c. 2004 Religion News Service
Republicans, Churchgoers Want More Religion in Political Life
(RNS) While nearly half of Americans think religion has too much political influence, Republicans and people who attend church frequently tend to think it should have more, according to a just-released Gallup Poll.
The poll, taken after the Nov. 2 elections, found that Americans generally think religion should have more influence on the country’s moral climate, but should play a less prominent role in politics.
Nearly half _ 48 percent _ said religion has too much influence on politics, while 40 percent said it should have more. Those figures represent a slight shift from 1996, when 42 percent said it had too much influence, and 44 percent had too little.
The political differences are stark. While 67 percent of Democrats said religion has too much influence, a majority _ 55 percent _ of Republicans said it should play a more prominent political role. More than half _ 57 percent _ of people who attend a church or synagogue once a week said religion should play a stronger role; in contrast, two-thirds of people who seldom or never attend church said it should play a lesser role.
The poll detected much wider agreement that religion could do more to influence the country’s moral climate _ 64 percent of Americans saw room for more influence, while 27 percent said religion already has too much influence on the country’s moral life.
The poll of 1,015 adults was conducted Nov. 19-21 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
New Jersey Carolers Protest School Ban on Religious References
(RNS) About 60 people gathered outside Columbia High School in Maplewood, N.J., Tuesday (Dec. 21) to sing Christmas carols in protest of the district’s ban on music with references to religious symbols or holidays.
The caroling was the latest in a series of protests in the South Orange-Maplewood community since November when the district clarified its long-standing policy regarding Christmas carols. Nationally, several school districts have adopted similar bans on religious references during the holidays, outraging parents and others.
Tuesday night’s protest came days after a law firm in Ann Arbor, Mich., said it had filed a federal lawsuit against the district on behalf of a Maplewood resident with two children. The lawsuit claims the district’s ban is unconstitutional.
The caroling was organized by Steve Lonegan, the Republican mayor of Bogota, N.J., who is running for governor next year. The carolers sang songs such as “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World” while television crews broadcast the protest. One person was dressed as the Grinch, the Dr. Seuss character accused of stealing Christmas.
Not everyone was pleased with the caroling.
“A guy from Bogota is using this as a publicity stunt, and he doesn’t live here in South Orange or Maplewood,” said Alicia Mountain, a Columbia student and member of the school’s brass ensemble. “It’s insulting.”
The controversy started about a month ago when the district clarified a long-standing policy, saying the ban on Christmas carols and other songs with references to religious symbols or holidays also applied to instrumental renditions. The district said complaints from some residents prompted it to enforce the policy more strictly.
The decision sparked intense debate within and outside the community, drawing international attention and ridicule. National radio personality Don Imus penned a poem mocking the district and public interest groups have parachuted into the community threatening lawsuits.
The ban has evoked passionate debate on both sides.
Regina Hess, 57, drove 100 miles from Media, Pa., to attend the caroling event. “Things are getting out of hand,” said Hess, a business owner. “They’re trying to make Christmas very secular.”
Marli Craig, 35, of Maplewood said she felt the ban was ridiculous. “All great music comes from religion,” she said. “People who don’t like it shouldn’t listen to it.”
_ Katie Wang
Pagans Welcome Winter Solstice With Spiritual Rituals
(RNS) At small gatherings across the globe’s Northern Hemisphere, pagans received Tuesday’s (Dec. 21) winter solstice with rituals to welcome the curious and clear space for reflection on the year’s longest night.
_ In Sebastopol, Calif., followers of author and activist Starhawk brought in “newcomers with open minds and hearts” for a night of singing, dancing and “invoking the Elements, the God and the Goddess.”
_ In Wiltshire, England, the ancient Stonehenge ruins attracted nearly twice the usual number for winter solstice as 600 turned out to watch the sunrise, according to BBC News.
_ At the First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans, 32 formed a circle around an altar, passed a flame and symbolically burned in a cauldron all they wished to leave behind from 2004.
“I wanted it to be spiritually meaningful without being threatening in any way,” said Dr. Mary Gelfand, co-president of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and leader of the circle ritual in New Orleans. “People want something. They just don’t know what it is. And they’re not getting it in a secular Christmas or New Year’s celebration.”
Earth-based spiritual traditions have for centuries marked the longest night of the year, the winter solstice, as a seasonal turning point. To entice the sun and long days to return, medieval pagans would perform rituals of magic. Today, rituals include staying up all night to maintain a flame “so the sun will see it and be lured back to the world,” said Gelfand.
