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 | 2000-SEP-18: Israel: Reform of religious laws: According to
Associated Press: Prime Minister Ehud Barak has proposed wide-spread reforms that would "challenge the pre-eminence of Jewish religious law in areas of daily life." Although a majority of adults in Israel are secularists, there are many strict religious rules in the country concerning marriage, divorce and activities on the weekly Sabbath. A survey by the Jerusalem Post indicates that 64% of respondents support having Sabbath flights on El Al, Israel's national airline. 60% support having public transportation on the Sabbath; 56% support the introduction of civil marriages; 53% favor shopping on the Sabbath. |
| 2000-SEP-14: USA: Hindu priest opens session of the House:
According to Maranatha Christian Journal: 14 A Hindu priest, Venkatachalapathi Samuldrala of Shiva Vishnu Hindu Temple in Parma, OH, opened a session of the U.S. House of Representatives on SEP-14 with a prayer. He was the first Hindu to do so. Rep. Sherrod Brown, (D- OH) had invited Mr. Samuldrala as a guest chaplain: "Today is a great day for Indian-American relations. India and the United States share the bonds of history and culture. I requested the House Chaplain invite Mr. Samuldrala to give today's prayer as a testimony to the religious diversity that is the hallmark of our nation. Mr. Salmuldrala's prayer reminds us that while we may differ in culture and traditions, we are alike in the basic aspiration for peace and righteousness." 15 The Family Research Council, a Fundamentalist Christian agency, initially objected to non-Christian prayer, but later released a clarification. More details. |
| 2000-SEP-29: North America: Jewish rabbis published statement:
According to the Toronto Star: A statement, signed by over 150 rabbis and Jewish scholars, was published in the New York Times and Baltimore Sun earlier in September. It is to be formally issued just before Rosh Hashanah -- the Jewish new year and anniversary of the completion of creation -- which begins at sunset on SEP-30. It asks Jews to recognize the dramatic improvement in their relations with Christianity during the last few decades. It states that today's Christians who reject the old "teaching of contempt" for the Jewish people should not be blamed for the sins of their ancestors, including the Nazi Holocaust. In an apparent reference to the concept of supercession, the document says that "Christian teaching must be reformed to acknowledge God's enduring covenant with the Jewish people..." Many Christian Fundamentalists and other Evangelical Christians, including the Southern Baptists deny this. They still teach supercessionism (a.k.a. the theology of displacement.) This is the belief that God has unilaterally cancelled the ancient covenants with the Jewish people and that He "regards the Christian Church as the 'true' or 'spiritual' Israel." The statement will be released less than two months after Cardinal Ratzinger issued a document Dominus Iesus on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church. It states that some rituals and prayers of non-Christian religions "depend on superstitions or other errors... [and] constitute an obstacle to salvation." It regards Jews as being "gravely deficient" relative to Roman Catholics who have "the fullness of the means of salvation." |
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
- ENI (Ecumenical News International) provides free bulletins and subscriptions to full text articles. Their home page is at: http://www.eni.ch Its postal address is: PO Box 2100, CH - 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
- 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/
- CitizenLink is a service of Focus on the Family. They send regular Emails containing news items interpreted from a Fundamentalist Christian perspective. Signup is at: http://www.family.org/cforum/clinksignup.cfm
- Earth Religions Legal Assistance Network is a leading anti-defamation group which fights discrimination against Neopagans. See: http://www.conjure.com/ERAL/eral.html
- Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) maintains a free mailing list. Go to http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/ to subscribe.
- "Tutu says no religion has a lock on truth: Religious leaders asked to find new image of God," Associated Press, at: http://www.spokane.net:80/news-story-body.asp
- EWTN is a news service of the Roman Catholic Church. It posts news items from Newsline, Newslink, and The World Over on its Internet site at: http://www.ewtn.com/news/index.htm
- Alternative Religions Educational Network (AREN) is an information organization located in Philadelphia. It has monitored discrimination against Wiccans throughout North America for three decades. Their web page is at: http://aren.org
- Simon de Bruxelles, "Faiths alight on a burning desire to talk," The London Times, London UK, 2000-JUL-1.
- Sizwe samaYende, "Witchcraft Show Reduces Attacks," African Eye News Service (South Africa), 2000-JUL-19, at: http://www.africanews.org/
- "Family issues group clarifies stance on Hindu prayer," Maranatha Christian News Service, at: http://www.mcjonline.com/news/00b/20000925d.htm
- "Brown welcomes Northeast Ohio Hindu priest as guest chaplain in House," http://www.house.gov/sherrodbrown/india914.html
Copyright © 2000
Originally written: 2000-SEP-1
Latest update: 2000-SEP-29
Compiler: B.A. Robinson
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