c. 1996 Religion News Service
TV execs, writers donate money to help burned churches
(RNS) As the television police drama”New York Undercover”premiered its new season Thursday (Aug. 29) with the first of a two-part series on fictional church burnings, executives and writers from Fox and Universal Television donated $13,000 to the National Council of Churches’ Burned Churches Fund.
John Matoian, president of Fox Entertainment, and Charlie Engel, senior vice president of Universal Television, each presented a check for $5,000 to Rev. Mac Charles Jones, the council’s associate general secretary for racial justice.
In addition, three writers gave $1,000 each to the fund.”With these contributions, we can continue our two-fold objective of rebuilding all of the churches, thus providing safety and security to congregations who have had their churches destroyed, and intensifying our fight against the racism that is often the source of these violent acts of destruction,”Jones said Tuesday (Aug. 27), when the checks were presented.
Two episodes of”New York Undercover”focusing on a rash of church burnings in Harlem will air at 9 p.m. (EDT) Aug. 29 and Sept. 5. As the investigation continues, the show’s characters deal with prejudice in their office and in their homes.
Update: U.S. denies Farrakhan’s request for Libyan gift
(RNS) The U.S. Treasury Department has denied Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan permission to receive gifts totaling more than $1 billion from Libya.
Libya has essentially been barred from economic transactions with U.S. citizens because of allegations that Libya has ties to terrorism.
R. Richard Newcomb, director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, sent a letter Wednesday (Aug. 28) to Farrakhan’s lawyers listing several reasons for the denial, including the belief that Libya is”a strong supporter of terrorist groups,”the Washington Post reported.
Farrakhan has said that a $1 billion gift pledged by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi would be used to support joint ventures with financial institutions and businesses to assist blacks and other minorities.
The Treasury Department also barred Farrakhan from receiving a $250,000 award that accompanies a Libyan humanitarian honor that has previously been won by South African President Nelson Mandela. Farrakhan arrived in Tripoli Wednesday to collect the award.
Rufus Cook, a Chicago lawyer representing Farrakhan, said the denial will result in court action.”There is no basis in law or common sense for this action,”Cook said.”… It is an action taken in callous disregard of the needs and hopes of black people, at a time when their needs are dire and their hopes under assault.”
Swami Bhaktipada, former Krishna leader, gets maximum term
(RNS) Former Hare Krishna leader Swami Bhaktipada was sentenced Wednesday (Aug. 28) to the maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for racketeering.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of collecting millions of dollars in fund-raising scams and conspiring to murder two followers in the 1980s after they threatened to spread rumors that he was a homosexual and a child molester, the Associated Press reported. Bhaktipada denied he was involved in the slayings.
A spokesman for the International Society of Krishna Consciousness said the sentence was appropriate, given the pain Bhaktipada caused.”It’s unfortunate that many people are still affected by his improprieties,”said Anuttama Dasa from the society’s office in Rockville, Md.”For one, the entire Krishna community has suffered. Some of the things he did set back the positive things we’re trying to do. On behalf of the whole movement, we’re happy to see this come to a conclusion.” Bhaktipada, 59, whose health has been weakened from a childhood bout with polio, also suffers from hypertension and severe asthma. His sentence could be reduced after a medical evaluation.
He founded a Krishna commune at New Vrindaban, W.Va., in 1968. His group was expelled by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in 1987 because it strayed from the society’s teachings.
Former Episcopal treasurer begins prison term
(RNS) Ellen F. Cooke, the former national treasurer of the Episcopal Church, began her five-year prison term for embezzlement Monday (Aug. 26) at the Federal Prison Camp at Alderson, W.Va.
Cooke pleaded guilty on Jan. 24 to charges of tax evasion and transporting stolen money across state lines in connection with the embezzlement of more than $2 million from Episcopal Church coffers.
On July 10, U.S. District Court Judge MaryAnne Trump Barry, in imposing the stiffer-than-normal five-year sentence, called Cooke’s embezzlement a”flagrant”abuse of trust.
Plato Cacheris, Cooke’s attorney, has filed an appeal of the sentence, according to the the Episcopal News Service, the denomination’s news agency.
But Cacheris said his request that Cooke’s imprisonment be delayed while the appeal is considered was denied and that Cooke presented herself at Alderson on the date set by the court.
The appeal process is expected to take between six and nine months.
Alderson is a minimum security prison built in 1927 for female federal offenders. At the prison, Cooke will undergo a two-week orientation program before beginning a work or education program.
Under current federal sentencing guidelines, Cooke is not eligible for parole but she may reduce her sentence by accumulating”good time.”Quote of the day: Former football star O.J. Simpson
(RNS) O.J. Simpson spoke at an appearance at Scripture Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Wednesday (Aug. 29). The Washington Post reported that he discussed his reliance on the Bible while he was in jail before being acquitted of double-murder charges in 1995:”I was at a time in my life when I didn’t know where to turn. I started picking up that Bible. I started reading that Bible. And I had no problem. I knew everything would be all right. As my mother told me, the truth will set you free, and it did.”
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