c. 2005 Religion News Service

Unitarians Form Commission to Probe Charges of Church Racism

(RNS) The Unitarian Universalist Association has established a special review commission to investigate allegations of institutional racism after a series of conflicts at the church’s annual meeting in Fort Worth, Texas.

Tensions flared at the five-day meeting in June when white delegates assumed several non-white UUA youth were hotel service people. Among other events, white Unitarians asked several non-white delegates to carry their bags and park their cars, board secretary Paul Rickter wrote in an open letter of apology posted on the denomination’s Web site in July.

UUA President the Rev. Bill Sinkford and Moderator Gini Courter appointed a five-member commission _ a collection of ministers and members from across the United States _ to review the events leading up to and during the General Assembly.

“The goal is to identify learnings about the structures of racism and ageism both within and outside our faith community which we must address in our journey toward wholeness,” Courter and Sinkford wrote in an Sept. 1 e-mail.

The 200,000-member denomination, which draws inspiration from a variety of sources including Christianity, Buddhism and naturist traditions, lists the pursuit of equality as one of its guiding principles. Though Unitarians have a reputation for tolerance and political liberalism, the June event sparked debate about the possibility of underlying racial tensions within the mostly white denomination.

A faction of Unitarians believes the problems stemmed from the disrespectful behavior displayed by the youth at the conference. Courter and Sinkford hope the commission will lead to answers.

“We expect no recommendations about the behavior of individuals,” they wrote. “Institutional learning is our goal.”

_ Jason Kane

Christian Schools Accuse University of California of Discrimination

LOS ANGELES (RNS) Christian schools have filed a discrimination lawsuit against the University of California, accusing the public institution of refusing to accept courses from private schools with a conservative Christian perspective.

Calvary Chapel Christian School in Murrieta, Calif., and the Association of Christian Schools International, which represents 800 Christian schools in California and nearly 4,000 schools nationwide, charged UC officials with refusing to certify courses that teach creationism and other beliefs.

The University of California system requires private school students to meet certain high-school course requirements before they are eligible to apply to one of the nine undergraduate UC campuses. Only courses that have been approved by university officials can count toward the requirements.

“This case is about viewpoint discrimination,” said Robert Tyler, a lawyer with Advocates for Faith and Freedom, who is representing Calvary. “The university system is apparently going to allow just about every viewpoint to be taught except Christianity.”

According to the complaint, which was filed Aug. 25, UC officials have routinely rejected science courses that teach creationism. They have also rejected non-science courses, including three courses submitted for approval by Calvary: “Christianity’s Influence on American History,” “Christianity and Morality in American Literature” and “Special Providence: American Government.”

“Out of all the different perspectives taught in textbooks _ liberal and conservative, African-American and Hispanic, feminist and environmentalist, and Jewish, Buddhist and Christian _ only one has been singled out to be discriminated against,” said Wendell Bird, an Atlanta-based lawyer who represents the association of schools.

The UC policy, Bird said, violates the First Amendment rights _ including freedom of speech and religion _ of Christian schools, students and teachers.

Ravi Poorsina, a spokewoman for the university, did not dispute the schools’ right to teach their viewpoints. But she said the rejected courses primarily used religious texts and failed to meet UC standards for “knowledge generally accepted, for example, in the scientific or educational communities.”

“Our core objective is to make sure all students who come into the university are thoroughly prepared for UC coursework,” she added.

University of California officials have until mid-September to respond to the complaint, although they could ask for an extension. Bird, representing the Christian schools association, said he expected the first court hearing to take place in December.

_ Sarah Price Brown

Air Force Clears General Accused of Proselytizing at Academy

(RNS) The Air Force has cleared a brigadier general accused of violating the Constitution by proselytizing non-Christian cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

The military service determined that the allegation against Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida, the commandant of cadets at the academy, “was not substantiated,” said Jennifer Stephens, an Air Force spokeswoman, in a Wednesday (Sept. 7) statement.

The Air Force Inspector General’s office investigated whether Weida violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause by “using a religious communicative code to facilitate the proselytizing of non-Christian cadets.”

Weida, an evangelical Christian, was investigated for his outspoken promotion of faith and had been criticized for promoting the National Day of Prayer in an e-mail message.

“Gen. Weida has readily acknowledged that his actions were inappropriate and has taken positive, visible corrective actions that reflect his true character,” Stephens said. “Since the incident in question, Gen. Weida has also been a key leader in terms of strengthening and improving religious accommodation policies for cadets of all religions, along with those who claim no religion,” at the academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

On Aug. 29, the Air Force service issued new interim guidelines urging its military members and civilian employees to protect the free exercise of religion. Those guidelines were called for in a June report that investigated the religious climate at the academy.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Spread of AIDS in Russia to be Combated by `Moral Values,’ Priestly Aid

MOSCOW (RNS) The Russian Orthodox Church has launched a new program aimed at preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in Russia, where experts are predicting an epidemic of the disease similar to the situation in Africa.

