c. 2006 Religion News Service
Immigrant’s Son Asks Bush for Reprieve
WASHINGTON (RNS) The 7-year-old son of an illegal immigrant seeking refuge in a Chicago church delivered a handwritten letter to the White House on Tuesday (Oct. 3), asking that his mother “be allowed to stay with me in my country.”
In a news conference at a downtown hotel, U.S.-born Saul Arellano told reporters he hoped his letter would change the president’s mind about immigration laws, including one that would deport his mother to Mexico.
“I want to tell you why I believe my mom should be allowed to stay with me in my country. I want to tell you that there are more than 3 million children like me,” said his letter, read by a spokeswoman because the boy was too nervous.
“We are U.S. citizens but the government is taking away our mothers and fathers.”
The boy’s mother, Elvira Arellano, has claimed sanctuary in Chicago’s Adalberto United Methodist Church since Aug. 15, the day she had been ordered to report to the Department of Homeland Security for deportation.
Throughout the news conference, the boy nervously fiddled with a disposable camera and occasionally replied in Spanish to questions from the crowd.
Saul represents the 3.1 million U.S.-born children whose parents are undocumented, said Emma Lozano, church council president of Adalberto United Methodist Church.
“It’s a criminal act when you separate a mother from her child,” she said in an interview. “To me it is the worst terrorist act you can commit.”
Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, a Democrat who represents the heavily Latino district in Chicago where Saul and his mother are staying, accompanied the boy to the White House.
Lozano said a member of the White House staff spoke to the group at the security gate. She said she hopes the president will accept their offer to meet Arellano and his mother in person.
The White House declined to comment Tuesday until the staff could review the letter.
_ Jason Kane
In Foley Fallout, Groups Call for Resignation of Congress Members
WASHINGTON (RNS) Conservative and liberal religious activists have called for the resignation of any member of Congress who was aware of the activities of former Rep. Mark Foley, the Florida Republican accused of inappropriate online contact with congressional pages.
A new Internet-based group of Christian Democrats called FaithfulDemocrats.com wrote to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., on Monday (Oct. 2) calling for congressional action.
“No matter how much some politicians talk about moral values, protecting sexual predators at the expense of children is nothing short of sinful,” wrote more than a dozen leaders, including denominational officials, pastors and professors.
“We therefore call for the repentance and resignation of all members of Congress who knew about Mr. Foley’s misdeeds yet failed to stop them.”
Signatories included the Rev. Stephen Thurston, president of the National Baptist Convention of America; the Rev. Major Jemison, former president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention; the Rev. Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics; and the Rev. Romal Tune, co-chair of FaithfulDemocrats.com.
In a separate statement issued Tuesday, the Arlington Group, a Washington-based coalition of conservative and Christian groups, made a similar call.
“It appears that the integrity of the conservative majority has given way to political correctness, trading the virtues of decency and respect for that of tolerance and diversity,” reads the statement. “No one should be surprised at the results of such a tragic exchange. The leadership must demand the resignation of any member who has acted improperly in this matter.”
The coalition of more than 70 groups has an executive committee that includes American Family Association Chairman Donald Wildmon, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and Free Congress Foundation Chairman Paul Weyrich.
Hastert has called for an investigation to determine who knew about Foley’s “vile and repulsive” instant messages but said Republican leaders in the House were not aware of them until Foley resigned Sept. 29.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Parole Board Urges Execution for Cult Killer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (RNS) Jeffrey Lundgren said he thought “the end of time was near” when he received a vision from God that commanded him to kill five members of his Kirtland religious cult in 1989.
After spending 16 years on death row, the end of time finally does appear to be near for Lundgren after the Ohio Parole Board voted unanimously Monday (Oct. 2) to recommend that Gov. Bob Taft deny him clemency.
Lundgren faces an Oct. 24 execution date. Taft’s spokesman, Mark Rickel, would say only that the governor will rule on Lundgren’s plea for mercy before the 24th.
“Mr. Lundgren systematically and premeditatedly killed five people, three of whom were innocent children,” the eight Parole Board members wrote. “Mr. Lundgren’s motive for killing this particular family involved financial gain, an increase in power over the lives of others, as well as the exploitation and manipulation of the fears and beliefs of others.”
