c. 2006 Religion News Service

U.S. Commission Finds `Serious Problem’ With Anti-Semitism on Campuses

WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights reports that many college campuses have a “serious problem” with anti-Semitism and urges universities and government agencies to take corrective steps.

The independent, bipartisan agency reached these conclusions and voted on recommendations Monday (April 3) in a teleconference meeting open to the public. The commission cited a report that came after the commission examined, at a November hearing, specific instances of alleged anti-Semitism.

The commission heard reports of derogatory comments and use of hate symbols, such as swastikas. Stereotypes are also prevalent, the report said, inspired by anti-Israel and anti-Zionist literature that paints Jews as “greedy, aggressive, overly powerful, or conspiratorial.”

The commission also concluded there is substantial evidence that many university departments of Middle Eastern studies are one-sided and may repress debate that defends Israel.

The commission does not set policy or have enforcement power, but recommended that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights protect harassed students by vigorously enforcing the Civil Rights Act. The commission also urged the office to conduct a public education campaign informing students of their rights and protections under federal civil rights laws.

The commission asked Congress to direct the U.S. Department of Education to collect and report data concerning anti-Semitism and other hate crimes at colleges. The Civil Rights Act should be amended, the commission said, to clarify that discrimination against Jewish persons is prohibited.

The report suggested that university leaders ensure their students’ safety, denounce anti-Semitic speech and insist that Middle Eastern studies programs respect diversity of ideas. The report issued from the teleconference did not quantify problems or cite specific examples, but an upcoming report is expected to offer more details.

The San Francisco-based Institute for Jewish and Community Research praised the findings.

“It’s high time U.S. college administrators, who receive billions in federal and state taxpayer dollars, defend all students against harassment and discrimination,” said institute president Gary Tobin, who had testified at the November hearing. “Going to college should involve learning, not getting through being called a Nazi.”

_ Piet Levy

Survey: More Americans Reading Bible at Least Once a Week

(RNS) A survey shows the percentage of Americans who say they regularly read the Bible continues to increase.

The survey, conducted by the Barna Group, found that 47 percent of respondents said they open the Bible on a weekly basis, up from just 31 percent in 1995 and 40 percent six years ago.

The survey also polled respondents on six other “religious behaviors” including church attendance and attending small groups like Bible studies. Forty-seven percent said they attend church on a weekly basis, up from 37 percent a decade ago, while 23 percent said they attend small group functions affiliated with church.

Twenty-seven percent of those asked said that they volunteer through church, while 24 percent said that they attend Sunday school, up from 17 percent in 1996.

Survey director George Barna said it was unusual for there to be an increase in participation in all of these religious behaviors at the same time.

“The intriguing possibility,” he said in a statement, “is that with most of our key behavioral measures showing increases at the same time, there is the possibility that this may herald a holistic, lasting commitment to engagement with God and the Christian faith.”

The Barna report was based on data taken from 1,003 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone in January. The Barna Group is a private, for-profit corporation in Ventura, Calif., that conducts research on spiritual development.

_ Nate Herpich

Richard Gere Offers to Pay for Repair of Road Leading to Dalai Lama

(RNS) Hollywood star Richard Gere has promised to provide funds to India to help repair a narrow mountain road leading to the house of the Dalai Lama, the Buddhist spiritual leader living in exile.

Revealing the offer to the state legislative assembly on March 24, legislator Vijay Singh Mankotia said Gere had promised funds “provided the money is properly spent.”

The Dalai Lama lives in Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile since 1959, when the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers escaped to India following the Chinese invasion of Tibet. Gere, a follower and friend of the Dalai Lama, is a regular visitor to the town.

Following a tour of Nepal in 1978, Gere converted to Buddhism. He has since actively promoted the cause of Tibet and the Dalai Lama.

_ Achal Narayanan

Biblical Self-Defense Class Held by United Church of Christ Seminary

(RNS) A seminary is conducting an online self-defense course for United Church of Christ members besieged by conservative reactions to their denomination’s liberal social positions on gay rights and other issues.

A six-week online course offered by Chicago Theological Seminary, a UCC-affiliated institution, helps those accosted for “not believing in the Bible,” said a UCC statement promoting the class.

The course _ “Biblical and Theological Self-Defense for the United Church of Christ” _ began March 27 and is being taught by the Rev. Susan Thistlethwaite, president of Chicago Theological Seminary.

In attending numerous denominational meetings and conferences throughout the country, Thistlethwaite said she hears UCC members “saying that they feel as if they are under attack and they feel ill-equipped when someone says `Why do you go to that gay church?’ or claims that the UCC’s social and theological positions are `against the Bible.”’

“We need to help our people come to their own defense,” she said. “There are many who feel like they don’t know how to respond when attacked from a place of biblical literalism.”

The 1.3 million-member UCC was the first mainline American Protestant denomination to ordain openly gay clergy and in 2005 formally endorsed same-sex marriage, a position that has earned the UCC criticism from some religious conservatives.

The class addresses concepts like theology, Christology and ethics in addition to more practical concerns _ such as how UCC members can muster the “courage to stand up for themselves and their church,” the UCC said in its announcement.

_ Chris Herlinger

Quote of the Day: Al-Qaida terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui

(RNS) “You’ll never get my blood. God curse you all.”

_ Al-Qaida terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, speaking Monday (April 3) after an Alexandria, Va., federal jury determined he is eligible for the death penalty. Moussaoui, the only person charged in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, was quoted by The Washington Times.

MO/PH END RNS