Free Thought Now!
January, 2000
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Outside America
Doomsday Cult Seeks To Soften Image
"Since his release from prison a month ago, Fumihiro Joyu has presented a very different image from that of the strident spokesman he once was for the doomsday cult accused in the 1995 nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways. Trading his religious garb for a suit and tie, Joyu and other cult members have embarked on a campaign of apologies, vows of reform and statements distancing themselves from the guru they once worshipped as a living god." (AP 1/29/00)
For Background Informaation, see: Religion in Japan
Russian Patriarch blames USA for rift with foreign church
"Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy the Second blamed the United States on Thursday for facilitating a rift between the Moscow Patriarchate and the US-based Russian Orthodox Church abroad. "The US authorities and the American special services will never allow that" the two churches unite, the Patriarch said at meeting with regional religious education heads." (ITAR 1/27/00)
For Background Information, see: Religion in Russia
Orthodox and Conservative Rabbis reject proposals for shared Jerusalem
"The leadership of Orthodox and Conservative rabbis in America issued a rare joint statement rejecting a recent proposal by other rabbis that Jerusalem be shared with the Palestinians. The Rabbinical Assembly, representing 1,500 Conservative rabbis, and the Rabbinical Council of America, representing 1,100 Orthodox rabbis, on Tuesday called Jerusalem "the united and indivisible capital solely of the State of Israel." Reform leadership declined to sign the statement." (Star Telegram 1/26/00)
For Background Information, see: Religion in Israel
Sikhs Rebel Over Excommunication
"Four top Sikh priests in India challenged the authority of their powerful leader Wednesday, rejecting his decision to excommunicate a woman who controlled religious institutions. Puran Singh was accused her of trying to change the religion's sacred calendar, but four other clerics who occupy the other top seats in the Sikh religion rejected the decision." (AP)
For Background Information, see: Religion in India
Raelian Jailed In Israel
"Roy Shoval a young raelian conscientious objector, was arrested and jailed by military authorities in Israel, for having refused to perform his military service. RAEL, founder of the Raelian religion, preaches non-violence as the one and only possibility for the survival of humanity." (Yahoo 1/25/00)
For Background Information, see: Religion in Israel
World Pagan Leaders Call for Papal Apology
"Leaders of the international Pagan community have sent a letter to Pope John Paul II calling for the inclusion of Pagans in the Vatican's upcoming Millennial Apology for the Inquisition. Leaders point to the two-millennia history of Roman Catholic oppression of Pagan (i.e. indigenous nature-worshipping) peoples, including forced conversions, desecration of sacred sites, perpetration of false propaganda concerning Pagan beliefs and practices, and collaboration with the state in persecuting and executing Pagans during the Inquisition." (U.S. Newswire 1/24/00)
Schism Within Orthodox Church
"Two factions of the Russian Orthodox Church are facing off in a bitter, decades-old dispute over possession of a monastery in the Holy Land. Two Orthodox nuns, one of them the sister of a former adviser to U.S. President Bill Clinton, locked themselves in the 19th century Russian Orthodox monastery soon after Palestinian police evicted the inhabitants and transferred jurisdiction from the so-called White Church (Russian Orthodox Church in Exile) to the Red Church under the Moscow Patriarchy."
