The GOD BLOG Daily Religious News

Mother Sinead O'Connor, Now A Priest, Returns To Singing

2005-02-13T06:33:00.000-08:00

Irish singer Sinead O'Connor says that after two years of retirement, she is returning to music - but not the pop scene. "I want to at least aim my records at a more spiritualized market," she told Irish music magazine Hotpress.

O'Connor, best known for her song "Nothing Compares 2 U" and for shredding a picture of Pope John Paul II on "Saturday Night Live," announced her retirement two years ago. She said she wanted to concentrate on raising her children. She also disclosed she was battling a fatigue illness called fibromyalgia.

In 1999, O'Connor was ordained as a priest in the Latin Tridentine Church by a rebel bishop. She then adopted the name Mother Bernadette Mary.

Now, she says her music would have religious qualities. "Religious songs with bad words, that's the best way I could describe it," she said. "I've been thinking for years the religious area of music has a huge gap in it. Needs a bit of punky filling."

O'Connor says that the Vatican should be delighted that her ordination to the priesthood (not recognized by Rome) is likely to bring young people back to the Church.

O'Connor celebrates mass both in English and Latin.

The 38-year-old singer said she was already working on material for three different records and would perform in the next few months at a special appearance in Belfast, Ireland.

O'Connor's third son, Shane, was born last March.

Thanks to www.miami.com. Gratefully reprinted for academic, research, and educational purposes.

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Violence and Mistreatment of Women and Religious Repression Leads Respected Rights Organization To Ask U.S. To Restrict Travel To Saudi Arabia

2005-02-10T05:01:00.000-08:00

A religious freedom organization is urging Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to impose travel and other restrictions on Saudi Arabia within the next month because of severe freedom of religion violations in the kingdom.

Having last year designated Saudi Arabia a "country of particular concern" because of its abuses, the State Department is required by March 15 to take specific steps, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) told Rice in a letter this week.

The commission, a body set up under the International Religious Freedom Act, says Saudi Arabia strictly prohibits all public religious expression other than those that follow the government's interpretation of Islam.

Violations include torture, cruel and degrading treatment, detention without charge, coercive measures aimed at women, and the wide jurisdiction of the religious police.

The kingdom also is accused of funding or otherwise supporting the spreading abroad of an ideology of hatred, intolerance and violence.

For four consecutive years, the USCIRF urged the State Department to add Saudi Arabia to the list of "countries of particular concern" (CPCs),but it was only last September that former Secretary of State Colin Powell did so.

The government is empowered to take a range of actions against CPCs, but has in past years done no more than invoke already-existing sanctions against those on the list, including China, Iran, Burma, North Korea and Sudan.

The USCIRF has been critical of this inaction, and in her letter to Rice, commission chair Preeta Bansal again raised what she called "this failure in U.S. foreign policy."

With the U.S. relying on pre-existing sanctions, there was little incentive for CPC governments to improve their behavior, she said. Failure to take further action suggested to the violators that Washington could or would do nothing more.

Saudi Arabia is one of three newcomers to the CPC list, the others being Vietnam and Eritrea.

Bansal said their designation last September provides Rice with the opportunity to take specific measures against them, as no pre-existing sanctions are in place against the trio.

In the case of Saudi Arabia, the commission recommended that the U.S. identify Saudi government officials responsible for severe violations and not allow them entry into the country. It should also bar officials who propagated around the world "an ideology that explicitly promotes hate, intolerance, and human rights violations."

The government should also issue a demarche (warning), urging Riyadh to stop funding or other support for literature or other activity promoting hate, intolerance, and human rights violations, "including the distribution of such materials in the United States and elsewhere outside of Saudi Arabia."

Further, the U.S. should not issue licenses to export "dual-use" items - materials that could be used for both military and civilian purposes -- to any Saudi government agency responsible for severe abuses, it recommended.

Last year, shackles, leg-irons "and other items that could be used to perpetrate human rights violations" were among goods exported from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia.

"As world events of the past several years have confirmed, ensuring that governments respect freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief both advances our strategic interests and is a vital component of securing broader freedoms," Bansal said.

'Don't use waiver'

Saudi Arabia is considered a key Mideast ally of the U.S., and successive administrations have avoided direct criticism.

Since the religious freedom act was passed in 1999, the USCIRF has been calling for the kingdom to be named a CPC.

But although the State Department itself asserted that freedom of religion "does not exist" in Saudi Arabia - one of the harshest assessments in its annual global evaluation - neither former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright nor Powell complied, until 2004.

The actions would represent "a public acknowledgement that the extent and nature of violations of freedom of religion or belief in Saudi Arabia will have a measurable impact on the Saudi-U.S. bilateral relationship."

Saudi support for the global propagation of an ideology that promotes hatred and violence undermined U.S. interests, it said.

Thanks to CNSNews.com, Patrick Goodenough, International Editor. Gratefully reprinted for academic, research, and educational purposes.

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Bob Marley Anniversary Spotlights Rasta Religion

