c. 1999 Religion News Service
Three senators urge Reno to investigate Americans United
(RNS) Three U.S. senators have sent a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno requesting a criminal investigation into whether Americans United for Separation of Church and State has intimidated religious voters through its efforts to counter the Christian Coalition.”If it is true that Americans United or any other organization has attempted to disenfranchise religious voters by intimidating people of faith into not participating in the political process _ thereby silencing their voices on moral issues, then all Americans should be outraged,”wrote Sens. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., on July 2.
Americans United’s Executive Director Barry Lynn held a news conference Monday (July 19) to protest the action, calling the senators’ statement a”bald-faced lie.””This really looks like a transparent effort to intimidate us,”said Lynn.
He said his Washington-based group informs churches and religious leaders in a nonthreatening and nonpartisan manner about”the legal and moral difficulties associated with mixing religion and partisan politics.” Lynn accused religious broadcaster and Christian Coalition President Pat Robertson _ whose group’s request to the government for tax-exempt status was denied _ of being the catalyst for the action.
The coalition claims its voter guides are nonpartisan, but Americans United has warned religious leaders that distributing those guides could prompt the tax-exempt status of a house of worship to be challenged or revoked.
The Christian Coalition chose to limit its response to Americans United to a statement that said the watchdog group”has engaged in a blatant campaign of intimidating not only pastors but individual voters who choose to be active in the political process.””We call on Americans United to end its campaign of selective enforcement of the First Amendment and we applaud Senate leadership for its acknowledgment that religious and social conservatives have every right to participate in the process we call democracy.” Laura Cox, Coverdell’s press secretary, said the letter was not sent based on a request from Robertson, but rather because the senators believed the claims Americans United had made about the coalition were”outrageous.” Asked if the idea of investigating Americans United came up during Robertson’s mid-June meeting with Coverdell and other senators, Cox said:”I don’t know. I think that Americans United and the claims that they have made were brought up at the meeting.” John Russell, a Justice Department spokesman, confirmed the letter has been received.”It’s being reviewed by the public integrity section of the criminal division, which investigates voter fraud, and we will respond in time,”he said.
Reno receives thousands of letters each year seeking investigations of individuals or groups, he said.
Philadelphia Inquirer writer named top religion reporter
(RNS) Philadelphia Inquirer reporter David O’Reilly is the winner of the 1999 Templeton Award for Religion Reporter of the Year.
The prizes honoring the nation’s top religion writers were announced Saturday (July 17) at the annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., marking the 50th anniversary of the Religion Newswriters Association.
O’Reilly received $3,500 for the top prize for his reporting, which included coverage of Pope John Paul II in Cuba.
David Gibson of The Bergen Record and Yonat Shimron of The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., took second and third place, respectively, for the Templeton prize.
Gibson also won first place in the Supple Religion Writer of the Year Award. Diego Ribadeneira of the Boston Globe came in second in the Supple and Don Lattin of the San Francisco Chronicle came in third.
For the fourth time in five years, the Dallas Morning News won first place in the Schachern Contest for best religion sections or pages. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s religion page earned a second-place honor and the Grand Rapids Press received a third-place award.
The Houston Chronicle received an honorable mention in the sections contest.
Top prize for the Cornell Award for Religion Reporting among newspapers with circulations between 50,000 and 150,000 went to Larry Witham of The Washington Times. Monique Parsons of The Home News Tribune in East Brunswick, N.J., and Steve Huba of the Cincinnati Post earned second and third-place honors, respectively.
The first-place winner of the Cassels Award for newspapers with circulations less than 50,000 was Robin Galiano of the Longview News-Journal in Texas. Loretta Fulton of the Reporter-News in Abilene, Texas, came in second and Anne Cumming of the Greeley Tribune in Colorado came in third.
The Religion Newswriters Association comprises people who cover religion in the secular press. Founded in 1949, the group has about 240 active members.
