Southern Africa

• Doctors ask ‘what’s the difference?’
• SA public holidays under review, again

* SA PUBLIC HOLIDAYS UNDER REVIEW, AGAIN - Christians have expressed concern about the possibility of scrapping more Christian holidays. The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr M. Buthelezi, has announced that public holidays will be reconsidered with a view to rationalising them. An interdepartmental task team is to review public holidays and will consult with the public. In a speech by the minister of 6 November he that the review was necessary to: "accommodate our cultural diversity and our diverse need of celebrating events, which are important in the various religions and cultures which are currently represented in our country, or which may be represented in the future. It might be necessary to consider certain dates which can serve as holidays for different purposes, for different segments of our communities".
The editor of the Witness, 10 November, said that this is part of the "trend towards inclusive holidays that can be celebrated with equal enthusiasm by all sectors of our diverse population."
In a recent government publication `The Truth and Reconciliation Handbook’ we are told that "A National Day of Prayer and Traditional Sacrifice will be held in accordance with the call from many to pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives and suffered during the difficult period of oppression and repression. Government will consult as widely as possible to determine the date and form of such a prayer and traditional sacrifice."
(Ed: The review is mostly on behalf of the Muslim, Jewish and Hindu population of South Africa which, combined, make up only 5% of the population.) (to index)

International

• Europe struggles with God in new constitution
• Cannibals apologise
• Plans to make malaysia Islamic state
• British bishop’s ‘gay cure’ remarks not crime
• France challenges religious symbols
• Imprisoned Indonesian minister thanks for letter support
• Doomsday is not today, cops tell sect
• Opponenst of abortion seek to outlaw procedure
• Jupiter Christian school defends expulsion of gay student

* EUROPE STRUGGLES WITH GOD IN NEW CONSTITUTION - Recent survey findings show that Europeans are less religiously observant than Americans and uneasy about an American foreign policy that they see as driven by a sort of messianic zeal that is dangerous precisely because its inspiration is a matter of faith. It may come as something of a surprise, then, that added to all the other divisions bedeviling what is called the European project, are disputes over whether God and Christianity ought to be inserted into the draft of the European constitution, from which both are now excluded. The difference of view has to do with the constitution that will eventually be adopted to govern the European Union after it expands from its current 15 members to 25 members next spring. For more than a year, a 105-member committee, under the direction of the former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, worked on a draft to be adopted, or not adopted, by the member nations. The document's preamble, which is not a masterpiece of European literature, is intended to enumerate the values adhered to by all the component parts of the European Union, and it is over those first few paragraphs of the constitution that the debate on God and religion has centered. As it now reads, the key sentence of the preamble is the one that defines Europe as a "civilization" whose inhabitants "have gradually developed the values underlying humanism: equality of persons, freedom, respect for reason." The only mention of religion at all in the preamble comes in the next sentence, which mentions the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe," an inheritance that has led to "the central role of the human person and his or her inviolable and inalienable rights." Even that ever so brief recognition of the religious heritage of Europe was a last-minute addition inserted by the drafters after they decided to delete an earlier specific reference to Christianity. That was part of a larger compromise in which the drafters also dropped mentions of Greco-Roman civilization and the Enlightenment as aspects of the common European heritage, phrases that suggest the secular philosophical foundations of European civilization. But the attempt to leave out both the Enlightenment and Christianity left many members of the various national delegations unsatisfied. "Either Europe is Christian or it is not Europe," was the bold formulation in a headline in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano a few weeks ago. (12 Nov, New York Times International) (to index)

* CANNIBALS APOLOGISE - Villagers in a remote Fijian community staged an elaborate ceremony of apology Thursday for the relatives of a British missionary killed and eaten there 136 years ago. The Rev. Thomas Baker and eight Fijian followers were killed and devoured by cannibals in 1867 in the village of Nabutautau, high in the hills of the South Pacific island of Viti Levu. Residents say their community has been cursed ever since. The rituals - which started about a month ago - culminated Thursday with the offering of cows, specially woven mats and 30 carved sperm-whale teeth known as tabua to 10 Australian descendants of Baker. Past apologies have not helped. In 1993, villagers presented the Methodist Church of Fiji with Baker's boots - which cannibals tried unsuccessfully to cook and eat. Villagers believe that since 1867, either Baker's spirit or disapproving gods have made sure that modern developments like electricity, a school, piped water supply and other essentials enjoyed by most Fijian villagers have been kept from them. (13 November, AP) (to index)

