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News about cults, sects, and alternative religions An Apologetics Index research resource |
Religion News ReportReligion News Report - Mar. 6, 2000 (Vol. 4, Issue 175) - 2/2 ![]() ![]()
« Part 1
=== Mormonism 25. Gay Mormon Kills Self on Church Steps === Jehovah's Witnesses 26. Gardai called as parents refuse transfusion for boy 27. State clears way for Englewood heart surgery === Wicca / Witchcraft 28. Book raises witchcraft questions 29. Indianapolis Church Challenges the I.R.S. in a Battle Over Payroll Taxes 3. A push becomes a shove (Cults, Sects, Religious Movements on Campus) 31. A glimpse of cyberwarfare (Falun Gong) 32. Breach of Faith (Greater Ministries) 33. Martial-arts school hurt kids, pupils 34. Battle of the lamas 35. Gore Backer Guilty in Fund Raising Case 36. Church Eyes Samba Group for Symbols 37. Woman Barred From Contacting Houston 38. Transcendental Vessels (Transcendental Meditation) === Religious Freedom 39. Four sue over right to preach in public 40. Ore. Church Loses Permit Battle 41. Lawsuit Involving Display of Cross Necklace Settled === Noted 42. Vatican Outline Issued on Apology for Historical Failings 43. Sharing the secrets of the scrolls === Mormonism 25. Gay Mormon Kills Self on Church Steps Salt Lake Tribune, Mar. 3, 2000 http://www.sltrib.com/2000/mar/03032000/utah/30930.htm A gay California man's suicide on the steps of a Mormon church has come at the peak of a raging debate over gay civil rights in the nation's most populous state. Police say Stuart Matis, 32, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Santa Clara, Calif., shot himself with a handgun on the steps of a Mormon church in Los Altos in the early hours of Feb. 25. The suicide occurred less than two weeks before voters will decide on California's controversial Proposition 22, which states that only heterosexual marriages can be recognized legally in that state. Matis' parents say their son's suicide had nothing to do with the fiercely debated initiative, which is supported by a number of religious organizations, including the LDS and Catholic Churches. (...) Santa Clara police said a suicide note made no reference to either Matis' Mormon faith or the controversy around Proposition 22, but ''he felt there was a conflict between Christianity and the gay lifestyle,'' said Santa Clara Police Sgt. Anton Morec. ''He said he had been in pain for a number of years.'' (...) While Matis' parents say there is no connection between their son's death and Proposition 22, Matis staunchly opposed the initiative, writing recently to a family member about the pain he suffered because of the LDS Church's support. California church leaders have embarked on a campaign fund-raising drive, and letters have been read during Sunday services urging members to vote March 7 in favor of the proposition, also known as the Knight Initiative. (...) On Feb. 22, three days before his suicide, Matis wrote a letter to the student newspaper at Brigham Young University, from which he graduated in 1994, urging students to harbor more tolerance toward gays. ''I am gay. I am also LDS. I realized the significance of my sexuality when I was around 13, and for the next two decades, I traveled down a tortuous path of internalized homophobia, immense self-hatred, depression and suicidal thoughts. Despite the calluses on my knees, frequent trips to the temple, fasts and devotion to my mission and church callings such as Elders' Quorum president, I continually failed to attenuate my homosexuality,'' Matis wrote. '' . . . I read a recent letter to the editor with great regret. The author compared my friends and me to murderers, satanists, prostitutes and pedophiles. Imagine having to live with this rhetoric constantly being spewed at you.'' [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Jehovah's Witnesses 26. Gardai called as parents refuse transfusion for boy Irish Times (Ireland), Mar. 3, 2000 http://scripts.ireland.com/search/highlight.plx?TextRes=transfusion &Path=/newspaper/ireland/2000/0303/hom13.htm Gardai were called to a Waterford hospital last weekend after the parents of a two-year-old boy refused to allow him a blood transfusion on religious grounds. The transfusion went ahead after the boy, from a family of Jehovah's Witnesses in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, was taken into the care of the South Eastern Health Board. He is now back in the custody of his family and was last night recovering at Cork University Hospital from injuries received when a wall at his home fell on him after a car reversed into it. (...) The family was informed by a Garda sergeant that the boy was being taken into the health board's care under Section 12 of the Child Care Act. The parents, it is understood, accepted the matter was then out of their hands. (...) Mr Tony Murphy, the chairman of the Jehovah's Witnesses' Hospital Liaison Committee in Waterford, said it was the first time, as far as he was aware, that the Child Care Act had been invoked in such circumstances. Mr Murphy was present at the hospital on Friday and said there was ''no confrontation''. ''We just accepted that that was the law of the land and whether we liked it or not we would abide by it,'' he said. (...) His committee had had discussions with Waterford Regional Hospital for several years to make sure the hospital had as much information as possible on ''non-blood medical management . .. We try to get staff to see things the way we see them,'' he said. There was a good relationship between the parties. ''They understand our viewpoint and we understand the challenge that's facing them,'' he said. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 27. State clears way for Englewood heart surgery Bergen Record, mar. 3, 2000 http://www.bergen.com/bcoast/enghospbg200003031.htm Englewood Hospital and Medical Center was chosen Thursday to take part in a special statewide study of bloodless surgery. Englewood's selection will allow the hospital to finally start the cardiac surgery program it sought unsuccessfully for more than two decades. (...) Englewood began a bloodless surgery program in 1994 to accommodate Jehovah's Witness patients who reject transfusions on religious grounds. The hospital has since allowed other patients to participate in its New Jersey Institute for the Advancement of Bloodless Medicine and Surgery. Bloodless surgery uses pre- and post-operative care and special techniques during surgery to minimize blood loss. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Wicca / Witchcraft 28. Book raises witchcraft questions The Herald-Palladium, Mar. 3, 2000 http://www.heraldpalladium.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail &doc=/2000/March/3-557-news3 The publicity this week about last month's three-day suspension of a Ring Lardner Middle School teacher for allegedly giving students a book about witchcraft has raised questions about the practice of Wicca and whether or not it is satanic. Scott Cunningham, the author of ''Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner,'' which eighth-grade science teacher Cheryl Malinowski allegedly gave to at least three students, wrote that Wicca is ''a book of life and how to live magically, spiritually and wholly attuned with nature.'' The book contains three major sections covering theory, practice and ''The Standing Stones Book of Shadows.'' The theory section includes chapters on Wicca and shamanism, magic, tools, ritual, the magic circle and the altar, the spiral of rebirth, and initiation. The practice section has chapters for exercises and magical techniques, self-dedication and ritual design. ''The Standing Stones Book of Shadows'' section includes chapters on the seasonal festivals, rituals, recipes, Wiccan crystal magic, symbols and signs, and spells and magic. Gerina Dunwich, the author of ''The Wicca Source Book: A Complete Guide for the Modern Witch,'' wrote about Wicca similarly. ''Wicca, which is an Old English word meaning 'wise', is a positive, Earth-oriented, nature religion with ancient roots that are pre-Christian,'' she wrote. ''It gloriously celebrates the life force, encourages spiritual growth, and includes seasonal rites to attune oneself to the beauty, magic, and love of Mother Nature and Goddess Earth. ... As more people become educated and enlightened to the ways of Wicca, the negative stereotypes and misconceptions associated with modern Witches and Pagans are gradually being shed,'' Dunwich wrote. Andrews University religion professor Jon Dybdahl agrees at least in part with that perspective about Wicca, but also thinks that witchcraft isn't a subject to which children and teen-agers should be exposed. ''I don't think it's a good thing to be discussed in a school system,'' he said. ''There shouldn't be proselytizing. To integrate witchcraft into a school system is just as objectionable as teaching any religion.'' (...) ''The first caution is that no one should be propagating witchcraft to children in a school system,'' Dybdahl said. ''Most who practice it do use some of the occult with crystals and spells ... Adults should be able to talk about it, but kids don't understand about witches. I really think that parents have a right to be upset. It's a matter both of confusing kids and proselytizing.'' Dybdahl thinks people are wrong in assuming that all the people involved in witchcraft are satanic or demonic. ''It's a communication problem,'' he said. ''Wicca is a religion that is involved in respecting nature and emphasizes the feminine with the worship of the goddess. ''Some of those involved in witchcraft are not necessarily involved in the demonic,'' Dybdahl said. ''There is a dark side, however, with some probably involved with the demonic. But to paint all those involved in witchcraft with a broad brush and call them Satanists is not fair or correct. ... You have to be careful with labels, they're not Satanists. It would be like calling a Catholic a Mormon.'' [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Other News 29. Indianapolis Church Challenges the I.R.S. in a Battle Over Payroll Taxes New York Times, Mar. 3, 2000 http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/irs-church.html The Internal Revenue Service is on a collision course with an Indianapolis church, one of a small but growing number of New Testament churches that say they are not subject to federal tax laws requiring employers to withhold income, Social Security and Medicare taxes from workers. The confrontation comes at a time when the I.R.S. has been reluctant to seize property to collect back taxes. The church, however, is eager to establish what it believes are its rights by forcing the I.R.S. to