
NEWS OF
RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE & CONFLICT
2000-JUL

Sponsored link.

We also have a list of religious tolerance news
items for this month.

Sponsored link:

 |
2000-JUL-3: Washington State: Proposal to terminate
native American sovereignty: According to Spokane.net:
The Washington state Republican Party called for the abolition of tribal governments.
The resolution asks the federal government to "immediately take
whatever steps necessary to terminate all such
non-republican forms of government on Indian
reservations." John Fleming, the Skagit County
delegate who was a main author of the resolution explained:
"We do not recognize them as sovereign nations, as governments...We think it can be done
peacefully." However, if the tribes resist, then Fleming suggests
that, "the U.S. Army and the Air Force and the Marines and the
National Guard are going to have to battle back."
Ron Allen, chairman
of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, vice president of the National Congress of
American Indians, and a Republican responded:
"It's absolutely the reverse of what Republican
principles stand for -- to protect all rights and to
uphold the integrity and honor of this nation and all of the commitments it
makes...The Republican Party nationally has been making some
effort to improve its image with regards to its
relationship with the Indian nations. This is polarizing. It's the opposite of what they
should be doing."
The native government resolution was only one of 29 resolutions which the
Republican committee discussed and voted on during a two hour period. Out of
250 delegates, only two voted against the resolution.
The Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity declared that efforts to abolish tribal government
are racist. Coalition researcher Robert Crawford
called the GOP resolution "disturbing...I wouldn't say it's a majority view. It's in line
with the hard core of anti-Indian folks within the
party such as (Sen.) Slade Gorton and (Rep.) Jack
Metcalf," he said. 12
|
 |
JUL-8: Virginia: School principle allegedly
violates free speech rights of students. According to the Roanoke
Times:
Richlands High School is located in southwest Virginia. Student
Christopher Henkel (17) alleges that that the school principal, George
Brown, threatened him and some of his friends with suspension if they
wore T-shirts bearing a pentagram and the
word "Equality" to school. Although the pentagram and
pentacle are symbols of the Wiccan faith, Henkel states that he is not
a Wiccan. With the support of the American Civil Liberties Union of
Virginia, he will plead his right of freedom of speech at Tazewell
County School Board meeting on JUL-10. Henkel also alleges that two
months ago, he and Helenia Mitchell were instructed to attend a
meeting in the principal's office, where they met with Brown, an
assistant principal and two uniformed police officers. Henkel said
that Brown accused the students of putting up posters promoting Wicca
without permission. The students denied posting the literature and
said that they were not Wiccans. They referred to two posters that had
promoted a local Christian meeting, were also posted without
permission, and which were allowed to stay up for weeks. The principal
allegedly defended the Christian posters because, in his opinion, they
were unlikely to cause disruption in school. 13
|
 |
2000-JUL-9: Maryland: Hoax about municipality
fining Witches: According to USA Today:
The town council of Burkittsville, MD has been bothered by excessive
attention recently. The Blair Witch movies
were filmed in and near the town. They are being overrun by movie fans
and curiosity seekers, some of whom have engaged in vandalism. USA
Today reported that the town council is considering the imposition of a $100 to $200 fine
for anyone "caught practicing witchcraft" in the
town. It was revealed a week later that the whole story is a hoax,
perhaps a publicity stunt for a sequel to the Blair Witch. An aside:
The main group practicing witchcraft in the U.S.
are Wiccans, the followers of a Neopagan
religion. The U.S. Constitution guarantees them freedom of religion. 14
On the other hand, the town council is considering an
ordinance prohibiting palm reading and fortune telling -- also clearly
unconstitutional.
|
 |
2000-JUL-9: India: Christians rally against
religious violence:
According to Reuters, 100,000 Christians
rallied in Andhra Pradesh state to protest a church bombing in
nearby Karnataka state. The bombing could have killed hundreds of
people if it had gone off an hour earlier. It is the sixth bombing of
a Christian church in India within a month. Christian groups claim
that there have been over 100 attacks on Christians since a Hindu
nationalist party came to power federally in early 1999. 4
|
 |
2000-JUL-12: Kansas: Creationism - Evolution
Drama: According to People for the American Way:
The John Scopes trial was reenacted in a University of Kansas theatre.
It was created and sponsored by PFAW at a time when many states are
passing laws restricting the teaching of evolution. "The
long-simmering debate over evolution vs. creation now at a full boil
in Kansas has also been on the front burner recently with similar
efforts in Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan,
Nebraska, New Mexico, and Texas. In Arizona, Florida, Georgia,
Indiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio,
Tennessee, Washington, and West
Virginia legislators introduced anti-evolution bills, while Alabama mandated evolution disclaimers for biology textbooks and Louisiana
tried but failed to do the same." More
details.
|
 |
2000-JUL-17: Maldives: Islands declared
Islam-only zone: According to Newsroom: 2
The president of the Maldives has declared that the island nation has
no room for any religion other than Islam, and has accused foreigners
of seeking to destroy the religious unity of the people by introducing
other faiths. The Maldives is a chain of 1,200 coral islands, and a
former British protectorate in the Indian Ocean.
According to a 1999 United States State Department report, freedom
of religion is restricted significantly. "The government
(imposes) a requirement that citizens be Muslims," the report
says. "The practice of any religion other than Islam is
prohibited by law." Non-Muslims are forbidden from
proselytizing and conducting public worship. Any Muslim who converts
to another faith is breaking the Sharia (Islamic law) and can lose his
or her citizenship.
|

