c. 2004 Religion News Service
Israel, Palestinians Launch Joint Tourism Push for Pilgrims
JERUSALEM (RNS) Israel and the Palestinian Authority plan to jointly market their region as a pilgrimage destination, Israel’s Ministry of Tourism announced Sunday (Dec. 26).
Israeli Tourism Ministry Director General Eli Cohen and his Palestinian counterpart, Dr. Bajis Ismail, agreed on the plan during a meeting in early December.
The campaign, which will initially cost $500,000, will target Greece, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
In a sign that relations between Israel and the Palestinians are improving, the two sides have agreed to place the symbols of both ministries on advertisements promoting tourism to the Holy Land.
In another encouraging development, Israeli Tourism Minister Gideon Ezra met with Palestinian Tourism and Antiquities Minister Mitri Abu Aita near Bethlehem last week to discuss this and other joint ventures.
Both Israelis and Palestinians have suffered from the virtual collapse in their intertwined tourism industries that resulted from the violent Palestinian uprising more than four years ago.
Despite a significant increase in the number of tourists to Israel in 2004, only 13,000 pilgrims, including 4,700 Israeli-Arab Christians, visited Bethlehem during Christmas. Thousands of Christian and Muslim Palestinians have emigrated from the region in recent years, and many more say they will do so if the economy does not improve significantly.
In the first 11 months of 2004, 1.3 million tourists entered Israel, 44 percent more than during the same period last year. Israel Tourism Ministry officials predict approximately 1.7 million visitors will arrive in 2005.
_ Michele Chabin
Catholic Bishops Cite `The Passion’ as One of Year’s Top Films
(RNS) Mel Gibson’s controversial depiction of Jesus’ crucifixion in “The Passion of the Christ” and Bishop T.J. Jakes’ silver-screen adaptation of his book “Woman, Thou Art Loosed” were named among the top films of 2004 by the film review office of the nation’s Catholic bishops.
Gibson’s runaway hit was one of 20 movies chosen as must-sees by the bishops’ Office for Film and Broadcasting. Ten movies, including “White Chicks” and “Seed of Chucky,” were chosen as the year’s worst films.
Joining “The Passion of the Christ” and “Woman, Thou Art Loosed” in the best films category were “The Aviator,” “Danny Deckchair,” “Finding Neverland,” “Hero,” “Hotel Rwanda,” “Ray,” “Shall We Dance?” and “Spanglish.” Honorable mentions went to “Seducing Dr. Lewis,” “Super Size Me,” “Vanity Fair” and “The Story of the Weeping Camel.”
The 10 worst movies included “Conspiracy of Silence,” “Dreamers,” “Envy,” “Eurotrip,” “Girl Next Door,” “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle,” “Head in the Clouds” and “National Lampoon’s Golddiggers,” as well as “Seed of Chucky” and “White Chicks.”
Films chosen as the best family-viewing movies were “Ella Enchanted,” “Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban,” “I Am David,” “The Incredibles,” “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “Miracle,” “Polar Express,” “Shrek II,” “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” and “Two Brothers.”
The bishops’ film office regularly reviews most mainstream movies for their “moral content” and “artistic merit.” The reviewers have their own rating system, which finds films suitable for general viewing, adults and adolescents, adults, limited adult audiences or morally offensive.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Methodist Evangelists Edmund Robb and Bill Hinson Die
(RNS) The Rev. Edmund Robb Jr. and the Rev. Bill Hinson, two prominent conservative evangelists in the United Methodist Church, have died. Robb, 78, died on Dec. 14 and Hinson, 68, died on Dec. 26.
Robb, who helped found the Washington-based Institute on Religion and Democracy, died in his hometown of Marshall, Texas. In 1981, Robb helped found the conservative watchdog group that has been an advocate for persecuted religious believers across the globe and a critic of some of the liberal leanings of U.S. mainline Protestant denominations.
“He was a giant of the faith,” said Diane Knippers, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, in a statement. “His memory will bless and encourage countless people _ from those seeking the reformation of their churches to those in the former Soviet empire and elsewhere who remember Ed’s stand for freedom.”
Robb was also the former chairman of the board of Good News, an independent evangelical caucus of United Methodists. “Ed Robb was a close friend, a colleague in renewal and one of the greatest United Methodist leaders in 50 years,” said the Rev. James Heidinger, president of Good News.
Hinson, president of the Confessing Movement, died in Huntsville, Ala., after suffering a massive stroke on Nov. 28. The Georgia native was the former pastor of First United Methodist Church in Houston, one of the largest churches in the denomination.
“He was a tireless and winsome witness to the apostolic faith,” the Confessing Movement said in a statement.
Last May, Hinson sparked controversy by suggesting that it was time for an “amicable separation” between conservatives and liberals. After the idea concerned many at the church’s General Assembly meeting, Hinson joined with the church’s Christian unity office to draft a statement that said, “As United Methodists we remain in covenant with one another, even in the midst of disagreement.”
_ Adelle M. Banks and Kevin Eckstrom
Study: Television Addresses Religion More _ and More Negatively
(RNS) A study of television’s treatment of religion has found that matters of faith are addressed more in broadcast networks’ shows, but mostly in a negative manner, the Parents Television Council has announced.
The Los Angeles-based council worked in conjunction with the National Religious Broadcasters to release the study titled “Faith in a Box: Entertainment Television and Religion.”
Researchers found that NBC led other major networks in negative depictions of faith, with 9.5 negative treatments for every positive treatment. It was followed by Fox, with 2.4 negative depictions for each positive one and 1.2 negative for each positive treatment by both WB and ABC.
“Religion and the public expression of faith is a crucial element in the lives of most Americans,” said L. Brent Bozell, president of the council, in a Dec. 16 statement. “Our findings should challenge Hollywood to accurately reflect this in television content.”
Council analysts reviewed prime-time entertainment programs on seven commercial broadcast networks _ ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PAX, UPN and WB _ between Sept. 25, 2003 and Sept. 24, 2004. They found that 2,385 hours of programming on those networks contained 2,344 treatments of religion _ ranging from a brief prayer to “the actual presence of God in a scene.” That demonstrated a marked increase from the council’s last study on religion in 1997, when researchers found 551 treatments of religion in 1,800 hours of programming.
While references to faith were the most common related to religion, the study also looked at treatment of religion as an institution, depictions of clergy and devout lay people and miscellaneous references to religion.
Analysts found that more than 32 percent of television’s depictions of religious institutions and doctrine were negative, while 11.7 percent of such depictions were positive.
When clergy were depicted, 36.2 percent of the time they were negative, compared to 14.6 percent positive. Depictions of devout laity were 33.3 percent negative and 20.4 percent positive.
Frank Wright, president of the National Religious Broadcasters, said of the findings: “This comprehensive study shows a clear disparity between the religious beliefs of most Americans and how these beliefs are reflected in television programming.”
_ Adelle M. Banks
Quote of the Day: An editorial from the Daily News in Colombo, Sri Lanka
(RNS) “This tragedy would have not been in vain if it had served to once more show we are a strong, loving, united nation, where we are all brothers and sisters, whatever the color, whatever the religion.”
_ An editorial in the Daily News in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where at least 21,000 people were killed in a tsunami on Dec. 26. The island nation has been wracked by two decades of civil war.
KRE/PH END RNS
