c. 2006 Religion News Service

Mattson Elected First Woman to Head Major Muslim Organization

(RNS) North America’s largest Islamic organization elected Ingrid Mattson, a Canadian-born convert and Islamic scholar, as president this week (8/22), making her the first woman to lead any major Muslim organization on the continent.

Mattson, whose many roles include director of the Islamic Chaplaincy program at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, steps into the Islamic Society of North America’s top spot after serving two terms as the vice president of the Indianapolis-based group, founded in 1963.

During that time, Mattson earned a reputation among many Muslim Americans as an eloquent voice better suited than her foreign-born colleagues for defending Islam at a time when many believe their faith is under siege.

Muslim American observers see Mattson’s election as a chance to redefine both the image and the role of Muslim women in America and the Islamic world.

“There are so many professional women who choose to be devoted Muslims, but in America we mostly see images of oppressed Muslim women,” said Asma Afsaruddin, an Islamic studies professor at the University of Notre Dame.

“Women have been underrepresented in Muslim organizations, and her role needs to be transmitted to the rank and file.”

Mattson converted to Islam as an undergraduate at the University of Waterloo in Canada, where she graduated in 1987. She spent the next two years in Pakistan working with Afghan refugee women, and has since held a variety of educational positions while also emerging as a spokesperson on Muslim issues.

But Muslim women said female concerns should be only one of her priorities.

“She was elected not just because she’s a woman, but because she’s the best person for the job,” said Shahina Siddiqui, president of the Islamic Social Services Association in Winnipeg, Manitoba. “You don’t want her to be a one-issue president. There are many things facing the Muslim community.”

Those issues include improving the image of Islam in the West, educating Americans about the faith, keeping Muslim youth from drifting from the faith and interfaith work, observers said.

_ Omar Sacirbey

Intelligent Design Didn’t Cost Astronomer His Job, Director Says

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The former director of the Vatican Observatory was not replaced because of his vocal opposition to “intelligent design,” the observatory’s new director said Thursday (Aug. 24).

In an interview with Catholic News Service, the Rev. Jose Funes rejected speculation that his predecessor, U.S. Jesuit George Coyne, was dismissed from the observatory’s top job for his criticisms of intelligent design _ the idea that the world is too complex to have been created by natural events alone.

“It’s simply not true that this was the reason he left,” Funes told CNS. He described Coyne’s work as “wonderful,” adding that Coyne’s nearly two-decade tenure made it natural for him to leave the post.

Coyne, 73, has repeatedly affirmed Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution as scientifically valid and evidence of God’s “creativity.” He has also attacked the proponents of intelligent design as promoting a “religious movement.”

In his interview, Funes declined to make any statements on intelligent design, stating that he stood for “good science and good theology. No more than that.”

“I don’t see any contradictions between science and religion. What I see are tensions. But it is healthy to have tensions in life. Sometimes tensions allow us to mature,” he said.

The Argentine-born Funes, 43, specializes in the study of galaxies that are relatively close to Earth. He holds a doctorate in astronomy from the University of Padua in Italy and has studied theology at the Jesuit-run Gregorian University in Rome.

Pope Benedict XVI named him to his new post Aug. 19, putting him in charge of the Vatican Astronomical Observatory, founded by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, and the observatory’s modern research center in Mount Graham, Ariz.

Reflecting on the formation of the Milky Way galaxy, where Earth is located, Funes mused that it was “possible some stars have planets similar to Earth, and that life could develop, could evolve _ it’s OK with me to use the word `evolution,”’ he said.

_ Stacy Meichtry

Judge Rules for AME Zion Church in Long-Running Property Fight

(RNS) In the latest chapter of a six-year legal saga, a Maryland judge has ruled that a Washington-area megachurch must turn church property over to the denomination it left in 1999.

From the Heart Church Ministries, a 26,000-member church based in Temple Hills, Md., placed its property in trust with the AME Zion Church in 1981, when it joined the denomination, Judge Sheila Tillerson-Adams ruled Aug. 17.

Citing legal documents and AME Zion’s Book of Discipline, Tillerson-Adams of the Circuit Court of Prince George’s County said the trust is irrevocable.

A news release from AME Zion Church said the property in dispute is worth more than $25 million.

The battle between From the Heart and AME Zion, a 1.4 million-member denomination based in Charlotte, N.C., has been bouncing through the courts since 2000. The Aug. 17 decision was the second time the Prince George’s County Circuit Court ruled in the denomination’s favor.

