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Overwhelming
vote against veil by French MPs
Paris, March 3rd, 2004 (ACPress.net).
French MPs overwhelmingly
voted in the controversial law banning the ostentatious wearing
of religious symbols such as the Islamic headscarf/veil in state
schools, by 494 votes to 36 in the lower Chamber.
The ruling Conservative Party (UMP), which has an overall majority,
was supported by almost all opposition Socialist Party members
in the vote. The aim of the legislation is to put an end once
and for all to the debate over the Muslim veil. Instigated by
President Chirac and formulated by the government of Jean-Pierre
Raffarin, the Bill will become law from September if it passes
through the Upper House at its first reading.
There have been some protests against the law, particularly
from Muslim groups. French legislators think, however, they
have preserved their lay traditions and secular system, while
others - both inside and outside France - wonder if they have
forgotten their triple motto of 'Equality, Liberty and Fraternity.'
A group of Muslim women took to the streets of Marseilles to
protest against the law.
Source: EL MUNDO. Editing: ACPress.net
Popetown gets British Catholics
in a tither
London, March 3rd, 2004 (ACPress.net).
Having recently been
rapped over the knuckles in the 'Hutton Report' for their handling
of news of the Iraq war, the BBC has now antagonised the Catholic
community with a cartoon series called 'Popetown.'
Thousands of British Catholics have written in to complain about
a series which hasn't actually started yet, but apparently portrays
John Paul II as an infantile preacher bouncing up and down on
a spring, which makes it sound like an episode of 'Magic Roundabout'
set in the Vatican. Such is the wrath of some Catholics that
they are willing to risk a prison sentence for not paying their
TV licence fee - compulsory in Britain - if the series goes
out on the air. The BBC has admitted that petitions against
the programme are being signed in various Catholic churches.
Luke Coppen, of the 'Catholic Herald' newspaper, said the cartoon
programme was "insulting" and has caused " a
great hullabaloo." Extracts of the programme have appeared
on Internet, with people swapping opinions and criticism of
the programme. The BBC was unwilling to comment on the option
of not broadcasting 'Popetown', and the producers of the programme,
CHHX Productions, would not say anything either.
If the BBC did decide not to show 'Popetown', one wonders if
there might be a market with one or two Protestant TV stations
around the place.
Source: REUTERS. Editing: ACPress.net
British children to be taught that atheism exists, maybe
London, March 3rd, 2004 (ACPress.net).
British children will
be taught about atheism in Religious Education classes (sic),
according to an official plan, to reflect the decline in church
attendance.
The 'Observer' newspaper reported that non-religious beliefs,
such as humanism, will be covered along with religions such
as Christianity or Islam according to a working paper from the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), the regulatory
body for state education in Britain. A QCA spokesman attempted
to defend this bizarre decision by saying: "There are many
children in England who have got no religious affiliation and
their beliefs and ideas, whatever they are, should be taken
seriously."
The plans, which apparently will not be compulsory, could cause
conflict between evangelicals, who want to strengthen Christian
teaching, and humanists, who consider that faith is irrelevant
to modern life. The 'Sunday Telegraph' said a government report
also recommended that R.E. classes include "a system of
non-religious beliefs." It says children should learn to
question the credibility of Bible stories, and instead of referring
to God, children should be taught that there is "a divine
being whose moral judgments are significantly more faithful
than ours." Particularly those of the government report,
it would seem.
Source: REUTERS. Editing: ACPress.net
Patriarch
tells Pope to keep off his turf
Istanbul, March 3rd, 2004 (ACPress.net).
The Greek Orthodox Patriarch
of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, has asked the Catholic leader,
Pope John Paul II, not to set up a Greek Catholic Patriarchate
in Kiev, Ukraine, saying it could lead to a breakdown in ecumenical
relations.
A letter from the Russian Orthodox Patriarch, Alexis II, alluded
to the eventual recognition of a Patriarch by the Greek-Catholic
Ukranians, and Bartholomew, in a letter to the Pope, calls the
document from Cardinal Walter Kasper which refers to the possible
appointment, "erroneous, confused, unacceptable and provocative."
