c. 2006 Religion News Service
Israeli Supreme Court Approves Overseas Gay Marriages
(RNS) An Israeli Supreme Court ruling requiring the government to recognize gay marriages performed abroad has many American Jews rejoicing.
“It’s a great day for marriage. It’s a great day for Israel. And it’s a great day for Jews,” said Alan Dershowitz, the prominent civil rights expert and Harvard Law School professor, saying it reflects Israel’s “liberal and progressive approaches to social problems.”
The 6-1 ruling on Tuesday (Nov. 21), which would give gay couples tax breaks and the right to adopt children, was made in response to petitions filed by five gay Israeli couples who married in Canada and wanted their marriage registered at home.
Marriage in Israel is run by the Orthodox rabbinate, a point of contention for many secular and non-Orthodox Jews, while civil marriages performed abroad are recognized in the Jewish state.
The decision comes only weeks after ultra-Orthodox protests forced organizers of a Jerusalem gay pride parade to plan a more secure stadium rally. The recent ruling has reignited debate in Israel across its religious-secular divide.
In the U.S., the three major Jewish movements are reacting to the ruling somewhat predictably. “We strongly object and strongly criticize the court’s decision,” said Nathan Diament, director of public policy for the Orthodox Union, whose movement rejects gay marriage.
Rabbi Jerome Epstein, whose Conservative movement is debating whether to approve same-sex commitment ceremonies and gay ordination, stressed the distinction between the civil and religious aspects of gay marriage.
“I personally applaud the ruling of the Supreme Court, which seems to reinforce the fact that wherever it’s possible to provide for civil recognition is appropriate,” said Epstein, executive vice president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
The Reform movement, which endorses same-sex commitment ceremonies or weddings, welcomed the decision. “It reflects our view that gay and lesbian couples, no less than heterosexual couples, can be strong families,” said Mark Pelavin, associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
_ Rachel Pomerance
American Baptists to Put Headquarters Building on the Market
(RNS) Leaders of the American Baptist Churches USA have decided to put their headquarters building in Valley Forge, Pa., on the market, the denomination announced.
The Mission Center property, built in 1962, currently houses Baptist offices in less than half of its space.
“Much energy and resources go into keeping the building leased and lessees satisfied,” the Rev. A. Roy Medley, the denomination’s general secretary, told the General Board. “We are not in the rental business, but the business of mission.”
The board voted Nov. 14 nearly unanimously _ 72 in favor and one abstaining _ on the action. It would be dependent on a buyer permitting American Baptist officials and their tenants to have three to five years to find new office space.
The three-story circular building has unique architecture that earned it the nickname “Baptist bagel” within the 1.5 million-member denomination.
The General Board Executive Committee had recommended placing the building on the market after extensive study. Board President Arlee Griffin Jr. noted that the vote marks a step solely to market the headquarters, with further action needed to actually sell it.
“In this time of transition for all denominations in our culture, to let go of this symbol is a dramatic sign of our opening ourselves to the new thing God is doing in our midst,” Medley said.
_ Adelle M. Banks
McChesney Says Accused Priests Need Work
(RNS) Priests accused of sexual abuse should be given meaningful work while the outcome of their case is decided, according to the U.S. Catholic bishops’ former head of child safety.
Kathleen McChesney, the FBI’s former No. 3 official before serving as executive director of the bishops’ Office of Child and Youth Protection, said church and civil trials can take months or years to resolve.
While removing priests accused of sexual abuse “is prudent and necessary,it is also essential to provide them with meaningful and time-consuming work,” McChesney wrote in the Jesuit magazine America. Dioceses should also ensure accused clergy have adequate means to support themselves and can afford any legal and psychological help they may need, she wrote.
More than 500 U.S. priests have been accused of sexual abuse and temporarily or permanently removed from ministry since 2002, according to McChesney, who now works on security matters for the Walt Disney Company.
She noted that false reporting of sexual abuse by children is very rare, with one study indicating that only 1.5 percent of all investigated cases were found to be false accusations.
Still, “It is possible, though difficult, to assign” men accused of abuse “to work that contributes to the church’s mission … without placing the offender in a position of unsupervised contact with minors or vulnerable adults,” McChesney wrote.
Without work, “offenders have the time to seek out new victims, making the possibility of future offenses greater,” McChesney wrote.
David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called McChesney’s suggestions “the latest variation on an old, failed scheme.”
“The crux of the problem is that often you have compromised clergy allegedly monitoring criminal clergy,” Clohessy said. “If that doesn’t change it doesn’t matter whether the priest is working in the basement stuffing envelopes or in the sacristy saying prayers. It remains a very risky situation.”
_ Daniel Burke
Updated Encyclopaedia Judaica Returns After 30 Years
(RNS) The editors of the Encyclopaedia Judaica’s new edition, the first in more than 30 years, had their work cut out for them.
After all, when the last edition came out in 1972, the Soviet Union still existed, Golda Meir was prime minister of Israel and comedian Jerry Seinfeld wasn’t a household name.
