c. 2005 Religion News Service
Former Faith-Based Official says Bush Fails on `Poor People Stuff’
WASHINGTON (RNS) A former deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives says President Bush has failed to support the program as he had promised.
David Kuo, who left the position in December 2003, said the White House didn’t push hard enough for Congress to deliver the $8 billion Bush promised to faith-based initiatives during his first year in office.
“From tax cuts to Medicare, the White House gets what the White House really wants,” Kuo wrote in a Beliefnet editorial. “It never really wanted the `poor people stuff.”’
When Bush ran for president, he promised $6 billion in charity tax incentives; $1.7 billion for groups that cared for drug addicts, at-risk youth and teen moms; and $200 million for a “Compassion Capital Fund,” Kuo wrote.
“When he became the president, there was every reason to believe he’d be not only pro-life and pro-family, as conservatives tended to be, but also pro-poor, which was daringly radical,” Kuo’s editorial said.
But in June 2001, the tax incentives were dropped from Bush’s tax cut to “make room for the estate-tax repeal that overwhelmingly benefited the wealthy,” according to Kuo. The White House allocated $600 million to other programs, which is billions of dollars short of what was promised, he said.
“Who was going to hold them accountable? Drug addicts, alcoholics, poor moms, struggling urban social service organizations and pastors aren’t quite the (National Rifle Association),” Kuo said. “Charities haven’t quite figured out the lobbying thing yet.”
Kuo said writing the editorial was difficult because of his “respect, appreciation, and affection for the president.”
“The White House can still do a great deal for the poor,” Kuo wrote. “It can add another few billion to insure every American child has health care. It could launch a program to simply eliminate hunger.”
He urged the president to push for supplemental funding for faith-based projects, and added, “No one ever said faith was easy or cheap.”
In response to a request for reaction to Kuo’s comments, Maria Tamburri, a spokeswoman for the White House, defended the work of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.
“The faith-based and community initiative has been a priority to President Bush since the beginning of his first term and continues to be a priority,” Tamburri said in an interview.
“The president has mentioned the initiative in every State of the Union and has fought for funding for its important programs. The faith-based and community initiative has transformed the regulation landscape to enable faith-based and community organizations to compete fairly for federal funding to make a difference in the lives of our most vulnerable citizens in communities across America.”
_ Andrea James and Adelle M. Banks
Human Cloning License for “Dolly” Scientist Stirs Religious Concerns
(RNS) Some religious observers of bioethics are reacting with concern to a decision by the British government to approve human cell cloning for medical research.
Ian Wilmut, who directed the creation of the cloned sheep “Dolly” in Scotland in 1996, received a human cloning license Tuesday (Feb. 8) from the British government.
Wilmut and Christopher Shaw, a motor neuron expert in London, will lead an effort to find a treatment for motor neuron disease _ conditions damaging nerve cells and causing muscle wasting, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
To study nerve function in the diseases, they will clone cells from affected patients and compare them with nerve cells developed from human embryos without the disease.
Carrie Gordon Earll, bioethics analyst for the Colorado-based conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, said it is not ethical for researchers to use and discard human embryos _ including those produced by cloning, which transfers an adult cell nucleus into a human egg.
“It’s alarming in that it is one more step toward creating human life for the purpose of destroying it,” Earll said. “You can’t justify that through any desire to find cures.”
Richard Sherlock, professor of philosophy at Utah State University and a researcher on medical ethics and biotechnology, said he does not object to cloning human cells for medical research, but he fears licenses may be granted to researchers who want to change human characteristics that don’t cause disease.
“We knew it was coming when they first cloned Dolly,” Sherlock said. “We should be really thinking if we want to go down this road because this will result in wanting to make a better human.”
Closer to where Wilmut will be working, a Church of Scotland spokesman said he disagreed with the decision of the British government’s Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority.
Donald Bruce, director of the Church of Scotland’s society, religion and technology project, said the decision posed “ethical problems beyond the strict legality of the proposed research.”
Commending the aim of studying the causes of “this awful disease,” Bruce asked if this was reason enough to make cloned embryos.
