c. 2005 Religion News Service
New Kansas Science Standards Critical of Evolution, Darwin
(RNS) A sharply divided Kansas State Board of Education voted 6-4 Tuesday (Nov. 8) to adopt new science standards that call for taking a critical view of evolution.
The vote ended an acerbic 10-month debate that pitted advocates of a theory called intelligent design against major science organizations, with the board’s conservative majority leading the push to question the theory of evolution first advanced by Charles Darwin.
“No longer will Darwin be taught dogmatically in Kansas public schools,” John Calvert, managing director of the Intelligent Design Network of Shawnee Mission, Kan., told the Lawrence Journal-World.
But Jack Krebs, a science teacher and vice president of Kansas Citizens for Science, told The Kansas City Star: “The standards are bad science … an abuse of the educational system and they advance a particular religious viewpoint.”
Under the standards, Kansas students will study not only “the best evidence for modern evolutionary theory,” but also “areas where scientists are raising scientific criticisms of that theory.”
While advocates of intelligent design pushed for the changes, “these standards neither mandate nor prohibit teaching about this scientific disagreement,” according to the document.
Board Chairman Steve Abrams _ a member of the First Baptist Church of Arkansas City, Kan. _ said he considers evolutionary theory incompatible with the biblical account of creation. He praised the new standards at Tuesday’s packed meeting.
But Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius called the action “just the latest in a series of troubling decisions by the Board of Education.”
The debate could continue to dominate Kansas politics as four of the six board members who supported the new standards are up for re-election in 2006.
The National Academy of Science and the National Science Teachers Association both opposed the new standards and withdrew permission for Kansas to use copyrighted material that had been incorporated throughout the standards.
However, the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based organization active in the intelligent design movement, said the standards will expand the information presented to students by offering scientific criticisms.
Kansas is the fifth state to adopt policies on teaching evolution that have been praised by the Discovery Institute. The others are Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and New Mexico.
_ Bobby Ross Jr.
AIDS Activists Chain Themselves to Christian Group’s Marriage Statue
(RNS) AIDS activists recently chained themselves around a statue at a conservative Christian group’s headquarters, protesting federal funding of abstinence-only HIV prevention programs.
Waving signs that read “Cure AIDS: Tell Youth the Truth” and “Condoms Work,” 12 protesters picketed Friday (Nov. 7) in the Washington lobby of the Family Research Council, which advocates abstinence and discourages condom distribution in combatting HIV transmission.
“We wanted to protest at their offices to expose their strong links to the Bush administration,” said John Riley of ACT UP, an AIDS advocacy group known for civil disobedience. “They’re no longer just some outsider group.”
Police arrested protesters, one wearing a full-body condom, who were chained around a sculpture of a bald eagle supporting a bride and groom. The demonstrators spent a day and a half in jail, according to Michael Kink of Housing Works, a support group for homeless New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS.
The statue represents the Family Research Council’s commitment to traditional marriage.
“Activists cannot silence those who proclaim the undeniable reality that abstinence before marriage and fidelity within marriage are the only formula for `safe sex,”’ said Tony Perkins, president of the council.
Demonstrators said that by denying access to information, condoms and sterile syringes (to reduce AIDS transmission by drug users), abstinence-only supporters put people at risk.
“The Bush administration puts blinders on and talks about marriage as if it’s some sort of vaccine,” said Asia Russell of ACT UP. The federal government spends more than $100 million on abstinence-only programs each year.
Perkins said the protesters were intolerant of people of faith.
Kink said Housing Works, led by a Baptist minister jailed in the protests, has many religious supporters, particularly in black churches disproportionately affected by AIDS.
“There is a difference of opinion among people of faith,” said Kink.
Twenty-nine other demonstrators were jailed for creating a graveyard with their bodies, symbolizing AIDS deaths, at the White House fence. Protesters also tried to deliver a “golden funeral urn award” to the Washington offices of the pro-abstinence-only Concerned Women of America, but were not let in.
The events followed similar protests in Baltimore at a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services abstinence education workshop last week.
_ Nicole LaRosa
Groups Urge Chavez to Reverse New Tribes Expulsion
(RNS) Protestant and Pentecostal organizations in Venezuela have asked to meet with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez before the final implementation of his order to expel missionaries from the New Tribes Mission.
Leaders of the Evangelical Council and Pentecostal Evangelical Federation of Venezuela said they wanted to meet with Chavez “so we are heard by you,” the religiously based Latin American and Caribbean News Agency reported.
There was no immediate response from the government to the request.
The groups asked that the missionaries _ there are some 153 New Tribes personnel in Venezuela _ not be expelled until an investigation is carried out by the government on the charges Chavez has leveled against the Florida-based group.
