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=== Religious Freedom / Religious Intolerance
17. Moscow Court Puts Salvation Army in Limbo
18. God in Ohio motto argued in court

=== Death Penalty
19. Clinton postpones federal execution for six months
20. South seeks death-penalty pause
21. Brakes on Death Row
22. No Death Penalty in Killing of Md. Priest

=== Noted
23. Did Jesus live in India?

=== The Tortoise Around The Corner
24. Shell-shocked church marvels at slow labour



=== Religious Freedom / Religious Intolerance

17. Moscow Court Puts Salvation Army in Limbo
Washington Post, Dec. 7, 2000
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35478-2000Dec6.html
[Story no longer online? Read this]
(...) A Moscow court has ruled that the Salvation Army is an unwelcome foreign organization, and has refused to grant permission for the group to work in the capital.

The ruling is the latest twist to a law restricting religion in Russia that was approved in 1997 and continues to receive widely varying interpretations. The law established four mainstream religions in addition to Russian Orthodoxy--Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Christianity--and required that all others be formally registered by local and national governments before they can work here.

The legislation was sought by the Russian Orthodox Church, which has felt threatened by the proselytizing activities of such groups as the Jehovah's Witnesses, Baptists and Mormons; the measure was an attempt to crack down on the activities of these religious groups as well as cults. Even if they were working in Russia, they were required to register anew.

Many of these religious groups, viewed with suspicion by local politicians and the Russian church, have been in arguments and legal fights with local jurisdictions as they have attempted to legalize their status.

The Salvation Army, a Christian service organization, returned to Russia in 1991 after having been expelled by the Bolsheviks in 1923. The group is working in 14 cities in the European part of Russia, and has successfully registered in five of them.

However, in August the Moscow municipal justice department refused to re-register the Salvation Army in the capital. Kenneth Baille, head of the group's work in the former Soviet Union, said the denial was apparently based on the misunderstanding that the Salvation Army was a military organization.

The Salvation Army appealed to a local court, which ruled against it. It then appealed to a higher court, which on Nov. 28 upheld the decision not to register the group.

The decision can be appealed further, to the Russian Supreme Court, but if not overturned, it means the soup kitchens and other social programs it runs in Moscow will be forced to close at the end of the year. The group, meanwhile, is seeking national registration and expects to receive it.

Baille noted that the group has been ''cheerfully'' re-registered in other Russian cities. ''I think there is someone in Moscow who doesn't want us here,'' he said. ''I don't want to speculate as to who, or what.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


18. God in Ohio motto argued in court
The Cincinnati Enquirer, Dec. 7, 2000
http://enquirer.com/editions/2000/12/07/loc_god_in_ohio_motto.html
[Story no longer online? Read this]
[Religious Freedom / Religious Intolerance]
A federal court opened its session Wednesday with a clerk reading aloud the traditional phrase, ''God save the United States and this honorable court.''

Thirteen judges then spent the afternoon debating whether a reference to God belongs in Ohio's state motto.

The motto - ''With God, all things are possible'' - is being challenged in the federal courts by opponents who say the phrase violates the U.S. Constitution.
(...)

The appeals court is expected to take several months to make a decision. Lawyers on both sides have said they will likely appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if they lose.
(...)

The key to the case is whether the motto is significantly different from traditional, ceremonial references to God, such as the opening phrase read in court Wednesday.
(...)

The issue was first raised three years ago when a suburban Cleveland Presbyterian minister and the ACLU filed a lawsuit seeking to throw out the motto.

The lawsuit was in response to then-Gov. George Voinovich's decision to have the motto engraved on a granite plaza near the Statehouse in Columbus.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court agreed with Mr. Cohn in April, concluding the motto was unconstitutional because it made Christianity the ''preferred religion to the people of Ohio.''
(...)

Several judges focused their questions on whether ''an informed observer'' would know the motto was drawn from the Christian Bible.

Judge Danny Boggs said he did a computer search of ''With God, all things are possible'' and found the phrase most often was used in nondenominational settings. He said one reference involved a baseball player talking about his team's chances of beating the New York Yankees.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Death Penalty

19. Clinton postpones federal execution for six months
CNN, Dec. 7, 2000
http://www.cnn.com/
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Clinton has postponed what would have been the first federal execution in nearly 40 years, granting a six-month reprieve in the case of federal death row inmate Juan Raul Garza, placing the matter in the hands of whoever becomes the next president of the United States.
(...)

''Today, I have decided to stay the execution of Juan Raul Garza, an inmate on federal death row for six months until June 2001, to allow the Justice Department time to gather and properly analyze more information about racial and geographic disparities in the federal death penalty system,'' the president said in a statement released late Thursday.

Clinton reached his decision after receiving a recommendation from the Justice Department, and meeting with Attorney General Janet Reno, Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, White House Chief of Staff John Podesta and White Counsel Beth Nolan for about 30 minutes Thursday, said Jake Siewert, the president's press secretary.
(...)

Clinton says he hasn't decided against death penalty
Clinton said the stay doesn't mean that he has decided that the death penalty should not be imposed in Garza's case ''in which heinous crimes were proved.'' He also said he is not calling for a halt to all federal executions, as some death penalty opponents, including Senator Russell Feingold (D-Wisconsin), have urged the him to consider.