"This would provoke a strong reaction among Orthodox churches
and bring an end to the dialogue between them and the Catholic
Church, which is at a critical stage after the failure of the
meeting in Baltimore (USA)."
Bartholomew I believes there could be a return to the hostile
relations of a few decades ago, which is why he is calling on
Rome not to proceed with Kasper's recommendation to set up a
Patriarchate in the Ukraine. The Greek-Catholic community in
the Ukraine belongs to the Byzantine tradition as do the Orthodox
Churches, but at the same time are in full fellowship with the
supposed successor of Peter. Most Ukrainians - apart from those
who are evangelicals, of course - are followers of the Russian
Orthodox Patriarch.
Source: LA RAZÓN. Editing: ACPress.net
Big Mac for Salvation Army
London, March 4th, 2004 (ACPress.net).
Joan Kroc, widow of the
founder of McDonald's, the world's largest fast-food chain,
has left 1,250 million euros to the American branch of the Salvation
Army.
The Centre for Philanthropic Donations at Indiana University
in the USA, which monitors donations over 1 million dollars
(833 million euros), believes this is the largest ever legacy
left to a single organisation. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft,
made a larger donation - 5,000 million euros - but spread it
between various beneficiaries. Joan Kroc also left 237.5 million
euros to other organisations.
Mrs Kroc's gift comes on the condition the money is used to
build more than 25 sports centres for under-privileged children
in the USA. The model for these centres is the one Kroc founded
in San Diego, California, which has swimming pools, gymnasia,
courts for different sports, and an ice rink. On its website,
the evangelical group said they thought this would lead to "a
new era for the Salvation Army in the United States." National
Commissioner Todd Bassett said "it was really a surprise"
to receive such an amount of money. "One has to sit down
when one hears something like that."
Joan Kroc died from a brain tumour in October 2003 in California.
Her husband Ray was already over 50 when, in 1955, he founded
McDonald's, now the largest restaurant chain in the world. He
was selling drinks machines when he got excited about a café
that sold hamburgers, so he bought it. However, his road to
fame and fortune was not always easy, and at times he had to
play the piano on a night-time radio programme to supplement
his meagre income. He died in 1984.
Source: BBC. Editing: ACPress.net
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Conversions
amidst the persecution in Mexico
Hidalgo, Mexico. March 2nd,
2004 (ACPress.net).
Over the last 15 years,
30% of the inidgenous population of this southern Mexican state
have abandoned Catholicism and turned to evangelicalism. One
factor in this change has been the emigration to the USA of
people from Hidalgo State and contacts made there, and now there
are 135,000 evangelicals out of a total of 450,000 indigenous
people.
Héctor Pedraza Olguín, Chairman of the Indigenous Affairs Commission,
said evangelical churches were the largest religious groups
after the Catholic Church, followed by Jehovah's Witnesses and
Mormons. Many of those who went from Hidalgo to the USA later
returned as converts to Protestant Christianity. Clashes have
occurred with Catholics who want to impose their religion on
others.
In April 2001 in Ixmiquilpan, the local authorities banned the
burial of someone on the grounds that his parents followed a
different religion from the majority - who are Catholics. Threats
against the 300 Pentecostal Christians in the town followed,
and they were told they had no right to drinking water, drainage
or electricity, nor could they bury their dead in the municipal
cemetery. The leader of this attack on the basic human rights
of the Christian minority, Herberto Lugo, argued thus: "We
are a Catholic town, traditionalist and peaceful. I only do
what the people ask me, and if I don't do it then the townsfolk
push me to do it."
A week of pressure and aggression followed, including cutting
their water off and burning their crops. The Christians defended
themselves as best they could, and called on the state and central
authorities to help them. Eventually, the situation returned
to normal, but this is the lot of many indigenous believers
in Mexico at the current time.
Source: MURAL. Editing: ACPress.net
Evangelicals against amnesty
for Nicaraguan ex-President
Managua, March 3rd, 2004 (ACPress.net).
A motion presented by
Liberal Party MPs calling for an amnesty in favour of ex-President
Arnoldo Alemán and his ministers - accused of massive fraud
- is strongly opposed by Christian leaders.
