Faith Digest

Posted: 11/02/07

Faith Digest

Evangelicals advocate for Dalits. The National Association of Evangelicals has called on the U.S. government to take action to reduce persecution of the Dalits, the “untouchable” residents of South Asia. Board members of the evangelical association acknowledged their previous inattention to the Dalits’ plight and urged both the U.S. and Indian governments to do more to help them. About 250 million Dalits live in India, where they are about one-quarter of the population. The statement calls on the U.S. government to acknowledge discrimination faced by the Dalits, issue a State Department report and end agreements that worsen conditions for the Dalits.

Unitarians try to raise profile. Proud of their spiritual skepticism and “big-tent” religious diversity, Unitarian Universalists are not known as heavy-duty evangelizers. But with just 250,000 members nationwide and growth relatively stagnant at 1 percent a year, the Unitarian Universalist Association is trying to raise its national profile with an unorthodox ad campaign. The $425,000 ad campaign, which will run through the end of the year, has two parts. Traditional print ads in Time magazine carry the message: “Is God keeping you from going to church?” The more unusual “advertorials” appear in an online archive of Time religion stories under the tagline: “Find us, and ye shall seek.” The online archive features stories that focus on three areas—religion and science; religion in American democracy; and religion, sexuality and morality. Readers will be able to click on links to a webpage with essays written by Unitarian Universalist ministers about these topics.

Oklahoma lawmakers refuse free Qurans. At least 17 Oklahoma lawmakers have refused gift copies of the Quran offered in honor of the state’s centennial by the Governor’s Ethnic American Advisory Council. State Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, voiced objection to the gift, characterizing Islam as a violent religion. “Most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of theology,” Duncan said. At least 16 other lawmakers joined Duncan in declining a copy of the Muslim holy book with the Oklahoma centennial seal and the elected official’s name imprinted on it. Muslim leaders said the idea for the gift came from Centennial Bibles, which the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma gave to lawmakers earlier this year.

Pope denounces violence in the name of religion. Speaking to more than 300 religious leaders at an international peace conference in Naples, Italy, Pope Benedict XVI denounced all violence committed in the name of religion. “Faced with a world lacerated by conflicts, where violence is still justified in the name of God, it is important to reassert that religions must never become vehicles of hate,” he said. Among those listening to the pope’s remarks were the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople, the chief rabbi of Israel and several representatives of Islam, Buddhism, Shintoism, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism.