c. 1996 Religion News Service
Gay marriage measure introduced in Congress
WASHINGTON (RNS)-Four Republican members of Congress took a preemptive strike at same-sex marriage Wednesday (May 8), backing legislation that would define marriage under federal law as a”legal union between one man and one woman.” Anticipating a pending Hawaii court decision that could legalize gay marriage in that state, the measure, known as the Defense of Marriage Act, would also deny federal benefits to members of same-sex marriages and allow states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.”This legislation does not outlaw anything. It stands up for states’ rights. No state of the union shall be forced to accept something other than marriage between one man and one woman,”Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., said at a news conference.
Barr was joined by House co-sponsors Steve Largent, R-Okla., and Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc. Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., said he would introduce a similar measure in the Senate.”Is America willing to require businesses to have family benefits for homosexual couples, to have children taught in school that homosexual relationships are the moral equivalent of traditional marriage, and to endorse the adoption of children by homosexual couples?”Largent said.
In May 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in a case brought by three gay couples who were denied marriage licenses that the action was discriminatory under the state’s Equal Rights Amendment. Limiting marriage to heterosexual couples is justified only if the state can prove a compelling interest, the court ruled.
The case was remanded to a lower court for a trial in which the state will try to prove it has a compelling interest.
As states await an outcome in the Hawaii case, there has been a flurry of legislative activity.
Thirty-three legislatures have considered measures attacking same-sex marriage, according to Kim Mills, spokeswoman for the Human Rights Campaign, a gay and lesbian advocacy group in Washington, D.C. Already, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Utah have banned same-sex marriage. “We see this as an orchestrated assault against gay men and lesbians by religious political extremists seeking to score points in an election year,”Mills said of the proposed federal legislation.
NCC rallies to revive burned churches
(RNS)-Alarmed at the mounting number of African-American and multiracial churches that have been firebombed and vandalized, the National Council of Churches has launched a series of rallies to raise money and public awareness of the issue.”There is an enemy outside. Many of us didn’t even know until recently that our churches were being burned,”declared the Rev. Del P. Shields, pastor of Zion Gospel Church in Queens, N.Y., to a May 5 gathering of 300 people in East Elmhurst, N.Y.”Tonight we put out the call. There is a God who cares. He is not going to forsake us, but we’ve got to do something in the meantime. Stop the burning.” Since 1990 some 45 churches in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Florida and Virginia have been bombed, burned or defaced. Ten such incidents occurred this past January and February, according to NCC spokeswoman Carol Fouke.”These are poor churches, with little or no insurance,”noted the Rev. Mac Charles Jones, pastor of St. Stephen’s Baptist Church in Kansas City, Mo., and an NCC associate for racial justice.
A rally in New York City has been tentatively set for May 25. A third is slated for June 9 in Washington, D.C. On June 10 in Washington, the NCC will conduct meetings with government officials, including the Justice Department, which is investigating the incidents.
The East Elmhurst rally raised $2,271 for the campaign to rebuild the damaged churches.
NCC General Secretary Joan Brown Campbell has established the Burned Churches Fund to aid the churches and support the larger campaign to find the perpetrators of the attacks. Contributions may be to sent to NCC headquarters, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 880, New York, N.Y. 10115.
The NCC, with 33 Protestant and Orthodox member denominations, represents 52 million Christians.
Separately, the Christian Coalition has offered a $25,000 reward to anyone who can prove that racism motivated the church arsons.
Trial opens for former SS captain
(RNS)-In what may be one of the last opportunities to bring Nazi war criminals to justice, former SS Capt. Erich Priebke went on trial in Rome today (May 8) for his part in a 1944 massacre of 335 Italian civilians, the Associated Press reported.
The 82-year-old Priebke is accused of being an accomplice to the massacre on March 24, 1944, which was in retaliation for a Rome bombing by the Italian Resistance that had killed 33 German soldiers the day before. Adolf Hitler had ordered 10 Italians killed for every German who died in the blast.
