Muslim Joins Israeli Cabinet

For the first time in its 58-year history, the Israeli parliament has voted a Muslim into a Cabinet-minister position-- and by a wide margin!

Raleb Majadele was seated today after a vote of 59-23 in the Knesset in favor of his appointment. His position gives representation to Israeli Arabs who make up about 20-percent of the 7-million citizens of Israel. As Majadele told AP Television News, his goals as a Cabinet minister will be ''promoting coexistence between the two peoples inside the state, and promoting dialogue between the Palestinians and the Israelis toward negotiations and political agreement.''

Israel's 120-member Knesset currently includes 13 Arab members. Majadele joins only one other individual to be an Arab Cabinet minister: Salah Tarif, a Druse, was appointed in 2001 and forced to resign nine months later under a cloud of corrupt allegations.

Newborn Blood Test Violates Religious Beliefs?

Giving birth to a child should be a joyous occasion, but for one Nebraska couple it brought not only happiness, but a lawsuit.

Ray and Louise Spiering, who have recently given birth to a baby girl, are challenging a Nebraska law that requires all newborn children to have a blood test in order to detect potential health problems, such as congenital diseases. The test is routinely done within the first 48 hours of a child’s life. The Spierings, who attend a fundamentalist Christian church and subscribe to some practices of Scientology, claim that such a test is in violation of their religious beliefs. Scientology encourages the practice of silent birth, which states that the absence of words during childbirth promotes both the mental and physical health of the mother and the child. The couple embraces this practice, and takes it a step further by believing that 3 ½ days after birth a child is in pain and should not be subject to any additional pain, such as drawing of blood.

The couple asked a court to postpone the blood test for 7 days, although ideally they would like to opt out of the test altogether. The court postponed the test for 8 days while the lawsuit was pending. Ultimately, the Spierings feel they have already won, since the court postponed the test. They claim that is all they were really looking for.

Nebraska is one of four states, along with South Dakota, Michigan and Montana, that do not allow parents to opt out of this testing.

Read the full article

Today's Youth: Multi-Religious

Generation Y has been characterized as “directionless, lacking in community ties and meaningful participation in community life.” Now, more people are beginning to realize that Generation Y does have a strong and often quite spiritual sense of direction, although a less traditional one than that of previous generations.

According to a recent study, the children of Baby Boomers “see themselves as having the freedom to figure out who they are, to explore their relationship with God and spirituality, and to determine their place in society. This generation is characterized by open mindedness and tolerance, believing that people should do their own thing, even if it seems strange to others.”

Gillian Siple is a perfect example. Asked to describe herself in one word, her answer is simply “spiritual.” Siple, a religion major at Davidson College in North Carolina, lived for a year in China, Thailand and India. She meditated in monasteries and ashrams, lived and studied among Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus.

Back at Davidson College, though, she attends Christian prayer and fellowship meetings. She also meditates based on the teachings she learned in Thailand. “Siple calls herself a Christian pluralist, open to the possibility of the validity of other religious traditions.”

"You do what you feel is right for your religious practice," Siple says. "I think that is what our generation is screaming for right now. People want not to be told what they should do, but to figure it out for themselves."

Sacred Sites in the U.S.

Beliefnet.com has put together some amazing images of some of the most inspiring sacred sites in the United States. Several of them are in and around the New York area, but who knew that that Fargo, ND or Linville, NC boasted some absolutely beautiful churches? Or that an outside staircase could say something powerful about Congregation B'nai Yisrael? It's so inspiring for me to know that the sacred sites of all our religions are not only in Jerusalem, Varanasi or Rome, but perhaps just around the corner...or maybe up the stairs.

Religious Leaders Speak Out

By Rori Picker, Acting Executive Director, RFP-USA

Religions for Peace - USA Presidents Rev. Bob Edgar, Imam Mahdi Bray and Rev. John Thomas joined six of their colleagues to deplore the recent racial and religious slurs on Senator Barak Obama.

Speaking against what they called "this willful, malicious attempt to mislead and inflame - and against any further attempts to use political attacks to divide the religious community," they wrote:

We must come together as one nation, and see our stake in each other as Americans. The bitter, destructive politics that have so riven our country in recent years cannot stand. As American leaders of different faiths - Catholic and Protestant, Muslim and Jew - who have worked cooperatively and greatly respect all of the 2008 candidates in both parties, we do not offer this statement as an endorsement of any individual candidate. However, certain moral standards should infuse our national dialogue, and the recent attacks on Sen. Obama violate values at the heart of this dialogue. The false and malicious attacks levied at him are anathema to all of our faith traditions, and we condemn them outright.

See the full text of the letter here.

Special on Mormonism to Air on PBS

By Rori Picker, Acting Executive Director, RFP-USA

There has been a lot of hype in the media lately about Mitt Romney and his religion, and some of that has been reflected on this blog in a previous post. People seem to be frightened by the idea of a Mormon president, and much of that fear likely stems from a lack of understanding of what Mormonism actually is. PBS and Helen Whitney are trying to change that.

