c. 2000 Religion News Service

Anti-Abortion Groups Oppose Guidelines on Embryo Stem Cell Research

(RNS) Anti-abortion groups have decried the release of National Institutes of Health guidelines that will permit the federal funding of research on human embryo stem cells.

The guidelines, announced Wednesday (Aug. 23), have been welcomed by those who believe the research might lead to advances in treatment of numerous diseases, but an official of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops called them “immoral and illegal” and said new medical advances make such research unnecessary.

“For the first time in history, our federal government will promote research in which developing human beings are destroyed,” said Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the bishops’ conference’s Pro-Life Secretariat. “It is always wrong to directly destroy one innocent member of the human family to help another. … We will explore all avenues in Congress and elsewhere for reversing these indefensible guidelines, so medical research may again be guided by sound moral principles.”

Some opponents point out recent findings about adult stem cells that may prevent the need for using embryonic stem cells.

“These experiments are unnecessary since research proves that comparable or better results can be obtained from adult stem cells,” said William Saunders, senior fellow in human life studies at the Family Research Council. “For example, a person who uses his own adult stem cells would not have to face tissue rejection, whereas incompatibility is always a potential problem when using embryonic tissue.”

Judie Brown, president of the American Life League in Stafford, Va., condemned the guidelines as “false science” that is unneeded.

“These guidelines do not present a step forward,” she said. “They are an attack against the humanity of the individual human person.”

In a statement announcing the publishing of the guidelines, the NIH said the guidelines will help ensure that the research is done in a legal and ethical manner. It said the work could result in possible cures and new treatments for diseases such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

“The NIH believes the potential medical benefits of human pluripotent stem cell technology are compelling and worthy of pursuit in accordance with appropriate ethical standards,” it stated.

President Clinton, in remarks to reporters, said the potential for the research is “breathtaking” and it will deal only with embryos resulting from in-vitro fertilization that have been discarded.

“I think we cannot walk away from the potential to save lives and improve lives, to help people literally to get up and walk, to do all kinds of things we could never have imagined, as long as we meet rigorous ethical standards,” Clinton said.

Muslim Voter Registration Drive to Be Launched in September

(RNS) A Muslim advocacy group will launch the largest-ever voter registration drive aimed at American Muslims, a small but crucial swing vote in battleground states like Michigan, California and New Jersey.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based advocacy group, will send out thousands of voter guides before Sept. 15, which has been designated American Muslim Voter Registration Day by CAIR.

CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad said the effort represents greater political activism among American Muslims, as well as an increased awareness of issues that directly affect the Muslim community.

“Muslims have a duty to make a positive impact on this society, and voting is one of the most effective means to accomplish this goal,” Awad said in a statement.

The materials provided by CAIR’s Research Center include instructions on registering voters, brochures, candidate surveys and organizational materials. CAIR will also provide materials on why Muslims should become engaged in the political process, something many Muslims have been hesitant to do in the past.

There are an estimated 2 million to 6 million Muslims in the United States, and surveys indicate Muslim voters are roughly split in their support of Al Gore and George W. Bush. A recent CAIR poll showed that 90 percent of respondents planned on voting in November.

The survey also found that 64 percent of Muslims voted in the last election, which is higher than the national voter turnout of about 50 percent. Many analysts say Muslim voters could be crucial in hotly contested states with large Muslim populations, such as Michigan, New Jersey and California.

Jewish Groups Protest Proposed Beatification of Pius IX

(RNS) A coalition of Jewish groups has written to the Vatican to protest plans to beatify Pope Pius IX, a 19th century pope who kidnapped a Jewish boy and raised him as a Catholic.

Pius IX, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1846 to 1870 and was the longest-serving pope in history, is scheduled to be beatified by Pope John Paul II on Sept. 3. Beatification is the penultimate step to sainthood.

Jewish and Italian groups have roundly criticized Pius IX, who ordered the kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, an 8-year-old Italian boy who was brought to the Vatican and raised as a Catholic. Italians also say Pius IX baptized Jewish children to be raised as Catholics against their parents’ wishes.

“He is the pope who perpetuated centuries-old church contempt and hatred of Jews, referring to them as `dogs’ and declaring that `of these dogs, there are too many of them present in Rome,”’ wrote Seymour Reich, chairman of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Concerns.

The group, which represents the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, B’nai B’rith International and the World Jewish Congress, said the sainthood process is the church’s prerogative, but Jewish groups have an “obligation” to speak up when the would-be saint made decisions involving Jews.

