c. 2006 Religion News Service

Book Claims White House Ridiculed Evangelical Leaders

WASHINGTON (RNS) A new book about President Bush’s already controversial faith-based initiative charges that White House officials ridiculed evangelical leaders and used the program to build political support.

“Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction,” by former Bush administration staffer David Kuo, will be published Monday (Oct. 16). Evangelical leaders have dismissed the book as “sour grapes,” while critics of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives say it’s proof that the program is more about politics than faith.

Kuo, former deputy director of the office, claims that the Bush administration used evangelical Christians who supported the program to gain votes without meeting their agendas.

“National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person, and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as `ridiculous,’ `out of control’ and just plain goofy,” the book says, according to a transcript from MSNBC, which obtained a copy before the book’s release.

Kuo, who left the office in late 2003, writes that “roundtable events” held by the faith-based office that were billed as “nonpartisan” actually were designed to aid Republican campaigns.

Carrie Gordon Earll, director of issue analysis for Focus on the Family, said the book is full of “mischaracterizations” and will not alter the support of the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based ministry for the initiative.

“The release of this book criticizing the Bush administration’s handling of its faith-based initiative program seems to represent little more than a mix of sour grapes and political timing,” she said in a statement.

The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State, used the book to reiterate his call for the White House office to be shut down.

“This is proof that the faith-based initiative was a deplorable sham from day one,” said Lynn, whose headquarters are in Washington. “This initiative was never about helping the poor; it was about shameless partisan politicking.”

Kuo had previously said that President Bush has not kept his promise to support the initiative.

“From tax cuts to Medicare, the White House gets what the White House wants,” he wrote in a 2005 Beliefnet editorial. “It never really wanted the `poor people stuff.”’

_ Adelle M. Banks

Pope Meets Dalai Lama, Shares Concerns Over China

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI held a private meeting with the Dalai Lama on Friday (Oct. 13) that highlighted the troubled relations that both religious leaders have with the Chinese government.

Although the Vatican confirmed that the meeting took place, the encounter did not appear on the pontiff’s official schedule and no statement was released from the Holy See press office afterward.

The secrecy surrounding the Tibetan leader’s visit underscored the Vatican’s desire to avoid further straining relations with China.

The Dalai Lama went into exile after China occupied Tibet in 1951. Now based in Dharamsala, India, he remains a fierce critic of the Chinese government for its continuing crackdowns on Buddhist groups.

Since his election, Benedict has pushed for reconciliation with China, which cut diplomatic ties with the Holy See decades ago. The effort has been stymied by disagreements over who has the right to name new bishops in China _ Beijing or the pope.

Five million Chinese Catholics currently belong to a state-controlled “Catholic” church while at least 8 million faithful are believed to belong to an underground church loyal to Benedict. Members of the underground church are routinely harassed, beaten and jailed by Chinese authorities.

_ Stacy Meichtry

Canadian Muslim Group Asks for Probe of `Death Threats’

TORONTO (RNS) A moderate Muslim group here has called on authorities to investigate what it calls “thinly veiled death threats” from conservative and fundamentalist Muslims.

In an Wednesday (Oct. 11) letter to the attorney general of Ontario, the Muslim Canadian Congress cited “the recent pattern of allegations by Islamic fundamentalists against moderate and liberal Muslims, accusing the latter of being anti-Islam or (of) smearing Islam.”

The letter said MCC members “have been in the crosshairs” ever since the organization publicly opposed a plan last year to introduce Islamic legal tribunals in Ontario; the idea was later shelved.

The group said its opposition led to charges of apostasy and blasphemy _ allegations “that are nothing less than thinly veiled death threats.”

MCC President Farzana Hassan told a news conference she believes it is “a very real threat. This is not some kind of a fanciful conclusion on our part.”

In early August, MCC’s spokesman and co-founder stepped down, citing anonymous threats. He had been tagged as “anti-Islam” earlier by the more conservative Canadian Islamic Congress.

The MCC said it recently received an e-mail threatening to “get rid of” and “destroy” the Congress and its leaders.

The group’s letter went on to say that “tactics from overseas are now being imported into Canada where ordinary liberal and moderate Muslims are being bullied into silence by well funded Islamist organizations.”

It appealed to Ontario’s law enforcement agencies “to work towards an end to the use of religion to silence and threaten political opponents.”

In an interview, Hassan said “some” of her organization’s members have been physically assaulted, while others have faced threats and intimidation.

“I myself have had nasty e-mails and I’ve been avoided at my mosque,” she said.

_ Ron Csillag

Quote of the Day: Actor/director Mel Gibson

(RNS) “Let me be real clear here, in sobriety, sitting here in front of you on national television. I don’t believe that Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. I mean, that’s an outrageous, drunken statement.”

_ Actor/director Mel Gibson, in an interview with “Good Morning America’s” Diane Sawyer, about his statement in July that “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” Gibson apologized for the remarks, made during a traffic stop for drunken driving.

KRE/PH END RNS