“The startling conclusion is how dramatically Jewish life has changed over this period, and how significantly things have changed in our understanding of Jews and Judaism,” said Michael Berenbaum, executive editor of the new edition.
The 22-volume encyclopedia, which goes on sale Dec. 8, reflects those changes with 2,600 new entries, including one on Seinfeld, plus updates on topics ranging from Jewish art and literature to dietary laws. The new edition, the encyclopedia’s second, also covers popes and presidents who’ve affected the Jewish community.
It also acknowledges the contributions of women, said Berenbaum. For example, the first edition included requirements for the mikveh, or ritual bath, but didn’t include the experiences of those who used it: women. The historical entries were updated as well.
“The first edition spoke of German Jewry in the past tense,” said Berenbaum, a Holocaust scholar who helped create the Holocaust museum. “The German Jewish community is now expanding dramatically.”
The Holocaust entry has also changed significantly, he said.
“We’ve had a whole generation of scholarship that’s taken place since then, and we have access to so many more documents,” he said.
The encyclopedia began in Germany in 1928, but work stopped after the Nazis came to power. The project resumed in 1966 in Israel, and the 1972 edition was the English language version of that effort.
“It should be of interest to everybody’s who’s interested in Jewish history, to students of the Bible, early Christianity and Islam,” Berenbaum said. “It’s a deeply authoritative source with which to get the best scholarship and the broadest range of understanding of Jewish participation in world culture. That’s what it tries to do.”
_ Ansley Roan
Pope, Williams Acknowledge `Serious Obstacles’ to Unity
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Doctrinal differences between the Anglican Church and the Vatican loomed large as the archbishop of Canterbury paid a visit to Pope Benedict XVI.
As Archbishop Rowan Williams met with Benedict in the Vatican on Thursday (Nov. 23), recent decisions by some Anglicans to sanction gay bishops, women priests and same-sex marriages _ practices that the Vatican continues to fiercely oppose _ continued to hamper the decades-long push to improve ties between the two churches.
A joint statement released at the conclusion of the meeting acknowledged the difficulty ahead.
“Our long journey together makes it necessary to acknowledge publicly the challenge represented by new developments which, besides being divisive for Anglicans, present serious obstacles to our ecumenical progress,” the statement said.
The two churches officially split in the 16th century when King Henry VIII broke ties with Rome and founded the Church of England. In recent years, Anglicans have struggled to keep their own ranks from splintering after the Episcopal Church _ the U.S. branch of Anglicanism _ approved an openly gay bishop in 2003.
Before he was elected as Pope Benedict XVI, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger sent his “heartfelt prayers” to conservative Episcopalians in 2003, saying “there is a unity in truth and a communion of grace which transcend the borders of any nation.”
In his meeting with Williams, the pope seemed to indicate nothing had changed.
“Recent developments, especially concerning the ordained ministry and certain moral teachings, have affected not only internal relations within the Anglican Communion but also relations between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church,” Benedict told Williams.
_ Stacy Meichtry
Muslim Leaders Say Islamic Ringtones Hit a Sour Note
CHENNAI, India (RNS) Muslim clerics in India have asked people not to use verses from the Quran as ringtones for their mobile phones, saying the practice violates Islamic law.
“Koran verses are not meant for entertainment,” said Mohammed Asumin Qazmi, an official of the Dar-ul-Uloom seminary at Deoband, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. “Anyone who persists in using Koran verses or Muslim call to prayers should be ostracized from society.”
A leading cleric in the state capital of Lucknow, Mufti Badrul Hasan, said he fully supported a ban on such ringtones. “One should hear the complete verse of the Quran with a pious mind and in silence. If it is used as a ringtone, a person is bound to switch on the mobile phone, thus truncating the verse halfway,” he said. “This is an un-Islamic act.”
Three Islamic ringtones were introduced in mobile phones by Reliance, one of India’s major telecom operators. But Shiite cleric Maulana Arshad Jafri is agitated over the “anti-Islamic nature” of some tones. He has asked Reliance to withdraw the tones.
Maulana Jafri said all music was alien to Islam. By introducing musical ringtones as Islamic tones, the company had hurt the sentiments of Muslims.
Some Muslims, including clergymen, take a different line, however, calling the controversy unnecessary. Faiz Siddiqui, a Muslim bank manager, said: “Whenever my cellphone rings, I hear verses that stress the values of hard work and honesty, and I feel closer to my religion.”
_ Achal Narayanan
Secular Songs Beat Out Christmas Carols on Most Popular Radio List
(RNS) “The Christmas Song” _ with its “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” _ was the most performed holiday song on the radio in the last five years. Only one song in the top 25 was a religious Christmas carol.
The list of “Top 25 most performed holiday songs” was released Monday (Nov. 27) by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), which co-owns Mediaguide, a radio airplay monitoring service.
