c. 2006 Religion News Service

SNAP Calls for Outside Review of Page Program

WASHINGTON (RNS) The head of a support group for those sexually abused by clergy called Thursday (Oct. 12) for strict measures to help prevent abuse of teenage congressional pages, saying members of Congress should not be responsible for abuse investigations.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) will be asking all members of Congress to sign a statement promising to call police the moment they suspect any sexual misconduct by a colleague, rather than alerting an internal committee, SNAP president Barbara Blaine said at a news conference.

Blaine accused lawmakers and their staffs of protecting the image of their parties instead of the teenage pages by keeping information about former Florida Rep. Mark Foley’s behavior internal. She said nobody, including clergymen and congressmen, should be policing themselves.

“They’re saying (the abuse allegations) didn’t rise to that level or this level, that they weren’t serious enough to contact the police,” she said. “My belief is that any of the leaders in Congress do not have the expertise to be making that call.”

The advocacy group, a nonprofit with more than 7,000 members, most of whom were sexually abused by Roman Catholic priests, called last week for Foley to disclose the name of the clergyman he said abused him as a teenager.

SNAP has criticized Catholic clergy in a similar way for dealing with sexual abuse accusations in the church as an internal matter.

Foley, who served six terms as a Republican congressman, abruptly resigned Sept. 29 after sexually explicit Internet exchanges allegedly between him and former congressional pages became public. The House Ethics Committee is investigating how officials handled the revelations.

Blaine said the power difference between clergymen or lawmakers and young victims often allows the adults to keep embarrassing situations quiet.

“We think that the exact same patterns we see in the church hierarchy are being played out in Congress,” Blaine said. “Adults, instead of using information to protect the kids, are circling the wagons. They’re discussing it among themselves.”

_ Rebecca U. Cho

Evolution Backed for Science Teaching in Michigan

LANSING, Mich. (RNS) Michigan’s science educators must teach evolution, not creationism, the state Board of Education decided unanimously Tuesday (Oct. 10).

The board’s vote on high school course content leaves intelligent design shut out of public school science classrooms, at least for now. But educators say there is room to discuss intelligent design outside science classes, perhaps in philosophy courses.

The board agreed with testimony from the Michigan Science Teachers Association and educators from six colleges and high schools.

Gregory Forbes, a Grand Rapids Community College biology professor and evolution specialist, told the board that raising questions about evolution incorrectly “suggests to students that for some reason evolutionary theory is no longer a robust theory.”

The board’s 8-0 vote simply sliced the word “may” out of curriculum rules for classes such as Earth science and biology. The language previously said fossil records and other evidence “may” support the theory of evolution, which critics said opened the door to teaching creationism.

“In my view, the word `may’ clouds the science,” said board member Reggie Turner, D-Detroit.

The new state expectations make it clear that intelligent design isn’t to be taught in science class, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan said.

“The board didn’t want to be ambiguous at all.”

Kids in biology will now have to “Explain how a new species or variety originates (rather than `may originate’) through the natural process of evolution.” They also will be asked to show how fossil records, comparative anatomy and other evidence support the theory of evolution rather than “may” support it.

_ Judy Putnam

Teenager Who Killed Priest Sentenced to 18 Years

ISTANBUL (RNS) A 16-year-old Turkish boy was sentenced to 18 years and 10 months in prison Tuesday (Oct. 10) for the murder of an Italian Roman Catholic priest last February during the height of the Prophet Muhammad cartoon controversy.

The sentencing session was held in the Black Sea city of Trabzon, where the crime took place. Murder normally carries a life sentence in Turkey, but it was reduced because of the perpetrator’s age.

The family of the boy, identified as “O.A.,”’ said it would appeal the charges. “Eighteen years, 20 years, it doesn’t matter. He will be in prison for the sake of his nation, his state and Allah,” said O.A.’s mother, according to the AKI news agency.

The Rev. Andrea Santoro was shot while praying in the church of St. Mary on Feb. 5. Santoro, 60, the head of the port city’s small congregation, had been living in Turkey since 2000.

Before shooting the priest, the youth reportedly shouted, “Allah Akbar,” which means “God is great” in Arabic, but also is used as a rallying cry for militant Islamists.

The priest’s murder came as the Muslim world was infuriated by the cartoons that Muslims say mocked Muhammad. While it was never officially established that Santoro’s murder and the cartoon row were linked, the crime took place amid massive protests in Turkey that attracted tens of thousands of people.

_ Scott Rank

Anti-Islam Slurs Mar Sikh Billboard

HARRISBURG, Pa. (RNS) A billboard designed to educate Pennsylvania drivers about Sikhism, an Indian religion that Americans often confuse with Islam, has been removed after it was marred by profanity aimed at Muslims.

“Arabs go to hell,” someone wrote across the billboard in black, along with “Jesus Saves,” “Hell Yeah USA” and a four-letter expletive directed at “Alah,” the Arabic word for God.

The vandalism along Interstate 78 came as local police were investigating threatening letters and e-mails sent to Muslims in the Harrisburg and York areas.

The billboard proclaimed, “Sikhism. Freedom, Equality, Justice. One God,” alongside an image of a man in the broad turban that Sikh men use to wrap the hair they never cut.

The billboard was one of two erected earlier this year by the World Sikh Syndicate, a group of midstate Sikhs, near their temple, or gurdwara, in Bethel Township.

“We were shocked,” said Dr. Shivinder Athwal, a physician near Allentown who heads the syndicate. He said the damaged billboard was taken down but the syndicate hopes to replace it.

“My conclusion is that we need to continue with what we are doing and reach out to more and more people,” he said. “I think we are on the right track, but it is a tremendous task.”

Sikhs have sometimes been harassed since the terrorist attacks in 2001 because some people confuse the Sikh turban with the one worn by Osama bin Laden.

Sikhism is a monotheistic religion that developed in India in the 15th century and traveled as Indians migrated with jobs and families.

_ Mary Warner

Quote of the Day: President Bush

(RNS) “Abu Ghraib: I believe that really hurt us. It hurt us internationally. It kind of eased us off the moral high ground; we weren’t a country that was capable of, on the one hand, promoting democracy and then treating people decently.”

_ President Bush, responding to a reporter’s question at a White House news conference on Wednesday (Oct. 11) about torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

KRE/PH END RNS