Religion Today Summaries – September 22, 2003
Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world. In today's edition:
- Indian Officials Propose Rule to Control Religious Conversions
- America’s Churches Blamed for Disturbing Cultural Trends
- House Passes Tax Cuts to Foster Charitable Giving
- Ten Commandments Fight a Money-Making Proposition?
Indian Officials Propose Rule to Control Religious Conversions
Religion News Service
Federal officials in India have framed fresh rules that aim to restrict religious conversion among uneducated Hindus. The legislation, drawn up by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, has not yet been approved by the Indian parliament. It has the support, however, of BJP, the ruling Hindu nationalist party, which vigorously opposes the conversion of uneducated and lower caste Hindus to Christianity or Buddhism. "This rule is not against conversion. We are just trying to regulate forcible conversion," said Bizay Sonkar Shastri, chairman of the National Commission. "Our aim is to ensure that secular nature and the principles of equality are not violated by conversions," he said. Under the proposed law, those wishing to convert to a new faith must request permission from a local government authority. The official would then forward the request to the local police and, if there is no objection, grant written permission for the conversion. In a country where 350 million people are illiterate and 260 million fall under the poverty line, the rule also demands aspiring converts to have secondary education. Violators would be fined 1,000 Indian rupees ($21) per day from the date on which the conversion took place. "This will effectively deny a large section of Indians their right to religious faith ensured by India's constitution," said Oliver D'Souza, an official with the All India Christian Council. He said Indian Christians will fight the rule if implemented.
America’s Churches Blamed for Disturbing Cultural Trends
Agape Press
Churches may be to blame for the downward slide of American culture. That's the opinion of Family Research Council president Tony Perkins. He believes the religious element of American society has to share the blame for the depravity that is running rampant throughout the nation's culture. "There's no doubt that we're seeing a cultural shift, [and] part of the 'anchor' that should be there -- the Church -- in many ways has contributed to the drifting," he says. According to Perkins, many churches have rejected the teachings of the Bible and embraced a secular worldview of life while the remaining churches kept quiet. Activists say both of those attitudes have contributed to the culture's decline.
House Passes Tax Cuts to Foster Charitable Giving
Religion News Service
The House has passed tax cuts totaling more than $12 billion to encourage charitable donations. Passage of the measure, in a 408-13 vote on Sept. 17 marks the latest juncture in legislative consideration of a portion of President Bush's faith-based initiative. The largest of the tax breaks gives new incentives to charity-conscious taxpayers who can't deduct charitable donations from their taxes because they don't itemize deductions. For two years, taxpayers using the standard deduction could deduct as much as $250 in donations to charity, the Associated Press reported. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., affirmed the bill's language that encourages companies to increase their donations to religious organizations. "Many of our nation's largest foundations have a bias against giving to the community of faith," he said. "Let's hope that the public, let's hope that shareholders demand a change." Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., predicted the tax breaks will encourage $45 billion to $50 billion in additional donations to charity over the next decade. He said lawmakers have yet to schedule a meeting to develop a compromise between House and Senate bills, but he said he expected the bill will be finished and sent to the president later this year.
Ten Commandments Fight a Money-Making Proposition?
Agape Press
A conservative leader on Capitol Hill says there's one major aspect of the battle over the display of the Ten Commandments that has been overlooked. Howard Phillips of the Conservative Caucus says the battle over the Ten Commandments involved money -- and lots of it. "The folks from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, People for the American Way -- not in this case, but generally -- and the ACLU are like cattle rustlers," Phillips says. "They're 'money rustlers.' They bring cases of this kind in order to gain taxpayer-subsidized court fees -- and they stand to make more than a million dollars from their assault on the Ten Commandments in Montgomery, Alabama." According to Phillips, there was more at stake in Montgomery than the so-called principle of "separation of church and state." Defenders of the Ten Commandments were funded totally with private monies.
Originally published September 22, 2003.
