c. 2006 Religion News Service
Study Suggests Support for Shariah Based on Aid to the Poor
(RNS) A recent study by two Indiana academics suggests that Shariah law, the Islamic legal code often associated with strict rules, oppression of women and harsh punishments, has a softer side when it comes to the poor.
Based on data from national surveys in predominantly Islamic countries, the authors found that people linked the establishment of Shariah law with economic reforms such as increasing government responsibility for the poor and reducing income inequality.
The polls were conducted in Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia between 2000 and 2003 by the University of Michigan as part of a “World Values Survey.”
“The orthodox tend to feel that everyone in the community should be subject to what they see as eternal divine laws on the position of women, sexuality and the family. But they also tend to believe that the community and society should look out for its members’ economic well-being,” said co-author Nancy J. Davis, chair of DePauw University’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology, in a statement.
Davis published the findings with co-author Robert V. Robinson, chair of the Indiana University Department of Sociology, in the most recent issue of the American Sociological Review.
The authors also found that 88 percent of Saudi respondents viewed establishing Islamic law as “important” or “very important,” as did 82 percent of Egyptians, 80 percent of Jordanians, 72 percent of Algerians, 62 percent of Pakistanis, 53 percent of Indonesians and 45 percent of Bangladeshis.
Radical Islamist groups favoring Shariah law, Davis and Robinson found, have won supporters in Egypt, Indonesia, the Palestinian Territories and other Muslim-majority countries by succeeding where often corrupt and incompetent governments have failed in creating social welfare networks that include clinics, hospitals, day care centers and unemployment agencies.
Alia Hogben, executive director of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, cautioned that Shariah law _ which she prefers to call Muslim law _ is intensely debated in the Muslim world, with some scholars challenging the notion that the laws are divine.
“Muslim laws are based on the Quran and Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad), but they’re interpreted by men,” said Hogben, who helped lead a successful effort last year to prevent Shariah and other religious laws from being incorporated into Ontario’s family laws.
Egalitarianism, she added, is important to Muslims less because of Shariah and more because charity is one of Islam’s “five pillars.” “If anybody is trying to be a good Muslim, they have to give charity,” she said.
“Egalitarianism is an intrinsic part of being Muslim, regardless of Muslim law.”
_ Omar Sacirbey
Arkansas Pastor to Be Nominated as Southern Baptist President
(RNS) An Arkansas megachurch pastor will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention by a Georgia pastor who originally was expected to run for the position.
Ronnie Floyd, pastor of First Baptist Church in Springdale, Ark., will be nominated by Johnny Hunt, a Woodstock, Ga., pastor, Hunt announced in a statement Sunday (May 7).
“I believe Dr. Floyd is a man matched for our times in this season of the Southern Baptist Convention,” Hunt said in his statement, noting Floyd’s past service as chairman of the Executive Committee of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.
Floyd pastors a church with more than 16,000 members that expanded with a second location in 2001.
Hunt said he had been asked to run but thought Floyd should run instead. The election will be held during the annual meeting of Southern Baptists June 13-14 in Greensboro, N.C.
“Due to not getting the real peace I needed in my heart to do this, I called Ronnie one month ago and shared this with him,” Hunt said in his statement. “When I called him to share this conviction about myself, I shared with an equal conviction that I believed he was the man God had raised up for such a time as this to lead Southern Baptists.”
Floyd confirmed his agreement on the planned nomination, which he called a “megabomb,” in his blog (http://www.betweensundays.com) on Tuesday.
“The SBC possibility emerges as perhaps another way to help our church fulfill its mission through their pastor serving this denomination as a volunteer for the next year and possibly two as its president,” he wrote.
Floyd was criticized in 2004 by Americans United for Separation of Church and State for a July 4 speech in which the watchdog group said he praised President Bush and criticized Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Floyd denied that he had used his pulpit to help re-elect Bush.
The Arkansas pastor is featured on his “Winners” television broadcast and is the author of “Finding the Favor of God” and “The Gay Agenda: It’s Dividing the Family, the Church and a Nation.”
Bobby Welch, the current president of the 16.2 million-member denomination, is limited to two consecutive one-year terms.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Panel Lists Afghanistan on Religious Freedom Watch List
WASHINGTON (RNS) Afghanistan, already sharply criticized for considering a death sentence for a Christian man who converted from Islam, is under renewed attack by an influential group that accused the country of religious intolerance.
In its annual report released on May 3, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said the new Afghan constitution “does not contain clear protections for the right to freedom of religion or belief for individual Afghan citizens.”
The commission, an independent, bipartisan watchdog group created by Congress in 1998, said other cases of religious persecution have occurred time and again, due in large part to Chief Justice Fazl Hadi Shinwari’s intolerance toward freedom of religion, speech and gender equality.
