c. 2000 Religion News Service

Tutu Urges End to Death Penalty in the United States

(RNS) Two days after the controversial execution of a Texas prisoner, retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called on the United States to end capital punishment.

At a news conference Saturday (June 24) preceding his receipt of an honorary doctorate from the University of Nevada at Reno, Tutu said not all of those who have been executed were guilty of the crimes for which they died.

“I don’t want a moratorium on the death penalty,” said Tutu, whose work to end apartheid in South Africa earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. “I want the abolition of it. I can’t understand why a country that’s so committed to human rights doesn’t find the death penalty an obscenity.”

Tutu’s remarks came two days after Gary Graham, 36, was executed by lethal injection for the 1981 murder of a man outside a Houston supermarket. Graham’s execution, the 23rd carried out by the state of Texas this year, was the latest event to spark concern about the death penalty.

In Illinois, that concern prompted Gov. George Ryan to impose a moratorium on executions in that state until authorities could determine whether the death penalty has been applied fairly. Ryan’s action has spawned a national movement by death penalty opponents pressing for moratoriums.

Twelve prisoners have been executed in Illinois since 1976, and 13 inmates have been freed from death row since 1987.

“When you see the evidence of so many mistakes, you realize more mistakes can be made,” said Tutu. “Once an execution is done, you can’t correct it.”

Update: District Judge Dismisses Suit Involving High Court Protest

(RNS) Anti-abortion protesters plan to appeal a judge’s ruling dismissing their suit against the Supreme Court involving the constitutionality of large protest signs outside the high court’s building.

U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan ruled Friday (June 23) that the new limit on the size of signs displayed by demonstrators outside the court does not violate the free-speech rights of the Christian Defense Coalition.

Demonstrators “may still pray, chant, sing, picket, carry signs of any size, distribute leaflets, make speeches and erect … signs of up to four feet by four feet,” the judge said, the Associated Press reported.

Hogan added that the regulation “allows all types of speech regardless of content and only limits … signs as necessary to serve the public’s safety, security, access and aesthetic interests.”

The Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition criticized the decision.

“It’s really an outrage,” he said. “Federal courts are dictating to American citizens how they are to peacefully protest. … They want to maintain decorum at the expense of free speech.”

The regulation was enacted April 25, the day the justices heard arguments concerning Nebraska’s ban on a surgical procedure known by its critics as “partial-birth abortion.” The rule was written by Supreme Court Marshal Dale Bosley and signed by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.

Fonda Confirms She’s a Christian

Eds: The word “have” in 2nd graf was italicized in original text.)

(RNS) Former actress Jane Fonda has confirmed her Christian commitment in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in the talk-show host’s new O magazine.

“I have become a Christian. … And I do go to a black church,” said Fonda, an activist known for her roles in such movies as “On Golden Pond.”

She denied some widely circulated reports that a conversation with a chauffeur had prompted her to convert.

Fonda, 62, said that although she attends Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, she has not joined any congregation.

After being raised in an agnostic environment, she said, she began to feel a “need to be spiritual” about 10 years ago.

“I began to pray,” she said. “I felt the hand of God on my shoulder.”

Fonda described media executive Ted Turner, from whom she has been separated since January, as a “fallen angel” who once considered becoming a missionary.

“He felt betrayed by God when his sister died horrifically from lupus when he was about 19,” she said. “And it turned him hostile.”

Fonda also described the challenge of being both a celebrity and a person of faith.

“It’s been difficult, because when you’re famous and the word gets out that you’re a Christian, every church is saying, `Even Jane Fonda.’ People come up to me in airports and throw their arms around me.”

Five Die in Religious Violence in Indonesia

(RNS) The government of Indonesia has declared a civil emergency on its Maluku islands after a renewed outbreak of religious fighting in the violence-plagued region claimed five more lives Sunday (June 25).

“The civil emergency took effect since yesterday,” said national police chief General Rusdihardjo. “The situation has been … quite bad, therefore it needs more effective action.”

