U.S. reward for Burnhams’ captors sparks response in Philippines So far, most of the response to the U.S. government’s $5 million reward for the capture of the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas holding missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham has been very positive. “At least 200 calls have been received by the [U.S.] embassy from civilians volunteering information on the whereabouts of the bandits” in the two days since the reward’s announcement, reports The Philippine Inquirer. Philippine newspapers are also praising the action. “The U.S. offer … can be understood in two ways,” says an Inquirer editorial “First, as an admission that the military option is not working, or second, as an indication that the war against the Abu Sayyaf has reached a new and critical stage. … One year after the Burnhams were abducted, the most successful economy in world history may have finally realized that it was time to unleash the ultimate weapon in non-nuclear warfare: money.” And it will be effective, says Max V. Soliven in The Philippine Star: “By putting a price on the heads of Abu Sayyaf chieftains … you can bet Washington, D.C., will at last be causing those kidnappers, murderers, and self-styled jihadis sleepless nights.”
Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sabaya is laughing it off. “That’s a nice offer. It shows that we are important not only in Islam but to its enemies as well,” he said on the radio yesterday.
But not everyone is happy about the reward. “In failing to seek the prior concurrence or consent [of the] administration, the U.S. Embassy might be seen as committing an insensitive act toward the country’s sovereignty,” opposition Senator Blas Ople said. Another national representative complained that the money should instead be going to the Filipino soldiers pursuing the militant Muslim abductors, while yet another representative said the reward shouldn’t have been announced by an American. The Inquirer says such criticisms are ridiculous. “American citizens are among the hostages, the U.S. government is putting up the money, the offer is international in scope.” Nevertheless, The Daily Tribune reports that the reward “is likely to spark conflict between President Arroyo and Vice President and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr.”
While talking on the radio about the reward, Abu Sabaya said the group was planning to free its third hostage, Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap, as part of a deal with a local politician for “livelihood” assistance. Also, he said, “She has become a good Muslim. As a reward, we will release her. … This is our way of thanking her for the help she extended to our men who were wounded.” Philippine Armed Forces chief General Roy Cimatu dismissed the claim as propaganda.
Earlier this week, Weblog noted news reports that the U.S. troops were still planning to withdraw from the Philippines July 31 with or without the Burnhams. That news was quickly followed by reports that in the meantime, U.S. involvement may be stepped up. “The Pentagon is debating a recommendation by its Pacific commander to move U.S. military advisers already in the Philippines closer to the search for the couple,” the Associated Press reported yesterday. Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, wants to put Green Berets in combat zones “to go with patrols and give on-the-spot advice.” In addition, 50 to 60 more U.S. troops might be sent to the Philippines in the next two months.
And in other Burnham-related news, one of the family members is talking about the ransom. Kind of. “There was a ransom paid by somebody,” Martin’s sister Felicia Burnham-Retchke told a television interviewer. “We don’t have money to pay ransom as a family. Martin and Gracia don’t have any funds … to pay ransom. The mission there in the Philippines does not have any money . …Somebody paid a ransom and Martin and Gracia are not here.” She wouldn’t say who paid it, but that whittles down the list a bit.
Where Jesus meets football Non-American readers of Weblog (and maybe even an American reader or two) are probably interested the World Cup, which started today. Anglican Media Sydney has put together a great little weblog compiling news items and resources for “a Christian perspective on the world’s biggest sporting event.” (It doesn’t include CT partner site Sports Spectrum, however.) And if you haven’t seen CT’s past tinypieces on soccer, here you go.
