July 2023 Interfaith News Roundup

by Paul Chaffee

The Interfaith News Roundup is a monthly publication of The Interfaith Observer. Paragraph by paragraph the Roundup summarizes major religion/interfaith stories that are underreported. Each paragraph is linked to the full story it introduces.

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The Other Parliament

Ask an interfaith activist about this year’s “Parliament,” and you will hear about the August 14-18 gathering in Chicago held by the Parliament of the World’s Religions. Then say, “No, I mean the Parliamentary Conference in Merrakesh, Morocco, June 13-15, the conference drawing more than 1,500 “members of parliament, religious leaders, representatives of civil society and other experts to discuss interfaith dialogue.” The sponsor of the twice-a-year Parliamentary gatherings is the Inter-Parliamentary Union, its membership made up of representatives from Parliaments in 179 countries. Religions for Peace Global, which limits membership to religious and civic leaders, was a co-sponsor.

By contrast, the Parliament of the World’s Religions periodically gathers thousands of lay leaders, volunteers, along with clergy and nonprofit executives. What would the world look like if the Parliamentary decision-makers of the world and the kind of grassroots leaders around the globe that attend the Parliament of the World’s Religions sat down together to discuss their work and the overarching agenda to establish peace, wellbeing, and interreligious understanding that they share these days?

Stepping Forward

Simran Jeet Singh – Photo: Wikipedia

NPR Host Rachael Martin sat down with Simran Jeet Singh to talk about something like “forgiveness.” Specifically, he explores reducing the fear and hate we feel towards mass murderers and those who oppress us and others through their racism, xenophobia, and disrespect. Singh is the author of The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life. Sikh wisdom is about humanizing the oppressive ‘other,’ and the interview is illuminating.

After hearing so many stories about how North America’s dominant culture has oppressed indigenous culture, it is a relief to read that American Indians won the struggle over who should parent a foster child. The case focused on the Native American Child Welfare Act, which Congress had reformed to protect indigenous rights. The complicated case, focused on a five-year-old girl, ended in a 7-2 decision for the indigenous community. The Supreme Court affirmed tribal rights being challenged by a white evangelical couple. However, the issue may return to court with different arguments.

In May, the National Center for Higher Education sponsored a conference on educational bridgebuilding in light of the polarization that has infected the whole culture. The gathering was assembled and planned by Interfaith America and More Perfect. Its goal was “to collectively envision and plan opportunities to collaborate on initiatives that advance bridgebuilding across college and university campuses around the nation.”

How can you make a difference in a world struggling to go from fossil fuels to electric energy? The Baltimore-Washington DC Conference of the United Methodist Church is entering into a relationship with an EV charger company which will place chargers in UMC church parking lots. Sounds like a win-win-win that other denominations and congregations could quickly imitate, especially given that the Inflation Reduction Act – for the first time in history – enables nonprofits and churches to get the 30% tax credit for going solar as a direct reimbursement.

Minneapolis is the first major American city to allow the broadcast of the Muslim call to prayer from mosques five times a day, a big interfaith step for a city to take. The practice, universal among Muslims, is called Adhan, which means announcement.

Three states –Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Michigan – have recently adjusted their state limitation laws to remove time limitations on exposing child sexual predators. The implications for churches are enormous. A similar lifting away of two-year limitations on reporting child sex crimes in New York resulted in 10,000 cases.

Stepping Back

In a world where women clergy have made such a strong case for themselves, it is hard to believe that the Southern Baptist Convention is coming down hard against women in ministry. CNN does a deep dive into why this largest of Protestant denominations (but one that is losing membership) is moving to ban women in all “pastoral” ministry.

The disturbing habit of banning books from school libraries inspired one parent in Utah to ask his local school board to ban the Bible. The Bible, our anonymous writer notes, contains “incest, onanism, bestiality, prostitution, genital mutilation, fellatio, dildos, rape and even infanticide, and thus has no legitimate place in school libraries.” The board agreed and removed Bibles from the shelves of their elementary and middle schools. Apparently the Bible is frequently targeted by ‘banners,’ but usually the bans are short-lived and removed.

Conservative Christians, discerning the present right-wing tilt of the Supreme Court, are testing their ability to secure state funding for religious schools. Oklahoma has approved tax-payer funds for a Roman Catholic charter school. Rest assured, this will be challenged in the courts on the basis of the US’s historic separation of church and state.

The “death of God” idea made a splash in the mid-twentieth century before quietly disappearing. Now come three sociologists with a claim that religion is dying, which, true or false, offers much more solid data than the demise of Deity. Their book, Beyond Doubt: The Secularization of Society, sees secularization fueling religious disaffection.

