c. 1998 Religion News Service
Calif. Supreme Court says Scouts can ban gays, agnostics
(RNS) The California Supreme Court has ruled that the Boy Scouts of America is not a business and has the right to ban gays and those who refuse to declare a belief in God.
The rulings in two cases were issued Monday (March 23) after almost 20 years of court battles over whether the state’s civil rights law prevents the Scouts from barring certain groups.”The Boy Scouts is an expressive social organization whose primary function is the inculcation of values in its youth members,”wrote Chief Justice Ronald M. George for the court.
The court determined that the Scouts were not covered by the civil rights law prohibiting businesses from discriminatory behavior, The Los Angeles Times reported.
George Davidson, a New York lawyer who has represented the Scouts, called the decision”an important win”that could influence other courts.
An appeals court in New Jersey ruled March 2 that the Boy Scouts in that state could not bar homosexuals under the New Jersey public accommodations law. The Scouts are appealing that decision and are dealing with other cases in Chicago and Washington, D.C.
Michael and William Randall, the 16-year-old twins from Anaheim who had refused to affirm God’s existence by taking the Scouts’ oath, reacted tearfully to the California ruling at a news conference. They had been on the verge of becoming Eagle Scouts.”The Scouts teach you to tell the truth, that is one of the most important things you learn,”said Michael Randall.”We feel we showed truthfulness and courage.” The boys emphasized they were not atheists, but rather, were still determining their religious beliefs.”I have an open mind to all religions,”said William Randall.
Timothy Curran began his challenge of the Scouts’ prohibition against gays 17 years ago when he was rejected as an assistant Scoutmaster.
While Scouts say homosexuality violates an oath to be”morally straight,”Curran, now a Florida-based filmmaker, said the ruling will encourage gay youths to hide their sexual orientation.”What they have done is create a regulation that now makes it necessary for people to lie,”said Curran, a former Eagle Scout.
Musical groups to be inducted into hall of fame for first time
(RNS) Ten musical groups _ including The Blackwood Brothers, The Imperials and Andrae Crouch & The Disciples _ will be inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame for the first time in its 27-year history.
The other group inductees are The Chuck Wagon Gang, The Happy Goodman Family, The Jordanaires, The LeFevres, The Speer Family, Hovie Lister and The Statesmen, and J.D. Sumner & The Stamps.
The GMA also will induct two individuals _ Crouch, a multi-Grammy Award winner, and the Rev. Jacob Bazzel Mull, a long-time gospel radio personality from Tennessee.”Our industry has a rich and wonderful history,”said GMA president Frank Breeden.”This year’s Hall of Fame inductees truly reflect diversity within the gospel music genre. From traditional southern hymns to back-up harmony with Elvis, all of our inductees’ music and influence carries across several generations.” Many of the group inductees brought their Christian music into secular settings. For instance, The Blackwood Brothers appeared on”The Arthur Godfrey Talent Show”and Andrae Crouch & The Disciples appeared on Johnny Carson’s”Tonight Show”and at Disneyland. The Imperials were the first Christian act to perform on a Grammy Awards telecast.
Three of the groups _ The Imperials, The Jordanaires, and J.D. Sumner & The Stamps _ performed with Elvis Presley in addition to achieving gospel music recording fame.
The groups and individuals will be honored at an induction banquet on April 2 in Nashville.
Dallas priest pleads guilty in sex-abuse case
(RNS) A suspended Roman Catholic priest pleaded guilty in Dallas Tuesday (March 24) to three of eight sexual molestation counts.
The Rev. Rudolph Kos entered guilty pleas to two counts of sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child.
The pleas came just as opening statements were set to begin in his criminal trial in state district court. Trial then proceeded on the remaining five counts _ two of sexual assault on a child and three of indecency with a child.
Brad Lollar, Kos’ attorney, said his client”believes he is guilty of three of the eight indictments.” Kos, 52, whose case has already resulted in a $119.6 million civil judgment against him and the Dallas Catholic diocese, could receive up to 20 years in prison on the charges to which he pleaded guilty.
The monetary judgment was returned after a civil trial last summer and is the largest ever in a U.S. clergy sex-abuse case, according to the Associated Press.
