c. 2006 Religion News Service
Vietnam Dropped, Uzbekistan Added to Religious Freedom Watch List
WASHINGTON (RNS) The State Department has sent Congress its list of countries that are the worst violators of religious freedom, adding Uzbekistan but dropping Vietnam.
Seven countries “of particular concern” from last year’s list returned this year: Burma, China, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. The eighth annual report on international religious freedom was released in September; its list of problem countries was issued Monday (Nov. 13).
Vietnam had been on the list for the past two years. Its removal came just five days before an economic meeting in Hanoi, which President Bush is scheduled to attend.
“Our decision not to redesignate Vietnam is one of the most significant announcements that we’re making this year,” said Ambassador John Hanford of the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom. “When Vietnam was first added to the list of Countries of Particular Concern in 2004, conditions for many religious believers were dire.”
But removing Vietnam from the list does not mean that total religious freedom has been achieved, Hanford said.
“While the remaining problems merit immediate attention, they are simply not on the scale of what we witnessed in Vietnam before we began this process,” he said.
Hanford said Uzbekistan was added this year because violations of religious freedom have increased, especially against conservative Muslims who are perceived as terrorists.
“It is estimated that thousands of Muslims who have no ties to extremist organizations have been harassed or detained simply on the basis of their religious beliefs and practices,” Hanford said. “Furthermore, authorities often resort to planting evidence.”
While applauding the addition of Uzbekistan, the independent U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed disappointment about Vietnam’s removal from the list.
“Violations such as forced renunciation of faith and new arrests and detentions of religious leaders continue in Vietnam,” said commission chairwoman Felice Gaer. “The … designation of Vietnam has been a positive incentive for engagement on religious freedom concerns. Lifting the designation removes that incentive.”
_ Keith Roshangar
Presbyterians Back Away From 9/11 Conspiracy Book
(RNS) The denominational press of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is distancing itself from a conspiracy-theory account of Sept. 11 released by one of its imprints earlier this year.
The book, “Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11,” which claims the government orchestrated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in an effort to drum up support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, was not up to company standards, the Presbyterian Publishing Corp. (PPC) said in a statement.
“The board believes the conspiracy theory is spurious and based on questionable research,” Kenneth Godshall, chair of the PPC board of directors, said Nov. 8.
The book, released in July by Westminster John Knox Press (WJK), a division of PPC, was written by former theology professor David Ray Griffin.
Godshall called the book’s religious content “helpful and timely” but said the controversial theories expressed by the author were unaffiliated with the beliefs of the company.
“David Ray Griffin is a distinguished theologian who has published a number of books with PPC,” Godshall said. “This particular volume is not up to WJK editorial standards and not representative of the PPC publishing program.”
The book’s release touched off outrage among conservatives who warned that the author’s unpopular accusations would become associated with the church itself.
Alan Wisdom, president of the conservative think tank Institute on Religion and Democracy, praised the board’s decision to rebuke the veracity of Griffin’s account.
“The directors obviously heard the widespread outrage at Griffin’s unsupported theories blaming the Bush administration for the atrocities of that awful day. They must have felt the public embarrassment that this irresponsible book brought upon the entire denomination,” Wisdom said.
“Presbyterians can be grateful that the PPC board took action to distance the Presbyterian Church from the 9/11 conspiracy kooks.”
The Louisville, Ky.-based Presbyterian Publishing Corp. has strong affiliations to the Presbyterian Church but receives no funding from the denomination. Although the nine-member board of directors is elected by the church’s General Assembly, publishing decisions are made independently by the editorial staff, said the corporation’s publisher and president, Davis Perkins.
_ Jason Kane
Religion Historian Mark Noll Receives National Humanities Medal
(RNS) Religion historian Mark Noll has been honored with the National Humanities Medal at a White House ceremony.
A prominent scholar in American religious and cultural history, Noll became a history professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana this fall. Noll, who previously taught at Wheaton College in Illinois, is the co-author of “The Search for Christian America” and the author of other books, including “The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind,” “The Rise of Evangelicalism,” and “The Civil War as a Theological Crisis.”
At the Oval Office ceremony on Nov. 9, President Bush recognized Noll along with nine other recipients of the medal, which honors individuals or groups that have contributed to the nation’s understanding of and involvement in the humanities.
_ Adelle M. Banks
United Church of Canada Launches Ad Campaign
TORONTO (RNS) The United Church of Canada, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, has launched the biggest advertising campaign by a Canadian church in an attempt to spark debate about religious issues and lure younger worshippers back to the pews.
The three-year, $9.2 million campaign targets the 30-45 age group with a series of provocative ads that raise issues for those in middle age who may be disaffected former churchgoers.
“There is a visible gap in that age group in our congregations,” David Guiliano, moderator of the 573,000-member church, told the Toronto Star. “It’s also an age group that is beginning to ask some big spiritual questions.”
Sixteen months of research by the church found that people in the key demographic are often grappling with questions of right and wrong, sense of purpose and how to cope with all the pressures of life, from raising children to taking care of aging parents.
In one ad, a newborn baby is shown with a hospital bracelet that reads: “Warning: Some reassessment of priorities and beliefs may be required.”
Other ads poke fun at some traditions and tackle controversial topics such as sex and gay marriage. One includes statues of two grooms on a wedding cake and asks, “Does anyone object?” Another features a can of whipped cream with the question, “How much fun can sex be before it’s a sin?”
The campaign will run ads in magazines, community newspapers and on the Internet. The church also plans to hold seminars to teach its 3,500 congregations how to be more welcoming to newcomers.
The first ad in the series will come out in time for Christmas.
“We are trying to increase the visibility and awareness of the United Church of Canada,” said the Rev. Keith Howard, who is heading the Emerging Spirit ad campaign. Many in this age group “do not even know that the United Church exists, much less what we stand for.”
Other churches have had varying degrees of success with ad campaigns. Two years ago, U.S. television networks refused to air ads by the United Church of Christ that depicted bouncers standing in front of a church door deciding who could enter. The message read: “Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.” The networks objected, saying the ads implied that other organizations excluded gays and members of other minorities.
_ Ron Csillag
Quote of the Day: United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan
(RNS) “The problem is not the Quran or the Torah or the Bible. Indeed, I have often said that the problem is never the faith, it is the faithful and how they behave toward each other.”
_ United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a written statement ahead of a summit in Istanbul, Turkey, to overcome rifts between the West and the Muslim world, especially over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He was quoted by The New York Times.
KRE/PH END RNS
