c. 2006 Religion News Service

Poll Shows Unease With Both Parties on Religion, Values

(RNS) An increasing percentage of Americans believe that neither Democrats nor Republicans share their attitudes about the role of religion in politics, according to a new poll released Tuesday (Oct. 24).

The poll also showed a drop in the portion of Americans who say the parties represent their values, with the GOP losing more ground than the Democrats.

About 41 percent of Americans believe the Republican Party shares their views on religion in politics “moderately well” or “very well.” That’s an overall drop of 12 percentage points from one year ago.

For Democrats, who have tried to woo religious voters since the 2004 elections, the figure is 48 percent, an overall drop of 5 percentage points from October 2005.

The USA Today/Gallup Poll, based on a sample of 1,002 adults, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

On the question of values, 51 percent of Americans said the Republicans represent their values “very well” or “moderately well,” a drop from 57 percent one year ago. For Democrats, the comparable figure was 56 percent, down from 58 percent a year ago.

While both parties saw an 8-point increase among voters who say their values are reflected “moderately well,” the Republicans are down 14 percentage points among voters who see their values reflected “very well,” compared to a 10-point drop for Democrats.

_ Daniel Burke

Quebec Says Private Schools Must Teach Evolution or Close

TORONTO (RNS) Quebec’s education ministry has warned private, unlicensed evangelical schools in the province they must teach Darwin’s theory of evolution and sex education or face closure.

The education ministry said Tuesday (Oct. 24) that the province will negotiate for several weeks with an unspecified number of evangelical schools to determine whether they can meet provincial standards that include the teaching of evolution.

“Schools must, of course, follow the curriculum, which includes the teaching of Darwin’s theory of evolution,” Education Minister Jean-Marc Fournier said in a statement.

The directive came following a complaint from a school board in Quebec’s southwestern Outaouais region that children at a small evangelical school near Saint-Andre-Avellin were not being taught the full provincial curriculum.

But supporters of the school, which enrolls 20 students, counter that it teaches a “worldview” that is essential for their students.

“We offer a curriculum based on a Christian worldview rather than a humanistic worldview,” said Alan Buchanan, a former public school teacher and head of a committee that reorganized the school’s administration this past summer.

Buchanan told the National Post newspaper that the school teaches evolution as well as intelligent design, the idea that the natural world is too complex to be explained by natural selection.

“We want the children to understand what they’re going to meet in the outside world, and also what’s wrong with the theory,” he said. “We also teach a better theory _ that God created the universe and so on.”

While the school doesn’t teach sex education, it does teach biology, he said, adding, “We believe students should be taught abstinence.”

The Quebec government knows of about 30 unlicensed religious schools in the province, including Hasidic schools and several evangelical Christian schools in Montreal. But officials have tolerated them for fear of offending the denominations sponsoring them.

_ Ron Csillag

Christian Groups Urge Prayer Before Elections

WASHINGTON (RNS) Voters across the country are being encouraged by Christian groups to pray as the midterm elections draw near.

“We want to give people something they can do personally to impact the course of our nation,” said Karen Randau, communications director for The Presidential Prayer Team. “Certainly voting is an important way to impact the nation, but praying before you vote, to give you some wisdom, is important, too.”

The Presidential Prayer Team, an independent nonpartisan group, is using its “Pray the Vote” campaign to offer resources for those interested in actively participating in praying for the elections. As of Wednesday (Oct. 25), it had about 6,000 people enrolled in some aspect of Pray the Vote and expected more to sign up before the elections Nov. 7.

The National Day of Prayer Task Force is also urging Americans to pray for the outcome of the elections. The main initiative in its “Pray for Election Day” campaign is to set aside Nov. 5, the Sunday before the election, as a day for prayer and fasting.

“It is important for us to be in touch with the Lord, seek his guidance and wisdom, and pray for those elected officials,” said Terrell Mayton, senior executive for marketing and communication for the Task Force.

Following suit, Intercessors for America has a link on its Web site to a one-page 40-day prayer guide, carrying the theme of national repentance and constructed around the Ten Commandments.

The Presidential Prayer Team’s “Forty Days to Pray the Vote” resource began Sept. 28 and will run through Nov. 6, culminating in an online prayer rally in which participants have chosen time slots to pray throughout the day.

Some of the less common resources offered by the Pray the Vote Web site are an “I’m Praying the Vote Certificate” to show the participant’s commitment and suggestions for holding a “Prayer Party.”

_ Chansin Bird

Cult Leader Executed in Ohio

LUCASVILLE, Ohio (RNS) Jeffrey Lundgren, the self-professed prophet who killed five people in what he said was a sacrifice demanded by a higher power, died by lethal injection Tuesday (Oct. 24) in a death demanded by the state.

Lundgren walked the 17 steps to the death chamber without the well-worn Bible that he used to control his cult, which formed after he broke from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

As a dozen people watched from the other side of a glass wall, Lundgren issued a 15-second statement that mentioned fellow cult member Kathryn Johnson, his second wife.

“I want to profess my love for God, my family, my children and my beloved Kathryn,” he said while staring at the ceiling. “I am because you are.”

Moments after the lethal combination of three drugs was injected, Lundgren heaved a big sigh, his eyes fluttered, and then he was still. Minutes later, at 10:26 a.m., he was pronounced dead.

He died more gently than his victims. Dennis and Cheryl Avery and their daughters, Trina, 15, Becky, 13, and Karen, 7, were led one by one past a buzzing chain saw to a muddy pit, where they were bound with duct tape, shot and dumped into a common grave.

Lundgren claimed that the 1989 slayings were commanded by God.

Witnesses at the execution included Cheryl Avery’s younger brother, Donald Bailey of Missouri. In an act of defiance, he walked up close to the death chamber’s glass window to ensure that Lundgren knew he was there.

“He got what he deserved,” said Bailey, who said the family has suffered depression and nightmares from the horror.

The once haughty prophet who surrounded himself with loyal followers died with no family members or friends among the witnesses. With no one claiming his body, Lundgren will be buried in a simple ceremony in a prison grave in Chillicothe. Other convicts will serve as pallbearers.

_ Maggi Martin

Quote of the Day: Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page

(RNS) “Many of our churches are going through difficult days, and we exist … in a Southern Baptist Convention that is thought by some to have lost its relevancy. In the minds of many … we have become an archaic, burdensome bureaucracy that no longer has relevancy for today or for the day to come.”

_ Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page, addressing the denomination’s recent Executive Committee meeting. He was quoted by Baptist Press about the need for revival within the denomination.

KRE/PH END RNS