For Background Information, see: Religion in Russia
Church to lift wedding ban on divorcees
"The Church of England is set to break with the traditional Christian teaching that marriage is a lifelong commitment and permit the remarriage of divorcees in church. The Church will condone second weddings for divorcees in situations where there is a "clear distance of time, of local setting and of relationship" with any previous marriages. This departure from tradition makes it possible for the Prince of Wales to marry his close friend Camilla Parker Bowles - a divorcee whose former husband is still alive - in church. (Telegraph 1/25/00)
Clash looming over religious schools
"The Canadian Government and its largest province are on a collision course in a dispute arising from an historical compromise that does not fit with modern international law. Ottawa has asked the Ontario Government to comply with a United Nations ruling and finance all religious schools in the province. But the province has said that it has no intention of meeting a February 3 UN deadline to come up with a remedy in line with international human-rights covenants." (South China 1/25/00)
Russian Church Gets Closer to State
"Russian priests and churchgoers disagree over whether Vladimir Putin faithfully adhered to intricate Orthodox rituals during a Christmas liturgy this month. Did he touch his lips and genuflect at the right times? Did he face the proper direction upon entrance and exit? Putin's perceived piety, which should work in his favor in the March presidential elections, reflects the increasingly visible role of the Orthodox Church in Russian politics - and in reforging Russia's long-lost national identity." (AP 1/21/00)
For Background Information, see: Religion in Russia
Beachwear crackdown bares paradox in Brazilian culture
"Rio de Janeiro, a city known for scantily clad Carnival dancers and anything-goes approach to sexuality, is abuzz. State police arrested a couple over the weekend after the woman refused to cover up her breasts on the beach. They clubbed her boyfriend - in his 60s - when he tried to intervene. Ostensibly about toplessness, the incident reveals conflicts in Brazilian culture, where religion and pleasure collide and arbitrary actions by police largely go unpunished." (Seattle Times 1/20/00)
For Background Information, see: Religion in Brazil
Aum Cult Developments
"Executives of the Aum Supreme Truth cult in Japan have expressed their willingness to hand over five of its facilities to Saburo Abe, its bankruptcy administrator and lawyer, in partial compliance with his request, it was learned Monday. Abe plans to sell the facilities and use their proceeds to compensate Aum victims and their families." (Yomiuri 1/18/00)
For Background Informaation, see: Religion in Japan
Police Clash With Fundamentalists In Turkey
"Turkish police on Monday raided several suspected safe-houses of Islamic fundamentalist guerrillas in Istanbul, sparking a gunbattle and standoff that lasted several hours." (Agencia 1/17/00)
Playboy has some Chileans hopping mad
"When Playboy Channel television arrived in Chile this week, religious groups predicted the locals would multiply like bunnies. A conservative Catholic group known as "El Porvenir de Chile" argues in a press campaign that the arrival of Playboy television will lead to a "higher sexual activity level" and more unwanted pregnancies."
70 Hurt in Korean Religious Dispute
"Wielding metal pipes and hurling rocks, hundreds of rival members of a religious movement briefly clashed for a two days this week, leaving least 70 people injured." (AP 1/7/00)
For Background Information, see: Religion in South Korea
Lost Jewish Tribe Wants Israeli Home
"A group from India that claims to be a lost Jewish tribe asked Israel on Tuesday to welcome it home after 2,500 years of exile - the latest request that has Israel reconsidering its open-door policy to Jews and their descendants." (AP 1/11/00)
For Background Information, see: Religion in Israel
Italian Gays Call for Woman Pope
"Activists protesting against the Catholic Church's stance on homosexuality Thursday called for the next pope to be a woman. The protesters demonstrated in memory of a Sicilian man who set himself ablaze in St Peter's Square exactly two years ago to protest at discrimination against gays." (Reuters 1/13/00)
Nun 'forced out by bullies in Vatican'
"Sister Lavinia Byrne, a feminist theologian, announced yesterday that she was leaving her religious order after 35 years because of bullying from the Vatican. The conflict began over Sister Byrne's 1993 book, Woman at the Altar, which argued that Catholics should be permitted to use contraception and that women should be allowed into the priesthood. " (Telegraph 1/12/00)
Germany's Catholics Deny Pope Plea
"After causing a stir in the Vatican, Germany's Catholic leaders today moved quickly to quash reports the country's top bishop had called for Pope John Paul II to step down for health reasons." (AP 1/10/00)
For Background Information, see: Religion in Germany
Pakistan Cleric Declares Holy War
"A Pakistani cleric freed to end the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane declared a holy war today against India, and recruited volunteers to fight for the disputed region of Kashmir. "There is no way open for us other than to wage jihad (holy war) against India for Kashmir's liberation," Azhar said during Friday prayers. "I have come here to give a call for jihad." (AP 1/7/00)
For Background Information, see: Religion in Pakistan
Protesters want ban on Dante
"Protesters gathered outside the New Indian Express office in Bangalore, India, on Sunday demanded a ban on Dante's Inferno, quoted in an article The millennium is dead...Long live the millennium. They said the book insults Prophet Mohammed."
