* MAJOR CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE : SACLA II - Billed as the most representative gathering of the Church in South African, and perhaps African, history, SACLA II is set to take Church unity a giant step forward on the continent as the Church of Jesus Christ gathers together to seek God for solutions to the challenges which beset the nation. "All six major streams of Christian Spirituality will be present," says Mark Manley South African Team Leader of African Enterprise and a member of the Executive Organising Board for SACLA II. "The contemplative, holiness, charismatic, social justice, evangelical, and incarnational traditions will all be present. We will have everyone from Catholics to Pentecostals, Ecumenicals to Restorationists, Old Stream to New Stream." According to Manley the time for such a gathering is ripe. "… The bottom line for people is the Lordship of Christ and there seems to be a groundswell of acceptance of others who express that differently." The breadth of the Church gathering at SACLA II from July 7 to 12 is certainly reflected in the Christian Leaders who will be speaking in the plenary sessions at the conference. "Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane will speak to us about barriers, which the early church broke open," says Dr Michael Cassidy, Co-Chairperson of SACLA II who will also be one of the plenary speakers, "encouraging us to overcome the barriers to peace and prosperity in South African society." (to index)

* ‘23^rd JUNE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION POLICY STILL OPPRESSIVE’, SAYS PESTALOZZI TRUST - The Pestalozzi Trust has completed its initial analysis on the proposed policy on religion in education that was published in the Government Gazette on 23rd June 2003. Contrary to some early commentators, the Trust finds no reason for joy… The Trust notes with dismay that, just as on the previous occasion, this policy was published at the commencement of the winter school holidays, (after half the schools have broken up) and that comments are due at the end of the holidays (before half the schools have reconvened after the holidays). The closing date is 18 July – 25 days after promulgation. The stakeholders – children, parents, teachers and churches – are, by this tactic, again denied the opportunity to study the document and to consult effectively. We note that such changes as there have been to the document are at most cosmetic in nature. None of the major concerns expressed by children, parents and religious communities have been effectively addressed…For further information: Leendert van Oostrum 012 330 1337; leendert@pestalozzi.org (Pestalozzi Trust; 28th June) (to index)

* PRO-GOD (ANTI-BLASPHEMY) DEMONSTRATIONS IN S.A. - The Jesus Project recorded 550 incidences of blasphemy (irreverent use of, or taking God's Name in vain e.g. "Oh my God" and "Jesus Christ") on SABC TV during April 2003, as reported by Africa Christian Action (ACA). No reaction has been received from the SABC to many letters and queries. The SABC has not indicated that the proposed policy will differ from the status quo, or that the matter will be addressed, nor has it made any substantial effort to reduce blasphemy in the interim. Thus the SABC continues to crudely ignore the concerns of believers in South Africa, says ACA. Christians are planning two pro-God demonstrations on Friday,11 July: Outside the SABC offices, 209 Beach Road, Seapoint, Cape Town, and Johannesburg Civic Centre, 168 Loveday Street, Johannesburg. For more information contact: ACA, Jeanine McGill, 021 689 4481 / The Jesus Project, Ds. Jannie Pelser, 011 665 2516 or 083 601 9094. The Jesus project is supported by almost all mainstream churches in South Africa: www.thenameofgod.com . (ACA 4 July) (to index)

* S.A. GOVERNMENT PLANS TO EXPAND ABORTION PRACTICE - According to an article by the Protection of Conscience Project, the South African Department of Health plans to force all hospitals with 24 hour maternity service to provide abortions. The proposed bill is called the Choice on termination of pregnancy amendment bill, 2003. The government appears to be ignoring the fact that significant problems have been caused by its original abortion law because it failed to take into account widespread conscientious objection to abortion among health care workers. The bill would also allow all nurses to perform abortions, which is likely to make things increasingly difficult for nurses who object to the procedure. An additional but current problem for objectors is the use of the abortifacient drug cytotec (misoprostol). Physicians or health care workers prescribe the drug to begin an abortion, but do not always make themselves available to complete it. The patient may have to go to a hospital with an incomplete abortion, causing significant problems for health care workers who object to the procedure. Ironically, beginning an abortion and sending the woman to the hospital to have it completed was once condemned by the medical profession; the elimination of such practices was often given as a reason for the legalization of abortion. It may be appropriate to consider the present practice a form of abandonment of the patient when the attending physician fails to ensure, in advance, that willing and competent personnel are available to complete an abortion he has started with the drug. (www.conscienelaws.org , 26 June) (to index)

