c. 1998 Religion News Service

Criticism of Clinton’s China policy continues

(RNS) Religious and political opponents of President Clinton’s China policy maintained their steady drumbeat of criticism as the president prepared for his scheduled departure for China.

He was scheduled to depart Wednesday (June 24) for his 10-day China trip.

Opponents of Clinton’s China policy want him to stress religious and human rights concerns while in China. Clinton has said he would bring up those issues during his visit, but insists national security and trade issues also must be considered when dealing with China.

Tuesday (June 23), Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn., Dan Coats, R-Ind., and Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, announced their support of an Appeal for Religious Liberty in China sponsored by the Chicago-based International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ).

More than 250 religious leaders also have signed the appeal, which urges Clinton to press Chinese officials to release those imprisoned for running afoul of Beijing’s restrictive rules governing religious expression. The appeal also asks Clinton to push China to accept frequent exchanges of religious representatives and to sign all international agreements concerning religious freedom.”It is incumbent on the United States, which is seen around the world as a beacon of liberty and democracy, and was founded on principles of religious freedom, to do all we can to promote these values in China,”Coats said.

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, IFCJ president, said the appeal was issued on behalf of the”suffering Chinese faithful, the many Christians, Muslims and Buddhists in China unable to raise their voices to call for justice and religious freedom.” Also Tuesday, Gary L. Bauer, president of the Washington-based Family Research Council, said a national poll commissioned by his group found 64 percent of Americans do not want Clinton to be officially welcomed in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, site of a pro-democracy demonstration that was brutally crushed by the Chinese government. Thousands were reportedly killed in the 1989 incident.

Poll results also showed more than half of Americans believe the United States should not deal with companies controlled by China’s People’s Liberation Army.

Dobson released from hospital, addresses staff

(RNS) Focus on the Family President James C. Dobson addressed his staff Tuesday (June 23) after being released from the hospital the day before.

Dobson, 62, suffered a mild stroke June 16.”He and (his wife) Shirley talked about the ordeal and responded to the fact that the miracle drug TPA, which is a clot buster, and the prayers of millions of people around the world have brought him through this ordeal,”said H.B. London, a Focus on the Family vice president.”Two of his doctors said that they have never seen anyone recover from this kind of stroke as quickly as he has.” London said about 1,500 stood in the chapel for the 20-minute, impromptu session with the Dobsons at the ministry’s headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.”It was celebration and praise and we ended it by singing, `Great is Thy Faithfulness,'”said London.”When he came through the doors, it was a real surprise to everybody.” Dobson’s stroke was caused by a blood clot in the left side of his brain.”Tuesday (June 16) night of the stroke, he could not speak,”said London.”He had weakness on the right side”of his body.

Those problems, along with”some dexterity issues,”improved quickly, London said.”After Wednesday morning, they improved literally by the hour.” Now, Dobson no longer has weakness on his right side and other major tests showed there was no hemorrhaging or other injury, he said.”His voice is just a little husky because they had to put a tube down his throat for some tests,”London said.”From time to time, he may hesitate on a word, trying to call up a specific phrase.” But London said Dobson’s doctors said he can restart his normal activities at a pace with which he is comfortable.”He’s going to slow down,”said London.

Dobson had already planned to spend seven weeks away from the ministry to write a book.”He will probably leave sometime in the middle of July and carry out that assignment,”said London.”He said today at a press conference that for him writing is not so unlike a painter at an easel, that it’s relaxing and it’s invigorating and it’s enjoyable.” As is the ministry’s usual practice, prerecorded episodes of Dobson’s popular radio broadcast will continue to air. Programs already have been recorded through August.

But Dobson was scheduled to tape a program Tuesday night that would air Wednesday to discuss his recent illness.

Dobson founded the evangelical Christian group in 1977. It aims to strengthen the emotional and spiritual health of families.

Jewish groups urge Clinton to act on Kosovo

(RNS) Ten leading groups from across the spectrum of American Jewish life Tuesday (June 23) urged the White House to provide greater leadership in preventing further ethnic violence in the Yugoslavian province of Kosovo.

The Serb-dominated Yugoslav government has been fighting ethnic Albanians in Kosovo who want greater autonomy. More than 300 people have died in the fighting, and thousands of civilians _ both ethnic Albanians and Serbs _ have been driven from their homes. Both sides have charged the other with ethnic cleansing.

In a letter to President Clinton, the Jewish groups said the memory of the Holocaust, in which some 6 million Jews died at Nazi hands, compelled them to speak out on Kosovo.”It is only a generation ago that we saw the fires of the Holocaust, and their light today illuminates our vision, making clear that we cannot be passive in the face of genocide,”said the letter.”Our solemn vow _ never again _ must be more than a slogan. It must be an agenda, a commitment not just to be vigilant, but to act.” The letter went on to note that Clinton recently admitted the West’s slow reaction to civil war in the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia and the central African nation of Rwanda resulted in greater bloodshed.”We must not allow Kosovo to become another Bosnia,”said the letter.

Groups signing the letter were: the American Jewish Congress, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the Anti-Defamation League, the Orthodox Union, the American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, Hadassah, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Jewish Council on Public Affairs and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.

Update: Two more Christians reported arrested in Saudi Arabia

(RNS) Additional Filipino Christians working in Saudi Arabia have been arrested, reportedly bringing to 11 the number seized in connection with a alleged attempt to distribute Christian materials to Muslim homes in the staunchly Islamic kingdom.

Freedom House, a Washington-based religious rights group, urged President Clinton to get involved in the case.”Saudi Arabia is a close U.S. ally, and the United States should be making a demarche at the highest levels to protest this outrageous persecution of Christians for religious reasons,”said Freedom House’s Nina Shea.

