c. 1999 Religion News Service
Bank of Scotland tie to Robertson under fire
(RNS) The leading British labor union umbrella organization, the Trades Union Congress (TUC), has became the latest group to threaten a boycott of the Bank of Scotland after it announced religious broadcaster Pat Robertson would chair a new telephone- and Internet-based retail bank.
More than 100,000 TUC members reportedly use Bank of Scotland credit cards. “Our contract expires in a few months and we will be looking carefully at recent events,” a TUC spokesman told Reuters news service.
Robertson _ a businessman and former presidential candidate as well as an evangelical religious leader _ said he was “dumbfounded” by the criticism that greeted announcement of the deal in March. Since then, he has added to the controversy by describing Scotland on his “700 Club” TV program as a nation that had all but rejected Christianity.
“In Europe, the big word is tolerance. You tolerate everything. Homosexuals are riding high in the media. … And in Scotland you can’t believe how strong the homosexuals are,” he said. “It’s kind of frightening to look at that great Christian history of a nation like (Scotland) and to see the lack of depth there today,” he added, in remarks quoted in the newspaper The Scotsman.
Gay rights groups and churches reacted swiftly.
“It’s a shame Mr. Robertson should get carried away and make intemperate comments. They are clearly a reaction to his dealing with the Bank of Scotland,” said the Rev. Tom Connelly, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland.
Connelly said the Catholic Church is unlikely to back a boycott despite differences with Robertson. “It’s a wee bit over the top to ask anyone you do business with what their views are. Where do you stop?” he said.
However, an ecumenical group representing 1.5 million members of Scotland’s churches _ Action Together for Churches in Scotland _ said it would decide whether to join a possible boycott at a June 18 meeting, a spokesman said.
Additionally, Tim Hopkins of the gay rights Equality Network said, “We have been holding off pulling our accounts in the hopes the bank would end the deal. But that doesn’t appear likely.”
The Scottish National Party called Robertson’s comments “offensive,” and one member of Scotland’s new parliament said he might raise a motion opposing the business deal.
In a Tuesday (June 1) editorial, The Scotsman added: “(Bank of Scotland) has blindly wandered into partnership with a man who insults its customers. … Dr. Robertson’s extreme views are not welcome in Scotland.”
Despite criticism, only about 300 to 400 individual customers so far have pulled accounts from the bank and no major corporate customers have pulled out, according to a bank spokeswoman. The bank also said it was going ahead with its deal with Robertson.
The new bank _ which has yet to be named and will be a subsidiary of Bank of Scotland _ will be modeled on Sainsbury’s Bank, the British phone banking business launched by Bank of Scotland and supermarket group J. Sainsbury in 1997. It now has some 800,000 customers.
Robertson, who founded the Christian Coalition, is reportedly paying $50 million for a 25 percent stake in the venture.
Gore:”Faith is the center of my life” (RNS) Vice President Al Gore, who recently voiced support for a plan that gives governmental aid to faith-based groups, says faith is the basis of his life.
While some Democrats and many Republicans believe Gore’s new public emphasis on his faith is politically driven, Gore told a group of reporters Friday (May 28) that he’s just being himself.”Faith is the center of my life,”said Gore.”I don’t wear it on my sleeve. I think the purpose of life is to glorify God. I turn to my faith as the bedrock of my approach to any important question in my life,”the St. Petersburg Times reported.
Gore, a Southern Baptist, said his public discussion of faith was prompted by the recent massacre of Columbine High School students in Littleton, Colo., and his sense that society has become more receptive to people talking about how they rely on God.”First, I think in the aftermath of the tragedy at Columbine, all of us did a lot of soul-searching and when you look hard enough for answers … you naturally reach into your faith tradition. I do.”Secondly, I believe that there is a change in the larger structure of philosophical debate … that makes it easier for people to make reference to faith-based principles that are important to them,”Gore said.
But he added that his move is not risk-free.”It’s true that some people are still uncomfortable with a faith-based vocabulary,”Gore said.
The vice president’s new strategy began with an endorsement May 24 of the”charitable choice”provision of the 1996 welfare reform law that allows faith-based groups to use public funds to provide services such as job training, food and basic medical care.
