c. 1999 Religion News Service
American Muslim groups ask Ramadan actions in support of Chechnya
(RNS) Five leading American Muslim lobbying groups have urged Muslims to take action in support of Chechen Muslims as they begin to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Friday (Dec. 10) is the first full day of Ramadan, the month during which able-bodied adult Muslims are required by their faith to refrain from eating, drinking or having sex during daylight hours.
The groups urged Muslims to make the conflict in Chechnya _ where civilians have been trapped by a Russian military offensive against Chechen rebels _ a primary theme of sermons during Friday congregational prayer services.
They also urged Muslims to publicly rally in support of Chechens, recite special prayers for the well-being of Chechens and contact the White House and Congress to demand a U.S. suspension of aid to Russia.
In a statement, the Muslim groups said the United States should support a United Nations war crimes inquiry into Russian tactics, which have included massive bombing of civilian areas. Moscow says it is not targeting civilians, but is going after Chechen rebels who want to set up an independent state in Chechnya, currently part of Russia.
While the White House has repeatedly criticized Russian tactics in Chechnya, it has also made clear it does not think pushing for economic sanctions against Moscow is in the best interest of the United States.
The five Muslim organizations were American Muslim Council, Muslim American Society, American Muslim Alliance, Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
Survey: Smaller churches remain the norm as average attendance slips
(RNS) A new survey of Protestant churches says attendance at worship services during 1999 declined slightly in keeping with the trend of recent years. The survey also found that smaller churches continue to dominate the American scene.
The Barna Research Group survey, released Dec. 6, found the median adult attendance for worship services at more than 600 churches polled across the United States to be 90 people.
That figure was down five people from the 1998 survey, 10 people from the 1997 average and 12 people from the 1992 figure, according to Barna.
Attendance figures were highest for 1999 among suburban churches (120) and African-American churches (100 people). Rural churches, which have smaller population concentrations to draw from, reported the lowest average attendance (70).”In spite of the mass media attention devoted to megachurches (those attracting 1,000 or more adults on a typical weekend),”Barna said in a news release,”those congregations remain just 1 percent of the Protestant church landscape.” The survey also found that donations to churches increased slightly during 1999, up 5 percent to an average of $110,000. That figure is 59 percent above the 1987 average and 34 percent above the 1992 figure.
Pastoral compensation packages remained virtually unchanged during 1999, said Barna, an evangelically oriented firm based in Ventura, Calif. The medium value of such packages _ which include salary, housing, an automobile allowance and other benefits _ was $35,195 annually.
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. The telephone survey was conducted in October and November, and included fundamentalist, charismatic, mainline, African-American and other categories of Protestant congregations.
Report says China detains 103 `non-mainstream’ Christians
(RNS) A Hong Kong-based human rights group said Chinese officials have detained at least 103 people belonging to”non-mainstream”Christian groups.
The report by the Information Center of Human Rights, as reported by Western news organizations in China, gave little detail about the groups in question.
The groups _ with names such as the Orient Light, Zhu Shen and the All Scope sect _ reportedly blend elements of Christianity with various traditional Chinese beliefs.
The crackdown on the groups follows Beijing’s months-long attempt to control the Falun Gong movement, which has drawn widespread attention.
China, an officially atheist state, allows limited religious expression. Groups not deemed suitable by the state are often marked for harassment and extinction, according to the U.S. State Department and independent human rights agencies.
The crackdown on the non-mainstream Christian groups occurred, for the most part, in late November, after Chinese authorities passed new laws labeling such groups as dangerous cults that threaten public order. Several million Chinese are said to be affiliated with such groups.
Scientology denied charity status in England and Wales
(RNS) The Church of Scientology has been denied the tax benefits that go with gaining charitable status in England and Wales.
The decision Thursday (Dec. 9) by the Charity Commission, which regulates charities in England and Wales, said the church did not confer”public benefit”_ the chief criterion for gaining charitable status.
