Articles Index

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INTERFAITH

India: National Elections Highlight Religious Divisions

India: Hindu Party's Plans Create Controversy. By Ashok Sharma. Crouching over chunks of sandstone, 50 artisans chisel images of Hindu gods and goddesses. They dream of building a temple at the site where a fundamentalist mob stormed from a Bharatiya Janata Party rally and razed a mosque. [Associated Press]

India: Use of Sikh Leader in Campaign Poster Brings Protests. Spokespersons said a large number of Sikhs and Sikh organisations had taken umbrage to publication of the BJP poster which shows the BJP leaders overshadowing the 10th Guru of Sikh religion. [The Hindu]

India: They'll Get No Favours, But Many Muslims Willing to Give Hindu Party a Go. By Christopher Kremmer. India's 100 million Muslims showed signs of dropping their traditional antipathy to the Hindu nationalist BJP, as the nation prepared for a second round of elections. [Sydney Morning Herald]

U.S.: Prisoners Petition for Religious Rights

U.S.: Indians Fight Prison Ban on Sacred Beads, Claws. By Stan Bailey. Native American convicts contend that their rights to practice their religion are violated by a ban on long hair; colored beads and feathers; and items, such as bear claws and arrowheads, that they consider essential for worship. [The Birmingham News]

U.S.: Wiccan May Practice Faith in Prison, California Officials Say. "‘We've had inmates who have been Wiccas. We've had Hare Krishna (followers), Buddhists,' said Barry Smith, a prison official who deals with religious policy and development. According to California state law, all inmates must be given a reasonable opportunity to practice their faiths as long as it doesn't threaten security. [Associated Press]

U.S.: Hollywood Horrifies Faiths

U.S.: Studio Settles Suit Brought by Cathedral Sculptor. By Sylvia Moreno. The suit against Warner Bros., filed in federal court in Alexandria by sculptor Frederick E. Hart and Washington National Cathedral, alleged that a sculpture that comes to life in "Devil's Advocate" was copied illegally from Hart's signature work, which adorns the main entrance of the cathedral. [The Washington Post]

U.S.: Zoroastrians Criticize Horror Film Featuring Their Religion. By Roshan Rivetna. "Blasphemy," "Sue them," "Demand an apology," "Withdraw the film," and other calls of outrage were the Zoroastrian reaction to the release of the film Wishmaster. [FEZANA Journal]

World: World Bank and World Faiths Discuss Debt. The World Bank and the world's major religions are to establish joint working groups on development issues, it was announced at the end of a high-level, two-day dialogue at Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop of Canterbury's London headquarters. [Ecumenical News International]

World: United Religions Works Toward Global Charter. The United Religions Initiative (URI), a San Francisco-based movement "to bring religions and spiritual traditions to a common table," recently gained support and is developing specific strategies. [Episcopal News Service]

Australia: Christian and Muslim Representatives Urge Government to Stay out of War. By Richard Macey. The Catholic Church joined Australia's Islamic and Arabic communities on February 10 in calling on the Federal Government to stay out of military action against Iraq. [Sydney Morning Herald]

China: After Meeting with Jiang, U.S. Clerics See Better Relations. By Jennifer Lin. After a one-hour meeting with Chinese President Jiang Zemin, a delegation of three American clerics said that the door has been opened to better contacts with the Chinese leadership on religious issues. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

U.S.: Religious Leaders Push Anti-Persecution Legislation. By Ira Rifkin. Christian and other religious activists joined congressional allies February 4 to boost revamped legislation they hope will make opposition to religious persecution abroad a centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy. [Religion News Service]

U.S.: State Legislatures Consider Religious Freedom Bills. By Jeremy Leaming. Lawmakers in Georgia and Virginia have joined an expanding list of states working to enact laws similar to the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act that the Supreme Court invalidated last year. [The Freedom Forum]

U.S.: Scientists Examine Activity of Brains During Religious Experiences. By David O'Reilly. "We can't say we can see God with these imaging studies," Andrew Newberg said with a laugh. "What we can say is: When somebody has religious experiences, this is what it's doing to them." [Philadelphia Inquirer]

See also Secretary of State Refers to Persecution of Bahá'ís

ECUMENICAL

U.S.: Promise Keepers to Lay Off Its Entire Paid Staff. By Virginia Culver and Adelle M. Banks. Promise Keepers, the evangelical Christian men's ministry, is laying off all of its 345 salaried employees effective March 31 because it doesn't have the money to pay them. [Religion News Service]

