c. 2005 Religion News Service
Uzbekistan Added to, India Dropped From List of Persecutors of Religion
WASHINGTON (RNS) An independent federal watchdog group announced Wednesday (May 11) that Uzbekistan has been added to and India dropped from its annual list of countries that have “engaged in or tolerated systematic and egregious violations” of religious freedom.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) presented its recommendations regarding “countries of particular concern” at a news conference at the National Press Club. By law, the U.S. secretary of state must consider the written report and take appropriate action within 180 days.
The commission reaffirmed its 2004 recommendations that the State Department designate Burma, the People’s Republic of China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam as countries of particular concern.
According to the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton, the secretary of state may designate countries that violate the individual pursuit of religious freedom as “countries of particular concern.” Once that happens, those countries may be subject to economic sanctions.
Uzbekistan made the list because since it gained independence in 1992, the Uzbek government has not upheld fundamental freedoms, including freedom of religion, said Preeta D. Bansal, chairwoman of the commission. The report said the government has strictly regulated Islamic practice through a Muslim Spiritual Board and has closed about 3,000 out of 5,000 mosques.
Government authorities have imprisoned and tortured thousands of Muslims, severely limiting their ability to practice their religion, Bansal said.
India was removed from the list of violators following “significant” improvements in religious freedom, said Michael Cromartie, USCIRF commissioner. In May 2004, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had been implicated in violence against religious minorities, was defeated. India is now on the commission’s watch list.
Bansal emphasized that the group’s designation “is not an end in itself, but the beginning of a focused, diplomatic effort to promote freedom of religion in the countries recommended for designation.”
_ Heather Horiuchi
Report: Anti-Muslim Discrimination up 49 Percent in One Year
WASHINGTON (RNS) The largest U.S. Islamic civil rights organization reported Wednesday (May 11) that acts of anti-Muslim discrimination increased by 49 percent last year.
A study by the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported 1,522 incidents of harassment, violence and discriminatory treatment were reported to the Washington-based organization in 2004, compared with 1,019 cases in 2003.
Anti-Muslim hate crimes increased from 93 cases in 2003 to 141 in 2004. These numbers are the highest the organization has seen since its inception in 1994.
CAIR attributed the boost in complaints to a lingering atmosphere of fear among American Muslims, opinion leaders using anti-Muslim rhetoric and legislation that infringes on civil rights.
“These disturbing figures come as no surprise given growing Islamophobic sentiments and a general misperception of Islam and Muslims,” said Arsalan Iftikhar, CAIR’s national legal director and the report’s author.
According to CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad, anti-Muslim speech by some religious leaders is widening the gap between the United States and the Muslim world. He cited religious broadcaster Pat Robertson and the Rev. Jerry Falwell, a Baptist minister, for making inflammatory remarks.
“It’s obvious that there are key religious leaders that are attacking the Muslim religion,” said Awad. “ … This hurts the fabric of our society.”
Ten states reported 79 percent of all incidents. California (20 percent), New York (10 percent) and Arizona (9 percent) were the top three, with Virginia, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey and Illinois rounding off the list.
There was some good news in the report.
Complaints involving federal and state agencies decreased from 29 percent of all incidents in 2003 to 19 percent last year. Internet harassment declined from 7 percent to less than 1 percent. Workplace discrimination dropped from 23 percent to 18 percent of the organization’s 2004 complaints.
According to Iftikhar, the report was intended to illustrate the mistreatment Muslim-Americans experienced after Sept. 11 so that the Bush administration and Congress might take action.
CAIR supports the Security and Freedom Enhancement Act that would amend the USA Patriot Act, which the report calls “infamous” and “ominous.” The SAFE bill, sponsored by Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, would create checks and balances like restricting searching some records.
_ Helena Andrews
Methodists OK Communion Pact With Lutherans, Episcopalians
(RNS) United Methodist bishops have approved an agreement to share the sacrament of Communion with Episcopalians and Lutherans, the first step in moving the three churches toward “full communion.”
The bishops, meeting in Arlington, Va., approved the pact May 5. Church officials expect similar agreements to be approved by the Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America within a year.
