c. 2006 Religion News Service
Burned Alabama Churches Vow to Rebuild as Search for Arsonist Continues
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) Parishioners on Sunday (Feb. 5) returned to five Alabama churches that were set afire, with promises to rebuild and offers of forgiveness for the arsonist who is being sought by investigators.
Three churches were completely destroyed and two others sustained minor damage in a string of fires in rural Bibb County early Friday (Feb. 3). A sixth fire at a church in neighboring Chilton County on Thursday is also being investigated.
Authorities have ruled the fires at Ashby Baptist, Antioch Baptist and Old Union Baptist churches as arson. The fires at nearby Pleasant Sabine Baptist and Rehobeth Baptist churches are still under investigation, officials said.
“We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God,” said the Rev. David Hand, pastor of Old Union Baptist Church, where damage was contained to the pulpit. “Jesus forgave those who attacked him.”
Old Union and Antioch Baptist sustained only minor damage to their pulpits. Investigators said they found charred empty vases on the altars at both of those churches, but the fires did not spread far beyond that point.
Ashby Baptist, Pleasant Sabine Baptist and Rehobeth Baptist all burned to the ground. On Sunday, some churches met in their buildings while Ashby Baptist and Pleasant Sabine Baptist met in other locations.
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley toured the five churches Saturday and said the people responsible for the fires would be caught. “Whoever participated in this caused a lot of pain to a lot of people,” Riley said.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the state are each offering $5,000 rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible.
Unlike a spate of 1996 church fires, race did not appear to be a factor. From 1994 to 1999, more than 100 churches were burned in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama.
An Indiana man, Donald A. Puckett, admitted to and was convicted of 50 church fires across the Southeast.
“You can’t say it was racism because it was black and white churches,” said the Rev. Robert E. Murphy Sr., pastor of the 40-member Pleasant Sabine Baptist Church near Centreville, Ala.
Audra Edwards of Brierfield, Ala., who attends Ashby Baptist, said the fire may help strengthen the bond between members.
“We’re saddened by this act, but we’re also excited about what God has next,” Edwards said. “He does work in mysterious ways, you know. Even through arson.”
_ Malcomb Daniels, Ryan Mills, Greg Garrison and Carol Robinson
Presbyterian Panel Not Ready to Recommend Divestment
(RNS) A church investments panel said it needs more time before it can recommend whether the Presbyterian Church (USA) should pull assets from five companies operating in the Middle East.
The church voted in 2004 to pursue “phased, selective divestment” in companies with ties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and later named five companies that will be targeted for stockholder action.
After meeting with leaders of Citigroup and ITT Industries on Friday (Feb. 3), the church’s Mission Responsibility Through Investment committee said it will not recommend divestment to the denomination’s General Assembly meeting in June.
“Because corporate engagement is a phased, deliberate process requiring extensive dialogue and shareholder activity prior to a specific divestment recommendation, MRTI does not anticipate recommending any divestment action” in June, the panel said in a statement.
The panel overseeing the church’s $7 billion investment portfolio has also named Motorola, Caterpillar and United Technologies for possible divestment.
The Presbyterians voted to study divestment out of concern that church funds were being used to continue the Israeli occupation, or were being channeled to militant Palestinians to hurt Israeli citizens.
The move has deeply angered many Jewish groups, who say the church is singling out Israel for punishment without equal sanction on Palestinians. So far, the church has vowed to stay the course.
The committee said it was concerned that money was being funneled through Citigroup to Arab banks that made payments to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. It is also concerned about ITT Industries technology and equipment that is used by the Israeli army.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Hispanic Evangelicals Break Rank and Lobby for Immigration Reform
(RNS) Breaking rank with leading evangelical groups that have chosen to stay out of current immigration debates, a new coalition has formed to represent more than 20 million Hispanic evangelicals and to denounce Congress’ handling of immigration issues.
At an inaugural press conference Friday (Feb. 3) in Carrollton, Texas, the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform called on Congress to create avenues for undocumented immigrants to apply for legal status en route to seeking full citizenship.
“We are deeply concerned with many of the anti-immigrant provisions that have been introduced and some of which were passed by the House of Representatives,” said the Rev. Lynn Godsey, founder and president of Alianza Hispana Evangelica del Metroplex, a Dallas-area Hispanic alliance.
Speakers criticized a House-passed bill that would make it a crime to provide for the needs of an undocumented immigrant. The bill would also open the door for the federal government to build a fence along 700 miles of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.
By getting involved in immigration reform, these Hispanic evangelicals are parting company with such high-profile evangelical advocates as Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council, who have said immigration reform is not a priority item for them.
Hispanic evangelicals, however, are now emphasizing the need for public policies that show compassion to undocumented immigrants. They urged legislation to allow “hard-working immigrants who are already contributing to this country to come out of the shadows” and seek legal status. They also called for “border protection policies that are consistent with humanitarian values and with the need to treat all individuals with respect.”
“We need to find a way to stop the flow of illegal immigration, but find a way to deal humanely and compassionately with the undocumented workers currently in the country,” said the Rev. Sam Rodriguez, president of the Sacramento, Calif.-based National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.
_ G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Muslim Doctors Seek Fatwa Against Smoking
(RNS) Muslim health professionals in the United Kingdom are asking scholars to issue a worldwide religious edict against smoking, according to a paper published in the British Medical Journal.
“We’re hoping to serve as a catalyst in the debate,” said Dr. Aziz Sheikh, professor of primary care at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, who co-authored the paper.
“In many parts of the world smoking rates are declining, especially in Europe and the United States. That’s not the case in many parts of the Muslim world.”
The paper summarizes data on smoking in 30 majority Muslim countries, showing that smoking rates are disproportionately high compared to European countries.
Islam’s holy book, the Quran, and a collection of sayings of the Prophet Mummad, the Sunnah, do not directly prohibit the use of tobacco. However, jurists have recently issued edicts outlawing its use, citing Islamic law’s general prohibition against any actions resulting in harm to the body or the health of others.
While scholars in much of the Arab-speaking world have recently declared smoking to be prohibited, South Asian religious authorities are lagging behind, Sheikh said.
“The actual thinking about smoking is fairly stagnant in South Asia,” Sheikh said. “Most consider it lawful but discouraged.” The dangers associated with smoking are not widely known there and scholars may be unwilling to cast large sections of their community as partaking in unlawful or sinful activity, he said.
Sheikh is working with the Muslim Council of Britain to try and get a fatwa, or religious edict, passed against smoking. He cautioned, however, that religious rulings alone may not be enough as smoking prevalence has not changed in countries where clear edicts against smoking have been declared.
He hopes to see Muslim countries sign on to the World Health Organization’s anti-tobacco convention and integrate religious rulings with behavioral and pharmacological methods to stop smoking.
_ Mariam Jukaku
Quote of the Day: Tim Wilkins, Executive Director of Cross Ministry
(RNS) “I will avoid the movie like a slug avoids an overturned saltshaker and for the life of me, cannot understand why any evangelical would see it.”
_ Tim Wilkins, founder and director of Cross Ministry, a Wake Forest, N.C.-based organization that believes gays can leave homosexuality, writing about “Brokeback Mountain.”
KRE/JL END RNS
