do so would endanger their lives.”
_ Al Webb
Muslims Launch Campaign to Educate About Prophet Muhammad
(RNS) What would Muhammad do?
That’s one question the Council on American-Islamic Relations hopes to help answer as violence in some Muslim countries over unflattering cartoons of Islam’s prophet continues to claim lives and fuel tensions between the Islamic and Western worlds.
The Washington-based Muslim advocacy group launched a year-long campaign Tuesday (Feb. 14) called “Explore the Life of Muhammad.”
CAIR will allow visitors to its Web site to order either “Muhammad,” a biography, or “Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet,” a PBS documentary on DVD. Both are from 2002. CAIR will also help Muslim communities arrange their own events, such as documentary screenings, panel discussions and mosque open houses, and hopes to eventually expand the effort to Europe.
Last May, CAIR started an “Explore the Quran” campaign after reports alleging that American soldiers desecrated Islam’s holy book sparked deadly riots in parts of the Muslim world. CAIR offered to send copies of Islam’s holy book to anyone who asked, and has since received requests for more than 27,000, it said.
As the Muhammad campaign was launched Tuesday, violence fueled by the cartoons left two people dead in Pakistan.
Several European newspapers republished the controversial cartoons, some depicting Muhammad as a terrorist, two weeks ago. They were originally published last September in a Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten.
Hooper said he hopes the campaign will send the message that Muhammad would condemn the violence. “We’ve been reminding Muslims that violence and other inappropriate responses only serve to reinforce existing stereotypes,” Hooper said.
Muhammad epitomized forgiveness and compassion in the face of hostility, Hooper said.
Imam Mohamed Magid, executive director of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society near Washington, D.C., which serves about 5,000 families, praised the initiative, but also said Muslims should look at anti-Semitism in their own media. The CAIR campaign does not address anti-Semitism in Muslim media.
“Muslims should speak up on this also,” Magid said. “If you don’t like something for yourself, you should not like it for others. Bigotry is bigotry.”
_ Omar Sacirbey
Parishioners Keep Watch Outside Alabama Churches
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) As authorities continued to investigate the arson that has hit 10 rural Baptist churches in Alabama, residents of those areas were keeping watch on their own churches.
“You pull in a churchyard now, you’re just about going to see a police car or a civilian (vehicle) pull up in there,” said the Rev. Robert Murphy, pastor of Pleasant Sabine Baptist Church, one of five in the county that was hit by fires on Feb. 3.
“Who knows? They could come back through here and start all over again.”
Investigators have said each of the 10 church fires was deliberately set. Six of the buildings were either gutted or burned to the ground. Nine of the church fires are believed to have been set by the same people, but authorities were reluctant to say that about the most recent fire, the Saturday (Feb. 11) blaze which gutted the Beaverton Free Will Baptist Church in Lamar County.
“It’s too early in the investigation,” said spokesman Eric Kehn of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Two men, possibly in a dark sport-utility vehicle, are being sought in the first nine arsons.
Pleasant Sabine Baptist Church burned to the ground Feb. 3. Murphy said it might take up to $250,000 to rebuild it. He said some members of predominantly white Old Union Baptist Church, whose building was partially fire-damaged on Feb. 3, have offered to help predominantly black Pleasant Sabine clear the fire debris off its property.
“We’re all brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter what color,” said Old Union member Connie Lawley. “And we’re going to have to help each other any way we can.”
About 150 state, local and federal officers are investigating the arsons. Kehn said Monday (Feb. 13) that investigators were still checking out leads.
“If the investigators have uncovered anything, they’re not saying,” said the Rev. Steve Patrick, head of the Bibb County Baptist Association.
On Monday, the Christian Coalition of Alabama offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the church fires. The state of Alabama and the ATF each have offered $5,000 rewards. Alfa Insurance has offered a $10,000 reward for a conviction in any of the arson cases, and an additional $7,500 for each conviction in a case involving one of the five burned churches insured by the company.
_ Tom Gordon
Pope Prays Turkish Priest’s Death Will Spark Interfaith Dialogue
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Amid appeals for the Vatican to harden its stance toward Islam, Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday (Feb. 8) expressed hope that the murder of an Italian priest in Turkey would strengthen the push for dialogue between religions.
Before a crowd of thousands at his weekly general audience, Benedict praised the Rev. Andrea Santoro for his missionary work among Christian minorities in Turkey.
“May the Lord welcome the soul of this silent and courageous servant of the Gospel,” Benedict said. “May the sacrifice of his life contribute to the cause of dialogue among religions and peace among peoples.”