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Persecution:
- Liberia rebels hand over British priest | Garry Jenkins reportedly in good health (BBC)
- Also: Liberian rebels release priest (Associated Press)
- Visiting synagogue, Bush praises Russian religious tolerance (The New York Times)
- Rights group says 27 million forced into slavery | It’s not just a Sudan problem, says Anti-Slavery International (Reuters)
- Cleric’s Christian jihad rocks Georgia | Father Basil Mkalavishvili is accused of leading his supporters in scores of violent attacks against non-Orthodox Christians and demands Georgia introduces an Orthodox Christian version of Islamic Shari’ah law (Scotland on Sunday)
- Eritrea closes churches | Government shuts everything but Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Mekane Yesus (Evangelical Lutheran) denominations (World Evangelical Alliance)
Life ethics:
- Cloning bill bans abortion too? | “If Brownback[‘s bill] is enacted, you will have given more protection to clonal embryos than to sexually produced embryos, and that’s incredibly powerful if you want to oppose abortion,” says American Society for Reproductive Medicine (Wired News)
- Prolife group launches undercover sting | Life Dynamics enlisted a woman to pose as a 13-year-old girl impregnated by her 22-year-old boyfriend (Fox News)
- Also: Abortion foes reveal deceptive tactic (Associated Press)
- Australia revisits euthanasia debate | The friends and family who watched a Queensland woman commit suicide last week may face prosecution. (The Christian Science Monitor)
- Australia PM’s stem cell funding angers Catholic Church | The Prime Minister’s announcement of tens of millions of dollars for stem cell research has come under fire from the Catholic Church. (ABC News)
Education:
- Students pray at graduation despite judge’s ruling | About half of 226 graduating joined in, shouting the final words (Associated Press)
- Patrick Henry’s first graduates | Va. Christian college has great expectations for class of 14 (The Washington Post)
- Senior prank: be nice to people | Seniors at Holland (Mich.) Christian High School, wash windows, plant flowers, hand out candy, do other nice things (Associated Press)
Courts and law:
- Court questions tax breaks given to clergy for housing | Constitutional question is still open despite new law (The Wall Street Journal)
- Cops collar ungodly theft suspect | William Hepworth allegedly ripped off more than a dozen Long Island churches, hitting one of them three times. (New York Post)
Abuse scandal:
- Church should weather harsh words | William Hausen was right to use a vulgarity in a sermon about the sexual abuse scandal (Ruth Ann Baker, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
- Liberal Catholic group speaks out | Call to Action opposes “zero tolerance” policy toward child-molesting priests, saying those who commit misdemeanors may deserve a second chance. (Associated Press)
- Pell denies report of sex cover-up | Sydney’s Catholic Archbishop told a press conference that allegations he attempted to silence a victim of sex abuse by “buying him off” were anathema to him. (Sydney Morning Herald)
- Also: Australian bishop denies sex cover-up (BBC)
- Also: Australia’s 60 Minutes says it has cover up evidence (The Age, Melbourne)
Sex & marriage:
- Stripping mom now poses for Playboy | Christian school shocked, but won’t expel daughter again (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Bearded-lady saint offers comfort to a generation in waiting | With a nod to St. Starosta, a single woman contentedly delays marriage. (Dina Rabadi, Los Angeles Times)
- Children’s show on gays in works | “Nick News” working on special focusing on gay parenting (The Washington Times)
- Suit seen as step to ‘end marriage’ | Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court gets appeal to grant marriage licenses to seven same-sex couples (The Washington Times)
- U.S. fund for tower victims will aid some gay partners | Some of the gay and lesbian partners of Sept. 11 victims are poised to collect awards from the federal fund, according to the fund’s special master and lawyers. (The New York Times)
Middle East and the war on terror:
- The war party’s theologian | Reinhold Niebuhr’s “Christian realism” demands a fierce struggle against Islamic terrorism and its sponsors (Joseph Loconte, The Wall Street Journal)
- U.S. evangelical Christians to ‘Stand for Israel’ | Yehiel Eckstein, Ralph Reed behind latest effort (The Jerusalem Post)
- Evangelical Christians speaking out for Israel | While some Jews welcome the support, others question its motives. (The Seattle Times)
Bible:
- Bible in ‘street Spanish’ speaks to thousands | La Palabra de Dios para Todos aims at poor readers, not preachers (The Salt Lake Tribune)
