c. 2005 Religion News Service
Council of Churches Joins Jesse Jackson in Push to Renew Voting Rights Act
(RNS) The National Council of Churches has thrown its support behind an effort by the Rev. Jesse Jackson to renew key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 set to expire in 2007.
Jackson is planning a massive rally in Atlanta on Aug. 6 to mark the 40th anniversary of the landmark civil rights legislation, and put pressure on Washington to renew parts of the bill that protect minority voters, especially in the South.
Jackson, speaking at NCC headquarters in New York on Monday (July 11), said he is not convinced that President Bush is committed to extending the bill, although GOP leaders in Congress have promised to make it a priority.
Several members of the Congressional Black Caucus _ including Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill. _ said Bush seemed completely unaware that the Voting Rights Act was up for renewal during a White House meeting earlier this year.
Three portions of the act expire in 2007 _ one requires states (mostly in the South) to get federal approval before making major changes to voting systems; another requires bilingual assistance to minority voters; a third authorizes federal elections monitors in states where minority voters have been disenfranchised.
“We have 50 separate but unequal voting systems,” Jackson said, referring to the systems in each state.
Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee, told National Public Radio in April that “we have a Justice Department and a president that is totally committed to enforcing the Voting Rights Act.” He did not refer to its reauthorization.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told the NAACP in January that he will work to reauthorize the bill before it expires, according to The Washington Post.
The Rev. Bob Edgar, the NCC’s general secretary, said the umbrella group of 36 mainline Protestant, Orthodox and historically black denominations supports Jackson’s campaign.
“Voting rights is not a liberal issue or a conservative issue,” he said. “What could be more fundamental to our God-given rights than the unimpeded right to vote?”
Jackson’s effort also has the support of most labor groups, civil rights groups and several black denominations, including the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the National Progressive Baptist Convention.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Vatican Reports Finances Back in the Black
VATICAN CITY (RNS) After years of failing to break even, the Vatican on Monday (July 11) revealed a $3.7 million surplus in its 2004 fiscal Consolidated Financial Report.
“After three years with negative results, the year 2004 closed in the black,” Cardinal Sergio Sebastiani, head of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, said in a press conference.
The Vatican’s overall investment portfolio closed 2004 with a $7.3 million profit, and its real estate sector ended the year with a net gain of $29.9 million, an 11 percent increase from 2003.
But while the Vatican’s private investments yielded promising figures, its media institutions were financially taxing for the Holy See in 2004, which lowered the overall bottom line.
The Vatican’s total revenue totaled $247 million, with expenses totaling $243 million. The statement revealed that Vatican Radio, Vatican Printing Press, television center and publishing house finished the year with a $5.2 million deficit _ a hike of nearly $4 million from 2003.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi, director of programming for Vatican Radio, said the rise in expenses represents a natural increase.
“Every year it is the same. We are not a commercial organization, so obviously monies we received must be sufficient to cover costs,” Lombardi said.
Those costs, Lombardi said, include everything from yearly raises in salary to maintaining sophisticated radio equipment. “Vatican Radio has naturally always been technologically up to date. Now everything is digital,” he said.
Dependant on donations received by the Holy See’s administrative offices and Vatican City’s commercial institutions, Vatican Radio is syndicated worldwide in 34 different languages.
_ Sofia Celeste
Newspaper Rebuts Claim It’s Hostile Toward Christianity
(RNS) The Indianapolis Star is fighting allegations from two former editorial writers who say in a federal lawsuit that the newspaper consistently demonstrated “hostility toward Christianity.”
“The allegations are inaccurate and misleading,” Indiana’s largest newspaper says in a written statement. “Editorial positions now as in the past, often support Christian positions on public issues. Any reader of The Star can see stories, editorials, columns, letters to the editor and other items that clearly show respect for Christian views if not outright backing of those views.”
The Star’s statement came in response to a suit filed in June by former editorial writers James Patterson and Lisa Coffey. The suit alleges a pattern of religious as well as race-based and age-based discrimination at the Star and also names its parent company, Gannett Co.
The two plaintiffs aspire to get their jobs back and also receive compensation for lost income, benefits and emotional distress, according to the Associated Press.
“Lisa and I aren’t the only employees that have been driven away from this company,” Patterson told the AP. “And we thought it was time for someone to say `Goodness gracious. This isn’t right’.”
