c. 2006 Religion News Service
Poll Shows Declining Religious Influence on Society
(RNS) A solid majority of Americans believe that the earth is getting warmer, that religion’s influence on society is waning and that the U.S. is a Christian nation, according to a new poll released Thursday (Aug. 24).
The poll, a joint effort of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, shows Americans’ attitudes toward a host of issues touching on faith and public policy.
Politicians in Washington may note that only 26 percent of Americans see the Democratic Party as “friendly to religion.” But the number of Americans _ particularly white evangelical Protestants _ who view the Republican party as friendly to religion has fallen from 55 percent last year to 47 percent today, according to the Pew poll. Less than half of the population (44 percent) holds a favorable view of Christian conservatives.
Meanwhile, 69 percent of Americans say liberals have gone too far in trying to keep religion out of schools and government. At the same time, 49 percent believe conservative Christians have gone too far in trying to impose their religious values on the country, up 4 percent since 2005.
The percentages of American political/religious life remain relatively small, with only 7 percent of the public identifying with the “religious left,” while just 11 percent identify with the “religious right.”
More Americans (32 percent) think of themselves as “liberal or progressive Christians,” than identify as white evangelical Christians (24 percent).
But evangelicals remain more cohesive, according to the pollsters, because members “share core religious beliefs as well as crystalized and consistently conservative political attitudes.”
That cohesion can be seen in the number of evangelicals who believe God gave Israel to the Jews (69 precent), that the Bible is the literal word of God (62 percent) and that Israel is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy (59 percent).
Finally, 79 percent of Americans believe there is solid evidence that the earth is getting warmer.
The Pew survey was conducted July 6-19 among a nationwide sample of 2,003 adults. For results basd on the total sample, the margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
_ Daniel Burke
Scientists Claim New Method for Harvesting Stem Cells
(RNS) Scientists on Wednesday (Aug. 23) unveiled a new way to derive potentially life-saving stem cells from an embryo without destroying it, but some abortion opponents said they regard the proposed method as unethical.
In the online version of the journal Nature, researchers from Alameda, Calif.-based Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) told how they extracted single cells from 16 embryos and let the cells grow overnight. Once the single cell had broken into two, scientists used one to grow new stem cell lines whose regenerative potential might hold keys to curing diseases such as Parkinson’s. Of the 91 cells removed, two yielded viable stem cell lines.
The technique of extracting one cell from an eight-celled embryo is currently used in fertility clinics to assess the genetic health of an embryo before it is implanted in a woman’s uterus. ACT says “more than 1,500 healthy children have been born following the use” of this method.
“Our ability to create human embryonic cell lines and therapies without harming the embryo should assuage the ethical concerns of many Americans,” said William M. Caldwell IV, CEO of ACT. “We look forward to potentially working with partners to produce significant medical benefit through the use of this technique.”
Objections, however, quickly surfaced from Roman Catholic ethicists. Among them was Edward J. Furton of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. His concern centered on the fact that the technique exposes the embryo to “more than minimal risk” without offering it any potential benefit.
“If you’re an eight-celled embryo and you have one of your cells removed, that’s obviously a major, invasive procedure and clearly beyond minimal risk,” Furton said. Since an embryo can’t give consent, he said, “you can’t subject an innocent human subject to that kind of risk for the sake of someone else or some other group of people. It just can’t be done morally.”
More concerns came from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Cells removed from an embryo might be “very early embryos” in their own right and therefore shouldn’t be destroyed, according to Richard M. Doerflinger, deputy director of pro-life activities for the bishops. He also noted a dearth of evidence to suggest the procedure is safe for the eight-celled embryo.
Other ethicists, however, expressed hope in the new procedure primarily because the embryo isn’t destroyed.
“One of the major ethical objections of those who oppose the generation of human embryonic stems cells is that all techniques, until now, have resulted in the destruction of the embryo,” said Ronald Green, director of Dartmouth College’s Ethics Institute and chairman of ACT’s Ethics Advisory Board. “This technique overcomes this hurdle and has the potential to play a critical role in the advancement of regenerative medicine. It also appears to be a way out of the current political impasse in this country and elsewhere.”
_ G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Alabama Christian Coalition Is Third to Split from National Group
WASHINGTON (RNS) Alabama’s chapter of the Christian Coalition of America dropped out of the national organization Wednesday (Aug. 23), declaring it has drifted from its founding conservative principles.
It was the third state affiliate to leave the national group.
Although both sides said they wished each other well, the split was not completely amicable. The president of the Alabama splinter group defiantly predicted a mass exodus of other state chapters and the possible organization of a separate Christian grass-roots group with a national presence in Washington.
“All of us are taking care of the home battlefronts now, but we’ll be swimming up the Potomac River soon,” said John Giles, president of the Alabama organization.
Roberta Combs, the president of the national organization, was unapologetic and accused the Alabama faction of disobeying legal advice and jeopardizing its tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service.
Combs said the Alabama group recently sent out its 2006 candidate survey without getting it cleared by the Washington office, which is required under a recent legal settlement with the IRS. A January letter from the national organization’s attorney warned state chapters that their affiliation could be revoked if the policy was not followed, Combs said.
“We will have another organization in Alabama. We will rebuild in Alabama,” Combs said.
A rift between Giles and Combs opened in 2003, when she campaigned in support of Gov. Bob Riley’s tax reform plan despite the Alabama chapter’s opposition. Giles said he never received an explanation for her intervention. He said the issue divided and confused Christian voters in Alabama and elsewhere, including Iowa, which left the national group in March, followed by Ohio in July.
Giles said the Christian Coalition of America’s arrangement with the IRS was not relevant to the state chapter, but any disagreement over the candidate survey was not related to the decision to break away.
Instead, he said recent positions taken by the national organization were the beginning of a “slipping to the left trend” that diverted from the organization’s core mission to strengthen families, protect life, ensure local control of schools, lower taxes, fight gambling, promote religious freedom and oppose gay rights.
“So we saddled up and said, `Hi-ho, Silver,”’ Giles said.
Combs described the dissolved affiliation as a “mutual agreement” and acknowledged changes in the Christian Coalition of America’s goals. “Our mission statement hasn’t changed; we’ve just broadened it,” she said.
_ Mary Orndorff
Last Rites Doesn’t Change Parking Rules, Priest Told
(RNS) Giving spiritual aid to the sick may help a Brooklyn priest get a ticket to Heaven, but it won’t spare him a $115 parking fee.
The Rev. Cletus Forson, of St. Andrew the Apostle Church, received the ticket in July when he parked illegally in front of the Maimonides Medical Center on his way to administer last rites to the sick mother of a parishioner, according to the Associated Press.
Forson appealed his case earlier this month, but a traffic judge ruled that he would not receive a waiver because he was parked in a no-standing ambulance zone.
The church paid the fine, accompanied with a letter of protest.
“I was disappointed that a car parked in a restricted zone with a clergy sign on it cannot be interpreted to mean that a priest is visiting someone who is sick,” Forson said, according to the Associated Press.
The elderly woman whom Forson helped has since recovered from the flu and is advocating for Forson.
_ Kat Glass
Quote of the Day: Christian Video Game Designer Ralph Bagley
(RNS) “There are people out there who think that if it’s a Christian game it has to be about putting two animals on an ark. But how many people are going to play that?”
_ Ralph Bagley, designer of a Christian video game and spokesman for the Christian Game Developers Foundation, speaking of the controversy surrounding violent Christian video games. He was quoted by The Washington Post.
KRE/JL END RNS