A Christian poet in Nicaragua, Michel Najlis, denounced the
attitude of those MPs who wanted to let Alemán off the hook,
especially those who claim to be Christians. She said that Psalms
and James made it clear that justice is the way to peace. Pastor
Walt Morgan, Director of the Baptist Theological Seminary in
Managua, said that if the motion succeeded in helping Alemán
avoid charges of corruption, it would do serious damage to the
country by discouraging foreign loans and investment.
Najlis said corruption was the order of the day in Nicaragua
because the Sandinista regime granted an amnesty back in 1990,
at a time when she was a civil servant working for the Education
Ministry. Her protests fell on deaf ears on that occasion. The
Sandinista leader, Daniel Ortega, was accused of raping his
stepdaughter but the case ended in his being granted impunity.
She called on the churches of Nicaragua to raise their voices
in energetic protest this time.
Morgan commented that Nicaragua is at a critical juncture, due
to the high cost of living, unemployment and political tension.
The murder of journalist Carlos Guadamuz is another sign of
the times. Pastor Adolfo Sequeira, leader of the Church of God
in Nicaragua and Chairman of the Inter-church Council of Theological
and Social Studies, said setting Alemán free is a political
manoeuvre which would be bad for the nation. Setting him free
is something for the courts to decide, he added.
Source: ALC. Editing: ACPress.net
Christian alternative to
Carnival in Brazil
Porto Alegre, March 3rd, 2004
(ACPress.net).
While the samba beat
dominated Brazilian streets announcing the arrival of Carnival
(Mardi Gras), many hundreds of Christians were turning elsewhere
to a retreat of reflection.
Leaving the parades far behind, more than a thousand people
gathered at 'Encontrao 2004', a retreat held at Canoas, outside
Porto Alegre. The aim of the meeting is to celebrate their Christian
faith and to discuss alternatives to Carnival, and the world
we live in. Cidinei Menger, one of the organisers, said that
while Carnival was a party in honour of the flesh, 'Encontrao'
was a party to honour Jesus Christ.
While the Canoas meeting started with a talk on Faith, a parallel
gathering at Ivoti, also in the Porto Alegre region, centred
on Restoration. Pastor William Bretzke gave the main talks.
Both gatherings also included activities for children, with
drama, games and stories.
Source: ALC. Editing: ACPress.net
Over-rolling the Dead Sea
Scrolls
Quito, March 3rd, 2004 (ACPress.net).
Rabbi Adolfo Roitmann
says the true 'magic' of the Dead Sea Scrolls is not the spectacular
finds that some look for, but the fact that they give us back
our memory.
There are no magic recipes like Nostradamus in the Scrolls but
an extraordinary contribution to present-day religious dialogue
said the Jewish leader who was born in Argentina, and now works
as Curator of the Book Sanctuary at the Jerusalem Museum. Roitmann
highlighted the importance of the Scrolls for furnishing information
about a critical time in Israel's history, a period which coincided
with the origins of Christianity (sic).
Roitmann claimed - against the evidence in the case of the New
Testament books, at least - that no other documents about the
period actually dated from that period, which meant that the
Scrolls "change the history of knowledge." The Rabbi
added that the Qumran community had a 1,200-strong graveyard,
and that the Bible books of which most copies were found were
Deuteronomy (27), Psalms (30+) and Isaiah (18), including a
complete copy of the prophecy which measured 7m 35 cm long.
Roitmann of course interprets Christianity as an offshoot of
Judaism, and believes that the Qumran community might have survived
long enough - it was destroyed by Roman forces in 68 AD - to
have had some contact with Christianity. He also saw parallels
between Qumran and John the Baptist, and with Jesus' teaching
on poverty and divorce. Evangelical theologians find more differences
than similarities however, etween the two groups.
Source: ALC. Editing: ACPress.net
Council closes Christian
TV station in Chile
Santiago, March 3rd, 2004
(ACPress.net).
Santiago Council has
ordered the closure of an evangelical TV station's building.
