January 11, 2007
A NEW YEAR, 2007
A Jew Asks: What Would Jesus Do? |
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On the plight of pregnant women in the West Bank, where babies are dying needlessly. Independent appeal: "What would happen if the Virgin Mary came to Bethlehem today?" By Johann Hari, The Independent, London, UK (23 December 2006). "In two days, a third of humanity will gather to celebrate the birth pains of a Palestinian refugee in Bethlehem—but two millennia later, another mother in another glorified stable in this rubble-strewn, locked-down town is trying not to howl. Fadia Jemal is a gap-toothed 27-year-old with a weary, watery smile. 'What would happen if the Virgin Mary came to Bethlehem today? She would endure what I have endured,' she says [who in labor and bleeding was not allowed to pass a military checkpoint, and so lost one of her twins in childbirth in the car]… Since Fadia's delivery, in 2002, the United Nations confirms that a total of 36 babies have died because their mothers were detained during labour at Israeli checkpoints.All across Bethlehem—all across the West Bank—there are women whose pregnancies are being disturbed, or worse, by the military occupation of their land… Many of the medical problems afflicting pregnant women here are more mundane than Jamilla's darkest fears: 30 per cent of pregnant Palestinians suffer from anaemia, a lack of red blood cells. The extreme poverty caused by the siege and now the international boycott seems to be a key factor. The doctors here warn grimly that as ordinary Palestinians' income evaporates, they eat more staples and fewer proteins—a recipe for anaemia. There is some evidence, they add, that women are giving the best food to their husbands and children, and subsisting on gristle and scraps. The anaemia leaves women at increased risk of bleeding heavily and contracting an infection during childbirth… Merlin—one of the three charities being supported by the Independent Christmas Appeal—has set up two mobile teams, with a full-time gynaecologist and a paediatrician, to take medical services to the parts of the West Bank cut off by the Israeli occupation." [More of the story].
Let's Get Everybody's Troops Out of Everywhere
By Micah Zenko, Boston Globe (December 23, 2006). "'Who wants to be occupied? Nobody wants to be occupied.' – President Bush, May 7, 2004. WITH THE release of the Iraq Study Group's report and pending completion of two inter governmental reviews, a US policy change in Iraq is inevitable. The key to this policy change, in order to salvage the reputation and relevance of the United States, should be a new strategic shift based upon the principles on which America was founded – a doctrine of non occupation… [It is time] to reemphasize a commitment to the Truman Doctrine, which declared that it is 'the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.'" [More of the story].
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New grisly benchmarks in Iraq War: US Iraq death toll 'hits 3,000' BBC News (31 December 2006). "The death of a Texan soldier in Baghdad brings the total number of US troops killed in Iraq to 3,000, independent groups tracking casualties have said… (Image: "Dustin R Donica's death brought the toll to the 3,000 mark")" [More of the story]. In October, a second study (with a supplement) by American-Iraqi researchers in the British medical journal The Lancet used cluster analysis to report an estimated excess of 650,000 Iraqi deaths since the 2003 invasion. Although critiqued and defended, this study used accepted statistical methods used in natural disasters, etc. to estimate massive death tolls. Whatever the actual numbers, hundreds of thousands of victims are likely to have died directly or indirectly from the war, whether in bombardment, insurgent attacks, lawlessness, disease and privation resulting from the destruction of agricultural and civil infrastructure. |
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Muslims Mark Solidarity With Jews: |
Eight Virginia Parishes Vote to Break from Episcopal Church
In Gwen Ifill interview, PBS/Newshour with Jim Lehrer (December 18, 2006). Eight Episcopal parishes in Virginia voted over the weekend to break with the Episcopal Church, over a number of issues, including homosexuality. Kevin Eckstrom, editor of Religion News Service, discusses what this might mean for other dioceses and denominations. [Read the interview].
Another US megachurch leader comes out:
Pastor resigns over homosexuality
By Eric Gorski, Denver Post (12/11/2006). "…A month ago, the Rev. Paul Barnes of Grace Chapel in Douglas County preached to his 2,100-member congregation about integrity and grace in the aftermath of the Ted Haggard drugs-and-gay-sex scandal. Now, the 54-year-old Barnes joins Haggard as a fallen evangelical minister who preached that homosexuality was a sin but grappled with a hidden life…" [More of the story]. And there may be more to come, warns Christianity Today (See story).