For Background Information, see: Religion in India
Rabbis Ban Golan Heights Evacuation
"Ruling that the Golan Heights are part of biblical Israel, 20 influential rabbis linked to the Jewish settlement movement and banned the removal of Israeli communities from the plateau, the focus of Israeli-Syrian peace talks." (AP 1/4/00)
For Background Information, see: Religion in Israel
Government, Church Differ Over Condom Advocacy
"Malawi's deputy health minister, Phillip Bwanali, has expressed worries over the attitude of religious leaders about the use of condoms by their flock. While the government views condom usage as the only way of slowing down the scourge, which is impacting negatively on the economy, churches were frustrating government efforts by discouraging their folk from using condoms." (Africa News Service 1/3/00)
Dhaka Rally Opposes Fundamentalism
"Nearly 5,000 people gathered at a New Year's Day rally in the Bangladeshi capital Sunday, waving banners and chanting slogans against Islamic fundamentalists. "Fundamentalism is opposed to civilization," read one of the many banners at the demonstration where Bangladesh's leading academics and women rights activists warned against conservative Islamic groups." (AP 1/2/00)
For Background Information, see: Religion in Bangladesh
Religious Violence Spreads in Egypt
"Egyptian security forces quashed three days of religious rioting and looting that left at least eight dead in southern Egypt. Witnesses in Dar el-Salam said protesters claiming Christian attacks against Muslims smashed and burned scores of Christian-owned shops and offices." (AP 1/3/00)
For Background Information, see: Religion in Egypt
Nigerian state Zamfara proclaims Islamic law
"The governor of a rural farming region, on the line between Africa's Islamic north and its Christian south, has surprised Nigeria by proclaiming that his state will be ruled by the Koran, replacing Nigeria's national constitution with Sharia, or Islamic law. Five of Nigeria's 35 other states say they might follow suit." (Detroit Free Press 12/2/99)
Explaining Taliban's 'oppression of women'
"The controversial politics of the Taliban government has received unprecedented attention from the West. With the Taliban's implementation of their interpretation of Islamic Shariah in Afghanistan and the debatable condition of women resulting from that implementation, western perspectives have deemed Afghanistan as a regime which condones oppression of women and Islam as a religion which does the same." (Frontier Post 12/13/00)
Israel Army Topples Gunman Shrine
"Jewish settlers clashed with Israeli police last week as a bulldozer tore down a shrine at the grave of Baruch Goldstein, the Jewish gunman who killed 29 people in a massacre at a West Bank mosque. Settlers cursed and heckled troops at the grave site. Some who tried to break through a police cordon about 200 yards from the site were wrestled down and dragged away." (AP 12/29/00)
For Background Information, see: Religion in Israel
"Nativity Stones"
"Nativity Stones L. P. has announced the launch of a website where they offer "one of the only true Millennium gifts, a stone that comes from the actual spot where Jesus Christ was born, the Cave of the Nativity, in Bethlehem".
Church, Swedish State Cutting Ties
"After five centuries as the state church, Lutheranism ended its ties with the Swedish government on New Year's Day and will now be treated like any other religion. Although 90 percent of Swedes nominally are Lutherans, the change reflects demographic and immigration trends as well as Swedes' general indifference to organized religion."
Cults flourish amid wave of faith
"First, was news that a religious group named Ho-no-hana Sampogyo was charging tens of thousands of dollars to tell their fortunes by reading the soles of their feet. Later, police discovered a four-month-old corpse hidden in a hotel room by another group called Life Space. Many Japanese are wondering what's next. More than four years after the Aum Shinrikyo cult released sarin gas on the Tokyo subway, killing 12 and injuring more than 5,000, religious sects of all kinds are flourishing here." (Boston Globe)
For Background Informaation, see: Religion in Japan
Iran Cleric Wants To Curb Press
"A leading hard-line cleric in Iran said last week that the government should curb the press before its "unlimited" freedom had serious consequences." (AP 12/24/99)
For Background Info, see: Religion in Iran
Doubting Clergy
"A recent survey of 103 church leaders in Britian shows that 97% say they do not believe the world was created in six days, and 80% do not believe in the existence of Adam and Eve. About 25% said they do not believe in the Virgin Birth, but the majority believe in the Resurrection and the validity of the Ten Commandments. Those surveyed included Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops, and Protestant ministers." (BBC 12/27/99)
New Apologies
"Archbishop of Canterbury and other church leaders apologised last week for wars, racism and other sins committed in the name of Christianity. They admitted for the first time the harm done by Christianity over the past 2,000 years. They said that it was "an appropriate thing to do at the time of the millennium"."
Mount of Olives Is Focus of Tensions
"Some pilgrims will tell you that you can actually see the fault line where the mountain will split in two. Biblical verses have made the Mount of Olives a gathering point for Christian faithful who hope to witness the Second Coming of Christ."
For Background Information, see: Religion in Israel
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