''I have simply concluded that the examination of possible racial and regional bias should be completed before the United States goes forward with an execution in a case that may implicate the very questions raised by the Justice Department's continuing study,'' Clinton said. ''In this area there is no room for error.''

Clinton referred to the release of the Justice Department study this fall, which found that minorities and certain geographical locations were ''disproportionately represented in federal death penalty executions.''
(...)

Clinton could also have declared a moratorium on all federal executions, or granted Garza's clemency request for a sentence of life in prison without parole.
(...)

At her weekly news briefing Thursday, Reno said she remains unconvinced of the need for an across-the-board moratorium on the federal death penalty, saying ''I have not seen a basis for supporting it thus far.''

But she appeared to leave the door open for a last-minute change in her position, saying she still wanted to review the latest Justice Department data showing geographic and racial disparities in ''death penalty eligible'' cases handled by federal prosecutors throughout the country.
(...)

Twenty condemned men, including convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, are on federal death row in Terre Haute. Garza is the only Hispanic sentenced to die. Fourteen of those sentenced to death are black, four are white and one is Asian.
(...)

Many prominent death penalty opponents, including staunch Clinton supporters from the civil rights field and entertainment world, have pleaded with the president to declare a moratorium.

Pope John Paul II also appealed to Clinton to grant clemency to Garza.

''In the Holy Father's name I wish, therefore, to beseech you, Mr. President, to spare Mr. Garza's life,'' wrote the Vatican's Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo.

The Vatican letter said the National Conference of Bishops and U.S. Catholic Conference also requested clemency for Garza.

The Vatican letter came on the heals of a letter from French President Jacques Chirac on behalf of the European Union also requesting clemency.

''I appeal to you as a statesman and also as a man of conscience and conviction,'' Chirac wrote.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


20. South seeks death-penalty pause
Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 7, 2000
http://www.csmonitor.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Known as an unabashed supporter of the death penalty, the deep South might seem an unlikely lobbyist for an effort to temporarily halt executions.

Yet Dixie is exactly where a new debate has caught fire over the ultimate sanction. From Atlanta to Greensboro, N.C., a growing number of Southern communities - most in North Carolina - are calling for broad stays of execution until allegations about botched death-row defenses are probed.

Make no mistake: The death penalty remains a cornerstone of Southern-style justice. Seven executions were scheduled in the United States for this week - six south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and three in Texas alone.

On Tuesday, Texas broke the record for number of people executed in a state in a year since the US Supreme Court brought back the death penalty in 1976.

Moreover, many of those now calling for a moratorium in the South are conservatives who support the death penalty but are bothered by recent revelations about how it has been applied based on factors such as race, wealth, and even nationality.

But as vigilant as they are about punishing the guilty to the full extent of the law, many Southerners now seem equally ready to put fairness over ideology.

''Here in the South, because of our strong religious beliefs, we do believe in an eye for an eye, but we also believe as strongly in fairness, equity, and justice,'' says Rod Autrey, a city councilor in Charlotte, N.C., who led that city's call in September for a two-year moratorium on executions. ''We want to be sure that this ultimate penalty is administered fairly.''

The calls for moratoriums are nonbinding, because state lawmakers and governors oversee the capital-justice system. But state officials are certainly perking up their ears at the noise coming from cities and towns.

In fact, while more than 700 civic groups, bar associations, and churches have called for a moratorium, it's the word from local elected leaders that has caught the attention of state legislators here and elsewhere.

Towns in tough law-and-order states - such as Atlanta, Charlottesville, Va., and Rollingwood and Hays, Texas - have approved moratorium resolutions. Nine cities and town in North Carolina have passed them. One failed by a single vote in El Paso, Texas.
(...)

The speed with which the moratorium movement has caught on in the South has surprised many observers.
(...)

The move comes as 64 percent of Americans support the death penalty - the lowest percentage since 1973. ''The American people are saying, 'Hold on a second. If the system by which we're sentencing people to death is not fair, then we ought not to be sentencing anyone,' '' says Peter Loge, director of the Justice Project, a reform group in Washington. ''It seems anomalous that the movement would have a lot of strength in North Carolina, but the fact is that the South has been proud of its dedication and commitment to establishing justice.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


21. Brakes on Death Row
Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 7, 2000 (Editorial)
http://www.csmonitor.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
While a majority of Americans still favor the death penalty, more and more people are having second thoughts about the way it's applied. Americans' sense of fairness is offended by reports of inadequate legal representation for death-row inmates, racial inequities, and the exoneration of some who were slated to die.

In response, a movement to put a moratorium on executions has gained support. The movement got a big initial thrust last January when Illinois Gov. George Ryan declared his state would stop carrying out death sentences because the system was ''fraught with error.''
(...)

That concern has a number of sources.
(...)

Those favoring a moratorium have a strong case. At the least, the system needs a close reassessment. Its flaws, legal and moral, are clearer than ever.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


22. No Death Penalty in Killing of Md. Priest
Washington Post, Dec. 2, 2000
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler said yesterday he will not seek the death penalty against the man accused of killing a Catholic priest in the rectory of his Germantown church, in part because the victim firmly opposed capital punishment.

