c. 2000 Religion News Service
Atheists’ President Hopes O’Hair Case Conviction Brings Closure
(RNS) The president of American Atheists said the jury decision convicting a man of extorting money from group founder Madalyn Murray O’Hair and two of her children is a “major step forward” toward closure in the case of their disappearance in 1995.
“Despite the tragic circumstances, we feel that the trial and conviction is a major step forward in (bringing) resolution and justice in this case,” said Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists. “We look forward to indictments of any other individuals who are linked to the disappearance and possible murder of the Murray O’Hair family.”
A jury in Austin, Texas, convicted Gary Paul Karr, 52, of extortion and three other charges on Friday (June 2). He was acquitted of kidnapping conspiracy charges. He faces life in prison due to previous convictions and is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 4.
Johnson believes trial testimony also exonerated the O’Hairs on a number of charges, including allegations that the family had run away with more than $500,000 in gold or was leaving the country for financial or personal reasons.
“The testimony in this case established that the gold ended up in the hands of other individuals, and was extorted under duress from the Murray O’Hairs,” said Johnson, whose organization is based in Parsippany, N.J.
“Other testimony clearly indicated that the family had already reached a resolution with the Internal Revenue Service over a series of minor discrepancies, and was not fleeing the country to avoid prosecution or anything else.”
O’Hair became well-known when she was a plaintiff in a case that resulted in a 1963 Supreme Court ruling that ended mandatory prayer recitation and Bible verse reading in public schools.
She and her son Jon Garth Murray and daughter Robin Murray O’Hair disappeared in September 1995.
FBI Investigates Resigned Pastor Amid Charges of Diverted Money
(RNS) The FBI is investigating a Jacksonville, Fla., pastor who has resigned amid charges that church money intended for a European seminary was diverted into a Swiss bank account.
The FBI subpoenaed financial records from Deermeadows Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Jacksonville.
On May 31, church members voted to accept the resignation of James Altus Newell, who had been their pastor for 10 years.
Bill Cheek, a spokesman for the FBI, confirmed the agency was examining the church’s records, the Associated Press reported.
“We’re conducting an investigation to determine if there is a federal violation within the jurisdiction of the FBI,” he said.
Newell, 56, has denied wrongdoing. Arch Wallace, his lawyer, said there are documents that show $100,000 went to the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague, the Czech Republic, for missionary work.
Some church members said they have documents that show $100,000 went to a Swiss bank account rather than for missionary work.
Newell is a former missionary who served as president of the seminary in the mid-1980s when it was located in Ruschlikon, Switzerland.
Newell, who at one point withdrew plans for resigning and said he had a “mental disability,” has insisted that false documentation of $184,000 in church donations to the seminary was necessary to prevent persecution of missionaries who received the money.
Muslim Groups Denounce Anti-Terrorism Recommendations
(RNS) Muslim watchdog groups expressed reservations about recommendations by the National Commission on Terrorism, which they say would curb civil rights and target Muslim and Arab Americans.
The commission’s report, expected to be released Monday (June 5), said the government should keep tabs on foreign students studying in the United States and allow the military _ not the FBI or Federal Emergency Management Agency _ to respond to domestic terrorism.
The panel was chartered by Congress two years ago in the wake of two U.S. embassy bombings in Africa. The recommendations quickly sent up warning flags in the Muslim community.
“The fight against terrorism is one that should be undertaken,” said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “But that struggle should not be based on stereotypes, false assumptions or the political agendas of foreign governments.
“If the past is any indication, all or most of these new provisions will be used to target Muslims in this country and worldwide.”
When the panel was created, Muslim groups protested that it was made up of anti-Muslim activists and did not include enough Muslim representatives. The sole Muslim nominee was withdrawn, reportedly following pressure from pro-Israel groups.
Awad said the Muslim community has not fared well when terrorists target U.S. interests. He cited the 1996 anti-terrorism legislation, which allows government investigators to hold suspects on “secret evidence” without informing them or their lawyers of the charges. Last week, a federal judge ruled the use of secret evidence denied a Florida man his constitutional right to due process.
Hala Maksoud, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said there is no proof the recommendations would actually aid U.S. security.
“Arab Americans are extremely concerned about the threat of terrorism, but such concerns cannot justify violating basic constitutional rights,” he said. “If implemented, these recommendations would severely damage civil liberties and facilitate abusive behavior by the government, without necessarily producing any increase in security.”
Pope Tells Journalists Their `Sacred’ Task Is to Help the Poor
(RNS) Urging journalists to resist “ideological and economic pressures,” Pope John Paul II said Sunday (June 4) they have a “sacred” mission to help the weakest and poorest members of society.
John Paul also said he has “a personal debt of gratitude” toward the many journalists who write about his ministry. “For the objectivity and courtesy that have characterized the major part of this service, I am profoundly grateful,” he said.
The Roman Catholic pontiff addressed more than 7,000 journalists from 54 countries taking part in the Jubilee of the Journalists. The papal audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall concluded the four-day Holy Year celebration.
John Paul said the essential ethical question before journalists is how to put their professional expertise “at the service of the moral and spiritual good of individuals and the human community.”
