c. 2007 Religion News Service
Holy Land religious leaders lobby Washington
WASHINGTON (RNS) Leaders of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths in the Holy Land on Wednesday (Nov. 7) announced a series of practical steps toward achieving unity and curbing violence in the region.
The group, which came together in 2005 as the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land, made its first visit to the U.S. in advance of a Middle East peace summit that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is planning in Annapolis, Md.
While the religious leaders do not intend to be at the Annapolis meeting, they said their efforts to protect places of worship and stem derogatory depictions of faith parallel the policy changes being hashed out by the politicians.
While the Holy Land council is not political, Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee’s office in Jerusalem said a political solution cannot be achieved unless the religious dimension of the conflict in Israel and Palestine is addressed.
The council represents major religious organizations in both Israel and Palestine, including Israel’s chief rabbis, Palestinian Islamic law clerics, Lutheran and Anglican bishops, and patriarchs from the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches.
“We are here to say that we are not the problem _ we are a part of the solution,” said Patriarch Michel Sabah, Israel’s top Catholic archbishop, at the news conference.
_ Beckie Supiano
Canadian Anglicans continue ban on gay weddings
TORONTO (RNS) Canada’s Anglican bishops have decided to continue a moratorium on same-sex marriages that was first imposed in 2005.
Meeting in London, Ontario, for their regular autumn session, the 40 bishops agreed to leave in place the two-year-old moratorium. The Anglican Journal reports they also expressed serious concern about Canadian participation in activities that widen the schism in the Anglican Communion.
Last month, the Anglican dioceses of Ottawa and Montreal voted to approve the blessing of same-sex marriages, should the priest and parish approve. It is unclear what effect the bishops’ decision will have in those dioceses.
“We need to open a conversation to see where we are,” said Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. Bishops in Ottawa and Montreal “would appreciate some input from us,” he added.
The bishops of Ottawa and Montreal said they have not yet decided how they will act on the votes of their synods.
“It was useful to have a conversation with dioceses in the same position,” said Ottawa Bishop John Chapman, who added he would wait for the decision of the diocese of Niagara, which is scheduled to vote on the blessings issue Nov. 16-17.
_ Ron Csillag
Democrats hail abortion reduction measure
WASHINGTON (RNS) Congressional Democrats and religious leaders are touting a new initiative to allocate more than $600 million to reduce abortion in the U.S., but critics say they’re just putting a new name on old programs.
The funding, part of the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill, represents a “pragmatic, practical way of approaching the problem (of abortion),” said Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio.
“It’s saying loud and clear the Democratic Party wants to reduce the need for abortion and is willing to put our money where our mouth is,” Ryan said.
Critics, however, contend that Democrats have just repackaged old programs under the rhetoric of “reducing abortions.”
“There’s nothing new here,” said Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ secretariat for pro-life activities.
The legislation calls for $615 million to finance programs to fight teen pregnancy through contraception and abstinence education, child-care aid for poor mothers and adoption advocacy.
“We are promoting the policies, which are critical for reducing the need for abortion in this country,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.
For several years Ryan and DeLauro, both Catholics, have sponsored legislation aimed at reducing abortions, but the measures have failed.
Groups on both sides of the abortion issue have criticized their past efforts. The Catholics bishops, for instance, oppose birth control, and Planned Parenthood fears the restriction of reproductive choice.
Ryan called birth control “the new fault line in the debate.” But, he said, “we can’t run from the fact, as a Catholic I say this, that if we do not provide birth control for these women we’re going to have (more) abortions.”
The Rev. Joel C. Hunter, a prominent evangelical pastor from Florida, who describes himself as “just to the right of Attila the Hun,” praised the funding measure Thursday. “I love what the Democratic Party is doing here,” he said in a teleconference to promote the funding.
_ Daniel Burke
Mukasey, Von Furstenberg lead list of top U.S. Jews
NEW YORK (RNS) What do the star of the hit movie “Knocked Up,” President Bush’s attorney general nominee and a leading fashion designer have in common?
