c. 2000 Religion News Service
Bob Jones University Ends Ban on Interracial Dating
(RNS) The fundamentalist South Carolina university that set off a heated debate in the Republican race for the White House has dropped its controversial ban on interracial dating, leaving students and staff bewildered at the surprise decision.
Appearing on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Bob Jones III, president of Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C., said Friday (March 3) that the decision to lift the ban came after a month of controversy centered on the school.
“This thing has gotten so out of hand,” Jones said, according to the Associated Press. “All of a sudden the university is at the center of a Republican presidential debate.”
The simmering controversy began on Feb. 2 when Texas Gov. George W. Bush kicked off his South Carolina campaign at the school. When he stayed silent on the dating ban and school statements that have called the pope an agent of the anti-Christ, Sen. John McCain hammered Bush for not denouncing the school’s theology.
McCain’s campaign made “Catholic Voter Alert” phone calls to primary voters in Michigan and Washington state, reminding them of Bush’s appearance at the school. Bush has since apologized to New York’s Cardinal John O’Connor for not denouncing the school’s views, calling it a “missed opportunity causing needless offense, which I deeply regret.”
Jones told King that the controversy had distracted the school from its central mission. “Our concern for the cause of Christ, our concern for our graduates,” had been overshadowed, Jones said.
Gathered at the school’s auditorium to watch Larry King’s show, thousands of students were surprised and bewildered by Jones’ decision to end the ban, news reports said.
“We didn’t expect this at all,” BJU senior Naion Lundy told the Associated Press.
Added Jonathan Pait, the school’s spokesman, “I don’t think even (Jones’) own secretary knew what he was going to do.”
University officials said the theological justification for the 50-year-old ban stemmed from the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, where God scattered the people into many different races. Officials said they believe God wanted to prevent one race of people, and therefore the races should be kept separate.
But the school has made no apologies for statements made against Catholics, Mormons, Buddhists, Hindus and even evangelical stalwarts such as evangelist Billy Graham and the Southern Baptist Convention.
Survey: Half of Americans Expect Religious-Scientific Agreement
(RNS) Fifty-one percent of Americans believe there will be a greater agreement between religious and scientific thinking in the next century, a Gallup survey commissioned by the John Templeton Foundation has found.
The survey, released Monday (March 6), also found that 59 percent of Americans believe it is possible to do scientific research on spiritual topics such as love, gratitude and humility. Pollsters also learned that 70 percent of Americans believe we will discover in the next century that we live in a universe with evidence of other kinds of living organisms, either in this galaxy or another.
Sir John Templeton, chairman and founder of the John Templeton Foundation, said the survey shows a changed public attitude regarding how science and religion relate.
“Historically speaking, science and religion have been at opposite sides of the cultural debate, with each side dominating popular belief at one time or another throughout the ages,” he said in a statement. “Results of this survey point to a rare breakthrough in the debate _ in essence, a potential cease-fire.”
The survey also found that 55 percent of respondents think that increased knowledge of the universe aids them in thinking more deeply about a divine presence.
Survey results also confirmed previous research about the spirituality of Americans. For example, pollsters found that 94.5 percent of those surveyed said they believe in God or a universal spirit and 95 percent believe religious beliefs or spiritual practices are important in their lives.
The survey was based on telephone interviews in February with a national sample of 1,002 adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Update: Protest for Indianapolis Church Draws Hundreds, Remains Peaceful
(RNS) Hundreds of protesters gathered Saturday (March 4) at the federal courthouse in Indianapolis to show their support for a local church that refuses to pay a $5.9 million tax bill.
“God is the Lord of the church, not the IRS, and not the government,” one church member and protester, Linda Weldon, told The New York Times.
Under a federal judge’s ruling last summer, the Indianapolis Baptist Temple must pay $5.9 million in back taxes, penalties and interest for the years 1987 through 1993, a period during which the church stopped withholding federal income, Medicare and Social Security taxes from employees’ paychecks.
The church faces foreclosure of its property _ valued at approximately $8 million _ and must make its first payment on the tax bill April 10.
Officials from Indianapolis Baptist Temple contend that payments made to employees were “love gifts” instead of paychecks, and thus not taxable. The church has also refused to pay property taxes since losing its tax-exempt status in 1983, according to the Rev. Gregory A. Dixon, who became pastor of the church when his father retired three years ago. Paying taxes, the church maintains, encroaches on its freedom of religion.
