c. 2005 Religion News Service
Newdow Refiles Pledge Case, Attempts to Halt Inaugural Prayers
(RNS) Dr. Michael Newdow, the California atheist who sued to get “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, says he has refiled a suit regarding the pledge and filed an additional suit to try to prevent members of the clergy from praying at President Bush’s inauguration.
Newdow refiled the pledge suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on Monday (Jan. 3), he told Religion News Service. A court staffer said legal documents had been received but had not been officially recorded pending additional paperwork from Newdow.
In the new case, Newdow has been joined in the suit by three families who include atheists and claim they are offended “to have their government and its agents advocating for a religious view they each specifically decry.”
Defendants in the case include the Congress, California, the United States and several school districts.
The U.S. Supreme Court determined last June that Newdow did not have standing to bring the legal challenge.
Two weeks before refiling the pledge suit, Newdow filed suit in a Washington district court to try to halt designated clergy from uttering prayers at Bush’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
Newdow said in the Dec. 21 filing that prayers such as those offered at the 2001 inauguration by the Rev. Franklin Graham and Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell made him feel like a “second-class citizen.”
“He _ like all Americans _ has a right to view his government in action without being forced to confront governmental endorsement of religious dogma with which he disagrees,” Newdow said in the complaint, referring to himself.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the case. A court staffer confirmed that a hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 14 at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Israel, Palestinians Launch Joint Tourism Push for Pilgrims
JERUSALEM (RNS) Israel and the Palestinian Authority plan to jointly market their region as a pilgrimage destination, Israel’s Ministry of Tourism announced Sunday (Dec. 26).
Israeli Tourism Ministry Director General Eli Cohen and his Palestinian counterpart, Dr. Bajis Ismail, agreed on the plan during a meeting in early December.
The campaign, which will initially cost $500,000, will target Greece, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
In a sign that relations between Israel and the Palestinians are improving, the two sides have agreed to place the symbols of both ministries on advertisements promoting tourism to the Holy Land.
In another encouraging development, Israeli Tourism Minister Gideon Ezra met with Palestinian Tourism and Antiquities Minister Mitri Abu Aita near Bethlehem last week to discuss this and other joint ventures.
Both Israelis and Palestinians have suffered from the virtual collapse in their intertwined tourism industries that resulted from the violent Palestinian uprising more than four years ago.
Despite a significant increase in the number of tourists to Israel in 2004, only 13,000 pilgrims, including 4,700 Israeli-Arab Christians, visited Bethlehem during Christmas. Thousands of Christian and Muslim Palestinians have emigrated from the region in recent years, and many more say they will do so if the economy does not improve significantly.
In the first 11 months of 2004, 1.3 million tourists entered Israel, 44 percent more than during the same period last year. Israel Tourism Ministry officials predict approximately 1.7 million visitors will arrive in 2005.
_ Michele Chabin
Catholic Bishops Cite `The Passion’ as One of Year’s Top Films
(RNS) Mel Gibson’s controversial depiction of Jesus’ crucifixion in “The Passion of the Christ” and Bishop T.J. Jakes’ silver-screen adaptation of his book “Woman, Thou Art Loosed” were named among the top films of 2004 by the film review office of the nation’s Catholic bishops.
Gibson’s runaway hit was one of 20 movies chosen as must-sees by the bishops’ Office for Film and Broadcasting. Ten movies, including “White Chicks” and “Seed of Chucky,” were chosen as the year’s worst films.
Joining “The Passion of the Christ” and “Woman, Thou Art Loosed” in the best films category were “The Aviator,” “Danny Deckchair,” “Finding Neverland,” “Hero,” “Hotel Rwanda,” “Ray,” “Shall We Dance?” and “Spanglish.” Honorable mentions went to “Seducing Dr. Lewis,” “Super Size Me,” “Vanity Fair” and “The Story of the Weeping Camel.”
The 10 worst movies included “Conspiracy of Silence,” “Dreamers,” “Envy,” “Eurotrip,” “Girl Next Door,” “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle,” “Head in the Clouds” and “National Lampoon’s Golddiggers,” as well as “Seed of Chucky” and “White Chicks.”
Films chosen as the best family-viewing movies were “Ella Enchanted,” “Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban,” “I Am David,” “The Incredibles,” “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “Miracle,” “Polar Express,” “Shrek II,” “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” and “Two Brothers.”
The bishops’ film office regularly reviews most mainstream movies for their “moral content” and “artistic merit.” The reviewers have their own rating system, which finds films suitable for general viewing, adults and adolescents, adults, limited adult audiences or morally offensive.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Study: Television Addresses Religion More _ and More Negatively
(RNS) A study of television’s treatment of religion has found that matters of faith are addressed more in broadcast networks’ shows, but mostly in a negative manner, the Parents Television Council has announced.