Gore said he thinks the link between public money and faith-based groups should be extended to such areas as homelessness, drug treatment and youth violence prevention.
His support for the idea has been welcomed by Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., the author of the charitable choice provision. It has been criticized by groups concerned about church-state separation.
For example, James M. Dunn, executive director of the Washington-based Baptist Joint Committee, warned in a letter to Gore:”Religious freedom and church-state separation are a package deal. Tinkering with the delicate balance of faith-based ministries could easily destroy the very distinctives that are the secret of their success.”
Last words of Columbine student Cassie Bernall inspire rallies
(RNS) Cassie Bernall, the Columbine High School massacre victim now famous for voicing her faith in God, has become the catalyst for numerous Christian rallies.
On Monday (May 31), the last words of the 17-year-old student from the Littleton, Colo., school were the inspiration for a”Yes, I Believe in God”memorial concert in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Two of her former classmates spoke at the event.
It followed similar events in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Illinois and California, USA Today reported.
Bernall was one of 13 people killed by two students on April 20. One of the killers aimed a shotgun at her and asked if she believed in God. When she said she did, the gunman fired.
Since that time, her story has been repeated on Christian talk radio and from church pulpits and her last words have been emblazoned on lapel buttons and T-shirts.
Rallies in 22 states have been planned for this summer.”We don’t want her message to be sensationalized or abused in any way,”said Josh Weidmann, 17, of the Revival Generation, a Denver-based Bible study group.”It’s not so much what Cassie said. It’s what are we going to say when we’re asked the question?” At the Fort Lauderdale event, high school senior Jennifer Kuzia was among those who wore a”Yes, I believe in God”T-shirt.”That’s true faith,”said the 18-year-old.”I’d like to believe I’d be like that.” The Rev. James Cox, an organizer of the rally and pastor of West Lauderdale Baptist Church, said he doesn’t worry that Bernall’s death is being unduly mythologized.”I think kids are looking for something to believe in and stand for today,”Cox said.”I don’t think her message can ever become too large.”
Update: Nebraska governor’s veto of moratorium on executions stands
(RNS) The Nebraska Legislature chose not to challenge Gov. Mike Johanns’ veto of a bill that would have made the state the first in the nation to legislate a moratorium on executions.
The legislature voted instead to override Johanns’ veto of a separate bill that authorized a study of the fairness with which the death penalty is applied. This bill did not include a moratorium on carrying out death sentences.
Nebraska resumed the death penalty in 1994 after a 35-year hiatus. The bill that included the moratorium would have put executions on hold for two years while the study on fairness was conducted.
Johanns is a Republican who supports the death penalty. He said he vetoed the moratorium bill because it was poor public policy and possibly unconstitutional, the Associated Press reported.
The legislative action came in the closing days of the Nebraska Legislature’s 1999 session, which ended Thursday (May 27).
Both the American Bar Association and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops have called for death penalty moratoriums. Several states have considered such moratoriums, although none has adopted legislation mandating one.
Two Russian Orthodox priests freed in Chechnya
(RNS) Two Russian Orthodox priests and five soldiers held hostage by ransom-seeking gangs in Chechnya have been freed.
The hostages were freed by Russian troops Thursday (May 27), and no ransom was paid, the Associated Press reported.
The priests, Pyoty Makarov and Sergei Potapov, said their abductors kept them in a pit, rarely fed them and beat them often. Makarov was kidnapped at the end of March. Potapov was kidnapped April 8. Both were captured in Ingushetia, a republic bordering Chechnya.
Chechnya has been largely beyond Russia’s control since its 1994-96 war of independence from Moscow. The predominantly Muslim republic is known for its lawlessness, and kidnappings for ransom are common.
Quote of the day: Wattanapong Santatiwat, World Vision’s vice president for Asia and the Pacific.
(RNS)”The sick patient has not totally recovered. It still needs medication. It needs another injection of aid before it can be self-reliant. I don’t think they can yet fully help themselves.” _ Wattanapong Santatiwat, vice president for Asia and the Pacific of World Vision, the evangelical Christian relief organization, speaking on the easing of famine conditions in North Korea. He was quoted Tuesday (June 1) by Reuters.
IR END RNS