Bishop James McCoy, president of AME Zion’s board of bishops, said the ruling “firmly reinforces a vital component of our connectional policy and doctrine _ the principle that, as a single unified Body of Christ, all local churches _ no matter how large or small _ are but a part of a larger fellowship.”

From the Heart Church Ministries could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Rev. John A. Cherry was pastor of Full Gospel AME Zion Church _ as From the Heart was formerly known _ for 18 years, during which time it grew from a 24-member storefront congregation to a megachurch with two large sanctuaries. Those sanctuaries, several school buildings and a Lear jet were among the church assets sought by the denomination, according to The Washington Post.

At a 1998 meeting Cherry told Full Gospel members he had no plans to leave the denomination, according to a tape recording played at the trial, the Post reported.

But an AME Zion attorney said Cherry deceived church members about his plans because he wanted them to approve the transfer of church assets to his family, according to the Post.

_ Daniel Burke

`Hitler’ Restaurant to Change Name

CHENNAI, India (RNS) Less than a week after its formal opening in a suburb of Mumbai, the owners of the controversial Hitler’s Cross restaurant have decided to rename the eatery.

The owners, who used posters of Hitler and Nazi swastikas to publicize the restaurant, initially refused to change its name, but relented Thursday (Aug. 24) and covered its signs with white cloth.

Puneet Sablok, one of the partners, said he would remove Hitler’s name and the Nazi swastika from the restaurant’s billboards and menu. He made the decision after meeting with representatives of Mumbai’s small Jewish community.

Sablok had said earlier that the eatery’s name, Hitler’s Cross, and symbols were only meant to attract attention. “We wanted to be different. This is one name that will stay in people’s minds. We are not promoting Hitler. But we want to tell people we are different in the way he was different. There is no intention to hurt anyone.”

The restaurant’s name and its marketing strategy had infuriated the Jewish community in Mumbai, which said it would fight any attempts at “rehabilitating Hitler.” Jonathan Solomon, chairman of the Indian Jewish Federation, said: “This signifies a severe lack of awareness of the agony of millions of Jews caused by one man. We are going to stop this deification of Hitler.”

Consular officials from Israel and Germany joined the protests, with the Israeli consul-general in Mumbai, Daniel Zohar Zonshine, urging city authorities to get the restaurant’s name changed.

“Instead of Hitler’s name being an example of extreme evil, this is like giving legitimacy to Hitler,” Zonshine said. “It’s not right to advertise his name in public.”

Sablok said they had not yet decided on a new name for the restaurant, which serves pizza, salad and pastries in Navi Mumbai, a bustling northern suburb of India’s commercial and financial capital.

In New York, Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, thanked the restaurant for changing the name and for recognizing the “insensitivity and inappropriateness” of using Hitler’s image.

_ Achal Narayanan

Conservatives Mull Options After FDA Approves `Plan B’

WASHINGTON (RNS) The Family Research Council, a conservative Christian advocacy group, is mulling legislative and legal action in response to the decision by the Food and Drug Administration to allow adults over-the-counter access to Plan B, an emergency contraceptive pill.

Spokewoman Bethanie Swendsen said the Washington-based group would first urge members of Congress to try to reverse the decision.

“We’re looking to them … to step up and appeal this decision,” Swendsen said.

She said that if legislative action failed, FRC, along with a coalition of other advocacy groups, would pursue legal action.

FRC President Tony Perkins criticized the FDA’s decision to allow the change in policy.

“An agency charged with protecting the health interests of the country must be held to high standards of accountability,” Perkins said in a statement. “Congress must respond to this outrageous action by the FDA.”

Opponents say the pill _ currently available by prescription only _ is tantamount to abortion. Supporters say the pill prevents pregnancy rather than ending it, and has no effect on embryos that are already fertilized.

Some religious groups, including the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, hailed the decision, while the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice said the pill should also be made available to women under 18.

“The arbitrary cut-off age for 18 for over-the-counter access shows that young women’s health is still a target for ideology and political games,” said the Rev. Carlton Veazey, president of the coalition, who called the new FDA policy “far from perfect.”

_ Kat Glass

Quote of the Day: Comedian Jackie Mason

(RNS) “While I have the utmost respect for people who practice the Christian faith, the fact is, as everyone knows, I am as Jewish as a matzo ball or kosher salami.”

_ Comedian Jackie Mason, in court papers filed as part of a $2 million lawsuit against Jews for Jesus for using his name and image in a pamphlet. He was quoted by The Associated Press.

KRE/PH END RNS