The program will see priests give spiritual guidance to HIV/AIDS patients and their families, as well as practical assistance in hospitals and prisons. Churches will also set up hotlines and consultation centers.

Priests will be instructed to treat people with the disease “as any other person suffering from some serious illness” and will be encouraged to promote tolerance for patients in their congregations, Father Vladimir Shmaly said at a press conference on Tuesday (Sept. 6).

“The HIV epidemic is a problem for society, the church and the state,” Shmaly said. “The church is prepared to help all of those who ask for it.”

The program also calls for promoting religious values to prevent the spread of the disease, including discouraging sex with multiple partners, drug use and homosexuality.

“The most important element of the struggle against this terrible disease must be the preaching of moral values,” Shmaly said. “The church must provide people with alternatives in the face of the massive spread of immoral patterns, such as drug consumption and depravity.”

Government officials welcomed the church’s participation in fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS. Alexander Goliusov, an HIV/AIDS expert with the Federal Consumer Rights and Public Well-Being watchdog, said the church will be “an important and indispensable partner” and called its program “an historic step in combating the spread of the epidemic.”

Critics have attacked Russian authorities and the church for being slow to respond to the country’s growing HIV/AIDS problem. Russia has the largest HIV/AIDS epidemic in Europe, with more than 1 million people infected, according to various studies. Initially seen here as a disease that affected only intravenous drug users, HIV/AIDS is increasingly spreading to the general population. Infection rates are higher in Russia than anywhere outside sub-Saharan Africa and experts predict more than 5 million Russians could die of the disease in the next 20 years.

_ Michael Mainville

France Reports Only a Dozen Violations of Head Scarf Ban

PARIS (RNS) The number of students defying a controversial year-old ban on religious accessories in public schools has shrunk dramatically to just a dozen infractions, French officials said.

A week after children returned to school, the French Ministry of Education reported that only one Sikh boy and 11 Muslim girls have defied the ban on wearing Muslim head scarves, large Christian crosses, Jewish skullcaps and other “conspicuous” religious accessories in public school.

Those numbers contrast sharply with the 240 infractions registered on the first day of school in 2004 alone, when the ban went into effect.

The ban sparked ire on the part of some religious groups _ notably Muslims _ both at home and abroad. Indeed, it was cited as one reason for the kidnapping of two French journalists in Iraq last year. Both were freed in December.

Altogether, 639 infractions were registered during the 2004-2005 school year, the Education Ministry reported. Almost all were by head scarf-wearing Muslim girls; four Sikh boys refused to remove their turbans.

Most of those violating the ban came from just a few schools, mostly located in the Paris suburb of Seine St.-Denis and in the eastern French town of Strasbourg, the ministry said. Both areas have large Muslim communities.

Strikingly, 500 of the offenders eventually agreed to remove their offending religious accessory while in school, an Education Ministry official said in a telephone interview.

The agreements often took place after extensive talks among school administrators, teachers, students and their families, the official added.

Another 76 opted for other educational alternatives, usually via distance learning. The other 63 students appear to have dropped out of school.

“We hope the few cases that remain can be dealt with by the end of the week,” the Education Ministry official said, referring to the dozen infractions registered this year. “These few cases means the law was well explained, and that’s a positive sign.”

_ Elizabeth Bryant

Editors: Shari’a in name of group is CQ

Ontario Says No to Islamic Tribunals

TORONTO (RNS) After two years of acrimonious debate, the Canadian province of Ontario on Sunday (Sept. 11) said it would not permit the use of private Islamic tribunals to settle family disputes between Muslims.

In an announcement that caught both supporters and opponents of Shariah tribunals off-guard, Premier Dalton McGuinty told Canadian Press that he would nix the use of all religious law in family arbitration.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that the debate has gone on long enough,” McGuinty told the national news agency. “There will be no Shariah law in Ontario. There will be no religious arbitration in Ontario. There will be one law for all Ontarians.”

In May, the neighboring province of Quebec also rejected the use of Shariah tribunals.

McGuinty said religious arbitrations “threaten our common ground” and promised his Liberal government would introduce legislation to ban them in the province “as soon as possible.”

McGuinty set aside the findings of a report issued last December, in which a former Ontario attorney general recommended that Shariah tribunals be permitted, provided certain safeguards were enacted to protect the rights of women and children.

