c. 2006 Religion News Service
Religious Conservatives Claim Victory After NBC Shuts `The Book of Daniel’
(RNS) Conservative critics are claiming victory after NBC pulled “The Book of Daniel,” a racy primetime drama about an Episcopal priest struggling to hold his dysfunctional family together.
NBC officials in New York would not confirm or deny that the show has been cancelled, but the broadcaster’s Web site lists “Law and Order” during the Friday 10 p.m. time slot that had been occupied by “The Book of Daniel.”
A blog on NBC’s home page contained an entry from Jack Kenny, the show’s creator, who said the show will “no longer be aired on NBC on Friday nights” for “many reasons.”
“Whatever the outcome, I feel that I accomplished what I set out to do: a solid family drama, with lots of humor, that honestly explored the lives of the Webster family,” Kenny wrote, adding that he was “proud of our product.”
The show, which debuted on Jan. 6, had only aired four of its eight scheduled episodes. Conservatives criticized the show’s sex, drugs and alcohol and said its depiction of Jesus was disrespectful.
Complaints from the Mississippi-based American Family Association _ to the tune of 678,000 angry e-mails to NBC _ prompted advertisers to pull out. At least 11 NBC stations in six states declined to broadcast the show.
“This shows the average American that he doesn’t have to simply sit back and take the trash being offered on TV, but he can get involved and fight back with his pocketbook,” said AFA Chairman Donald Wildmon.
Kenny had hoped the show would survive at least until Feb. 10, when the Olympics will take over for most NBC programming. Kenny had called the “bullies” who sought to kill his show “un-Christian and un-American.”
For its part, the Episcopal Church declined to comment on the show since it was not consulted as the show was created.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Muslim Organizations Protest Germany’s Quizzing of Immigrants’ Beliefs
(RNS) Muslim organizations are protesting a new immigration policy in the southwestern German state of Baden-Wurttemberg that requires them to fill out a questionnaire of 30 moral and ethical questions.
The new policy, effective Jan. 1, is required only for immigrants from countries that belong to the Arab League. Before they can be considered for German residency. Questions include how they would react if an adult child announced his or her homosexuality and whether they believe it is acceptable to hit a spouse.
According to reports in German media, members of the Socialist, Green and Left parties have argued that many immigrants lack the language skills to understand the questions and that many immigration officials do not have the credentials to judge which answers are correct.
Turkish organizations in Germany advise immigrants not to answer the questions and to seek legal help if refusal blocks their residency application. Kenan Kolat, head of the federal organization of Turkish organizations in Germany, has appealed to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for a ruling. Turkish immigrants are one of the largest demographic groups in Germany.
According to Der Spiegel magazine, a complaint to the German Constitutional Court is also under consideration by the Central Committee for Muslims in Germany. Nadeem Elyas, the group’s leader, called the new questionnaire a “clearly illegal discrimination against Muslims.”
But Baden-Wurttemberg’s ruling coalition of Christian Democrats and libertarians stand by their new policy, arguing that immigration officials need to be able to gauge whether immigrants’ beliefs are in synch with the rest of Germany before they can be admitted. The state’s justice minister did tell Der Spiegel, however, that the test should not be focused on Muslims. The justice minister has also questioned whether questions about homosexuality ought to be removed.
_ Niels Sorrells
Retired Anglican Bishop Pleads for Help to Stop `Genocide’ in Uganda
WASHINGTON (RNS) Macleord Baker Ochola II, a retired Anglican bishop from Uganda, has called on the world to stop the “genocide” of women and children in his home country.
In a Monday (Jan. 23) event sponsored by the Congressional Working Group on Religious Freedom and the Washington-based Institute on Religion and Democracy, Ochola said the world has remained silent about the atrocities committed by rebel forces on women and children in Northern Uganda. If the violence does not end, “the whole Acholi population is headed toward extinction,” said Ochola, who lost his wife and daughter in the conflict.
Since 1986, a rebel group called the Lord’s Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, has been raiding villages, terrorizing locals and turning kidnapped children into soldiers or sex slaves. More than 30,000 children have been kidnapped, according to some estimates. Many children now spend their night-time hours walking in city streets or in public buildings to avoid being abducted during attacks on their homes.
An estimated 1.7 million people have been driven from their homes into Internally Displaced Persons Camps, where inadequate supplies of food, water and sanitation have caused thousands to die.
