CAPITOL CHRISTMAS TREE
Boehner links tree lighting to Christ’s birth
WASHINGTON (AP) β House Speaker John Boehner says Christmas is a time to rediscover “the glory of God’s love.”
Boehner presided at Tuesday’s lighting of the Capitol Christmas Tree, an 88-foot spruce from Minnesota’s Chippewa National Forest.
Senator Al Franken said one of tree’s 10,000 ornaments, a Native American dream catcher, is believed to “catch all the bad dreams and thoughts while letting only positive thoughts come true.” The Minnesota Democrat said that’s “a good sentiment for the holiday season.”
It was left to Boehner to remind the crowd that on the first Christmas, an angel appeared announcing the birth of “a savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
The National Christmas Tree will be lit Thursday on the Ellipse outside the White House in a ceremony attended by President Barack Obama.
Sound:
242-w-34-(Steve Coleman, AP correspondent, with Senator Al Franken, D-Minn., and House Speaker John Boehner)–The Capitol Christmas Tree, an 88-foot spruce from Minnesota’s Chippewa National Forest, has been lit on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (2 Dec 2014)
< 241-r-18-(Sound of U.S. Navy Ceremonial Band, at Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony)–Sound of the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Band, playing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” (2 Dec 2014) < 238-a-15-(Senator Al Franken, D-Minn., at Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony)-“don’t you all”-Senator Al Franken says one of the 10,000 ornaments on the tree is a Native American dream catcher. (2 Dec 2014) < 237-a-04-(House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, at Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony)-“of God’s love”-House Speaker John Boehner says Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. (2 Dec 2014) < 240-r-18-(Sound of House Speaker John Boehner and the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Band, at Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony)–Sound of House Speaker John Boehner counting down to the lighting of the Capitol Christmas Tree. (2 Dec 2014) < 239-a-09-(Senator Al Franken, D-Minn., at Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony)-“of the season”-Senator Al Franken says the Native American dream catcher ornament captures the spirit of the season. (2 Dec 2014) < 236-a-19-(House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, at Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony)-“Christ the Lord”-House Speaker John Boehner says the tree commemorates something that happened 2,000 years ago. ((note length of cut)) (2 Dec 2014) < NATIVITY SCENE-GUINNESS RECORD Huge Utah nativity scene breaks Guinness record PROVO, Utah (AP) β More than 1,000 people dressed as angels, wise men and religious royalty have gathered at a park in Provo, Utah, setting a new Guinness record for the largest live nativity scene. The event on Monday featured a variety of performers who made videos posted on YouTube. It is also expected to serve as a backdrop for a music video. The Daily Herald of Provo reports that Guinness World Record judge Michael Empric determined there were 1,039 participants in the production, along with a camel, donkey and sheep. That tops the record of 898 people last year at a nativity scene in the United Kingdom. Organizers, however, said breaking the record was secondary to emphasizing the birth of Christ over Christmas shopping. CARROLL COUNTY-PRAYER New board silent on prayer policy in Md. county WESTMINSTER, Md. (AP) β In Maryland, the newly elected Carroll County Commissioners are standing silent on a disputed public-prayer policy. The five-member, all-Republican board opened its first meeting Tuesday with a moment of silence instead of a prayer. They took no official action regarding the previous board’s policy of opening meetings with sometimes overtly Christian prayers, said by the commissioners themselves. That practice faces a federal court challenge alleging that elected officials violate the First Amendment prohibition on state-sponsored religion when they recite overtly Christian opening prayers. The Supreme Court ruled in a New York case in May that invited clergy may invoke specific deities in prayers at government meetings. Commissioner Richard Rothschild, one of two returning members, prayed aloud during a swearing-in ceremony that the new board would continue to have opening prayers. Sound: 256-a-15-(Carroll County, Maryland, Commissioner Richard Rothschild, at swearing-in ceremony)-“institution or place”-Carroll County, Maryland, Commissioner Richard Rothschild, says the state Constitution guarantees officials’ right to pray. (2 Dec 2014) < 254-a-03-(Carroll County, Maryland, Commissioner Doug Howard, at board meeting)-“moment of silence”-Carroll County, Maryland, Commissioner Doug Howard, opens Tuesday’s board meeting with a moment of silence instead of prayer. (2 Dec 2014) < 255-a-17-(Carroll County, Maryland, Commissioner Richard Rothschild, at swearing-in ceremony)-“personal savior, Amen”-Carroll County, Maryland, Commissioner Richard Rothschild, prays in remarks at the board’s swearing-in ceremony. ((note length