The Chairman of 'Vidavisión', Alejandro Martínez, said the move
was a clear case of discrimination against evangelicals.
Apparently, the Council alleged that the station was broadcasting
without "final approval", something which Martínez
says is "suspicious". "This station has been
on the air for more than 10 years and it has never been fined
for this. But it is enough that we (ie. evangelicals) have taken
over for the problems to start."
Production director, Jimmy Subarzo, said that the TV station
had started going through all the required procedures for registration
8 months ago. "We have spent 110 million pesos (app. 160,000
euros) and handed in more than 55 reports, papers and other
documents in this awful bureaucracy which is why final approval
has taken so long to come."
Seventy people work at 'Vidavisión', whose broadcasts are clearly
religious and go out in the evenings from Monday to Thursday,
and all day from Friday to Sunday.
Source: D. ABC. Editing: ACPress.net
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Saudi
cleric condemns Islamic terrorism
Riyadh, March 4th, 2004 (ACPress.net).
The leading Islamic cleric
in Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz, called on 2 million Muslim
pilgrims to Mecca to condemn terrorism outright. "How can
they consider their acts sacred when they shed the blood of
their Muslim brothers, and that of other beliefs?", asked
the Sheikh, who added that such terrorists destablise the world.
In a sermon to pilgrims, Aziz asked "Is it a holy war shedding
Muslim blood? Is it a holy war shedding non-Muslim blood and
sheltering on Muslim soil those who commit such acts? Does 'yihad'
mean destroying your brother's possessions?" He added that
Islamic terrorism gave her enemies the excuse to turn their
countries into a target. Preaching near the spot where Mohammed
is supposed to have preached his last sermon, the Sheikh's words
were broadcast right around the Gulf.
Referring to attacks on other Muslims, such as the recent atrocities
in Iraq, quoted Mohammed and reminded his hearers that the prophet
had warned his followers to avoid fights among Muslims. However,
the Sheikh also criticised the international community for hounding
the Wahabi branch of Islam, a strict interpretation of the religion
dominant in Saudi Arabia. "This country is based on religion,
and this will not change." Although he added that "Islam
forbids all injustice, killing without a just cause, treason,
hijacking of planes, boats and other forms of transport."
"How then can our religion be considered terrorism?",
asked the Sheikh. He emphasised what he saw as the need for
Islam's youth to be trained in Sharia law, but particularly
its stress on the need to behave kindly towards others. Minority
Christian populations in Muslim countries around the world would
be delighted with that.
Source. A. Press. Editing:
ACPress.net
Churches built, but others
destroyed, in China
Peking, March 4th, 2004 (ACPress.net).
One step forward and
two back seems to sum up the situation for Christians in China.
For the first time since the 1949 revolution, authorities in
Peking have authorised the construction of two church buildings.
Yet while the Chinese congratulate themselves on this supposed
new openness, others point to the fact that they are closing
more churches than they are letting open.
"Building work on the two new churches has begun and will
be completed by the end of the year", fanfares Hou Xiaoming,
a civil servant with the state Religious Affairs Bureau. They
will cover 1,500 square metres, but and are assigned to the
officially-registered Protestant Church, a grouping which has
10 million members.
Yet Bernardo Cervellera, Catholic missionary and expert on Chinese
affairs, as well as Director of «Asianews», the Vatican's news
agency covering foreign missions (PIME), says it is merely a
propaganda exercise. "For many Catholics and Protestants
there is no prospect of new churches, only demolition."
He warns that the construction, and the repair of other churches,
is part of a religious population redistribution plan organised
by the state in the lead-up to staging the Olympic Games. "While
registered churches are built for registered communities, unregistered
churches are destroyed."
Indeed, a shocking video of the destruction of an unregistered
Chinese church has been smuggled out of China to a persecution
watchdog group. The Tu Du Sha Church in Zhejiang Province was
bulldozed to the ground last June. The church, in Hangzhou City,
was founded around 1930 by the group launched in the 19th century
by famous pioneer missionary, Hudson Taylor, the China Inland
Mission. Weekly attendance had grown to 1,500.