Spiritual Idiosyncrasies

Few of us realize how vast an arena is claimed by religion and spirituality, and how richly varied spiritual practice is around the world. Here is a new one for me: Each year, at the eastern end of the island Java, the Tengger people go on a mission. This indigenous Hindu tribe has built a close relationship to the still-active volcano Mt. Bruno, which is near where they live. Each year the people take gifts of livestock, food, and other valuables up the mountain to the bubbling mouth of Mt. Bruno. They believe the offerings will generate good fortune in the coming year. Non-Tenggers in the area hold nets and stand below, inside the rim of the caldera, to catch the Tengger gifts falling from above. (The linked Aljezerra story above is flush with remarkable photos of people on an annual spiritual journey up the volcano.)

More and more people are turning seriously to astrology, reports the Washington Posts. The astrology ‘business,’ was worth $2.2 billion five years ago. Today it is worth $22.8 billion, including a vast number of books, tapes, workshops, podcasts, and the like.

“Spiritual warfare,” or “deliverance,” is a growing practice, particularly among Pentecostal Christians. It is based on the idea that all human ills – medical, psychological, spiritual – are caused by demonic possession. and Brother Mike Smith, the leader of a modest ministry he calls Hardcore Christianity in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, says can give you the means the exorcise these demons. It is similar to Roman Catholic exorcism and thousands are participating.

The two largest countries in the world, India and China, are systematically oppressing minority religious communities in their countries. In China, certified members of the five officially sanctioned religions (Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism) are having their personal information listed in a religion database open to all. China is also seeking to import a “new socialist Tibet” based on harmonious unity and prosperity. It is an attempt to end centuries of poverty, according to President Xi Jingping, or, as some might say, the latest example of religicide.

In India, short videos are circulating denigrating Muslims; for instance, a “Muslim man mixing toilet cleaning liquid into a street snack” has circulated five million times on YouTube. Prime Minister Modi visited the US last month and claimed that there is no caste discrimination in India, no religious discrimination. Biden, whose struggles with China very much make him want India as a close friend, played nice. So Modi’s human rights abuses were given small notice in spite of the continuing oppression of Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs. California’s recent laws regarding caste discrimination have raised a hue and cry from South Asians living in the state, but a group titled Ravadasi Hindu is actively supporting the anti-caste legislation.

Transitions

**Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy – Photo:** **Interfaith Alliance**

Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, 81, died on June 7 at the age of 81. He came to prominence in the Southern Baptist Convention before leaving it to preach and promote a vibrant progressive Christianity. He was an early advocate for LGBTQ+ individuals, actively opposed anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, championed the separation of church and state, and led campaigns around other progressive issues. Gaddy was named president of the Interfaith Alliance in 1997, where he retired after serving for 17 years. Twenty-five books and frequent media exposure made him one of the nation’s most loved clergy.

At the other end of the Christian spectrum, Pat Robertson, 93, died on June 8, a day after Rev. Gaddy. An evangelist, businessman, broadcaster, and politician, Robertson attended two military academies rather than a seminary (the Southern Baptist Convention ordained him as his media empire grew). Through a lengthy media career, culminating with the 700 Club, he provided a script for right-wing Christianity. He stood with Jerry Falwell, for instance, in blaming “feminists, gays, lesbians, the American Civil Liberties Union, and People for the American Way” for the 9/11 tragedy.

Tina Turner, 93, received considerably more attention than Gaddy and Robertson combined when she died on May 23. But mostly unnoticed is the fact that for 50 years this “Queen of Rock & Roll” has been a practitioner of Nichiren Buddism, known these days as Soka Gakkai International (SGI). Tina published two spiritual biographies and an album titled “Beyond: Christian and Buddhist Prayers.”

The flood of articles about transsexuality – good and bad, legally and illegally, left and right – can paralyze you. How does one respond? Institutionally, how do we respond? How to make any kind of difference in such a conflicted arena?

**Micah Melody Taberner – Photo:** **Transmission Ministry**

Pacific School of Religion (PSR) in Berkeley, California had an idea. They published a press release – not your usual news item but a personal story of a transsexual seminarian and what she has had to overcome to become a healer and a pastor. While it may not have been front-page news, it is a powerful, poignant reminder of how every member of the human race is loved by God. The story, titled “Transition as an act of co-creation in Partnership with the Divine,” is written by Micah Melody Taberner, Community Care Coordinator at PSR.

Header Photo: Unsplash