2005-02-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

Jamaican reggae icon Bob Marley would have been 60 this Sunday. Legions of fans descended on Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa for a month-long celebration marking the anniversary of the singer-poet's birth.
The festivities are being held in the African country due to its association with the Rastafarian religion, which Marley followed.
The celebration kicked off Tuesday with the opening of art and photo exhibitions and a symposium on African history based on themes in Marley's songs, which include such classics as "No Woman No Cry" and "I Shot the Sheriff."
Marley, who died at the age of 36 of brain cancer in 1981, is considered by many to be one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Most critics agree that no other musician has single-handedly held such sway over a music genre the way Marley did with reggae.
"He was a master poet for the ages," said Roger Steffens, a reggae historian based in Los Angeles. "Marley is still responsible for 50 percent of all reggae music sold in the United States. That would be like Elvis selling 50 percent of rock and roll. It's just not going to happen."
Bob Marley also helped popularize Rastafarianism, which venerates the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. Selassie, who was deposed in 1974 and died in 1975 (many people believe he was murdered), is hailed by Rastafarians as an incarnation of God.
Street Preachers
Bob Marley, who was born Robert Nesta Marley, grew up dirt poor on the streets of Kingston, Jamaica.
Much of his music aims to lift up the impoverished and powerless, and anthems like "Get Up Stand Up" and "I Shot the Sheriff" carry a strong antiauthoritarian streak.
At a young age Marley fell in with the Rastafarians—known as the blackheart men among the Kingston residents who feared them. The Rastas then were a group of street preachers who taught the Bible and smoked marijuana.
Although its roots go back to the early 1900s, Rastafarianism takes its name from Ras (Prince or Duke) Tafari Makonnen, Haile Selassie's name until he was crowned emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. The faith predicted that a new king with the power of God would rise out of Africa.
When Ras Tafari was crowned "His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie the First, King of Kings, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God, Emperor of Ethiopia," the Rastafarians considered their prophecy fulfilled.
Haile Selassie was uncomfortable with the Rastafarians' belief in his divinity and often denied that he was God. Yet when he was invited in 1966 by the Jamaican government to Jamaica to denounce that he was God, he is said to have told the movement's spiritual leaders there, "I am who you say I am."
I and I
Once his career took off, "Marley became the prime exponent of Rastafari throughout the world," Steffens said.
Followers of the faith believe that Ras Tafari remains a living messiah. He will lead the world's peoples of African descent into a promised land of full emancipation and divine justice, according to Rastafarian belief.
At the heart of the faith is the Rastafarians' belief that the smoking of cannabis (including marijuana and hashish) enjoys biblical sanction and aids meditation and spiritual awakening. The wearing of dreadlocks—hair that is matted into ropelike strands—is also closely associated with the movement.
One of its tenets, "I and I," is a complex term that refers to the oneness of Jah (God) and every human. According to the faith, God is in all of us, and we are in fact one people.
But the Rastafarian leaders have long been divided. While some say Haile Selassie is God incarnate, others believe he is the reincarnation of Jesus. Some say he is a metaphor for God, yet others see him strictly as a man worthy of respect.
Bob Marley himself wrestled with the faith.
"He would call the proclaimed leaders of Rastafari," Steffens said. "Marley would say, 'Everywhere I go in the world today, people ask me to explain the doctrine. If you guys can't come to any general conclusion among yourselves, how am I supposed to put this idea forth to the world?'"
Spiritual Resting Place
Many of Bob Marley's songs had an African connection. "Exodus" and "Redemption Song," for example, decried racism and the European colonization of Africa, and celebrated freedom from oppression.
Rita Marley, Bob's wife, calls Africa her husband's "spiritual resting place." She has said she wishes to exhume her husband's remains, now interred in Jamaica. She wants to rebury him in Shashemene, a Rastafarian community 150 miles (250 kilometers) south of the Ethiopian capital. The community is located on land that Haile Selassie gave the movement in 1948.
Hundreds of Rastafarians still live in Shashemene.
But many people have dismissed the reburial plan as a publicity stunt.
"Bob never, ever expressed a desire to be buried anywhere, because Rasta does not acknowledge the existence of death," Steffens said. "I do think he was looking at Africa in the future, but come on, his whole life was about Jamaica. Everything he did and everything he wrote was about Jamaica or directed to the Jamaican people."
Indeed this year is the first time the annual celebration of Bob Marley's birthday is taking place outside his native Jamaica.

Thanks to Stefan Lovgren, National Geographic News. Gratefully reprinted for academic, research, and educational purposes.

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Thailand In An Uproar Victoria's Secret for New Buddha Swimsuit -- As If Recovering From the Tusnami Isn't Enough To Keep People Busy

2005-02-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

Victoria's Secret -- the American company known for its racy lingerie -- may have gone too far with its new Buddah bikini.

The swimsuit has angered government officials and clergy in this mainly country, who plan to ask the company to suspend worldwide sales of the offending item and are considering banning its import into Thailand.

The swimsuit, with pictures of a seated Buddha on the breast areas of the halter, ``is a major insult to Buddhism,'' said Gen. Amnuay Phetsiri, the deputy chief of the national police of Thailand.

Victoria's Secret does not have any outlets in Thailand, and no local company imports its products.

Amnuay, the deputy police chief, however, said police are looking at the legality of preventing the import of the swimsuit by businesses and individuals.

Thailand's Foreign Ministry has also asked its embassy in the United States to appeal to Victoria's Secret to immediately halt sales of the swimsuit, said the ministry spokesman, Sihasak Phuangketkeow.

The swimsuit has also raised the ire of the Office of National Buddhism, which said it would file a complaint to the Foreign Ministry.

``Lord Buddha is the most respected figure in Buddhism. Although the company is free to do this, it should think of our feelings,'' said Udom Charoen, the director of the Office of National Buddhism, a state body for promoting and preserving the religion.

The suit also features an image of Boddhisatava, a Chinese goddess figure from Buddhism's Mahayana sect, in the lower part of the halter.

Although Thailand is a largely tolerant society, Thais do not take kindly to inappropriate portrayal of Buddha and their king, a highly respected and loved figure.

Two years ago, a newspaper advertisement by a Thai-themed restaurant in the United States spoofed the Thai king, touching off a storm of protest in Thailand. The restaurant owner later removed the advertisement.

Thanks to www.yellowbrix.com. Gratefully reprinted for academic, research, and educational purposes.

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White-supremacy record label closes after owner is accused of being HISPANIC!!

2005-02-07T05:47:00.000-08:00

If you're a white supremacist, you canNOT be black...or of Spanish origin, apparently. Panzerfaust, a rather prominent St. Paul, MN-based white-supremacy record label has closed shop over questions of the owner's race.

"They are out of business," said Minnesota Gang Strike Force investigator Dan Michener.

Byron Calvert, 33, who was Panzerfaust's spokesman and public face, accuses his former business partner, Anthony Pierpont, 38, of having a Hispanic mother. In word and in deed, white supremacists constantly demonstrate that their philosophy is the dumbest theory ever conconted.

"I told Anthony that he had no choice but to walk away from (Panzerfaust) before this became public," Calvert says on a Web site linked from the now-defunct Panzerfaust site.

Pierpont was arrested in his South St. Paul home back on Nov. 30, 2004, on suspicion of felony possession of a small amount of a substance believed to be cocaine. That incident led to a schism between Pierpont and Calvert.

Calvert, also known as Bryant Cecchini, and several friends stood outside his South St. Paul duplex on Friday afternoon. Other than confirming he is no longer involved with Panzerfaust Records, Calvert refused to answer questions. He also would not talk about the whereabouts of Pierpont, whose case is pending in the Dakota County court system.

"It's all over," said Joe Roy, chief investigator for the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks white supremacist activities across the country. The center's Web site has posted a copy of Pierpont's birth certificate, which shows his Mexico-born mother was named Maria Marcola del Prado. Pierpont could not be reached for comment.

Panzerfaust, previously considered the nation's largest skinhead record label, created controversy in September when Calvert announced plans to distribute 100,000 copies of a "pro-white sampler CD" to teenagers across the country.

Calvert's plan was to spread Panzerfaust's anti-ethnic message to teens through music, and the label sold the CDs to supporters at a discounted rate of $15 per 100 copies. In an interview with the St. Paul Pioneer Press at the time, Calvert said, "Our target audience is 50 million white kids who have never heard of us."

Pierpont's racial heritage has long been a subject of speculation in white-power circles. The Southern Poverty Law Center's Web site refers to him as "The Well-Tanned Skinhead," and reports others within the movement have questioned his race as early as 1995.