act. Eventually, the I.R.S. must foreclose on the Indianapolis Baptist Temple or find a way to avoid enforcing a federal judge's ruling last July that the church owes $5.9 million in taxes, penalties and interest for 1988 to 1992. (...) The case has caught the attention of conservative radio talk shows and right-wing paramilitary organizations, including the Michigan Militia, whose commander, Norman E. Olson, has pledged to help the church resist foreclosure. Mr. Dixon, 67, said the people who worked at the church were not employees and called the money they received ''love gifts'' on which the church could not withhold taxes. Most of the workers, about 60 people, had their tax returns audited, he said, but none had a significant adjustment to their tax bills. He said that they had paid the taxes on their own, but that the I.R.S. refunded the half of their Social Security and Medicare taxes normally paid by an employer, telling them it should have been paid by the church. (...) In her ruling last July, Judge Sarah Evans Barker of Federal District Court said that requiring a church to withhold taxes on money paid to its pastor, teachers, secretaries, janitors and others did not interfere with free exercise of religion. Unfortunately for the church, Judge Barker wrote, ''the Supreme Court does not share its creative interpretations of the First Amendment, making resolution of this issue straightforward.'' The church, in its newsletter The Trumpet, said Judge Barker ''has literally declared war on Christ and his church.'' (...) The church's lawyer, Albert R. Cunningham, who is also a pastor in Redding, Calif., said he represented about 200 New Testament congregations, which believe that the separation of church and state is absolute. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 30. A push becomes a shove US News & World Report, Mar. 13, 2000 http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/000313/college.htm Stroll across almost any college campus, and it's likely you'll spot a flurry of religious recruiting: colorful fliers touting Bible study and Sabbath dinners; tables staffed by bright-eyed young people offering pamphlets on everything from the Sikh faith to paganism. (...) But variety can bring controversy, especially when it comes to organizations that seem less like sects than like cults. For schools, this means a tough balancing act-weighing freedom of speech and religion against protecting students from harm. (...) Take the International Churches of Christ. A fast-growing Christian organization known for aggressive proselytizing to college students, the ICOC-which some ex-members and experts on mind-control assert is a cult-is one of the most controversial religious groups on campus. At least 39 institutions, including Harvard and Georgia State, have outlawed the organization at one time or another for violating rules against door-to-door recruiting, say, or harassment. ''I'm banning destructive behaviors, not religion,'' says the Rev. Robert Watts Thornburg, dean of the chapel at Boston University, which barred the ICOC from campus after members posted signs saying their meeting was mandatory. (...) A zealous group, to be sure, but is it a cult? ''We're no more a cult than Jesus was a cult,'' says Al Baird, spokesperson for the ICOC, which, he insists, does not condone harassment and is merely an evangelical church out to ''share Jesus with everybody.'' University of Virginia sociology Prof. Jeffrey Hadden, who has studied religious movements for over 30 years, agrees. (...) Still, experts say the label has nothing to do with radical beliefs and everything to do with behavior. Each of the estimated 3,000 cults in this country has a unique ideology, but they all share certain worrisome traits (box). Students are particularly easy prey. ''They are in transition from the culture of their parents, which leaves them somewhat uncertain and anxious,'' explains Marc Galanter, a professor of psychiatry and the author of Cults: Faith, Healing, and Coercion ![]() (...) Last year, the Maryland state legislature convened a hotly contested task force to study the effects of ''dangerous groups'' at its public institutions, partly in response to complaints from parents who say their daughter-a student at the College Park campus-went to a dorm adviser for advice and got recruited into a cult instead. Earlier this month, the State University of New York's Purchase College settled a court case surrounding a 1998 incident, in which one local ICOC member was suspended for allegedly ''intimidating . . harassing . . . and detaining'' a fellow student, and the church was banned from holding services on campus; as of now, the student has been reinstated, and the group is allowed to use school facilities again. Private universities have more leeway in determining who's on campus. Last month, Matthew Hale, a white supremacist and self-proclaimed pastor of the World Church of the Creator, visited Northwestern University in an attempt to establish a chapter. School officials don't know if they'll consent to the admittedly racist, antisemitic organization, even if Hale obtains the 15 required signatures to form a student group. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] * Jeffrey K. Hadden is a cult apologist. On the International Churches of Christ, sociologically a cult due to its practices, and theologically a cult of Christianity due to its faulty theology. 