Seth Rogen, Michael Mukasey and Diane Von Furstenberg are among The Forward 50, an annual list of the most influential members of the Jewish community compiled by The Forward, a nationally circulated Jewish newspaper.
“We are trying to figure how Judaism expresses itself,” said J.J. Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Forward. “What does the collective activity of the Jewish community look like, when you take a broad scan?”
The list is based on the suggestions of The Forward’s staff. This year, it reveals changes in the Jewish community and mirrors trends in American culture as a whole. Those who made the list don’t just wield power; as the paper describes it, they “embodied the spirit of Jewish action.”
So, designer Von Furstenberg is named because as head of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, she helped change the dates of New York’s Fall Fashion Week so it wouldn’t conflict with Rosh Hashana.
Well-known figures like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made the cut, but others are known primarily within their communities, like Jimmy Jamshid Delshad, the first Iranian-born Jewish mayor of Beverly Hills, or a 27-year-old who became the first female scribe to complete a Torah scroll.
“We’re finding in philanthropy, in political activism, there’s this new crop of Jewish activists in their 20s, 30s and 40s,” he said. “(They’re) less attached to synagogues and traditional organizations. It’s more distinctly right wing or left wing. I think that’s as much a reflection of America as it is of Judaism.”
The Jewish executive director of Christians United for Israel, a pro-Israel evangelical lobbying group, and a former member of Bill Clinton’s policy team who is working to create a pro-peace Israel lobby each made the list, representing opposite ends of the political spectrum.
“There are also more rabbis than usual,” Goldberg said. “Ten years ago, most of the list would’ve been made up of lobbyists, civil rights activists or of fundraisers. When spirituality returns, which has happened all over America, then the clergy are going to have a bigger role than the bureaucrats.”
_ Ansley Roan
Study suggests fasting is good for your heart
(RNS) Fasting for a day each month can reduce your chances of getting heart disease, according to a study released this week.
Researchers undertook the study based on the experience of Mormons, who historically have been found to have lower rates of heart disease than other Americans.
Mormons belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which teaches fasting. Researchers wanted to assess the impact of this practice _ as well as other church teachings, such as not smoking and abstaining from coffee and alcohol _ on heart disease rates.
They examined the records of heart registry patients who had undergone diagnostic testing between 1994 and 2002 to look for blockages in coronary arteries. A total of 4,629 patients were able to be diagnosed by doctors as either having or not having coronary artery disease (defined as at least 70 percent blockage in at least one artery).
Coronary artery disease was less prevalent in patients who identified themselves as Mormons _ 61 percent vs. 66 percent in those who stated another religion or no religious preference.
But researchers were struck by the fact that non-Mormons who fasted as part of a health-conscious lifestyle also reported lower rates of heart disease.
“People who fast seem to receive a heart-protective benefit,” said Benjamin Horne, study author and director of cardiovascular and genetic epidemiology at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City.
Overall, fasting was associated with 39 percent lower odds of being diagnosed with coronary artery disease in the study, results of which were released during the 80th annual American Heart Association scientific meeting in Orlando, Fla.
According to Horne, the association between fasting and healthy arteries could be due to timing.
“When you abstain from food for 24 hours, it reduces the constant exposure of the body to foods and glucose,” he said.
_ Angela Stewart
`Pragmatic’ bishop supports legalized brothels
LONDON (RNS) The Roman Catholic bishop of Portsmouth, England, insisting it’s time to “be realistic,” has thrown his support behind a campaign to legalize brothels even as he insists he is not condoning prostitution itself.
Bishop Crispian Hollis added his support to a unanimous but controversial vote by more than 200 chapters of the highly respected Women’s Institute (WI) organization in favor of getting brothels licensed by local governments to protect prostitutes.