“The attitude in Afghanistan affects Muslims and non-Muslims alike,” said Preeta D. Bansal, a constitutional lawyer who serves on the commission. “These developments indicate that religious extremism is a threat.”
The Afghan government this spring abandoned plans to execute Abdul Rahman for converting to Christianity after an international uproar. But Rahman, fearing for his safety, left Afghanistan for Italy.
The commission placed Afghanistan on its new “watch list,” along with repeat appearances from Bangladesh, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria. The commission suggests the U.S. government closely monitor conditions in those countries.
The commission’s more serious list of “countries of particular concern” is unchanged. The report said China, Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Burma, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam continue policies like torture and unfair detainment.
The commission left off Iraq, India, Russia and Sri Lanka, but said it is concerned enough to continue to closely monitor their human rights policies.
While the commission is highly regarded in Washington and internationally, it has no independent power. Its annual report goes to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who then can decide whether the U.S. should take action.
Commission members expressed disappointment that little has been done to punish the countries cited in previous reports. Vice Chairwoman Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom at Freedom House, said the United States has been particularly weak in disciplining Middle East ally Saudi Arabia.
Commissioner Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention said the commission cannot impose specific First Amendment policies on other countries, adding that a government’s religious standard is its own business.
“But it’s the business of humankind that human beings have certain basic human rights, and among them is the right of freedom of conscience, freedom of belief, freedom of practice and freedom to change one’s faith,” Land said.
_ Piet Levy
American Baptists in California May Be Heading Toward Split
(RNS) A Southern California-based regional group of churches will vote May 11 on whether to sever ties with the American Baptist Churches USA over a debate about homosexuality.
In a nonbinding referendum on April 29, delegates within the American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest, based in Covina, Calif., voted 1,125-209 to recommend that its board of directors take that step.
Meeting in seven locations in four states, the delegates were asked to make a recommendation to the board, which has stated that “deep differences of theological convictions and values” between the region and the denomination are “irreconcilable.”
The regional board recommended withdrawal last September after its members concluded that the denomination has not enforced a resolution that states “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” The board then sought input from churches in Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii.
“While the board had authority on its own to withdraw from the national denomination, it called for a special meeting of delegates from churches `to provide the board with the guidance and input it needs to make a responsible and informed decision,”’ the regional group said in a statement.
Leaders of the 1.5-million-member denomination were saddened by the continuing steps by the Pacific Southwest group to sever the relationship.
“It is with profound sorrow that we have come to this point of separation,” said the Rev. A. Roy Medley, general secretary of the American Baptist Churches USA. “We consider it unfortunate that, at a time when secular society is merging and coming together, there are those in our Christian family who seek to divide even in light of our Lord’s request to remain one in unity.”
In a news release, the Valley Forge, Pa.-based denomination stated that if the regional group parts ways, some churches in the association that wish to remain American Baptist intend to immediately form another association of churches.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Appeals Court Says N.Y. Church Can Allow Homeless to Sleep on Steps
(RNS) A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a prominent New York church that sued to allow homeless people to sleep on its steps and sidewalk.
The April 27 decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a lower court ruling that allows Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church to continue offering shelter on its steps to New York’s homeless population.
In November 2001, the City of New York told the church it could no longer allow homeless people to sleep on its property as it had for the past two years. City officials said the outdoor site constituted an illegal shelter and argued city shelters were better equipped to aid the homeless.
The following month, police began clearing people from the site at night. The church co-filed a suit with the American Civil Liberties Union, stating the raids constituted trespassing, violated the right to free association and hindered the exercise of the church’s religious mission as outlined in the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.
In March 2002, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed a court brief on behalf of the church and several religious organizations, including the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Council of Churches of the City of New York.
A federal judge temporarily barred police from raiding the site during the proceedings, and later ruled that police could not forcibly remove the homeless from the church’s steps. The judge, however, upheld the city’s right to remove them from church-owned sidewalk.
The church called the judge’s initial ruling “a strong defense of religious freedom” that reflects “an important part of the ancient Christian tradition of offering hospitality to the poor and to strangers.”
The church operates a small homeless shelter in its basement. Although the church cannot accommodate all of the people who sleep outside the building, church leaders said they considered them part of their ministry and offered them hot coffee, services and medical attention when needed.
_ Anne Pessala
Theologians Protest Rice Speech at Boston College
(RNS) Two theology professors at Boston College have launched a protest against the scheduled May 22 commencement address by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, saying her “practical moral judgment” contradicts Catholic teaching.
Theology chairman Kenneth Himes and professor David Hollenbach issued a letter to the university’s faculty on May 2 that objects to an honorary degree for Rice, which has been standard university practice for commencement speakers for 130 years.
The letter reads: “On the level of both moral principle and practical moral judgment, Secretary Rice’s approach to international affairs is in fundamental conflict with Boston College’s commitment to the values of the Catholic and Jesuit traditions and is inconsistent with the humanistic values that inspire the university’s work.”