The Los Angeles-based council worked in conjunction with the National Religious Broadcasters to release the study titled “Faith in a Box: Entertainment Television and Religion.”
Researchers found that NBC led other major networks in negative depictions of faith, with 9.5 negative treatments for every positive treatment. It was followed by Fox, with 2.4 negative depictions for each positive one and 1.2 negative for each positive treatment by both WB and ABC.
“Religion and the public expression of faith is a crucial element in the lives of most Americans,” said L. Brent Bozell, president of the council, in a Dec. 16 statement. “Our findings should challenge Hollywood to accurately reflect this in television content.”
Council analysts reviewed prime-time entertainment programs on seven commercial broadcast networks _ ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PAX, UPN and WB _ between Sept. 25, 2003 and Sept. 24, 2004. They found that 2,385 hours of programming on those networks contained 2,344 treatments of religion _ ranging from a brief prayer to “the actual presence of God in a scene.” That demonstrated a marked increase from the council’s last study on religion in 1997, when researchers found 551 treatments of religion in 1,800 hours of programming.
While references to faith were the most common related to religion, the study also looked at treatment of religion as an institution, depictions of clergy and devout lay people and miscellaneous references to religion.
Analysts found that more than 32 percent of television’s depictions of religious institutions and doctrine were negative, while 11.7 percent of such depictions were positive.
When clergy were depicted, 36.2 percent of the time they were negative, compared to 14.6 percent positive. Depictions of devout laity were 33.3 percent negative and 20.4 percent positive.
Frank Wright, president of the National Religious Broadcasters, said of the findings: “This comprehensive study shows a clear disparity between the religious beliefs of most Americans and how these beliefs are reflected in television programming.”
_ Adelle M. Banks
New President of Fellowship of Christian Athletes Named
(RNS) Former National Football League coach Les Steckel will become the new president and CEO of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the ministry has announced.
Steckel, 48, will succeed Dal Shealy, who is retiring. He begins the new position on March 1.
Shealy will become director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ new Football Coaches Ministry.
Steckel served as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings and was the offensive coordinator for two teams that made it to the Super Bowl _ the New England Patriots in 1986 and the 2000 Tennessee Titans.
“In Dal Shealy’s tenure over the last 13 years, the ministry has experienced tremendous growth,” Steckel said in a statement. “As he passes the baton on March 1, 2005, he will leave a legacy of integrity and servanthood. With God’s guidance and grace, I will do the same.”
The Kansas City, Mo.-based ministry was founded in 1954 and works with coaches and students involved in athletics. Its “huddles” meet regularly on close to 8,000 junior high, high school and college campuses for prayer, Bible study and other activities.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Liberal Clergy Group Retools Name, Lobbying Status
WASHINGTON (RNS) A fledgling effort to revive the progressive religious icons of the 1960s has a new name, a new tax status and a renewed commitment to organize religious voters in the 2006 midterm elections, officials said.
The Clergy Leadership Network, which started in November 2003 with hopes of providing an alternative voice to religious conservatives, is now called the Clergy and Laity Network. It recently hired Sarah Labowitz, a recent college graduate, as its Washington coordinator.
CLN is no longer a “527” political advocacy group, but is now incorporated like most nonprofit groups with limited ability to conduct issue advocacy and education efforts.
When it debuted last year, CLN attracted liberal luminaries such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Sister Joan Chittister to provide a progressive religious voice in politics, but the group never caught fire and found itself outpaced by established conservative groups.
The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, former general secretary of the National Council of Churches, said the group will refocus on “grass-roots social impact organizing. We connect with people of faith where they live, as voters and active citizens.”
Last year, the Dallas-based Leadership Network, a church think tank, threatened legal action against CLN if it did not change its name. The think tank said the name caused “confusion and adverse reaction” among its clients.
CLN’s first director, the Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson, left the group last summer to serve as religious outreach director for the Democratic National Committee. She resigned under pressure a week later after she was criticized for supporting the removal of “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Pope Saw 2.2 Million People at Public Events in 2004
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Despite his failing health, Pope John Paul II saw 2.2 million people at general and special audiences, liturgical celebrations and the Angelus prayer during 2004, the Vatican says.
In a year-end statistical report, the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household said that John Paul, who is 84 and suffers from Parkinson’s disease, conducted 48 general audiences attended by 504,600 pilgrims during the year.
Another 197,200 people were present at special audiences, 523,000 at liturgical celebrations and slightly more than 1 million at the midday Angelus prayer on Sundays and holidays.