Until recently, Calvert adamantly denied the rumors, but now has used the Internet to demand Pierpont "take a DNA test to clear up any doubt. He refuses to do so." Now that Panzerfaust has closed, other white-supremacy groups will attempt to gain control of a total market estimated by Roy at $1 million per year.

"There will be a scramble for that business," Roy said. "It's more than just CDs - it's T-shirts, belt buckles and other merchandise." But such infighting is fairly common in the white-supremacist movement. Reading online message boards discussing Panzerfaust's demise, Roy said, is "like watching a bunch of children calling each other names."

Thanks to Knight Ridder correspondent Brian Bonner, who contributed to this report.
Also, the "St. Paul Pioneer Press" online. Gratefully reprinted for academic, research, and educational purposes.

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Author Says That Imitating Christ's Habits -- Especially The Fun Ones -- Can Give Us A Happy Life

2005-02-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

Some habits are hard to break, but author Jay Dennis believes that through Jesus Christ, individuals have the power to overcome bad habits and begin new “Jesus habits.”

Dennis’ new book, “The Jesus Habits, Exercising the Spiritual Disciplines of Jesus,” offers what the author says are practical ways to implement the spiritual disciplines of Jesus into any Christian life.

Dennis's approach is from the Christian right but the "hints for happy living" that he's gleaned from the gospels may be on interest to any form of Christian, or even non-Chrisitian searcher.

“The idea for this book began when the Lord placed upon my heart to begin reading the gospels and observe what Jesus did, not just what he taught,” Dennis wrote in the introduction to the book, released by Broadman & Holman, the trade book division of LifeWay Christian Resources (which is owned by the Southern Baptist Convention).

“I went back and noticed how many times I had written the word ‘habit’ beside something Jesus did,” said Dennis, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lakeland, Fla. “Looking back, I found 31 identifiable habits of Jesus.”

The 31 behaviors examined in the book are observable patterns in the life of Jesus, the consummate example of successful living.

“The good news for you and me is that each of those habits can be copied; they can be put to practice in our daily lives,” he said.

The book prompts readers to study the habits each day for 31 days.

“One will catch a glimpse of how Jesus exercised these disciplines, and practically each person can incorporate them at work, school, home or anywhere,” Dennis said. “Jesus told us that He had left an example and that we should follow in His steps.”

“I simply feel that the Jesus example in the practical disciplines of life should be held up as the standard of excellent living,” Dennis said. “Even those who aren’t Christians are fascinated with Jesus.

“[Jesus’] life arguably affected history and continues to do so. Mel Gibson’s movie, ‘The Passion of The Christ,’ showed us how interested the world is in this Person named Jesus. It is important for people to know that Jesus demonstrated, as a lifestyle, these positive habits.”

Dennis examines Jesus’ spiritual disciplines such as prayer, worship, fasting, obedience and fellowship in the book. He also explores other habits in detail, such as confrontation, acting like a man, esteeming women and kindness.

Of the 31 habits, Dennis said he identified most with the habit of having fun.

“Often Jesus is pictured as solemn and sad,” Dennis said. “There were certainly times when that was the case, but I believe He enjoyed life, not just endured it. He loved to laugh. Perhaps that’s why He loved to be around children. Research has shown that children laugh approximately 400 times a day, and adults average 15 laughs a day.”

The Jesus Habits explains that Jesus loved to go into people’s homes and enjoy the fellowship of others.

“He performed His first miracle at a celebrative wedding,” Dennis said. “Jesus also incorporated humor into His teachings. The world would be more attracted to Jesus if His followers would learn to lighten up a little, laugh at themselves, laugh with others and not take themselves so seriously.”
--30--
“The Jesus Habits” can be purchased at LifeWay Christian Stores or online at www.lifewaystores.com.

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Australian Catholic Church Divided Over Priestly Celibacy--Calls For End to Celibacy in USA, and Ordination of Woman Priests

2005-02-02T06:43:00.000-08:00

Australia's Catholic Church is embroiled in a debate over whether the church should drop its insistence on celibacy for clergymen. A leading priests' association argues that doing away with the requirement could reverse a serious decline in numbers.

The National Council of Priests (NCP), an organization representing about half of Australia's 1,650 Catholic clergy, including more than 40 bishops, has written to the Vatican's Synod of Bishops, urging that marriage no longer prevent a priest from being ordained.

It also asked that the church reinstate ordained priests who had left the church to marry.

NCP chairman Fr. Hal Ranger wrote in the letter to the Vatican that many Anglican/Episcopal priests who had converted to Catholicism in recent years, and who were married at the time, were permitted by the church to serve as ordained priests despite being married.

Noting that the church welcomed such men and their families, Ranger asked that the Vatican synod "earnestly and seriously consider extending this opportunity to other married men."

In the U.S., a Cleveland, Ohio-based Catholic "reform" group called FutureChurch -- which is running a petition calling for an end to obligatory celibacy -- called the Australian move a "prophetic action" and predicted it would "certainly energize our base."

"God's people need both celibate and married vocations, both male and female deacons and priests if we are to minister well," said FutureChurch executive director Christine Schenk.

Thanks to www.abc.net.au. Gratefully reprinted for academic, research, and educational purposes.

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Dalai Lama's offices in Nepal are shuttered by the government

2005-02-01T20:09:00.000-08:00

Nepal has ordered the closure of the local office of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and a welfare centre that helped refugees fleeing Tibet, saying they did not have a licence to operate, officials said.

Tibetans who have been running the offices in Kathmandu for over four decades said the Nepali government had acted under pressure from Beijing, which has in the past accused these establishments of anti-China activities.

Nepal, home to more than 20,000 Tibetan refugees who left the Himalayan region after the Dalai Lama fled in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule, considers Tibet a part of China.

"We don't recognise the Dalai Lama nor his representative office in Nepal," a Nepali foreign Ministry official said.

Both the offices were asked to close for failure to fulfil local laws that require any office to register with the government.

"The local administration served a notice on them to close because they were not registered," the official said.

One of the world's poorest countries, Nepal does not allow Tibetan refugees to organise any political activity that could jeopardise its ties with Beijing, a key aid donor and a major trading partner.

"I believe the closing down of the Dalai Lama's office is under pressure from China," Wangchuk Tsering, the representative of the Dalai Lama in Nepal, said.

US based Human Rights Watch urged Kathmandu to allow the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office to reopen and continue assisting thousands of Tibetans who still flee their homeland and arrive in Nepal every year.

Many Tibetans risked their lives fleeing over the Himalayas and often suffered from frostbite and other life-threatening medical conditions, the rights watchdog said.

Thanks to www.abc.net.au. Gratefully reprinted for academic, research, and educational purposes.