If any irregularities were found, they said, “we would be in agreement with the government’s measure.”
Chavez is an ardent opponent of the United States and Washington’s free trade measures which he says are economic imperialism.
In mid-October, in ordering the expulsion of the New Tribes missionaries, he accused the group of “imperialist infiltration” and exploitation of indigenous tribes, and suggested New Tribes personnel worked with the CIA.
In their Oct. 31 letter to Chavez, the two religious groups noted that New Tribes is a member of the Evangelical Council and had been officially recognized by the Justice and Worship Board of Venezuela’s Ministry of Justice since 1984.
They said Chavez’s charges do not correspond to the work of New Tribes as they know it.
New Tribes, which has worked in Venezuela for almost 60 years, places special emphasis on Bible translation and literacy education and on integrating the often isolated and marginalized indigenous tribes into the national life of the country.
_ David E. Anderson
Religious and Human Rights Groups Asks Bush To Condemn Torture
(RNS) A broad coalition of religious, legal and human rights organizations has urged President Bush to condemn acts of torture.
“For more than a century United States policy prohibited torture,” reads the coalition’s Nov. 3 letter to the president.
“The prohibition served us well and must be restored in U.S. policy and practice. U.S. engagement and complicity in torture and inhumane treatment are grave legal and moral wrongs.”
Religious signatories include organizations representing Muslims, Quakers, Catholics and Unitarian Universalists. They joined groups ranging from the American Humanist Association to Amnesty International USA to the National Immigrant Solidarity Network.
“The degrading practices that have been used in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and elsewhere, and the practice of rendering prisoners to countries known to use torture, are absolute wrongdoings in themselves,” they wrote.
“In addition to inflicting pain, these acts have made both our country and the world less safe from terrorism.”
They said recent U.S. policy has reduced the country’s standing with other nations.
When asked on Monday (Nov. 7) about reports that Vice President Dick Cheney had asked that the CIA be exempt from legislation to ban torture, President Bush responded by saying, “We do not torture.”
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said in a press briefing that it is “flat-out false” to say that the administration is seeking such an exemption.
“There are laws that are on the books that prohibit the use of torture,” McClellan said. “And we adhere to those laws.”
John W. Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute, a Charlottesville, Va., civil liberties organization that is a signatory, said it is important for the United States to set an example.
“The United States must take the lead in condemning the use of torture as a grave legal and moral wrong,” he said. “If we are to help make the world a safe place, we must begin by showing that we are committed to respecting the inherent worth and dignity of all human beings, whether they are U.S. citizens or prisoners of war.”
The religious groups that signed the letter included the Washington office of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Unitarian Universalist Association, American Muslim Voice, Friends Committee on National Legislation (the Quakers), and NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby.
_ Adelle M. Banks
After Hindu Protest, British Christmas Stamp Partially Withdrawn
LONDON (RNS) A Christmas stamp that British Hindus protested against as “insensitive and inappropriate” has been partially withdrawn by the Royal Mail.
Post Office branches have been asked only to give customers the 68p stamp _ the airmail postage for a Christmas card _ if they specifically ask for it, and the stamp will not be reprinted.
The offending stamp is a reproduction of a 1620 painting from the Mughal Empire showing an Indian version of the Holy Family, with the figures of what are presumably Joseph and Mary bearing Hindu marks on their foreheads.
Offering its “sincerest apologies” for any upset caused, Royal Mail said: “Our intention for Christmas 2005 was to use the enduring image of `mother and child,’ and we specifically wanted to explore how the theme had been interpreted across the world. It was certainly not our intention to offend the Hindu community.
“We apply a rigorous research process to all our stamp developments, and in this instance we sought and acted on the advice we were given. With hindsight we now recognize that we should have consulted further, and we are currently reviewing processes to improve and reinforce them.
The Hindu Forum of Britain, which raised the objections to the stamp, welcomed the talks between the government’s Department of Trade and Industry and the Royal Mail which resulted in the decision only to issue the stamp if it were specifically asked for and not to reprint it.
_ Robert Nowell
Despite Warning by Robertson, Pa. Town Not Worried About God’s Wrath
DOVER, Pa. (RNS) Television broadcaster Pat Robertson has proclaimed God will forsake a Pennsylvania town because its voters tossed out school board members who supported the teaching of intelligent design.
But residents interviewed in the Dover Area School District said they’re not worried.
“God doesn’t do that,” said Chris Macdonald, 50, seated at the Moonlight Cafe in Dover. “I’m not worried. Not at all.”
Robertson made the statement Thursday (Nov. 10) on his syndicated talk show, “The 700 Club.” Robertson hosts the show, produced by the Christian Broadcasting Network.