About the top 10 religion news stories of 2006, the Adventist Review posted the following: Religion Writers Rate Amish, Muhammad Cartoons as Biggest Stories
By Jason Kane, Religion News Service. "The Amish community, which inspired the world with acts of forgiveness after a Pennsylvania schoolhouse shooting, has been named the newsmaker of the year by the Religion Newswriters Association (RNA) and Beliefnet.reprinted the Religion News Service's Top Ten Religious. The multi-faith spirituality Web site Beliefnet.com said Thursday (December 14) the Amish community topped its list of newsmakers for demonstrating "courage, forgiveness, self-sacrifice and love" after a gunman entered an Amish schoolhouse in October and shot 10 girls before taking his own life. The Amish community reached out to the killer's family, offering monetary and emotional support. Several attended his funeral." The RNS article went on to outline the violent reaction in the Islamic world to the Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, as well as Muslim anger sparked by comments of Pope Benedict XVI, etc. [More of the story].
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Beliefnet's Top Ten Stories: "Top Religion Headlines of 2006. From Baghdad to the ballot box, 2006 was a year of upheaval. A prominent pastor and a powerful conservative Christian senator both exited public life (at least for now). The quiet, unassuming Amish world was thrust into the national spotlight. A movie and a cartoon each sparked controversy, and in the case of the latter, violence. Meanwhile, "old" issues—stem cell research, gay marriage—continued to divide." [More of the gallery]. |
Beliefnet.com: Most Inspiring Person of the Year, 2006. Most Inspiring of 2006:
Why the Amish Won
"With an act of radical forgiveness, a grieving community showed the world an alternative response to violence… a pacifist religious community in rural Lancaster County who practice a simple farming life without modern conveniences much the same as their 17th century Swiss-German forbears—suffered a shocking intrusion into their world when a local milkman, Charles Roberts, invaded a one-room schoolhouse, shooting 10 young girls, leaving five of them dead. During the ordeal, one of the girls, 13-year-old Marian Fisher, offered to be killed first in hopes that the others would be spared… Within hours of the shooting, the families of the children not only expressed their forgiveness of the killer but reached out to his family, giving food and raising money for his wife and children." [More of the story].
Christianity Today's Top Ten Stories of 2006 included what the journal's "editors and writers believe have shaped, or will significantly shape, evangelical life, thought, or mission" and include the sex scandal and resignation of the National Association of Evangelical (NAE) president Ted Haggard, the Israeli-Lebanon war in the summer, and the declaration of victory by the Religious Left in the US midterm elections in November, among others. [More of the report].
ADVENTIST PROGRESSIVES on the move
England: Reducing Climate Change, One Church At a Time
By Alan Hodges; Watford, England; Adventist News Network (December 5, 2006). "As the world faces the 'inconvenient truth', as former United States Vice President Al Gore calls it of climate change, churches in Britain are looking at how they can help stop not just the planet's spiritual decline but also its environmental decline. Seventh-day Adventists joined other churches in a consultation on climate change at the London headquarters of the charity, Christian Aid, on Nov. 20. According to Christian Aid, 'no other single issue presents such a clear and present danger to the future welfare of the world's poor.'" [More of the story].
One of the more important events of this past autumn: North America: Florida Hospital to Support Habitat for Humanity Project
By Elizabeth Lechleitner, Adventist News Network (October 24, 2006). With medical supplies, 21 volunteers from Florida Hospital in Orlando are teaming up this year with annual Habitat for Humanity International Jimmy Carter Work Project (JCWP) in Maharashtar, a village near Mumbai, India. The 5-year indiaBUILDS project of Habitat for Humanity hopes to construct 250,000 new home by 2010, mostly in areas affected by the 2004 tsunami [See this story from this past October]. Hopefully a fruitful collaboration can be continued.
Upcoming topic at the Spectrum / Association of Adventist Forums event : "Submission, silence, and baby-making: Tough texts on women" By Ivan Blazen PhD, Professor of Religion (Loma Linda University). Date & time: January 13, 2007 at 3 pm. Place: The Tierrasanta Seventh-day Adventist Church (11260 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., San Diego, CA 92124; Tel: 858-576–9990). [We will post upcoming AAF events as they approach. For a fuller listing, see the Spectrum / AAF calendar].
