c. 2000 Religion News Service
Mother to Appeal Bible-Reading Case to High Court
(RNS) An appellate court was evenly divided Monday (Aug. 28) in the case of a New Jersey boy who was barred from reading a Bible story in public school, so his mother plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 6-6 split by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lets stand a lower court ruling that the Medford Township school district did not violate the free-speech rights of Zachary Hood, the Associated Press reported.
Zachary was a first-grader at Haines Elementary School in Medford in 1996 when teacher Grace Oliva rewarded students for their reading skills by allowing them to choose a story to read to their class.
Zachary, who is Catholic, picked a story about Jacob and Esau from “The Beginner’s Bible: Timeless Children’s Stories” and was told by Oliva that it was inappropriate for him to read the story due to its religious content. She let him read it to her privately, but not in front of the class.
Michael P. Madden, a lawyer representing the Medford Township school district, said he was pleased with the resolution of the Bible story case.
But the president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington-based group representing the boy, said the further appeal is necessary.
“The district court’s dismissal of Zack’s First Amendment rights must not be allowed to stand,” said Kevin J. Hasson, who also is general counsel of the Becket Fund, in a statement.
“The Third Circuit’s division on this issue reflects both the complexity and the importance of issues involving children’s rights of religious expression during the school day, and it is crucial that the court now confront this issue head-on.”
The appellate court sent back to the district court a portion of Zachary’s case involving a Thanksgiving poster that he drew. The lawsuit alleged that Zachary’s rights were violated in kindergarten when a substitute teacher removed a poster he drew that showed he was “thankful for Jesus.” It was later posted in a less prominent place.
The court did not rule on the constitutional issues regarding the poster but gave Zachary’s mother, Carol Hood, an opportunity to amend her complaint with more specifics.
“We will be pressing ahead on both tracks,” Hasson stated.
Pope Encourages Organ Donation
(RNS) Pope John Paul II voiced his support of organ donation Tuesday (Aug. 29), calling it “an act of love” before a gathering of transplant specialists.
“There is a need to instill in people’s hearts, especially in the hearts of the young generation, a genuine and deep appreciation of the need for brotherly love, a love that can find expression in the decision to become an organ donor,” the 80-year-old pontiff told the International Congress of Transplant Specialists, meeting in Rome.
The pope called organ donation “a genuine act of love,” and added that “any procedure which tends to commercialize human organs or to consider them as items of exchange or trade must be considered morally unacceptable,” the Associated Press reported.
He ticked off stances of the Roman Catholic Church concerning transplants, including the necessity of consent on both sides of the exchange; the condemnation of the sale of organs; and consideration of the absolute end of brain activity as the sole acceptable way to determine when someone has died.
John Paul added that only medical factors _ not other considerations such as a person’s age, religion, race, sex or social standing _ should determine who is the first to receive transplanted organs.
The pontiff’s comments are expected to influence the world’s 1 billion Catholics and overcome traditional Catholic notions about the importance of bodily integrity at death. In the past, many Catholics have been reluctant to allow cremation or organ donation.
John Paul, as expected, also spoke out against human cloning, which the church opposes because it upholds sex between a married couple as the only acceptable way to create human life.
“These techniques, insofar as they involve the manipulation and destruction of human embryos, are not morally acceptable, even when their proposed goal is good in itself,” he said of cloning experiments that could lead to transplantable organs.
Anti-Defamation League Asks Lieberman to Stop Religious Rhetoric
(RNS) Vice presidential nominee Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s stump speeches on the importance of faith in private and civic life have drawn the ire of one of his biggest boosters _ the Anti-Defamation League.
Lieberman, the first Jew on a major party national ticket, has infused his campaign stops with frequent references to praising God and the idea that religious faith should play a greater role in American life, both private and public.
On Monday (Aug. 28), ADL National Director Abraham Foxman and National Chairman Howard Berkowitz asked Lieberman to tone down the religious rhetoric, calling it “inappropriate and even unsettling” and “contrary to the American ideal.”
“We feel very strongly, and hope you would agree, that appealing along religious lines, or belief in God, is contrary to the American ideal,” Foxman and Berkowitz wrote in a letter to Lieberman. “The First Amendment requires that government neither support one religion over another nor the religious over the non-religious.”
Lieberman’s speech on Sunday (Aug. 27) to a black church in Detroit drew national attention when Lieberman said, “As a people, we need to reaffirm our faith and renew the dedication of our nation and ourselves to God and God’s purpose.”
Both Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore have talked openly about their faith _ Bush has said Jesus Christ is his favorite political philosopher, and Gore has professed himself a born-again Christian. But Lieberman’s comments have been the most personal and most frequent, and Lieberman has said the country as a whole needs to come back to God.
Lieberman’s public faith has raised eyebrows with several groups, including American Atheists, whose national spokesman, Ron Barrier, said Lieberman risks offending non-believers.
“He implies that the 10 percent or more of Americans who have no religious interests are somehow less American, have questionable values and are second-class citizens,” Barrier said in a statement.
And conservative groups say Lieberman’s religious rhetoric falls flat in light of the social policies of the Gore-Lieberman ticket.