* PLANS TO MAKE MALAYSIA ISLAMIC STATE - With talk of early elections in the air, Malaysia's largest opposition party has laid out its plans to turn one of Southeast Asia's most prosperous nations into one ruled according to Quranic principles. The Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) wants to implement Islamic ( shari'a ) law and declare an Islamic state should it come to power. It says, however, that non-Muslims would have the choice whether or not to come under the authority of the religious code, which provides for punishments such as amputation of limbs and stoning to death. In its 53-page program, PAS also says only a Muslim should be able to become prime minister. Muslim Malays comprise about 60 percent of the multi-cultural country's 23 million population. The remainder are ethnic Chinese, ethnic Indians and various indigenous groups. PAS leader Abdul Hadi Awang said in a speech introducing the proposals that the campaign to institute an Islamic order was "an attempt to respond to the failures of the faulty system of the liberal West in confronting the endemic social decadences and rampant injustices." Muslims around the world had experimented with man-made ideologies and failed, he said. The only solution to the many socio-political problems faced by Muslims was the reconstruction of society based on Islam.
Restrictions, affecting Muslims and non-Muslims alike, would be enforced throughout Malaysia under its proposals, as would the shari'a punishments. (13 Nov,CNSNEWS.com) (to index)

* BRITISH BISHOP’S `GAY CURE’ REMARKS NOT CRIME - A bishop who recommended homosexuals seek medical treatment won't be prosecuted under hate laws. That's the verdict of British police following a probe into remarks made by the Rt. Rev. Peter Forster that prompted outrage among homosexuals and one formal complaint.
In an interview with the Chester Chronicle Friday, the Bishop of Chester said: "Some people who are primarily homosexual can re-orientate themselves. I would encourage them to consider that as an option, but I would not set myself up as a specialist on the subject. That is in the area of psychiatric health." The 53-year-old's comments – deemed "scandalous" by homosexual advocates – grabbed headlines in all the British newspapers and sparked numerous letters-to-the-editors of those papers. "These are irresponsible remarks that could inflame latent homophobia," Martin Reynolds, the communication director for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, told the Daily Telegraph. "I am sure that the bishop is a very gentle man and his views are sincere. But many people in history who are gentle and sincere have said things that are evil." After consulting with the Crown Prosecution Service, Cheshire police decided the bishop hadn't committed a crime, according to a strict interpretation of current law. "The Public Order Act of 1986 made it a criminal offense to incite racial hatred – but its provisions do not extend to sexual orientation," a police spokesman told the Manchester Evening News. The inquiry prompted disgust among some officials who dismissed it as a "waste of police time." (13 November, Worldnetdaily.com) (to index)

* FRANCE CHALLENGES RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS - A parliamentary group has called for a ban on the wearing of any visible religious symbols in schools, broadening a debate on whether Muslim girls can wear Islamic head scarves in class. France's body politic is heating up over the issue, with some religious leaders fearing a ban will foment religious extremism while politicians say it is needed to preserve the country's cherished separation of religion and state. The issue is all the more thorny because the Muslim community in France is large and growing at some five million, the largest in western Europe. President Jacques Chirac returned the long-running topic to the political front burner in July, appointing a blue-ribbon panel of French intellectuals to study the broader issue of French secularism and recommend whether new laws are needed to defend it. The 20-person panel, headed by national mediator Bernard Stasi, will report to the president by the end of the year. Its proposals are to provide the basis for an eventual decision on the head scarf issue. Stepping into the fray today, a parliamentary panel issued a text calling for new rules that would forbid any religious or political signs in public schools and be "brief, simple, clear and the least subject to interpretation as possible." (12 November, Toronto Star) (to index)

* IMPRISONED INDONESIAN MINISTER THANKS FOR LETTER SUPPORT - An imprisoned Indonesian minister, framed on charges of illegal weapons possession, has thanked supporters around the world for nearly 15,000 letters and cards. Reverend Rinaldy Damanik, 44, has been an outspoken critic of the apparent lack of commitment by the police and government authorities to measures aimed at ending the violence. He has also been a key supporter of the reconciliation process and, as such, a hindrance to the activities of the Islamist militants largely held to be responsible for the sectarian violence in Maluku and Sulawesi. His supporters are convinced he is in detention in a bid to silence him and to placate extremists who still have influential supporters in both the government and the military. In June 2003 he was sentenced to three years imprisonment, a verdict his legal team is planning to appeal. CSW, along with many other charities around the world, asked supporters to contact Rev Damanik with messages of support. (10 November, CSI) (to index)