Priests, parishioners warned not to attend gay Catholic gathering
(RNS) Denver Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput has warned priests in his archdiocese against supporting or allowing their parishioners to attend a national meeting of Dignity/USA, the organization of gays and lesbians within the Catholic church.
Dignity, Chaput said in a letter to priests,”has goals which clearly depart from church teaching.”I therefore believe that, as pastors, we cannot in good conscience support Dignity or encourage our people to become involved with its activities.” Chaput’s letter came just days after the Vatican barred a progressive priest and nun from carrying on their two-decade-old pastoral ministry with gays. The Vatican said the two, founders of New Ways Ministry, were not sufficiently critical of homosexuality and homosexual activity.
Catholic teaching emphasizes that homosexuality is a”disorder”and that homosexual activity is an”evil.” Instead, Chaput urged priests to be involved with the Denver chapter of Courage, a national Catholic organization that encourages gays to be celibate.
Dignity has scheduled its national meeting in Denver Aug. 5-8. Among the expected speakers is Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit who has become a leader in support of gay rights and has spoken around the country about his experience of having a gay brother.
Leaders of the group said they were unfazed by the archbishop’s letter.”I’m not surprised,”said Charles Cox, executive director of the New York-based organization.”Given the current environment in the Catholic church, it’s not safe for anyone to welcome a gay organization.
Promise Keepers not bridging racial divide, its leader says
(RNS) Promise Keepers founder Bill McCartney has admitted that he is”crushed”that the evangelical men’s organization has not been more successful in attracting men who are members of racial and ethnic minorities.”It is tragic, heart-rending and crushing that we haven’t made more headway”in meeting the organization’s goal of reaching across denominational and racial lines, McCartney said Friday (July 16) at a news conference before the group’s rally in Denver.”You look around this year and see what the percentage of people of color is,”he said.”I’m hoping to be surprised, but I’m not optimistic”that the numbers will be high, he said.
Although Promise Keepers has worked to have a diverse board of directors, generally less than 10 percent of the crowds at the rallies are non-white.
McCartney said non-whites have been hindered”by hundreds of years of pain and oppression. This is deep-seated. We need to attend to it. We need to be intentional.” He continued to urge that white men involved in Promise Keepers should”build relationships one person at a time, and have sincere hearts and genuine motives.” Bishop Phillip Porter, chairman of the board of Promise Keepers, agreed with McCartney.”We are behind in this,”said Porter, pastor of All Nations Church of God in Christ in Aurora, Colo.”There is so much to be done.” McCartney predicted that fewer than 500,000 men will attend the 15 rallies planned in the United States this year. In 1996, Promise Keepers attracted 1.2 million men to its meetings.
Other events will be held this year outside the continental United States _ in South Africa, Australia, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
Farrakhan says he is nearly free of cancer
(RNS) Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan says he nearly rid of cancer and is recovering from an ulcer caused by radiation treatments.”I believe within the next few months that ulcer will be completely healed and that your brother will be back with you,”the controversial leader said.”I’m not an old man and I’m certainly not tired.” Farrakhan, 66, made his comments Saturday night (July 17) by telephone intercom to an audienced gathered to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Nation of Islam’s newspaper, The Final Call, the Associated Press reported.
Farrakhan was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1991. On March 30, he underwent surgery to correct an inflammation caused by his treatment.
In his comments, Farrakhan said the ulcer had led to serious bleeding.”But by the grace of God, we caught it in time,”he said.
Quote of the day: Eugene DuBow, director of the Berlin office of the American Jewish Committee
(RNS)”The German people carry the scars of the Holocaust, which differ fundamentally from those of the Jewish people, but are scars nevertheless. I believe their reaction to human grief here and now is largely a reaction to a terrible part of their history. The Germans should be proud of their army, of their aid organizations and their readiness to help.” _ Eugene DuBow, director of the Berlin office of the American Jewish Committee, praising the role of Germany in the NATO campaign over Kosovo.
DEA END RNS
