c. 1998 Religion News Service

King, nine other Christian martyrs honored at Westminster Abbey

(RNS) Slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and nine other 20th-century Christian martyrs were honored with stone sculptures at London’s historic Westminster Abbey.

The near life-size limestone statues, which fill niches above the Great West Door of the 900-year-old church, were unveiled during a ceremony Thursday (July 9) attended by Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, relatives of the honorees, and state and church representative from around the world, the Associated Press reported.

The men and women chosen for the honor represent people from each continent and a variety of Christian denominations, and illustrate areas of Christian persecution and oppression in the 20th century, abbey officials said.

In addition to King, a Baptist preacher who was assassinated in 1968, other honorees include Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who was murdered in 1980; Maximilian Kolbe of Poland, a Franciscan friar who was killed by the Nazis in 1941 and is now a Catholic saint; and Dietrich Bonhoeffer of Germany, a Lutheran pastor and theologian also killed by the Nazis in 1945.

Also, Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, who was killed in 1918 by the Bolsheviks and is now an Orthodox saint; Manche Masemola, a 16-year-old South African who was killed by her animist parents in 1928 after converting; Wang Zhiming, a Chinese pastor and evangelist killed in 1972 during the Cultural Revolution; and Esther John, a Presbyterian evangelist killed in 1960 in Pakistan; Lucian Tapiedi, who was killed during the Japanese invasion of Papua New Guinea in 1942; and Janani Luwum, an archbishop from Uganda who was assassinated during the Idi Amin era in 1977.

Texas Board of Education votes to sell its Disney stock

(RNS) The Texas Board of Education voted Friday (July 10) to divest its $45 million in Walt Disney Co. stock because of the excessive sex and violence found in some films produced by Miramax, a Disney subsidiary.

Some conservative religious groups _ including the 15.9-million member Southern Baptist Convention _ have called for a boycott of Disney and its products, theme parks and subsidiaries because of the entertainment giants”gay-friendly”policies, which include the extension of benefits to the partners of gay employees and its sponsorship of”Gay Days”at its parks in Orlando, Fla.

The 8-4 vote to sell the Disney stock comes on the heels of a recent distribution by the American Family Association of Texas of a video featuring explicit excerpts from Miramax films, including”Pulp Fiction”and”Chasing Amy,”the Associated Press reported.

The Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association, a conservative media watchdog group headed by Methodist minister Don Wildmon, has been one of Disney’s most vocal critics.

Board Chairman Jack Christie of Houston told the AP he hopes the board’s decision”sends a message to Miramax … that the public in general has had enough of exposing children to the violence and explicitness in these movies.”How many more school shootings do you want before we have to do something to reverse this trend?”he said.”It’s not Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck anymore. It’s blowing people’s heads off,”board member Richard Neill told Reuters.

In response, a Disney spokeswoman solidly defended Miramax productions and Disney in general.”Film subsidiaries of Disney that produce movies for mature audiences are set up under other names and adhere to the MPAA rating system,”said Claudia Peters.”The Walt Disney Company produces more family entertainment than any other company in the world, and any products marked with the Disney brand name are always suitable for all ages.” Opponents of the measure to divest the Disney stock _ which has been very profitable during the past two years, bringing a total return to the school fund of 108 percent _ said by approving the measure, the Texas Board of Education has entered a”slippery slope.””The record is quite clear that Disney is a very, very fine productive stock for the public school fund,”said board member Will Davis of Austin.”It is a slippery slope. Somebody’s going to have something they don’t like about some of these big multifaceted corporations.” Last year, the Texas Board of Education divested $3.5 million in Seagram Co. after a state lawmaker denounced as”filth”the lyrics on some recording produced by MCA, a Seagram subsidiary. Earlier, tobacco stocks were sold, the AP reported.

Texas is the first state to divest its stock in Disney.

Divestiture opponents fear other potentially objectionable investments could be next, including companies involved with alcohol, gambling and adult-oriented entertainment.”It’s a very dangerous precedent to pick and choose on morality,”said Richard Levy of the Texas Freedom Network, a religious right watchdog group.

Williamson resigns as Nelson/Word president

(RNS) Byron Williamson, 52, the president of Nelson/Word publishing, has resigned to pursue his personal goals.

Nelson/Word is the book publishing arm of Thomas Nelson, the largest religious book publisher in the country whose stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Nelson/Word publishes such well-known authors as Billy Graham, James Dobson, Charles Colson, and Max Lucado.

In an interview, Williamson said he had resigned May 19 but continued talks with Sam Moore, Nelson CEO, until July 8.

Although he has not decided where he is going next, Williamson said it is time to”fulfill my own goals and aspirations”and to find a place to”create my own culture and management philosophy.” The resignation comes just as the major industry convention, the Christian Booksellers Convention (CBA), convenes this weekend in Dallas.

Williamson served as executive vice-president of Word Publishing from 1988 to 1992. He became president of Word in 1992, the same year it was acquired by Nelson.

Second summit urges black churches to discuss sexuality

(RNS) Organizers of a second annual summit on the black church and sexuality say they are moving forward with plans for regional summits and a curriculum for black seminaries.

