c. 2005 Religion News Service

Director of Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative Hails AmeriCorps Court Ruling

(RNS) The director of President Bush’s faith-based initiative hailed an appeals court decision as a victory for those who want federal AmeriCorps teachers to continue to work in religious schools.

In a unanimous decision Tuesday (March 8), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the program’s inclusion of grants for individuals teaching at religious schools is constitutional, overturning a district court ruling. AmeriCorps, or the Corporation for National and Community Service, allows its teachers to lead religious lessons in sectarian schools.

“The government does not promote religion in violation of the Establishment Clause when it reimburses all grantees, religious and secular alike, for a portion of the costs they incur in complying with the requirements of the AmeriCorps program,” concluded Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph.

Jim Towey, director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, called the decision a “key victory” that supports neutrality in faith-based programs that receive government funding.

“We feel that the country is enriched when these faith-based organizations and these faith-filled college graduates are able to participate fully in these programs without having to sacrifice their religious identities,” he said in a telephone press briefing on Tuesday.

Marc Stern, general counsel for the American Jewish Congress, which filed suit against the corporation in 2002, said his organization may appeal the case.

“It’s clearly a victory for the president’s program, but it’s a troublesome one,” Stern said in an interview. “There’s nothing stopping faith-filled people from participating in the program. … We didn’t even object to their teaching secular studies in religious schools. The question is, can the government pick up the salaries of people teaching religion in Catholic schools?”

Corporation officials said some of the $4,725 awards were used for work in religious schools but any religious instruction led by the AmeriCorps teachers was separate from the AmeriCorps service of the program participants.

“The decision further ensures that AmeriCorps members don’t lose their right to religious expression on their own time because they answer the call to serve their country,” said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, in a statement.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Habitat for Humanity Board Reaffirms Firing of Founder

(RNS) The board of Habitat for Humanity has unanimously affirmed its decision to fire Millard Fuller, the founder of the house-building organization.

Meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, board members made their second decision on Tuesday (March 8) after Fuller and his supporters had attempted to pressure them to change their minds. The board originally voted on Jan. 31 to terminate both Fuller and his wife, Linda, after months of differences over alleged inappropriate conduct by him.

“The vote by the board demonstrates our resolve to put this matter behind us and to move confidently and faithfully ahead in the mission that unites us,” said Habitat board chair Rey Ramsey in a statement. “No longer can we stand silently while people question our dedication to this ministry or to its Christian principles.”

A loose-knit group of volunteers called Habitat Partners had urged the Habitat board to reconsider its January action. The volunteer group called on supporters to pray that board members “be given the courage to put an end to the tragic series of events that have brought us to this unfortunate place.”

Fuller, 70, denied wrongdoing after being accused of inappropriate behavior with a former female employee of the organization based in Americus, Ga. He said that if he wasn’t reinstated, he would like to start another organization that would continue to support Habitat projects.

While Ramsey said Fuller’s “founding vision” would always be appreciated, Habitat CEO Paul Leonard said Fuller’s ideas about the future are unwelcome.

“Millard’s threat to create a new organization is very harmful,” Leonard said in a statement. “Staff, volunteers, affiliates all have grown weary of Millard’s behavior and want to move on. So does this board.”

_ Adelle M. Banks

Churches Call Off Taco Bell Boycott After Agreement

(RNS) Churches that endorsed a boycott against Taco Bell declared victory after the fast-food giant agreed to increase payments to migrant tomato pickers in Florida.

Taco Bell agreed to a penny-per-pound increase in wages. The Tuesday (March 8) agreement between Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum Brands, and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers ends the boycott.

“The success of this struggle illustrates that when committed, faithful people come together to work for justice, even in the face of powerful opposition, there may be nothing we cannot achieve,” said Edith Russell of the United Church of Christ, the first church to endorse the boycott.

Other churches that joined the boycott were the United Methodist Church, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Presbyterian Church (USA) and the National Council of Churches.

“We recognize that Florida tomato workers do not enjoy the same rights and conditions as employees in other industries, and there is a need for reform,” said Emil Brolick, president of Taco Bell.

Tomato pickers earn about 40 cents for each 32-pound bucket of tomatoes they pick, according to The Washington Post, and must pick 2 tons of tomatoes to earn $50.

Yum Brands also owns Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, A&W and Long John Silver’s. Labor leader Lucas Benitez said the agreement issues a “clear challenge” to other restaurants to improve worker conditions.

“This is an important victory for farmworkers, one that establishes a new standard of social responsibility for the fast-food industry and makes an immediate material change in the lives of workers,” Benitez said.

Last year, several churches agreed to end a similar boycott of the North Carolina-based Mt. Olive Pickle Co. after it agreed to push for higher wages and better conditions for cucumber pickers.