ADVENTIST NEWS Round up
Mary's Song By Leo Ranzolin, Jr., Spectrum (December 21, 2006). "A portrait of Christmas typically depicts Joseph and Mary holding the baby Jesus in a manger. They are surrounded by animals; Magi who have brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh; and shepherds who speak of an angelic choir that sang out in the countryside, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men' (Luke 2:14)" [More of the story].
On the brink of European Union membership, Romania has rapidly and quietly passed a law which recognizes all "legal denominations" so expanding state recognition beyond just the Orthodox Church, but leaving troubling questions behind for religious freedom in the former communist country. Romania: New Religion Law 'Big Step' but Process Worrisome, Adventists and Other Religious Groups Agree By Elizabeth Lechleitner, Adventist News Network (December 19, 2006) Bucharest, Romania. "Romanian Seventh-day Adventists joined other religious communities and human rights groups this week in raising concern over a controversial Religion Law whisked unpublished and largely un-discussed by legislators through both houses of Romania's parliament last week." [More of the story].
Tribute to Carl Wilkins: American Adventist missionary, a hero during the Rwanda Genocide of 1994. "He headed up the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA) in Rwanda and was the only American who chose to stay while the rest evacuated as the killing began. In describing that day and watching the cars and trucks rolling by, he says, 'This sadness just came over me. … If people in Rwanda ever needed help, now was the time. And everybody's leaving.' In the weeks that followed, he recounts what he tried to do to help, including enlisting Rwanda's Hutu prime minister to stop the massacre of children in an orphanage. 'There were times of real hopelessness. I basically had to say to myself, 'There's nothing I can do about that.' I could spend a lot of time in anger about why other people weren't making a difference, weren't doing it, but that wasn't going to help anything" [PBS series "Ghosts of Rwanda" interviews]. "African Rights is pleased to announce the release of its newest edition of the Tribute to Courage series, 'A True Humanitarian: A Tribute to Carl Wilkens.' The report pays tribute to the actions of American Carl Wilkens, whose bravery saved the lives of hundreds of people during Rwanda's 1994 genocide. Released to coincide with International Human Rights Day, December 10, the report pays homage to a man whose actions embody the values and principles of human rights defenders worldwide." For African Rights' tribute to Carl Wilkins.
ATODAY TOMORROW—Preview of contents
Exciting articles in the next issue of Adventist Today: Subscribe today!
January-February 2007 (Vol. 15; No. 1). The central focus of this issue is the science-religion discussion within the Adventist church.
CONTENTS
- Editorial: In "The Adventist Underground" John McLarty argues that the church has an 'underground' subset who question the official theology of origins. "The church needs the Underground to extend its ministry to people who may be too controversial for the church to publicly embrace, but who are too precious to ignore or turn away."
- 04 | Letters | AT Readers
- 07 | Response to Burrill (Adventist Today: Sept/Oct 2006, p. 12) | Robert T. Johnston
Features
- 08 | The Truth About the Origin of Life | Lester N. Wright MD
- 10 | "Evolution Is a Lie! What Kind of Christian Are You?" | T. Joe Willey
- 11 | Did You Really Create the World In Six Days? | Wayne Collins
- 12 | A Geologist's Journey from Naïve Certainty to Informed Faith | Gary A. Nowlan
- 16 | Where You and I Have Never Been | Alden Thompson
Opinion
- 18 | Adventist Apathy Toward the Plight of the Unborn | Nic Samojluk
- 20 | The Appropriateness of the Adventist Position on Abortion | Jim Walters
- 22 | Hope for Hope Street: A Case Study in Community Engagement | Ron Graybill
Special AT Survey
- 24 | Adventist Pastors and 1844: An Adventist Today Survey | John Thomas McLarty
Subscribe to Adventist Today today!
SECULAR VALUE—SCIENCE IN DIALOGUE WITH RELIGION
Sightings: Going Beyond Belief By Philip Hefner, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and editor-in-chief of Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science (December 14, 2006). "Both the New Scientist and the New York Times reported on the symposium entitled 'Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason, and Survival,' hosted by the Science Network, a coalition of scientists and media professionals convening November 5–7 at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. They were there to address three questions: Should science do away with religion? What would science put in religion's place? Can we be good without God?" [More of the opinion piece]. At ATNewsbreak we plan to give more coverage to this symposium and its significance.
