c. 2004 Religion News Service
Diverse Religious Groups Unite Behind Aid for Sudan
WASHINGTON (RNS) An unusually broad coalition of Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and evangelical groups has come together to urge intervention by the United States and the United Nations in war-torn Sudan.
The Save Darfur Coalition is comprised of more than 70 religious and humanitarian organizations, a sign that the growing crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan has united groups across religious and ideological lines.
“We must not wait for a legal determination of `genocide’ to ensure a massive worldwide humanitarian response and call to end the violence and investigate crimes against humanity,” the coalition said in a “unity statement” released Tuesday (Aug. 3).
The coalition was brought together July 14 by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and American Jewish World Service. It has received the support of Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel.
Relief groups say 2 million people have been killed and millions more displaced in government-backed attacks by Arab militias against ethnic Africans in the western part of the country. The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution July 30 that threatens sanctions if the Sudanese government does not move to end the violence within 30 days.
The Rev. John McCullough, director of Church World Service, the humanitarian arm of the National Council of Churches, said the world cannot wait for the United Nations to act while 500 refugees die each day.
“With so many lives at risk, 30 days is far too long,” McCullough said.
The coalition is calling for “massive worldwide governmental humanitarian” support, increased financial aid to relief groups, a return of refugees and a U.N. Commission of Inquiry “to investigate war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.”
Supporters include the four major streams of American Judaism, the Armenian Church in America, the National Council of Churches, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, men’s and women’s Catholic religious orders, the National Association of Evangelicals, Lutheran World Relief and Soka Gakkai International USA Buddhist Association, among others.
At the same time, top leaders of the Presbyterian Church (USA) wrote to parishioners urging them to lobby government leaders to intervene in Sudan. “This is a time of incredible suffering among our sisters and brothers in Sudan, and it needs to be a time of incredible prayer and solidarity by those of us in the Presbyterian Church (USA),” the letter said.
International Orthodox Christian Charities, the relief arm of America’s Eastern Orthodox churches, has joined a $17.5 million fund-raising appeal by Action by Churches Together, which is coordinating relief efforts in Sudan with longtime partner Norwegian Church Aid.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Episcopalians Say Church Is Intact One Year After Gay Bishop’s Election
(RNS) A year after the confirmation of an openly gay Episcopal bishop, church leaders say the denomination has not broken apart or fallen victim to a fatal drop in finances.
The election of Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire was approved by bishops and lay and clergy delegates on Aug. 5, 2003, during the church’s General Convention in Minneapolis. He was formally consecrated Nov. 2.
Robinson’s election was denounced by sister churches in the Anglican Communion as an unbiblical act that threatened to tear the group of 38 autonomous churches apart. Nine U.S. dioceses later formed a separate network as a refuge for conservatives opposed to Robinson’s election.
In a memo distributed by church leaders in New York, officials said only nine of the 38 provinces in the Anglican Communion had declared themselves in “impaired communion” with the U.S. church.
The nine churches _ Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Southeast Asia, Southern Cone (Latin America), Tanzania, Uganda and West Indies _ represent about half of the Communion’s 77 million members.
Three of the 10 provinces in Africa that receive financial aid from the American church have said they will not continue to accept the money, officials said.
Other Christian churches also expressed concern about the election, but Bishop Christopher Epting, the church’s ecumenical director, said only the Russian Orthodox Church had called off dialogue. Epting said there were “pauses” in global meetings with Roman Catholics, but talks between Catholics and Episcopalians in the United States have “not missed a beat.”
Two American dioceses _ Dallas and Pittsburgh _ have said they will send no money to the national church, while three other conservative dioceses have not indicated what, if any, amount they will send.
Church officials were forced to make a 5 percent reduction in spending in February to make up for $2 million in decreased contributions, but said recently that revenue was running almost $400,000 more than expected.
Officials said it would be impossible to measure if Robinson’s election had negatively affected membership _ those figures won’t be available until the fall of 2005 _ but reported growth in the South, Southeast and Southwest.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Opposite Gay Marriage Decisions Set Stage for State Amendment Battles
(RNS) A Washington state judge ruled gay couples may marry under the state constitution even as Missouri voters overwhelmingly adopted a statewide ban on gay marriage.
