c. 1999 Religion News Service
Falwell apologizes for saying the Antichrist is a Jew
(RNS) The Rev. Jerry Falwell has apologized for saying the Bible dictates that the Antichrist is a Jewish male.
In January, Falwell unleashed a torrent of criticism from Jewish groups when he said that the Antichrist _ Christianity’s evil false savior _ would out of necessity have to be a Jewish male because that’s what Jesus was. Falwell said his comment was based on traditional Christian belief.”If he’s going to be the counterfeit of Christ, he has to be Jewish,”said Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., and founder of the now-defunct Moral Majority.
The comment drew considerable criticism from Jews, who said that since the Antichrist _ who the Bible says will be vanquished by Jesus when he returns to earth _ represents pure evil, calling him a Jew could fan anti-Semitism.
He was also criticized by Roman Catholic Bishop Walter Sullivan of Richmond, Va., Falwell’s home state; and Rabbi A. James Rudin, national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee and an RNS columnist, was one of the first to call into question Falwell’s comments.
Tuesday (Feb. 2), Falwell told a Christian prayer breakfast in Nashville, Tenn., that he was sorry for his remarks, but had meant no disrespect to Jews.”I apologize to my Jewish friends here and around the world and I apologize to the Christians here for having created any kind of rift,”he said.”I apologize not for what I believe, but for my lack of tact and judgment in making a statement that served no purpose whatsoever.” The apology was welcomed by Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League.”We appreciate his (Falwell’s) recognition that his comment had consequences for Christian-Jewish relations, and should not have been made,”the Jewish official said in a statement issued by his New York office.
In a recent interview with the Jerusalem Report magazine, Falwell said”there is not an anti-Semitic bone in my body. I doubt the Jewish people have a better friend outside their own community than Jerry Falwell.”
Jury says Web site threatened abortion doctors
(RNS) A Portland, Ore., jury has awarded $107 million in damages to abortion doctors who it said were illegally threatened by a Web site that considered them to be criminals.
The defendants responded that the verdict trampled on their First Amendment rights while representatives of the doctors who sued hope the decision will reduce violence against abortion providers.”The jury saw the posters for what they are _ a hit list for terrorists,”said Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood, which joined several abortion providers and a clinic in suing the anti-abortion protesters.
Michael Bray, a minister in Bowie, Md., and one of the defendants in the case, told The Washington Post:”It ought to be appealed not for my sake but for the sake of truth and free speech … These posters are nothing but a dramatic way of saying abortion is murder.” The plaintiffs are unlikely to receive the large award because the defendants have made themselves”judgment-proof”by transferring their assets.
The case dealt with a Web site called”The Nuremberg Files”that listed the names and addresses of doctors who provided abortions. Names of doctors who were killed _ including that of Dr. Barnett Slepian, who was shot to death in his upstate New York home last fall _ were crossed off. The anti-abortion activists who created the site also distributed posters listing a”deadly dozen”doctors.
During the three-week trial, which was held under tight security, doctors listed on the site testified that they live in fear, often wear bullet-proof vests and use disguises to try to protect themselves.
But the defendants testified that they only meant to make a political statement and hoped to shame the doctors listed on the site.
The defendants, which included Advocates for Life Ministries and the now-defunct American Coalition of Life Activists, plan to appeal and believe the Web site should remain unchanged pending the appeal. The plaintiffs plan to seek an injunction to shut down the site.
Eds:The Web site is at http://www.christiangallery.com/atrocity.)
Judge stops enforcement of Child Online Protection Act
(RNS) A Philadelphia judge has issued a preliminary injunction preventing Web site operators from being prosecuted under the Child Online Protection Act.
U.S. District Judge Lowell A. Reed’s decision on Monday (Feb. 1) stopped the law from taking effect on Tuesday.”While the public certainly has an interest in protecting its minors, the public interest is not served by the enforcement of an unconstitutional law,”the judge wrote.
The law, which was signed by President Clinton last year, would require commercial Web sites to obtain a credit card number or some other access code that proved a user’s age before Internet viewers saw online material considered”harmful to minors.”Those violating the law would face fines of $150,000 per day and a maximum penalty of six months in jail.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on behalf of 17 clients, claiming the law violated their First Amendment rights, the Associated Press reported. The ACLU had argued that the law could result in unfair prosecutions of gays and lesbians, AIDS activists or physicians distributing gynecological information.”We’re thrilled that the judge has realized at this stage that our clients have some very credible fears,”said Emily Whitfield, ACLU spokeswoman.
The Family Research Council, a Washington-based group that favors the law, was disappointed.”Pornographers cannot sell Playboy to children; yet it’s anything goes online?”said Jan LaRue, senior director of legal studies for the council.”We must eradicate this double standard.” In a separate but related matter, a federal appeals court recently upheld a law that makes it illegal to possess computer images that look like children engaging in sexual relations.
The Jan. 27 ruling deals with the Child Pornography Protection Act of 1996 that targets computer technology that can be used to change an innocent picture of a child into one of a child engaging in a sexually explicit act, the AP reported.