“With your very vast and direct influence on public opinion, journalism cannot be guided only by economic forces, by profit and private interests,” the pope said.
“Instead it must be seen as a task that is in a certain sense sacred, carried out in the understanding that the powerful communication media have been entrusted to you for the good of all and in particular for the good of the weakest parts of society: from children to the poor, from the sick to those who are marginalized and discriminated against,” he said.
The pope, who has frequently expressed concern over the effects of globalization, noted that journalists too are caught up in the forces of technological progress and global integration.
“In the world of journalism this is a time of profound change,” he said. “The proliferation of new technology now touches every field and involves every human being to one extent or another.
“Globalization has increased the capacity of the mass media, but it also has seen a growth in their exposure to ideological and commercial pressures,” the pope warned.
Montana Bishop Faces Trial in Affair Charges
(RNS) The Episcopal bishop of Montana will stand trial in September on charges of immorality and conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy stemming from an affair in the early 1980s while he was a Kentucky pastor.
Bishop Charles I. Jones, who has led Montana’s 48 Episcopal congregations since 1986, could be deposed, suspended or admonished if found guilty. Nine church bishops will oversee the trial in September.
According to a church press release, Jones had an affair with his housekeeper after she approached him for marriage counseling. The affair began in 1981 and continued through 1983 while Jones was rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Russellville, Ky.
A nine-member panel of bishops, clergy and lay people handed down a church indictment last year. The panel concluded there is substantial evidence to prove Jones is guilty.
This is not the first time Jones has faced charges of sexual indiscretion. In 1993, the same charges were brought against Jones in connection with another woman; a settlement brokered with the church forced Jones to admit to the affair, undergo psychological testing and counseling and offer a public apology.
Jones and his lawyers have filed more than a dozen motions asking that the current charges be dropped, but each motion was denied. Jones said he will fight the charges and what they called a “flawed” and “abusive” church trial process.
United Nations Conference on Status of Women Opens
(RNS) One day before the United Nations convened a global conference to examine the status of women around the globe, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights expressed concern that a women’s rights document approved at a 1995 Beijing conference for women could be reversed as the document comes under review.
“I think this review is … worrying because we’re having difficulty holding on to the platform of Beijing, never mind moving much, much further as we need to,” said Mary Robinson, speaking Sunday (June 4) at a human rights symposium at Columbia University in New York. “I think the few (nations) that don’t want progress are very effective, and that’s a problem.”
The Beijing conference outlined an ambitious agenda for improving the lot of women around the world.
Though Robinson did not name any specific countries, an Amnesty International official said Algeria, Libya, Iran, Pakistan and the Vatican were playing “a very destructive role” in drafting a final declaration on women’s rights, according to the Associated Press. Some conference delegates also pinpointed Sudan.
Worldwide implementation of the 150-page Beijing platform will be the topic of a four-day conference at U.N. headquarters in New York, where representatives from 188 nations gathered Monday to open the session. Among other things, the Beijing platform calls for recognition of women’s inheritance rights and equal education and employment opportunities for women around the world.
The Vatican and some Islamic countries have raised objections similar to those they voiced in Beijing on such issues as sex education for adolescents and sexual and reproductive rights for women, but Robinson said she hoped the platform drafted at the New York conference will prevent “dilution” of the document approved in Beijing, and send a message that “national, cultural, religious and historical considerations … can never be allowed to be used as justifications for the infringement of women’s human rights.”
Robinson’s concerns were echoed by Charlotte Bunch, director of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University in New Jersey, which sponsored the symposium at Columbia.
Bunch said that though many nations have agreed to support the goals of the Beijing platform, some appear reluctant to outline specific strategies to accomplish implementation and several are attempting to “water down” the document approved in Beijing.
She attributed the reluctance to displeasure, particularly among religious fundamentalists, with the rising prominence of women.
Hesburgh Adds to Collection of World’s Most Honorary Degrees
(RNS) The man who has accumulated more honorary degrees than anyone else in the world now has three more to add to his resume.
The Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, the former president of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., has been given 144 honorary degrees. He holds the record for the most honorary degrees in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Hesburgh led Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987 and oversaw a long period of sustained growth and increased prestige at the university. Hesburgh transferred the school’s governance from its founding religious community, the Congregation of the Holy Cross, to a lay-led board of trustees and also admitted women to the school in 1972.
Hesburgh received his three newest degrees at commencements last month. He was awarded honorary doctorates from Holy Cross College in Notre Dame, Ind., the University of St. Francis in Fort Wayne, Ind., and St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, N.J.
Hesburgh also received the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, from President Lyndon Johnson in 1964, and will receive the Congressional Gold Medal _ the highest honor given by Congress_ on July 13.
Quote of the Day: Hebrew Bible scholar Phyllis Trible
(RNS) “Those of us who refuse to join the thumpers or the bashers are called upon to engage the text in more excellent ways … to make the Bible work for good and not for evil, for blessing and not for curse.”
_ Feminist Hebrew Bible scholar Phyllis Trible, speaking at a recent preachers’ conference in Montreat, N.C., on “Reclaiming the Text.” She was quoted in a June 2 report by Presbyterian News Service.
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