c. 2000 Religion News Service

British Seventh-day Adventists Warn Against `Stoking’ Hell Fires

(RNS) The leader of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in England said a recent report by British evangelicals that hell is real and “occupied” displaces the gospel’s central message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

The Rev. Cecil Perry, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in England, said “hell as a teaching is not the thrust of the gospel. The salvation Jesus offers is the total revelation of his love … his focus was on men and women accepting salvation.”

Earlier this month, the Evangelical Alliance of the United Kingdom published a 140-page report saying that hell is a real, physical place and is “occupied to some degree.”

The evangelicals’ report was an attempt to stake a claim in the ongoing debate on whether hell actually exists. Last year, Pope John Paul II said hell was more of a state of being rather than the popular images of sulphur clouds and lakes of fire. The pope said the eternal separation from God would be more painful than any actual physical torments.

The April 15 report, “The Nature of Hell,” says Seventh-day Adventists should teach the traditional nature of hell in churches and schools. Perry said many evangelicals agree with the Seventh-day Adventist teaching that wicked souls do not suffer eternal torment but instead are annihilated for eternity.

Still, Perry said the focus of any pastor or church should not be based on any notion of hell.

“The message of hell is in stark contrast to the message of hope and love and tends to engender fear,” Perry said. “Our message as a church should not be so much stoking up the fires of hell but … to be more effective witnesses to the millions of souls on their way to perdition.”

Muslim Discrimination Cases Rose in 1999, Group Says

(RNS) On the fifth anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, a Muslim watchdog group has released a report documenting anti-Arab discrimination, noting that religious attire or appearance was the largest motivating factor in discrimination cases.

The Council on American Islamic Relations released its annual review of Muslim civil rights to coincide with the anniversary of the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building that killed 168 people.

Following the bombing, Arab Americans said they were the target of “hysteria” involving threats, harassment, stereotyping, property damage and physical assaults. The group’s first report, “A Rush to Judgment,” documented 200 such cases in the month following the bombing.

CAIR officials said discrimination cases rose 25 percent in 1999, up to 350 cases from 285 incidents in 1998. None of the documented cases appears to be directly related to the Oklahoma City bombing, but rather fall under the general category of stereotypes and misunderstanding about the religion.

The report said religious attire or appearance _ mostly in the form of traditional head scarfs _ accounted for 34 percent of the incidents. Close behind, at 30 percent, were cases based on perceived national origin or ethnic identity.

“The types of incidents change, but the trend remains the same,” said Eric Shakir, CAIR’s civil rights coordinator.

Two-thirds of the alleged cases of discrimination took place in public areas such as schools, airports or in the workplace. CAIR officials dismissed 200 alleged cases because of insufficient evidence.

Suit Challenges Kentucky `Charitable Choice’

(RNS) Two civil liberties groups filed suit Monday (April 17) in federal court against a Baptist group home for children in Kentucky, charging that the agency should not receive state funding because the money is used to promote a religious agenda.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union contend Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children should not receive state funds because the constitution prohibits the government from giving money to a religious organization that practices religious discrimination and uses government funding to advance a religious viewpoint.

“Churches have every right to provide social services,” said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United and a United Church of Christ minister, “but they may not receive tax funding if they discriminate on religious grounds. Churches can’t pass the collection plate to the taxpayers if they’re promoting religion.”

The lawsuit stems from a 1998 incident in which Baptist Homes fired Alicia Pedreira _ who worked as a family specialist _ because she is a lesbian.

Americans United reported that although Pedreira’s performance on the job was “exemplary,” she was fired because Baptist officials said the Christian beliefs central to the agency’s mission did not agree with homosexuality.

The state of Kentucky contributed $13 million of the Baptist agency’s $19 million budget last year, according to Americans United, while just 5 percent of the budget was derived from Baptist churches.

The lawsuit is one of the first challenges to popular “charitable choice” programs, which allow religious groups to receive federal funding for administering social programs.

“Charitable choice gives no choice at all to Americans who fail to meet the religious standards of churches that get public funding,” said Lynn. “Some religious agencies want to take taxpayers’ money, then deny employment opportunities to those same taxpayers on religious grounds. It’s fundamentally unfair.”

Davidians Dedicate New Church in Waco

(RNS) Hundreds of survivors and supporters commemorated the deaths of about 80 Branch Davidians at a church dedication service in Texas on Wednesday (April 19), the seventh anniversary of the Waco tragedy.

The new Branch Davidian church is located 10 miles west of Waco in Mount Carmel. After the church was dedicated, the names of those who died were read, and keys to the church were handed over to the Davidians.

“Government can come and destroy the building but as long as there is one child of God, they cannot destroy the church,” said survivor Clive Doyle, who was named trustee of the church.

“It’s a memorial to those who died and is a statement, a positive statement that says we are not going to stand by,” said Violet Nicholas, a volunteer, the Associated Press reported.

Eighty-one Branch Davidians died April 19, 1993, when a 51-day standoff between Davidian leader David Koresh and federal authorities ended in a fiery blaze at the group’s complex near Waco.

Relatives of those who died in the fire have filed a wrongful-death suit against the federal government, which contends the Davidians brought about their own deaths. The case will go to trial on June 19.

Denver Archbishop: Holy Week `Appropriate’ for Columbine Memorial

(RNS) Denver Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput believes it is appropriate that the Holy Week leading up to Easter this year will be the time to mark the first anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre.

“It’s appropriate that it’s taking place during Holy Week because it’s a real cross, in an ongoing way, in the lives not only of the families but of our whole Denver community, face-to-face, close to destructive violence,” Chaput told Religion News Service. “Just as Jesus’ death led to our salvation, we hope that somehow our engagement in this terrible experience of death will somehow lead us to embrace the Resurrection in new ways.”

Chaput will mark the April 20, 1999, shooting with a full schedule on Holy Thursday.

“At 11 o’clock in the morning I’m doing a prayer service and commemoration for the state of Colorado, then at 1 p.m. for the city of Denver,” said Chaput.

After that early afternoon service at Denver’s Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, the archbishop heads north to Littleton, home of Columbine High School, for a prayer service at Light of the World Roman Catholic Church, one of the three Catholic parishes that dealt with the Denver suburb’s post-shooting trauma.

Knights to Build New Museum in New Haven, Conn.

(RNS) Aiming to educate the public about the world’s largest Roman Catholic fraternal organization, the Knights of Columbus unveiled plans Tuesday (April 18) to open a new $10 million museum this fall near its world headquarters in New Haven, Conn.

“This museum will be a striking addition to the area’s rich array of cultural and educational assets, and New Haven’s role in Connecticut as a major cultural destination should benefit accordingly,” said Supreme Knight Virgil C. Dechant.

The three-story museum will house religious art, rotating galleries for special exhibits such as artifacts from the Vatican Museum, and an exhibit about Christopher Columbus and the organization’s links to him.

The museum will also detail the history of the 118-year-old group, showcasing personal items owned by the group’s founder, the Rev. Michael J. McGivney, who is now a candidate for sainthood.

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano said the new museum will be an added boon for visitors who travel to Connecticut each year to see the Knights’ headquarters and visit St. Mary’s Church, the group’s birthplace and site of McGivney’s grave.

Quote of the Day: Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations General Assembly.

(RNS) “We need to turn this unease, this ferment, this confrontational energy, into something constructive _ into something that benefits all the people and which all the people can support.”

Kofi Annan, general secretary of the United Nations, speaking to world finance ministers Tuesday (April 18) and challenging them to listen to the complaints of demonstrators who sought to shut down meetings in Washington of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund over the weekend.

KRE END RNS