The Star, however, defends its record by pointing for instance to editorial policies to print a Bible verse on page one, a daily prayer on page two and a daily column by evangelist Billy Graham in features.
“On our opinion pages, we want clear, well-researched and fact-based editorials,” a second Star statement says. “On those pages we are committed to ensuring that all views are welcome in the discussion of public issues. The plaintiffs seem to believe that the only views that should be expressed by the newspaper are the plaintiffs’.”
_ G. Jeffrey MaDonald
Company Expanding `Faith Nights’ to More Minor-League Baseball Parks
(RNS) Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber are making guest appearances at minor-league baseball parks from coast to coast this year as a company that offered “Faith Nights” at Nashville Sounds’ games last year takes the concept nationwide.
With Moses, Samson and Noah bobbleheads and promotions such as New Testament giveaways, the Sounds drew more than 550 church groups to seven such events in 2004.
Attendance at the Sounds’ Faith Nights averaged 9,800 _ more than 3,500 better than the season average, team officials said.
Nashville, Tenn.-based Third Coast Sports said it is sponsoring similar events in 10 cities this season, from the Birmingham Barons and Tulsa Drillers to the Fort Worth Cats and Portland Beavers.
Kevin Huffman, vice president of operations for Third Coast Sports, said church members in the 2005 lineup of cities plan evangelistic efforts on Faith Nights.
“The churches in these cities are already stepping up in good numbers and using these events as opportunities for churchwide fellowship and outreach,” Huffman said. “We couldn’t be happier.”
Bob and Larry from the Christian animated series “VeggieTales” will appear in each city and be available for photographs before games, Third Coast spokesman Matt Toy said.
Plans call for “VeggieTales” creator Big Idea Inc. to give away 2,000 Bob the Tomato baseballs in each city. Also scheduled are Christian concerts and testimonies by players.
The lineup of remaining Faith Night games cities and dates follows:
_ Birmingham Barons (Ala.), Sept. 3.
_ Columbus Catfish (Ga.), Aug. 19.
_ Fort Worth Cats (Texas), July 22 and Aug. 6.
_ Hagerstown Suns (Md.), July 15.
_ West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (Jackson, Tenn.), July 15 and Aug. 19.
_ Johnson City Cardinals (Tenn.), Aug. 20.
_ Mobile Bay Bears (Ala.), July 15 and Aug. 12.
_ Tulsa Drillers (Okla.), Aug. 5 and Sept. 2
A list of concert artists, game times and giveaways can be found at http://www.thirdcoastsports.com.
_ Bobby Ross Jr.
American Tract Society Creates Ten Commandments Cards
(RNS) Capitalizing on the controversy surrounding Supreme Court rulings on Ten Commandments displays, one ministry has embarked on a nationwide campaign to place small versions of the commandments in the pockets of Americans.
The American Tract Society, a nondenominational Christian organization that has produced religious literature since 1825, began distributing the first wave of its Core Value Cards in early July in the hope of bringing the faithful back to the basics.
“There are a lot of people going to church today, but they’re forgetting these basic tenets,” said Mark Brown, vice president of marketing for the American Tract Society.
The graphically simplistic cards will be stiffer, smaller and of higher quality than the standard six-panel tracts that the ministry has produced throughout its 180-year history, Brown said.
The pocket-sized cards will cost 10 cents to 20 cents and will feature evangelistic messages, Brown said.
“People can buy them for their own use, and yet they’re cheap enough to give away,” he said. “It’s hard to give away a Bible.”
While the cards are expected to be used primarily by churches, many individuals will buy the product for pre-evangelistic distribution at such occasions as Halloween, Brown said.
The American Tract Society will follow the Ten Commandments cards with 20 to 30 more installments ranging from the Lord’s Prayer to the Nicene Creed in August. Sales are projected to climb into the millions within a year, Brown said.
_ Jason Kane
Quote of the Day: Robert H. Bork, former judge
(RNS) “Once the justices depart, as most of them have, from the original understanding of the principles of the Constitution, they lack any guidance other than their own attempts at moral philosophy, a task for which they have not even minimal skills. ”
_ Robert H. Bork, former U.S. Court of Appeals judge and rejected Supreme Court justice nominee, on the role of justices. His op/ed appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
MO/JL END RNS