Unable to walk, the pope presides over audiences and celebrations from a throne on wheels. He usually leads the Angelus prayer from his study window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
In the more than 26 years since his election on Oct. 16, 1978, the pope has received a total of 17.6 million pilgrims at 1,160 general audiences held on Wednesdays in St. Peter’s Square or the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican.
The totals for 2004 were roughly average for the years of the past decade.
_ Peggy Polk
New President of Fellowship of Christian Athletes Named
(RNS) Former National Football League coach Les Steckel will become the new president and CEO of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the ministry has announced.
Steckel, 48, will succeed Dal Shealy, who is retiring. He begins the new position on March 1.
Shealy will become director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ new Football Coaches Ministry.
Steckel served as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings and was the offensive coordinator for two teams that made it to the Super Bowl _ the New England Patriots in 1986 and the 2000 Tennessee Titans.
“In Dal Shealy’s tenure over the last 13 years, the ministry has experienced tremendous growth,” Steckel said in a statement. “As he passes the baton on March 1, 2005, he will leave a legacy of integrity and servanthood. With God’s guidance and grace, I will do the same.”
The Kansas City, Mo.-based ministry was founded in 1954 and works with coaches and students involved in athletics. Its “huddles” meet regularly on close to 8,000 junior high, high school and college campuses for prayer, Bible study and other activities.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Brethren Agree to Revive `Alternative Service’ Draft Programs
(RNS) Leaders of the Church of the Brethren say they will follow through on a request from the Selective Service to have “alternative service” programs in place for conscientious objectors if a draft is reinstated.
As one of the historic “peace churches” that shun military service, Brethren officials were “cautious” after an unannounced visit by a draft official to a church center in Maryland last October. Officials were worried that the visit signaled that a draft may be at hand.
In follow-up meetings, draft officials urged the church to dust off long-standing “alternative service” programs that allow conscientious objectors to serve in two-year domestic service projects in lieu of military service.
In a meeting Dec. 10, the church’s council voted to “maximize our efforts” on alternative service, as well as help “guide our youth in their choice of nonviolent service.”
“We don’t want to miss the part of providing resources to our youth that will help them understand and embrace the Brethren peace witness,” said Chris Bowman, moderator of the church’s 2004 conference.
Selective Service officials have insisted there are no plans to reinstate the draft, and said Alternative Service Director Cassandra Costley stopped by the Brethren Service Center simply because she was in the area.
Dick Flahavan, a spokesman for Selective Service, said officials did their best to convince church leaders there is no draft on the horizon. “We answered every one of their questions and they didn’t leave with anything hanging,” he said. “What we were telling them was what we tell everyone. The story hasn’t varied.”
Brethren leaders also agreed to meet in March with other Anabaptist churches that oppose military service. The meeting in Elgin, Ill., will bring together six Brethren and Mennonite groups to discuss “how to prepare for alternative service opportunities.”
_ Kevin Eckstrom
All Now Agree Israel Did Offer Aid to Sri Lanka for Tsunami Relief
JERUSALEM (RNS) Jewish groups in Israel and the United States are relieved to learn that the Vatican’s official newspaper had not claimed _ as previously believed _ that Israel was withholding humanitarian aid to Sri Lankan victims of last week’s deadly tsunami.
The misunderstanding occurred after the Catholic World News Web site mistranslated an article in the official Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano chastising the government of Sri Lanka for refusing much of the medical and other assistance offered by the Israel Defense Forces’ top rescue unit.
The IDF team had offered to assist in search and recovery missions, and to establish a mobile hospital. Israeli aid organizations have sent tons of food, clothes, blankets and other supplies to tsunami victims.
Prior to the clarification, the American Jewish Committee blasted what it believed to be the Vatican newspaper’s disregard of the truth, noting that it was Sri Lanka that “refused Israeli personnel but was only (too) ready to receive provisions which Israel willingly delivered notwithstanding.”
The AJC and other Jewish groups retracted their harsh words after Vatican officials in Israel ascertained that the newspaper in Rome had in fact lauded Israel and criticized Sri Lanka.
On Dec. 31, CWNews.com admitted that “a crucial error in translation caused a serious misinterpretation of the news.”
It went on to say, “CWNews apologizes for the error.”_
_ Michele Chabin
Quote of the Day: National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice
(RNS) “This is the way that Americans respond. They respond through their churches and through their communities. What the government does is important, but what each individual American does is even more important.”
_ National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, responding to a request at National Presbyterian Church in Washington on Sunday (Jan. 2) _ and similar calls across the country _ for worshippers to donate to relief efforts for tsunami victims in Asia. She was quoted by The Washington Post.
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