“It is unwise to allow cloned embryo research until there is a United Nations ban on reproductive human cloning,” he said. There was a “significant danger” that Wilmut’s research would lead to misuse of the technology by “maverick scientists in some other country where there is little or no regulation who wish to make and implant cloned embryos to create cloned babies, regardless of major risks and ethical objections.”
_ Celeste Kennel-Shank and Robert Nowell
Robert Baker, Dean of Church Organists, Dies at 88
(RNS) Robert Stevens Baker, the dean of American organists and a towering figure in church music, died Jan. 24 after a long illness at his home in Hamden, Conn. He was 88.
Baker was the founding director of the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University, which announced his death, and former dean of the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
“All of us here (at Yale) and all of the nearly 300 alums of the Institute of Sacred Music share in the rich legacy of Robert Baker’s leadership and consummate musicianship,” the school said in a statement.
Baker founded the Yale program in 1973 and served as director from 1974-1976. He remained a member of the faculty until he retired in 1987. He started playing the organ at age 12 and won a full organ scholarship to Illinois Wesleyan University, according to The New York Times.
Originally planning to be a concert organist, Baker decided to become a church organist after attending an organ concert at New York’s St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church on his first Sunday afternoon in the city in 1938, according to his Yale biography.
Baker received two music degrees from Union Theological Seminary and served as organist and choirmaster at several of New York’s prominent churches, including First Presbyterian Church and Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.
His wife of 61 years, Mary Baker, died last July. He is survived by a son and a daughter and two grandchildren. A memorial service was held on Jan. 29 in Connecticut.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Swedish Preacher Who Referred to Gays as `Cancerous’ Wins Appeal
(RNS) A Swedish preacher sentenced to a month in prison for referring to homosexuals as a “cancerous tumor” in society was acquitted Friday (Feb. 11) by an appeals court.
The court in Jonkoping, in southern Sweden, ruled that a sermon by Ake Green, 63, was not an attack on gays and lesbians because it was a personal interpretation of the Bible.
The court said it “strongly questioned” Green’s comments but a stringent hate crime law under which the preacher was convicted last year should not be used to stifle discussion about homosexuality in churches and other public places.
“There is nothing that points to that fact that the pastor used the pulpit to attack homosexuals,” the verdict read.
“This falls outside of punishment for violating the law against hate against a group.”
The case, which has attracted international attention, could still move to the Supreme Court in Sweden. Some Christians in the United States have said they were worried that Green, the first preacher convicted under the hate crime law, could represent a trend in laws cracking down on people of faith expressing religious views about homosexuality.
The hate crime law was initially designed to protect racial and religious groups, among others. In 2003, it was changed to include homosexuals.
In Sweden, Green’s supporters praised Friday’s ruling.
Lars Ivar Nilsson, a Pentecostal leader, told journalists that even though he did not entirely support Green’s comments during his sermon, he felt that the verdict was a “real and important” victory for freedom of religion and speech.
_ Simon Reeves
Seminary Leader Disciplined for Officiating at Daughter’s Gay Wedding
(RNS) The New Brunswick Theological Seminary, one of the nation’s oldest schools for training mainline Protestant clergy, has retired its president and reprimanded him for officiating at his gay daughter’s wedding.
The board of trustees of the New Brunswick, N.J.-based school implied in an earlier statement that the wedding wasn’t a factor in its decision not to renew the contract of the Rev. Norman Kansfield, 64. But Thursday night (Feb. 10), a board spokesman and Kansfield confirmed that the ceremony, which was conducted in Massachusetts, precipitated the decision.
“We decided that the president had put the seminary in an awkward position by performing that ceremony without giving us the benefit of offering sufficient counsel,” said the Rev. Larry Williams Sr., a member speaking on the board’s behalf. “It could have hurt the school if it divided people in our student body, if it divided our faculty, if it divided other people who support us.”
In a letter sent shortly before the June 19 wedding of his daughter, Anne, Kansfield informed the board of his decision and said he wasn’t seeking its permission. The board voted Jan. 28 not to renew Kansfield’s contract.
The ceremony took place shortly after Massachusetts began allowing same-sex marriages, touching off a national furor.
In an interview at the seminary, Kansfield said he had not done anything to hurt his denomination, the Reformed Church of America. A former pastor and seminary librarian, Kansfield is considered among the church’s most learned theologians.