He warned that if a disaster befalls the Dover area, its residents should forget about any help from God. Dover Area School District, a mostly white, rural area, has 17 churches.
“You just rejected him,” said Robertson, “from your city. … You just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for his help, because he might not be there.”
Last year, the Dover school board adopted a policy requiring school administrators to read a statement to ninth-graders preparing to study Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. The statement says Darwin’s theory that species evolved from a common source through natural selection “is not a fact.” It also informs students that the school library has materials about intelligent design.
Intelligent design holds that life is too complex to have evolved at random and must have a powerful intelligence behind it. Many interpret that intelligence to be God.
Critics said intelligent design is thinly disguised creationism, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1987 is a religious philosophy, not science.
Eleven parents filed a federal lawsuit against the district, saying the policy violated the constitutional separation of church and state. That trial lasted for weeks, and a ruling is expected by sometime in January.
On Tuesday, the eight incumbent school board members on the ballot were defeated. Some of the winning candidates have said intelligent design does not belong in science class. They suggested that it be taught in courses on American culture or social studies.
Robertson took aim at the people of Dover on his show. His comments circulated on the Web and made national TV newscasts Thursday night.
“That’s silly,” said Chuck Zitnick, 61, who identified himself as a practicing Roman Catholic. “This thing was not a referendum on religion, not at all. You just don’t teach religion in science class. You deal with it elsewhere.”
_ T.W. Burger
After Boycott, Wal-Mart Apologizes, Acknowledges Christmas on Web Site
(RNS) Retail giant Wal-Mart altered its Web site to acknowledge Christmas less than one day after a conservative Catholic group began a national boycott against the company.
The boycott, enacted because of perceived discrimination against Christmas, but not Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, was abandoned when Wal-Mart revised its Web site Thursday night (Nov. 10). Wal-Mart also issued an apology for a customer service e-mail that claimed Christmas does not have religious roots.
The New York-based Catholic League said Wal-Mart was treating Christmas as a secular holiday, while not taking a similar approach with the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which begins the same day as Christmas, or Kwanzaa, a celebration of African-American culture that begins Dec. 26.
On Thursday afternoon, a search for Hanukkah on Wal-Mart’s Web site yielded 200 products, and Kwanzaa 77. Prior to the change, a search for “Christmas” directed users to a “holiday” page, where a second link brought them to 7,967 Christmas items. Now, customers are taken directly to the “Christmas” site.
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League and organizer of the boycott, was also angered by an e-mail from Wal-Mart headquarters to a customer who complained about “Happy Holidays.” The e-mail said Christmas is not a religious holiday but an “ancient tradition that has its roots in Siberian shamanism.”
“Santa is also borrowed from the Caucuses, (sic) mistletoe from the Celts, yule log from the Goths, the time from the Visigoth and the tree from the worship of Baal,” the e-mail said, according to Donohue.
In a statement on its Web site, Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogleman apologized to those offended by the “inflammatory” comment, adding the associate responsible was no longer with the company.
“We at Wal-Mart believe this e-mail between a temporary associate and one of our valued customers was entirely inappropriate,” he said, adding “Wal-Mart is proud to welcome customers of all faith, and celebrants of all holidays.”
Displays of Christmas in the public square, particularly in retail environments, have become an annual crusade for Donohue. Last year he signed on with the Committee to Save Merry Christmas, which gets angry when store clerks wish “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”
Wal-Mart stood by its policy encouraging employees to say “Happy Holidays,” which Donohue called “dumb” but added that the greeting was not part of the boycott.
_ Kevin Eckstrom and Jason Kane
Veterans Day Rally Proclaims There Are `Atheists in Foxholes’
WASHINGTON (RNS) Carrying a banner that read “Atheists in Foxholes: Always Were … Always Will Be,” dozens of atheist veterans and military members marched down the National Mall on Veterans Day (Nov. 11).
The flag-waving band of nonbelievers were the stars of a rally of about 100 people. Speakers ranged from veterans to atheist organization leaders who decried recent and long-standing declarations that “there are no atheists in foxholes” by media commentators and military officials.
“This parade, this assembly, this coming together in our nation’s capital is long overdue,” said Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists, the New Jersey-based organization that spearheaded the rally in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol.
She said atheists have served in foxholes, on ships, as medics and jet fighters from the Battle of the Bulge to more recent conflicts in the Middle East.
“These knees will not bend,” she said. “These heads will not bow, whether under the threat of hellfire or gunfire.”
Edwin Kagan, Kentucky state director of American Atheists and an Air Force veteran, was among the speakers who decried the “lie” that atheists are never in foxholes.