Gansler said the Catholic Church's vocal opposition to the death penalty and Monsignor Thomas Wells's sermons against it were a ''major'' factor in his decision to seek a sentence of life without parole if the suspect, Robert Paul Lucas, is convicted.

The prosecutor said the case, while brutal, also lacked other aggravating factors he'd consider necessary for seeking execution, such as a defendant with a lengthy criminal record or cases with multiple victims or torture.

A victim's religion ''usually isn't a factor unless someone's whole life, as it was in this case, was dedicated to the Catholic Church and its views,'' Gansler said. ''It was not deciding between the death penalty and an acquittal. There's a viable alternative, and that's life without parole when the only way out of jail is in a box. It is, in effect, a death sentence.''

The decision put Gansler in what he called the ''difficult'' position of weighing public outrage against the wishes of the victim, his family and the Catholic Church.

While the news brought praise from Catholic Church leaders and Wells's family and friends, some questioned why prosecutors wouldn't pursue the ultimate sanction, particularly in the slaying of a religious leader.

Montgomery lawyer James F. Shalleck, a former New York prosecutor and candidate for the 1998 Republican nomination for Montgomery state's attorney, said a prosecutor's ''duty to society'' outweighs his duty to the victim.

''Certainly the murder of a religious person cries out for the death penalty,'' said Shalleck, who publicly supported Gansler (D) in the 1998 general election. ''I'm truly shocked that the state's attorney wouldn't seek the death penalty in a case like this. A man of the clergy is a man of God and a person of peace. When you kill someone like that, society should demand the death penalty. . . . The state owes a duty to the public to seek the appropriate punishment.''

Catholic leaders did not agree.

''We believe that the death penalty is not really necessary,'' said Bishop William Lori, auxiliary bishop of Washington. ''We would not tailor a special position even when a tragedy strikes in our own household. . . . Monsignor Wells was an opponent of the death penalty, and we honor his memory by remaining consistent with our teaching.''

Wells's sister-in-law, Judith Wells, said of the decision: ''It's very simple here. We don't believe in the death penalty. It's very simple. We're fine with that. We're very fine.''
(...)

''If we know the victim is vehemently opposed to the death penalty, the victim's family is vehemently opposed to the death penalty and the Catholic Church he dedicated his life to is opposed, then that's certainly a factor we consider,'' Gansler said.

Chris Core, a longtime friend and former parishioner of Wells's who hosts a radio talk show, said he was pleased with that reasoning.

''This would be Father Wells's wish,'' Core said. If the death penalty were sought, he said, ''knowing Father Wells, it would have been a crime on top of a crime.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Noted

23. Did Jesus live in India?
The Indian Express (India), Dec. 7, 2000
http://in.news.yahoo.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
The New Testament of the Bible is completely silent on where Jesus spent 18 years of his life between the ages of 12 and 30. There is also a question mark on whether Jesus died on the cross or whether he survived the crucifixion and escaped from Jerusalem with the help of friends, to finally settle in India as an itinerant preacher.

Both history and the Gospels are silent about the life of Jesus before his 30th year when he was baptised by John. A German theologian, Holger Kersten, has published a book called Jesus Lived in India, which contains seminal evidence on the fact that Jesus spent the 18 lost years of his life in India imbibing yoga, Vedic traditions and Buddhism. Thereafter, he returned to Jerusalem and after the crucifixion escaped back to India via Damascus and Persia.

Jesus is believed to have been buried in Srinagar, Kashmir. His graves are intact and points east-west in the Jewish tradition rather than north-south in the Islamic tradition.

Kersten has provided a wealth of theological, archaeological and historical evidence in defence of his hypothesis.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== The Tortoise Around The Corner

24. Shell-shocked church marvels at slow labour
Indepent/Sapa, AFP (South Africa), Dec. 6, 2000
http://www.iol.co.za/html/frame_news.php?click_id=29&art_id=qw976103701188B252
[Story no longer online? Read this]
[...More offbeat news...]
Ondo, Nigeria - Think of labour being slow, and then think again.

A 30-year-old Nigerian woman, Tawa Ahmed, told a large and credulous gathering at her church here on Wednesday that she had been pregnant for five years and then given birth to a 1kg tortoise on Monday.

With the reptile snuggled up beside her, Ahmed told the crowd she had got pregnant five years ago in Lagos and returned to her parents' homein Ondo after she failed to give birth.

The pastor of the Rock of Ages Gospel Church, Olusegun Mayaki, said he had organised a 14-day religious event to ease Ahmed's labour pains and admitted to being ''surprised'' when she eventually gave birth to the tortoise.
(...)

Doctor Fausat Aragbaye of the Ondo State Specialist Hospital, who was one of many visitors who came to check on the woman's condition, said she doubted the story but advised it could perhaps be confirmed by a thorough medical examination.

Attenders at the church in Nigeria, where belief in miraculous happenings is widespread, said a name had yet to be chosen for the tortoise.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]