PBS plans to broadcast a two-part film called "The Mormons," a joint presentation from television shows "American Experience" and "Frontline."

The ''American Experience'' segment is expected to air April 30 and cover the church's history, including its founding, persecutions leading to exodus and polygamy.

The ''Frontline'' broadcast is planned for May 1. Its focus is the modern church, including missionary work, family life, temples and the elevation of the faith to a mainstream religion.

Be sure to check your local listings.

Freedom of Religion Means the Freedom to Learn

By Rori Picker, Associate for Interfaith Relations, RFP-USA

Yesterday, Georgia's State Board of Education adopted standards for two new academic courses allowing high school students to study the history and literature of the Old and New Testaments. (see article)

Public high schools will not be required to offer the course and those who do cannot mandate their students to take the course, which will count as an English language arts elective. However, those schools who do offer the course will receive state money to pay for them.

A vote still needs to take place (likely in the spring) to add the courses to the official state course list before schools can receive funding for them.

This is a brave and bold step, but only a first step. Hopefully, this vote will pass, and hopefully, other states will follow. Freedom of religion does not mean freedom from religion and, as anyone is this country should know, to truly have freedom one should have the tools of a proper education. One can only hope that these classes will soon be joined with courses on the Quran, the Vedas, and the sacred texts of all the religions that create the pluralistic society of Americans. Perhaps then we can break down the fear and apprehension of those stereotypes created by our lack of knowledge of those around us.

Breaking the Presidential Mold: A Look at 2008

By Rori Picker, Associate for Interfaith Relations, RFP-USA

There is no place in the Constitution that states that the president of the United States must be male, white, and Protestant, but it is easy to see why one might think it does.

Since this country elected George Washington as its first President, 41 individuals have succeeded him in the role, each one male, each one white, and each, with the exception of one, Protestant.

These numbers are a harsh misrepresentation of our country as a whole. According to a 2003 estimate in the CIA World Factbook, 81.7% of the United States is white; 12.9% is black; 4.2% is Asian; 1% is Amerindian and Alaska native; and 0.2% is native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander. By that count, at least 8 of our presidents should have been of a race other than white by now. Moreover, half of our population is female, meaning that 21 women should have been elected into the Oval Office (or at the very least, 6 out of the 12 presidents who have been elected since women received the right to vote).

The religious statistics are perhaps even more surprising. According to a 2002 estimate, only 52% of Americans are Protestant. 24% are Roman Catholic; 2% are Mormon; 1% are Jewish; 1% are Muslim; 10% are other; and 10% are none. However, we have yet to see 1 atheist president, let alone 4.

Will the election of 2008 be different? It is still early, but already the media has been looking at three formidable candidates for the office, and none of them fit the mold. Barak Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have both been testing the waters for their candidacy while Mitt Romney has already announced his intention to run. Is America ready for a new public face? And in a campaign featuring race, sex and religion, which one will Americans find most objectionable?

It seems the answer might be religion. According to public polls, as many as 37 percent of all voters have said they don’t think they could vote for a Mormon for president — a higher number than you get when you ask the same question about whether people could vote for a woman or a black person.

Is this as far as we have come in the past 217 years? We boast of our freedoms and our progressiveness, but we have created an image of a leader so fundamental as to be incapable of being altered in two centuries.

Perhaps even more frighteningly: have we learned so little of our own past as to only replace one stereotype with the next? Have we fought for centuries to abolish segregation and give women the right to vote only to keep a man out of the White House because of his religious affiliation?

I don’t know who I am going to vote for yet. The election is still about two years away. All I know is that the person for whom I do end up casting my ballot will not receive my vote for being white, male and Protestant, but for being intelligent, insightful, and dedicated to working towards the betterment of this country and those who live within it. Perhaps if more people do the same, we will have taken the first step towards becoming the nation we proudly claim to be.

Have you paused to consider your power?

By Rori Picker, Associate for Interfaith Relations, RFP-USA

In a previous post, entitled Make Poverty History, Bishop Mark Hanson asked the question, “Have you paused to consider your power?” When I first read the question, I didn’t pay it much regard. After all, he certainly wasn’t asking me. He was speaking to all of the people who were out of college, with regular jobs, and could afford to donate money to a cause. He was speaking to all of the people who are on television or the radio, who play sports or write books, who have the ear of people and should use it for good. He certainly wasn’t asking me. After all, what power do I have?

It turns out, I have plenty of power. And so do all of you.

Seven months ago Rick Reilly wrote an article in Sports Illustrated called “Nothing But Nets” asking just for that: nets, and plenty of them. Except this time, he wasn’t talking sports. He was talking malaria.

What do nets have to do with malaria? Turns out, one net can save a child from dying of the disease. What’s even more impressive is that the net costs only $10, and that’s with shipping included.

So what power do you have? The same power I have. You have the power to post it on a blog, e-mail it to all your friends, and tell everyone in your family. You have the power to go to www.nothingbutnets.net and donate the $10 you were going to use to buy yourself lunch today. You have the power to save a life.