BIBLE MUSEUM-ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES
Bible Museum to display artifacts from Holy Land under deal
WASHINGTON (AP) β The Museum of the Bible being built in Washington will feature ancient artifacts and treasures from the Holy Land under a new deal that ensures Israel’s leading archaeological organization will have an outpost in the U.S. capital.
An agreement announced Tuesday between the museum and the Israel Antiquities Authority will bring a selection of artifacts excavated in Israel for long-term display in a top-floor gallery at the new Bible museum. The $400 million, eight-story museum is set to open near the National Mall in 2017.
The museum’s founder, Hobby Lobby President Steve Green, already has collected about 40,000 objects, including rare biblical texts and artifacts, such as cuneiform tablets dating to the time of Abraham, Torah scrolls and rare printed Bibles.
Green is known for funding conservative and evangelical causes, but organizers say the museum will present different religious viewpoints that visitors can choose from.
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227-v-33-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–The Museum of the Bible, now under construction in Washington, will feature ancient artifacts and treasures from the Holy Land under a new deal with the Israel Antiquities Authority. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (18 Aug 2015)
< GOP 2016-HUCKABEE-ISRAEL GOP hopeful Huckabee says West Bank is part of Israel SHILOH, West Bank (AP) β Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee waded into Middle East politics on Tuesday by declaring the West Bank to be part of Israel. Huckabee made the remarks Tuesday while visiting the West Bank settlement of Shiloh, where the ancient Israelites are believed to have kept the tabernacle with Moses’ tablets on the way to Jerusalem. He said Shiloh is “a place of biblical history.” He told reporters “if you’re going to visit Israel you should visit all of Israel, and that would include Judea and Samaria,” the biblical names for the West Bank. His comments on the West Bank are at odds with U.S policy. Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians demand the area, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, for a future state. The fate of West Bank settlements is one of the core issues at the heart of the conflict. Huckabee is visiting Israel to meet with officials to discuss the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran. Sound: 228-a-12-(Mike Huckabee, GOP presidential candidate, at news conference)-“here in Israel”-Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says he’s visiting Shiloh, a West Bank biblical site he considers to be part of Israel. COURTESY: Binyamin Regional Council and Ancient Shiloh ((Mandatory on-air credit)) (18 Aug 2015) < 230-a-06-(Mike Huckabee, GOP presidential candidate, at news conference)-“a terrorist state”-Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says the U.S. nuclear deal with Iran is a huge mistake. COURTESY: Binyamin Regional Council and Ancient Shiloh ((Mandatory on-air credit)) (18 Aug 2015) < 229-a-05-(Mike Huckabee, GOP presidential candidate, at news conference)-“Judea and Samaria”-Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee uses the biblical names for the West Bank. COURTESY: Binyamin Regional Council and Ancient Shiloh ((Mandatory on-air credit)) (18 Aug 2015) < NATIONAL CATHEDRAL DEAN National Cathedral dean to step down after 3 years at church WASHINGTON (AP) β The dean of the Washington National Cathedral says he’ll retire at the end of the year. The Rev. Gary Hall has led what’s often considered the nation’s church for three years. He helped balance the National Cathedral’s budget after years of financial struggle and opened the church to same-sex marriages. The 66-year-old Hall has two years left on his contract, but says the seat of the Episcopal Church is entering a new era and needs a long-term leader for a decade or more. In a letter announcing his retirement, Hall said the cathedral will pursue a major capital campaign to increase its endowment and finish repairs from damage it sustained in an earthquake four years ago. Sound: 200-v-35-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–The dean of the Washington National Cathedral says he’ll retire at the end of the year. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (18 Aug 2015) < RIGHT TO DIE-CALIFORNIA California lawmakers renew push to pass right-to-die bill SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) β California lawmakers are mounting a second attempt at passing right-to-die legislation this year after an earlier measure stalled amid religious opposition and hesitant Democrats. The new bill allowing doctors to prescribe terminally ill patients life-ending drugs was introduced in a special legislative session on health care financing convened by Gov. Jerry Brown. The governor, however, said through his spokeswoman that the session is not the appropriate venue to consider the issue. Religious groups and advocates for people with disabilities opposed a nearly identical California bill this year, saying it goes against the will of God and put terminally ill patients at risk for coerced death. The measure passed the state Senate but stalled in the Assembly. At least two dozen states have introduced aid-in-dying legislation this year, though none has passed a bill. Doctors already may give life-ending drugs in Oregon, Washington, Vermont and Montana. POLICE-HEADSCARVES Columbus mayor supports ban on headscarves for officers COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) β The mayor of Columbus, Ohio, says he supports Police Chief Kim Jacobs’s decision to ban officers from wearing headscarves for religious reasons. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the issue arose when a Muslim woman who is a Somali-American left the police academy in March because of the department’s rule. Mayor Michael Coleman says the city wants to recruit immigrants to the force, but when officers go out into the community they should be seen as Columbus police officers, not Muslim police officers or members of any other religion. Jacobs agrees that any officer responding to calls should be recognized as a Columbus officer who “doesn’t turn anyone off.” Columbus has the second largest Somali population in the United States. JESUIT MASSACRE PROSECUTION Unusual extradition fight plays out over priests’ slayings RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) β North Carolina is the unlikely scene of a court battle that could determine whether a former Salvadoran military colonel is prosecuted for the notorious slayings of Jesuit priests more than two decades ago during El Salvador’s civil war. An extradition hearing Wednesday for Inocente Orlando Montano Morales is the latest twist in a case that stretches back to 1989, when authorities say members of the military killed six priests and two witnesses. He is one of 20 former military members indicted by a court in Spain, the native country of five of the priests. But Montano β who is in custody in North Carolina β is currently the only former officer within the reach of Spanish prosecutors. Most of the others are in El Salvador, where authorities have no plans to prosecute or extradite them because of an amnesty law for crimes committed during the 12-year civil war that ended in 1992. The 73-year-old Montano has denied involvement in the killings of the priests. X-RAY WEAPON PLOT Feds: Initially unsure man in X-ray weapon case was serious ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) β FBI agents acknowledge they didn’t initially know if an upstate New York man was serious when he talked about assembling a mobile X-ray device to sicken or kill Muslims β or if he was even capable of it. Testifying Tuesday in federal court, Special Agent Chris West and an undercover operative identified only as Special Agent Jeff say they were trying to determine those answers in 2012 and kept contacting Glendon Scott Crawford about the proposal, even offering to provide components so he wouldn’t turn somewhere else. The 49-year-old Crawford has denied the charges, including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. His attorney says Crawford, an industrial mechanic, was targeted in an elaborate FBI sting, and that no crime otherwise existed. Federal authorities say Crawford first contacted two Jewish groups, leading to the investigation. SOUTH AFRICA-TUTU Nobel winner Desmond Tutu back in hospital in South Africa JOHANNESBURG (AP) β Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been admitted to a South African hospital for the third time this summer. His daughter, the Rev. Mpho (um-POH’) Tutu, her 83-year-old father was hospitalized Monday evening and is being treated for “a slight inflammation.” She told reporters that it’s not the same infection Tutu was treated for previously, and said doctors anticipate that her father will be home from the hospital in a few days. Archbishop Tutu was hospitalized twice in July for a persistent infection. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate also has been treated for prostate cancer for many years, but his daughter said that’s under control. Sound: 208-a-15-(The Reverend Mpho Tutu (ehm-POH’ too-too), daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, at new conference)-“he was younger”-The Reverend Mpho Tutu, daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, says her father needs to take it easy. (18 Aug 2015) < 207-a-16-(The Reverend Mpho Tutu (ehm-POH’ too-too), daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, at new conference)-“in good spirits”-The Reverend Mpho Tutu, daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, says her father is hospitalized for the third time this summer. (18 Aug 2015) < BRITAIN-ABUSE Probe seeks apology to survivors of sex abuse in Scotland LONDON (AP) β An independent commission is urging the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland to offer an unequivocal apology to victims of sex abuse. The inquiry was set up in 2013 following a series of scandals. Disgraced Cardinal Keith O’Brien stepped down in February 2013 after three priests and a former priest accused him of inappropriate behavior. The commission described support for abuse victims as an “absolute priority,” and recommended that the church’s safeguarding policies and practices be completely rewritten and subjected to external scrutiny. The investigation’s chair, the Rev. Andrew McLellan, described the report as “a chance β an unrepeatable chance β to make things better.” He warned, “If this opportunity is not taken, the public credibility of the Catholic Church in Scotland will be destroyed.” RUBIN MUSEUM-CROWDFUNDING NYC’s Rubin Museum is crowdfunding to expand shrine room NEW YORK (AP) β The Rubin Museum of Art in New York City is launching a crowdfunding campaign to expand its Tibetan Buddhist shrine room. The museum says visitors can contribute to the “Find Your Focus” online campaign beginning Sept. 1. The campaign will run through Oct. 23 on Razoo and the museum’s website. A live fundraising event will be held at the museum Sept. 9. The Rubin Museum focuses on the art of the Himalayas, India and surrounding regions. The shrine room is dedicated to sacred Buddhist objects including textiles, sculptures and furniture. Under the expansion, the shrine room installation will be moved to the upcoming exhibition “Sacred Spaces.” TURKEY-CLIMATE CHANGE Muslim scholars call for climate action ISTANBUL (AP) β Muslim scholars and environmental advocates from about 20 countries have called for a global phase-out of greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century, joining a chorus of religious leaders urging the world to take strong action against global warming. Participants in a seminar in Istanbul said it was the first declaration of its kind from Islamic leaders, a voice many say has been missing from the debate on global warming. About 60 delegates adopted the declaration Tuesday at the end of the seminar, including leading clerics from Indonesia, Uganda, Lebanon and Bosnia. However, some influential Islamic leaders were absent, including Turkey’s top cleric, who didn’t even send a representative. Organizers said the declaration was “in harmony” with Pope Francis’ encyclical on climate change and other environmental issues earlier this year.