“People presume I have been on a crusade,” said Kansfield, a strapping man with a shock of white hair. “In point of fact, I’m a conservative theologian. I would not do anything that goes against the church.”
The Reformed Church _ which traces its roots to Dutch settlers who arrived in America 400 years ago _ is one of the more conservative denominations in the National Council of Churches.
Unlike its fellow mainline Protestant churches _ such as Episcopalians and Methodists _ the church has not had high-profile controversies over the rights of homosexuals. That is about to change.
The denomination’s national office in Grand Rapids, Mich., recently said formal complaints have been filed against Kansfield, and he said he expected to be brought up on charges in June at the church’s General Synod in Schenectady, N.Y.
_ Steve Chambers and Jeff Diamant
California Circuit Court Sued for Alleged Religious Symbol on Seal
(RNS) The controversy over whether the Ten Commandments can be displayed in government buildings has been expanded to government symbols, even though the commandments themselves are unreadable on a California appeals court’s official seal.
Ryan Donlon, a California attorney admitted to practice law in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in June, is suing that court for displaying what he claims are the Ten Commandments on the official court seal. The court is the same one that ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance’s “under God” clause is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.
The seal in question was affixed to the certificate allowing Donlon to argue before the court. It features a woman sitting in a chair with a large book spread wide open in her lap. She is shrouded in flowing robes and set against a crown of laurel leaves. At her feet stands what Donlon says are the commandments.
“Appearing within the seal is an inscribed, tablet-shaped object,” said Donlon in his complaint to the court. “On each side there are five lines of illegible script, totaling 10 lines of script.”
It is unclear whether the seal actually contains the words of the Ten Commandments.
Cathy Catterson, the court’s clerk, does not believe the actual Ten Commandments are visible on the seal even though she says the shape may resemble the tablets on which the commandments were written, according to the Associated Press. The court now declines further comment, saying the litigation is pending.
Donlon is not convinced.
“Though the inscription is illegible, according to information and belief, this object represents the Judeo-Christian Decalogue commonly referred to as the `Ten Commandments,”’ he said in the complaint. This, he says, has “no secular purpose,” and amounts to a “constitutionally impermissible establishment or endorsement of religion.”
This type of suit has been proliferating in recent months. Last year, Los Angeles County removed a cross from its seal after the American Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue.
Until the Supreme Court rules on a case involving the Ten Commandments, which it’s expected to hear in March, opinion on the legality of religious symbolism on government documents and buildings may remain starkly divided.
The Supreme Court struck down the 9th Circuit’s pledge ruling, which had prompted outrage nationwide, especially from conservative Christian groups.
“Hopefully the court will provide some clear guidance and clearly express the fact that we will not be able to erase religious history just because a few radically slanted individuals would seek to have God removed” from all aspects of government, said Bob Tyler, legal counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian group based in Scottsdale, Ariz.
_ Lauren Etter
Jews and Christians Ask State Department to Lift Israel Travel Warning
JERUSALEM (RNS) American, Jewish and evangelical Christian leaders sent a joint petition to President Bush on Monday (Feb. 14) urging him to cancel the State Department’s warning against travel to Israel, according to Israel’s Ministry of Tourism.
The petition _ signed by Malcolm Hoenlein, who heads the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and evangelical talk-show host Janet Parshall, among others _ states that the long-standing travel warning should be eliminated “in light of the improved security situation” between Israelis and Palestinians.
The State Department warning, which was established at the start of the Palestinian uprising (intifada) in September 2000, urges American citizens “to defer” their travel to the Holy Land due to ongoing violence. The Israeli and Palestinian economies suffered greatly after tourists canceled their trips to the area.
In recent months, however, the number of Palestinian terror attacks and Israeli military strikes has decreased markedly, leading the Israeli and Palestinian governments to officially declare an end to armed attacks last week.
In a press statement issued Monday, Israel’s Tourism Ministry noted that “the American travel warning has not been relaxed since 2000,” despite “numerous requests” from the Israeli government.