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Crystal Meth Epidemic Becomes A Spiritual Issue in U.S.

2005-01-30T05:22:00.000-08:00

It may be the worst of the worst...the most devastating drug ever to scourge the United States: This is the reality of methamphetamine, a drug that is growing in popularity and destruction of lives throughout the United States. Reuters this week published a sweeping article describing the drug's incredible growth in rural America. As the drug's popularity grows, so does associated crime, child abuse, and even unexpected and very dangerous toxic pollution.

"It is out of control. It is a huge problem all across the United States," said Mike Logsdon, unit chief of an intelligence arm of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that collects data on the problem.

The drug is also popularly known as crank, crystal, speed and ice. Users are able to ingest the drug in a varitey of ways, included being snorted, injected, smoked, or simply swallowed. And, the effects are immediate as it only takes a few minutes for the user to experiences a "rush of energy and sense of well-being" that can have up to 12 hours' duration. However, when the user comes down as by the drug wears off, there is a morose feeling, a deep depression, accompanied by paranoia which makes the user willing to do almost anything to obtain another fix.

The epidemic developed largely in the past five years and, unlike previous drugs, this one is hitting America's heartland, small towns and rural areas where the drug's use is bordering on out of control. The DEA says that this is due to the fact that meth is simple and inexpensive to create. The ingredients (rock salt, battery acid, anhydrous ammonia and cold medicines) are all readily available. In face, you can even obtain "recipes" online.

And, authorities say that small towns and America's vast farm and rural areas are ideal places to create meth labs as it's very difficult to locate them in these wide open spaces.

"It's the first drug in the history of the United States we can make, distribute, sell, take, all here in the Midwest," said Detective Jason Grellner, of the Franklin County Sheriff's Department in Missouri told Reuters His department raided 120 meth labs last year alone.

"You can't grow a coca plantation or an opium plantation here to get your heroin or cocaine, and marijuana takes four or five months to grow a good plant. With methamphetamine you can go out and for a couple hundred dollars you can make your drugs that day," Grellner is quoted as saying.

IT SWEPT DOWN ON US SO FAST!

Crystal Meth showed up in rural America with almost no warning at all and obtained a toehold before authorities even had a clue. Check this out: Sheriff Randy Krukow of Clay County in western Iowa told Reuters that, in 1999, he had not detected a single meth-producing laboratory. By 2001, his force had broken up 56 in a county with a population of only 18,000!!!!

"This is the most serious law enforcement problem we've ever faced in the history of our state because this substance is so addictive and so easy and cheap to make," said North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem.

"When we look at our prison population, 10 years ago nobody had even heard of it. Now 60 percent of our male inmates are users and we're building a brand new prison for female users," Stenehjem said.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal recently told a statewide conference on combating the drug: "It doesn't matter where we go in the state, methamphetamine is there. The whole issue is eating us alive."

The Drug Trends Analysis Unit, an office in the Justice Department, says that the highest numbers of meth labs are found in California, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri, all important farming states.

"Clandestine labs were discovered in abandoned farms, in fields and ditches, vehicles, barns and even in 309 cases in hotel rooms. In one 2002 incident in North Dakota, an explosion set off a fire which destroyed the entire hotel."

THEN, THERE'S THE TOXIC WASTE PROBLEM

Each pound of methamphetamines that's made produces another five to six pounds of waste that's so incredibly toxic that raids can endanger the lives of police officers, most of whom lack the expertise required to do this hazardous work.

Some 20 states are now trying to limit the amount of cold medicines and decongestants that pharmacies may sell to individuals to two packets at any one time. Some states are trying to require drug stores to remove these cold medicines from the shelves entirely, requiring customers to go find a pharmacist and request "over the counter" cold and flu treatments. Of course, the pharmaceutical industry rigorously opposes these moves.

The economic losses associated with Meth staggering. A study just issued by the Sam Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas looked at methamphetamine use in Benton County, the home of Walmart Stores Inc. The research found that lost productivity and absenteeism because of methamphetamine addiction just in that county was costing employers there more than $21 million a year.

MIDWEST MINISTRY BEGINS TACKLING THE METH PROBLEM

A new ministry is working with methamphetamine addicts as they cope with the reality that the drug causes brain damage similar to the effects of a stroke, epilepsy and Alzheimers disease. "It is the devil's greatest tool in the world of drugs," Paula Wood, reformed methamphetamine addict and founder of Break Free Ministry, told "Charisma" magazine in the February issue, out now. (The full story on the ministry can be found in the magazine.)

Dubbed the "devil's drug," methamphetamine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system, creating an intense high that can last as long as 24 hours. But it can also produce psychotic behavior, resulting in extreme violence.

Also known as speed, meth or chalk, methamphetamine is made in clandestine laboratories from everyday household products and is the most prevalent synthetic drug manufactured in the United States. According to a 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 1.3 million people used the drug during the previous year.

Founded in 2003, Break Free, which reaches out to methamphetamine addicts and their families, is run by Paula and husband Andy Wood from their home in Savanna, Okla. -- an area that has been ravaged by the drug. The ministry consists of 10 team members, eight of whom are former meth addicts. They go into the streets and preach that religion holds a way out. The group also brings food to those who are living in the streets due to the devastating, life-destroying, drug.

Gratefully reprinted for academic, research, and educational purposes. (Additional reporting by Carey Gillam)

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NON-CATHOLIC FETAL REMAINS BECOME PART OF A CATHOLIC ANTI-ABORTION MEMORIAL!

2005-01-29T04:31:00.000-08:00

You have an abortion, or suffer a miscarriage, and unbeknownst to you, your child's fetal remains are sent off to become part of a Catholic memorial to aborted children. And, the practice has been going on for a decade, according to Eternal Word Television Network.

A Colorado hospital will now ask its female patients where they want fetal remains to be buried, after a miscarriage, stillbirth or abortion. Avista Adventist Hospital has taken on this new policy after learning that Crist Mortuary in Boulder was sending fetal remains, which they had received from the hospital for cremation, to a Catholic cemetery. .

The mortuary apologized to the hospital this week, which was unaware of the practice.

News that the mortuary was sending the ashes to Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Boulder for almost a decade to be part of a Catholic memorial dedicated to aborted children, caused outrage among pro-abortion groups.

The mortuary also returned the ashes of several hundred fetuses to the Boulder Abortion Clinic, which asked for them back after hearing the news. From EWTN. Gratefully reprinted for academic, research, and educational purposes.

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VERMONT BANS BIBLE QUOTE LICENSE PLATE

2005-01-29T04:29:00.000-08:00

A Vermont man has sued that state's Department of Motor Vehicles after his application to have a personalized license plate with a Christian message was rejected.

