c. 2007 Religion News Service

Conservatives Praise Bush’s Veto Threat Regarding Abortion Changes

(RNS) Conservative religious leaders are applauding President Bush for threatening to veto any legislation that “weakens” current federal laws regarding abortion.

“I am concerned that this year the Congress may consider legislation that could substantially change federal policies and laws on abortion, and allow taxpayer dollars to be used for the destruction of human life,” Bush wrote in two separate letters dated May 3 to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

“I will veto any legislation that weakens current federal policies and laws on abortion, or that encourages the destruction of human life at any stage.”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins praised the president’s comments, saying, “President Bush’s continued leadership in defense of the unborn is desperately needed at this time.”

Focus on the Family Action founder James Dobson called Bush’s warning “a shot across the bow to congressional liberals who think their path to forcing taxpayers to fund abortion and destructive embryonic stem-cell research is now unimpeded since they are in the majority.”

Philadelphia Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities, said Bush’s veto threat should prompt lawmakers to “work together to build respect for human life at its most defenseless stages, and to support women and families facing an unintended pregnancy or caring for family members challenged by age, illness or disability.”

In a comment in his denomination’s news service, Richard Land, the Southern Baptist Convention’s top ethicist, said Bush’s action “has cemented his place as the most pro-life president both in word and deed since abortion on demand was made legal by the infamous Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.”

On the abortion rights side, Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said, “George W. Bush essentially told the new Congress that he wants to continue denying millions of women access to essential medical services, including family planning and safe, legal abortion, even if it means jeopardizing their health.”

_ Adelle M. Banks

German Court Clears Way for Visit by Sun Myung Moon

BERLIN (RNS) A German court has ruled that the country’s constitution does not allow it to block visits from the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the head of the Unification Church.

Germany’s culture and legal system are designed to officially recognize only a few religions _ such as Catholicism or Judaism, for example. Other faiths, such as Scientology or Moon’s church, are allowed to operate, but do not receive official status.

Additionally, because of its Nazi history, the German government tends to be suspicious of groups it labels as cults. That outlook led the German government to ban Moon from an attempted visit to his followers in 1995. At the time, the administration argued that Moon’s church _ which practices mass weddings and preaches that Moon was asked by God to complete Jesus’ work on Earth _ stood against the ideals of the German constitution.

The government’s attempt to block Moon’s visit continued for more than a decade until last fall, when the German Constitutional Court ruled that blocking Moon from visiting violates Germany’s freedom of religion laws.

Based on that ruling, the High Administrative Court of Koblenz ruled Friday (May 4) that Germany could no longer block Moon from visiting, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Southern German Newspaper).

The ruling reflects a general softening of bans _ if not public sympathies _ toward religions seen as “fringe” in Germany. Berlin, for example, recently was required to grant official recognition to Jehovah’s Witnesses.

At the same time, the public remains wary of non-traditional faiths. The Dresden-based Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism recently removed its director, Gerhard Besier, after he formed professional links with academics associated with Scientology.

_ Niels Sorrells

Update: Methodist Pension Board Reluctantly Complies with IRS

PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) The Portland couple who have refused for years to pay their federal income taxes because they object to warfare say they’re disappointed with a decision of the pension board of the United Methodist Church.

The General Board of Pension and Health Benefits announced on April 26 that it would continue to comply, under protest, with an Internal Revenue Service levy against the Rev. John T. Schwiebert.

The board has drafted a letter to the IRS, arguing that “the levy forces us to be a collection agent … in a dispute between the federal government and a church member who is acting out of conscience and long-standing church teaching.”

Schwiebert and his wife, Pat, have refused to pay all or part of their federal income tax since 1977. For the past several years, they have paid what they owe the federal government to the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners instead.

In December 2006, the IRS placed a levy on the pension that Schwiebert receives as a retired, but still active, pastor of the Metanoia Peace Community United Methodist Church.

The pension board argues that the levy has “coerced” it into violating the church’s principle that “war is incompatible with the teachings and examples of Christ.”

Schwiebert said the letter “is the least” that the pension board could do and may be ignored by those who receive it. He said he understands that the board is responsible to other pension-holders, but members may think they need permission from the denomination’s General Conference to refuse to cooperate with the IRS.

“Our denomination has to realize,” he said, “how deeply it has compromised itself with the values of the dominant culture.”

_ Nancy Haught

Quote of the Day: Michael Monroe of Irving (Texas) Bible Church

(RNS) “In some people’s minds, the church has been very pro-life until the point of birth. I don’t know if that’s a completely fair observation. But a lot of people are saying it’s not enough to be pro-life, we need to be pro-children as well.”

_ Michael Monroe, co-founder of an adoption and foster care ministry at Irving Bible Church outside Dallas. Quoted by The Associated Press, Monroe is part of an effort by evangelical Christians to urge churchgoers to consider adoption and foster care to help children without parents.

KRE/RB END RNS