Evolution warnings don't stick By Jenny Jarvie, LA Times (December 20, 2006). "ATLANTA—A suburban school board has abandoned its four-year legal fight to place stickers in high school biology textbooks that say 'evolution is a theory, not a fact.' In a settlement announced Tuesday in federal court, the Cobb County Board of Education agreed never to use any similar 'stickers, labels, stamps, inscriptions or other warnings,' or to undermine the teaching of evolution in science classes. In turn, the parents who sued over the stickers—charging that they promoted religion in science classrooms and violated the separation of church and state—agreed to end all legal action… Evolution has long been controversial in Cobb County, north of Atlanta, where some biology teachers used to tear pages out of textbooks to avoid discussing it. In 2002, after more than 2,000 parents objected to sections on evolution in a new biology textbook, stickers were placed on the inside of the front cover." [More of the story].
Karl Kime (Pasadena, CA) has written an excellent letter on "the great ID debate" to the Adventist Review: "Although the restrained language of Roy Adams' editorial, 'An Evolving Storm' (Oct. 27, 2005), is a vast improvement over the shrill debates raging about Intelligent Design (ID) between creationists and evolutionists, his reasoning has flaws… Theologians for centuries have been using the so-called argument from design to 'prove' God. But it cannot accomplish that goal as a logical matter. Anything observed in the world is finite, but the conclusion that religious people want to draw from these finite observations is the existence of an infinite being—and therein lies the illogicality. You can't get there from here through logic or science. While I agree that Intelligent Design may be taught in public schools, it should be done in a cultural studies or world religions course—not in science. Science functions by looking for causes within nature, and ID, by definition, asserts a cause outside of nature. They are not alternative explanations with the realm of science. ID requires one to step away from the chain of finite causes. But perhaps of most concern is Adams' quick dismissal of the 'separation of church and state' argument against teaching ID. In fact, this is one of the most practical reasons for keeping these lines of inquiry separate." [More of the letter]. More objections to ID could be added based on some recent excellent books we plan to review in time.
For some years, evidence has been accumulating for surface water erosian and deposition in the Martian geological past. Now it seems that liquid water sometimes still flows on Mars. US Scientists Say New Evidence Shows Water on Mars By David McAlary, VOA News (06 December 2006). "Scientists say U.S. satellite images of Mars provide strong evidence that liquid water still flows on the red planet, suggesting an environment that could be hospitable to life… The images come from a spacecraft that orbited Mars for a decade, the Mars Global Surveyor, which the U.S. space agency recently lost contact with. Researchers compared some of its final pictures of the Martian surface with ones it took seven years ago and have documented the formation of new craters and possible evidence for liquid water flowing in gullies." [More of the story]. These data raise some implications for life on Mars.
The Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry / Transnational open an Office of Public Policy in DC: Think Tank Will Promote Thinking: Advocates Want Science, Not Faith, at Core of Public Policy By Marc Kaufman, The Washington Post; 15 November 2006. "Concerned that the voice of science and secularism is growing ever fainter in the White House, on Capitol Hill and in culture, a group of prominent scientists and advocates of strict church-state separation yesterday announced formation of a Washington think tank designed to promote 'rationalism' as the basis of public policy…" [More of the story]. See also CFI's own press release: "Our mission is to promote and defend science, reason, and the freedom of inquiry in all aspects of human endeavors. The Center for Inquiry accomplishes this through educational projects, research, publishing, and providing social services…Not in our lifetimes has our democratic way of life, our Constitution and the rule of law, been under such a strong attack by those who hold power in our government and claim to speak in the name of a supernatural power… We all know that the separation of state and church is a primary cornerstone in the foundation of our nation. This is one of the unique reasons the American way of life has so far survived and thrived, whereas other countries have suffered long and repeated wars and miseries rooted in religious conflict. Such strife continues throughout the world today." [More of the release].
AWESTRUCK—"From a distance…"
Departingly remote views of our little Earth in the vastness of space: From top left: Earth atmosphere with moon over hurricane Emily, planet Earth (Apollo 17), Earth over lunar surface (Apollo 11, similar to a more famous image from Apollo 8 called "Earthrise"), Earth and Moon from Mars (Mars Orbital Surveyor, 2003); Earth in the dawn sky about an hour before Martian sunrise (Spirit Martian rover); across the bottom: Earth as a "pale blue dot" taken by Voyager I spacecraft looking back from 3.7 billion miles away.
"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every 'superstar,' every 'supreme leader,' every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there—on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors, so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturing, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light."
—Carl Sagan (1934-1996)
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
(Random House, 1994)
Adapted by Sagan for Commencement addresses.
Articles
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