* DOOMSDAY IS NOT TODAY, COPS TELL SECT - Indonesian police on Monday evacuated 300 people crammed inside a house in West Java who said they were waiting for the end of the world, police and local media reports said. The 300 people - from a Christian sect known as Sibuea - insisted the day of reckoning would come at 3pm on Monday, a police official said. "We already evacuated the churchgoers. So far we have questioned 15 people in the incident," West Java's Bale Endah district police chief, Muhammad Pama Daci, told radio El Shinta.
He said no one was hurt in the affair, which occurred near the West Java capital of Bandung, 140km south-east of Jakarta. It was not clear why the group picked the particular house for the gathering. The evacuation came after local residents complained about the meeting. "Today, 10 November, is not over yet. There is still time," one cult member was quoted as saying. (10 November, Reuters) (to index)

* OPPONENTS OF ABORTION SEEK TO OUTLAW PROCEDURE - Abortion opponents are working on a petition that would outlaw a certain abortion procedure without going through the governor. Gov. Jennifer Granholm last month vetoed a bill that would create the Legal Birth Definition Act. It would define the moment a person is legally born as being when any part of a fetus is expelled from a woman’s body and is intended to ban what abortion opponents call partial-birth abortion.
Granholm said the bill doesn’t include an exception for the health of the mother and added that the way the bill defined life could make it apply to first-trimester abortions.
Concerned that it can’t get the two-thirds vote needed in the state Senate to override the governor’s veto, Right to Life of Michigan is planning a citizen’s petition drive that would send the bill back to the Legislature for a simple majority vote — 20 votes in the Senate and 56 in the House.
If both chambers approve it, the bill would not have to go to the governor for her signature to become law, keeping Granholm from vetoing the measure again. (November 11, 2003, AP) (to index)

*JUPITER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL DEFENDS EXPULSION OF GAY STUDENT - A private Christian school said it expelled a student who admitted he was gay because he violated school policy when he talked to other students about his sexual orientation.
In a legal response to a lawsuit filed by senior Jeffrey Woodard, Jupiter Christian School officials also said they asked him to leave in August because of his bad grades, and because his tuition hadn't been paid.
"Jeffrey Woodard, an academically ineligible, unregistered student, was telling other students on campus that he was homosexual, which is a lifestyle we believe is not in accord with the biblical values we teach our children, and when we tried to talk to him and his mother about it they refused to work with us," school President Rich Grimm said in an address to parents Monday night that was released on the school's Web site on Tuesday. "Why did we expel him? In the end, his mother gave us no choice."
Woodard, 18, and his mother, Carol Gload, sued the conservative Bible-based school last month for breach of contract and for failing to give them a reason for the expulsion. They accused school officials of expelling Woodard, who had attended three years, because he admitted to a teacher he is gay after the teacher asked him about rumors circulating at the school.
Grimm would not comment on the legal action Tuesday. However, in his statement to parents he outlined the school's handling of the case and its stance on homosexuality. The statement said the school thinks homosexuality is "a form of sexual immorality," which the student handbook lists as a reason for expulsion.
His address to parents is posted at www.jupiterchristian.org.
He also stated in the address, "We believe homosexuality is a sin that violates God's natural plan for marriage, a man and a woman joining together and becoming as one. And through our Christian School Philosophy we ask all parents to cooperate with us and to teach their children ... the biblical view of dating, marriage and the family."
However, Grimm said in the address the school is not "anti-gay."
"If we're anti-anything, we are anti-sin. And that is because we are pro-Christ," he said.
Grimm said the school would determine whether gay students would be admitted on a case-by-case basis.
"If Jeffrey Woodard and his mother had shown any willingness to understand and consider the school's position on homosexuality, and to allow us to work with Jeffrey in a Christ-like manner, Jeffrey might well still be a student at Jupiter Christian School," Grimm's statement said. (November 12, 2003, Sun-Sentinel.com) (to index)