The tribute came amid a swell of public outrage in Italy over the death of Santoro, who was gunned down Sunday after celebrating Mass at his parish in the predominantly Muslim town of Trabzon, Turkey.
Anger over the death appeared to sharpen Tuesday after Turkish television reported that the priest’s captured assassin cited the publication of Danish cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad as his motive for the killing.
In an interview published Wednesday in La Repubblica of Rome, Italy’s right-wing Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli said that Benedict “must intervene as did Pius V and Innocence XI” _ Renaissance popes who mounted armies that waged decisive battles against invading Turks.
“Those popes stepped in for the governments. They forged grand coalitions to defeat the Islamic emergency,” Calderoli said.
Future dialogue with the Muslim world, Calderoli said, should focus on the “reciprocity of rights,” or the principle that the religious rights of Muslim minorities in Europe should depend on the rights and safety of Christian minorities living in Muslim countries.
Next fall, Benedict plans to visit Turkey, where he is considered unpopular for views he expressed as a cardinal.
In an interview in 2004, the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger criticized Turkish hopes to join the European Union, asserting that the country’s Muslim history put it in “permanent contrast to Europe.”
_ Stacy Meichtry
With $322 Million, Faith-Based Initiative Takes Its Show on the Road
HARRISBURG, Pa. (RNS) With more than $322 million available for faith-based community organizations, the Bush administration is marketing in the heartland to show social service providers how to apply for the grants.
More than 700 people from 28 states gathered Tuesday (Feb. 7) in a Harrisburg hotel to learn how to apply for federal money for programs for the homeless, hungry, at-risk youths, people with HIV/AIDS, welfare families and people with addictions.
The 21st regional gathering was an “opportunity to come together to share experiences and network and meet a lot of interesting people” who can help them, said Jim Towey, assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
Sharon Smith, who works with 15 city youngsters through the Hillside Pathfinder Thunderbird Club in Harrisburg, plans to apply for a grant to buy tents for a camping program and uniforms.
The group, which is sponsored by the Hillside Seventh-day Adventist Church, is similar to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
Spencer Corbett, a housing coordinator with RIGHT Inc., drove from Washington for information to fund his work in housing and case management of mothers and single men with HIV/AIDS.
“Funding is an ongoing problem,” he said. “We’ve been blessed that our funding has continued, but funds have decreased.”
President Bush, who proposed a 36 percent increase for the program in his budget released this week, said in a video presentation, “We want to help you to better understand the federal grants process so that your organization will have the federal resources needed to magnify your good works.”
Without alluding to criticism of the response to natural disasters, Bush said he saw “the good work of your `armies of compassion’ when you mobilized to come to the relief of fellow citizens who lost their homes and livelihoods. You showed how faith-based community organizations can deliver millions of meals and shelter tens of thousands of people on short notice.”
Towey warned the group, however, “If you receive government money, you can’t preach with it.” Money cannot be used for evangelizing or to show favoritism for a particular faith or discriminate against a faith.
_ Judith Patton and Brett Lieberman
Church of England Disinvests, Citing Israel’s `Illegal Occupation’
LONDON (RNS) The Church of England has voted to pull its investments out of companies, including the U.S. machinery giant Caterpillar Inc., that it claims are profiting from Israel’s “illegal occupation” of Palestinian territory.
The surprise action, which came Monday at the behest of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, was approved overwhelmingly by the Church’s general synod Monday (Feb. 6) and appears to target the 2.2 million-pound ($3.92 million) holdings it has in Caterpillar.
The disinvestment vote signaled Church of England concerns that the bulldozers that Caterpillar manufactures are used by Israel to demolish Palestinian homes. The same sort of earthmoving equipment is used by the Palestinians in their own rebuilding work.
The holdings in Caterpillar are part of the Church of England’s overall share portfolio that published figures put at $1.6 billion.
The motion approved by the general synod specifically calls on the Church of England “to disinvest from companies profiting from the illegal occupation, such as Caterpillar, until they change their policies.”
During the debate, a message was read to the synod from the Episcopal bishop of Jerusalem, the Right Rev. Riah Abu el-Assai, who complained that “nonviolent instruments such as divestment from companies that produce death rather than life does (sic) not get the same attention” as the church gives to issues such as human sexuality.
The worldwide Anglican Communion called for such a disinvestment move at a meeting last summer. That action was greeted by protests from Israel and Jewish groups.