Last April, Shawn Byrne submitted an application for a personalized plate inscribed with "JOHN316." In May, he received a letter from the DMV informing him that the inscription was "deemed to be a combination that refers to deity and has been denied based on that reason." On appeal, an administrative law judge upheld the DMV's position because the statute governing the license plate program prohibits combinations that refer to "deity," among other things.

Byrne has now sued the state over the matter. He is represented by attorney Anthony Duprey of Middlebury, who is affiliated with the Alliance Defense Fund. Duprey contends the state's position is clearly unconstitutional.

"The state of Vermont has created a forum whereby they allow people to make expression within this license plate forum," the attorney says. "But they said if you happen to have a religious perspective, a Christian perspective, then you need not apply. They're discriminating as to what sort of speech people can put on the license plate -- and I think that's very troubling."

According to Duprey, DMV officials have approved other plates that use names and numbers referring to religion. But those officials, he says, have "selectively censored" his client's expression. "When officials suppress speech because they don't like the message of the plate or the viewpoint it expresses, that's illegal discrimination," he says.

The attorney points out another aspect that he sees as discriminatory. "What's important in my client's life is his relationship with Jesus Christ," he explains. "[But] the state said 'Well, we don't want to hear that -- , we don't want you to express that.' But if you've got somebody [for whom] bowling is their big thing in life and that's what they live for, then you're free to put it on the vehicle."

Duprey says he intends to make sure the DMV "will no longer be able to discriminate against anyone based upon their religious views."

NOTE: Allie Martin is a reporter for American Family Radio News, available online. AgapePress. Gratefully reprinted for academic, research, and educational purposes.

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AS WITH DR. HOOK AND THE MEDICINE COMPANY , THE BIBLE WILL BE ON THE COVER OF THE 'ROLLING STONE'

2005-01-29T04:27:00.000-08:00

The bible of rock 'n' roll, Rolling Stone magazine, will run an ad for the Holy Bible next month â€” the same ad it rejected two weeks ago for its "spiritual message."

"We have addressed the internal miscommunications that led to the previous misstatement of company policy and apologize for any confusion it may have caused," Lisa Dallos, spokeswoman for Wenner Media, Rolling Stone's parent company, said Monday. She declined to elaborate.

The magazine was drummed by critics last week for turning down a low-key ad for a new translation of Scripture, Today's New International Version (TNIV).

The nation's largest Bible publisher, Zondervan, had inquired about rates for the ad in March and booked the space in July for the ad to run in February.

The ad, which will run unchanged in mid-February, doesn't mention God. But it describes the Bible as "real truth" and ca

rries the new translation's slogan: "Timeless truth: Today's language." Zondervan is launching a $1 million marketing campaign for the TNIV in publications for young adults who rarely, if ever, read the Bible. TNIV is designed to be accessible to modern readers. The Bible.

"We're frankly thrilled that Rolling Stone has decided to accept our ad," said Paul Caminiti, Zondervan's president of Bible publishing.

"We believe that the Bible is relevant for Rolling Stone readers," Caminiti said. "We've always believed they were a cornerstone in our campaign to squarely market to spiritually intrigued 18- to 34-year-old young people, many of whom live outside the embrace of the church."

Other media outlets that will carry TNIV advertising include Modern Bride, the satirical weekly The Onion and MTV.com.

The trouble with Rolling Stone came when the magazine's executives saw the actual advertisement two weeks ago.

It was ruled unacceptable because of a "spiritual message in the text," said Kent Brownridge, general manager for Wenner Media. He told USA TODAY that the magazine "was not in the business of advertising for religious messages."

Zondervan officials were shocked. They said offers to change the advertisement were rebuffed. Christian and conservative media commentators savaged the magazine, which once carried classified advertising for mail-order divinity degrees.

Meanwhile, the controversy has driven such demand for TNIV, Caminiti said, that Zondervan will be moving it into stores ahead of schedule.

All 10 variations of TNIV, including a version with commentary for women called True Identity and a men's version called Strive, will be in stores Feb. 1 ($15 to $60, depending on binding and features).

Then a new batch of critics might be heard from: theologians who disagree over the actual translation.

When Zondervan released the TNIV New Testament in 2002, some scholars and clergy complained that it went beyond updating language, to revising God's word as well.

Zondervan says it welcomes the debate and will be mailing the full Bible to 118 critics next month.

Courtesy of www.usatoday.com online. Gratefully reprinted for academic, research, and educational purposes.

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A NEW FILM HIGHLIGHTS 'DEEP THROAT' STAR, HARRY REEMS', PORN FAME, BUT NOW HE'S A 'BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN' COMMITED TO HIS FAMILY--AND REAL ESTATE

2005-01-29T04:24:00.000-08:00

Let Harry Reems count his blessings. It is not a small list.

"I've been clean and sober for 15 1/2 years. I'm happily and faithfully married and I love my wife dearly. I've been blessed with a tremendous amount of success selling real estate. God is shining his light on me now; I don't think he did for a number of years."

Which is putting it mildly.

For when Harry Reems takes a poetic moment and says "What a ride this thing called life is," he is not being hyperbolic. As Linda Lovelace's costar in "Deep Throat," the most successful pornographic film ever made, he has gone from obscurity to celebrity to criminal notoriety to gutter-dwelling debauchery to born-again sobriety and success in one hectic lifetime.

"I've been through things most people never experience even vicariously, let alone for real," he says. "I'm truly proud of myself; I've overcome some major problems. I really believe God is at work in my life."

A resident of Park City for nearly 20 years with a house next door to the legendary Stein Eriksen, Reems and his wife, Jeannie, usually leave town when the frantic Sundance Film Festival takes over.

And though he has reached the point at which he has no regrets about it, Reems usually does not talk publicly about his past, "the life that nearly killed me," outside of church groups and 12-step programs. He's doing it now because of Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato's comprehensive new documentary, "Inside Deep Throat," produced by Brian Grazer for Universal and HBO, which was scheduled to have its world premiere Friday night. He's doing it because he got paid "a nice chunk of money," because he wants his story to help people, and because of the opportunities it might open up for his first love, acting.

For before he was an adult film star, Reems was Herb Streicher, a young New York actor who took his craft very seriously in the late 1960s. But his salary was no match for his commitment, so when a fellow actor told him "I know where you can pick up $100 for an hour's work," he went for it. "I took two different subways, I thought I was being followed, I was very, very nervous," Reems remembers.

Those 10-minute loops or stag films, "epics that premiered at Kiwanis Clubs," were succeeded by features known as "white coaters" because doctors on screen provided socially redeeming value. "Someone would stand in front of a blackboard in a white coat saying, 'If you're having difficulty with oral sex, here's how to do it,' and then they'd cut to a 30-minute sex scene."