“If you are going to take a pragmatic view and say prostitution happens,” Hollis explained to journalists, “I think there’s a need to make sure it’s as well-regulated as possible for the health of people involved _ and for the safety of the ladies themselves.”
“That’s not to say I approve of prostitution in any way,” the bishop insisted. “I would be much happier if there was no prostitution in Portsmouth or anywhere else … ”
“But it’s going to be there whatever we do _ it’s been from time immemorial,” Hollis said, “so I think that’s something we have to be realistic about.”
There was no comment immediately from other church officials about Hollis’ support for legalized brothels. But Rachel Frost, a spokeswoman for the International Union for Sex Workers, hailed his stance as courageous.
“The bishop should be commended for having the guts to come out and say that,” Ms Frost told The Portsmouth News newspaper. “It sounds like this country is waking up at last to the realities of the industry.”
_ Al Webb
Southern Baptist mission board censures outspoken trustee
(RNS) The Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board has censured board member and blogger Wade Burleson, saying he “repeatedly failed” to follow the board’s standards for appropriate conduct.
The unusual move came during an executive session of the trustees at a meeting in Springfield, Ill., on Tuesday (Nov. 6). Burleson was accused of using his blog to disclose private communications with other trustees, speak disparagingly of fellow trustees, and speak in ways that did not support the board and its actions.
“Wade Burleson is hereby officially suspended from any active involvement with the Board of Trustees for at least the next four IMB trustee meetings,” the censure concludes.
Burleson, a pastor in Enid, Okla., wrote in response on his blog that he respects the trustees that voted for his censure but “I also know that we simply have two different worldviews and two different perspectives on the need for freedom of dissent and complete transparency within the SBC.”
In 2006, the board dropped an effort to oust Burleson, who had defended the right of missionaries to speak in tongues despite a board policy that prohibits missionary candidates who embrace the practice. A board ouster would have required a vote at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Judge allows N.J. probe into civil unions flap to continue
(RNS) A federal judge has ruled that New Jersey officials can continue an investigation into whether a Methodist group violated the rights of two lesbian couples when it refused to rent a seaside pavilion for their civil union ceremonies.
U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association as a pre-emptive strike. The association claimed its constitutional rights would be violated were it forced to allow civil unions, which conflict with Methodist doctrine, to be performed at the pavilion in Ocean Grove, N.J.
Pisano said the Methodist group can raise that defense in proceedings before the state Division of Civil Rights, which has gotten complaints from two lesbian couples.
But in his decision, issued Wednesday (Nov 7), Pisano ruled it would be improper for him to block the division from investigating the lesbian couples’ complaints. He cited a 1989 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that requires federal judges to abstain from hearing cases that are already the subject of state judicial proceedings.
_ Robert Schwaneberg
Study: Smaller dioceses report proportionally more new priests
(RNS) Urban Roman Catholic archdioceses may ordain priests in greater numbers, but a higher ratio of Catholics are joining the priesthood in smaller dioceses in the Midwest and Southeast, according to a recent study.
The Archdioceses of Chicago and Newark, N.J., led the way in ordaining 61 and 52 priests, respectively, from 2003 to 2006, according to a review by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.
But small dioceses boast more new priests per Catholic, the study found.
For example, Chicago produced one priest for every 38,393 Catholics. But Alexandria, La., offered up one per 4,004, having ordained 12 priests between 2003 and 2006.
The Georgetown center has reviewed the clergy data four times since 1993.
Two dioceses _ Fargo, N.D., and Lincoln, Neb. _ have landed in the top five of new-priest-per-Catholic ratio in every review. Five more _ Atlanta, Bismarck, N.D.; Omaha, Neb.; Peoria, Ill., and Wichita, Kan. _ have placed in the top five three times.
Between 2003 and 2006, six dioceses with a total of 450,000 Catholics had no ordinations, and another eight dioceses with almost 1.4 million Catholics had only one each, according to the review.