The summit, which has for two years had the theme”Breaking the Silence,”attempts to get leaders and members of black churches to address issues of sexuality that many have avoided in the past. It is sponsored by the Washington-based Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.”It is a movement. It is no longer a quiet storm,”said Leslie Watson, director of the multicultural programs department of the coalition’s Black Church Initiative.”We’re actually louder than we’ve been before.” The second summit, attended by more than 300 adults and teenagers at Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, focused on teen pregnancy and AIDS.

The Rev. Carlton Veazey, president of the coalition, said there will be national summits in 1999 and 2000. Regional summits are being planned for several cities in 1999, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

Summit leaders said churches have set up programs to deal with sexuality issues since the first summit. The coalition is working to develop an African-American faith-based sexuality curriculum that will be introduced in draft form to churches and seminaries this fall.”You can’t teach what you don’t know,”said Veazey of ministers in need of such a curriculum.

Watson hopes the intergenerational dialogues that occurred at the summit will become models for local congregations.

Sylvia Rhue, a sexologist and filmmaker who spoke at the summit, said the event offered a”safe space”to discuss issues concerning human sexuality.”It’s like when Isaiah said, `Come let us reason together,'”said Rhue, the producer of a documentary on homosexuality and the black church.”That’s what we’re doing.” The Rev. Susan Newman of Atlanta has worked with the coalition since the first summit to get black churches in her area to openly address issues of sexuality.”The reality is the church has always been crisis-oriented and we are talking about prevention,”she said.”Christian people are doing more than praising the Lord under the sheets at night.” Newman, minister of family life at West Oakland Baptist Church in Atlanta, said church leaders need to know how to address members with gay family members or children who are dealing with a pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.”The churches need to have a response greater than, `We are praying for you,'”she said.

Teen participants, too, called for more attention by black churches.

Shaun Jackson, 15, of Albuquerque, N.M., said he has assisted his cousin who had a child at age 14.”They need to have more of these conferences because it’s a big problem with AIDS and all these girls being pregnant,”he said.

Settlement reached in Dallas clergy abuse case judgment

(RNS) The Dallas Catholic diocese has agreed to pay an additional $23.4 million to settle a $119.6-million judgment against it stemming from a law suit brought by former altar boys and others who were sexually abused by an ex-priest.

The diocese said Friday (July 10) it would pay $7.25 million of the additional settlement, with insurance companies covering the rest.”The litigation has now come to an end,”said Dallas Bishop Charles V. Grahmann, who also publicly apologized to the to the victims, now aged between 19 and their early 30s. One of the victims committed suicide in 1992.

The diocese had earlier agreed to pay $7.5 million to three of the plaintiffs.

Last year, a Dallas County civil jury awarded eight former altar boys and three others a total of $119.6 million after they charged they were sexually abused by Rudolph”Rudy”Kos, a former priest. Friday’s announcement also covered a ninth young man not included in the original suit.

Kos, 53, is serving a life sentence for molesting four of the boys. Earlier this week the Vatican defrocked Kos, returning him to lay status and preventing him from ever serving in any church ministry. The Diocese of Dallas had requested the rare Vatican action.

The award was the largest ever in a clergy sexual abuse case in U.S. history, and the Dallas diocese said it could not pay the full amount without risking bankruptcy, leading to the negotiated settlement.

The diocese said in court papers filed last year that it had less than $1 million in cash and about $6 in total assets, not including churches and schools held in trust for individual parishes.”This is a day of relief for everybody,”19-year-old Nathan Nichols, one of the plantiffs is the case, said following Friday’s settlement announcement.

Special Hasidic Jewish school district again ruled unconstitutional

(RNS) For the third time, a New York state law creating a special school district for disabled children of a Hasidic Jewish sect has been declared unconstitutional.

A state appeals court Thursday (July 9) upheld an earlier ruling that had invalidated the Kiryas Joel school district. Courts also have thrown out two earlier laws.

The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court in New York ruled 5-0 against the law’s latest version, the Associated Press reported.

The state legislature has tried three different times to create the special district that would include only the residents of the Hasidic enclave of Kiryas Joel. Each time, the law has been challenged on church-state separation grounds by officials of the state School Boards Association.”The new statute lacks the neutrality toward religion mandated by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,”the Appellate Division said in its ruling.

Nathan Lewin, an attorney for the Kiryas Joel school district, said he plans to ask the New York Court of Appeals, the top tribunal in the state, to hear an appeal of the most recent ruling.

Officials of the ultra-conservative Satmar Hasidic sect believe its handicapped children do not learn well in non-Hasidic schools. They were trying to control the special education of its students by creating a special district, which qualified for $3 million in state aid each year.

Quote of the Day: Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu

(RNS)”God has told me we will succeed in South Africa, not because we are smart or virtuous but for the sake of the world _ Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia, the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Burma _ God will use us to inspire the world. No one anywhere can ever again say that their problem is intractable.” _ Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaking to members of the Baptist World Alliance’s General Council during its meeting in Durban, South Africa, as quoted by Baptist Press, the official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.

DEA END RNS