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| France passes controversial anti-cult law
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One of Europe's oldest democracies is
accused of violating religious freedoms. France made headlines last summer,
when it took bold steps to control the activities of certain religious
and spiritual groups.
Passing a controversial anti-cult law, France embarked on what some feared
was a trend to restrict and oversee religious movements. And several other
European governments may follow suit.
Joel Thorton of the European Center for Law and Justice said, "in
my opinion, the goal of this law is the completion of the French revolution--
the eradication of religion in the life of the public in France and
the opening of the door for a purely secular society."
"This law puts a person who has a sincerely held religious belief
that they need to work to convert people to their religious beliefs--
it puts them at odds with the government almost from the moment they
begin to evangelize people in public or in private," Thorton said.
"...proselytizing is not authorized by the French government... such practices are illegal," says Catherine Picard, a member of the assembly, who helped write the new law. |
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Presbytery and individual votes affirm constitution
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online
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While individual voting by elders and ministers of Word and sacrament is moot, because only a presbytery's vote counts in determining the outcome, there has been a dramatic change in the current referendum: both in presbytery and individual tallies.
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Confessing Churches take some self-inflicted barbs
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online
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Along with the expected hurrahs at the National Celebration of Confessing Churches in Atlanta on Feb. 24-26, there were some self-inflicted Biblical barbs intended to keep the movement within its Scriptural boundaries.
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What constitutes the Church in its confession?
Outlook guest viewpoint by William Stacy Johnson |
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"The Christian faith is a living faith. No set of standards from the past can say all that needs to be said in a given situation; and so, generating ad hoc lists of essential tenets to which church leaders must subscribe may advance an ideology or effectuate a power-play, but it does not, in itself, advance the gospel. The explication of the church’s standards, to put it plainly, is an ongoing, constructive task in relationship to the Word and Spirit."
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Religion, county's rules hit head-on at rabbi's home
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Rabbi Josef Konikov's soft voice and yarmulke betray nothing of his renegade side, but it's there. In his assault on Orange County zoning laws, Konikov simply ignores that his neighborhood is for residences only and continues to use his living room as a synagogue, outraging his neighbors.
His founding of a home-based synagogue is within his rights, he and his lawyer say. And they claim to be prepared to fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
But other challenges like theirs that pit religious freedom against zoning laws and property rights may beat them to the federal courts. Several, including one in Connecticut that involves a weekly prayer meeting, have a head start.
Regardless of who brings it, church leaders, land-use officials and others say a federal court ruling is nearly inevitable at this point. |
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Episcopal rector suspended |
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An Episcopal rector who opposes the ordination of women and homosexuals has been suspended for six months and could be removed from the priesthood.
The bishop of the Episcopal Church USA's Diocese of Pennsylvania on Monday barred longtime critic Rev. David L. Moyer from officiating following a decade of tension between the suburban Philadelphia priest and church leaders.
Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. supports the ordination of women and of homosexuals who are in committed relationships.
Moyer, who leads a 19,000-member national conservative movement called Forward in Faith, has said the group's members don't condone what they regard as "a lifestyle that is contrary to the Christian religion." |
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Billy Graham's bigotry
- Boston Globe editorial
Given a chance to speak truth to power, Graham spoke garbage.
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It was a teaching moment as much as a preaching moment for the Rev. Billy Graham in 1972 when he joined President Richard Nixon and his aide H.R. Haldeman in the Oval Office after Graham and Nixon had presided at a prayer breakfast. Haldeman made an anti-Semitic crack about the staff of Time magazine, and the floodgates of his and Nixon's bigotry opened up.
The tapes also help explain why Nixon so long persisted in his dark dividing of the world into enemies and friends. He was encouraged to do so by a religious leader he had been friends with since he served as vice president in the 1950s. Given a chance to speak truth to power, Graham spoke garbage. |
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Temple reveals secrets of the one God
Archaeologists believe they have
uncovered origins of monotheism in northern Jordan
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In a remote corner of Jordan, archaeologists have uncovered a
room that may transform the way we think about God.
Its massive stones still clinging to the damp hills of the Jordan
River Valley, the Migdol Temple at first appears to be little
more than an ancient network of fortified walls. Yet when Jordanian
and Australian archaeologists working at the site of ancient Pella began
piecing it together in 1997, it didn’t take them long to realize
that they were reconstructing something extraordinary: a 3,600-year-old
textbook in stone.
The Migdol Temple charts within a single room one of the most
important events in human history: the transition from polytheism
to the belief in one God. |
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A story about love, sacrifice and life ever after
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Far across the
ocean lived a girl named Ting Ting.
Ting Ting's film, "Miao Miao," won big awards, including China's version of the Oscar. In the 1980s, Ting Ting became a celebrity.
She joined the demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
Ting Ting Yan Davis and the Rev. Warner Davis live in Collierville, Tenn.,
now. Occasionally, she tells people her story.
Davis, 55, is
pastor of Collierville Presbyterian Church. |
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The vote on Amendment 01-A: 41 yes - 117 no (6/2)
Details on our acclaimed, fast-loading Vote chart
See Graph: Cumulative Presbytery Votes by month
and the Chart of votes per Synod |
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Results of this week :
YES:
NO: Nevada; Eastern Oklahoma (switch, voted "no" on 96-B, "yes" on 97-A)
If the remaining presbyteries vote on 01-A as they did on 97-A, amendment 01-A will fail by 47 yes - 126 no
(See our analysis "Will results be close to those of 97-A?")
Please,
to us. Thank you!
Official tally on all 8 amendments |
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| Letters from readers |
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Paul Ogne writes about protests by many in Central Florida Presbytery against the PJC ruling in the case against Sebastian Presbyterian Church, and misunderstandings about what the PJC did and did not say. |
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Candace Hibbard Lillie on overtures to make changing PC(USA) Constitution harder. |
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Bill Pawson "Shazaam! I never realized how simple the Sebastian Session case really was. So I just have to thank the Rev. Robert R. von Oeyen, Jr... for pointing out that the whole problem with the Sebastian Session was just over the use of the term "infallible"..." |
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Bill Crawford "...In the past these two words [inerrancy and infallibility] were used as synonyms... Perhaps Rev. von Oeyen has been through the innerancy controversy over the years and did not notice the change in usage..." |
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Dan Reuter "...The message is that disagreement with Mr. von Oeyen is not merely mistaken, not even just foolish, but indecent. Just where does anyone go from that point?..." |
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William R. Thurman, Jr. "...I have no hostility toward Mr. Brundage. My concern in this discussion is simply that the Presbyterian Church (USA) not affirm unrepentant sinners in positions of leadership in local congregations." |
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