Reems was not even supposed to be in "Deep Throat." He had been paid $250 by director Gerard Damiano to be the lighting director. But when the man hired for the part never showed, "Gerry said to me, 'Put on this coat; you're acting.' "

Then as now a gregarious man with a sense of humor, Reems initially enjoyed the celebrity "Deep Throat's" astonishing popularity brought him. ("Inside" estimates the porn film earned $600 million, so much that the Mafioso who backed it weighed the money rather than counted it). "You could call me the Shirley Temple" of adult films, he told an interviewer then. "Take an X film and make it an R because I have a PG body." That all changed on a hot July night in 1974.

"It was 3 or 4 in the morning, I was in bed with the girl I was going out with then, and I heard this crazy bang, bang, bang at my door," Reems remembers. "I looked through the peephole and saw this badge with two guys behind it with guns drawn. When I opened the door, they pushed it so hard they nearly took my nose off."

Reems was arrested as part of an aggressive strategy developed by a virulently anti-pornography Memphis federal prosecutor named Larry Parrish, who told juries he'd "rather see dope on the streets than these movies." Though only an actor, Reems was named as a co-conspirator in a national conspiracy to distribute "Deep Throat."

This was the first time the federal government had tried to charge an actor for the results of a film's distribution, and it raised issues so serious for the creative community that Alan Dershowitz joined his defense team, and everyone from Jack Nicholson to Gregory Peck contributed to fundraisers.

The trial in Memphis, held in the same courtroom as the Scopes trial, lasted nine weeks, and though Reems was found guilty, the charges were eventually dropped. Still, the experience of the trial, of being lumped together with the brutal men who controlled the film, of people "screaming, spitting, throwing eggs at me" outside the courthouse, had lasting effects.

"The heavy drinking," he says, "began in Memphis."

Reems' stories of being what he calls "a very, very low bottom drunk" in and out of hospitals and jails, of at one time living "in the back of an Albertson's dumpster in Malibu," are no less compelling for having been told before in churches and meetings. "I was so dismally depressed I became a 2-quart-a-day vodka drinker. I'd buy half-gallons by the case," he says. "My mother died while I was in jail. It's by the grace of God that I'm alive today, and that's a fact."

Reems says he was "a blackout drinker. I'd start drinking in New York and wake up in jail in Los Angeles in my own vomit and puke and not know how I got there." After one of these episodes in 1986, Hugh Hefner bailed him out of jail and a friend sent him a ticket to Park City. He continued drinking there, but in 1989 he decided to go to a 12-step meeting in the local police station. He almost didn't make it.

"As soon as I walked into the building they slapped the cuffs on me for not answering a warrant," he remembers. "I pleaded with them to let me go to the meeting, it was my first day sober." The meetings took, and the program's emphasis on a higher power led Reems, born Jewish but never religious, to a charismatic Methodist minister and a decision to convert and be baptized.

Today, though he shaved his trademark mustache at his wife's request, Reems has embraced all of his chaotic past. "I'm proud of what I've done. I wouldn't be the person I am today if I had not gone through all that." A similar feeling led him to keep his adult film stage name when he started Reems Real Estate. "I didn't want anyone coming up to me and saying, 'I know who you really are.' I've been really forthright about what I've been through. And nobody likes the name Herbert anyhow."

Though Reems allows he'd "probably test the waters" if any acting opportunities came to him as a result of this new wave of publicity, being a public figure is not really what he's after. "I've had my 15 minutes of fame," he says with his familiar grin. "What I want now is my 15 minutes of retirement."

COURTESY OF: The Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/features/religion/

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THE DA VINCI CODE'S CLAIM THAT JESUS HAD A CHILD WITH HIS WIFE, MARY MAGDALINE, IS TOO MUCH OF A STRETCH, SAYS U.N.C. RELIGIOUS SCHOLAR

2005-01-29T04:23:00.000-08:00

Bart Ehrman will admit that the person seated to the left of Jesus in Leonardo Da Vinci's famous "Last Supper" masterpiece seems a bit effeminate.

But that doesn't mean it's a woman, Ehrman points out, nor does it necessarily mean the person is Mary Magdalene.

"It sure looks like a woman," Ehrman, a religious studies scholar at UNC, said recently. "I don't think it is. Art historians tell me that's absolutely crazy."

The suggestion that the person is Mary Magdalene -- a follower of Jesus -- forms the basis of one of several claims made in The Da Vinci Code" the best-selling novel that religion scholars say is rife with falsehoods.

Ehrman, who chairs UNC's religious studies department, takes a shot at debunking many of these claims in his new book, Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code."

Ehrman, an expert on Jesus> and the New Testament, knew the subject matter so well, the book took all of two weeks to write.
"My book was a response to all these historical claims," Ehrman said this week from his office on campus. "They're all wrong."

Though Dan Brown's wildly popular work has been the subject of a number of "debunking the myths" books in the popular press, Ehrman's is the first from a prominent academician who doesn't put a conservative religious spin on the issue.

Ehrman isn't defending any particular position in his book, he said -- just the truth. His book, Ehrman said, is a response to historical claims Brown makes in "The Da Vinci Code" about Jesus, Mary and the Gospels.

Among other claims which might shock a general reading audience, "The Da Vinci Code" contends that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and the two had a child, thus continuing Christ's bloodline.

In the book, a main character argues that the person to Christ's left in the Da Vinci painting is Mary Magdalene, thus proving she's a more important person to Jesus than has been believed.

This contention has its own set of problems, Ehrman said. First, even if the person is Mary Magdalene, it doesn't prove she was married to Jesus. And since the painting is supposed to depict Jesus dining with the 12 apostles, one apostle would be unaccounted for if the person in question is indeed Mary Magdalene, he said.

And even if you take the leap and accept that they were married, there is still no evidence at all that Jesus ever had a child, he added.

"The DaVinci Code," which is sold as a novel and isn't advertised as a work of non-fiction, also offers up the idea that Jesus very well may have been married because, at the time, it was quite rare for Jewish men to be single.

Also not true, Ehrman says. In fact, the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient writings discovered in caves near Jerusalem in 1947, were authored by a group of single, celibate Jewish men called The Essenes.

"The idea that a Jewish man couldn't be single is ludicrous," Ehrman said. "There were, in fact, single men in the ancient time and they had world views much like Jesus."

Further, a character in "The Da Vinci Code" refers to the Dead Sea Scrolls as one of Christianity's earliest writings. That claim, too, was a head-scratcher for Ehrman, pointing out once again the ancient scrolls were written by Jews.

"There's nothing Christian about the Dead Sea Scrolls," he said.

Even while poking holes in the popular novel, Ehrman said he isn't too bothered by it, in large part because while some readers may take its claims at face value, it isn't truly a scholarly work. In the introduction to his own book, Ehrman admits liking "The Da Vinci Code," calling it "a terrific page-turner."

