c. 2006 Religion News Service

Survey: Half of Evangelicals Oppose Federal Funding of Religious Groups

WASHINGTON (RNS) Half of the nation’s evangelical Christians do not support government funding of faith-based organizations, a survey shows.

New data released Wednesday (Oct. 25) from the Baylor Religion Survey show that 50 percent of evangelicals, and 65 percent of the total population, think federal funding of religious organizations is inappropriate. Twenty-six percent of the total respondents surveyed said they agree with such funding.

Byron Johnson, a sociology professor at Baylor University, said the finding about evangelicals may be the product of misinformation and rumors about the work of faith-based initiatives.

“For example, a lot of groups will not even entertain the idea of applying for public funds because they feel like if they do that the cross or the menorah or the Star of David has to come down,” he said. “I think it reflects a horrible miscommunication about the initiative.”

Johnson said others fear recipients of faith-based services might have to pray or be proselytized.

In addition to being a member of the research team on the Baylor study, Johnson has served as an intermediary in a $3 million Justice Department program that supports small faith-based and community programs addressing domestic violence.

The findings come on the heels of a new book by David Kuo, the former deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, who says in “Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction,” that the office has been used to build political support for Republicans. Conservative Christian supporters of the initiative said the book was full of mischaracterizations while critics said it demonstrated why the office should be shut down.

A team of researchers from Baylor University, a Baptist university in Waco, Texas, released the initial findings of their study in September. They define evangelical respondents as those who belong to evangelical denominations or state a belief in the authority of the Bible, salvation through a personal relationship with Jesus and the need to evangelize.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Man Sets Pews on Fire During Services

SALEM, Ore. (RNS) A man burst into a church in the middle of prayer services Wednesday (Oct. 25) night, dumped gasoline on a half-dozen pews and lit a fire before parishioners tackled him.

Two older women were slightly burned during the incident, but churchgoers quickly doused the flames, authorities said. The man’s identity was not released.

Deputy Kevin Rau, a spokesman for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, said the incident occurred shortly after 7 p.m. at the Peoples Church in Salem’s Hayesville neighborhood.

The man took a cab to the church, and when he arrived, he threatened the driver with a knife, slightly cutting him, police said.

Sam Miller, assistant to the church pastor, was standing at the front of the building when the man walked in. He said the man was pouring a liquid from a 1-gallon can that was igniting as it hit the pews and the floor.

Within moments, parishioners had tackled the man and doused the flames. Miller and others walked him out of the building, and the man babbled incoherently, Miller said. He was taken into custody by police.

“I don’t think he knew why he did it,” Miller said. “We don’t believe it was an act against the church or against the people. It was a deranged man.”

The 55-year-old church draws about 2,000 worshippers. The church’s pastor, the Rev. Scott Erickson, said he could not explain what happened.

“This is all very upsetting,” Erickson said. “This won’t deter us from having services. We’ll go on, and we can assure everyone that they are safe here.”

_ David Austin and Elizabeth Suh

Plaintiff in Mount Soledad Cross Case Dies

(RNS) The man behind the lengthy dispute over a 29-foot cross on city land in San Diego has died.

Philip Kevin Paulson died Wednesday (Oct. 25) at the age of 59, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Paulson, who led a legal battle to remove the towering Mount Soledad Cross from public property, had liver cancer.

A Vietnam veteran and the grandson of a Lutheran preacher, Paulson shared the reasons for filing his suit in 1989 with the newspaper in recent months on the condition that his comments would be kept confidential until his death or the end of the case.

“The real message is equal treatment under the law, and religious neutrality,” said Paulson, who was raised a “devout Christian” before turning away from faith early in his life. “That’s the purpose of why I did it. It has nothing to do with me being an atheist or whether I was a Bible-thumping fundamentalist Baptist preacher.”

Upon learning of the seriousness of his condition, Paulson made plans to add another plaintiff to the case to allow it to continue. A week before his death, a California appeals court heard an appeal related to the case.

On Aug. 14, President Bush signed a law putting the cross under federal jurisdiction, but legal action against the monument continues.

_ Adelle M. Banks

ElBaradei Says Nuclear Future Is Not A Religious Standoff

NEW YORK (RNS) The head of the International Atomic Energy Association said Wednesday (Oct. 25) that the nuclear weapons landscape was increasingly uncertain, but was not shaping into a showdown along religious lines.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the agency that monitors global use of atomic power under the auspices of the U.N., said the number of nuclear states was likely to grow. Recent developments in North Korea and Iran are examples of countries yielding to the “status” that comes with nuclear capability.

But the nuclear expert insisted that the new balance of nuclear power should not be thought of in terms of religious conflict. The current arming of Iran, and the standoff between the nuclear nations of India and Pakistan, have “nothing to do with religion.” He believes that the root of proliferation is a question of “power and resources.”

“I hear people talk about a Muslim bomb, a Jewish bomb, a Hindu bomb,” said ElBaradei. “This is absolutely crazy. It is a distorted view of faith.”

The most credible future dangers, according to Elbaradi, might be expected from “extremist” groups capable of building small-scale devices or detonating non-military nuclear material. Since nuclear secrets are difficult to monitor, his agency’s current strategy is to monitor industrial production and pursue diplomacy.

But foremost for ElBaradei is ardently fighting the global war on poverty. He said a lack of resources leads to strongarm leaders with nuclear aspirations, “an uncontrolled chain reaction,” he says.

“It all starts with poverty,” he said.

ElBaradei has served as the head of the agency since 1997. In 2005, he and the IAEA were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work “to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes.”

ElBaradei made his remarks after receiving an award from the Interfaith Center, an organization with ties to the U.N. that recognizes notable figures who collaborate on projects to benefit all people of faith. Previous recipients of the award have included former President Bill Clinton, actor Richard Gere and retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

_ Jason Anthony

Quote of the Day: Australian Cleric Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali

(RNS) “If you take uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it … whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat?”

_ Australian Muslim cleric Sheik Taj Aldin Alihilali, suggesting that immodestly dressed women provoke sexual attacks by men. The sheik later apologized, saying he was only trying to “protect women’s honor.” He was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald.

KRE/JL END RNS