c. 1998 Religion News Service
Clergy gets OK to bring concealed weapons to Kentucky churches
(RNS) Ministers and church officers in Kentucky are now allowed to carry concealed weapons inside their churches thanks to a new provision in a state law.
The 1996 law allows residents to carry concealed weapons with the proper permit, but had banned them from schools, government buildings and houses of worship. Exceptions were made originally for judges in their courtrooms and legislators at work.
Some Kentucky pastors petitioned _ and won _ the right to be included in the exemptions.”It’s a matter of equal rights and equal protection under this gun law,”Willie Ramsey, a preacher at the Somerset Church of Christ told the Associated Press. Ramsey declined to say whether or not he would pack a pistol at church.
Not all Kentucky clergy agree with the new provision.”A friend of mine said it, and I’m going to repeat it,”said the Rev. Nancy Jo Kemper of the Kentucky Council of Churches.”Jesus would puke.” The Rev. Robert Nieberding, vicar general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington, had an equally strong reaction to the new clergy exemption.”Certainly one of the messages we try to put forward is a message of peace,”he said.”It seems to me that when you’re inviting a minister to carry a weapon, that’s kind of counterbalancing peace. It just is so foreign to what we’re as Christians supposed to be about.” But Ramsey and other proponents of the measure, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, said churches are often robbery targets because of the cash they collect during the offering.
Last year, $400 was taken _ at gun point _ from worshippers at Liberty Mission Baptist Church in Gray.”Money is an allurement for thieves and .. the people who are around the money are endangered,”Ramsey told the AP.”Would we give the money rather than shoot someone? Yes, we would. The issue is that they’re willing to shoot us for the money. It’s the right of self-defense.” Critics say the provision is so vague it permits virtually anyone to bring a gun to church and they hope to repeal the clergy exemption during the next legislative session in 2000.
House passes bill banning transport of minors for abortions
(RNS) By a vote of 276-150, the House adopted legislation Wednesday (July 15) that would make it a criminal offense to evade state parental consent laws by escorting a minor across state lines for an abortion.
But the vote fell short of the two-thirds necessary to overcome a promised presidential veto.
Nevertheless, the bill’s passage was hailed by abortion opponents such as Rep. Charles Canady, R-Fla., who believes parents should be actively involved in helping a daughter face an unintended pregnancy.”It is dangerous when someone secretly takes a young girl to another state to get an abortion without her parents’ knowledge,”he said.”Meaningful, constitutional parental consent laws are designed to help and protect minors.” Randy Tate, executive director of the Christian Coalition, urged the Senate to follow the House’s lead and make the measure a legal reality.”The state can never replace the importance of parents’ love for their children, and at the time of a crisis pregnancy, the relationship between parents and children should be strengthened, not undermined,”he said.
Critics believe the measure will prompt some teens to seek unsafe abortions.”They’ll have their abortions later because they’ll delay the decision and we will have accomplished nothing,”said Rep. Jim Greenwood, R-Pa., the Associated Press reported. Greenwood voted against the bill.
Other critics have said the measure will unfairly subject well-meaning friends and relatives to fines and a year in jail for aiding a woman under 18 in getting an abortion outside her home state.
In promising to veto the bill unless changes are made, the White House said it wants the bill to exempt close family members from penalties. House Republicans blocked all amendments to the bill.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved an identical measure on Thursday. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., has said he wants to send it to President Clinton before Congress adjourns for the year in October.
Notre Dame guilty in age discrimination suit
(RNS) A former assistant coach for the Fighting Irish who claimed he was fired because of his age has won his legal battle against the University of Notre Dame.
On Wednesday (July 15), a jury awarded Joe Moore, 66, more than $86,000 in back pay and damages because he had been fired illegally from the Lafayette, Ind., school affiliated with the Holy Cross religious order of the Roman Catholic Church. However, Moore had demanded $1.3 million to settle the case.
The jury, which also awarded Moore court costs and attorney fees expected to total several hundred thousand dollars, found that age was the motivating factor in Moore’s firing. Attorneys for the university had argued Moore was let go because he had abused players and was disrespectful to other coaches, the Associated Press reported.
Athletic director Mike Wadsworth said the university wanted to settle the case out of court but believed Moore’s $1.3 million was”not close to reality,”USA Today reported.
In its award, the jury seemed to support that position, he said.”Notre Dame has never made a practice of age discrimination and we didn’t make a practice of age discrimination in this case,”said Wadsworth.
The jury awarded Moore nearly $43,000 in back pay and doubled it because it said the university knowingly disregarded the law.
A hearing has been set for July 28 to determine if Moore should also be paid for the future years he expected to coach. Wadsworth said the university has not decided yet if it will appeal the decision.
Vietnam jails 10 members of unnamed religious sect
(RNS) Ten members of an unnamed religious sect have been jailed in Vietnam for engaging in”heretical”propaganda, a court official said Wednesday (July 15).
The sect’s leader has been given a two-year sentence; the other nine received 10- to 18-month sentences, the official told Reuters.”This case was complicated but we decided the charge would be propagating heresy and violation of national security … not a subversion case,”the official said.
According to a report by the official Vietnam News Agency, the sect originated in Taiwan and the arrests were made while members were in Bac Lieu province.
The sect’s beliefs combine elements of Buddhism and other religions popular in China, the court official said.
VNA said videos, cassettes and books that contained counterrevolutionary material that attempted to divide the nation and disrupt religious activity, were confiscated from the group.
Vietnam has come under criticism from human rights organizations for alleged widespread abuse of believers, including Roman Catholics and Buddhists.
Kenyan churches offer `blueprint for peace’
(RNS) Church leaders in Kenya, ending a two-day National Peace Conference, have urged the government to adopt a”blueprint for peace”plan they say could help avert an always simmering civil war in the country.
The conference was sparked by the apparently politically motivated murder in January of dozens of people in Kenya’s Rift Valley. Those killed belonged to the Kikuya ethnic group, most of whom support the opposition Democratic Party, which failed to defeat incumbent President Daniel arap Moi and his ruling KANU party in last December’s election.
Among the recommendations made by the church was the banning of paramilitary or private armies associated with political parties and leaders. The government denies such armies exist.
Although arap Moi had promised to open the conference, he suddenly canceled two days before declaring”there is no war in Kenya,”said Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency.
At the conference, speakers said the country could find itself plunged into ethnic-based civil war if pre-emptive steps to ease tensions are not taken.
The conference was convened by Anglican Archbishop David Gitari and Roman Catholic Archbishop Ndingi Mwana’a Nzeki.
Quote of the day: Seventh-day Adventist official John Graz
(RNS)”While the pope’s call for church attendance is understandable in the light of increasing secularism, we cannot agree that Sunday is to be identified as the day of Christian worship.” _ John Graz, public affairs and religious liberty of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, commenting on Pope John Paul II’s recent apostolic letter urging Catholics to go to church on Sunday and the Adventist belief that the Sabbath is properly marked on Saturday.
DEA END RNS