Rounding out the total ordinations top five from 2003 to 2006 are the archdioceses of Washington, D.C., with 34; St. Paul-Minneapolis with 33, and New York with 29.
_ Daniel Burke
Women outpace men in new Church of England clergy
LONDON (RNS) The Church of England says women outpaced men among newly ordained priests in 2006 for the first time, but it conceded that most women did not get positions as full-time clergy.
According to official church statistics published Monday (Nov. 12), only 95 of the 244 women ordained last year obtained salaried positions. Most of the rest ended up in an increasing number of voluntary posts, often in parishes where the church could not afford to pay.
Of the 234 men who joined the clergy last year, 128 landed paying jobs in the ministry, according to the figures.
Women have been allowed into the Church of England’s priesthood since 1994. But the BBC noted that only a relatively small number of women have been promoted to senior positions, such as cathedral deans and archdeacons.
In a study published in 2006, Britain’s University of Manchester said such a minor impact clearly demonstrated that the Church was “far from being an equal opportunity employer.”
_ Al Webb
Kentucky family sues over snake-handling death
(RNS) The family of a woman who died from a snakebite during a religious service last year has filed suit against a Kentucky hospital, alleging that poor care contributed to her death, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
Linda F. Long, who died Nov. 5, 2006, was rushed to Marymount Medical Center in London, Ky., after receiving a bite from a rattlesnake she was handling during a service at East London Holiness Church.
The lawsuit, filed Nov. 1, says a hospital nurse involved Long and her family “in a lengthy and time-consuming series of questions” before admitting her, and once admitted, employees “snickered and made derogatory comments” about Long’s religious beliefs.
The lawsuit also says that despite Long’s labored breathing, the emergency room doctor did not give her a tube to help her breathe and did not treat her properly when she went into shock.
The suit alleges that the doctor again refused to put in a tube when the helicopter crew transporting her to Lexington asked him to do so. The Herald-Leader said Long’s heart stopped on the flight to the University of Kentucky Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 10:50 p.m.
The lawsuit states the hospital did not adhere to proper standards of care in Long’s case, which contributed to her death. The Herald-Leader also reported that “the complaint … says the unprofessional comments about Long’s religious beliefs were discriminatory and caused her and her family emotional pain and humiliation.”
As of Nov. 8, the Herald-Leader said the hospital had not filed a response to the case.
_ Heather Donckels
Ohio clergy seek `Political Sleaze-Free Zone’ in 2008
CLEVELAND (RNS) A coalition of Ohio religious leaders is asking for the battleground swing state to be a “Political Sleaze-Free Zone” for the 2008 election.
We Believe Ohio kicked off the campaign at rallies in Columbus and Cleveland on Nov. 8, asking candidates and political parties to promote what they stand for and refrain from attack ads.
Organizers said they have more than 900 names on petitions urging politicians to bring dignity and civility to the political process. Gov. Ted Strickland supports the effort, according to the interfaith group.
Surrounded by local clergy on the steps of First United Methodist Church in Cleveland, Rabbi Richard Block of the Temple-Tifereth Israel in Beachwood said people want truth, not distortions of opponents’ positions.
In a statement, the Columbus-based group said the 2004 and 2006 elections brought “gutter politics” to Ohio. In their petition drive, the clergy ask participants in the upcoming election to reject “the politics of polarization,” and promote the common good by addressing issues such as poverty, jobs, education and health care.
In particular, the group asks candidates and parties to denounce attacks by outside groups, “and do everything possible to bring them to a halt.”
_ David Briggs
Quote of the Week: Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa
(RNS) “Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, corporate jets, $23,000 commodes in a multimillion-dollar home. You know, just think of a $23,000 marble commode. A lot of money going down the toilet, you can say.”
_ Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaking to CNN about his request for six evangelical TV ministries to disclose their financial information. The ministries’ leaders have been known for lavish lifestyles.
KRE/PH END RNS