- Biblical battle | Translation Removing ‘Him’ Draws Ire From Some (ABCNews.com)
- Also: Bending the Bible a bit | Even evangelicals are not immune from the temptation to have the Bible bent just a bit in an attempt to accommodate fads. (Uwe Siemon-Netto, UPI)
- Blister beetles and the ten plagues | Several interpretations of the biblical ten plagues postulate that the insects of the third and fourth plagues gave rise to the boils of the sixth plague (The Lancet, UK)
Missions and ministry:
- Workers hail chapel as haven on earth | The last public service at St. Paul’s before the chapel closes for its first cleaning since Sept. 11 was a loving tribute to the volunteers who spent nearly nine months providing exhausted workers with soft cots and hot meals, foot rubs and Band-Aids – and the will to keep going during their grim task of searching for remains. (New York Post)
- Demand higher for airport chapels since September 11 | But another effect of the attacks — increased security — has made it harder for people in many cities to reach the chapel (Associated Press)
- Going beyond her father’s footsteps | Billy Graham’s daughter operates a ministry with a mission of its own. (Associated Press/The Washington Post)
- Religious groups find common foe: lottery | Methodists, Baptists lead fight in Tennessee (Associated Press)
- Church of Scotland to tackle domestic violence (The Scotsman)
- Brother Jed Smock | For decades, Jed Smock has been pounding the pavement of the nation’s college campuses, challenging students to reform their wicked ways and turn to God (All Things Considered, NPR)
- Circus performers have Bible study (Associated Press)
Church life:
- Churches consider sweeping changes | Archbishops’ palaces may seek commercial lets (The Guardian, London)
- Anglican women’s leader gives up on Sydney | Di Nicolios, most senior woman in diocese that bans women’s ordination, leaves to become rector in Melbourne (Sydney Morning Herald)
- Church of Scotland faces up to shame of sectarianism | Report especially regrets actions against Irish Catholics in 1920s and ’30s (The Scotsman)
- Also: Convener tells of Kirk’s ‘shameful’ sectarian past (The Daily Telegraph)
- Also: Church of Scotland makes first public admission of bigotry (Associated Press)
- Spiritually fit | Exercise and prayer are joining forces at an increasing number of churches (Newsday, Long Island, New York)
- Bishop-elect brings drums, devotion to inclusion | John Bryson Chane will be consecrated as the eighth bishop of the 106-year-old Episcopal Diocese of Washington tomorrow (The Washington Times)
- In many churches, icons compete for space | Groups of the faithful are laying claim to both space and time within parishes for their own shrines and patron saint celebrations, sometimes with a fervor reawakened only by the competition (The New York Times)
- Worship and watch says soccer-mad archbishop | Archbishop of Canterbury gives blessing to clergy who want to move church times on Sunday to avoid a clash with England’s first World Cup match. (Reuters)
- Church seeks revival as it marks 300 years | The First Reformed Church—which held its first baptism on June 1, 1702—was originally founded for Dutch merchants who settled near Jamaica, New York (New York Daily News)
The media:
- Article on Christian group draws mixed responses | Readers complain that story on Super Bowl outreach amounted to promotion (The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville)
- Baptists’ colorful language, actions capture my interest | Top 10 reasons for writing about baptists (Jim Jones, Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
- Washington Times reporter used Bush meeting to greet Pope | Says pontiff has strong handshake (Lloyd Grove, The Washington Post, last item)
- Networks prepare papal death coverage | Media outlets have hotel deals, other plans ready to go when the Pope does (USA Today)
Other stories in interest:
- New federal agency’s director hears faith-based groups’ fears on funding | Jim Towey begins tour of cities to help define rules and procedures for White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (The Miami Herald)
- Beyond justice: The eternal struggle to forgive | Forgiveness in Birmingham would require a deep intellectual and emotional commitment, just as it has when invoked during other moments of great pain. (Dean E. Murphy The New York Times)
- U.S. businesses struggle to accommodate religious diversity | Complaints against religious discrimination are increasing (Voice of America)
- Catholics ‘more likely to be obsessive’ | Italian study gives some weight to the notion that cleanliness is next to godliness. (The Daily Telegraph)
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