c. 2005 Religion News Service
Bush Administration: Religious Schools Can Get FEMA Aid
WASHINGTON (RNS) Religious schools and faith-based community service organizations that suffered damage during the recent hurricanes are eligible to receive federal disaster grants, the Bush administration said Tuesday (Oct. 18).
Despite concerns from groups saying the government shouldn’t finance religiously affiliated groups, Jim Towey, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, said money will be available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency for rebuilding facilities damaged in hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Towey said a policy change in 2002 cleared the way for providing such relief. At that time, the Bush administration changed FEMA rules to provide a $550,000 grant to the Seattle-based Hebrew Academy, which was damaged in an earthquake.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans suffered significant damage to its schools. Towey said they will be eligible for FEMA grants after they have exhausted private insurance and have sought low-interest loans from the Small Business Administration. He said that other faith-based organizations, including those providing assisted living and critical health care, also would be eligible.
Alyssa McClenning, a spokeswoman for Towey’s office, said houses of worship will not be eligible for assistance. “Any facility that is used primarily for inherent religious activities will not be covered,” she said.
The plans drew criticism from Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which has protested the administration’s faith-based initiative.
“This policy is incoherent, unworkable and unconstitutional,” said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of the Washington-based watchdog group. “Towey and FEMA seem to believe that religious schools aren’t primarily religious. What a ridiculous assertion.”
_ Bill Walsh and Adelle M. Banks
Despite Tension With Chinese Government, Vatican Endorses Bishop
VATICAN CITY (RNS) A bishop ordained in China’s state-sanctioned church has received tacit approval from the Vatican despite rising tensions between the pope and the Chinese government, a Vatican-affiliated Web site reported Wednesday (Oct. 19).
According to AsiaNews.it, the Holy See appointed Paul He Zeqing to the post of auxiliary bishop at the diocese of Wanxian in Central China, and the Chinese government endorsed the decision.
Bishop Joseph Xu Zhixuan reportedly told clergy present at the ordination ceremony that the Holy See had given its nod to He, making him the third bishop ordained under such terms.
An estimated 5 million Chinese Catholics belong to the state-controlled church, which severed ties with the Vatican in 1951 after China’s Communist Party took control of the government. The underground church is believed to have at least 8 million faithful.
A point of division has been who holds power to appoint Chinese bishops. The Vatican maintains the pope has sole authority in naming bishops in China or any other country, while Catholic Patriotic Association of China officials say that power belongs to the communist government.
The Chinese government recently prevented four bishops from attending a synod of bishops currently underway in Rome. One, Bishop Li Jingfeng of Fengziang, sent a message that was read to the assembly Tuesday (Oct. 19) by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano. Writing in Latin, Li apologized for his absence and expressed hope that diplomatic relations between China and the Vatican would resume.
According to the Rev. John Bartunek, a synod spokesman, Pope Benedict is expected to reply to the bishop with a letter. Li, 85, was recognized by the official Chinese church in 2004 despite his longtime membership in the underground church.
Benedict also invited Jin Luxian of Shanghai and Li Duan of Xian to the synod. Both are key leaders in the official church, with tacit Vatican approval.
The fourth bishop, Wei Jingyi, 47, of Qiqihar, is not recognized by the Chinese government and spent four years in labor camps for his ties to the underground church.
Vatican observers interpreted Benedict’s invitation to bishops from both churches as symbolic gesture aimed at boosting unity between the two blocks.
A spokesman for China’s official church turned down the invitation, citing health concerns for the bishops and accusing the Vatican of showing “no respect” for China’s authority.
_ Stacy Meichtry
Biochemistry Professor Testifies for Intelligent Design
HARRISBURG, Pa. (RNS) In a high-profile trial, a Lehigh University biochemistry professor insisted intelligent design should be part of a science curriculum on evolution.
Michael J. Behe testified in federal court Tuesday (Oct. 18) that evolution is a theory that alone cannot explain the complexities of the immune system, blood clotting and other molecular intricacies of animals. He said such things may be the handiwork of an intelligent designer.
Under cross examination, he also said that astrology and intelligent design fit under his “broader” definition of scientific theory, a definition he acknowledged is not accepted by major scientific organizations.
“You’re not even able to convince your colleagues” that intelligent design is science, said Eric Rothschild, a lawyer representing parents opposed to the Dover Area School District’s policy requiring that a statement on intelligent design be read to ninth-graders in science class.
In August, Behe’s colleagues at Lehigh posted a statement on the university’s Web site saying they are “unequivocal in their support of evolutionary theory” and hold the position that “intelligent design has no basis in science, has not been tested experimentally, and should not be regarded as scientific.”
When Rothschild read the statement in U.S. Middle District Court, Behe questioned why his colleagues would “swear allegiance to a theory.” Behe also dismissed a statement made by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which said that intelligent design is not science, and that “the scientific consensus around evolution is overwhelming.”
Behe said the scientific community is “very hostile to the idea of intelligent design.”
Proponents of intelligent design hold that aspects of the universe and life are too complex to be explained through evolutionary science and that an unspecified intelligent designer must be responsible.
Under cross examination, Behe said he believes the intelligent designer is God, and he acknowledged submitting an article to The New York Times in which he asked, “Can science make room for religion?”
Behe was the first witness to take the stand on behalf of the Dover Area School District, which is in court defending its policy.
_ Bill Sulon
`God Bloggers’ Gather for First Annual Convention
LOS ANGELES (RNS) Evangelical Christian bloggers are relatively few in number, but there are enough of them to hold an annual convention.
The first national conference of “God bloggers” was a smallish affair that ended Saturday (Oct. 15) at Biola University. It emphasized how evangelical Web logs, called blogs, should be distinct from conventional, secular blogging.
“I’m not sure that the average Christian is using blogs; they’re just beginning to become aware of them,” said the Rev. Andrew Jackson, pastor at the Word of Grace Church in Mesa, Ariz.. “To me, blogging is not a hobby. It’s part of my vocation as a minister. I don’t see it as faddish.”
The chief organizer of the three-day conference was Matthew Anderson, a 23-year-old home-schooling tutor in Southern California. He said the gathering of about 125 Christian bloggers was meant to emphasize “the need to be Christians first and bloggers second.”
Workshops covered blogging basics plus topics such as “Blogging Christian Philosophy,” “Christian Political Blogging” and “Intelligent Design and Blogging.”
The Web site (http://www.godblogcon.com) featured “liveblogging” accounts of workshops and other sessions in progress. The two main convention sponsors were Multnomah Publishers of Multnomah, Ore., and The DeMoss Group, a faith-based public relations company based in Duluth, Ga.
Christian radio host Hugh Hewitt hosted his talk show from the Biola library during GodBlog. Jackson predicted bloggers would not acquire Christian radio’s influence but instead be “a parallel medium to it.”
Biola associate philosophy professor John Mark Reynolds praised blogging as a way for previously unheard voices to get a national and even international platform.
“Since the invention of the printing press, it has become harder and harder for people without means, without wealth, to get their opinions heard, and blogging is righting that imbalance,” Reynolds said.
_ David Finnigan
Quote of the Day: The Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson of Brotherhood Organization of New Destiny
(RNS) “Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan, the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus, most of the black preachers who are not called by God, but by their mama, represent evil. And so those people who are on the side of good have to stand up and let the light shine on that evil so that the people can see and see the right way to go.”
_ The Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder and president of the Los Angeles-based Brotherhood Organization of New Destiny. He was quoted by Citizen Link, the e-newsletter of Focus on the Family.
MO/LF END RNS