The move to use Shariah in private arbitration surfaced nearly two years ago when mainly conservative Muslims demanded the same rights as Ismaili Muslims, who have used Conciliation and Arbitration Boards (CABs) since 1987, and Jews, who have operated private rabbinic courts in the province for decades.

Ontario’s 1991 Arbitration Act, designed to take pressure off courts, permitted religious groups to operate faith-based legal tribunals provided both parties consent. The rulings have been legally binding since 1992.

The specter of Shariah courts in Ontario set off a firestorm of protest around the world. Women’s groups and progressive Muslims feared the panels would discriminate against women, especially immigrants and members of closed communities, in matters such as divorce, child custody and inheritance.

Supporters of the plan slammed McGuinty as misguided.

“He obviously caved in to political pressure from a minority with a loud voice,” said Mohammed Elmasry, head of the Canadian Islamic Congress. “Not only will it cost him at the polls in the next election, the problem won’t go away. … Arbitration will continue anyway, because it is part of our social fabric.”

Homa Arjomand, an Iranian-born women’s rights activist who led the International Campaign Against Shari’a Court in Ontario, told RNS she was elated at the news. “I was so happy, you wouldn’t believe it. We managed to push back,” she said.

_ Ron Csillag

Leading Archbishop Says Gays Should be Banned from Seminaries

(RNS) The U.S. archbishop who will oversee a Vatican review of all Catholic seminaries says gay men, even if celibate, should be barred from them.

Archbishop Edwin O’Brien told the independent National Catholic Register newspaper that he expects a Vatican policy on gay seminarians to be released soon, according to the Associated Press.

“I think anyone who has engaged in homosexual activity, or has strong homosexual inclinations, would be best not to apply to a seminary and not to be accepted into a seminary,” O’Brien told the newspaper.

O’Brien oversees the church’s Washington-based Military Archdiocese. He was recently tapped to oversee a two-year Vatican review of U.S. seminaries that was approved in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse scandal.

Church observers expect the Vatican investigation to focus sharply on how men are prepared to live celibate lives as priests. The review also is expected to look at how they are schooled in moral theology and church teaching on sexuality.

On-site visits will be made to all 229 U.S. seminaries by three- and four-member teams appointed by the Vatican.

In 2004, there were a total of 4,556 seminary students in the U.S., including 1,248 in college-level programs.

Although church teaching officially considers homosexuality “objectively disordered,” the church expects all priests _ gay and straight _ to live celibate lives, regardless of sexual orientation.

Gay Catholic groups say they fear that gay priests and seminarians will be treated as scapegoats for the sexual abuse scandal.

A leading umbrella group for abuse survivors said the focus on gay priests is a smokescreen.

“As long as the focus remains … on priests, the root cause of this crisis _ cowardly, cold-hearted bishops _ will escape accountability,” said Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Catholic Dioceses in Seven States Urge Court to Uphold Marriage Amendment

(RNS) Catholic dioceses in seven states are urging the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to restore a Nebraska ban on gay marriage that was overturned by a district court last May.

All 21 dioceses within the circuit court’s jurisdiction _ including Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas _ joined Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning’s appeal to reverse the lower court’s decision.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon in Omaha struck down the 5-year-old ammendment to the Nebraska Constitution in May, calling the ban overly broad and saying it prevented gays from fully participating in the political process.

The ruling was the first to reverse a state constitutional amendment confining marriage to one man and one woman.

“This is a highly significant case, with major public-policy ramifications both in the present and for the future, and the opportunity to have a voice in the current process could not be ignored or bypassed,” James R. Cunningham, executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, said in a statement.

Similar state constitutional amendments in North Dakota, Missouri and Arkansas could be jeopardized if the ruling were allowed to stand, Cunningham said.

Joining in the brief are Nebraska-based family advocacy organizations Family First and Families for America. Each “friend of the court” brief was filed by state Catholic conferences. The dioceses of Rapid City and Sioux Falls, S.D., and Little Rock, Ark., joined the brief individually because there are no state Catholic conferences in those states.

_ Jason Kane

Quote of the Week: W. Todd Bassett, Salvation Army National Commander

(RNS) “Certainly, in my history of 41 years as a Salvation Army officer, this is the greatest mobilization of churches in general, but definitely the Christian churches, who in my mind have come to truly realize what Jesus said in Matthew in the 25th chapter: `Inasmuch as you do unto the least of me, you do unto me.”’

_ Commissioner W. Todd Bassett, the Salvation Army’s national commander, who has been heavily involved with relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He was quoted in the New York Times.

KRE/RB END RNS