“If saintliness is seen as the goodness, wisdom and courage to behave righteously and right wrongs regardless of when they occur, then Pius IX’s conduct falls far short of saintliness,” Reich wrote. “His papal role stands in sharp contrast to that of the saintly Pope John XXIII and John Paul II, who recognized the wrongs of the past and sought to rectify them.”

Survey: Twenty Percent of Teen Addicts Used Drugs With Parents

(RNS) Twenty percent of teen addicts have shared drugs with their parents, a survey shows.

A survey of almost 600 teens in drug treatment centers in New York, Florida, California and Texas shows that 20 percent have shared drugs other than alcohol with their parents, USA Today reported.

In addition, the survey found about 5 percent of the teens were introduced to drugs _ usually marijuana _ by their mothers or fathers.

Mitchell Rosenthal, president of the Phoenix House drug treatment program in New York, conducted the study. He said he commissioned it after speaking with three teens from California who had used drugs with their parents.

“Many people who experimented with drugs in their own adolescence may be regular users, and many of them have children,” he said. “Parents who do not set limits and who try to be buddies with their kids are doing their kids a real disservice.”

Of those who took drugs with their parents, the survey found 76 percent used marijuana with their parents. Smaller percentages of teens cited the use of cocaine, heroine and amphetamines with their parents.

Steve Dnistrian, executive vice president of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, said the survey exposes the vulnerability of children in drug-using families.

“It tells you how ingrained substance abuse is in the family structure,” he said. “These parents are so familiar with it and so close to it that they are willing to pass the joint to their children. This is something we have to watch.”

U.S. Missionaries Detained in China

(RNS) Authorities in China on Wednesday (Aug. 23) arrested three American missionaries and more than 100 other Christians who belong to an outlawed evangelical group, according to a statement released by a human rights watchdog.

The detainees are members of the China Fangcheng Church, a 500,000-member church included on a list of about 14 Christian groups labeled “evil cults” by China’s Communist government, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy reported.

The church members are being held in the Xihua county detention center in the central province of Henan, the center reported, though officials there told Reuters news agency they were unaware of any arrests.

Among those arrested were three American missionaries, Henry Chu, 36, Dande Lin, 28, and Patricia Lan, 25. All are U.S. citizens who were born in Taiwan. Officials in the United States said they are seeking confirmation of the three arrests from Henan authorities.

“If, in fact, there are Americans, we have a right to go visit them and we will do so,” an unnamed U.S. official told Reuters.

The arrests came one day after the president of the China Patriotic Catholic Association told Americans that religion in China had entered a “golden age,” China’s official newspaper reported.

Speaking at the University of California-Los Angeles during a tour of the United States, Bishop Michael Fu Tieshan declared that religious belief was blossoming in China, but those who were not well-educated could easily fall victim to cults.

“Religious organizations in China run their own affairs independently and set up religious schools, publish religious books and periodicals, and run social services according to their will,” Fu said.

New Proposal on Israel’s Humanitarian Symbol

(RNS) In an effort to break an impasse about whether to include the Jewish Star of David on its list of recognized symbols, the International Committee of the Red Cross will consider adopting a chevron _ an inverted V _ into which the star or other religious symbols can be inserted.

The proposal was presented Tuesday (Aug. 22) to about 30 ambassadors from United Nations missions in Geneva, a spokesman for the committee told the French press.

“There weren’t any immediate objections, but ambassadors have to now consult their capitals,” said spokesman Chris Bowers.

The 176-member International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has long excluded the Red Cross equivalent in Israel because it uses the Star of David as its symbol. That exclusion has fueled charges of anti-Semitism.

Under the Red Cross committee’s new proposal, which will be presented at a Sept. 5 congress in Geneva, the committee would recognize the Star of David inserted inside the chevron, and would allow other countries to insert a cross or crescent, or both, as Kazakhstan and Eritrea would prefer, under the chevron too.

Still, the Red Cross committee has decided the proposal will not extend to times of war. In war zones, only the cross or crescent will be recognized as approved symbols.

Elan Steinberg, executive director of the World Jewish Congress, told Reuters he is troubled that the proposal does not allow Israel to use the chevron and Star of David in times of war. That’s when the symbol is most important, he said.

“All (the proposal) would say is that internally, within your own country, you could use (the Jewish star),” said Steinberg.

Quote of the Day: United Methodist Bishop Melvin G. Talbert

(RNS) “I hope that we get on with the business of doing mission and ministry and stop the one-issue debate because our church is much larger than that.”

_ United Methodist Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, leader of the California-Nevada Annual (regional) Conference, speaking on a decision by evangelical pastors in his conference to stay in the church despite political and theological differences with Talbert. He was quoted in a story produced by United Methodist News Service.

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