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Conservative Christian Groups Flex Muscle in Downing Bankruptcy Amendment

WASHINGTON (RNS) Conservative Christian groups are cheering the Senate’s rejection of a proposal that would have prevented abortion protesters from using bankruptcy protection to avoid paying court-ordered fines for coming too close to clinics.

The Senate voted 53-46 Tuesday (March 8) to kill New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer’s amendment to a bankruptcy reform bill sponsored by Republicans.

“Sen. Schumer’s amendment was a blatant attempt to criminalize pro-life advocates who peacefully protest outside abortion clinics, with full legal protection, by insinuating that their intent is to commit violent acts,” said Lanier Swann of Concerned Women for America, which opposes abortion, same-sex marriage and pornography. “We defeated this poisonous amendment again this year, and we will continue to fight it if it dares to raise its ugly head in the future.”

The amendment drew widespread attention because anti-abortion groups said it discriminated against them. When ordered by a judge to pay huge fines to abortion clinics, some protesters have avoided paying by declaring bankruptcy.

“Thank you to those senators who voted their conscience and protected the First Amendment rights of pro-life activists,” said Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, a conservative group that advocates for traditional marriage and family values. “The Senate sent a powerful message to the American public when it recognized that this issue has no place in the debate over bankruptcy reform.”

Conversely, abortion rights groups were dismayed by the Senate vote, saying lawmakers were swayed by right wing pressure.

“Even people who oppose a woman’s right to choose should be outraged at violent criminals who use bombings, murder threats, vandalism and other such tactics, and appalled at them evading punishment by declaring bankruptcy,” said Nancy Keenan, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “The hard-line far right lobby holds more sway than the American people in Washington today. When the far right says `jump,’ this Senate asks `how high?”’

_ Andrea James

Legal Objections to Prince Charles’ Out-of-Church Wedding Fail

LONDON (RNS) Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles are one step closer to getting married out of church.

All eleven objections to the April 8 civil wedding of Prince Charles and Parker Bowles have been dismissed by the Registrar General for England and Wales, Len Cook.

The ruling, issued Tuesday (March 8), confirms a statement last month by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, that the wedding would be legal despite an explicit provision in the 1836 Marriage Act. That law, which introduced civil weddings in England and Wales, said such weddings “shall not extend to the marriage of any of the Royal Family.”

When Prince Charles’ sister, Princess Anne, married Timothy Laurence in 1992 following her divorce from Mark Phillips, the marriage took place in Scotland, with the ceremony conducted by a Church of Scotland minister. Legal opinion then was that a civil wedding in England would be impossible, while a Church of England wedding was ruled out because of the church’s official refusal to conduct a wedding for a divorced person whose former spouse was still living.

The Church of England now says it is quite happy to conduct a service of blessing following a civil ceremony for divorced people entering a second marriage. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, has said he will conduct a service of prayer and dedication for Prince Charles and Parker Bowles following their civil wedding in Windsor Guildhall.

_ Robert Nowell

New York launches online registry for kosher product certification

(RNS) The state of New York has implemented an online registry to enable consumers to verify the kosher certification of products on the market.

The searchable database, available at http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/kosher, is the result of the state’s Kosher Law Protection Act of 2004, which passed last July and took effect Jan. 9. The law is intended to provide consumers with information to assure them that products marked “kosher” do adhere to Jewish law.

Different groups of Jews have different standards regarding dietary laws, however, and that issue led a Brooklyn judge to declare a previous law unconstitutional in 2000 because it forced the state to determine a uniform standard of kosher food.

The new law requires producers, processors, packers, distributors and retailers of kosher products to register with the database and provide a mailing address and phone number for whoever certified the food as kosher. Kosher restaurants must also register their certifying information with the database.

If a producer or restaurant does not comply, the company can be fined between $1,000 and $10,000, depending on the number of times they have violated the law.

“By requiring vendors to disclose the basis for their representation that such foods are kosher, we have taken a crucial step in restoring the confidence of the kosher consuming public in the food purchases made,” said state Sen. Martin J. Golden of Brooklyn.

_ Holly Lebowitz Rossi

Quote of the Day: Dr. Kenneth Stevens of Physicians for Compassionate Care

(RNS) “We’ve always been concerned that the dose would not always be lethal and that there would be complications. In this situation, living is considered a complication.”

_ Dr. Kenneth Stevens, vice president of Physicians for Compassionate Care and chairman of the radiation oncology department at Oregon Health and Science University, reacting to the failed assisted suicide of David E. Prueitt. After ingesting a supposed lethal dose of doctor-prescribed medicine, Prueitt went into a coma. He later awoke and lived more than two weeks longer before dying of cancer.

MO/RB RNS END