Saudi Arabia allows no Christian missionary efforts _ or even public expressions of Christianity, such as worship services or wearing a cross. The U.S. State Department has stated in an official report that”freedom of religion does not exist in Saudi Arabia.” In recent days, various groups have reported the arrests of as many as 11 Christians, all but one of them Filipinos working in Saudi Arabia. A Dutch citizen has also been reported arrested.

One of those arrested was said to be a pregnant woman who”went into labor after being tortured and upon delivery was forcibly separated from her newborn,”according to Freedom House, which cited”reliable sources”for the information.

In Washington, the Embassy of Saudi Arabia continued Tuesday (June 23) to say it had no information about the alleged arrests.

Alabama judge `wins’ Family Research Council’s Court Jester Award

(RNS) A federal judge whose limits on religious practices in public schools in Alabama has made him an anathema among conservatives, Tuesday (June 23) was named the”winner”of a”Court Jester”award from the Family Research Council.

U.S. District Court Judge Ira DeMent won”The Invisible Ink Award,”given to a judge who, in the council’s view,”sees invisible words in the Constitution, but can’t see the words that are really there.” The award came a day after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected without comment Alabama Gov. Fob James’ legal attack on DeMent’s ruling striking down an Alabama school prayer law and barring such practices as teacher-led devotionals, vocal prayers at school assemblies and Bible giveaways during school hours.

DeMent’s award was announced by Phyllis Schlafly, president of the Eagle Forum, who crafted rhyming verses to describe the judge.”Alabama’s indignant at the scope of his decision,”Schlafly recited at a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington.”He declared a court war against children’s religion … Our Constitution’s not safe from his gavel and quill. He’s replacing James Madison with Hillary and Bill.” The second annual Court Jester Awards were presented in a light-hearted event to point out what Family Research Council supporters view as acts of”judicial activism.”The”winners”_ all political opponents _ were not expected to attend.

Clinton signs bill protecting charitable donations from creditors

(RNS) President Clinton signed legislation Friday (June 19) protecting charitable and religious contributions made by people who later file for bankruptcy.”It is a great loss to all of our citizens for creditors to recoup their losses in bankruptcy cases from donations made in good faith by our citizens to their churches and charitable institutions,”the president said in a statement after signing the Religious Liberty and Charitable Donation Protection Act.

The legislation, known as the”tithing bill,”adds language to the federal bankruptcy code ensuring that institutions cannot be forced to give the contributions of a bankrupt donor to creditors.

The bill was co-authored by Rep. Ron Packard, R-Calif., and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, in response to a case in which a bankruptcy trustee demanded that the Crystal Evangelical Free Church of Minneapolis return $13,450 donated by a couple the year before they filed for bankruptcy.”Judges will no longer be permitted or required to un-do a voluntary act of worship in the way of tithing, as described in the Bible,”Grassley said.

The act also gives debtors the right to tithe and make charitable donations after declaring under Chapter 13 bankruptcy.”Under the old bankruptcy statutes, debtors could spend their money on alcohol, gambling, and 1-900 psychic advice calls but couldn’t drop as much as a dime into a collection plate without breaking the law,”said Packard.

English House of Commons votes to lower age of consent for homosexual acts

(RNS) Britain’s House of Commons, acting over the objections of top Church of England officials and other religious leaders, has voted to lower the age of consent for homosexual acts from 18 to 16.

The vote rejected church arguments that the change violated the state’s duty to offer young people”a vision of what is good.” Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, the head of the Anglican Church of England, personally appealed to Prime Minister Tony Blair to stop the change, and Cardinal Basil Hume, leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales, issued a statement saying all homosexual acts are morally wrong.”Pressures are at work to legitimize any and every lifestyle, irrespective of any difference in value quality between them,”the country’s Anglican bishops said in a statement before the vote Monday (June 22).”These pressures should be resisted.” The Anglican Church allows homosexual relationships among lay people but says practicing gays may not be ordained as priests.

Opinion polls indicated most Britons opposed the measure, which makes the age of consent for homosexuals the same as that for heterosexuals and in line with the laws of most other European Union nations.

Vatican reports fifth consecutive year of economic good news

(RNS) The Vatican reported Tuesday that thanks to contributions from local churches around the world and a healthy return on investments it remained financially in the black in 1997 with an $11 million surplus.

It was the fifth consecutive year the Vatican reported a surplus, coming on the heels of a string of 23 money-losing years.”Without the generosity of bishops, priests, religious and the lay faithful of the world we could not sustain many costs, which, with the approach of the Great Jubilee, are on the increase,”the Vatican report said. The Great Jubilee is a reference to the virtually nonstop celebrations the church plans for the year 2000.

According to the report, the Vatican’s media operations, which include radio, television and a newspaper, continued to be the biggest drains on the budget, losing $21 million last year, the Associated Press reported.

But that and other operating losses were offset by $48 million in income from investments and $28 million in income from real estate.

Quote of the day: Rabbi Richard N. Levy

(RNS)”In recent years Disney has used its influence to stand up for the rights of its gay and lesbian workers in a way that has earned it the wrath of the Southern Baptists _ and indeed, as the Southern Baptists go after more and more groups in this society, from Jews to gays to women, it is becoming a badge of honor to oppose them.” _ Rabbi Richard N. Levy, president of the (Reform) Central Conference of American Rabbis, speaking at the group’s annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif., home of Disneyland. Levy’s references were to Disney’s decision to extend benefits to the partners of homosexual employees, and Southern Baptist decisions to target Jews in their missionary efforts and to ask their wives to”submit … graciously”to their husbands.

DEA END RNS