ISRAEL-PRESBYTERIANS
Presbyterian church edges closer to approving Israel-related divestment
DETROIT (AP) β The Presbyterian General Assembly could vote later this week to sell the church’s stock in three American companies accused of profiting from Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
The General Assembly is the top legislative body of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The church’s numbers are declining and its holdings in Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola are small. But a sale would have significant symbolic value for the Israel divestment movement known as B-D-S.
A committee approved the measure this week. A final vote is planned tomorrow in Detroit.
The Reverend Jeffrey DeYoe of the church’s Israel-Palestine Mission Network says the resolution takes care to say the Presbyterians support the peaceful aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians.
But John Wimberly, a retired pastoral who is now a consultant to the church, says the action would be counterproductive, and wouldn’t change the behavior of either the Israelis or the Palestinians.
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319-w-36-(Warren Levinson, AP correspondent, with Rev. Jeffrey DeYoe and retired pastor John Wimberly)–The Presbyterian Church (USA) could vote at a convention this week to join the Israel divestiture movement. AP correspondent Warren Levinson reports. (18 Jun 2014)
< 320-a-10-(Retired pastor John Wimberly, in AP interview)-“going to change (second reference)”-Retired Presbyterian pastor John Wimberly says joining the divestiture movement won’t help bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians. (18 Jun 2014) < 321-a-13-(Retired pastor John Wimberly, in AP interview)-“do it too”-Retired Presbyterian pastor John Wimberly says the general assembly in Detroit has been a hotbed of activity by the Israel divestment movement. (18 Jun 2014) < 322-a-11-(Reverend Jeffrey DeVoe, in AP interview)-“the harmful occupation”-Reverend Jeffrey DeVoe of the Presbyterian Church’s Israel-Palestine Mission Network says the resolution is supportive of Israel. (18 Jun 2014) < 323-a-19-(Reverend Jeffrey DeVoe, in AP interview)-“with those companies”-Reverend Jeffrey DeVoe of the Presbyterian Church’s Israel-Palestine Mission Network says the church would remain closely tied to Israel even if it accepts the resolution. (18 Jun 2014) < VATICAN-KOREAS Pope will pray for peace, beatify Christian martyrs in South Korea VATICAN CITY (AP) β Pope Francis will beatify 124 martyrs and celebrate a mass of reconciliation on a trip to South Korea in August. It’s the first papal visit to the Far East since John Paul the Second went to the Philippines in 1995. The Vatican has released Francis’s schedule for the trip, August 14th to 18th. It’s partly designed to show how the Catholic Church is growing in Asia while its hold in Europe is loosening. Francis will participate in an Asian Catholic youth festival. And he’ll say mass for 124 Koreans killed during anti-Christian persecution in the 17th and 18th centuries. Seoul’s current archbishop is a direct descendant of the lay missionaries who brought Christianity to the Korean peninsula. GAY RIGHTS-RELIGION Extension of gay rights may skip religious exception WHITE HOUSE (AP) β President Barack Obama plans to sign an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity. But it’s not clear whether that order will exempt religious groups. The president would have preferred to have Congress bar such discrimination in all employment. The Senate passed one, but it’s stalled in the House. That bill would exempt houses of worship and organizations affiliated with religious groups. An official with the Jewish Orthodox Union says if the president signs an executive order without a religious exemption, some Jewish and Christian groups would have to violate their faith to keep their federal contracts. NUNS-STRIP CLUB Suburban Chicago nuns march on strip club they’re suing STONE PARK, Ill. (AP) β A dozen nuns led a protest march from their convent to a strip club in a Chicago suburb. It wasn’t a long walk. And that, the nuns say, is the point. The protesters say state law prohibits the club from operating within a thousand feet of their church. But the village of Stone Park say the U.S. Supreme Court has found such restrictions unenforceable. Sister Noemia Silva says when the Missionary Sisters of Saint Charles Borromeo (bawr-oh-MAY’-oh) try to pray, they just hear the “thump, thump, thump” of music coming from the club. They also complain about bright lights late at night and fights in the parking lot. The club manager says it’s a lot quieter and calmer inside and outside than the protesters contend, and that the dispute is about differing views of morality. The nuns filed suit against the club last week. MET OPERA-KLINGHOFFER Composer denounces Met decision to cancel ‘Klinghoffer’ broadcast NEW YORK (AP) β Composer John Adams is, needless to say, not happy about the cancellation of the Metropolitan Opera’s broadcast of his opera ‘The Death of Klinghoffer.’ The Met had planned to simulcast the opera to movie theaters around the world November 15th. But it backed out after complaints were raised that it could fan the flames of anti-Semitism. The opera depicts the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro by Palestinian terrorists. A wheelchair bound Jewish American, Leon Klinghoffer, was thrown overboard. Adams says the opera roundly condemns the murder and acknowledges the dreams and grievances of both the Israeli and Palestinian people. Canceling the telecast, he says, ends up promoting the kind of intolerance the opera’s detractors claim to be preventing. The eight performances of ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’ will go on as scheduled. Sound: 326-r-34-(Excerpt from ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’, by John Adams)–Excerpt from ‘The Death of Klinghoffer,’ by John Adams. (18 Jun 2014) < 324-v-35-(Warren Levinson, AP correspondent)–The composer of ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’ says the Metropolitan Opera was wrong to cancel a simulcast of his opera. AP correspondent Warren Levinson reports. (18 Jun 2014) < 325-r-36-(Excerpt from ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’, by John Adams)–Excerpt from ‘The Death of Klinghoffer,’ by John Adams. (18 Jun 2014) < MORMON MOVIE AD ‘Book of Mormon’ reverses course, allows film advertisement DETROIT (AP) β Producers of the traveling version of the Broadway musical ‘The Book of Mormon’ have relented. ‘The Saratov Approach,’ a movie about real life Mormon missionaries kidnapped in Russia can advertise in the show’s playbill in Detroit. Spencer Harden, distribution manager for the film, says he was surprised when the ad was rejected. Well, maybe not completely. The initial concept was an ad that read: “if you think they can sing and dance,” — meaning Mormon missionaries — “you should see them in handcuffs.” The show’s producers reversed course after the rejection became public. They didn’t give a reason. But the ad that goes in the Detroit program promises to be somewhat tamer. Sound: 328-a-11-(Spencer Harden, distribution manager, ‘The Saratov Approach’, in AP interview)-“them in handcuffs”-Spencer Harden, distribution manager for ‘The Saratov Approach,’ says the rejection of the ad wasn’t a complete surprise. (18 Jun 2014) < 327-w-32-(Warren Levinson, AP correspondent, with Spencer Harden, distribution manager, ‘The Saratov Approach’)–The Broadway show ‘The Book of Mormon’ reversed course after barring an advertisement for a Mormon-oriented movie. AP correspondent Warren Levinson reports. (18 Jun 2014) < 330-r-22-(Excerpt of music, from ‘The Book of Mormon’)–Excerpt of music from ‘The Book of Mormon.’ (18 Jun 2014) < 329-a-15-(Spencer Harden, distribution manager, ‘The Saratov Approach’, in AP interview)-“the different theaters”-Spencer Harden, distribution manager for ‘The Saratov Approach,’ says advertising in ‘Book of Mormon’ playbills has been effective for the movie. (18 Jun 2014) < 331-a-11-(Excerpt of dialogue, from ‘The Saratov Approach’)-“he love me”-‘The Saratov Approach’ depicts the story of two Mormon missionaries kidnapped in Russia. (18 Jun 2014) < SCHAEFER-GAY MARRIAGE Methodist minister removed over son’s gay marriage applies to be “refrocked” BALTIMORE (AP) β Frank Schaefer, the Pennsylvania United Methodist minister defrocked for officiating at his son’s same sex wedding, is appealing his ouster. Schaefer plans to argue before a nine-member appeals committee tomorrow that his defrocking was improper, because the panel that expelled him presumed he would continue to break church law. His church lawyer says you cannot penalize people for what they might do. Since the defrocking, Schaefer has become a recognizable figure and much in demand for lectures. But he wants back in the pulpit. Schaefer says he’s “hoping for a refrocking.” A decision could come as early as Saturday. SRI LANKA-VIOLENCE EU alarmed at attacks on Muslims in Sri Lanka COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) β The European Union is expressing alarm over a rising tide of violence against Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority. Three people were killed and 50 injured in weekend attacks in which hard-line Buddhists hurled gasoline bombs and looted homes and businesses in the southwestern part of the country. An EU statement says communal violence threatens the country’s stability. The mobs appear to have government support. Violence between Buddhists and Muslims has been relatively rare in a country still scarred by a quarter century of civil war that ended five years ago.