At Lundgren’s clemency hearing last week, the board was clearly unswayed by attorney Henry Hilow’s claim that Lundgren, 56, received a “deific decree” _ an order from God _ to commit the murders.
Even psychologist Sandra Mack _ the only board member who has voted four times to grant clemency since Ohio reinstituted capital punishment _ told Hilow she thought Lundgren was motivated more by greed than God.
The board’s report contains excerpts from a 100-minute interview that board member Kathleen Kovach did with Lundgren at the Ohio State Penitentiary on Sept. 20.
The excerpts quote Lundgren as saying he grew up in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, where he learned that “love equals justice.”
“Mr. Lundgren shared that he thought that the `end of time was near’ and that he had to build a city where he and his followers would dwell together, have a place of refuge and escape the enemy,” the report says. It says he “compared himself to Moses and stated that the Lord communicated to him’… to go and get the sacred records,”’ which led him from Missouri to the Kirtland Temple.
Lundgren told Kovach that he was “commanded by God” to kill Dennis, 49, and Cheryl Avery, 46, and their daughters Trina, 15, Becky, 13, and Karen, 7.
_ Ted Wendling
Catholic Bishops Join Campaign to Lobby McDonald’s
(RNS) The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops have joined a church-based campaign to pressure McDonald’s to help raise the pay and improve working conditions for Florida tomato pickers.
“McDonald’s and other major food companies do not directly set farm workers’ wages and working conditions, but with your substantial purchasing power, you can insist that your produce suppliers meet high ethical standards in how they treat their workers,” Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, N.Y., wrote in a letter to James Skinner, CEO of McDonald’s.
DiMarzio, chairman of the bishops’ domestic policy committee, urged McDonald’s to reach an agreement similar to the one reached last year with Taco Bell and its parent company, Yum Brands Inc.
That agreement came after a four-year boycott of Taco Bell, led by mainline Protestant and Orthodox denominations. It ended in March 2005 after the company agreed to raise pay for tomato pickers in Florida.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which represents the tomato pickers, is seeking an additional one cent per pound for tomatoes and an enforceable code of conduct for growers and packers.
DiMarzio told McDonald’s that the chain’s heavyweight stature in the fast-food industry would help pressure suppliers to “meet the standards you set.”
Teams from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers recently met in Denver with officials of the Chipotle restaurant chain. The teams are planning peaceful demonstrations in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois, including at McDonald’s corporate headquarters outside Chicago.
_ Chansin Bird
Supreme Court Rejects Parents’ Complaints Over Islam in School
WASHINGTON (RNS) The Supreme Court on Monday (Oct. 2) declined to hear a case from California parents who complained after their children were required to simulate Muslim worship and attire as part of a history class.
Jonas and Tiffany Eklund, parents of one of the students at Excelsior Middle School in Byron, Calif., petitioned the Supreme Court to take the case after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s decision in favor of the school.
The appeals court agreed with the federal district court, which said the course was merely educational and lacked “any devotional or religious intent.”
Edward White, an attorney for the parents, argued that teaching by engaging in aspects of Islam violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids the government from establishing a state-sponsored religion.
White said the seventh-grade students were essentially indoctrinated into Islam and were not given an opportunity to opt out.
“The kids were given handouts saying that `you and your classmates will become Muslims,”’ White said. “They were divided into groups named after Islamic cities, they picked Islamic names and wore name tags with the star and crescent … they simulated the five pillars of faith and experienced self-denial as a Muslim would for Ramadan.”
He said children were given extra credit for fasting, but were not forced to fast. Some gave up things like soda or watching TV, he said.
The decision by the Supreme Court not to hear the case leaves no definitive ruling on what methods of religious appreciation may or may not occur in the classroom, White said.
“Why the court denied (the case), who knows,” White said. “When they issued their denial, it was just that.”
Linda Lye, an attorney for the school district, did not respond to requests for comment.
_ Keith Roshangar
Quote of the Day: Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page
(RNS) “Many of our churches are going through difficult days, and we exist … in a Southern Baptist Convention that is thought by some to have lost its relevancy. In the minds of many … we have become an archaic, burdensome bureaucracy that no longer has relevancy for today or for the day to come.”
_ Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page, addressing his first denominational Executive Committee meeting. He was quoted by Baptist Press about the need for revival within the denomination.
KRE/PH END RNS