“For Americans and many others around the world, these classic lyrics and melodies are inseparable from the celebration of the holiday season _ brightening lives year after year,” said ASCAP President Marilyn Bergman.
There was no “Silent Night” or “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” on the list. Only one explicitly religious song _ “Little Drummer Boy” _ made the list, coming in at No. 8.
The newest song on the list is “Do They Know It’s Christmas? (Feed the World),” which made the list for the first time. It was recorded in 1984 to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
Among the 25, the most recorded song is “White Christmas,” which has been performed in more than 500 versions and dozens of languages.
The top 25 list, including titles and performers:
1. “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire),” Nat “King” Cole
2. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” The Pretenders
3. “Winter Wonderland,” Eurythmics
4. “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” Bruce Springsteen
5. “White Christmas,” Bing Crosby
6. “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”, Andy Williams
7. “Jingle Bell Rock,” Bobby Helms
8. “Little Drummer Boy,” the Harry Simeone Chorale & Orchestra
9. “Sleigh Ride,” The Ronettes
10. “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” Gene Autry
11. “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” Andy Williams
12. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” Vanessa Williams
13. “Silver Bells,” Kenny G
14. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Brenda Lee
15. “Feliz Navidad,” Jose Feliciano
16. “Blue Christmas,” Elvis Presley
17. “Frosty the Snowman,” The Ronettes
18. “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” Burl Ives
19. “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” Johnny Mathis
20. “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” John Mellencamp
21. “Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane),” Elvis Presley
22. “Carol of the Bells,” John Tesh and the Christmas Symphony Orchestra
23. “Do They Know It’s Christmas? (Feed the World),” Band Aid
24. “(There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays,” The Carpenters
25. “Santa Baby,” Madonna.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Pass the Meatballs: Swedes Rate IKEA More Trustworthy Than Church
(RNS) IKEA has long provided the world with shelving units, home decor and Swedish meatballs. Apparently, it also provides Swedes with a greater feeling of trustworthiness than their religious institutions do.
According to a recent survey, 80 percent of Swedes surveyed said they place much or very much trust in the Swedish furniture chain. That compares with only 46 percent of respondents who said they placed similar amounts of trust in churches.
Indeed, the study showed that Swedes place more trust in Volvo (69 percent), Ericsson (59 percent) and Saab (57 percent) than they do in religions, which only ranked 14th on the list of institutions, behind public television, universities and the central bank, but ahead of the post office (38 percent) and the nation’s Social Democratic Party (32 percent).
According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Spiegel Online, both of which ran the survey results, 80 percent of Sweden’s 9 million citizens are registered as members of the (Lutheran) Church of Sweden. The survey was originally published in Sweden’s Dagens Indstri, a Stockholm-based business newspaper.
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup between Oct. 17 and 26. Telephone interviews were conducted with 778 respondents.
_ Niels Sorrells
Conservatives Angry Over `Nativity Story’ Flap in Chicago
(RNS) A flap over whether to show clips from “The Nativity Story” movie at a Chicago Christmas festival has some conservative Christian activists saying “Bah, humbug.”
New Line Cinema, which produced the film about Jesus’ birth, had been listed as a sponsor of the annual German Christkindlmarket, with plans to show clips from the film during the month-long festival in the city’s Daley Plaza.
“The Nativity Story” hits theaters on Friday (Dec. 1). Although it is a mainstream release film, it has been heavily promoted at churches and among religious groups.
Now, after what activists call inappropriate pressure from city leaders, it’s unclear whether New Line remains a sponsor. Ray Lotter, the event’s manager, declined to comment, directing questions to Mayor Richard Daley’s special events office.
Veronica Resa, a spokeswoman for the office, said the city never forced the market to drop the film but “recommended it because we thought (playing the film) might be insensitive,” she said. “Chicago is a diverse city that embraces all people and religions and Daley Plaza is a public place.”
But Resa also said the concern “was never about religion, it was about marketing.” She said the festival would have received $12,000 to $15,000 from the movie promotion, and officials didn’t want advertisements in the middle of a festival that had never had them.
Jay Sekulow, chief counsel with the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative legal action firm, said the city “threatened to pull their funding.” He called on the city to reverse course.
“They’re aiding and abetting religious discrimination,” Sekulow said.
A statement from the city on Tuesday (Nov. 28) said, “At no time did the city threaten to pull support of this market.”
Melissa Caldwell, senior director of programs with the Parents Television Council, a family entertainment watchdog group, said the decision to block the nativity movie was “anti-religious bigotry.
“I can’t imagine them doing something like this with any other faith,” Caldwell said. “It’s part of a Christmas festival. Why not include a film about Christmas?”
_ Keith Roshangar
Quote of the Week: Muslim American Society Executive Mahdi Bray
(RNS) “It’s a shame that as an African-American and a Muslim I have the double whammy of having to worry about driving while black and flying while Muslim.”
_ Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Washington-based Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, reacting to the removal of six imams from a US Airways flight Nov. 20.
KRE/RB END RNS