U.S.: Evangelicals Call for Spiritual Revival Through a 40-Day Fast. By Sylvia Brooks. As many as 2 million evangelical Christians are going to do something drastic to get God's attention: fast and pray for 40 days. [The Columbus Dispatch]

U.S.: No Sermons, Please, Say Internet Users. By Lynne DeMichele. Preliminary results from a survey of Internet users show people are more interested in religion-related information than in online sermons or dialogue. [United Methodist News Service]

See also Orthodox Christians Criticize Ecumenical Involvement

ANGLICAN

Canada: Gay Clergy Respond to Anglican Bishops' Statement on Homosexuality. By Heather Elizabeth Peterson. It was a Catch-22 situation: Gay clergy are the ones most affected by the recent statement of the bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada reiterating that practicing homosexuals may not be ordained. But because of what the bishops said, many gay clergy could not speak publicly on the matter. Now a solution has been found. [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

Rwanda: Anglican Bishops Condemn Homosexuality. Following an acrimonious debate over homosexuality between the Archbishop of Canterbury and an American bishop, Rwanda's Anglican bishops have added their thoughts on the matter. [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

U.K.: Anglicans Move to Strip Lord's Prayer of "Temptation". The Church of England has voted to eliminate temptation – or at least, the reference to it in the Lord's Prayer. [Reuters]

U.K.: Anglican Churches Consider Marrying Divorcees. By Ruth Gledhill. The Anglican Church in Wales is to change its law to allow divorcees to remarry in church. The change could pave the way for the Church of England to follow suit. [The Times]

See also Greenbelt Interfaith News; Studio Settles Suit Brought by Cathedral Sculptor; Christian and Muslim Representatives Urge Government to Stay out of War

Atheist – see Humanist

BAHA'I

U.S.: Secretary of State Refers to Persecution of Bahá'ís. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said on 23 January in Washington that the public response to Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba illustrated a deep human longing to worship and she strongly endorsed calls for an intensified U.S. focus on religious freedom worldwide. [Bahá'í News]

BAPTIST

U.S.: After Theft Charges, Baptist Leader Says He's Not a "Monster". By Kimberly Greuter. The Rev. Henry Lyons, charged with stealing church money that had been donated to rebuild burned black churches, insisted on February 26 that he is not the "monster" portrayed in the media. [Associated Press]

BUDDHIST

U.S.: Buddhist Temple's Spirit Survives Blaze. By Della de Lafuente. Encouraged that the face of an 8-foot Buddha survived a fire in February, members of a Bridgeport temple vowed to rebuild. [Chicago Sun-Times]

See also NASA Radar Reveals Angkor Temple Remains

CATHOLIC

U.S.: Cardinal Invokes Church Law Against Television Nun. The Archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony, is resorting to canon law in an attempt to curtail the activities of Mother Angelica, the forceful nun from cable television network EWTN. [The Tablet]

Washington: Georgetown University Agrees to Put Crucifixes in Classrooms. Jesuit-run Georgetown University's administration bowed to pressure from students and alumni on February 20 by agreeing to place crucifixes in all but one of the university's classroom buildings as a sign of the institution's Catholic foundation. [Catholic World News]

See also Christian and Muslim Representatives Urge Government to Stay out of War

EASTERN CHRISTIAN

Greece: Greek Orthodox Bishop Criticized for Remarks in Penthouse Interview. Hierarchs in the collegial governing body of the Orthodox Church of Greece are up in arms over what they view as inappropriate remarks made by one of their members in a sexually explicit men's magazine. [Hellenic Journal of San Francisco]

Russia: Orthodox Christians Criticize Ecumenical Involvement. By Sergei Chapnin. In early February, the fifteen-day visit to Russia of the delegation from the World Council of Churches, headed by General Secretary Konrad Raiser, officially ended. Dialogue with non-Orthodox has become a serious matter of church politics. [Nezavisimaia gazeta]

Turkey: Investigations into Attack Against Patriarchate Fruitless So Far. Investigations into two successive attacks against the Greek Orthodox Church in Turkey – including the killing of a church caretaker – have been fruitless so far, a church official has said. [Associated Press]

Episcopal – see Anglican

HINDU

Cambodia: NASA Radar Reveals Angkor Temple Remains. NASA radar pierced the veil of vegetation in the jungles of Cambodia and helped reveal long-lost ruins of temples at Angkor, which in its 12th century heyday was a city of 1 million people. [Associated Press]

See also Hindu Party's Plans Create Controversy; Use of Sikh Leader in Campaign Poster Brings Protests; They'll Get No Favours, But Many Muslims Willing to Give Hindu Party a Go

