India's Hindu Nationalists Make Gains in Banning Conversions

Tamil Nadu’s anti-conversion ordinance becomes permanent law As expected, the legislative assembly in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu created a law prohibiting religious conversion by “force, allurement, or fraudulent means.” The state government had earlier issued the conversion ban as a decree, but yesterday’s 140-73 vote makes it law.

Under the law, anyone found “inducing” people to convert may be imprisoned for three years and heavily fined. Religiously motivated aid and relief workers say this puts their work at tremendous risk. Also, anyone coverting to another religion must have it approved by a district magistrate.

The Hindu, a national Indian newspaper that’s not as partisan in this controversy as its name might suggest, is quick to dismiss reports that the law is just about forced conversions. The chief minister’s “arguments in the course of the three-hour debate were against conversion itself. … Invoking Mahatma Gandhi, [Chief Minister J] Jayalalithaa sought to justify a ban on all conversions.” the paper says. It quotes her saying, “Conversions create resentment among several sections and also inflame religious passions, leading to communal clashes.”

The paper says that although the bill was overwhelmingly passed, yesterday saw “one of the fiercest and lengthiest debates in the Assembly yet.”

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which leads the nation’s coalition government, is pushing for all other Indian states to pass similar laws.

Interfaith Alliance, National Council of Churches: Falwell, Robertson, and Graham shouldn’t be killed, but … The Washington Times says that the Interfaith Alliance (which exists to counter the Religious Right) and the National Council of Churches are holding their noses and defending Jerry Falwell, Franklin Graham, and Pat Robertson against death threats. Of course, Falwell, Graham, and Robertson won’t exactly take it as a defense. “To call for the killing of persons whose comments about other religions have been historically wrong and patently offensive [contradicts the] highest values” shared by faiths, Interfaith Alliance executive director C. Welton Gaddy said. (The Washington Times reports that Gaddy issued a statement, but it’s not on the alliance website.)

NCC executive director Bob Edgar is only quoted as saying “We need to speak out against violence” in a Sunday broadcast to Lebanon. Weblog couldn’t find anything on the NCC website defending the three men against against death threats—only items saying that Jerry Falwell’s recent comments “are dangerous to the national security of every nation where Christians and Muslims are seeking a peaceful relationship … create ideal conditions for breeding terrorism … [and] put at increased risk the lives of thousands of Christian missionaries and humanitarian aid workers.”

The Times article doesn’t note whether Muslim leaders are repudiating the death threats.

Sex abuse scandals:

Accused Baptist pastor is protected by elders | In many churches, control stays local (The Boston Globe)
Church panel softens bishops’ abuse rules | A joint commission of U.S. bishops and Vatican officials to reimpose a 10-year statute of limitations on the Church’s disciplining of U.S. priests accused of sexual abuse (The Washington Post)
Also: Church’s sex abuse policy is revised | Team of U.S. bishops and Vatican officials rework ‘zero-tolerance’ rules. The speed of the agreement catches some by surprise (Los Angeles Times)
Also: Panel of bishops completes changes to zero-tolerance policy | A committee of Vatican officials and American bishops announced that they had revised a zero-tolerance policy for dealing with sexually abusive priests (The New York Times)
Judge: Church risks contempt charges in rape trial | The judge overseeing lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Boston warned the church yesterday that it would face “significant financial sanctions” and possibly contempt charges if it did not swiftly turn over records on an indicted priest (Boston Herald)
Also: Judge warns archdiocese of heavy fines (The Boston Globe)
Vatican, bishops agree on new rules | Policy will protect priests and children, say officials (The Boston Globe)
In meeting with victims, Law begs forgiveness | Private talk marked by tears and anger (The Boston Globe)
A deal on priest abuse lawsuits (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
Pedophile left the clergy and became a government lawyer | Extraordinary as it sounds, this transition from one position of public trust to another is not particularly unusual. (The Dallas Morning News)

Child discipline and abuse:

Former nun, 78, convicted of child abuse | Head of P.E.I. commune: ‘She went beyond spanking to beating the children’: judge. (National Post)
No smacking guide launch | The campaign to outlaw the smacking of children gets a boost with a comprehensive guide promoting positive parenting. (The Scotsman)

Crime:

Neb. couple fined for forced prayer | Assembly of God pastor Dwight Sandoz of Minatare. Nebraska, and his wife, Nadine, were found guilty of false imprisonment of a minor and fined $100 each (Associated Press)
Priest: I have $inned | An embezzling priest, accused of lavishing stolen funds on a gay lover, walked out of a Queens courtroom yesterday with five years’ probation, forced restitution and a sermon from the judge (New York Post)
Also: Light penance for ripoff rev | Must pay back stolen 100G, but gets no jail time (New York Daily News)
Church shooting kills Greenville man | Investigators arrest 16-year-old, looking for other suspects. (WYFF, South Carolina)