Police first arrived before 4 a.m. expecting the church to be
empty. Instead, they found 300 Christians gathered for prayer.
The police left, but returned just before 8 a.m. with 200 military
policemen and more than 40 vehicles. In spite of the protests
of church members, the church was completely destroyed. A Chinese
Christian covertly videotaped the entire scene, and the video
was smuggled out of the country. "In our 36 years of ministry,
we've never had a videotape like this," said Tom White,
Voice of the Martyrs' U.S. Director. "This tape shows how
the Chinese government treats Christian groups that refuse to
register," he said.
Mao Tse Tung, founder of modern China, banned the building of
places of worship when he came to power in October 1949. Both
building projects are the result of a proposal put forward early
last year by Na Cang, a member of the Communist Party.
Sources: EFE, Zenit, Religion
Today, Voice of the Martyrs. Editing: ACPress.net
Spiritual escape valve of
the rich and famous
Washington, USA. March 4th,
2004 (ACPress.net).
Madonna, Demi Moore,
Laura Dern and Britney Spears, among others, have sought spiritual
peace in the Hebrew 'cabala', a Jewish escape valve from the
pressures of the outside world.
Actors and others from the world of entertainment tended towards
Buddhism and Scientology in the 1990s, and in this last-named
sect, people such as Penélope Cruz, Ricky Martín, John Travolta
and Tom Cruise remain. Now the 'cabala' is replacing it as the
new fad for rich and famous spiritual drop-outs.
In fact, the cabala requires serious study of non-canonical
literature if followed properly. The term 'cabala' means 'tradition'
and has to do with receiving something with the aim of experiencing
it and passing it on to others. In its original meaning it was
anything but mystic, but part of God's revelation to Moses which
he passed on to the people of Israel. Yet today it refers to
what the Creator gave humanity, with no pre-conditions. According
to cabala teaching, the universe functions according to certain
supremely powerful principles.
The person who manages to understand these principles and act
in accordance with them enjoys a much improved life almost immediately.
At least, this is what the Cabala Centre in Jerusalem, founded
in 1922 by Rabbi Ashlag and run today by Rav Berg, teaches.
It is now one of the fastest-growing spiritual movements in
the world. Its main aim is to draw near to God, the Creator
of the universe, and become one with God in the creative process,
especially as to its purpose, which is to make this world the
residence of God's divine light and his absolute essence.
The connection with Jewish mysticism is seen in the wearing
of a bracelet or cord. The symbolism, according to rabbis, is
that if a red ribbon is passed over Rajel's grave - she is the
spiritual matriarch of Jews -, she is supposed to give that
person special protective energy. Britney Spears should really
know better.
Source: COMIMEX. Editing:
ACPress.net
Christian groups seek to
block gay marriages in San Francisco
San Francisco, USA. March
4th, 2004 (ACPress.net).
More than 1,700 other
gay and lesbian couples have exchanged vows in the last few
days in San Francisco, but Christian legal groups are hoping
to block the same-sex unions.
Newly-elected, liberal San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom touched
off the wedding spree by ordering officials last Thursday to
issue licenses to same-sex couples, declaring that he was merely
ensuring equal treatment of homosexuals. Shortly after Newsom's
controversial decision, the Arizona-based Alliance Defence Fund
sued to block same-sex unions, and San Francisco Superior Court
Judge James Warren scheduled a hearing in the case.
Liberty Counsel, a Christian firm, also planned to ask the court
to issue an emergency injunction blocking Newsom's attempt to
issue same-sex marriage licenses. Conservatives point to a ballot
initiative approved by 61% of California voters in 2000 that
says the state will only recognise marriages between a man and
woman. Randy Thomasson, Director of the Campaign for California
Families, another group challenging the gay marriages in court,
said that Newsom "can't play God." Family Research
Council President Tony Perkins added: "The state of California
must rebuff the efforts of this rogue mayor. His actions show
that homosexual activists are ready and willing to ignore the
people and to ignore the law to further their agenda of normalising
homosexuality and gaining public acceptance of their behaviour."
Source: Religion today, Charisma
News. Editing: ACPress.net
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