The deaths Sunday in the provincial capital of Ambon boost to 155 the number of people killed in more than a week of religious fighting in the Maluku provinces, known as the Spice Islands during the Dutch colonial era, Reuters news agency reported.

Dozens of Maluku residents staged a peaceful protest Monday (June 26) outside the U.S. embassy in Jakarta, calling for military intervention to stop the violence.

The Maluku provinces have been plagued by religious clashes between Christians and Muslims since January of last year. Some 2,500 people have died since then.

Christians once held a small majority in the two provinces, but an influx of Muslims from other parts of Indonesia has changed the area’s religious makeup.

Tension in the provinces has been aggravated by the recent arrival of more than 2,000 Muslim paramilitary troops from a training camp in Java. Many of the troops have promised to launch a holy war against Christians in the region,though paramilitary leaders say they do not intend to harm Christians.

On Friday (June 23), Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid banned travel to the Maluku islands amid rumors paramilitary troops were responsible for the renewed violence there.

Meanwhile, in a meeting with Wahid on Friday, former Southern Baptist Convention president Paige Patterson praised the Indonesian president’s efforts to promote religious liberty, the Baptist Press reported.

“We had the opportunity to express to him our appreciation on behalf of American evangelicals for his significant efforts in fostering religious liberty in Indonesia,” said Patterson, who had traveled to Indonesia to attend meetings at the International Evangelical Seminary.

“(Wahid) has bent over backwards to be as fair and judicious as he possibly could be to all members of other faiths in Indonesia,” Patterson added.

Chinese Police Arrest More Than 1,000 Falun Gong Members

(RNS) More than 1,000 members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement have been arrested by Chinese police within the past week after practitioners staged several public demonstrations of the group’s slow-motion exercises, according to a report issued by a human rights group.

Reports of arrests came from nine Chinese provinces and cities, said the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy. That report from the Hong Kong-based organization could not be independently verified, said the Associated Press.

In just three regions _ Beijing, Guangzhou in southeastern China and the northeastern provincial capital of Harbin _ public exercise demonstrations have attracted some 500 followers since June 18, the report said.

One man arrested Thursday (June 22) during a demonstration in Beijing appeared to have been beaten by police and had to be hospitalized, said the report.

The practice of Falun Gong, a blend of meditation and traditional breathing exercises, was banned in China nearly a year ago by government authorities who declared the movement a public menace and a threat to Communist Party rule. Since then, police have arrested thousands of Falun Gong practitioners and sentenced movement leaders to prison terms as long as 18 years.

Though the Information Center maintains that more than 20 followers have died while in police custody, China insists that no Falun Gong practitioners have been mistreated.

Baby Left on Church Doorstep, Rescued by Parishioners

(RNS) A newborn baby, less than one hour old, was abandoned outside an East Los Angeles Catholic church Saturday night (June 24) but was rescued by parishioners. A priest gave her an emergency baptism.

Called “Jane Doe” by authorities and “Christina” by parishioners at Our Lady Help of Christians Roman Catholic Church, the infant girl was in good condition Monday at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, police said. Police are searching for the mother, who they believe left the child, still attached to her umbilical cord, swaddled in dirty cloth next to a church trash can.

People heard the baby’s cries around 10 p.m. near the end of an evening Bible study. “We heard a baby crying. We didn’t think it was real, but then we saw her right in a corner, wrapped around a blue towel,” said parishioner Linda Beas.

Father Rume Gonzalez, the church’s associate pastor, said he did an “emergency baptism” of the child. She was named Christina because she was found the night before the church’s Corpus Christi feast day.

People have been calling the hospital offering to adopt the child, who will be cared for by county social workers until her mother is found.

“Please, don’t put it (a baby) in the trash can,” parishioner Ruben Martinez said. “That’s the holy soul of God.”

Quote of the Day: Texas Baptist official Clyde Glazener

(RNS) “We’re not interested in siphoning off a lot of funds from Texas to fund a Jerry Falwell-clone church.”

_ The Rev. Clyde Glazener, president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, discussing the possibility of Texas Baptists splitting from the Southern Baptist Convention. He was quoted in the June 24 edition of The Dallas Morning News.

DEA END RNS