Religious freedom:

Can this marriage be saved? | After 60 years of common-law marriage between the United States and Saudi Arabia, it’s time to arrange a separation. We’ll both be better off if we pull U.S. troops out of the kingdom. (Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York Times)
In rumor of cow’s death, a reason to kill | Hindu lynching of 5 rekindles national debate in India over faith and culture (The Washington Post)
Justice delayed, they lose their faith | While most of the Dalits converted to Buddhism, one person embraced Islam and two others Christianity (The Indian Express)
Religious development impressive in China: foreign religious leaders | A number of foreign religious leaders, attending the 50th anniversary of Nanjing Union Theological Seminary in east China’s Jiangsu province, expressed their surprise at the favorable development of religion in China (People’s Daily, China)
Christians risk all for church in Israel, Orthodox nun says | Military checkpoints, curfews and violence remain oppressive issues for the economic and spiritual well-being of Palestinian Christians, says Agapia Stephanopoulos (The Grand Rapids Press)
Religious tension growing in Russia | President Putin urges people not to incite ethnic conflicts (Pravda)

Talisman Energy pulls out of Sudan:

Talisman Energy sells Sudan oil interests for $1.2 billion (Canadian Press)
Talisman to pull out of Sudan (The Globe & Mail, Toronto)

Politics and law:

Ashcroft accused of vendetta in suicide law | Justice Dept. defends challenge to Oregon (San Francisco Chronicle)
GOP ad for Simon critical of gays | Spanish-language spot put on Chico-area radio (San Francisco Chronicle)
Ehrlich backing faith groups | He vows more support for religion-based efforts; Easier state funding vowed; Townsend camp says he is co-opting an issue (The Baltimore Sun)
Experts say churches sap lottery support | 4-to-1 funding advantage helps grass-roots push (The Tennessean)
Ministers request probe | Alliance seeks investigation into judge’s civil-rights claims (Associated Press)

America’s Ten Commandments | The ACLU’s mistake (Michael Novak, National Review Online)
Religion comes with politics in the South | The line between church and state grows fuzzier each year (Financial Times, London)
Post office refuses to take patriotic poster down | “If you take one, then you have to take them all,” supervisor explains (Houston Chronicle)

Church zoning fights:

Church expansion plans criticized | Building would dwarf homes and block views of mill, residents say (The Baltimore Sun)
Grace Chapel neighbors seek restrictions | Neighbors want the facility to be restricted from holding commercial weddings (The Honolulu Advertiser)
Hawaii church gets OK to pursue First Amendment claim | However, federal judge says Hale O Kaula’s zoning challenge won’t be decided based on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (Associated Press

Abortion:

Candidate’s disclosure shows evolution of abortion debate | Green Party gubernatorial candidate Peter Camejo got his college girlfriend an illegal abortion (San Francisco Chronicle)
Outrage at abortion hate mail | Prolife extremists are terrorising Melbourne women who have had abortions with threatening letters accusing them of murder (Herald Sun, Melbourne, Australia)
Abortion still key in some senate races | Is major issue in New Hampshire, Colorado, Missouri, Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Oregon, Minnesota, and Texas (Associated Press)
Anti-abortion license plates go on sale today | Louisiana begins selling license plates with “Choose Life” message (Associated Press)
Also: Oklahoma ‘Choose Life’ plates ready to go on sale | Proceeds used to promote adoption, sponsor says (KOCO, Oklahoma City)

Islam:

Even if USA won’t say it, terrorists want religious war | Now that the battle has been joined, Bush must understand how consuming it is likely to become for the U.S. military and how dangerous the emerging Islamic holy war is to the world (DeWayne Wickham, USA Today)
Islam’s ‘idealistic version of itself’ not quite the reality | An interview with historian Bat Ye’or (The Washington Times)
Great leaps of utter nonsense | Daniel Pipes has done well over the last few years, hammering away at the dangers of militant Islam. But his column on the sniper suspect just demonstrates the wisdom of an old expression: When the only tool you’ve got is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail (Don Wycliff, Chicago Tribune)

Other religions:

