c. 2007 Religion News Service
Adventist Missionary Claims Church Benefits Are Discriminatory
WASHINGTON (RNS) A Maryland county human rights office is investigating claims by a retired Seventh-day Adventist missionary who says his church is paying him a meager amount of retirement benefits based on his country of origin.
Pastor Berhane Woldemariam, 71, of Adelphi, Md., filed a complaint with the Montgomery County (Md.) Office of Human Rights in February. Earlier this month, the director of that office denied a church request to dismiss the case.
“I find that the disputed issues of material fact involved in the resolution of this matter are sufficiently complex to require an extensive investigation,” said Odessa M. Shannon, director of the office in Rockville, Md. The world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is located in nearby Silver Spring, Md.
Woldemariam is a native of Eritrea, which was part of Ethiopia at the time of his birth.
His pro bono lawyer, Nathaniel Rickard, filed the claims with the human rights office in hopes of getting the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to increase Woldemariam’s monthly pay from its current rate of about $120 a month.
Woldemariam’s complaint questioned church policy, saying: “ … The General Conference asserts the right, for the purposes of determining retirement benefits, to treat non-U.S. born citizens employed while residing in the United States in a less favorable manner than U.S. born citizens employed while residing in the United States.”
Thomas E. Wetmore, associate general counsel for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, said the church believes Woldemariam’s current payments are appropriate.
“The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists believes that Mr. Woldemariam is currently receiving the retirement benefits to which he is entitled under the retirement plan of his former employer in Africa where he lived and worked for almost his entire career before emigrating to the United States,” Wetmore said in an e-mailed response to questions.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Canadian Muslims Apply for Sharia Banks
TORONTO (RNS) Canada’s federal government has received its first requests to start up sharia-compliant banks.
Canada’s bank regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), is studying two proposals for banks that would offer services in keeping with Islamic laws that forbid speculation and interest, but rather favor transactions where profit and loss are shared.
If approved _ and that would be a long way off _ such an institution would be among the first in the Western world, reports the Globe and Mail newspaper.
The request, from unidentified applicants, has led Canadian banking officials into uncharted territory. They have wondered whether these institutions could be reliably audited, governed by directors or monitored.
“Are the deposits insurable?” one OSFI study asked.
Canada’s finance ministry established an Islamic financial services working group in June to study the issue.
Under sharia law, charging or paying interest is usury and therefore considered haram, or forbidden.
The Islamic financial model works on the basis of risk-sharing. The customer and the bank share the risk of any investment on agreed terms, and divide any profits between them.
That has been the general model at United Muslims (UM) Financial Inc., a Toronto-area firm that has offered interest-free mortgages since 2004, in partnership with Credit Union Central of Ontario.
There are about 300 Islamic financial institutions in 75 countries, with assets of more than $300 billion and another $400 billion in financial investments, which, according to sharia, cannot be in areas such as gambling, alcohol, pork or pornography; or one that assumes a high level of risk.
_ Ron Csillag
Methodists to Consider Divestment Proposal
WASHINGTON (RNS) The United Methodist Church must divest from companies that contribute to the “oppression of Palestinians” or do business with Sudan, according to the church’s social service agency.
The Washington-based United Methodist Board of Church and Society voted to send resolutions calling for the divestments to the denomination’s General Conference next spring.
The board also approved a resolution seeking to establish a “socially responsibility investment task force,” according to United Methodist News Service.
“In a world primarily defined by economic transactions, the next steps should be targeted divestment with businesses directly involved in the oppression of Palestinians and the humanitarian crisis in Darfur,” said the Rev. Steve Sprecher, chairman of the agency’s Peace with Justice task force.
The resolution particularly calls for divestment in Caterpillar Inc., the Illinois-based manufacturer. The Methodist board says Caterpillar supplies the Israeli army with bulldozers used for “the illegal destruction of Palestinian homes, orchards and olive groves.”
Church agencies, foundations, local churches and pension boards that invest United Methodist funds would be required to divest from Caterpillar by 2009 should the resolution pass.
The board of directors solicited input on divestment from Jewish, Arab and Palestinian communities for the past three years, according to the church news agency.
The investment task force would establish a standard for investments that coincides with the church’s social principles.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) had also considered divesting from companies involved in Israel and the Palestinian territories but backed away from full divestment under heavy pressure from Jewish groups. The church is now working with Caterpillar and other companies to change policies.
_ Daniel Burke
Poll: Media, Experience Shape Views of Muslims, Mormons
WASHINGTON (RNS) The media and personal experience rank as the top two influences on people’s perceptions of Muslims and Mormons, a survey released Tuesday (Sept. 25) said.
The survey released by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that out of 3,002 adults, 32 percent called the media the No. 1 influence on their perception of Muslims, while 18 percent cited personal experience as their top influence.
When it comes to views about Mormons, 29 percent cited personal experience, while 20 percent cited the media as an influence.
The survey shows that the media tend to create unfavorable views toward Muslims especially: of those who cited media as the biggest influence, 48 percent reported unfavorable views of Muslims. Only 20 percent said their views are favorable.
John Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum, said the media’s tendency to create unfavorable views of Muslims is probably linked to the content of the news, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On the other hand, personal acquaintance with Muslims and Mormons results in more favorable opinions of them and their faiths. Green said being personally acquainted with Muslims and Mormons allows outsiders to gain a deeper understanding of these faiths and discuss their differences of belief. “Personal contact seems to be key,” he said.
The survey also showed that while both faiths have recently gained “increasing national visibility” … “most Americans say they know little or nothing about either religion’s practices.”
Green said that in light of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, Muslim and Mormon groups have attempted to increase public awareness about their faiths. However, even though people’s “self-reported familiarity” with Islam and Mormonism is high, there’s no way to tell if their actual knowledge of either faith has increased.
_ Heather Donckels
Quote of the Day: Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page
(RNS) “Please pray for me as I continue to meet with persons such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson. I already have spent time with leaders such as John McCain, Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani. I have spoken on the phone with persons such as Mitt Romney.”
_ Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page, discussing in a Baptist Press column his surprise about the amount of contact he’s had with secular politicians.
KRE DS END RNS