“This lie knocks our Constitution and gives aid and comfort to the enemies of freedom,” said Kagan, who then made a reference to the Pledge of Allegiance without its “under God” phrase.
“We ask … that all Americans help us to become and remain, one nation, indivisible,” he said to cheers.
Participants included Hans Kasten, a World War II veteran who now lives in the Philippines and was a prominent prisoner of war. He recalled his capture by Germans and how he was held in a church one night.
“I slept on the altar,” he said. “You can imagine what I was saying that night. It was certainly not a prayer.”
A Vietnam War-era veteran who carried a sign that read “Do Adults Really Need an Imaginary Friend?” said in an interview that he feels atheists are a “persecuted minority” because society doesn’t welcome them.
“I think it’s important that nonbelievers and atheists make their presence known,” said John Watson-Jones, a retired zookeeper from Etlan, Va. “A lot of us are afraid to come out of the closet.”
The Department of Defense reports that 4,332 of the 1.4 million people in the active-duty military have declared themselves to be atheists, said Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Bush Asked to Push for Religious Freedom in China
(RNS) A U.S. commission monitoring religious freedom is asking President Bush to pressure the Chinese government to end its crackdown on Protestant, Catholic and other religious groups.
The request, by the Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), comes as Bush prepares for a Nov. 18-19 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea, followed by a visit with Chinese officials in Beijing.
USCIRF Chair Michael Cromartie said that just a few days ago a man in China was sentenced to three years in prison for selling Bibles. Cromarties said the man was a pastor of an evangelical church in China and had refused to register his church with the government.
“A lot of churches don’t want to be controlled by the Chinese government,” Cromartie said.
He noted that religion is “booming” in China, which makes the Chinese government uncomfortable.
“The government wants to be able to control it. It’s making the Chinese government a little nervous,” he said.
The commission has turned to the U.S. government for help after making a recent trip to China and discovering religious and political freedom in China is not advancing as the USCIRF hoped it would.
Cromartie added that economic freedom in China is not leading to human rights protection. Instead, individual freedoms in China are slowly diminishing.
“Through the State Department and the president we have to insist that China live up to its own government,” Cromartie said.
_ Tracy Simmons
Editors: To obtain a photo photo of Bar-Ilan University Professor Aren Maeir holding a ceramic shard with the “Goliath” inscription, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.
Scholars: `Goliath’ Shard Supports Bible Timeline
JERUSALEM (RNS) Although the inscription on a ceramic shard discovered during an archaeological dig probably does not refer to the biblical Goliath, the artifact’s age and inscriptions may be consistent with a period referred to in the biblical text.
Aren Maeir, chairman of the Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar Ilan University, which carried out the excavations, said in a statement released by the university that the shard comes from a time period “which is depicted in the biblical text.”
The Book of I Samuel relates that Goliath, a Philistine giant, fought the much younger and smaller David, but lost the battle when David hit Goliath’s head with a stone propelled from a slingshot.
Maeir noted that the shard has been dated scientifically to a period just 50 to 100 years after David and Goliath would have lived, according to biblical historians. For this reason, he added, “recent attempts” by some scholars “to claim that Goliath can only be understood in the context of the later phases of the Iron Age are unwarranted.”
Although the inscription is written in Proto-Canaanite (Semitic) letters, the names mentioned belong to the linguistic family of ancient Greek and related languages. This lends credence to the long-held belief that the Philistines initially had roots in the Aegean region, before migrating to the Holy Land.
Despite the inscription’s uncanny similarity to the name Goliath, Maeir told the Jerusalem Post that the statistical odds of it directly relating to the Philistine giant are “small if nonexistent.”
A Purdue University Libraries professor who invented a system to determine whether ancient inscriptions apply to people in the Bible has come to a similar conclusion.
Lawrence Mykytiuk, associate professor of library science at the school in West Lafayette, Ind., says the pottery shard found in Israel probably does not refer to the biblical Goliath but does lend credence to the story surrounding him.
“This is evidence that non-Semitic names that are remarkably similar to Goliath were used within the time frame of this Philistine warrior in his reputed hometown of Gath,” Mykytiuk said. “It provides well-grounded cultural background that supports the biblical narrative.”
_ Michele Chabin
Quote of the Week: Episcopal Bishop Keith Ackerman
(RNS) “We’ve reversed Genesis. We’ve brought chaos out of order. We’ve created God in our own image.”
_ Episcopal Bishop Keith Ackerman of Quincy, Ill., on recent decisions by the Episcopal Church, including the 2003 consecration of openly gay New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson. Ackerman was attending a gathering of 2,500 conservative Episcopalians in Pittsburgh and was quoted by The Washington Times.
MO END RNS