The letter also makes mention of the late Pope John Paul II’s disapproval of the war in Iraq.
“We didn’t want to let this event pass without raising very serious questions about Secretary Rice receiving a degree,” Hollenbach said in an interview. “Her judgments about specific policies in Iraq are in conflict with Roman Catholic tradition.”
Himes and Hollenbach claim that 175 faculty members have added their names to their document, but they declined to release the names publicly. A letter from students sharing their position was also issued to the school newspaper.
“I’m really surprised and shocked and a little bit upset by it,” said one of the letter’s co-signers, senior Tony Coppola. Coppola said his primary outrage is with what he called “a fickle administration,” that he says supports some Catholic teaching stances, such as abortion and gay rights, but ignores others, like the Vatican’s stance on Iraq.
The State Department would not confirm or deny that Rice has accepted the university’s invitation, even though school officials say her appearance is set.
Meanwhile, philosophy professor Paul McNellis and political science professor Marc Landy vocally protested the dissent over Rice. “I think it’s grotesque,” Landy said. He in turn wrote his own letter encouraging faculty not to sign Himes and Hollenbach’s document.
“This is the secretary of state of the United States,” Landy said. “She is the second most important executive officer. She represents our country and therefore one would expect her to be courted with a generous welcome. … This is an honor.”
(OPTIONAL TRIM FOLLOWS)
Landy said “the invitation is from (BC president) Father William Leahy, as fine a priest and as fine a Jesuit and as fine a full commander of Catholic doctrine as compared to these critics. I deny that they have religion on their side.”
Boston College spokesman Jack Dunn said the university respects the differences of opinion, and if need be will allow protesters to picket in a designated area outside of the ceremony grounds.
“Catholic means universal, and we recognize that there are varying perspectives among Catholics and Catholic clergy which is welcomed at a university,” Dunn said. “But we feel strongly that at a university that values free expression that we should not censor a speaker whose views may be unpopular with some on campus.”
_ Piet Levy
Sister Rose Thering, Advocate for Jewish-Christian Ties, Dies at 85
(RNS) Sister Rose Thering, a Roman Catholic nun internationally recognized for fighting anti-Semitism and improving ties between Catholics and Jews, has died. She was 85.
Thering died of kidney failure Saturday (May 6) while living at the Siena Center of the Sisters of St. Dominic in Racine, Wis. Thering returned to her native state after she retired last year from Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., where she was professor emerita of education and the namesake for the Sister Rose Thering Endowment for Jewish-Christian Studies.
“For a half century she was an uncommon, inspired voice of reconciliation and dialogue among Christians and Jews,” said Monsignor Robert Sheeran, Seton Hall’s president.
“Her support for the nation of Israel, her determination to root out anti-Semitism wherever it exists, and her commitment to educating new generations about the evils of the Holocaust form her lasting legacy.”
Thering was born Aug. 9, 1920, in Plain, Wis., the sixth of 11 children in a German-American Catholic family. Raised on her parents’ farm, she joined Racine’s Siena Center at 16, training to become a nun in the Sisters of St. Dominic. As a teacher, Thering discovered religious texts that portrayed Jews as Christ-killers. Those depictions, appalling to her, were the subject of her doctoral dissertation at St. Louis University in 1961.
A year later, the study was used by Cardinal Augustin Bea to draft portions of the Vatican document “Nostra Aetate,” which ruled that Christ’s death “cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today.”
Thering’s crusade continued in gestures big and small. She led more than 50 excursions to Israel sponsored by Seton Hall, where she taught for 36 years. She received more than 80 humanitarian awards, and was the first woman to be given the Anti-Defamation League’s Cardinal Bea Interfaith Award in 2004.
She was the subject of “Sister Rose’s Passion,” a short documentary nominated for an Academy Award in 2005. She presented a menorah to Pope Paul VI in 1974, and wore a Star of David fused to the cross around her neck.
“She was a one-woman wrecking crew,” said Rabbi James Rudin, senior inter-religious adviser for the American Jewish Committee, and a friend of Thering’s for 36 years. “What she helped wreck was 2,000 years of the teaching of contempt, which was built into so much of Christian teaching. … I can only describe her as an original, and there will never be another like her.”
Thering is survived by six siblings, two brothers and four sisters. Her funeral is scheduled in Wisconsin on Tuesday.
_ Piet Levy
Quote of the Week: Alabama Methodist Pastor John Tanner
(RNS) “Dan Brown has given the church a gift. More people in the world will be talking about Jesus on May 19 than ever before.”
_ The Rev. John Tanner, pastor of Cove United Methodist Church near Huntsville, Ala., commenting on Dan Brown, best-selling author of “The Da Vinci Code,” which will premiere as a movie on May 19.
END RNS