The charges against Kos stem from the allegations of four young men who told police they were molested by him some 1,350 times. The civil suit alleged Kos molested altar boys for more than a decade until 1992 at Catholic churches in Dallas, and in Ennis and Irving, Texas.
The suit alleged diocesan authorities knew about the incidents and conspired to cover them up.
Seven sentenced to die for killing French bishop in Algeria
(RNS) Seven Muslim militants in Algeria have been sentenced to death for the killing of a French Roman Catholic bishop and his driver in 1996.
Five other militants were given prison sentences of two to three years by a court in Oran in northwest Algeria, Reuters reported Monday (March 23).
All 12 militants had pleaded not guilty to murdering Bishop Pierre Claverie and his driver.
Claverie is the most senior Christian clergyman killed in Algeria by Muslim militants, who have fought since 1992 to destabilize the military government there. Some 65,000 people have been killed in the conflict, including 100 foreigners. The violence began after the government cancelled an election that the militants appeared poised to win.
Update: Money was motive in kidnapping of Mormon missionaries
(RNS) Officials reported Tuesday (March 24) that money and not anti-Mormon sentiment appears to have been the motive in the kidnapping of two missionaries in Russia associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The two _ Andrew Lee Propst of Lebanon, Ore., and Travis Robert Tuttle of Gilbert, Ariz., both 20 _ were released unharmed Sunday outside Saratov, 450 miles southeast of Moscow, where both had served as missionaries. The kidnappers had demanded a ransom of $300,000.
Two suspects were arrested Monday and a third remains at large, the Associated Press reported.
Mormon Church officials said Propst and Tuttle will be reassigned to another mission station once their participation in the investigation of the kidnapping is concluded.
Some 500 Mormons serve as missionaries in Russia. The Mormon Church, based in Salt Lake City, has about 58,000 missionaries serving worldwide.
Cost of L.A. cathedral put at $163 million
(RNS) The proposed Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles now is expected to cost $163 million, up from prior estimates of $102 million and $45 million.
And, as the price climbs, so do claims by critics _ especially members of the Los Angeles Catholic Worker movement who feed the city’s poor every day _ of profligate spending.”I wouldn’t be surprised if it (the price) keeps climbing,”said Donald Nollar, a Los Angeles Catholic Worker.”I still feel disturbed that the church is putting this kind of fund-raising effort into a building, instead of into the people of God in the forms of financial assistance to poor parishes, housing and medical care for the poor. Why not put that same effort into those other things?” The cathedral’s fund-raisers said last week the total cost now stands at $163.247 million and $110.5 million has been raised. Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony had previously told The Los Angeles Times that a $102 million estimate was the cathedral’s”absolute cap. We will build to that cap. The cap rules.”Original estimates had put the cost at $45 million.
Archdiocesan officials now say the new $163 million figure reflects a larger cathedral, which is expected to be completed by 2000. The cathedral will seat 3,000, and include a two-story rectory and cardinals’ residence, a three-level parking garage and a 46,000-square-foot conference center.
Mahony told the March 20 edition of his archdiocesan weekly newspaper that the cost of the cathedral will not affect the church’s aid to the poor.”We don’t want the cathedral project to diminish in any way what is given to help the poor,”he said.”We can continue our outreach efforts to the poor and build a new cathedral at the same time.” The cathedral project started in 1995 with initial gifts totaling $35 million from two major California philanthropists. New donors announced last week include The Walt Disney Co., entertainer Bob Hope and Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.
The cathedral also won a court battle last week when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert H. O’Brien rejected a request for a preliminary injunction blocking construction from a Native American tribe concerned the cathedral will be on a burial site.
Quote of the day: German theologian Gerd Ludemann
(RNS)”A Christian is someone who prays to Christ and believes in what is promised by Christian doctrine. So I asked myself: `Do I pray to Jesus, do I pray to the God of the Bible?”And I don’t do that. Quite the reverse.” _ Prominent German theologian Gerd Ludemann, professor of New Testament studies at the University of Gottingen, Germany, who rocked Protestant church circles with his announcement that he is no longer a Christian, adding that liberal theology is”contemptible”and anyone who takes Christian doctrine seriously should become a fundamentalist.
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