The three-way agreement allows the three denominations to share Communion and join in ministry together. It also moves the churches one step closer to “full communion,” in which the three churches can swap clergy and recognize one another’s sacraments.
The Episcopal Church and the Lutherans already have a two-way full communion agreement that was formally launched in 2001. The Methodists hope to enter full communion with the Lutherans by 2008 and the Episcopalians by 2012.
“Our oneness is in Christ,” said Methodist Bishop Peter Weaver of Boston, president of the Council of Bishops. “So these agreements are not just about sharing Communion with each other; they’re about recognizing that we are part of one body of Christ and thus one mission for Christ in the world.”
In other action, the Methodists agreed to join a new ecumenical body, Christian Churches Together in the USA, as provisional members. The new body will bring Catholics, evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Orthodox and Pentecostal churches together for the first time. It is expected to be formally launched this fall.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
N.C. Baptist Pastor Resigns After Political Controversy
(RNS) The pastor of a North Carolina Baptist church has resigned after days of controversy over allegations that he told members to “repent or resign” if they intended to vote for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in the last election.
Chan Chandler left his East Waynesville Baptist Church in Waynesville, N.C., on Tuesday (May 10) after giving a brief statement, the Associated Press reported.
“For me to remain now would only cause more hurt for me and my family,” said the 33-year-old minister, who led the church for three years.
News reports that nine church members who didn’t agree politically with the minister were forced to resign led a Washington-based watchdog group to ask the Internal Revenue Service to consider investigating the church.
But Chandler told Baptist Press, the news service of the Southern Baptist Convention, that he cited “unbiblical values” of some political candidates on abortion and homosexuality but did not go as far as some claim with comments related to the election.
“I don’t know how these folks voted,” he said of the members who alleged he had forced them out. “And I never endorsed any candidate.”
Chandler told the news service that he differed with some Southern Baptists who think politics and religion shouldn’t mix. He also said he suspects recent discord in his church was caused by his preaching that Christians should reflect the Bible’s teaching when they vote.
“This never has been about politics,” he said. “It’s always been about whether the Bible applies to the entire life of a Christian.”
The controversy prompted critical reaction from groups advocating church-state separation and supportive comments from some of Chandler’s Southern Baptist brethren.
“The developments at this church clearly show the result of pulpit-based electioneering,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “It leads to ill will among congregants and divides congregations.”
A seminary professor defended his former student for standing up for his beliefs even if he “was not as diplomatic as he could have been.”
“… Since I believe that America should protect freedom of conscience and the right to speak freely in a religious pulpit, I am saddened that a young minister should be subject to such an inquisition for standing for biblical morality and the teachings of his church,” wrote Waylan Owens, vice president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., in a commentary that appeared in Baptist Press on Monday.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Alabama Bishop’s Retirement Approved _ Twice
(RNS) The Catholic bishop of Birmingham, Ala., has the unusual distinction of having his retirement approved by two different popes.
The Vatican announced Tuesday (May 10) that Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop David E. Foley, head of the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham.
Foley turned in his resignation in February when he turned 75, the mandatory retirement age for bishops.
Foley had previously been informed that his retirement could take effect April 7, between Pope John Paul II’s death and the election of Benedict, but later learned the new pope would have to approve it.
Pope John Paul II had approved it, Foley said, but then died before the paperwork and public announcement could be completed. The rules of the Vatican required that such uncompleted official business be held over for the next pope.
Foley said he looks forward to retiring in Alabama, filling in for parish priests. “I was a parish priest for 30 years before I became a bishop,” said Foley, who came to Birmingham in 1994 after almost eight years as an auxiliary bishop in Richmond, Va.
He said he prefers serving individuals rather than working in administration. “You don’t save souls diocese by diocese,” Foley said. “You save souls one by one.”
_ Greg Garrison
Quote of the Day: Oakwood College professor Bobby Harrison
(RNS) “I believed it, even though there were people who kept saying, `No, no, no.’ This has been a journey of faith for 30 years and it paid off.”
_ Bobby Harrison, an art and photography professor at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Ala., and the co-author of an article revealing the sighting of the ivory-billed woodpecker, long believed to be extinct. His school is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church and he was quoted by Adventist News Network Bulletin.
MO/PH END RNS