Despite repeated efforts, the three factions in conflict, including Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and profiteering army officers, have not reached a peaceful agreement.
Speaking at the Capitol, Ochola said his people “are now aware they have been abandoned by the world but not by God.” He said the international community had a moral responsibility to stop the war, as 50 percent of the country’s national budget was from external aid.
Ochola also called for the church in Northern Uganda to “identify itself with the suffering and not keep silent.”
Faith McDonnell, representative for the Institute on Religion and Democracy, said her organization was encouraging U.S. churches to show a documentary, “Invisible Children,” about the abductions in Northern Uganda.
Evan Baehr, congressional fellow at the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, said his group is organizing at least two events in March to discuss practical solutions for the crisis.
_ Enette Ngoei
WCC Urges Peace Talks Between Sri Lankan Government, Rebels
(RNS) The World Council of Churches says it is “dismayed and concerned” over the escalation of violence in Sri Lanka and has called on the government and the rebel Tamil Tigers to resume peace talks.
“It is feared if the rapidly deteriorating situation is not brought under immediate control, it is likely to result in another long drawn war in which many more people may perish and hopes of peace and development suffer a major setback detrimental to the people of Sri Lanka,” the Rev. Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the WCC, said in a letter to Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse.
The letter, dated Jan. 20, was made public Monday (Jan. 23) as Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim began a new effort to get stalled peace talks back on track and a top U.S. official denounced the Tamil Tigers as a “reprehensible terrorist group.”
More than 100 people _ most of them soldiers _ have been killed since early December in attacks concentrated in the Tamil-dominated north of the Indian Ocean island nation. The rebels have been fighting an intermittent civil war since 1983, seeking an independent homeland. The fighting has cost an estimated 64,000 lives.
Norwegian diplomats brokered a ceasefire in 2002, but the Tigers say it brought little change in their lives, pointing to the distribution of aid following the 2004 tsunami.
U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, who was in Sri Lanka on Monday, said at a news conference that while the United States labels the Tigers a terrorist group along with al-Qaida, he also recognized they have legitimate grievances. He insisted they must abandon violence.
Kobia’s letter to Rajapakse followed and supported an appeal for peace talks from Sri Lanka’s churches. The appeal called for both sides to “take immediate steps to stop this spiral of violence in the name of our common humanity.”
_ David Anderson
Mass. Governor Calls for Review of `Errors’ in Case of Girl in Coma
BOSTON (RNS) Republican Gov. Mitt Romney says he will create an independent panel to review “errors in judgment” involving Haleigh Poutre, the comatose 11-year-old Westfield girl at the center of a right-to-die battle.
Romney’s announcement Monday (Jan. 23) came as the state Department of Social Services assembled a team of doctors to examine the girl and provide “a second opinion” on her health, a spokeswoman said.
And on another front, Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, a Boston Democrat, ordered the House Post Audit and Oversight Committee, which has subpoena powers, to conduct a hearing and comprehensive investigation on Haleigh’s case and possible wider problems at the social services department.
During a news conference outside his Statehouse office, Romney said an error in judgment occurred when medical professionals and state social service officials concluded that Haleigh abused herself when apparently at least some of the abuse stemmed from her adoptive mother and stepfather.
Romney said another miscalculation occurred when the Department of Social Services sought an order to withdraw Haleigh’s life support after doctors at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield said she was in a vegetative state. Romney said the department is no longer aiming to terminate her life support and instead is working to keep her alive.
“The panel that I’m seeking to establish will look very narrowly at Haleigh’s circumstances _ what happened here, what decisions were made, why they were made inappropriately and what adjustments should be made on our protocols,” Romney said.
The state Supreme Judicial Court, acting on an appeal by lawyers for the girl’s stepfather, last week upheld an Oct. 5 decision by a Hampden Juvenile Court judge to remove Haleigh from life support.
The girl’s stepfather, auto mechanic Jason D. Strickland, could be charged with murder if the girl dies. He has pleaded innocent to assaulting the child.
_ Dan Ring
Quote of the Day: President Bush
(RNS) “One of the great strengths of this country is our faith-based programs that rose up in indignation about the slavery that was taking place in the Sudan.”
_ President Bush, speaking Monday (Jan. 23) at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan.
MO/LF END RNS
