c. 1998 Religion News Service
Plagiarism charges leveled at new book on Rev. Sun Myung Moon
(RNS) The former daughter-in-law of Unification Church founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon and her co-author have been accused of including plagiarized passages in their highly critical new book on the church. The co-authors _ Nansook Hong and Boston Globe columnist Eileen McNamara _ charge the church is trying to discredit the book with smear tactics.”In the Shadow of the Moons”(Little, Brown & Co.) is Hong’s account of her life married to Moon’s son and as a member of the Unification Church. The Globe described the book as revealing”secrets about drug use, gambling, adultery and domestic violence within the Moon familyâÂ?¦” An attorney for the Moon family claims Hong and McNamara, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, who acted as a non-credited ghost writer, improperly lifted eight passages from an earlier, more favorable book about Moon,”The Advent of Sun Myung Moon,”published in 1991. The attorney, Jeremiah Gutman, also represented Hong’s ex-husband during their divorce proceedings.
In her Friday (Sept. 25) column, McNamara called the accusation of plagiarism”bogus,”and said the similar passages reflected”church lore, passed orally among members. Like any oft-repeated story, it settles into a familiar form.” Heather Kirkpatrick, an attorney for Little, Brown, was quoted by the Globe as calling the accusation”unfounded and without merit.”Globe editor Matthew Storin said the newspaper had nothing to do with the book.
Hong was married at age 15 to Moon’s son, Hyo Jin, with whom she had five children before leaving the marriage in 1995. She has accused Hyo Jin of beating her, using drugs and watching pornographic films.
Rushdie celebrates end of Iran’s `terrorist threat’ on his life
(RNS) Author Salman Rushdie has called Iranian comments distancing the nation from a religious edict to kill him the end of”a dreadful terrorist threat.” Rushdie was ordered killed and a $2.5-million reward was offered in 1988 by a semi-official Iranian foundation after the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini _ Iran’s late, fundamentalist Muslim leader deemed the author’s novel”The Satanic Verses”insulting to Islam.
Since then, Rushdie _ a lapsed Muslim born in India _ has lived in hiding out of fear for his life, and diplomatic relations between Iran and Great Britain, where Rushdie lives, have been strained.
However, Thursday (Sept. 24), Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said in New York that his nation no longer seeks Rushdie’s death and”disassociates itself from any reward which has been offered in this regard and does not support it.” The move was seen as an attempt by Iranian moderates to reach out to the West.
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called Kharrazi’s comment”an important step.”British Foreign Minister Robin Cook said Iran’s assurances”should make possible a much more constructive relationship between the United Kingdom, and I believe the European Union, with Iran, and the opening of a new chapter in our relations,”the Associated Press reported.
Rushdie said Kharrazi’s statement”means everything”_ even though the Iranian official stopped short of saying the death sentence had actually been lifted. Observers noted that no Iranian politicians could unequivocably contradict Khomeini because of the reverence given him by Iranian Muslims.
The author said,”I’ve had 10 years of my life deformed by this. I’ve had friends of mine threatened. I’ve had my family frightened, messed around with. I’ve had people that I care about shot and killed. I could ask for apologies. I’m not doing so.” At a news conference Friday (Sept. 25) in London, Rushdie, 51, said he was not sorry he had written”The Satanic Verses,”which has sold more than 1 million copies in English, been translated into 15 languages _ and been banned in more than 20 nations.
Rushdie said he will now write about his ordeal and expressed sorrow for people killed in demonstrations against the book, primarily in India. A Japanese translator of the book was also murdered and an Italian translator and Norwegian publisher of the book survived attempts on their lives.
Alliance of Baptists becomes chaplain endorsing body
(RNS) The Alliance of Baptists, a moderate group, is now an endorsing body of all kinds of chaplains except those in the military.
The board of directors of the group, which met in Washington Sept. 17-19, made several decisions that could change the roles and associations of the group.
The board authorized a four-member endorsement committee to oversee implementation of its chaplain-endorsing responsibilities, reported Associated Baptist Press, an independent Baptist news service.
Chaplain candidates will have to be individual members of the alliance. The decision does not include military chaplains because the Pentagon has unique requirements. The board took no action on whether to pursue the option of endorsing military chaplains.
The board also endorsed the preamble and purpose of the constitution and bylaws of the National Council of Churches, which is a necessary step for becoming a member of that organization.
In another move concerning relations with other religious groups, the board received a report on discussions between the Alliance and the United Church of Christ. The report recommended a two-year dialogue to consider a possible ecumenical relationship and the board agreed to recommend that Alliance members vote to formalize such a dialogue when they hold their annual meeting next March.
The executive committee of the Alliance also was asked to study and make a recommendation about the Alliance becoming an ordaining body. Alliance President Welton Gaddy said the committee would have to address some issues of polity, but would handle the task quickly and responsibly.
Senate panel approves anti-assisted suicide legislation
(RNS) The Senate Judiciary Committee has given its approval to legislation aimed at blocking assisted suicide by barring doctors from prescribing any federally controlled drugs to help patients commit suicide.
But it appears the legislation is unlikely to become law this year, according to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the panel’s chairman.”I suspect that unless we have more of a bipartisan consensus, it will be stalled,”Hatch said. He also said President Clinton could veto the measure, the Associated Press reported Thursday (Sept. 24).
The bill is a response to Oregon’s assisted suicide law under which physicians are permitted to prescribe lethal doses of drugs to terminally ill patients who request them. Doctors who violate the ban could lose their licenses.
Some of those voting for the bill did so knowing it would not be taken up by the full Senate this year. Others expressed concern the bill, if it became law, would discourage doctors from prescribing effective doses of pain-killing medication.
Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., the bill’s author, vowed to seek passage of this”important bill”before the Senate adjourns, but Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., put a”hold”on the bill, a parliamentary maneuver that keeps it from being brought up and threatened a filibuster.”This senator is not going to sit by while there is an abbreviated debate that cuts off the rights of Oregonians,”he said.
The House version of the bill, sponsored by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., is pending on the House floor but it is unclear when and if the full House will vote on it.
Faith-healing parents in Pennsylvania sentenced
(RNS) A Philadelphia couple whose son nearly died of cancer because they chose to treat his condition with faith healing rather than medicine were sentenced Thursday (Sept. 24) to 14 months of probation.
The couple, members of the Faith Tabernacle Congregation church, were convicted in May of child endangerment and criminal conspiracy after refusing to get life-saving care for their son in 1997 because of their religious beliefs, Reuters reported.
In addition, the couple _ Daniel and Anne Foster _ will not regain custody of their son, 3-year-old Patrick, who has been living with his paternal aunt and uncle.
Quote of the day: Rep. W. J.”Billy”Tauzin, R-La.
(RNS)”This bill is not an attempt to regulate a person’s speech. It does not prevent you from getting porn on the Internet. You can, and you do.” _ Rep. W.J.”Billy”Tauzin, R-La., on passage by the House Commerce Committee of legislation aimed at keeping pornography on the Internet away from children. Tauzin made his comments Thursday (Sept. 24) as the committee unanimously passed the legislation.
DEA END RNS