The victims of the massacre were pulled from Roman jails and included Roman Catholic priests, a 14-year-old boy and 75 Jews. They were taken to a quarry outside of Rome known as the Ardeatine Caves and shot.
The Nazis later dynamited the caves in an attempt to hide the bodies. Today the site of the massacre is a national memorial.
Priebke, who fled Europe for Argentina in 1948 and was extradited to Italy six months ago to stand trial, has been alternately contrite and defiant about the crime.
He has admitted and expressed remorse that he killed two victims and called out the names of 100 others, the AP reported. But at a hearing last month, he described the killings as a”perfectly legitimate”act of wartime retribution. And Priebke insists that he would have faced death from his commanding officers if he had refused to participate in the killings.”We will show that he was just following orders,”the AP quoted defense attorney Vilio Di Rezze.”Priebke’s trial affords a final opportunity for Italy to give the victims of its worst massacre a measure of justice that has been denied them for more than a century,”said Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, named after the famed Nazi-hunter. The center helped gather evidence on Priebke and lobbied the Italian government to extradite him and bring him to trial.
If convicted of charges of”taking part in violence with continuous homicide,”as he is charged, Priebke could be sentenced to life in prison.
Thirty-one non-profits sue bankrupt charity’s broker
(RNS)-Thirty-one non-profit groups that lost money when the Foundation for New Era Philanthropy went bankrupt have sued the charity’s broker for $90 million.
The groups, including colleges, seminaries, evangelical ministries and other organizations, filed a civil racketeering suit Tuesday (May 7) against Prudential Securities Inc. and a Prudential broker in Wisconsin who handled the accounts of New Era and its president, John G. Bennett Jr., the Associated Press reported.
Among the organizations are Spring Arbor College in Spring Arbor, Mich.; Walk Thru the Bible Ministries in Fort Mill, S.C.; Mission Aviation Fellowship in Redlands, Calif.; Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, Penn.; Detroit Institute of Arts; United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio; Messiah College in Granton, Penn.; and Mission to the Americas in Carol Stream, Ill.
The 31 groups say they lost $39.6 million when New Era declared bankruptcy last May. New Era, which had offered a double-your-money”matching grant”program, has been accused by federal investigators of operating a Ponzi scheme that created the illusion of financial success by using contributions from new investors to pay previous ones.
The plaintiffs say Prudential and Stuart Bianchi, a Kenosha, Wis., Prudential broker, played a key role in New Era’s scheme by opening fictitious escrow accounts and establishing a toll-free phone number staffed by Prudential employees to answer questions from current and prospective New Era investors.”Prudential’s involvement in the Ponzi scheme not only legitimized the venture to the charitable community, but was the crucial element that enabled Bennett and New Era to overcome many skeptics,”the lawsuit stated.
Prudential Securities spokesman Charles Perkins said,”We empathize with these charities, but their actions should be taken against the people responsible and we were bystanders in this matter.” The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages. Under federal law, if racketeering is proven, plaintiffs can claim triple damages.
In a separate matter, Paul Nelson, a spokesman for United Response to New Era, an organization of 184 evangelical groups affected by the New Era scandal, told Religion News Service he hopes a decision will be made shortly about a proposed”global settlement”that could prevent charities from suing one another to recoup money lost after New Era went bankrupt.
The essence of the proposed settlement is that those investors who have benefited positively from New Era dealings would voluntarily return money to those who lost funds.
Quote of the Day: Dr. Michael Wunder, a physician who works with handicapped children, speaking at a memorial service in Hamburg, Germany, today (May 8) as the brains of some of the hundreds of handicapped children murdered by Nazis for experiments and stored in a hospital for 52 years were buried. “We have come full circle,”Wunder said, comparing the crimes against the handicapped children to the current debate over euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.”Ethics without a conscience are joining forces with cold-hearted science again.”
LJB END