HUMANIST–ATHEIST

U.S.: California Court Backs Boys Scouts Who Refuse to Take Religious Oath. The Boy Scouts of America must allow two California boys, who refuse to swear an oath to God, to proceed with efforts to become Eagle Scouts, the state's high court has ruled. [The Freedom Forum]

INDIGENOUS

See Indians Fight Prison Ban on Sacred Beads, Claws

ISLAMIC

Australia: Aboriginal Misery is Shame of Australia, Says Farrakhan. By Nadia Jamal. The black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan ended his two-day Australian tour with an attack on the Federal Government as "hypocrites" for warning him about racial laws while Aborigines lived in conditions that were "the shame of Australia". [Sydney Morning Herald]

Belgium: Muslims Establish Board. Belgian Muslims will be able soon to choose their own representatives. The most important Muslim organizations in Belgium have finally reached an agreement, after 25 years, to form a new board that will interact with the government. [Golden Compass]

Washington: Plans for a Muslim School Split Virginia Neighbors. By Steve Goldstein. The flier arrived on hundreds of doorsteps just before Christmas, a one-page missile of fear aimed at the heads of homeowners: "Saudi Arabian Dictators Trying to Invade Ashburn." That is how many residents of this fast-growing Northern Virginia community learned of plans to construct a Muslim school in neighboring Ashburn for up to 3,500 students – the largest such school in the country. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

See also Hindu Party's Plans Create Controversy; They'll Get No Favours, But Many Muslims Willing to Give Hindu Party a Go; Christian and Muslim Representatives Urge Government to Stay out of War; Investigations into Attack Against Patriarchate Fruitless So Far

JEWISH

Israel: Chief Rabbinate Rejects Key Component of Proposed Conversion Compromise. Israel's Chief Rabbinical Council, which is led by the country's two chief rabbis, has in effect rejected the proposed conversion compromise hammered out over the course of more than half a year by the Ne'eman Committee. [WUPJnews]

Israel: Secular and Moderate Orthodox Jews Cooperate on Religion and State Proposal. By Avi Machlis. If two prominent Knesset members have their way, observant and secular Israeli Jews will soon embark on intense "final-status" talks to resolve their many bitter disputes. [Jewish Telegraphic Agency]

LUTHERAN

U.S.: Lutheran Task Force Issues Confirmation Study Report. Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod pastors and others who teach youth confirmation believe that decisions about confirmation and first communion belong to the local congregation, a new poll says. [LCMS News]

Survey Gives Glimpse of Confirmation Practices [LCMS News]

See also Trio-Synod Held by Protestant Churches to Discuss Unity Plans

METHODIST

U.S.: Homosexuality Cited by Dialogue Participants as a Major Issue Threatening Schism in the United Methodist Church. Issues related to homosexuality represent a fundamental challenge "so deep as to harbor the danger of explicit disunity or schism" in the church, according to a document developed February 19-20 during the second of two United Methodist theological dialogues. [United Methodist News Service]

Guidelines for Civility in the United Methodist Church [United Methodist News Service]

Muslim – see Islamic

Native American – see Indigenous

Orthodox Christian – see Eastern Christian

PAGAN

U.K.: Britons Hold Largest Pagan Gathering "Since the Romans". By Ming. Billed by its organizers as "The largest gathering of Pagans since the Romans built the Coliseum," the Pagan Federation (UK) National Conference attracted 1700 Pagans from the United Kingdom and Europe. [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

See also Wiccan May Practice Faith in Prison, California Officials Say

REFORMED

The Netherlands: Trio-Synod Held by Protestant Churches to Discuss Unity Plans. The Dutch Reformed, Reformated and Lutheran Churches gathered on February 13 at Driebergen for a trio-synod to discuss SOW. The SOW process should lead to a unified Protestant Church of the Netherlands. [Golden Compass]

Roman Catholic – see Catholic

SIKH

See Use of Sikh Leader in Campaign Poster Brings Protests

Wiccan – see Pagan

ZOROASTRIAN

Washington: Zoroastrian Soldier and Priest Presides over Fire Festival. By Heather Elizabeth Peterson. "Sadeh signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil," explained a Washington Zoroastrian during last month's festival of Jahan-e-Sadeh, celebrating the discovery of fire. Presiding over the celebration was a brigadier general who has found an unexpected role in the Washington Zoroastrian community. [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

See also Zoroastrians Criticize Horror Film Featuring Their Religion

MAGAZINE MATTERS

Editor's Note: Greenbelt Goes Quarterly [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

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February 1998