"It gets people talking about Jesus and Mary Magdalene and Constantine, and I think that's all fine," he said. "The problem with it is that he begins the book by claiming all the documents he cites are factual. He's not a scholar."

Brown, who taught English before turning to writing, has generally declined to comment on his critics. He has said that the arguments are "healthy for religion."
Thanks to www.herald-sun.com. The article includes material from an Associated Press report.

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MEXICAN CHURCH SAID TO BE ˜GOLD DIGGERS" OFFER MIRACLES IN RETURN TO SERIOUS CASH

2005-01-29T04:14:00.000-08:00

Their eyes wet with tears and their ears ringing from the wails and piped music of a ritual blessing, a group of women hastens up to the altar, each clasping banknotes worth two days' wages for many Mexicans.

"Who can give 200 pesos or more? Come up now," a young, slick-suited bishop purrs into a microphone, as pastors in ill-fitting dark suits with the menacing look of nightclub bouncers hold out a crimson velvet bag for the green notes worth roughly $18 (9.5 pounds).

"We want the best from God so we must give him the best. Come along, quickly," he says, in a strong Brazilian accent.

With Catholicism losing its lure for some, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), a Brazil-based evangelical Christian group that promises miracles for cash, is spreading fast in Mexico, the second-biggest Catholic country after Brazil.

Controverial movement, based in Brazil. UCKG - the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God - also uses the name "Stop Suffering."

Promotes word-faith theology with a particular emphasis on the seed-faith doctrine (i.e. if you want to receive money, healing or another blessing, you first must give or 'sow' money).

Since its theology and practices are far outside those of normal, biblical Christianity, this movement is considered to be, theologically, a cult of Christianity

Its global annual income is now pegged at some $1 billion, raised by millions of followers in more than 50 countries from Angola to Venezuela, including the United States and Europe.

While it has survived probes in Brazil and sharp criticism elsewhere, Mexico is investigating whether the church adheres to its regulations for religious groups.

The church says it is being "persecuted like Jesus was." But critics claim it skilfully manipulates the poor.

"They are panic-mongers. They work on people's despair and their message is very effective in poor sectors," said Latin American religion specialist Elio Masferrer in Mexico City.

"It's an organization structured to make money. Its growth here has been meteoric."

MIRACLES

The UCKG is classed as part of the neo-Pentacostal or charismatic movement -- a rebirth of Pentecostal beliefs with strong emphasis on physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit in individuals such as speaking in tongues and working miracles.

Since taking root here around 1992 and winning a license to preach in 2001, the UCKG has expanded its winning formula to 48 temples in Mexico. Some seat several thousand.

On top of regular donations, preachers urge followers to put as much as 50,000 pesos in envelopes with requests for God to be taken to holy sites in the Middle East.

Whereas most religions collect coins for church upkeep, the UCKG tells people desperate to save a dying loved-one, find a job or restore a broken marriage that a large donation could move God to help them.

"My boyfriend ran off and married another woman. Ever since, I suffer. I cry, I can't sleep. I want God to bring me peace," said Monica Priorio, 29, who has attended daily UCKG services in a grimy Mexico City district for a year.

"I'm unemployed but if I find a job I'll give a lot. A good service makes you want to give everything you have."

Flashy services take place several times a day in converted theatres across Mexico. Some include exorcisms.

Prosperity Teaching

The so-called 'prosperity teaching' is a scam. If this teaching works as advertised (i.e. you give money in order to receive more money, or another 'blessing') churches like the UCKG would never have to ask for money again. Instead, they would be giving away money in order to receive the promised return...

To crescendos of sugary piano music, the boyish preacher peppers his sermon with snappy prompts like: "Do you feel Jesus?" Some in the congregation wail and flail their arms.

Followers queue up for a healing blessing, in which pastors with contorted faces press on their heads and chant before flinging their hands away dramatically. As the music peaks some people weep, and the donation bags are brought out.

MONEY MACHINE

Founded in 1977 by Edir Macedo, the UCKG -- Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus in Portuguese -- soon reaped enough cash to buy a leading Brazilian television network, a bank, newspapers and radio stations.

"It has the marketing strategy of a big multinational," said Paris-based anthropologist and UCKG expert Marion Aubree.

"The problem is people give (money) freely. This church has used the miracle fairy tale like no other," said Aubree.

The UCKG denies misconduct, and followers say it brings them hope.

Its publications are packed with tales like the one of a penniless family that sent money to God and soon found itself in a luxury villa with a fleet of new cars.

"If your objective is high then so too must be the price of the sacrifice you pay," an editorial reads.

In mainly Catholic Mexico, evangelicalism has lifted the number of Protestants to 12 percent from 10 percent in 2000.

Macedo, a multi-millionaire, was probed for tax fraud in 1992 and linked to illegal drugs money. In 1995 a video showed him teaching pastors how to raise cash, pulling faces as he counted donations and saying the stingy could "go to hell."

More recently the church was probed in Britain over its money flows and placed on a blacklist in France.

"Most evangelical pastors are decent, respectable people, but this church is about making money," said Masferrer.

Some ex-members have tried to sue the church but hit a wall as collecting voluntary donations is not illegal.

Inside the Mexico City church, a sparkling white sanctuary from the filthy streets outside, pastors seek to convince first-timers. One, called Carmen, told Reuters her terminal lung cancer vanished days after she made a large donation.

"I went for a test and the doctor said: 'why are you here? there's nothing wrong with you.' God can move mountains."

Courtesy: www.swissinfo.or

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FT. PIERCE, FLORIDA, COLLEGE BANS ˜PASSION" BECAUSE OF R-RATING

2005-01-29T04:07:00.000-08:00

Florida's Indian River Community College (IRCC) is engaging in a campaign of repression against a Christian student group for attempting to show Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ on campus. The college banned the Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) from showing the film because it was R-rated, despite the fact that the college has hosted a live performance entitled â€œF**king for Jesusâ€ that describes simulated sex with the risen Christ. CSF students report that after their group wrote President Edwin R. Massey in protest, administrators pulled group leaders out of class and, astoundingly, demanded an apology from them for their actions. Now, CSF is unable even to officially meet because its advisor resigned after IRCC imposed a burdensome new policy requiring that faculty advisors attend all student group meetings.

IRCC's assault on CSF must end immediately," declared David French, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which wrote to IRCC on behalf of CSF. "Not only has the college adopted a breathtaking double standard for expression, but it has also abused administrative power in the worst way. As a public institution bound by the First Amendment, IRCC has no right to ban either the movie or the play, and it is shameful to demand an apology from students for trying to preserve their constitutional rights. IRCC's arbitrary and authoritarian actions demonstrate that the college has no respect for its students or for the U.S. Constitution."

