c. 2007 Religion News Service

Sikhs, feds reach deal on airport turban searches

WASHINGTON (RNS) Sikh travelers will no longer be required to publicly remove their turbans at airport security checkpoints under a policy announced Tuesday (Oct. 16).

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) released the policy, which will go into effect Oct. 27, in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security and Sikh organizations.

“Our collaboration with TSA has resulted in a solution that strengthens TSA’s ability to protect our nation’s airports, while also respecting the civil liberties of all travelers of faith,” said Kavneet Singh, managing director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF).

The new TSA policy does not put religious head coverings in their own category but includes headwear like Sikh turbans in the category of “bulky clothing.”

The policy suggests removing head coverings, but does not demand it of those who are uncomfortable doing so. Passengers who choose not to remove headwear or other bulky clothing may be screened by TSA officers using pat downs and explosive-detecting devices.

If a passenger requires further screening, a TSA officer must offer a private room in which to conduct the screening.

TSA made the change in response to concerns raised by American Sikhs about an August policy that “disproportionately targeted Sikhs for secondary screening due to their turban, an article of faith.”

That policy forced some to remove their turbans at airports, a disgrace for Sikhs, who consider the “removal of the turban in public … akin to a strip search.”

SALDEF says TSA’s 43,000 screening officers “will undergo Sikh cultural awareness training before the Thanksgiving holiday travel season,” requiring them to view a training video and a poster showing common Sikh headwear.

_ Heather Donckels

Embattled Oral Roberts University president taking leave of absence

OKLAHOMA CITY (RNS) The embattled president of Oral Roberts University will take an indefinite leave of absence but expects to return to the post “in God’s timing,” he said Wednesday (Oct. 17).

The decision by Richard Roberts, son of the charismatic Christian university’s namesake founder, came amid intense scrutiny over allegations of financial, political and other wrongdoing raised in a lawsuit by three former Oral Roberts University professors.

“I have asked the board of regents of Oral Roberts University to grant me a temporary leave of absence until such time as these matters can be resolved,” Roberts said in a written statement. “I have prayed about it and feel that it is in the best interest of my family and the university.”

In particular, he cited “untrue allegations of sexual misconduct by my wife” as having taken “a serious toll on me and my family.” Lindsay Roberts has denied charges that she spent the night with an underage male and engaged in lurid behavior with a “male 16-year-old friend,” as suggested by papers filed with the lawsuit.

Voicing full trust in the regents of the 5,300-student university in Tulsa, Roberts said he will “give myself afresh and anew to my family, and to prayer and the Word of God.”

He said he intends to remain as chairman and CEO of Oral Roberts Ministries, a separate entity from the university.

“I pray and believe that in God’s timing, and when the board feels that it is appropriate, I will be back in my post as president.”

_ Bobby Ross Jr.

Bob Jones University chancellor endorses Mitt Romney

(RNS) The chancellor of Bob Jones University, a conservative Christian school in Greenville, S.C., has endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination for president.

“As a Christian I am completely opposed to the doctrines of Mormonism,” Bob Jones III told The Greenville News on Tuesday (Oct. 16).

“But I’m not voting for a preacher. I’m voting for a president. It boils down to who can best represent conservative American beliefs, not religious beliefs.”

Jones, whose school is in a pivotal state because of its early Republican primary in the 2008 elections, said he opposed a presidential race between former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Hillary Clinton because both support abortion rights.

“This is all about beating Hillary,” said Jones, grandson of the school’s founder. “And I just believe that this man has the credentials both personally and ideologically in terms of his view about what American government should be to best represent the rank and file of conservative Americans.”

Bob Jones University posted a statement on its Web site that the school does not endorse political candidates and Jones’ comments were made in his role as a private citizen.

In a separate but related development, a publicist for conservative Christian leaders such as evangelist Franklin Graham wrote a letter this month to conservative and evangelical leaders seeking their support of Romney.

“I am wholeheartedly convinced that Mitt Romney can be trusted to uphold the values and principles most important to me as a political conservative and an evangelical Christian,” wrote Mark DeMoss, who is acting as an unpaid adviser for the Romney campaign.

Like Jones, DeMoss noted the abortion stances of Giuliani and Clinton. He also stated his concern that the next president could appoint several Supreme Court justices.

To those who criticize his support of a Mormon candidate, DeMoss said: “I am more concerned that a candidate shares my values than he shares my theology.”

DeMoss noted that his Duluth, Ga.-based public relations firm is not involved in the campaign.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Campaign for debt relief to continue after 46-day fast

WASHINGTON (RNS) An Alabama congressman, hungry from a symbolic one-day fast, said Tuesday (Oct. 16) he is promoting another round of international debt relief because previous loan forgiveness has improved health care, education and security in developing countries.

“If you do something that worked so well, you wonder, `Why not go back and do more?”’ Rep. Spencer Bachus said.

Bachus is the lead Republican sponsor on the latest attempt to cancel more longstanding international debt, this time for up to 67 countries where even interest payments can be crushing. His motivation is a mix of religious conviction and concern for human rights and national security, and dates to 2000 when the first of two debt relief measures was approved.

“Tens of millions of schoolchildren in Africa alone are attending class that weren’t seven years ago,” Bachus said. “The fact that their future prospects are so much greater and poverty will begin to fall with education, the benefits of that to our country and to the world are unimaginable.”

Bachus and other congressional advocates of debt cancellation ended their 24-hour fast Tuesday morning at a prayer breakfast on Capitol Hill, where religious groups gathered to promote an expanded debt relief bill.

The legislation, known in shorthand as the Jubilee Act of 2007, is sponsored by Rep. Maxine Waters, a liberal Democrat from California who acknowledged the unusual partnership she’s had with the Alabama conservative. She called their friendship, developed over the debt relief bill, a “miracle.”

“We worked together in a way that I never thought we would,” Waters said. “We were up early in the morning at meetings, and it has been one of the most delightful experiences I’ve had in Congress.”

The legislation cites some recent examples of what countries have done with the money that otherwise would have been spent paying back loans. Zambia, for instance, in 2006 used its savings of $23.8 million for agricultural and health care projects. In Uganda that same year, almost $60 million was spent addressing electricity shortages, primary education, malaria control, health care and water infrastructure.

“As a Christian, and I don’t speak for all religions, but it is wonderful that all the great religions of the world preach really the same thing when it comes to debt relief,” said Bachus, a Baptist.

Also Tuesday, the Rev. David Duncombe, a leader of the debt relief movement, ended his 46 days of fasting by breaking bread with other advocates. The event was sponsored by the Jubilee USA Network, which represents more than 80 religious denominations and faith communities, human rights, environmental, labor, and community groups.

_ Mary Orndorff

Quote of the Day: Former NFL running back Herb Lusk

(RNS) “I’m very proud when I look and see guys praying in the end zone or praying after (a game). I see these guys as my sons. I gave birth to them. I see that as my purpose for playing in the NFL.”

_ Former NFL running back Herb Lusk, now a pastor of Greater Exodus Baptist Church in Philadelphia, on being the first player to kneel in the end zone and pray after scoring a touchdown. He was quoted by the Washington Post.

KRE/LF END RNS