“Senator Lieberman’s remarks about the importance of religion in the public life of the nation are welcome, but they would be more meaningful if they were backed up by support for policies that help advance traditional American values,” said Richard Lessner, vice president of American Renewal, a conservative lobbying group.
Inmate Aided by Presbyterian Theologian Has Rape Charges Dropped
(RNS) A Kentucky man who was serving a 70-year prison sentence for raping two women has been released and had his record cleared after a Presbyterian theology professor raised money for DNA testing to prove his innocence.
William Thomas Gregory, now 52, was convicted in 1993 after two women in his apartment complex identified him as the man who raped them. Gregory maintained his innocence, but was convicted of two counts of burglary and one count each of rape and attempted rape.
After the Rev. George Edwards and his wife, Jean, raised $5,000 for DNA testing, Gregory was released in July and granted a new trial. Prosecutors filed a motion Aug. 24 to drop the charges, and a judge agreed, according to a story by Presbyterian News Service.
“I’m very, very excited about rejoining society as a normal human being,” Gregory said at a recent news conference. I can go on with some type of life now. I’ve got a life.”
Edwards was introduced to Gregory through an inmate at a state prison whom Edwards had been counseling. That inmate, Cullen Ray, lobbied the Edwardses to push for the sophisticated DNA testing.
Tests showed that the six hairs found in the stocking used in the attack did not belong to Gregory. Since his 1993 conviction, less expensive and more accurate tests have been made available.
Edwards, who taught New Testament and New Testament Greek at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary for almost 30 years, said he was glad he could help prove a man’s innocence.
“He’s been with us in our church, and his conduct, we feel, has been exemplary and meets our highest expectations,” he said. “We are very exultant over his good fortune.”
English Bishop Signals a Willingness to Discuss Clergy Abuse
(RNS) The leader of Britain’s Catholic bishops has said he is willing to meet representatives of a group of victims of child abuse by priests and nuns.
On Monday (Aug. 28), about 30 members of Survivors of Spiritual Abuse marched to Archbishop Cormac Murphy-O’Connor’s residence to submit a request for dialogue, along with a scroll bearing the names of more than 1,300 alleged victims.
The archbishop was away, but a statement issued on his behalf said he would be happy to have such a meeting and added, “This latest initiative shows how important it is for the Church, and indeed for society as a whole, to continue addressing the issue of abuse as a matter of urgency. It is a call to listen to the voice of the abused, and the Church welcomes opportunities for dialogue.”
The group has four issues it would like to discuss “positively” with the church: the urgent need for an “unconditional apology” on behalf of the church to victims of abuse; an end to the denial of abuse; recognition of the need for a memorial to be built “in a neutral place”; and funding for healing initiatives by outside agencies.
Last month Murphy-O’Connor came under fire for his handling of a case involving a pedophile priest when the archbishop was serving as bishop of Arundel and Brighton in the mid-1980s. The Rev. Michael Hill was sentenced in 1997 to five years’ imprisonment for sexual offenses involving boys.
Murphy-O’Connor maintained that, on the basis of the facts known to him at the time and because of “genuine ignorance” about the compulsive nature of child abuse, his decisions had not been irresponsible. But he admitted that “in the light of what we know now,” he had made a mistake.
Last week a Westminster priest, the Rev. Michael Hobbs, was charged with indecently assaulting a teen-age boy in his Hemel Hempstead presbytery. At the same time, a former Dominican priest, Michael Ingram, died in prison. Ingram had driven his car into a wall after being found guilty of sex offenses against six boys.
Founder of the Power Team Divorces
(RNS) John Jacobs, founder of the Power Team, an evangelistic ministry that emphasizes the strength of weightlifters, has divorced his wife of 16 years.
In a statement, Jacobs said the divorce was the result of irreconcilable differences dating back to the start of his marriage to Ruthanne Jacobs, reported Charisma News Service, a news update of Charisma magazine.
The divorce was finalized in May and reported by Charisma News Service in its Aug. 25 report. The Jacobses have a 3-year-old son.
“I repent and apologize for the sin of divorce to the body of Christ,” Jacobs said. “There was nothing about this divorce that had to do with a sin problem. Divorce was my last choice. I was in personal counseling for five years and I’m sorry there was nothing I could do to avoid it. Anything else is a lie.”
Ruthanne Jacobs declined comment, citing a confidentiality agreement in the settlement.
The Power Team, founded 22 years ago, features team members doing such feats as breaking baseball bats and bending iron bars with their bare hands as they present the gospel at school assemblies and evangelistic crusades.
Jacobs said he had stepped down from regular preaching for nine months and will return to “a regular crusade schedule” after a three-month crusade tour in Africa.
Charisma News Service also reported that since the divorce, more than a dozen former members of the Power Team have left the ministry to start their own “strength evangelism” group, Team Impact.
Quote of the Day: Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony
(RNS) “It is worth remembering on this Labor Day _ this Jubilee for workers _ that a person is more valuable for what she or he is than for what they have, for the work they do rather than for what they possess.”
_ Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, chairman of the U.S. Catholic Conference Domestic Policy Committee, writing in the annual Labor Day statement of the U.S. Catholic Conference.
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