of cut)) (2 Dec 2014) < RABBI ARRESTED Woman sues over rabbi’s alleged voyeurism WASHINGTON (AP) β A Georgetown University law student is suing after she says she was sexually exploited by a rabbi who is accused of secretly videotaping women in a Jewish ritual bath. The Washington Post reports that the civil lawsuit was filed Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court and seeks class action status. The rabbi, Barry Freundel (froyn-DEL’), was arrested in October and is charged with voyeurism for allegedly placing a hidden camera in the shower area of a ritual bath, called a mikvah. The lawsuit says the student took a Jewish law class that Freundel co-taught at Georgetown and visited the mikvah at Freundel’s urging. The lawsuit says Georgetown, the synagogue where Freundel was a rabbi and the mikvah ignored “red flags” that he was acting improperly. CHURCH VOLUNTEER-PORN Ex-church volunteer faces 20-year max in porn case PITTSBURGH (AP) β A former Pennsylvania youth pastor faces up to 20 years in prison now that federal authorities have taken over the case, charging him with possessing hundreds of images and videos of child pornography, some with adults molesting infants. Andrew Patterson was arrested in October after Allegheny County prosecutors said they traced child pornography being shared on the Internet to his computer. Officials with the Living Waters Family Worship Center in Irwin said Patterson resigned his volunteer youth counselor position hours before his arrest. Patterson began attending the small nondenominational church near Pittsburgh in the summer. By September, he had persuaded its pastors to let him start a youth ministry, which met weekly about five times before his arrest, according to one of the pastors. Co-pastor Sylvia Tryon says Patterson was never alone with church children, and other adults were present for the youth gatherings. FUNERAL SHOOTING 5 men indicted on charges stemming from funeral shooting TRENTON, N.J. (AP) β Five men have been indicted in connection with a shooting that occurred outside a New Jersey church where another shooting victim’s funeral was being staged, leaving three people wounded. Three of the suspects β 19-year-old Samuel Vincent, 20-year-old Samier Vincent and 22-year-old Terrance Maddox β face attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons charges stemming from the April 22 shooting at Trenton’s Galilee Baptist Church. Thirty-five-year-old Richard Holman faces theft and weapons charges, while 37-year-old Lawrence Sutphin is accused of receiving stolen property and weapons offenses. Authorities have said more than 100 mourners had gathered for the funeral. Three of them were wounded in the shooting, but have since recovered from their injuries. KENYA-VIOLENCE Militants kill 36 non-Muslims in northern Kenya NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) β The Islamic militant group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the methodical massacre in northern Kenya early Tuesday. The heavily armed men roused the sleeping quarry workers in the dead of night. As in previous such attacks, the gunmen singled out the non-Muslims by asking them to recite the Islamic creed. Then they killed 36 of them β most with a gunshot to the back of the head, according to a survivor who hid nearby during the slaughter. The mass killing, 10 days after a similar attack on a bus that killed 28, prompted Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to shake up his national security team amid public outrage over the continuing violence. Sound: 140-a-18-(Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (uh-HOO’-roo kehn-YAH’-tah), at news conference)-“and murderous extremists”-Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta urges Kenyans to play their part where necessary to ensure the country is secure as more and more Kenyans are recruited by extremists in places of worship. COURTESY: Kenyan TV ((mandatory on-air credit)) (2 Dec 2014) < 138-a-11-(Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (uh-HOO’-roo kehn-YAH’-tah), at news conference)-“painfully snuffed out”-Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta pays tribute to the 36 quarry workers killed in northern Kenya, the latest victims of the Islamic extremists from Somalia. COURTESY: Kenyan TV ((mandatory on-air credit)) (2 Dec 2014) < 139-a-13-(Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (uh-HOO’-roo kehn-YAH’-tah), at news conference)-“of this country”-Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta says the ultimate goal of Islamic extremists who target non-Muslims is to establish an extremist caliphate in the region. COURTESY: Kenyan TV ((mandatory on-air credit)) (2 Dec 2014) < INDIA-CHURCH FIRE Christians in India protest church fire NEW DELHI (AP) β Hundreds of Christians are protesting in India’s capital after fire destroyed a church. The blaze broke out in St. Sebastian’s Church in a northeast suburb of New Delhi on Monday. While the cause of the fire is not known, the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese said Tuesday that “mischief” was suspected. A statement from the archdiocese says that forensic samples retrieved from the church smelled of fuel. India