News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. December 13, 2002 [2002-280-1]
Scottish Episcopal Church launches ad campaign on meaning of Christmas
(ACNS) The Scottish Episcopal Church has launched an ad campaign in train stations across the country to remind people of the true meaning of Christmas.
Posters show one of the three kings looking down in horror at a price tag left on his gift of gold to the baby Jesus. The slogan reads, "Losing the plot? Give yourself a break at church this Christmas."
Church leaders said the campaign was not an attempt to stifle the holiday spirit but rather a light-hearted bid to remind people of the real reason for the celebration. "We're not trying to take the commercialization out of Christmas," said the Most Rev. Bruce Cameron, primus of the church. "Shopping for presents and parties can be great fun. What we're trying to do is to restore the balance and put the Christmas message back into our celebrations."
The Scottish Episcopal Church joined with the Churches Advertising Network, a group of Christian media professionals, to put together the campaign. Train stations were chosen because they catch people on shopping excursions or on the way to parties.
Reacting to commercial ads that suggest it's necessary to spend money to find the meaning of Christmas, Cameron said, "We are saying that the real gifts of Christmas are love and peace. But they are the gifts that I'd like to give to the children of Baghdad and Jerusalem this Christmas."
(For more information, visit the church's web site at www.scotland.anglican.org.)
Canadian churches hail patent ruling on genetically modified mouse
(ENI) The Supreme Court of Canada has issued a landmark judgement ruling against allowing Harvard University a patent on a mouse that has been genetically modified for medical research.
The ruling ends a 17-year legal battle and is a victory for churches that argued that patenting the mouse would mean turning living beings into intellectual property. "There has been enormous lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry and biotech industry to allow patenting of higher life forms," said the Rev. Eric Beresford, an Anglican who was speaking on behalf of the Canadian Council of Churches.
The court in its 5 to 4 ruling said that Canada's century-old patent law did not permit higher life forms to be considered "invention." Harvard had altered the genetic composition of the mouse so that it and its offspring would develop cancer more frequently and predictably as an aid to cancer research and had applied in Canada for the patent.
The Canadian Commissioner of Patents had granted Harvard exclusive rights on the process and the genetic composition of the mouse but denied a patent on the mouse itself. The churches argued that granting a patent on the mouse under current law had serious implications for the future of biotechnology, creating the possibility of human patenting in the future.
Canada is the only country that has refused such applications. The European Union, the United States and Japan have already ruled in favor of allowing such patents. The only recourse for those who support genetically modified life forms is to appeal to the Canadian Parliament.
Churches to launch global campaign on trade and human rights
(WCC) A global network of churches and related organizations is launching a three-year campaign to press for international human rights, social, and environmental agreements to take precedence over trade agreements and policies.
The campaign, called "Trade for people, not people for trade," was launched on International Human Rights Day December 10 by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), a network of more than 85 churches, development agencies and related organizations--including the World Council of Churches--representing a constituency of hundreds of millions of people.
"Global trade can either promote or hinder justice, peace and sustainability," said Dr. Musimbi Kanyuoro, general secretary of the Young Women's Christian Association (YMCA). "We will use human rights principles to challenge economic injustice and to change trade rules in favor of justice between and within countries and communities, create alternatives, and support people struggling against economic discrimination," she said.
Specifically, the campaign will advocate trade rules that recognize the right to food, ensure sustainable agriculture and food security for all, and promote greater self-reliance in developing countries. It will also advocate global and national trade policies and rules that guarantee access for all to essential services, based on human rights principles. It will also seek regulation of transnational corporations to ensure that they contribute to the eradication of poverty, the promotion of human rights, and the protection of the environment.
Call for ban on Muslim dress denounced by church leaders in Australia
(ENI) A suggestion made by a member of an Australian state parliament that authorities ban Muslim women from wearing traditional dress in public in case they were hiding explosives or guns has drawn strong criticism.
"Such remarks are inconsistent with the Christian Gospel of freedom and peace," said the Rev. James Haire, president of the United Church in Australia. "We support the right of Muslim women to wear whatever clothing they feel is appropriate in accordance with their beliefs."
