c. 2004 Religion News Service
`Godless Americans’ Endorse Kerry-Edwards Ticket
(RNS) The Godless Americans Political Action Committee has endorsed Sen. John Kerry for president and Sen. John Edwards for vice president in the upcoming 2004 election.
Ellen Johnson, executive director of the committee, called the Kerry-Edwards ticket “the clear choice over President Bush, who has spent the last four years eroding the separation of church and state, `packing the courts’ with judges who ignore the First Amendment, and imposing a de facto religion tax through the federal faith-based initiative.”
She called the team of the two Democratic senators “the best alternative to four more years of George Bush and Pat Robertson running the country,” referring to the Virginia-based religious broadcaster who ran for president himself in 1988.
The political action committee has taken shape since the Godless Americans March on Washington in November 2002.
Johnson, who also is president of American Atheists, said in a statement that the people the committee represents _ atheists, secular humanists and other freethinkers _ have been neglected by the major political parties.
“We intend to change that,” she said in a statement.
She hopes that those running for election will move beyond seeking the votes of religious supporters.
“It’s time for them to wake up and realize that there is another `block’ they have to start paying attention to, and this is secularists who believe in the separation of church and state, and are determined to stand up for their civil rights,” she said.
The Kerry-Edwards campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Affirms Marriage As Union of Man, Woman
(RNS) Delegates to the triennial convention of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod have overwhelmingly passed a resolution affirming marriage as “the lifelong union of one man and one woman.”
The resolution was adopted Tuesday (July 13) by a vote of 1,163 to 22, gaining the affirmation of about 98 percent of the voting delegates.
The statement referred to how “many in society are demanding legal recognition of same-sex unions as `marriages’ by appeals to `equality under the law”’ and declared that “for our Synod to be silent, especially in the present context, could be viewed as acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle.”
The resolution cited biblical verses and past church statements to underscore the denomination’s stance.
It called for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to “urge its members to give a public witness from Scripture against the social acceptance and legal recognition of homosexual `marriage.”’
The resolution noted that the convention meeting in 1973 adopted a statement that recognized “homophile behavior as intrinsically sinful.”
Almost three decades later, in 2001, the convention passed a resolution urging congregations “to minister to homosexuals and their families in a spirit of compassion and humility, recognizing that `all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”’
In other business, delegates voted more narrowly to support an effort to raise $100 million over the next six years as part of an initiative to share the gospel with 100 million people across the globe.
The 653-533 vote indicated that some delegates were concerned about launching such a campaign when the denomination has faced financial troubles.
In recent years, the denomination has reduced its national ministries staff and trimmed its budget significantly.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Catholic Nonprofits Protest Low-Cost Housing Funding Reductions
WASHINGTON (RNS) A host of Catholic charity organizations are mobilizing to fight a Bush administration proposal they say would gut funding for programs that provide housing for poor families.
The proposal, which will be considered by a congressional appropriations committee next week (July 19), would cut $1 billion from a federal housing program, according to Catholic charity organizations.
Doug Rice, a spokesman for Catholic Charities USA, said that additional changes to the program, such as allocating a block grant instead of market-rated funds, would “put more people in the shelters because they can’t find affordable housing.”
The changes to the program were introduced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a Cabinet-level agency that reports to the White House. Historically, Rice said, there has been bipartisan support for HUD programs such as Section 8, which provides housing vouchers to more than 2 million people.
“This is not a bipartisan proposal,” Rice said. “It’s a Bush proposal.”
Catholic charities across the country are writing letters to Congress and visiting Capitol Hill, hoping that the proposal will be defeated.
“Not so long ago, the Bush administration called on local officials, charities and faith-based organizations to band together to end homelessness in their communities,” Rice said. “This is a bold and noble goal _ yet it is a goal that can be met only by strengthening, not weakening, successful affordable housing programs like Section 8.”
_ Daniel Burke
Danish Government Upholds `Atheist’ Cleric’s Suspension
(RNS) The Danish government has sustained the suspension of a Lutheran cleric who denied the existence of God, according to news reports.
The Rev. Thorkild Grosboell will now face a court panel of one judge and two theologians, according to Agence France-Presse.
He then must explain to the court why he told a newspaper that “there is no heavenly God, there is no eternal life, there is no resurrection.”
After those comments, Grosboell was suspended by the Bishop Lise-Lotte Rebel of Elsinore, who accused the cleric of creating “deep confusion within the church.”
Grosboell later recanted his atheism and apologized to the bishop, at which point his suspension was lifted.
The pastor landed in trouble again in May, however, when he said in a sermon that “There is no longer a heavenly guarantee or an interfering might,” according to the Associated Press.
Rebel said that the sermon was “clearly incompatible with the state church’s faith,” and was “spoken in a strongly provocative, hurting and confusing way,”according to the Associated Press.
Lutheran ministers are employed by the state in Denmark. The government can fire them or send them to a court hearing if the pastor’s bishop so advises.
By Sept. 1, Grosboell must provide a written explanation of his comments, according to Agence France-Presse.
The possible penalties include a fine of two weeks’ salary, an oral reprimand or dismissal.
World Relief President Clive Calver Announces Resignation
(RNS) Clive Calver, the president of World Relief, has announced his resignation from the Baltimore-based organization to pursue local church ministry.
Calver, 55, has been president of the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals for seven years. His resignation is effective Sept. 30.
Calver was responsible for restructuring of the 60-year-old organization that led to its new headquarters in Baltimore instead of three locations across the country. He has been an advocate for having local church involvement in the AIDS crisis in Africa and in the aiding of refugees who have come to the United States.
“I have marveled at Clive’s giftedness to tell the story of God’s concern for the poor,” said Gordon MacDonald, chair of the relief agency’s board of directors, in a statement.
“World Relief will always regard Clive Calver as the man who led the organization to a place of respect and partnership with a growing number of American churches. We both believe that World Relief is heading into an exciting future.”
The board named executive director Tim Ziemer, a retired U.S. Navy admiral, to serve as acting chief executive officer during the transition in leadership.
Calver and his wife, Ruth, will serve as ministers-at-large for the organization through March 31, 2005.
In a statement e-mailed to supporters, Calver said the couple, who came to World Relief from Britain, intend to serve an American congregation.
“I do have such a deep conviction that World Relief will move ahead with strength and grace that comes from working through the local church worldwide,” he said.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Quote of the Day: Kofi Annan, U.N. Secretary-General
(RNS) “We hear a lot about weapons of mass destruction, we hear a lot about terrorism. And we are worried about weapons of mass destruction because of the potential to kill thousands. Here we have an epidemic (AIDS) that is killing millions. What is the response?”
_ United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. at the International Aids Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday (July 13).
DEA/MO END RNS
