c. 2004 Religion News Service
Spitting on Christians Decried in Israel
JERUSALEM (RNS) The Israeli government has vowed to crack down on religious Jews who insult and spit at Christians.
In a stern statement issued Tuesday (Oct. 12), Interior Minister Avraham Poraz condemned recent incidents in which Jewish seminary students, many of them Americans studying in Israel, spat at Christian clergy during processions through the Old City of Jerusalem.
Poraz expressed “revulsion” and called the situation intolerable, vowing to take action to prevent future incidents.
The latest incident occurred Sunday, when an ultra-Orthodox yeshiva student studying in the Old City spat at a cross being carried by Armenian Archbishop Nourhan Manougian as he led a procession near the community’s church. Jerusalem police said that a scuffle ensued between the student and Manougian, who slapped the student after the latter damaged the medallion the archbishop wore around his neck. The student was arrested and subsequently barred from entering the Old City for 75 days. The archbishop was questioned by the police.
Manougian told RNS in an interview that there have been several such incidents between Jews and Christians since 1967, when Israel took control of the eastern part of Jerusalem, where the walled Old City is located. “It happens whenever they see a Christian procession or a Christian clergyman,” Manougian said, referring to the small minority of fervently religious Jews who continue the age-old custom of spitting at the sight of Christian symbols. The exact origins of this practice are unknown.
The archbishop said that “sometimes they spit, sometimes they cut through the procession. They have thrown garbage in front of the churches and broken the crosses on tombstones.”
Manougian charged that the police “do nothing” to the Jews accused of committing these offenses.
“The police hold them for a few minutes or bring them to the police station and then let them go,” he said.
While the archbishop expressed his appreciation for Poraz’s statement, he insisted that “the Israeli government must do more to stop these actions.”
Although the practice of spitting is reportedly encouraged _ or at the very least tolerated _ at certain ultra-Orthodox seminaries, mainstream religious leaders abhor the practice. Such conduct is “a desecration of the Divine Name” and also liable to contribute to anti-Semitism in the Diaspora,” Rabbi Yisrael Lau, former chief rabbi of Israel, said in a statement.
Lau said that the Jerusalem municipality “cannot divest itself of responsibility for these actions. Protection of everything sacred to other religions is one of the justifications for Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem, whose legitimacy will be undermined if this spitting becomes prevalent.”
According to the Israel office of the American Jewish Committee, Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupoliansky plans to appoint an adviser in the next few days to deal with the problem of Jewish harassment of religious minorities in Jerusalem. The adviser will submit a comprehensive program aimed at improving interreligious relations in the city.
_ Michele Chabin
Catholic Church Funds Campaign for Same-Sex Marriage Ban in Michigan
LANSING, Mich. (RNS) The Roman Catholic Church in Michigan has provided more than half of the $1 million raised thus far to secure voter approval of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in the state.
According to campaign finance reports filed last Friday (Oct. 8) by the Citizens for the Protection of Marriage, church dioceses in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Saginaw, Lansing, Gaylord and Marquette have contributed $505,000 through Oct. 1 to the effort to pass Proposal 2.
All told, the group raised $1,006,989 and spent $552,472.
The Coalition for a Fair Michigan, the group opposing Proposal 2, reported raising $194,815 and spending $154,406. Group officials say they hope to raise $1 million for their campaign to urge a “no” vote.
Proposal 2 says “the union of one man and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose.”
Opponents of Proposal 2 argue that the term “similar union” would bar future Legislatures from providing same-sex couples the legal benefits of marriage through civil unions. Supporters say the reach of Proposal 2 will be decided in the courts.
In addition to the Catholic Church contributions, parish priests across Michigan were urged to sermonize in support of Proposal 2 during Mass the weekend of Oct. 8-10. Cardinal Adam Maida, Michigan’s church leader, has also taped an endorsement.
In that message to parishioners, Maida says, “We have an opportunity this fall to make sure that our government does not change the meaning of marriage for us today or our children tomorrow.
“If we change the meaning of marriage, then marriage loses its meaning and the family, the bedrock institution of society, would be jeopardized.”
He does not condemn homosexuality in the message as other church leaders in America have.
“Defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman need not diminish or work against the legitimate rights of our fellow citizens,” Maida says.
Proposal 2 opponents are led by the Coalition for a Fair Michigan and include the Michigan State AFL-CIO, the Michigan Education Association and Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Granholm, a Catholic, has also been at odds with the church over her 2003 veto of a bill criminalizing some late-term abortions.
Dana Houle, spokesman for the coalition, said, “At a time when the Catholic Church is closing churches and cutting programs, spending $500,000 for a ballot proposal is stunning.”
_ Peter Luke
Hindus and Sikhs Find Substitute for Ganges River
LONDON (RNS) Hindus and Sikhs in Britain have turned a stretch of a local waterway into a surrogate Ganges River so they can scatter the ashes of their loved ones without having to travel all the way back to India.
They are hiring canal boats to take them into the River Soar, in England’s county of Leicestershire, to carry out the ritual.
The bereaved rent the boats from Frank Reeves, the owner of Barrow Boating, who said they have assured him that the Soar “has been blessed and mixed with water from the Ganges by one of the priests, so it’s OK to use.”
It’s also OK with Britain’s Environment Agency, which is notoriously particular about how and where the remains of dead people are disposed.
Traditionally, thousands travel to India to drop the ashes of their dead relatives on the waters of the sacred Ganges. Now in Britain, they can take a boat ride and perform the same ceremony on waters closer to where they live.
“We stop the boat or tread water, depending on the weather conditions,” said Reeves. “The people have their ceremony, spread the ashes over the side of the boat, and then we bring them back.
“They come back very joyful and very happy that they’ve been able to do it as a family.”
_ Al Webb
Quotes of the Day: President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry at the final presidential debate on Wednesday (Oct. 13).
“I pray for strength. I pray for wisdom. I pray for our troops in harm’s way. I pray for my family. I pray for my little girls. But I’m mindful in a free society that people can worship if they want to or not. You’re equally an American if you choose to worship an almighty and if you choose not to. If you’re a Christian, Jew or Muslim, you’re equally an American. That’s the great thing about America, is the right to worship the way you see fit.”
_ President Bush
“I went to a church school and I was taught that the two greatest commandments are: Love the Lord, your God, with all your mind, your body and your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. And frankly, I think we have a lot more loving of our neighbor to do in this country and on this planet. … And as president, I will always respect everybody’s right to practice religion as they choose _ or not to practice _ because that’s part of America.”
_ Sen. John F. Kerry
MO/PH END RNS