Related essays on this web site:

References:
-
DayWatch is a daily service of Maranatha Christian
Journal. It provides "a daily summary of news headlines
with a Christian perspective..." The newsletter is free on
request. Their web site is at: http://www.mcjonline.com
-
Newsroom is a service of Worldwide Newsroom Inc.
Their articles are written by "a network of journalists, scholars and
other professional contacts in country." You can subscribe to
their free service from their website at http://www.newsroom.org/
-
ReligionToday provides free newsletters to which you can
subscribe at: http://www.ReligionToday.com.
These summaries are part of GOSHEN.net, which also includes LiveIt.net,
Devotionals.net, ChristianShareware.net, ChristianClassifieds.net,
ChristianMessageBoards.net, BibleStudyTools.net, MediaManagement.net,
WorldNewsToday.net, WebCastGuide.net, and
ChristianCollegeGuide.net
-
Reuters is "the world's leading financial information
and news group. Their web page is at: http://www.reuters.com/
-
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR): E-mail: [email protected]
URL: http://www.cair-net.org To
join CAIR-NET, CAIR's read-only mailing list: Send subscribe
cair-net in the body of a message to [email protected]
-
EWTN News carries Roman Catholic news from Catholic World
News, Vatican Information Service, ZENIT, CWNews.com. See: http://www.ewtn.com/news/
-
Ecumenical News International (ENI) in Geneva Switzerland
distributes news free religious news highlights to subscribers. They
can be contacted at PO Box 2100, CH - 1211, Geneva 2, Switzerland.
Telephone: (41-22) 791 6087/6515. Fax: (41-22) 788 7244 Email: [email protected].
Their web site is at http://www.eni.ch
-
ZENIT.org is "an International News Agency based in
Rome. Our mission is to provide objective and professional coverage of
events, documents and issues emanating from or concerning the Catholic
Church for a worldwide audience, especially the media." Their
web site is at: http://www.zenit.org/english/
-
Anglican Communion News Service provides information from an
Anglican perspective. See: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/index.html
-
Robert Mendick, "Pagan teacher to be disciplined by school,"
at: http://www.independent.co.uk/advancement/Schools/
-
AANEWS is distributed by American Atheists.
-
Julie Titone, "Resolution would end tribal sovereignty:
If Indians don't like it, send in troops, GOP delegate says,"
at: http://www.spokane.net/news-story.asp?
-
Cody Lowe, "Richlands High School Principal George Brown
charged ACLU with using 'Gestapo tactics.' Students fight School Board
over [Wiccan] religious expression ban," Roanoke Times,
Roanoke VA.
- Article in the USA Today weekend supplement, Page 13.
Copyright © 2000 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2000-JUL-3
Latest update: 2000-JUl-13
Author: B.A. Robinson

| |