In Brief
In Brief

Saturday, July 1, 2006

Evangelical Author Heads to North Korea

Evangelical pastor Rick Warren has been invited to preach this summer to about 15,000 Christians in North Korea.

Warren, author of the best-selling book "The Purpose-Driven Life," told about 5,000 worshipers at his Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., that he would make the trip as part of a nearly 40-day journey to meet with the leaders of 13 countries.

He said the North Korean government would allow him to preach in a stadium seating 15,000 but that he could preach in a larger venue if he could fill the seats.

Since 2001, the State Department has designated North Korea a "country of particular concern" for religious freedom violations. The communist regime prohibits citizens from belonging to unauthorized religious groups. Believers who proselytize or have ties to evangelical groups in China are arrested, tortured or executed, a 2005 State Department report said.

"I know they're going to use me," Warren said, responding to a question about whether he was concerned that the invitation could be a ruse to draw out Christians so that the government could punish them.

"So I'm going to use them."

-- Religion News Service

Religious Groups Seek Allies Against Poverty

Solving the problem of poverty in the United States requires the cooperation of leaders and activists from across theological and political spectrums, according to organizers of a conference in Washington this week.

Organized by Call to Renewal and Sojourners, two Washington-based social justice groups co-founded by the Rev. Jim Wallis, the Pentecost Conference drew about 600 social activists to the nation's capital to meet with politicians, network and introduce a "covenant" that lays out a blueprint for eradicating poverty.

Wallis and Sojourners hope to draw religious and political leaders away from divisive issues such as gay marriage and abortion to a new common ground against poverty. At the same time, religious activists hope that targeting one topic will help unite the various factions of the religious left into a cohesive political force.

But even for such a worthy goal as eliminating poverty, it will take time to build trust across political divides, said Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), one of the conference's keynote speakers.

"We can affirm the importance of poverty in the Bible and discuss the religious call to environmental stewardship all we want, but it won't have an impact if we don't tackle head-on the mutual suspicion that sometimes exists between religious America and secular America," he said.

Too often, Obama said, Democratic politicians assume that all religious Americans are "fanatical" and "only care about issues like abortion and gay marriage."

-- Religion News Service

Insurance for Raising Baby Jesus Withdrawn

A $1.8 million insurance policy-- taken out by three Scottish sisters in the event that one of them gave birth to Jesus on his second coming -- has been withdrawn by the insurance company after a complaint by a Catholic.

The policy was originally taken out in 2000 by the three women living in Inverness, Scotland. They were paying annual premiums of about $180 each. The premiums -- now totaling about $3,240 -- have been refunded.

The proposal was one of a number of "weird requests" received by British Insurance Ltd. of Braintree, Essex, around the time of the turn of the millennium. The company's main business is unemployment insurance.

The insurance policy was meant to cover expenses related to raising the young Messiah.

"I thought the request legitimate, albeit weird," explained the company's managing director, Simon Burgess.

But Burgess said the company was mindful of people's sensitivities and did not want to offend. So when a woman telephoned him, saying she was from the Catholic Church in Scotland and asking if he would reconsider offering the policy, he decided to withdraw the coverage and refund the premiums.

However, according to the Scottish Catholic press office, no official complaint was made by the Catholic Church in Scotland.

-- Religion News Service