c. 2007 Religion News Service
California’s Stark Named First `Nontheistic’ Member of Congress
WASHINGTON (RNS) Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark, D-Calif., is the first openly “nontheistic” member of Congress, the Secular Coalition for America announced Monday (March 12).
The coalition said Stark, who has represented San Francisco’s East Bay since 1973, acknowledged his atheism in response to a questionnaire sent to public officials in January.
In a statement, Stark said he is a “Unitarian who does not believe in a supreme being.”
“I look forward to working with the Secular Coalition to stop the promotion of narrow religious beliefs in science, marriage contracts, the military and the provision of social service,” he said.
Herb Silverman, president of the Secular Coalition for America, said “the only way to counter prejudice against nontheists is for more people to publicly identify as nontheists. Rep. Stark shows remarkable courage in being the first member of Congress to do so.”
Only 45 percent of Americans said they would vote for a “generally well-qualified” atheist, according to a February Gallup Poll, ranking them lowest on a list that included Mormons (72 percent), candidates on their third marriage (67 percent) and homosexuals (55 percent).
The Washington-based coalition, which lobbies on behalf of atheists, humanists and other nontheists, said that “few if any elected officials, even at the lowest level, would self-identify as a nontheist” in response to its survey. The coalition eventually offered $1,000 to the person who could identify the highest-level atheist, agnostic, humanist “or any other kind of nontheist” in public office.
Only three other elected officials agreed to be identified: a school board president in Berkeley, Calif.; a member of a school committee in Maine; and a town meeting member from Massachusetts.
Lori Lipman Brown, a spokesperson for the secular coalition, said her group tallies 30 million nontheists in the U.S. “We seem to be extremely under-represented in elected office,” she said.
“Atheists are the last group that a majority of Americans still think is OK to discriminate against,” said Fred Edwords, director of communications for the American Humanist Association.
_ Daniel Burke
Vatican Acts Fast on Possible Sainthood for Pope John Paul II
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Acting with extraordinary speed, the Roman Catholic Church next month will move one step closer to making the late Pope John Paul II a saint, only two years after the pontiff’s death.
On April 2, the second anniversary of John Paul’s death, a ceremony at Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran will mark the end of an investigation into the late pope’s “life, virtues and reputation for sanctity,” the Rome diocese announced Saturday (March 10). The diocesan investigating tribunal reportedly heard from more than 100 witnesses.
The Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints will then consider the cause of John Paul’s beatification, the rank just below sainthood.
To qualify for beatification, a candidate must have been a martyr or have a miracle attributed to his or her intervention. Miracles that have been proposed for attribution to John Paul reportedly include a French nun cured of Parkinson’s disease, and a married couple who conceived a child following a long period of infertility.
After he is beatified, a second miracle would be required for canonization.
The Vatican has acted in this case with a speed believed to be unprecedented in modern times. A cause for sainthood normally may not begin until five years after a candidate’s death.
Pope Benedict XVI waived the five-year waiting period in the case of John Paul less than two months after his predecessor’s death. John Paul took similar action in the cause of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, but not until 18 months after her death in 1997. He proclaimed her “blessed” in October 2003.
An outpouring of popular support for John Paul’s canonization began immediately after his death, and mourners unfurled banners reading “Santo Subito (Saint Immediately)” at his funeral. In his eulogy, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, seemed to encourage such hopes when he declared: “We can be sure that our beloved pope is standing today at the window of the Father’s house, that he sees us and blesses us.”
Benedict will offer a Mass for the repose of the soul of John Paul on April 2 in St. Peter’s Basilica.
_ Francis X. Rocca
Bill Would Let N.J. Parents Opt Kids Out of Shots
TRENTON, N.J. (RNS) A New Jersey lawmaker wants to allow parents to keep their children from receiving vaccines required for school admission but only if they object due to their beliefs.
Current law allows an exemption based only on medical or religious reasons, but Assemblyman Michael Doherty thinks a philosophical objection should be reason enough and has introduced legislation to make that the case.
“This bill will ensure that the government cannot impose its will, and its health care agenda, on the children of New Jersey under penalty of not admitting them to New Jersey schools,” said Doherty, a Republican.
The measure comes amid a national debate spurred by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who mandated Feb. 2 that all middle-school-age girls in his state be vaccinated for a sexually transmitted disease, the human papillomavirus, by the start of the 2008 school year. The mandate included an opt-out clause for religious beliefs or “reasons of conscience,” which a parent must apply for, according to his executive order.
New Jersey has not considered such a mandate, but Doherty said he wants to pass legislation to safeguard against any future requirements. The measure would also apply to vaccinations currently mandated, such as measles and mumps.
Opponents of the HPV vaccine have said the requirement could encourage promiscuity and oversteps parental authority. They also argue it would subject children to a vaccine with little-known long-term effects.
HPV, which causes genital warts, has been linked to cervical cancer. The vaccine, called Gardasil, is produced by New Jersey-based Merck & Co., which last month discontinued lobbying efforts to require the vaccine in other states.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the vaccine for girls ages 11-12 but says it can be given to girls as young as 9. The vaccine protects against four types of HPV, which cause about 70 percent of cervical cancers, according to the CDC.
_ Trish G. Graber
Lutheran Membership Grows in Third World, Slips in West
(RNS) Lutheran church membership soared in Africa and Asia between 2005 and 2006 but continued its steady decline in the modern West, according to the Lutheran World Federation, an international communion of Lutheran churches.
Global membership rose by 467,511, an increase of .71 percent, to just under 66.7 million, according to Lutheran World Federation figures released March 6. The Geneva-based LWF counts 140 member churches, 10 congregations and one council in 78 countries.
Countries in Asia saw the largest growth, adding 900,000 Lutherans, bringing the total there to 8.2 million. European nations experienced the deepest drop in membership, where the number of Lutherans fell by more than 566,000 to 37.4 million.
Membership in North American churches fell by 115,293, a drop of about 1.4 percent to just over 5 million. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the LWF’s second-largest church with 4.85 million members, lost about 80,000 members.
The Church of Sweden, the world’s largest Lutheran church with about 6.9 million members, saw its membership decrease by 99,000.
On the other hand, Africa’s Lutheran churches grew by 221,000 members and now total 15.2 million. The Lutheran Church of Rwanda, which has 35,480 members, experienced the greatest growth.
_ Daniel Burke
Quote of the Day: Comedian Stephen Colbert of “The Colbert Report”
(RNS) “This latest case is a real breakthrough. It’s not Christian medical professionals refusing to provide treatment they don’t approve of. It’s Christian medical professionals refusing to provide treatment to people they don’t approve of.”
_ Comedian Stephen Colbert of “The Colbert Report” on a California doctor who refuses to treat patients who don’t adhere to his Christian values.
KRE/PH END RNS
Editors: Edwords in 1st item is CQ