Suggestion for the ban came from the Rev. Fred Nile, a retired Uniting Church minister and member of the upper house of the parliament for New South Wales. Last year he drew headlines when he denounced Harry Potter books and films because they might attract children to witchcraft and Satanism. He is also well known for holding prayer meetings on the eve of Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade where participants are asked to pray for rain to disrupt the parade.
Nile said that the full-body chador, the dress used by some conservative Muslim women, could be used to conceal weapons. "It is not a fairytale, it just occurred in Moscow where six women wearing chador coverings also were carrying explosives and were prepared to blow up the theater and kill seven or eight hundred people," he said, referring to the October siege involving Chechen Muslim rebels. His statements drew more attention because it appeared, at first, that Prime Minister John Howard was supporting his statement.
There are about 300,000 Muslims in Australia, most of them of Lebanese or Turkish descent, but half of them born in Australia. Since the October bombings in Bali, security officials have raided the homes of Muslims suspected of having connections with extremist groups.
WCC publishes new edition of Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement
(WCC) The World Council of Churches has published a revised and expanded edition of its "Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement," a valuable tool for study and research on the many facets of the search for Christian unity.
With almost 700 articles and 370 authors from all Christian groups around the world, the 1300-page volume is a "window into the richness and diversity of ecumenical thought and action," according to the publisher. The new edition takes into account the major changes that have taken place in the world and the life of the churches since the first edition published a decade ago.
Among the themes in the dictionary are: ecumenical developments at all levels of church life; the work of the WCC and other ecumenical bodies; ecumenical concerns of the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian communions; discussions and agreements on doctrinal matters; social, political, legal, cultural and ethical issues from a Christian perspective; evangelism and mission, worship and prayer, education and the renewal of the church; Christian responsibility toward the poor; communicating the ecumenical vision and dialogue with other faiths; biographies of distinguished ecumenists, thinkers and leaders.
While available only in English at this time, it will also be published soon in French, Italian and Spanish with the possibility of later editions in German and Russian. One article per month will be published on the WCC web site in the coming year.
As WCC General Secretary Konrad Raiser notes in the prologue, the dictionary is intended "to be a resource of inspiration and reliable orientation for all those who have accepted the call to the unity and renewal of the church as a personal commitment."
(For more information go to the WCC web site at www.wcc-coe.org.)
Reasons for being Episcopalian fill website, new book
(ENS) "God loves you, and there is not a thing you can do to change that."
That's the winning entry in an impromptu online contest for the best of "365+ Reasons For Becoming an Anglican/Episcopalian," which will soon be part of a book released by Morehouse Publishing. The entry was penned by the Rev. Tom Van Culin of Honolulu, Hawaii, a past member of Executive Council and a frequent deputy to General Convention. The win means Executive Council member Dr. Louie Crew, who came up with the idea for the list, will donate $100 to Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) in Van Culin's name.
Sixteen people agreed to read all the entries without the authors' names attached and ranked their first 10 choices. Morehouse has chosen its own favorites from the list for the book 101 Reasons to be Episcopalian, which will appear in spring 2003. All profits from the book will go to ERD.
The second most popular entry was written by the Rev. Phil Wilson, Morristown, New Jersey: "Where the only requirement at Communion is that you be hungry!" The third most popular entry was anonymous: "Where the Bible is taken seriously, not literally." Of the 365 entries, 145 (40%) appeared in the top 10 of at least one of the 16 judges.
"Basically, I started my own list of reasons that I liked for being Episcopalian, with a mind to using them on a rotating basis," said Crew. "After writing the first dozen or so, I decided it was much too much fun to keep to myself. I invited others to send entries, and over several months they poured in.
"As a new old-age pensioner, I had less of my own money to give, but hoped I could encourage others to know about ERD by offering a prize to ERD in the name of the author of the most popular item in the first 365," Crew added. "I've been particularly pleased that some parishes have posted all or parts of the list, and I understand that some parish groups have tried to write some of their own 'reasons.'"
Morehouse editor Debra Farrington spotted announcements of the contest on the bishops-deputies email discussion list, and suggested Morehouse might want to do a book. "I felt it would be a great way to help Episcopalians be evangelists in ways comfortable to many of us, telling why we like our church," Crew explained.
The full list of reasons is online at http://newark.rutgers.edu/~lcrew/365plus.html.