c. 2008 Religion News Service

Saudi king’s conference rejects terrorism, urges dialogue

(RNS) A global conference of about 300 interfaith leaders concluded Friday (July 18) in Spain with a declaration that rejects terrorism and calls for a special United Nations session on dialogue.

Calling terrorism “one of the most serious obstacles confronting dialogue and coexistence,” the four-page “Madrid Declaration” was issued after a two-day summit convened by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah.

The declaration was released by the Saudi embassy in Washington, and the conference was organized by the Mecca-based Muslim World League. Prominent leaders of Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism and Shintoism attended.

The statement affirmed human unity, peace, the family and environmental preservation. It emphasized the need for cooperation among people from different backgrounds.

“Diversity of cultures and civilizations among people is a sign of God and a cause for human advancement and prosperity,” the declaration reads.

It rejected “theories that call for the clash of civilizations” and urged the building of a “culture of tolerance” through conferences and media programs.

Last March, Abdullah said he wanted to launch a new dialogue among Christians, Jews and Muslims, but the proposal drew headlines because Saudi Arabia’s exclusivist version of Islam does not allow non-Muslims to openly practice their faith in the kingdom.

In addition to a special U.N. session to enhance dialogue among people of different religions and cultures, the Madrid statement called for the development of a “working team” to study problems that inhibit dialogue.

It urged governmental and nongovernmental organizations to make a statement “that stipulates respect for religions and their symbols, the prohibition of their denigration and the repudiation of those who commit such acts.”

_ Adelle M. Banks

Methodists back plan for Bush library at SMU

(RNS) Despite continued opposition from progressive members of the United Methodist Church, the proposed George W. Bush Presidential Library at Southern Methodist University overcame its last significant hurdle on Thursday (July 17).

Delegates to the Methodists’ South Central Jurisdictional Conference rejected a petition that would have blocked construction of the controversial complex on SMU’s Dallas campus. SMU agreed last February to lease 36 acres that would house Bush’s library, museum and an independent policy institute.

“The South Central Jurisdiction expects the institute to function in a manner that protects the integrity of both Southern Methodist University and the South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church,” delegates said in an approved resolution.

The South Central Jurisdiction covers United Methodists in eight states, from New Mexico to Louisiana and north to Nebraska. Delegates to the Methodists’ national convention voted 844-20 to refer the issue to the regional body for a final decision.

Thursday’s vote brought to an end a saga that began last year when regional church leaders first approved the lease proposal. Last February, school officials approved a 99-year lease for the privately funded complex, which is expected to cost an estimated $500 million.

The plans have drawn criticism from liberal members of the church, who say the complex would compromise SMU’s independence and promote ideas that conflict with Methodist teachings.

“I think it’s an unprecedented move by a conference of the United Methodist Church to subsidize a specific politically ideologically oriented point of view,” said the Rev. Tex Sample, a retired pastor from Goodyear, Ariz. “I think we will rue the day that we did this.”

In a letter to delegates, Sample cited Bush’s embrace of domestic surveillance, his advocacy of the death penalty, and his support for the Iraq war as policies that directly contradict church values.

President Bush and his wife, Laura, are both United Methodists, and the first lady graduated from SMU in 1968.

_ Tim Murphy

Pope calls for interfaith peace push

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI on Friday (July 18) called on the world’s religions to join forces for peace and disprove those who see religion as a source of conflict.

“A harmonious relationship between religion and public life is all the more important at a time when some people have come to consider religion as a cause of division rather than a force for unity,” Benedict said in Sydney, Australia, where he is attending the World Youth Day festival.

“In a world threatened by sinister and indiscriminate forms of violence, the unified voice of religious people urges nations and communities to resolve conflicts through peaceful means and with full regard for human dignity.”

Benedict spoke at Sydney’s St. Mary’s Cathedral to representatives of other religions, including Sheikh Mohamadu Saleem, a member of the Australian National Imams Council.

Though Benedict made no specific reference to Islam, his words were widely seen as a veiled reference to Islamic extremism. Benedict is still trying to repair relations with Muslims after a 2006 speech in which he seemed to equate Islam with violence.

Indeed, Benedict stressed on Friday that the Catholic Church wants to interact with other faiths and learn from them.

“The universality of human experience, which transcends all geographical boundaries and cultural limitations, makes it possible for followers of religions to engage in dialogue so as to grapple with the mystery of life’s joys and sufferings,” he said. “The church eagerly seeks opportunities to listen to the spiritual experience of other religions.”

_ Paul Virgo

Churches claim victory with N.J. housing law

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (RNS) In the steamy atmosphere of a tent revival meeting, Gov. Jon Corzine on Thursday (July 17) signed what proponents described as landmark legislation to help develop affordable housing.

Surrounded by legislators, clergy and housing activists, Corzine signed the legislation in an open-sided tent at an affordable housing development. Mount Laurel is where a lawsuit began in 1971 that led to a precedent-setting state Supreme Court decision requiring towns to help provide affordable housing.

“Through this measure, we are ending decades of unfair, unbalanced and insufficient provision of affordable housing in New Jersey,” Corzine said. “The fact is this legislation holds much promise for the thousands of New Jerseyans who want to stay in their hometown _ to work there and raise their families there _ but simply can’t afford to live there.”

Caught up in the shouts of “Amen!” from the audience of 530 people, clergy and state officials alike said they saw God playing a role in the shaping of the legislation.

“Generally, I am for the separation of church and state,” Corzine said, “but I must tell you the spirit of God is moving through this audience.”

The legislation ends a two-decade-old system that allowed upper-income suburban towns to meet at least part of their affordable housing obligations by paying poorer cities to build the housing there.

Those regional contribution agreements, or RCAs, contributed to a form of segregation that kept the poor trapped in the struggling cities and children in poor schools, supporters of the new law said.

Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, a Democrat who spearheaded the bill, said it is the climax of a three-decade crusade.

“I was told it would be a cold day in hell when they eliminated RCAs in New Jersey,” he told the crowd. “RCAs have been insidious public policy for this state. To advance as a state, we have to move forward together. We can’t pay people to stay behind.”

David Rusk, the former mayor of Albuquerque, N.M., and a national affordable housing activist, called the New Jersey law “the most important housing reform enacted in the nation in the last two decades.”

_ Tom Hester

Quote of the Day:

(RNS) “On the upside, at least the gulls are being good parents and trying to protect their young. You can’t begrudge them that.”

_ The Rev. Graham Minors, vicar of St. Peytroc’s Church in Cornwall, England, on the aggressive sea gulls near his church that are guarding a young chick. Minors has donned a hard hat and an umbrella to protect himself from the birds’ dive-bombs.

KRE/PH END RNS