Godless in America | Not everyone finds comfort in faith (ABCNews.com)
‘Godless’ forces to rally in capital | Many say, unlike his predecessors, Bush has blurred separation of church and state (San Francisco Chronicle)
Boy Scout who doesn’t believe in God may get the boot | Lambert says he has no intention of changing his religious thinking (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Also: Atheist Scout fights decision to boot him | The Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts has given Eagle Scout Darrell Lambert about a week to decide “in his heart” if he’s truly an atheist (The Seattle Times)
Tenants claim landlord evicted them for being witches | Landlord says neighbors bothered by Wiccan rituals (Associated Press)
Inter-religious meeting concludes in Bahrain | Modern states, while striving to protect individual religious freedoms, continue to persecute the independent legality of religions, a leading international theologian argued yesterday (Gulf News,UAE)

Mormonism:

The Mormon murder case | By ignoring clear historical evidence, Gordon Hinckley and his church have failed to confront, and atone for, the bloody consequences of their claim to be God’s anointed (Caroline Fraser, New York Review of Books)
Brigham Young in Boston | Can a liberal state tolerate Mormon religious beliefs? (Naomi Schaefer, The Wall Street Journal)
Public or Mormon Plaza? | Battle splits Salt Lake City. (The New York Times)
Cities, Religious organizations wonder how LDS plaza decision will affect them | Church grounds that once were government-owned will be open to all sorts of hostile takeovers by protesters, warns a brief (Salt Lake Tribune)
Does Brigham Young University pose a threat to academic freedom? | An ex-professor states his case. (Scott Abbot, The Boston Globe)

Sexual ethics:

Top B.C. Anglican joins same-sex debate | Dismisses possibility of a permanent split within the Diocese of New Westminster over the issue of same-sex blessings (CBC)
Anglicans’ gay union debate postponed for all but one | B.C. cleric may continue to give blessing; bishops will readdress issue in 2004 (Canadian Press)
Church is braced for election of gay bishop | Canon Gene Robinson, who left his wife and children to move in with his male lover, is almost certain to stand for election as the next Bishop of New Hampshire (The Daily Telegraph, London)
Police chaplain stays | City officials stopped short Monday of firing the police department’s volunteer chaplain for saying homosexuality is a sin, but condemned his remarks and ordered the police chief to bring in more chaplains to represent a wider religious viewpoint (The Daily Tribune, Royal Oak, Mich.)
Rice coach feels heat over quotes about gays | Ken Hatfield, who is active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, is paraphrased as saying homosexuality clearly conflicts with his religious beliefs (Houston Chronicle)
Also: Rice U. football coach apologizes for remarks on gay athletes (Chronicle of Higher Education, subscribers only)
Earlier: The Loneliest Athletes | Facing derision in a macho culture, many gay athletes in team sports hide their sexuality (Chronicle of Higher Education, subscribers only)

Halloween:

Halloween is ideal time for church’s message | All Saints Day has lost a delightful herald of its powerful promise (Steve Gushee, Palm Beach Post)
Church strikes back with holy wins | French Catholics aren’t subtle in opposing Halloween (UPI)
French Catholics attack Halloween | Halloween in France took a new twist Thursday, with the Catholic Church sending protesters into Paris and launching a campaign with rock music to refocus attention on All Saints’ Day—a religious holiday that falls a day after Halloween (Associated Press)

Pop culture:

Few red flags over a blue streak | ‘NYPD Blue’ pushes the language envelope again, introducing a new expletive into its mix. The reaction? It’s been mostly a chorus of yawns (Los Angeles Times)
Books debunk evils of Potter | Several authors suggest using the teenage wizard as a springboard for the Gospel (The Washington Times)
Parents see tough moral rival in popular culture | 76 percent of parents feel their job was “a lot harder” than what their parents faced (The Washington Times)

History:

Faithful unfazed by artifact | Trust in God should not hinge on discoveries such as the recently found stone, they say. (The Stuart [Fla.] News)
Ancient box opens lid on theological debate | Was Jesus an only child? Was Mary forever a virgin? The discovery of a Jewish ossuary bearing some familiar scriptural names is turning into a Pandora’s box for scholars, clergy and laity. (St. Petersburg Times)
Vatican to make public pre-WWII archives | Documents from 1922 to 1939, before the reign of Pope Pius XII, will be opened. Move aims to counter criticism of the papacy’s wartime role. (Los Angeles Times)

Education:

Christian students search for acceptance on campus | For many Christian students on campus, much of their time is spent working to change preconceived notions of their faith (The Michigan Daily, Ann Arbor)
School district stops handouts on church-based party | The church, an Assemblies of God congregation, placed 3,000 fliers in Willingboro’s seven public elementary schools advertising its annual Harvest Fun Fair (Burlington County [Pa.] Times)
Publishers alter texts to try to make grade | Texas Freedom Network, a group that monitors the religious right, said publishers have deleted passages that describe Islam positively and made changes to promote Christianity (Houston Chronicle)