The back-and-forth decisions will help shape the debate as nearly a dozen states prepare to vote on constitutional amendments that define marriage as being between a man and a woman and prohibit gay marriage.
The two decisions have fueled activism by gay marriage opponents who say voters, not judges, should define the meaning of marriage. Last month the U.S. Senate rejected a federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
King County (Wash.) Superior Court Judge William Downing said Wednesday (Aug. 4) that the state has no “compelling interest” to deny gay couples civil marriage rights, and rebuffed arguments that gay families do harm to children.
“Although many may hold strong opinions on the subject, the fact is that there are no scientifically valid studies tending to establish a negative impact on the adjustment of children raised by an intact same-sex couple as compared with those raised by an intact opposite-sex couple,” Downing ruled.
The case was brought by six gay couples who were denied marriage licenses in March. Gay rights groups hailed the verdict.
“No churches, mosques or synagogues will be forced to change practices or policies,” said Cheryl Jacques, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “And this decision takes nothing away from other marriages.”
But in Missouri, voters on Tuesday (Aug. 3) overwhelmingly adopted a state constitutional amendment to preserve the traditional definition of marriage. Voters adopted the measure in a 71 percent-29 percent margin _ the first amendment adopted since Massachusetts opened civil marriage to gay couples in May.
“The lopsided results of this election prove, once again, the mind of everyday Americans on the crucial issue of how marriage should be defined for further generations,” said James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Arab-Israeli Orchestra Ends First U.S. Tour
(RNS) The multireligious Arab-Israeli Orchestra of Nazareth ended its first U.S. tour with a performances in New York, including the United Nations.
The 14-year-old orchestra’s U.S. tour contingent included eight performers _ one Israeli Jew, two Israeli Arab Muslims and five Israeli Arab Christians.
At performances, including those in Europe and Morocco, the question inevitably arises: How do Israelis from various faiths collaborate amid the Middle East’s constant religious strife.
“Our identity is to have such a mixture,” said orchestra manager Eli Grunfeld, a Jewish resident of Tel Aviv. “This is what we are. We didn’t choose to be such a mixture; we are so. This is our life.”
Performing on traditional European and Middle Eastern instruments such as the cello, darbuka and oud, the orchestra plays a repertoire of traditional Middle Eastern tunes regularly in Israel’s northern city of Nazareth plus elsewhere in Israel. Earlier this summer, group performed in Bethlehem on the West Bank.
“Even in the days now that are quite difficult, even now, music has no barriers, no borders,” Grunfeld told Religion News Service.
Singer Lubna Salameh, an Arab Christian, said all the orchestra musicians grew up in or near Nazareth, so the religious differences among them are no different than U.S. neighbors or co-workers being of different faiths. “It’s us,” Salameh said. “We grew up in this city (Nazareth).”
The tour began with a July 29 performance at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, followed by a July 31 show at Georgetown University in Washington. The orchestra performed at the United Nations Tuesday (Aug. 3) and concluded with a summer concert series show Wednesday (Aug. 4) in Manhattan’s Central Park.
Tour sponsors include the Israeli embassy in Washington and Israel’s New York and Los Angeles consulates. “We are doing music and we are giving culture for peace,” Grunfeld said. “The orchestra is a need. The orchestra is a must.”
_ David Finnigan
Quote of the Day: UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot
(RNS) “I hope for a day when every church engages in an open dialogue on issues of sexuality and gender difference. I hope for a day when every synagogue will mobilize as advocates for a global response to fight AIDS, when every temple will fully welcome people living with HIV, where every mosque is a place where young people will learn about the facts of HIV and AIDS. When that will have happened, I am convinced that nothing will stop our success in our fight against AIDS.”
_ Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, addressing a gathering of religious leaders that preceded the 15th International AIDS Conference in mid-July in Bangkok, Thailand. He was quoted by United Methodist News Service.
DEA/PH END RNS