* CRIMINALS TARGET S.A.TEENS WITH ‘DATE RAPE DRUG’ – (Johannesburg) Unsuspecting teenagers, both boys and girls, continue to fall prey to criminals spiking their drinks with so-called date rape drugs, a spokesperson for the Drug Wise Campaign said on Thursday, 19 June. In a statement issued to mark International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26, pharmacist Bobby Hamman, national director for Drug Wise said: "Date rape drugs, such as sleeping tablets, tranquilisers and liquid ecstasy (gamma hydroxy butyrate), are mixed with alcohol to sexually abuse and harm unsuspecting victims. These criminals frequent pubs, clubs or any public places where alcohol is freely available." He said the usual modus operandi was to lace the victim's drink with a particular substance. Once taken, the concoction leads to general memory loss for a lengthy period. He said people subjected to this type of mixture might have no recollection of events. They often found themselves in unknown places with clear signs of sexual abuse or rape, but no idea what had happened to them. (Sapa, iafrica.com, 20 June) (to index)

* SA CHILDREN DRUG-TRAPPED - More and more children - some as young as ten years old - are ending up in Gauteng and Cape rehabilitation clinics for dagga, alcohol and Mandrax abuse. About 4% of patients who were admitted to clinics in Cape Town and Gauteng over the past six months were aged between 10 and 14. Andreas Pluddemann of the alcohol and drug abuse research group of the Medical Research Council (MRC) said child admissions in Gauteng have doubled since the second half of 2000, while Cape clinics are now treating three times as many children as in 1998. Michelle Ginsberg of Drugwise said that the average age of their patients has dropped from between 18 and 25 years to between 14 and 18. "Some come from very dysfunctional families. We refer the young patients to child centres or treat them as outpatients rather than sending them to adult centres where they could be exposed to more substances. (News24.co.za, 30 June) (to index)

* HINDUS COMPLAIN OVER TV COMMERCIAL – A Hindu religious group have lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority over a TV commercial which they claim makes a mockery of their faith. Hare Krishna devotees are angry over the commercial, which shows monks holding chanting beads emerging from meditation in caves to buy Nando’s new range of chicken strips and rice. Champakalata Dasi, a spokesperson for the International Society of Krishna Consciousness in KwaZulu-Natal, said in a letter to the ASA that the advert "smacks of total insensitivity and flagrant disregard for the principles observed by Hare Krishna devotees". He said the ad goes against the grains of the principles of fundamental human rights, including rights of privacy and religious tolerance. (Sunday Times, 15 June) (to index)

* ANGLO-AMERICAN STRATEGIST SAYS ‘CHANGE BEHAVIOUR TO STOP HIV/AIDS’ - If South Africans want to turn the HIV/Aids epidemic around, people simply have to change their sexual behaviour, as the country continues to live in denial about the lethal disease, says Clem Sunter. The Anglo-American strategist and author, speaking to business leaders in Richards Bay, said he was amazed that 20 years after the epidemic started, South Africa still had not come up with a coherent campaign about how to change habits to reduce the risk of contracting the virus that causes Aids. If Aids killed after three weeks instead of six to eight years, people would alter their sexual behaviour overnight, as "ultimately fear of death trumps libido". Sunter told business people at the Zululand Chamber of Business’s annual gala dinner on 17 June to mount campaigns in their local communities, where their employees were being infected. Countries that had confronted the issue of changing sexual behaviour had managed to turn the epidemic around. (The Mercury, 19 June) (to index)