Missions and ministry:

Unusual coalition strives to restore missions | Bipartisanship rules when it comes to preserving the 21 historic missions that played a key role in California’s development two centuries ago (San Francisco Chronicle)
Nationwide movement aims to zap gossip | Grassroots campaigns springing up in various organizations (Kalamazoo [Mich.] Gazette)
Pilots for Christ program provides a wing and a prayer | Flying missions of mercy is just one part of the Pilots for Christ ministry (Associated Press)
Young ‘Miracle’ crusade evangelist defies traditions | Todd Bentley lives a lifestyle of defiance (The Monitor, Kampala, Uganda)
Teens’ rite of passage can include their faith | Promise Keepers is starting a program to help what it fears is a lost generation of evangelicals. Test run is set in Anaheim (Los Angeles Times)
Crusade’s empty seats show poor timing, some say | Hope for America Crusade drew 2,000 nightly in the spring, but now down to 400 (Southeast Missourian)
Minister plans school for Internet-based missionary training | John Musser wants to create a database with information that local missionaries can use in the far reaches of the world (The Dallas Morning News)
New Scripture translation preserves Mohawk language | Team translates 2 Corinthians, Jonah, and Ruth (Press release)

Church life:

Reinventing church | Young pastors explore new forms of worship in search of an ‘authentic’ Christian experience (The Christian Science Monitor)
Church bus runs over teenager | Investigators say it was horrible accident. (WDIV, Detroit)
Spiritual corridor keeps growing | Van Dyke United Methodist Church is the latest to expand with a new worship center that will include a 1,100-seat sanctuary, a 100-seat chapel and landscaping improvements (St. Petersburg Times)
Houses of worship aiding organ donation | The initiative is meant in part to dispel the perception that some religions forbid organ donation (Newsday)

Church of England:

Defeat with honor for Archbishop Carey | Dr Carey has fought an honest battle—but his career has been at best a Christian Dunkirk, a noble retreat (William Rees-Mogg, The Times, London)
Archbishop steps down | His successor, Rowan Williams, will be formally installed in February (BBC)
Rowan, Jesus, and St Paul | The question now in modern Anglicanism is whose tradition matters most? (Hywel Williams, The Guardian, London)
Archbishop in gay foster care row | The incoming leader of the Church of England has been criticized for “endorsing immorality” after it emerged a gay priest in his own diocese fostered a 15-year-old boy (BBC)
Stuck in the past, losing members and ageing fast |The parallels between the Church of England and the Conservative Party are eerily close (Mary Ann-Sieghart, The Times, London)

Catholicism:

Fans lobby for Catholic TV network | Some area residents have joined a campaign to pressure AT&T Broadband into reversing its decision to reduce programming time for a EWTN (The Boston Globe)
Second Vatican Council reaffirmed papal rule | A Catholic cardinal said yesterday that the reformist Second Vatican Council upheld the authority of the papacy, hierarchy and Rome as the “true church,” rather than liberalizing those beliefs, as commonly believed (The Washington Times)
Mahony’s top chiefs all resign | Budget cuts at the L.A. Archdiocese as well as personal factors appear to push the five managers to step down in joint announcement (Los Angeles Times)

Other stories of interest:

Report: Russian Orthodox patriarch hospitalized | The 73-year-old patriarch was diagnosed with hypertension caused by a sharp change in atmospheric pressure (Associated Press)
Amish plaintiff in religious freedom case dies | Gideon Hershberger spent a week in the Fillmore County jail in 1988 after refusing to pay a fine or perform community service for failing to display an orange slow-moving-vehicle triangle on the back of his black horse-drawn buggy (Duluth News Tribune)
First Sabbath flight arrives on Scotland’s staunchly religious Isle of Lewis | Religious leaders urge boycott (Associated Press)
Assemblies of God leader dies | Philip Hogan is credited with sparking the birth of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship (KOLR, Springfield, Mo.)
‘Jesus’ bills fill libraries | Counterfeit bills with quotes from the Bible and other pro-Christian literature are being stuffed in books at public libraries throughout Maine (Kennebec Journal)
Diocese was right, but don’t bother asking why | While parents lined up outside a courtroom, indignant that the church would deny their children the sacrament of football, the priest who annulled the season stood before a panel of astonished reporters and demonstrated how a man can do the right thing the wrong way (Dennis Roddy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)