The Guardian newspaper in London reported that Caterpillar “insists it has not provided the earthmovers directly to Israel but to the U.S. military, which sold them on.”
_ Al Webb
Muslims Accuse Newspaper of Hypocrisy in Rejecting Cartoons of Christ
(RNS) Muslim-American leaders are arguing that a Danish newspaper’s decision to not run cartoons lampooning Christ proves that the newspaper is disingenuous in claiming that freedom of speech motivated it to publish cartoons ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad.
Rather, these leaders say, the Jyllands-Posten cartoons are the product of a growing Islamophobic climate in Europe.
“Clearly, this is a case of double standards,” said Asma Afsaruddin, an Islamic studies professor at the University of Notre Dame.
“They talk about the freedom to offend, but when they had the opportunity to offend a lot of people in Denmark of the Christian faith, they chose not too, quite rightly,” said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, D.C. “It adds to the perception that this was an intentional insult and not an expression of freedom of speech.”
The Guardian newspaper in London reported Monday (Feb. 6) that in April 2003, Danish illustrator Christoffer Zieler submitted a series of unsolicited cartoons dealing with the resurrection of Christ to Jyllands-Posten.
Zieler received an e-mail back from the paper’s Sunday editor, Jens Kaiser, which said: “I don’t think Jyllands-Posten’s readers will enjoy the drawings. As a matter of fact, I think that they will provoke an outcry. Therefore, I will not use them.”
Zieler told The Guardian he felt Jyllands-Posten rated the feelings of its Christian readers higher than those of its Muslim readers. Kaiser responded that the case was “ridiculous to bring forward now. It has nothing to do with the Muhammad cartoons.”
Danish journalist Jytte Klauson, in a piece in Salon.com Wednesday (Feb. 8), also asserted that free speech was not the newspaper’s motive. “It has long been evident to me that religious toleration and reverence for human rights have been sorely lacking in Denmark. … Free speech is not really the mission of the paper at the center of the maelstrom, nor of the present Danish government,” he wrote.
With the Jesus cartoons, “they realized there was not merely an issue of freedom of speech, but that as a responsible member of the community, they have an obligation to respect people’s religious sensibilities,” Afsaruddin said.
_ Omar Sacirbey
Cardinal Says Pope John Paul II Contemplated Early Retirement
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The late Pope John Paul II considered resigning in his final years of life but decided against the move, fearing his withdrawal could put pressure on future popes, according to a Vatican cardinal.
In a new memoir, titled “In the Vicinity of Jericho: Memories of the Years with St. Josemaria and John Paul II,” Cardinal Julian Herranz recalls how John Paul’s struggle with Parkinson’s disease and other ailments rendered him incapable of running the church and stirred speculation he might retire.
On Dec. 17, 2004, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, the pope’s personal secretary, approached Herranz to discuss whether the pope should resign for health reasons.
Dziwisz is quoted as saying John Paul “was afraid of creating a dangerous precedent for his successors” who might be “exposed to maneuvers and subtle pressure from those who might want to depose them.”
Fewer than a dozen popes are believed to have resigned in the history of Roman Catholicism. The most famous case of papal abdication came on Dec. 13, 1294, when Celestine V resigned under pressure after five months in office. He was kept in confinement until his death two years later.
Herranz, an Opus Dei member who heads the Vatican’s Council for Legislative Texts, writes that he was consulted for his experience in canon law.
Although bishops and cardinals are required to retire at 75, Herranz concluded that the provision “should not” apply to John Paul, because the mission of a pope was “very different” and came directly from Christ.
Herranz quotes Dziwisz as saying that John Paul was “personally very detached from the office (and) lives abandoned to the will of God. He places himself in the hands of Divine Providence.”
Herranz described John Paul’s decision to seek advice as a sign of “obedience and prudence.”
_ Stacy Meichtry
CeCe Winans Collects More Grammy Hardware
(RNS) Gospel singer CeCe Winans added two more trophies to her collection Wednesday (Feb. 8) at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.
The Detriot-born artist earned awards for best contemporary soul gospel album for “Purified,” her seventh solo album, and best gospel performance for the album’s first single, “Pray.”
Gladys Knight and the Saints Unified Voices choir earned best gospel choir or chorus album for “One Voice.”