is overwhelmingly Hindu but officially secular. Christians account for about 2.5 percent of the country’s 1.2 billion people and largely coexist peacefully. However, conversions by Christian missionaries have sporadically provoked violence by Hindus. VATICAN-SLAVERY Pope’s anti-slavery drive gets multi-faith support VATICAN CITY (AP) β Religious leaders from a half-dozen faiths have signed on to a new Vatican initiative to end modern-day slavery by 2020, declaring that human trafficking, forced labor and prostitution are crimes against humanity. Pope Francis and the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, were joined Tuesday by the Hindu guru known as Amma as well as Buddhist, Jewish and Shiite and Sunni Muslim representatives for a signing ceremony of a joint declaration against modern slavery. The declaration commits the signatories to do everything in their power and within their faith communities to work to free the estimated 35 million people enslaved across the world by 2020. JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES-SEXUAL ABUSE Lawsuit targets Ore. Jehovah’s Witnesses leader PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) β A woman and a man who allege they were sexually abused as children in a Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation have filed suit, seeking $10.5 million. The Oregonian reports that lawyers for a 39-year-old woman and an unidentified man filed suit Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. They contend Jehovah’s Witnesses’ leadership has covered up sexual abuse against children by leaders. An attorney for the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mario Moreno, said he hadn’t seen the lawsuit and couldn’t comment. The lawsuit alleges that a man who held the equivalent position of a baptized ordained minister in the North Hillsboro Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses molested the female plaintiff in the mid-1980s when she was 11 or 12 years old. The suit claims the man also molested a boy who was at the time 8 to 10 years old. The newspaper reports that the woman says she eventually told her mother, who went to the Hillsboro congregation’s elders but was told to tell no one. Oregon’s statute of limitations doesn’t allow criminal prosecution because too many years have passed. Lawyers filing the case say they don’t know where the man lives now. MINDFULNESS IN SCHOOLS Mindfulness helps teens cope with stress, anxiety PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) β Some students at a high school in Portland, Oregon, are enrolled in a for-credit, year-long mindfulness class meant to ease youth anxiety and depression and prevent violence. The theory behind mindfulness is that focusing on the present moment helps a person deal better with stress, difficult emotions and negative thoughts. Mindfulness, yoga and meditation have become hugely popular in recent decades, buoyed by studies showing their benefits to emotional, mental and physical health. It’s practiced by corporate managers, prison inmates, hospital patients and the U.S. Marines. Now, many schools around the country are introducing them. Some critics have complained the practices are too closely linked to Eastern religion, and at least one school has pulled them. But school districts report success, crediting mindfulness with curbing detentions and boosting attendance and academic achievement. FEEDING THE HOMELESS Judge suspends Ft. Lauderdale homeless feeding ban FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) β A Florida judge has suspended enforcement of Fort Lauderdale’s ordinance restricting the public feeding of homeless people for 30 days and ordered mediation on the issue. The decision Tuesday by Broward Circuit Judge Thomas Lynch came in a challenge to the ordinance by 90-year-old homeless advocate Arnold Abbott, who has been arrested after defying it repeatedly. Lynch wants the dispute resolved through mediation or trial by the end of the year. The ordinance is aimed at keeping people from feeding the homeless in parks and other public places. It has generated nationwide controversy, including a successful effort Monday by hackers with the Anonymous group to shut down city Internet sites temporarily. City attorneys indicated they may appeal Lynch’s ruling. Additional lawsuits challenge the ordinance’s constitutionality. MALL MOSQUE Kennesaw rejects plans for mosque at mall KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) β The Kennesaw City Council has denied a request by Muslim residents to open a mosque at a strip mall, setting up a possible legal battle in the community northwest of Atlanta. The Marietta Daily Journal reports that the council voted 4-1 against the request Monday night. About 10 protesters gathered outside City Hall before the vote waving American flags and signs saying “no mosque.” Lawyer Doug Dillard, who represents the Suffa Dawat Center at Kennesaw, called the council’s decision “a blatant attack” on the Muslim group’s First Amendment right to freely practice their religion. Mayor Mark Mathews said the council must follow city ordinances. He had said previously that the city would review the proposal based on code compliance.
