c. 2008 Religion News Service
Jews denounce Muslim rumors aimed at Obama
WASHINGTON (RNS) Several Jewish leaders have come to the defense of presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama against rumors that he secretly espouses radical Muslim beliefs.
In a joint letter, leaders of nine Jewish groups including the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the American Jewish Congress characterized the e-mail rumor campaign as hateful and intended to “manipulate (Jews) into supporting or opposing candidates.”
Since 2006, rumors have circulated that Obama, D-Ill., was educated in a radical Muslim school in Indonesia, took his congressional oath of office on the Quran, or is involved in Wahhabism, a conservative sect of Islam popular in Saudi Arabia. In December, the Hillary Clinton campaign called for resignations from any Clinton volunteers who may have forwarded such e-mails.
Obama says he was not religious as a child, and was baptized at the Trinity United Church in Chicago in 1988, eight years before he was elected to the Illinois State Senate.
At Tuesday’s Democratic presidential candidate’s debate in Las Vegas, Obama reiterated his religious stance. “I am a Christian. I have been sworn in with a Bible,” he said. “I pledge allegiance and lead the Pledge of Allegiance sometimes in the United States Senate, when I’m presiding.”
The Jewish leaders released their letter Tuesday, just as Obama was tring to distance himself from the Rev. Louis Farrakhan, longtime leader of the Nation of Islam. A magazine published by Obama’s church granted Farrakhan an award last year because he “truly epitomized greatness.” Obama won the award this year.
Obama said he did not agree with giving the award to Farrakhan, whom many consider anti-Semitic.
_ Matthew Streib
Next president of Evangelical Covenant Church nominated
(RNS) An evangelism expert for the Evangelical Covenant Church has been nominated as the next president of the Chicago-based denomination.
Gary Walter, 53, the executive minister of the church’s Department of Church Growth and Evangelism, will be considered for election during the denomination’s annual meeting June 24-26 in Green Lake, Wis.
President Glenn Palmberg announced last year that he would retire by the fall of 2008. A nominating committee began the work to replace him in October.
“There was a unanimous affirmation of his call as the nominee,” said Brian Madvig, committee chair, in announcing Walter’s nomination. “The committee did difficult and hard work _ it was a rigorous process. Ultimately, we felt God’s leading in all of this.”
Before being elected as executive minister in 1999, Walter directed church planting, or the starting of new churches. He also has pastored churches in Bellevue, Wash., and San Diego.
About 166,000 people attend the denomination’s approximately 800 local churches on an average Sunday.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Dow Jones unveils `dharma index’
(RNS) Financial news powerhouse Dow Jones & Company has launched new “dharma indexes” to track the stocks of companies that observe the values of dharma-based religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.
The Dow Jones Dharma Indexes are the first to measure dharma-compliant stocks and now track more than 3,400 companies globally, including about 1,000 in the U.S., according to the company. In addition to the global index, Dow Jones has created dharma indexes for the U.S., Britain, Japan and India.
Dharma Investments, a private faith-based Indian firm, partnered with Dow Jones to create the indexes.
“The principle of dharma contains precepts relevant to good conduct, but also the implicit requirement of mindfulness about the sources of wealth _ and therefore responsible investing,” said Dharma Investment CEO Nitesh Gor.
Advisory committees of religious leaders and scholars will screen and monitor companies’ environmental policies, corporate governance, labor relations and human rights, among other criteria. Companies from business sectors deemed un-dharmic, such as weapons manufacturers, pharmaceuticals, casinos and alcohol, are barred from the index.
Bhakti Charu Swami of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness said, “If one only considers the profit motive of an investment without recognizing how that profit was generated, one may unknowingly commit sinful activity. Every link in the entire chain of events is liable for the results.”
Dow Jones says it pioneered faith-based indexes in 1999 with the Islamic Market Indexes, which monitor companies’ compliance with shariah law. The company has no plans for a Christian index, said Dow Jones spokeswoman Naomi Kim.
Interest in socially responsible investing has exploded in recent years, and now encompasses about 10 percent of the $24 trillion investment marketplace, according to the Washington-based Social Investment Forum.
_ Daniel Burke
Quote of the Day: Author and Mercer University professor David P. Gushee
(RNS) “If there are people who reject God or the church, Christianity or religiously inspired moral values, because of what conservative evangelical political activists do, this is disastrous from a Christian point of view.”
_ David P. Gushee, a Christian ethics professor at Mercer University and author of “The Future of Faith in American Politics,” writing in an op-ed for USA Today.
KRE/RB END RNS