Through the holiday season, pagans decorate their homes with lights, wreaths and sometimes even Christmas trees, since those customs infuse light and nature’s bounty into the home at the darkest time of the year.
Wiccan winter solstice rituals sometimes include a dramatization of a battle between the Holly King and the Oak King, representing the old and new years. But at the New Orleans event, Gelfand made sure this year to exclude traditional knives, swords and Goddess references in order to make the event as inclusive as possible.
“Darkness is a period of reflection and gestation,” she said. “We don’t look at it as something to be depressed about. We look at it as a time to think about things happening in our lives that we want to celebrate.”
_ G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Israeli Feminists Hail Historic Divorce Settlement
JERUSALEM (RNS) Jewish feminists are hailing Tuesday’s (Dec. 21) unprecedented decision by an Israeli civil court to order a man to pay the equivalent of $100,000 to the wife he has refused to divorce for 12 years.
The judge in the case ruled that the ultra-Orthodox husband’s stubborn refusal to grant his wife a “get,” a Jewish writ of divorce, had caused her pain, suffering and social isolation, as well as an inability to remarry or have additional children.
Jewish law stipulates that a woman cannot remarry, or even have children with a man other than her husband, without first obtaining a “get.”
Because the law says that a man must not be coerced into granting the divorce, thousands of husbands try to use mutually owned property, and even the couple’s children, to extort financial and other concessions from the wife.
There is no civil marriage or divorce in Israel, and all Jewish marriages and divorces must be processed through the Orthodox Rabbinate and its court system. The civil courts rarely intervene in matters related to “agunot,” women whose husbands cannot or will not grant them the divorce they seek.
Although Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a law permitting rabbinical courts to impose certain sanctions on recalcitrant husbands back in 1995, many of the rabbinical judges who deal with divorce are reluctant to do so.
In an interview with Religion News Service, Susan Weiss, director of the Center for Women’s Justice and the person who filed the suit on behalf of the 42-year-old wife in the case, said, “This ruling is very important. The civil court ruled that religious tolerance cannot come at the expense of democracy.”
_ Michele Chabin
Catholic Guide Gives Rome’s Homeless Tips on Eating, Sleeping, Washing
ROME (RNS) A community of socially active Catholics issued a homeless guide to Rome on Wednesday (Dec. 22), instructing the needy where they can eat, sleep and shower free of charge.
The Community of Sant’Egidio presented the guide to the homeless as a Christmas present. The community, an organization of socially active Catholic laity that has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, is also a leading provider of food, shelter and legal aid to those in need.
The community served meals to 10,000 people in its canteen during 2004 and to a total of 130,000 since it opened in 1988. It also distributes food and clothing at 75 locations and directly to people living on the street.
On Christmas Day, volunteers will offer lunch, complete with wine and presents, to 5,000 people _ migrants, the elderly, the disabled and the destitute _ at 31 locations in and around the city, including the 12th century Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.
On New Year’s Eve there will be a gala dinner for the needy with gospel singing and fireworks in Rome’s ultramodern new Auditorium. And on New Year’s Day, when the Catholic Church observes World Day of Peace, it will lead a “March for Peace on Earth” from Rome’s historic center to St. Peter’s Square.
The 175-page handbook, “Where to Eat, Sleep and Wash in Rome,” is now in its 15th annual edition and has served as a model for similar guides to Florence and Genoa in Italy, Barcelona in Spain and Paris.
The sturdy, pocket-sized guide and an accompanying plasticized map pinpoint 750 centers of assistance in the Italian capital. In addition to sources of food, shelter and hygiene, they list sources of medical care, language courses, employment centers and where to find a telephone in an emergency.
“The idea is solely to humanize a big city,” said Sant’Egidio spokesman Mario Marazziti.
_ Peggy Polk
Quote of the Day: Julie West of Edmonds, Wash.
(RNS) “I had gotten a legal opinion from the Rutherford Institute saying I was within my rights before I brought the cake to school. That’s Christmas this year, I guess: candy cane frosting and a legal opinion.”
_ Julie West, an Edmonds, Wash., resident who baked a cake decorated with the words “Happy Birthday Jesus” for her son’s elementary school holiday party to protest her annoyance that people wish her “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” She was quoted by USA Today.
MO/PH RNS END