FIRE Director of Legal and Public Advocacy Greg Lukianoff remarked: "If IRCC has consistently prevented adult students from showing R-rated movies on campus, it has imposed on them an unconstitutional, paternalistic, and patronizing rule. IRCC's recent actions make it more likely that IRCC has singled out The Passion of the Christ for censorship in an astonishing instance of unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and abuse of administrative power. Either way, the college has shown extraordinary arrogance and foolishness."

"IRCC has also taken its policy of intrusive monitoring of student organization activities to absurd heights. In early December, one CSF student reported that an administrator and security guard interrupted a private discussion between her and a fellow student and demanded to know what they were doing. IRCC's enforcement of the unlawful new rule prohibiting club meetings without the presence of a faculty advisor makes it impossible for CSF, a group that would normally meet at least three times a week, to function as a recognized student organization, as it is unable to find a new advisor who can attend every group meeting."

"It is absurd that IRCC believes that a government representative must monitor the meetings and control the expressive activity of every student group. This requirement is as insulting as it is Orwellian," stated FIRE's French.

FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals from across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, due process, freedom of expression, academic freedom, and rights of conscience at our nation's colleges and universities.

COURTESY OF: thefire.org

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MERCY KILLLING TABOO IS ENDED BY THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

2005-01-29T04:04:00.000-08:00

The Church of England took a radical step towards backing 'mercy killing' of terminally ill patients last night after one of its leading authorities said that there was a 'strong compassionate case' for voluntary euthanasia.

Canon Professor Robin Gill, a chief adviser to Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said people should not be prosecuted for helping dying relatives who are in pain end their lives. Last week Gill was sent by Williams to give evidence to a parliamentary committee investigating euthanasia.

Gill's stance marks a major shift by the Church of England and was welcomed by groups campaigning for a change in the law to allow for people to be helped to die under strictly limited circumstances.

'There is a very strong compassionate case for voluntary euthanasia,' Gill told The Observer . 'In certain cases, such as that which involved Diane Pretty [the woman who was terminally ill with motor neurone disease and who campaigned for the right to be helped to die], there is an overwhelming case for it.'

His claims were last night seized on by pro-euthanasia groups as evidence that the archbishop is prepared to engage in a debate on an issue that has long divided the clergy.

They described Williams's decision to send Gill to give evidence to the committee hearing Lord Joffe's private member's bill on assisted dying for the terminally ill as 'highly significant' and suggested that it represented a softening of the Church's attitude to mercy killings.

'The archbishop's choice of Gill represents a willingness to enter into a more constructive dialogue than before about this important issue. We hope it will encourage other members of the clergy to speak out openly in support,' said Deborah Annetts, chief executive of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society.

Gill's comments come after Brian Blackburn, a retired policeman who killed his terminally ill wife in a suicide pact, walked free from the Old Bailey last Friday with a nine-month suspended sentence.

The court heard that Blackburn's wife, Margaret, 62, had only weeks to live and had asked her husband to cut her wrists. Judge Richard Hawkins described the action 'as the last loving thing' Blackburn could do for his wife.

Annetts said the case confirmed that Gill was right to call for those involved in similar mercy killings not to be prosecuted.

'Christianity is about compassion, and one has only to look at the sad circumstances in the Blackburn case to recognise that the current law is not a compassionate response,' she said.

'Using the criminal law to determine end-of-life decisions is not medically, legally or ethically appropriate, nor is it a proper public policy approach.'

At the 1998 Lambeth Conference, Anglican bishops agreed that withholding excessive medical treatment when there is no 'reasonable prospect of recovery' was consistent with Christian princi ples. But Gill's new claims, which will be seen as having been endorsed by the archbishop, go much further and will rekindle the debate over the morality of mercy killings.

Gill acknowledged that the Church's views on euthanasia are divided and out of step with the majority of its congregation. 'Anglicans are not united on whether we should legalise euthanasia,' he said. 'The bishops have consistently shown they don't believe in changing the law, but the majority of churchgoers think it should be amended.'

Last week several leading clerics, including the Reverend Professor Paul Badham, who is also an expert on the morality of euthanasia, wrote to the Daily Telegraph arguing that helping the terminally ill end their lives was 'compatible with faith'.

'It worries us when organised religion is not sharing the heartfelt view of mainstream faith-based opinion in this country,' the clerics noted.

Gill stressed he did not believe relaxing the ban on euthanasia was the way forward. 'I feel that would make vulnerable people more vulnerable,' he said, but agreed the issue was a grey area.

COURTESY OF:UK religion news from The Guardian & The Observer. www.guardian.co.uk/religion/0,2759,179375,00.html

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PRAYING CAN EXTEND LIFE, ACCORDING TO NEW UNIV. IOWA RESEARCH -- Jan 14, 2005

2005-01-28T20:40:00.000-08:00

New research from the US - a country currently undergoing a religious revival - shows that regular churchgoers live longer than non-believers.

A 12-year study from the University of Iowa tracking mortality rates of more than 550 adults over age 65 found that those who attend services at least once a week were over three times more likely to live longer than those who never darkened the studded oak door. Psychology professor Susan Lutgendorf, who conducted the survey, says: "There's something beneficial involved in the act of religious attendance, whether it's the group interaction or just the exercise to get out of the house."

Over one in three of participants who never attended church died before the end of the study. By comparison, over eight out of 10 twice-weekly churchgoers survived. Regular attendance was associated with lower levels of Interleukin-6, a chemical linked to age-related diseases and stronger immune systems, plus reduced risk of heart disease.

But could it be that churchgoers just choose a safer existence and so reduce their health risks? While the researchers acknowledged that regular worshippers may be more generally abstemious, they insisted they had factored in these variants. Report co-author Robert Wallace even suggested that GPs prescribe a course of a church attendance for patients - to be taken at least once a week.

Thanks to source: www.truthlover.com/news/2005/01/can-praying-really-make-you-live.html"

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SCIENTOLOGY-RELATED CHARITY DENIED GRANT FOR TSUNAMI AID -- Jan.16, 2005

2005-01-15T01:02:00.000-08:00

The city of Santa Clara, California, has declined a request from a group linked to the Church of Scientology that is seeking donations to assist orphans in nations struck by the Indian Ocean tsunami.

The Santa Clarita City Council was considering a $10,000 donation to Los Angeles-based International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance and ordered the city staff to conduct standard background checks, after foundation President Michelle Seward pleaded for cash before the panel Tuesday.

But City Manager Ken Pulskamp, on advice from the city attorney, decided against the donation when staffers found possible ties between the foundation and Scientology during the vetting process.

City spokeswoman Gail Ortiz said the First Amendment forbids government from making direct donations to religious groups, and that there will be no further discussion of the request by the City Council.
SOURCE: www.dailynews.com

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