c. 2007 Religion News Service

GOP Wants Answers About Religious Texts in Prisons

WASHINGTON (RNS) A group of conservative House Republicans has sent a letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons seeking information about its effort to ban religious texts from prison libraries.

“No matter how well-intentioned, a government project to limit books and other material deemed religious raises serious issues with respect to the religious liberties of Americans,” reads the Tuesday (Sept. 18) letter to Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Harley G. Lappin from three members of the Republican Study Committee.

The letter writers _ Reps. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania and Donald Manzullo of Illinois _ were responding to a recent report in The New York Times that said chaplains were directed to remove from prison shelves any books and other materials that were not on a list of approved resources. The lawmakers want details about the Standardized Chapel Library Project, including the list of approved materials and an explanation of the process that disqualified other materials.

The newspaper reported that the bureau had said the project would bar materials that could “discriminate, disparage, advocate violence or radicalize.” The move was a response to a Justice Department report that recommended prisons should work to reduce the growth of militant Islamic and other religious groups.

Some leaders of religious organizations have also expressed concern about the bureau’s reported actions.

Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, wrote Lappin on Sept. 11 asking that the bureau publish the standards used in the project and the names of its religious consultants.

Prison Fellowship, a Christian prison ministry, also has contacted the bureau in hopes of reversing some of the decisions about permissible prison materials.

_ Adelle M. Banks

McCain Says He’s a Baptist, Not an Episcopalian

WASHINGTON (RNS) Republican presidential candidate John McCain told a reporter Sunday (Sept. 16) that he is a Baptist, not an Episcopalian.

The Arizona Republican made the comment while correcting an Associated Press reporter who asked about the role his Episcopal faith plays in his life. “It plays a role in my life,” he said. “By the way, I’m not Episcopalian. I’m Baptist.”

The senator made the statement in the midst of his “No Surrender” campaign tour in South Carolina.

According to the AP, McCain went on to emphasize that he does not “advertise” his faith or “talk about it all the time.”

McCain was raised an Episcopalian and attended Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va. However, the senator said that he and his family currently attend North Phoenix Baptist Church in Arizona and have done so for more than 15 years.

Though McCain called himself a Baptist, the congressional directory lists him as an Episcopalian, and the AP said McCain “had consistently referred to himself in media reports as Episcopalian.”

In a June interview with McClatchy Newspapers, McCain said that his wife and two of his children were baptized at the Arizona church. However, McCain himself has not been baptized in this church. “I didn’t find it necessary to do so for my spiritual needs,” he said.

On Monday (Sept. 17), McCain responded to continued questions about his faith. “The most important thing is that I am a Christian,” he told reporters.

_ Heather Donckels

Church That Was Bombed in 1963 Nears End of Renovations

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) Recent renovations to this city’s historic Sixteenth Street Baptist Church _ where four black girls were killed in a 1963 bombing _ are nearing completion, said pastor Arthur Price.

“The exterior is pretty much done. We’re going around tidying up,” Price said.

An official open house and unveiling for the public will probably be held next year, said Carolyn McKinstry. As a 14-year-old girl, she survived the Sept. 15, 1963, bomb that killed four other girls _ her friends _ as they prepared for Sunday services at the church.

The campaign to renovate Sixteenth Street Baptist raised nearly $3.7 million in pledges. “People in Birmingham have been very faithful,” said McKinstry, who co-chaired the foundation that raised the money. “We were able to do all the things we wanted. We wanted to make sure we got it all done and plan a proper thank you.”

All of Birmingham has rallied to restore the church, a tragic symbol of the civil rights movement, McKinstry said. The restoration work has included stabilizing the foundation, repairing cracks, reroofing the building and creating a new drainage system to stop water leaks into the church basement.

“The most important thing they did was shoring up the foundation and stopping the water from coming in,” Price said.

“There were some serious cracks that allowed water to leak in. Some of that was attributed to the bombing; some of it was the wear and tear on a nearly hundred-year-old building.”

On Sunday (Sept. 16), the church’s bells tolled at 10:22 a.m., the time when a bomb exploded at the church 44 years ago. There was also a moment of silence during the 10:45 a.m. service to remember the bombing.

The 200-member church probably gets more than 100,000 visitors a year because of its role in the civil rights movement, McKinstry said. It served as a key meeting place for civil rights rallies led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and as a starting point for marches and rallies.

_ Greg Garrison

Quote of the Day: Cleveland Catholic Diocese Employee Janice Hesselton

(RNS) “We call it RCA, or Roman Collar Amnesia.”

_ Janice Hesselton, an employee of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese, testifying recently at the federal kickback trial of a diocesan employee about an acronym commonly used among diocesan employees to describe memory problems that strike priests called to testify in court cases. She was quoted by The Plain Dealer of Cleveland.

KRE/PH END RNS