c. 2007 Religion News Service

Wife of Oral Roberts University’s president denies improper behavior

OKLAHOMA CITY (RNS) The wife of Oral Roberts University’s president denied charges that she spent the night with an underage male and engaged in other lurid behavior with a “male 16-year-old friend,” as alleged in a recent lawsuit.

Lindsay Roberts, whose husband, Richard Roberts, is president of the charismatic Christian university in Tulsa, said the allegations contained in the legal paperwork are false and “they sicken me to my soul.”

“The part that grieves me most is that these accusations are being brought forth in so many areas and being seen and heard through the media when the parties suing have continued to say they don’t even know if the allegations are true,” Lindsay Roberts said in a statement posted Saturday (Oct. 13) on the university’s Web site.

Lindsay Roberts is not a party in the lawsuit, filed by former Oral Roberts University professors John Swails, Tim Brooker and Paulita Brooker. The three claim they were either fired or forced to resign because of attempts by two of them to act as whistleblowers.

The lawsuit, filed Oct. 2 in Tulsa County District Court, alleges illegal political activity and lavish, unchecked spending by Richard Roberts and his family _ accusations that the Robertses and the university deny.

The professors say they lost their jobs because they submitted a confidential university report _ allegedly written at least in part by Richard Roberts’ sister-in-law, Stephanie Cantees _ to Oral Roberts’ regents.

That report detailed the political and financial allegations as well as accusations about Lindsay Roberts and an underage male. The Tulsa World reported that accusations detailed in the report include charges that Lindsay Roberts:

_ Spent the night at a university guesthouse with an underage male nine times.

_ Was photographed 29 times in her car with an underage male after midnight.

_ Visited Victory Christian School in Tulsa with an underage male 81 times in 2004.

_ Smoked with an underage male and repeatedly moved her “16-year-old male friend” into her family’s house.

“I live my life in a morally upright manner and throughout my marriage have never, ever engaged in any sexual behavior with any man outside of my marriage as the accusations imply,” Lindsay Roberts said in her statement.

“These allegations cast a dark cloud on me, my family, the ministry and the university family,” she added. “I firmly believe that my vindication will certainly come in the court of law in the future. … I am unwilling to idly sit by and be accused of actions that are not true.”

_ Bobby Ross Jr.

Church of England says organ donation a Christian duty

LONDON (RNS) The Church of England says human organ donation is a Christian duty, in line with the giving of oneself and personal possessions voluntarily for the well-being of others.

But at the same time, the Church sidestepped the question of whether to back the so-called “opt-out” system, in which everyone is considered a donor unless he or she specifically stipulates otherwise, or an “opt-in” approach that allows people to sign up as donors.

The church’s statement on organ donation came during discussion in the House of Lords on whether a position on organ donation should be adopted across the 27-member European Union, of which Britain is a part.

In its presentation (Oct. 9), the Church of England said “Christians have a mandate to heal, motivated by compassion, mercy, knowledge and ability,” and that “the Christian tradition both affirms the God-given value of human bodily life and the principle of putting the needs of others before one’s own needs.”

The church made it clear that it remained firmly opposed to the sale of human organs, but it accepted that organs given freely by living donors were acceptable when no commercial gain is involved.

The opt-in/opt-out debate issue is “not a question on which Christians hold a single set of views,” said Bishop of Southwark Tom Butler, in explaining why the church itself has made no final decision.

“The opt-in system reflects our concern to celebrate and support gracious gifts, freely given,” while “the opt-out approach stresses Christian concern for human solidarity and living sacrificially for others,” Butler said.

Britain itself operates under the opt-in system, but the government is considering a switch to opt-out to help alleviate a nationwide shortage of organs to be used in transplants.

Under EU rules, all 27 member nations would have to adopt the same opt-out or opt-in approach if it is to come into force across the union. Otherwise, each nation would decide on its own which, if either, system to use.

“Member states will need to ensure that there is a balance between the organs they can provide and those their citizens need for transplant,” the Church of England argued. “Otherwise, some nations will be jeopardized and worse off than hitherto.”

_ Al Webb

Muslim campus groups nervous about `Islamo-Fascism’ events

(RNS) The hesitancy in Sarah Zaim’s voice instantly relayed her fear. The 21-year-old Emory University senior didn’t want to talk about Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week (IFAW), a new national campus campaign sponsored by the conservative David Horowitz Freedom Center.

“We don’t want to grant legitimacy to (David) Horowitz and this week,” she explained reluctantly. “We also want to make it clear that … we aren’t attempting to stifle free speech.”

The controversial week begins Oct. 22 with a sizable, though debatable, number of participating schools. Jeff Weiner, the center’s terrorism awareness student coordinator, said he’s aiming to have an event at more than 100 schools.

From Berkeley to Brown, the national campaign will purportedly highlight the threat that’s facing the United States by focusing on the oppression of women in Islamic societies.

“These terrorists are religious fanatics whose battle plan is laid out in their reading of the Quran,” said conservative pundit David Horowitz, who heads the center.

Horowitz is adamant the week’s events express a clear connection to “Islam,” as opposed to “terrorism.”

Muslim organizations, meanwhile, aren’t sure how to respond.

The Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council released a guidebook that says “IFAW organizers are seeking an angry protest from Muslim students _ we should avoid this at any and all costs, both in events and statements.”

At George Washington University in Washington, seven students recently posted anti-Muslim fliers around campus proclaiming “Hate Muslims? So Do We!!!” _ an attempt, they say, to mock IFAW by underscoring its Islamophobic attitude. But many couldn’t discern the posters’ hyperbole.

The GW Muslim campus group immediately denounced the act, as did the university administration. Even after the perpetrators said they distributed the posters as satire, Muslim campus leader didn’t lessen their condemnation.

“The source or intention behind the posters does not change the fact that the issue was approached in the wrong way,” said Azra Hyder, president of the GW Muslim Student Association, adding that the group was not trying to prevent IFAW events on campus.

_ Asma Khalid

Quote of the Day: Novelist Anne Rice

(RNS) “When I was an atheist, I thought Christianity was a dying religion. That’s nonsense; it’s like an explosion going off all the time.”

_ Anne Rice, author of “Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt,” who previously wrote best-selling stories about witches and vampires, quoted by Charisma magazine.

KRE/PH END RNS

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