c. 2007 Religion News Service
Christian Group Fights Expulsion for Foot Washing in Court
(RNS) An evangelical Christian campus group that was expelled from Savannah State Univerity is in a legal battle with the college over the question of whether the practice of foot-washing can be considered hazing.
On Aug. 24, a federal judge denied efforts by the Georgia school to have the entire case dismissed.
The student group, Commissioned II Love, was recognized as an official organization in 2003 but was later suspended and then expelled in 2006, after some students complained to university police that its members engaged in “practices that are not unlike (that) of a cult,” such as “foot washings” and “baptisms,” a court document states.
“Christian groups can’t be treated as second-class citizens on campus,” said Joseph Martins, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund’s Center for Academic Freedom, which has sued the school on behalf of the group and its officers.
“What’s happened here is Savannah State University, which is a public university, has basically kicked off (the group) simply because they’ve been exercising their First Amendment rights.”
The group had been controversial on campus, holding events with guest speakers on its “Biblical Perspectives on Greekdom,” which criticized the partying atmosphere of some Greek-letter organizations.
Off campus, the group held a weekend retreat at a nearby beach at which current members washed the feet of new members, following a practice instituted by Jesus with his disciples.
A campus hearing officer ruled that there was a “cause of concern” about some of the activities of the group, which was charged with harassment and hazing.
University officials declined to comment on the suit.
“It’s an ongoing legal matter,” said Loretta Heyward, spokeswoman for the school. “It would be inappropriate for the university to make any comments.”
_ Adelle M. Banks
Polish Cardinal Says Controversial Radio Station Needs Reform
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope John Paul II’s former secretary urged Poland’s Roman Catholic Church to take control of a Polish radio station criticized for promoting anti-Semitism.
In a speech to his fellow Polish bishops on August 25, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow called for the establishment of a “new governing board” for Radio Maryja and its sister TV station Telewizja Trwam.
The stations reach millions of Poles, and are especially popular among the elderly in rural areas, offering content of a strongly Catholic and nationalist character. Critics have denounced the stations’ programming as xenophobic and anti-Semitic.
“We are at the threshold of a dangerous crisis _ somebody else is guiding the direction of the ministry in Poland,” Dziwisz said, according to a translation of his remarks by the Associated Press.
There is a “threat that the church in Poland is being identified solely with the position of Radio Maryja,” said the cardinal, who was Pope John Paul II’s top aide for decades.
The text of his speech was published on Tuesday (September 4) by the Polish weekly Tygodnik Powszechny.
According to the newspaper Zycie Warszawy, the Polish hierarchy was divided in its response to Dziwisz’s speech, with several bishops opposing the call to take over the broadcaster.
Radio Maryja is currently under the control of its founder, the Rev. Tadeusz Rydzyk, a major political figure in Poland, whose meeting with Pope Benedict XVI last month provoked complaints from Jewish leaders in Europe and the United States.
Earlier in the summer, a Polish magazine reported that Rydzyk had been recorded denouncing Jews and their influence on Polish President Lech Kaczynski. Rydzyk said that he “didn’t intend to offend anyone.”
In response to the complaints, the Vatican issued an unusual statement insisting that the pope’s meeting with Rydzyk did “not imply any change in the well-known position of the Holy See on relations between Catholics and Jews.”
_ Francis X. Rocca
Church Groups Push for Debt Relief Act
WASHINGTON (RNS) Liberal religious leaders will begin a 40-day fast this week (Sept. 6) to advocate for legislation that would cancel the debts of the world’s 67 poorest countries.
The Rev. David Duncombe, a veteran social activist and retired campus minister from Salmon, Wash., will fast for at least 40 days in the nation’s capital, according to the Jubilee USA Network, an alliance of more than 80 religious denominations and faith communities.
Participating in one-day fasts related to the Jubilee Act or endorsing the effort are the Rev. Jim Wallis, a progressive evangelical and head of Sojourners/Call to Renewal, evangelical author Tony Campolo, Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of South Africa, Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun magazine and the Rev. John Thomas, president of the United Church of Christ.
2007 is a Sabbath Year, according to Jubilee USA, which in the Old Testament meant that Hebrew creditors were expected to cancel the loans of fellow Hebrews.
In June, Reps. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., introduced the 2007 Jubilee Act in the House of Representatives. Jubilee USA says their goal is to get a hearing on the bill and similar legislation introduced in the Senate.
_ Daniel Burke
Quote of the Day: The Rev. Leo Edgerly Jr. of Oakland, Calif.
(RNS) “You can go to Europe and see Gothic cathedrals. You can come to Oakland and see this.”
_ The Rev. Leo Edgerly Jr., a member of the advisory board for the new $190 million Roman Catholic Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, Calif., which has been criticized for looking like a beehive, an inverted basket or a nuclear reactor. He was quoted by the Associated Press.
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