* CLONING A ‘CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY’ – (Jeffreysbay, South Africa) The Dutch Reformed church board of Jeffreysbay has requested the minister of Health, dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to submit legislation which will prohibit the cloning of humans in South Africa. The congregation of Jeffreysbay also sent a letter to the General Synod Commission of the Dutch Reformed Church, requesting the church to make an open declaration against cloning. According to the church board’s letter they found the claims in the media about successful cloning of babies in American and Europe very upsetting. They see it as a gruesome offence against the freedom and humanity of a cloned little being. They are of the opinion that it is a good opportunity for the church and state and other opinion-shapers to bring the matter under consideration with the appropriate international bodies without delay. (Die Kerkbode, 13 June) (to index)

* PROTEST OVER BOOK: ‘THE SECRET DIARY OF GOD’ - The new controversial novel The Secret Diary of God by Koos Kombuis has caused protests. An e-mail petition is doing the internet rounds calling on "every child of God" to express disapproval of the book. The petition was started by Michael Vorster of Johannesburg. Excerpts from the book, published in an article in Rapport - God practises T'ai Chi and He drinks tequila if Satan gives Him a hard time - have prompted Vorster to label the book "blasphemous" and "an insult to the holiness of God". According to internet journal LitNet, 40 people have signed the petition so far. Kombuis also has received "quite a few" negative e-mails from people who have not read the book, but he says he has responded rudely. "I can get very hostile," he adds… "I felt offended by other religious books" and he adds "taboos are nonsense - there is no topic that is taboo to write about." (News24.co.za, 1 July) (to index)

* NZ VOTES TO DECRIMINALISE PROSTITUTION - New Zealand's parliament has voted to legalise prostitution by a margin of just one vote. Members of Parliament voted 60-59 in favour of the bill, ending three years of heated debate. As well as decriminalising prostitution, the new law will establish a legal framework for the sex industry, with licensed brothels operating under strict health, safety and employment guidelines. Labour MP Tim Barnett, who proposed the bill, said that there was no consistency under the current system, with the state being able to license massage parlours "knowing they are fronts for prostitution". Many of the MPs who voted against the proposal were concerned that the bill would increase the number of prostitutes in the country. "We must judge this not on whether it is good for sex workers, but whether it is good for New Zealand society," said National MP Nick Smith. "Sex should not be for sale. Prostitution is nothing more than paid rape," he added. (BBC, 25 June) (to index)

* ‘JANE ROE’ NOT RECEIVING APPEAL – In mid June CitizenLink had reported that Norma McCorvey - the "Jane Roe" of the original 1973 Roe v. Wade case legalizing abortion - had filed suit in Texas to reopen the case on the grounds that abortion hurts women. Late Thursday (19 June), however, a federal district court dismissed her request, saying that it was not made within a "reasonable time" of the original decision, the Associated Press reported. "Whether or not the Supreme Court was infallible, its Roe decision was certainly final in this litigation," Judge David Godbey wrote in the ruling. "It is simply too late now, thirty years after the fact, for McCorvey to revisit that judgment." McCorvey, who was represented by the Texas-based Justice Foundation, filed more than 5,000 pages of evidence with the court - including 1,000 documents from women who regret their abortions - asking it to reopen the Supreme Court's decision. (Citizen Link, 20 June) (to index)

* HOMOSEXUAL CLERGYMAN TURNS DOWN POST - A gay Anglican clergyman, whose appointment as the Church of England's first openly homosexual bishop threatened a worldwide split in the church, has announced he will not take up the post. Canon Jeffrey John was appointed as Bishop of Reading in June, sparking fury from conservative members of the church and renewing divisive debate among Anglicans grappling with questions of sex and homosexuality.In a move that could defuse the crisis, John said he had decided after discussions with the diocese and the spiritual head of the church, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, not to take up the role. "It has become clear to me that in view of the damage my consecration might cause to the unity of the Church, including the Anglican Communion, I must seek the consent of the Crown to withdraw acceptance of my appointment," John wrote in a letter to Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford, whose diocese includes Reading, near London. Speaking after John refused his new post, The Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the world's 70 million Anglicans, sought to both explain and repair the damage done by the appointment. "John's appointment has brought to light a good deal of unhappiness among people who could by no means be described as extremists," the Archbishop said from his residence at Lambeth Palace. "Such unhappiness means there is an obvious problem in the consecration of a bishop whose ministry will not be readily received by a significant proportion of Christians in England and elsewhere," he said. (News24.co.za; 6 July) (to index)