c. 2006 Religion News Service
Letters Rescued From Bay Now Saved From eBay
NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) A fisherman who found a bag of 300 letters to God floating in the ocean off Atlantic City will give most of them to the daughter of the dead minister for whom they were intended.
Bill Lacovara, an insurance adjuster, said he plans to give the letters to Vanessa Cooper, the daughter of Rev. Grady Cooper, a former associate pastor of the Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Jersey City who died nearly two years ago.
Lacovara found the letters in a shopping bag in the surf under a pier in October.
About 150 of the letters were too damaged by the water to be legible. He placed the remaining ones up for auction on eBay, but canceled the auction after more than 25 people pushed the price past $550.
He said he and his family have received many hostile letters and phone calls from people upset that the letters were put up for auction, and said it never was his intention to profit from them.
“I apologize to anyone who was insulted,” he said. “It was never my intention to offend anyone. I was looking at these more like antiques.”
Lacovara said he heard from individuals and churches across the country who were interested in obtaining the letters so their own congregations could pray over them.
Many of the letters were addressed to the Rev. Cooper, but many more simply said “Altar.” According to the text of several of the letters, they were intended to be placed on a church’s altar and prayed over by the minister, the congregation or both.
It’s still not clear how the letters, some dating to 1973 and most unopened, ended up in the ocean. Lacovara speculated that someone cleaning out Cooper’s former home found the letters and, instead of tossing them in the garbage, set them out to sea as a sort of final tribute to the authors.
Vanessa Cooper could not be located for comment. Lacovara said he will probably ask her to meet him next week on the beach by Atlantic City’s Steel Pier _ the same spot where he found the letters.
_ Wayne Parry
Black Ministers Visit Jerusalem, Supporting Churches and Peace
(RNS) Representatives of the nation’s black denominations have returned from a trip to Jerusalem determined to draw attention to the need for peace and to support the dwindling Christian population in the region.
“We went there to say to the Christian churches and to anybody who would listen that we did not want the people to believe that Christians from the historical African-American churches in the United States were deserting them,” said Bishop E. Earl McCloud Jr., the ecumenical and urban affairs officer for the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
McCloud discussed the Oct. 27-Nov. 3 trip during the General Assembly of the National Council of Churches and Church World Service on Thursday (Nov. 9) in Orlando, Fla. Church World Service officials hosted the trip, which occurred at the invitation of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem.
McCloud said participants took part in worship services, including one commemorating the Protestant Reformation. They met with patriarchs and other church representatives as well as with Israeli and Palestinian officials, including Shmuel ben Shmuel, an interreligious affairs official of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“We used that opportunity to tell him that we thought violence on either side by anybody in the entire region was not consistent with the will of God,” McCloud said.
They also expressed their support for side-by-side governments for Israelis and Palestinians, and their desire to see Israel recognize Patriarch Theophilus III as the primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem. The World Council of Churches made a similar call for recognition of the patriarch in October.
Other leaders of historically black churches who joined McCloud included representatives of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; Christian Methodist Episcopal Church; National Baptist Convention of America, National Baptist Convention, USA; National Missionary Baptist Convention of America; and Progressive National Baptist Convention.
_ Adelle M. Banks
NCC Calls for `Immediate’ U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq
(RNS) The National Council of Churches called for an “immediate phased withdrawal” of U.S. forces from Iraq and condemned human reproductive cloning at its annual meeting in Florida that ended Thursday (Nov. 9).
The NCC comprises 35 Orthodox, mainline Protestant and historically black denominations, representing about 45 million U.S. Christians. The Orlando assembly included 248 voting delegates.
The Iraq war resolution, overwhelmingly approved by delegates, says “our view of this war in Iraq is informed by our belief that war is contrary to the will of God,” according to the NCC.
“We call upon the U.S. government to recognize that the continued presence of occupying forces has not provided meaningful security for Iraqi citizens and only exacerbates escalating violence,” the NCC resolution said.
The NCC also unanimously passed two resolutions on biotechnology. The first calls for a global ban on human reproductive cloning. The second calls for more oversight of governments and private laboratories developing biological weapons, and the creation of an advisory board for bio-defense in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
_ Daniel Burke
Massachusetts Lawmakers Punt on Gay Marriage Ban
BOSTON (RNS) A split Massachusetts Legislature on Thursday (Nov. 9) postponed a vote on a citizens proposal to ban gay marriage, a move that could end the issue’s chances of being decided by voters.
The House and the Senate, meeting in a joint constitutional convention, voted 109-87 to recess before dealing with a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as the union of one man and one woman and banned future gay marriages.
Legislators voted to recess until Jan. 2, the last day of the legislative session. Lawmakers said they must vote on the issue by midnight on Jan. 2 in order to keep it alive; without a vote, the proposed amendment dies.
Gay rights activists cheered from the House gallery when legislators voted to recess. The move could nix the proposed amendment and block it from going to voters in 2008.
“We believe it’s over,” said Arline Isaacson, co-chairwoman of the Massachusetts Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus. “We’re thrilled. We’re ecstatic.”
The vote to recess drew strong criticism from outgoing Gov. Mitt Romney and other opponents of gay marriage. They had hoped legislators would vote on the proposal to move it toward the 2008 ballot.