31. A glimpse of cyberwarfare US News & World Report, Mar. 13, 2000 http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/000313/cyberwar.htm At first, the urgent phone call from the U.S. Transportation Department confounded Cheng Wang, a Long Island-based webmaster for Falun Gong, the spiritual movement that has unnerved Chinese authorities. Why did the department think his computers were attacking theirs? The answer turned out to be startling. The electronic blitz hadn't come, as it seemed, from various Falun Gong Internet sites. Rather, someone had lifted their electronic identities. Computer sleuths followed a trail back to the XinAn Information Service Center in Beijing-where an operator identified it as part of the Ministry of Public Security, China's secret police. Web hacking, it seems, isn't just for amateurs anymore. While the recent rash of cybervandalism against some of E-commerce's biggest names has garnered headlines, that's only part of the story. From Beijing to Baku, governments and their surrogates are using the Internet to harrass political opponents and unfriendly neighbors, to go after trade secrets, and to prepare for outright warfare. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 32. Breach of Faith CNN/Time, Mar. 5, 2000 http://cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0003/05/impc.00.html (...) JEFF GREENFIELD, CO-HOST: Good evening, and welcome to CNN & TIME. It was sold as a financial deal straight from heaven, a promise from the pulpit to feed the soul and fill the wallet. BERNARD SHAW, CO-HOST: But for the thousands of people across this nation who bought into the double-your-money offer from Greater Ministries International, the dividends were anything but divine. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 33. Martial-arts school hurt kids, pupils Denver Post, Feb. 29, 2000 http://www.denverpost.com/news/news0229e.htm In a promotional brochure, Tiger Kim's Academy promises to build self-confidence and respect. Former students say they instead learned fear and humiliation, suffered physical and sexual abuse and watched helplessly as children were physically punished. One of the largest martial arts studios in Denver, Tiger Kim's Academy is more of a cult than a school, former students said, claiming they were forced to fall to their knees and call the owner ''Hananim,'' Korean for God. ''I am so tired of watching kids cry, looking at that fear in their eyes,'' said former employee and student Janet Roach, her voice choked by sobs. ''It's pretty pathetic that they have to run a school based on intimidation and abuse.'' The owners of Tiger Kim's Academy have not commented on the allegations, instead referring all questions to current student Mark Sutherland. He said the accusations are all false. ''Nothing like that has ever gone on to my knowledge, and I've been a student for 20 years,'' Sutherland said. ''I wouldn't let my children go to school here if I had seen anything like that.'' Since Roach, a former secretary and student, and a few other former students came forward last week with allegations of physical abuse and sexual harassment, several more have come forward with similar stories. (...) ''They scare the hell out of kids. They pee their pants because they're afraid to ask if they can go the bathroom,'' said Teresa Hamilton, who attended the school with her son over four months in 1998. ''I don't like to hear my child scream.'' Roach and Hamilton said they now live in fear and have been harassed by the Kims since going public with their charges. They said they've been followed and someone broke into their house last week. Several other students did not want their names used for fear of retaliation. The students joined Tiger Kim's for a number of reasons: self-defense, exercise and to build self-esteem. The Kims, they said, told students the academy was ''one big happy family'' and demanded absolute loyalty. ''It was a system of manipulation and worship. I would call it a cult,'' said one former student. Denver police say they are investigating the matter, particularly allegations by the mother of a 5year-old boy. She told police the boy was physically abused and was forced to hold a concrete block over his head as punishment. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 34. Battle of the lamas The Telegraph (England), Mar. 4, 2000 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=001941282744302 rtmo=pbNhsl1e atmo=lllllljx&pg=/et/00/3/4/tllama04.html A 14-year-old is head of one of Tibet's most important Buddhist sects. Two months ago he risked his life to flee 900 miles to India. But while his escape has been celebrated by Buddhists worldwide it has also inflamed a dispute which has seen armed battles between rival monks and one eminent lama dying in a mysterious car crash. Astonishing in a religion so strongly identified with peace and serenity, it is a story of medieval intrigue and rivalry, of faith, lies and politics. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 35. Gore Backer Guilty in Fund Raising Case AOL/Reuters, Mar. 2, 2000 http://my.aol.com/news/story.tmpl?table=n cat=01&id=2000030206212729 A key figure in the Democratic fund-raising scandal who arranged Vice President Al Gore's visit to a 1996 Buddhist temple campaign event was convicted on Thursday for hiding $109,000 in illegal contributions. Maria Hsia, a longtime Gore supporter, was found guilty on all five counts of causing false statements to be filed with federal regulators about money she raised from the California temple and others for Democratic candidates. (...) The visit, widely depicted in photographs showing the vice president among monks and nuns in saffron-colored robes, has come to epitomize the 1996 fund-raising scandal that still dogs Gore's presidential campaign. The event at the largest Buddhist temple in the United States raised $65,000 in illegal contributions, according to the indictment. The checks were made out by individual nuns and monks, but the temple reimbursed them for their contributions. Gore has never been charged with any wrongdoing in connection with the Buddhist temple event. A videotape of his appearance was introduced as evidence at the trial. Hsia served as his interpreter at the event. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 36. Church Eyes Samba Group for Symbols Star Tribune/AP, Mar. 4, 2000 http://www2.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/ article?thisStory=81440056 Working feverishly to get ready for carnival, members of the popular samba group Unidos da Tijuca were surprised this week by a visit from lawyers for Rio' s Roman Catholic archdiocese -- and police. After inspecting the group' s parade floats, police seized an iron cross and a panel depicting Our Lady of Good Hope. Directors of the group were charged with mocking religious symbols, a crime punishable by up to one year in prison. The group went to court to overturn the order, and eventually the objects were returned and the charges dropped. But the run-in heightened the uneasy relations between Catholicism and carnival -- two defining forces in Brazilian society. (...) Church officials say sacred symbols and dissolute partying should not mix. (...) But this year' s theme has left carnival participants wondering: How to depict the colonization of the world' s largest Roman Catholic country without mentioning the church? (...) The church and carnival have clashed before. In 1989, Rio' s Cardinal Eugenio Sales went to court to ban a model of Rio' s famous Christ statue from a carnival float. With carnivalistic ingenuity, the group that had designed the float ended up parading with the statue wrapped in black plastic and a sign: '' Even though you are banned, watch over us.'' [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 37. Woman Barred From Contacting Houston AOL/AP, Mar. 3, 2000 http://my.aol.com/news/story.tmpl?table=n cat=01id=2000030302102748 A New York City woman who wrote that Whitney Houston is her ''supernatural reincarnated mother'' and has sent her a four-tiered cake, underwear and other gifts has been barred from contacting the singer. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 38. Transcendental Vessels ABC News, Mar. 2, 2000 http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/DailyNews/meditation000302.html Relaxing and reducing stress through transcendental meditation may reduce artery blockage and the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to the results of a study released in the current issue of the American Heart Association's journal Stroke. (...) The study found, through the use of an ultrasound, that the meditation group had a significant reduction in the thickness of the arterial wall compared to group who only underwent education. (...) Researchers enrolled African Americans in the study, which was published in a peer-reviewed journal, because they are at the greatest risk for cardiovascular disease. ''Based on our positive findings in this high-risk group, we can assume that a group at less risk can also benefit from it,'' says Dr. Amparo Castillo-Richmond, lead author of the study and assistant professor of Medicine at Maharishi University of Medicine College of Vedic Medicine in Fairfield, Iowa. (...) ''We expect to use this treatment as an adjunct to current pharmacological therapies,'' says Dr. Castillo-Richmond. ''We don't want the patient to think they can replace current medical therapies with this type of meditation.'' ''I think as long as people continue to take their medications, Transcendental Meditation can only help,'' says Patrick Lyden, M.D., Chief of Neurology, Director of the Stroke Center, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in San Diego. While most doctors agree that this type of alternative therapy provides another tool against cardiovascular disease, some warn that it might not be ideal for everyone. ''I think the only problem is compliance. It is hard for patients to stick with this type of time consuming program,'' says Jay Kaplan, professor of pathology and anthropology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. But the results of this study may be encouraging to patients who might want additional help with their condition. The federal National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, is funding larger scale studies based on the Maharishi University findings. ''The distinct state of 'restful alertness' gained during the transcendental meditation technique may be triggering self-repair homeostatic mechanisms in the body, which lead to the regression of atherosclerosis,'' says Robert Schneider, M.D., second author of the study and director of the Maharishi Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Religious Freedom 39. Four sue over right to preach in public The Oregonian, Mar. 3, 2000 http://www.oregonlive.com/news/00/03/st030304.html Four self-described street preachers say Portland police and the city have continually violated their constitutional rights to free speech and religion, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Portland. Daniel Lee, Michael Carr, Edward Gathright and Jeremy Sonnier are evangelical Christians who preach publicly as a central practice of their faith. (...) The suit is the latest volley in a simmering legal battle between the city and evangelical public speakers. In two cases, city ordinances have been struck down. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 40. Ore. Church Loses Permit Battle Yahoo/AP, Mar. 3, 2000 http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000303/us/church_dispute_2.html The Jacksonville city council has voted to uphold a decision denying a Presbyterian church a building permit for a sanctuary in another clash between church and state. The decision came a night after the Portland City Council overturned an attendance cap and preserved a meals program for the homeless and poor at a Methodist church. Land use controls collided with religion in the cases that arose separately over the past two months. The result was an outcry from clergy, some state politicians and others who have said local officials have no constitutional right to meddle in church affairs. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 41. Lawsuit Involving Display of Cross Necklace Settled Salt Lake Tribune/Religion News Service, Mar. 4, 2000 http://www.sltrib.com/2000/mar/03042000/religion/31094.htm An Alabama school board has settled a lawsuit filed by a student who was prevented from displaying a cross necklace. The American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative law firm founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, filed suit in October on behalf of Kandice Smith, a sixth-grader at Curry Middle School in Jasper, Ala. This week, a settlement agreement was reached that permits Kandice to wear her cross outside her clothing and requires the Walker County Public Schools to revise their dress code policy ''to mandate religious accommodations in accordance with the Alabama Religious Freedom Amendment.'' The ACLJ also will receive $30,000 as part of the settlement. [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] === Noted 42. Vatican Outline Issued on Apology for Historical Failings New York Times, Mar. 2, 2000 http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/030200pope-apologize.html A Vatican document was released today outlining the conditions and limits to a sweeping apology Pope John Paul II plans to deliver later this month for the Roman Catholic Church's historical failings. Among the errors listed in the document are divisions within Christianity, forced conversions, the use of violence and anti-Jewish prejudice. However, the document, entitled ''Memory and Reconciliation: The Church and the Mistakes of the Past,'' also stresses that many acts of earlier centuries cannot be judged solely by contemporary standards. It draws a sharp line between sins committed by the church's ''sons and daughters'' and the church itself, which is ''holy and immaculate.'' Citing past writings by John Paul II and his predecessors, the document explains that ''the purification of memory'' that the pope seeks to conduct ''can never mean that'' the church ''gives up proclaiming the revealed truth entrusted to her.'' (...) But today's document seems aimed more at reassuring Catholics and church leaders who fear that the Vatican has gone too far in apologizing for past sins. The document, which sets out a theological framework for repentance by the church, notes that some Catholics expressed ''reservations'' about a process of admitting responsibility that could seem a concession to ''those who are hostile'' to the church. Father Cottier said that the document sought to put the pope's call for a ''purification'' of the church within its proper theological and historical context. Father Cottier said that it would be ''absurd'' to take responsibility for all past mistakes, and that apologies worked best in an ecumenical sphere, where divided branches of Christianity could seek mutual pardon and reconciliation. ''It cannot be done with the Muslims, because Islam does not recognize the Christian notion of pardon,'' Father Cottier said. ''In places where Christians and Christian missionaries are in a minority, it would be taken as a sign of weakness. We couldn't write it down that way, but that was the thought.'' [...more...] [Need the full story? Read this] 43. Sharing the secrets of the scrolls Chicago Sun-Times, Mar. 5, 2000 http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/sea05.html For 50 years, scholars have sweated to solve the jigsaw puzzle of the Dead Sea Scrolls--to piece together the ancient world of the scrolls and to clarify the trail they mark to the present day. Starting Friday, visitors to the Field Museum will be able to get a grasp of the challenge and the mystery posed by the 2,000-year-old manuscripts that are believed to include the oldest copies of parts of the Old Testament. [...more...] |