On Saturday, the 600 protesters remained peaceful as nearly a dozen Indianapolis police officers looked on. But not everyone was sympathetic to their cause.
“So everyone else is paying taxes, and they’re not?” said Cornell Montgomery, who is a member of another Indianapolis church. “What makes them different? If they don’t have to pay taxes, none of the other churches should have to pay taxes either.”
Clinton Approves Honoring O’Connor With Congressional Gold Medal
(RNS) President Clinton signed legislation Sunday (March 5) awarding Cardinal John O’Connor the Congressional Gold Medal for national service.
“For more than 50 years, Cardinal O’Connor has served the Catholic Church and our nation with constancy and commitment,” the president said in a statement.
“Whether it was the soldier on the battlefield or the patient dying of AIDS, Cardinal O’Connor has ministered with a gentle spirit and a loving heart.”
The ailing cardinal was awarded Congress’ highest civilian honor after both houses moved quickly to approve it for O’Connor due to his precarious health.
O’Connor is recuperating from brain tumor surgery he had in August. He attended services Sunday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, calling his presence a “great privilege,” but did not preside at the Mass, the Associated Press reported.
Spokesman Joseph Zwilling said O’Connor, the leader of the New York archdiocese’s 2.3 million Catholics, was “feeling better the last few days, but still weak and not able to resume a regular schedule.”
O’Connor joins the list of 250 people who have been honored with the medal, including George Washington, Mother Teresa and the Wright brothers.
British Army Adds More Chaplains to Boost `Spiritual Values’
(RNS) More than $3 million will be spent to hire more chaplains for the British Army after an internal study revealed the army’s effectiveness could be in jeopardy because of a lack of spiritual and moral values among the troops, The Washington Times reported Friday (March 3).
Under the plan, enough chaplains will be hired to staff each unit with its own chaplain, who will travel with the troops. Currently, there are 144 chaplains who rotate among units.
“We are in the business of war for the purpose of peace and you cannot begin to understand your place in this business unless you have clear moral understanding,” said Brig. Sebastian Roberts, an army spokesman.
The Spiritual Needs Study was commissioned because of concern that new recruits had little concept of values such as loyalty, honesty and respect. The survey also found that 97 percent of soldiers identify themselves as Christian, although relatively few go to church regularly.
Under guidelines for the program, chaplains would be encouraged to spend more time with their units and less time designing programs or attending to church business. Chaplaincy officials within the army say they are encouraged by both the study and the new program.
“That an institution such as the army should initiate a study into spiritual needs is a very healthy sign,” said the Rev. Victor Dobbin, the army’s chaplain general.
Mormon Suicide Hopes His Death Will Be “Catalyst for Good”
(RNS) Writing that he hoped his death “might be the catalyst for some good,” a gay Mormon man committed suicide behind a Mormon church in California.
“I am now free,” wrote Stuart Matis, 32, whose body was found Feb. 25 behind the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Los Altos. He had shot himself in the head. “I am no longer in pain and I no longer hate myself. As it turns out, God never intended for me to be straight. Perhaps my death might be the catalyst for some good.”
In the note, read during his memorial service Wednesday (March 1), Matis wrote of his turmoil over his church’s anti-homosexual stance and its backing of an anti-gay legislative proposal, the Associated Press reported.
Matis did not write about Proposition 22, a ballot measure that goes before voters Tuesday and would bar California from legally recognizing same-sex marriages legalized in another state. Currently California law recognizes only marriages between a man and a woman. The Mormon church has backed Proposition 22.
Two activists who oppose the measure said they corresponded with Matis before his death, and contend he is the author of a 12-page letter posted on their group’s Web site that describes the writers’ views of Proposition 22 and the Mormon church’s anti-gay position.
“Thousands of frightened young gay Mormons will dig deeper into the dreadful closet in panic that their or parents’ friends may discover the truth about them,” reads the 12-page letter, which is signed only “Stuart” and addresses a young gay relative. “The church has no idea that as I type this letter, there are surely boys and girls on their calloused knees imploring God to free them from this pain. They hate themselves. They retire to bed with their finger pointed to their head in the form of a gun.”
Quote of the Day: President Clinton
(RNS) “As long as the power of America’s growing diversity remains diminished by discrimination and stained by acts of violence against people just because they’re black or Hispanic or Asian or gay or Jewish or Muslim _ as long as that happens to any American, we have another bridge to cross.”
President Clinton in remarks Sunday (March 5) at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., commemorating the 35th anniversary of the 1965 voting rights march.
DEA END RNS