“Today, by effectively avoiding the constitutionally required vote on same sex marriage, 109 legislators disgraced their oath of office,” Romney said after the vote. “The constitution plainly states that when a qualified petition is placed before them, they shall vote. By not voting, we have witnessed the triumph of arrogance over democracy.”
Kristian M. Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, said he expects the Legislature will again recess on Jan. 2, effectively killing the chances for the amendment to go on the 2008 ballot.
Mineau said the state Legislature thumbed its nose at about 170,000 registered voters who signed a petition to put the proposed ban before voters. Mineau said he might start a new petition to place an amendment on the 2010 ballot.
If approved by voters, the amendment would not affect gay marriages that occurred before the vote. More than 8,100 same-sex couples have taken vows since gay marriages began in May 2004 in Massachusetts.
_ Dan Ring
City Leaders Say Free Sunday Parking Unfair for Non-Christians
LONDON (RNS) City leaders in Plymouth, England, have withdrawn free parking on Sunday mornings to church-goers on the grounds that it discriminates against non-Christians.
In 1998, when the city instituted parking charges downtown, the charges did not start until noon, allowing worshippers at two Anglican and Methodist churches to park for free.
City parking manager Sarah Joy told The Times of London that “the current free parking on a Sunday morning is discriminatory to other faiths and religious praying days.”
The Rev. Nick McKinnel, pastor of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, called the reasoning “pretty shabby” and said it “betrays a total lack of understanding of the multi-faith agenda and serves only to divide communities.”
The Times cited figures from the 2001 census that said 73.5 percent of the city’s 240,000 residents are Christian; Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists combined only account for 1.3 percent.
“They have effectively introduced a tax on going to church,” said Mary Hooker, 66, who has attended St. Andrew’s for 50 years.
_ Robert Nowell
Wiccans Sue for Pentacle Marker on Veterans’ Graves
WASHINGTON (RNS) A prominent church-state watchdog group filed suit Monday (Nov. 13) against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for not recognizing the Wiccan symbol as an approved emblem for veterans’ memorial plaques.
Thirty-eight symbols representing numerous faiths are on the VA’s approved list. The Wiccan pentacle _ a five-pointed star contained in a circle _ is not.
“Members of the Wiccan faith are not seeking anything that is not already available and extended to millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, humanists, atheists and members of other faiths and philosophies,” said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Americans United is representing two Wiccan groups: Circle Sanctuary, which counts two widows of U.S. veterans as members; and Isis Invicta Military Mission, a Wiccan and Pagan congregation serving military personnel.
Roberta Stewart’s husband, Sgt. Patrick Stewart, was killed in action last year in Afghanistan. Karen DePolito’s husband, Jerome Birnbaum, a Korean War veteran, died last year.
“When the framers of our Constitution wrote the provision guaranteeing the `free exercise’ of religion,” Lynn said, “they did not add a parenthetical phrase reading `except for Wiccans.”’
Sgt. Stewart, the posthumous recipient of the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, was killed in September 2005. Stewart’s spot on the memorial wall at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, Nev., has stayed empty because his widow was not allowed to include a Wiccan symbol on the plaque.
The blank spot may soon be filled. Lynn reported that the governor of Nevada has ordered a plaque with a pentacle. Because the cemetery is in Nevada, he said, state officials have the power to take this action and provide the plaque since the VA has refused.
“Our spirituality was everything to us. … When will freedom prevail? It hasn’t for my family, and it hasn’t for people of Wiccan faith,” Roberta Stewart said.
Even though she will get the pentacle on the wall, Stewart remains committed to making sure other Wiccan members and their families will be able to have the symbol on their government-issued markers.
Selena Fox, senior priestess of Circle Sanctuary, and others have worked for nine years to get the pentacle on the approved list. “I never thought I would have to be part of any action to sue the government in order to get the U.S. Constitution upheld,” Fox said.
Lawsuits were filed in both the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
The Wiccan faith involves nature worship and belief in magical powers. The VA has said it does not recognize Wicca as an official religion because it has no centralized headquarters or firm set of beliefs.
_ Chansin Bird
Conservatives Concerned by FCC Ruling on Swearing in Newscasts
WASHINGTON (RNS) A Federal Communications Commission’s ruling to allow profanity in a CBS news broadcast sets a dangerous precedent for news programming, the Parents Television Council has warned.
On Nov. 8, the FCC reversed a previous indecency ruling against a CBS “Early Show” interview that aired a “Survivor” cast member describing another contestant as a “bulls—.”
The agency said it chose to defer to the network’s characterization of the program segment as a news interview, according to an FCC opinion filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
But the conservative Parents Television Council said that decision creates a loophole for abuse in programming and gives networks the power to make their own calls on profanity in television.
“They leave it up to the guys who are part of the problem to define news content,” said Dan Isett, the group’s director of corporate and government affairs. “Next, `Inside Edition’ and `Entertainment Tonight’ … may be seen as bona fide news events.”
The FCC noted in its opinion that there was no “outright” news exemption for indecency, but said it was important to exercise caution in judging news programming in respect to the First Amendment’s free press guarantee.
Isett said the PTC accepts that editors have leeway to exercise news judgment. But he said the “Survivor” interview did not qualify as a news event.
FCC spokesman David Fiske said the FCC will continue to review complaints on a case-by-case basis. “What is important in all cases is the context,” Fiske said. “Each set of facts will be looked at separately.”
_ Rebecca U. Cho
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
Quote of the Week: 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/RB END RNS
