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CFT's bi-weekly CHRISTIAN NEWS 15 October 1997 * SA church finally unites - One of South Africa's oldest churches, the Full Gospel Church, which split into four constituencies under apartheid, has now united after seven years of negotiations. A spokesman said the division was the result of its position as a mission church with White oversight and the previous government policy which led to separate Black, White, Indian and Coloured constituencies to achieve self-determination and to gain recognition. The Full Gospel Church in South Africa has an estimated 350,000 members with at least 2,400 workers. (The Citizen, 7 October) * Sunday liquor laws stay - The Constitutional Court has decided not to overrule a clause in the Liquor Act preventing supermarkets from selling alcohol on Sundays. The judgment was not to protect the Christian Sabbath, but was to enforce controls over the distribution of a potentially harmful substance. The judges of the court were unanimous in agreeing that free economic activity was permissible on Sundays, but were divided on the question of whether a prohibition on sales of liquor on Sunday infringed the right of freedom of religion. (The Citizen, 7 October) * Old-style revival rallies gays, lesbians - The San Francisco Examiner, 6 October reports: `The pews were shaking. Hands were waving in the air. Eyes were pointed toward heaven. Voices were raised in joyful noise to honor Jesus Christ. It was an old-time gospel revival - for 300 gays and lesbians. A coalition of San Francisco churches spent Sunday night showing that Christianity and homosexuality are not incompatible. While adopting many of the trappings of fundamentalist revivals held in the nation's Bible Belt, the message had a key difference: "This is about coming out as gay Christians," said the Rev. Jim Mitulski, pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church, where the gospel revival was held. The four-day gay Christian revival in San Francisco is a counterpoint to the Billy Graham Crusade, scheduled to begin in The City on Thursday. They even used the same hymn - "Just as I am, without one plea" - that Graham made famous in his crusades. Graham, one of the nation's most prominent preachers, came to the Bay Area a week ago and reiterated his belief that homosexuality is a sin. That was followed last week by a stunning announcement from Catholic bishops that called on parents to accept their gay children even though the clergy consider homosexuality morally wrong. * Doctors object to discrimination - The Doctors for Life organisation issued the following statement last week: `In May this year Doctors For Life sent a letter to Dr. Zuma requesting official assurance that the Department of Health would not in any way discriminate against doctors with conscientious objection against doing abortions on demand. Dr. Zuma writes the following: "Maybe doctors who do not want to do terminations of pregnancy should not choose obstetrics and gynaecology (O&G) as a speciality". Does doctor Zuma realise that only 6% of doctors who specialise in O&G in the USA still do abortions on demand? The letter further states that: "The application form for employment in the public sector does not contain any statement on termination of pregnancy. However, the interviewing panel may ask questions related to the Act, if the position requires such expertise". If the post is for a medical officer in the department of O&G, or a specialist in O&G, the applicant's convictions about abortion on demand should not play a role. Dr. Zuma confirms DFL's fears of discrimination against doctors with conscientious objection against doing abortion on demand. We look upon this as infringement on the constitutional rights of health professionals which guarantees in section 9 that: "No person may be unfairly discriminated against directly or indirectly on any one or more grounds including amongst other things religion, conscience and belief". DFL therefore offers to assist pro-life doctors in obtaining legal representation in this matter. * Controversial work a way of humanising Christ - The New York artist Andres Serrano
has thrown down a new challenge to his religious critics, defending his controversial work
Piss Christ as an expression of his own Christianity. Serrano said Christians should have
enough faith to withstand anything, even an image as confronting as the crucifix immersed
in urine. * Int'l Day of Prayer for Persecuted Church - More Christians have been martyred in the 20th century than in the previous 19 centuries combined. Pastors are being arrested and sometimes shot in China and Cuba. Believers are forbidden to buy goods or own property in Somalia. Christians who testify to their faith in Iran or Saudi Arabia may be put to death for blasphemy. Mobs have wiped out whole villages of Christians in Pakistan. And it goes on. For all this, the western Church is mostly silent. "I am in prison," says the Lord, "and you are not visiting me." It is time to shatter the silence. Sunday, November 16, 1997, has been declared an International Day of Prayer for the Suffering Church. Until then, we need to educate our churches and our friends concerning the extent of persecution which Christ is suffering throughout the world. The International Day of Prayer (IDOP) was initiated by the World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF), but it has earned the endorsement of Christian leaders of all types and denominations (IRN News) * Public Statement on the New Law on Religion in Russia - The European Evangelical
Alliance (EEA) is dismayed at the Russian Parliament's decision to adopt the Federal Law
on "Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Associations". The key problem with
the new law is the division of religious communities into organisations or groups, with
very different rights, depending on if a community can prove it existed legally fifteen
years ago. Since the Soviet regime only fell apart in 1991, and before then, there had
been severe restrictions on religious freedom, this fifteen year rule makes no sense.
While awaiting 15 years of recognition, the two-tier form of "equality" will
deny religious groups many rights including being able to publish any literature, use any
media, educate any clergy, invite any foreign guests, hold any services in public
buildings like hospitals or allow clergy to avoid military service. They will also have to
go through a lengthy re-registration procedure every year. This law breaks the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, The International Treaty on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, the International Treaty on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Declaration on the
Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and discrimination on the Basis of Religion and
Beliefs and the European Convention on Human Rights. It even violates Russia's own
Constitution of 1993 which guarantees equal treatment for all religions. * Lucy - on the way down? - Australian scientists, relying on the `molecular clock' idea, have thrown more confusion into human evolutionary ideas with a claim that humans diverged from chimps much more recently than was thought. In this scheme Australopithecus Afarensis (e.g. the famous Lucy) was also the ancestor of chimps. But since they believe that A. Afarensis walked upright, ignoring recent evidence from CAT scans showing that it did not, then that would mean that early chimps walked upright.Which, according to Simon Easteal of the Australian National University, would mean that `we didn't come down from trees - they went up into the trees'. In this scheme, other Australopithecines become progressively less upright to give rise to various apes. (New Scientist 153(2075), quoted in, Creation ex nihilo, Sep/Oct 1997) * Negotiating a deal in heaven - There once was a rich man who was dying. While on his
death bed, he tried to negotiate with God to have God allow him to bring his earthly
treasures with him to heaven. "God, please, I have worked so hard to accumulate all
these riches. Can't I bring them along?" |
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