Instead, any benefits derived from church activities were declared”private in nature.” The defeat for the controversial church, based in Los Angeles, is the latest problem for Scientology in Europe, where several nations _ Germany most notably _ have opposed it on the grounds that it is more a business than a genuine religious movement.
In response, the church and some religious freedom advocates have defended Scientology’s right to propagate its teachings. One bright note for the church was a recent non-profit tax victory in Sweden.
In England, where Scientology claims 15,000 followers, church spokesman Graeme Wilson said the commission’s decision was”wrong on the law and wrong on the facts,”according to the Associated Press.
The commission has registered some 187,000 charities, some of them associated with non-traditional religions.
Washington state religious leaders praise WTO protest, deplore violence
(RNS) Religious leaders in the state of Washington have issued a statement deploring the violence that marred demonstrations in Seattle during the recent World Trade Organization meeting but praising the coalition of nonviolent groups that took to the streets calling for greater attention to environmental concerns, working conditions of laborers around the world and human rights.
The WTO talks collapsed under the weight of demands by President Clinton, among others, that further trade agreements incorporate the concerns expressed by many of the protesters.”We have been brought together by many, many issues, and by one cause: to stop the course of the WTO,”the statement said.”Think about what has been united here this week: labor issues, Third World women, trade unionism, ecology of forests, stopping genetically modified organisms, farms and farmers, debt cancellation, environmental protection, cultural diversity, rights of indigenous peoples, public health, and the commodification of our lives. One big movement! One struggle for freedom!”We call for a halt to new trade negotiations until the member countries of the WTO agree to give priority to accountability, human rights, ecology and sustainable development, over trade liberalization and privatization,”said the Dec. 3 statement.
A large number of religious, environmental, labor and other humanitarian groups participated in forums for nongovernmental agencies that went to Seattle as part of the broad-based talks on trade expansion under WTO auspices.
The statement was issued by the Rev. Thomas Quigley, president-director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, and the Rev. John Boonstra, executive minister of the Washington Association of Churches, the Presbyterian News Service reported.
It noted that tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated peacefully and that the violence, which is said to have caused some $3 million in property damage, was caused by a handful of demonstrators.”We affirm the solidarity of the religious community with all the nonviolent protesters who have kept the focus on these issues,”the statement said.”We deplore the violence that has occurred … and rededicate ourselves to confronting it. We have witnessed the birth of a movement across the world. We dedicate ourselves to continue raising our voices.”
Pope urges Roman Catholics of Macao to keep ties to the Vatican
(RNS) Pope John Paul II called on the Roman Catholics of Macao to preserve their ties to the Vatican when the Portuguese-administered territory returns to Chinese sovereignty later this month.
The pope said the diocese of Macao, established almost 424 years ago by Jesuit missionaries, has served as the”gateway of the church toward China _ an advance post of Christian culture and a meeting point with the cultures of the Far East.””May it maintain in full its communion with the universal church, and, as in the past, may it always cherish its communion with the church of all China, to which it is now bound by a special civil link,”he said Thursday (Dec. 9).
Macao, situated across the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong, will revert to China on Dec. 20. Catholics make up about 20,000 of the territory’s total population of 420,000.
Authorities in China in 1957 created a Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics, which is independent of the Vatican. Catholics loyal to the Vatican practice their religion underground and risk government persecution.
The Vatican has been able, however, to maintain a presence in Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
The diocese of Macao, John Paul said,”will assume new forms now that the diocesan community will be part of the church in China by full right.””In particular,”he said,”it must strengthen its missionary vocation in the midst of the Chinese world so as to become a point of reference and of spiritual support also for the numerous brothers and sisters in the faith who live dispersed in the vast reaches of China.” The pope said the church in Macao,”rich in tradition and dignity,”also can offer an alternative to those who are”seduced by avidity for material goods and disoriented in his aims.”
Quote of the day: the Dalai Lama
(RNS)”Changes only take place through action _ not through prayer, not through meditation.” _ The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled Buddhist leader, speaking at the closing session Wednesday (Dec. 8) of the Parliament of World Religions in Cape Town, South Africa.
DEA END RNS