Bruce A. Taylor, president of the National Law Center for Children and Families in Fairfax, Va., applauded the decision, saying,”These counterfeit but apparently real images pose all of the same risks to real children as actual child pornography and could be used interchangeably by pedophiles.”
Conservative U.S. Episcopalians seek aid from overseas
(RNS) Leaders of a conservative faction within the Episcopal Church have sent a plea to some 800 Anglican bishops around the world asking them to intervene in the U.S. denomination on behalf of the traditionalists who don’t get along with their local bishop.
The conservative group, First Promise, also wants to establish a new and separate province _ jurisdiction _ that would not be affiliated with the Episcopal Church, the Washington Times reported Tuesday (Feb. 2).
The conservatives are upset by what they see as the liberal bent of the denomination, including the drive by some groups in the church for the ordination of gays and lesbians and allowing clergy to perform same-sex union ceremonies.”We’re in the middle of a major struggle in the American church,”said the Rev. Chuck Murphy, a leader of First Promise.”We’ve built an international alliance of primates who won’t stand for it any longer.” The 2.4 million-member Episcopal Church is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion whose spiritual leader is the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The conservative proposals, including the call for foreign bishops to fly into dioceses to perform baptisms and confirmations over the objection of the local, resident bishop, are likely _ if enacted _ to create havoc in the denomination.
It is unlikely that Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey would recognize a separate province.
But the conservatives believe radical measures are necessary.”It’s getting more painful and we really are a mutual embarrassment to each other,”said Bishop John H. Rodgers, the retired dean of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pa., and the conservatives’ choice to head the proposed dissenting province. Rodgers has not said whether he will accept the post, the Washington Times reported.
Bishop Ronald Haines of Washington, D.C., a liberal, called the conservative proposals”ecclesiastical terrorism”and said the suggestion of bringing in foreign bishops was unheard of.
Ailing pope cancels weekly general audience
(RNS) An ailing Pope John Paul II canceled his weekly general audience Wednesday (Feb. 3) but appeared briefly at his study window overlooking St. Peter’s Square to ask for aid for victims of the unusually cold weather gripping much of Italy.”A seasonal ailment has forced me to suspend my activities of these days,”the pope told about 1,000 people gathered in the square.”Today, however, I could not fail to speak to you, who have come for the usual Wednesday appointment.” The 78-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff fell ill following his return Friday from a trip to Mexico City and St. Louis. He said during Sunday prayers that he had a cold, and the Vatican reported Monday that for the second time this winter he was suffering from influenza.
The Vatican said Tuesday that instead of holding his weekly audience for thousands of pilgrims, he would appear at his study window to bless the crowd. He is scheduled to resume normal activities Thursday.
Referring to the below-freezing weather that arrived from Siberia last weekend, John Paul said,”I would like to send a cordial thought to so many, who are suffering much more from the cold, above all the homeless, earthquake victims, the sick, the old and young children. May each of them receive the aid they need.” Although the pope looked weak, he appeared in good humor and quoted a Roman proverb about the weather,”When Candlemas comes, we are done with winter.”He omitted the less optimistic last line,”But if it rains or the wind blows we are in winter.” The church celebrates Candlemas, now known as the Presentation of the Lord, on Feb. 2 to mark the presentation of the infant Jesus at the temple. The pope had been scheduled to mark the day Tuesday by celebrating Mass honoring members of religious orders, but because of his illness, Cardinal Eduardo Martinez-Somalo, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Institutions of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, took his place.
Update: Death toll from Indonesian religious strife rises to 95
(RNS) Indonesian officials said Wednesday (Feb. 3) the number of Christians and Muslims who died last month in interreligious conflict had risen to at least 95.
Officials had previously put the death toll at 65, but revised that number upward after finding more bodies in the remains of burned buildings on the island of Ambo, scene of some of the worst strife.
Christian-Muslim rioting erupted in Indonesia in mid-January and lasted more than a week. At the height of the violence, some 20,000 people fled their homes. About 1,000 buildings, along with 22 mosques and churches, were burned in the violence.
Ethnic and religious tensions have increased in Indonesia over the past year as the southeast Asian island-nation has experienced widening economic and political uncertainty. The uncertainty both led to and has been fueled by the ouster of ex-Indonesian President Suharto after 32 years of totalitarian rule.
Quote of the day: Lenny Foster, Native American Prisoners’ Rights Advocacy Coalition
(RNS)”It establishes a precedent throughout the United States. It allows Darrick Gerlaugh to make some peace with himself and allows us to demonstrate to Arizona and prison officials across the country that there were no problems.” _ Lenny Foster, a coordinator of the Native American Prisoners’ Rights Advocacy Coalition, quoted Feb. 2, on winning for Darrick Gerlaugh, a Native American death row convict, permission to undergo a traditional sweat lodge purification ritual while awaiting execution.
DEA END RNS