In an interview, Jonathan Pulik, the Tourism Ministry’s foreign press liaison, said that “numerous other countries have already adjusted their advisories to reflect the new, more positive reality. We hope the Americans will follow suit.”
_ Michele Chabin
Sikh Leaders Welcome Inclusion in FBI Advertisement
(RNS) Sikh leaders have applauded a recent advertisement campaign by the FBI that seeks a more diverse corps of intelligence analysts.
“I have an international relations degree. I speak Panjabi fluently,” said a Sikh man as he looked into the camera during a TV ad that first ran during the Super Bowl on Feb. 6. “I analyze and decipher security threats. I am an intelligence analyst in today’s FBI. It’s not the same world. It’s not the same FBI.”
Tarunjit Singh, secretary-general of the World Sikh Council-American Region, said in an interview that his Columbus, Ohio-based organization sent a letter of thanks to the federal agency.
“We’re very pleased to know of the FBI having put out this advertisement, which features a Sikh American, especially since Sikhs have been preferentially victimized since 9/11,” said Singh, whose organization represents more than two dozen Sikh places of worship across the country.
“This advertisement is an example of how Sikhs are increasingly being woven into the fabric of America.”
Megan Baroska, a public affairs specialist with the FBI, said the advertising campaign has included television, radio and print outlets in the Washington, D.C., area and will expand in March to major markets across the country.
She said the investigatory agency has extended its outreach to Muslim, Arab and Sikh communities and is working to foster partnerships with them.
“We want to build relationships and we also want to expand our personnel to include representatives from all communities that the FBI serves,” Baroska said in an interview.
Within the first week of the airing of the television ad, the agency received more than 1,900 applications for the position of intelligence analyst, she said.
Baroska said statistics about how many Sikhs are currently employed by the FBI are not available.
“We do not track religious preferences,” she said. “Even on the application, it’s not something that we ask.”
_ Adelle M. Banks
Episcopal Church 2004 Giving Drops 12 Percent
(RNS) The Episcopal Church is hoping the financial fallout from a gay bishop’s election will level off this year after a conservative-led financial boycott helped create a 12-percent drop in giving in 2004.
Church treasurer Kurt Barnes said giving from the church’s 112 dioceses fell about $4 million in 2004 compared to 2003, but the church should be on target to meet a 2005 budget that was scaled back to balance the decline.
2004 was the first full year for conservatives to withhold funds in protest of the 2003 election of openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson. Three dioceses _ Dallas, Pittsburgh and Quincy, Ill. _ cut all donations to the national church.
Anticipating a decline, the church cut spending last year by 5 percent and lowered its expectation of $29 million to $27.4 million in diocesan giving. So far, Barnes said he has collected $22.8 million for 2004 and expects year-end contributions to plug the remaining $4.6 million gap.
Still, that $27.4 million is a 12-percent drop from the $31.2 million collected in 2003. Barnes said a sputtering economy is partly to blame, but conservatives quickly dismissed that excuse as tired and worn.
“That big of a downturn, whatever the dollar amount is, hardly argues for a church where everything is fine and wonderful,” the Rev. David Anderson, president of the American Anglican Council, told the Associated Press.
Barnes told the church’s Executive Council Feb. 11-14 meeting in Austin, Texas, that he expects income to rise about $1 million, or 3.7 percent, in 2005 over current levels to $28.4 million.
Despite the modest improvements, the figures show that the protest over Robinson’s election has stalled growth in the church’s budget. By 2006, the church hopes to be barely above where it was in 2003, when Robinson was elected.
The church relies on contributions from local dioceses to fund 60 percent of its national operating budget _ currently $49 million in 2005. Each diocese is asked to voluntarily send 21 percent of its income to church headquarters in New York.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Quote of the Week: Jeffrey Goldberg, Co-Founder of Jewish Rock Hall of Fame
(RNS) “It seems to be improbable that these people own `rock ‘n’ roll,’ it’s entirely unlikely they own the phrase `hall of fame,’ and I know for sure they don’t own the Jews.”
_ Jeffrey Goldberg, a writer for The New Yorker magazine and a founder of the online Jewish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, reacting to a trademark infringement lawsuit filed Monday (Feb. 7) against his rock hall by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. He was quoted by the Associated Press.