Other gospel category winners were:
_ Best Gospel Song: “Be Blessed” by Yolanda Adams, James Harris III, Terry Lewis & James Q. Wright
_ Best Rock Gospel Album: “Until My Heart Caves In” by Audio Adrenaline
_ Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album: “Lifesong” by Casting Crowns
_ Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album: “Rock of Ages … Hymns & Faith” by Amy Grant
_ Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album: “Psalms Hymns & Spiritual Songs” by Donnie McClurkin
The show featured several performances by gospel artists, including the Hezekiah Walker & Love Fellowship Choir, who sang with Mariah Carey; Robert Randolph, who lent his guitar prowess to Aerosmith in a tribute to one of the godfathers of funk, Sly Stone; and Yolanda Adams, who sang during the show’s finale in a tribute to New Orleans.
Irish rock band U2 swept up five Grammys at the show, which was aired by CBS from Los Angeles’ Staples Center. U2 lead singer Bono, an international advocate for the poor, spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington Feb. 2.
_ Enette Ngoei
Focus on the Family Backs Colo. Measure For Nonmarital Benefits
(RNS) Focus on the Family, a group known for its opposition to gay marriage, is supporting a proposed Colorado bill that would benefit gay couples and other adults seeking benefits outside a traditional marital relationship.
The bill, introduced by Republican state Sen. Shawn Mitchell, calls for the creation of “reciprocal beneficiary agreements” that would extend specific rights to two unmarried persons such as health care insurance benefits.
Mitchell’s bill would also permit them to be involved in medical decisions, joint property ownership and some decisions that would be made at the time of death, such as disposition of remains.
Jim Pfaff, a state policy analyst for the Colorado Springs-based conservative Christian organization, said Focus on the Family supports this bill because it helps a range of individuals and does not give special recognition to gay couples. He cited the example of two elderly women living together and sharing their Social Security benefits.
“This is not a pro-gay bill,” he said. “It benefits any two adults who want to undertake this.”
Pfaff said his organization also supports an initiative in Colorado that would amend the state constitution to declare that marriage is between a man and a woman.
Paul Cameron, chairman of the Family Research Institute, a separate think tank also based in Colorado Springs, harshly criticized Focus’ support of the bill, which he said creates a version of “marriage lite” benefits.
“They’re stripping out some of the benefits of marriage,” said Cameron of the bill.
Jay Smith Brown, a spokesman with the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based gay rights organization, also did not welcome Focus’ action.
“This is an extremist group that’s built its foundation on attacking our families, so their support is disingenuous and highly suspect,” he said, noting that the bill gives a “handful of protections” while denying many others to gay couples.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Israeli Debate Over Kosher Whiskey Creates Little Buzz Among U.S. Jews
(RNS) A debate in Israel over the kosher merits of whiskey has failed to dampen the spirits of kosher drinkers in America.
The head of the rabbinate in Bnei Brak, an ultra-religious community near Tel Aviv, recently said whiskey is not kosher since it is aged in barrels that once produced non-kosher wine, according to YNet News, an English-language Web site affiliated with the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
Israel’s chief rabbinate, which provides the import permits for kosher food, will have to take up the issue, according to the Web site.
But supervisors of kashrut in America say they can’t understand what the fuss is all about. This issue was debated decades ago, they say, when authorities argued whether the amount of wine that could seep into whiskey through its processing was negligible.
Every certification organization was “totally familiar” with how whiskey is made, as well as the surrounding questions of kashrut, the Jewish dietary law, said Rabbi Avrom Pollak, president of Star-K, an international kosher certification group headquartered in Baltimore.
Star-K has long followed a policy that does not certify whiskey that is either produced or finished in wine casks that have been used for non-kosher wine. However, in recommending items to consumers that it does not specifically certify, the group takes the majority Orthodox consensus _ permitting whiskeys made in wine casks, but recommending against whiskeys finished in wine casks, because of the intention to integrate the wine flavor, Pollak said.
Since its policy has long been laid down, the debate in Israel “will have absolutely no impact on us whatsoever,” Pollak said.
The New York-based Orthodox Union, the largest kosher supervisors in the world, also does not certify whiskeys made or finished in wine casks, said Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO and rabbinic administrator of the group’s kashrut division, which certifies more than 6,000 plants from Coca-Cola to Hershey’s.
_ Rachel Pomerance
Quote of the Week: Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo
(RNS) “She doesn’t have the theatrical instinct that he has. She is more of a Methodist, and he is more theatrical.”
_ Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, comparing the speaking styles of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a United Methodist, and former President Bill Clinton, a Southern Baptist, after the couple spoke at Coretta Scott King’s funeral. Cuomo was quoted by The New York Times.
MO/PH END RNS
