The Oregon Faith Report - Faith News from Oregon

Faith Report News Note:

An Oregon sex abuse case could uncover a secret Boy Scout file of Scout leader sexual abusers.  Some have labeled the records as the “Perversion Files”. A Portland lawyer, Kelly Clark, has obtained over 1,000 of these records. Because the Mormon Church was a charter organization, they are also named in the case.

KVAL reports more on the story,“At the start of the Oregon trial, attorney Kelly Clark recited the Boy Scout oath and the promise to obey Scout law to be “trustworthy.” Then he presented six boxes of documents that he said will show “how the Boy Scouts of America broke that oath.”  He held up file folder after file folder he said contained reports of abuse from around the country, telling the jury the efforts to keep them secret may have actually set back efforts to prevent child abuse nationally. “The Boy Scouts of America ignored clear warning signs that Boy Scouts were being abused,” Clark said.

Georgene Rice of KPDQ-FM interviews Robert Wilcox author of the “Truth about the Shroud of Turin, Solving the Mystery” and discusses his investigations and the remarkable scientific and technological revelations.

Georgene: There’s a curiosity and fascination about the possibility there is a piece of cloth that may bear the negative image of Jesus Christ’s as it was laid over His tortured body during His historic death and burial. It will go on display again in April and it is expected to draw a crowd of over 2 million people, five times the number that attended the Winter Olympics.  Mr. Wilcox, what motivated you to pursue and understanding of the Shroud of Turin and why do you think it is especially important to authenticate this relic? 

Wilcox: I’m a writer always looking for amazing stories. The thought there could be material evidence of Christ, a picture of Jesus, if it’s true; a picture of His resurrection, if it’s true; and especially a picture of His passion which was just so terrible. Faith doesn’t have to be there because of that, but if you are a Christian, you want to see this.  The burden of proof is now on the doubters. There are just too many facts that point to authenticity. There is nothing in the world like the Shroud of Turin.

Nearly 40% of churches reported declines in giving in 2009, according to the annual “State of the Plate” research, with megachurches and West Coast churches suffering most.

Nearly 40% of churches across the country experienced a decline in church giving and offerings in 2009, representing two consecutive years of significant decreases, according to the 2nd annual “State of the Plate” research by Maximum Generosity and Christianity Today International. “Churches today are in unchartered waters financially,” says Brian Kluth, founder of Maximum Generosity. “After the October 2008 stock market drop, 29% of churches experienced a decline in giving and this past year the number has climbed up to 38% of churches. Multiple research projects last year documented the sharp decline in church giving and our research this year shows things have only gotten worse for a growing number of churches.”

Family-Faith Film Review: The Bounty Hunter
By Catholic Office of Film and Broadcasting

The Bounty Hunter—Forgettable, frequently mean-spirited mix of romantic comedy and crime story begins with a former police officer-turned-bounty hunter (Gerard Butler) delightedly arresting his journalist ex-wife (Jennifer Aniston) after she fails to appear for a court hearing, but the two quickly become entangled in a case of police corruption that leaves them dodging bullets and, far less successfully, a renewed hail of arrows from cupid’s bow. Any potentially heartwarming elements in director Andy Tennant’s predictable tale of rekindling romance get lost amid the frenetic shuffle as the rival protagonists use a Taser stun gun on one another as well as tackle and handcuff each other. Some action violence, scenes of torture, brief rear nudity, several sexual jokes and references, about eight uses of profanity, a bit of rough and much crude language. L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. (PG-13) 2010.  Full Review

Family-Faith Film Review: She’s Out of My League
By Catholic Office of Film and Broadcasting

She’s Out of My League—Raunchy romantic comedy in which a nerdy but good-hearted Pittsburgh airport security agent (Jay Baruchel) manages to attract the interest of a fetching, sophisticated party planner (Alice Eve), and endures a series of romantic ups and downs, as his three slacker best friends and co-workers (Mike Vogel, T.J. Miller and Nate Torrence) as well as his ornery ex-girlfriend (Lindsay Sloane) insist the relationship will never last. Director Jim Field Smith squanders potentially worthwhile themes about rejecting stereotypes and basing lasting attachments on personal rather than merely physical qualities, opting instead for a barrage of sophomoric antics and frequently distasteful sight gags. Pervasive sexual humor, rear nudity, brief nongraphic sexual activity, implicit approval of premarital sex, about 10 uses of profanity, and constant rough and crude language, including at least 40 uses of the F-word.  O — morally offensive. (R) 2010.  Full Review

Progressive faith leaders across the country and from different religions gathered in Washington DC to support immigration reform.

Oregon Faith Report Survey,

Oregon recently end all abstinence only education in public schools.  A survey of Oregon Faith Report viewers revealed their choice for sex-education where over 70% do want some form of abstinence education.  28% said they would prefer no-sex at all.

Preferred choice of teaching sex education

Fill out the new Oregon Faith survey on Obama-Israel debste, Clergy sex abuse, No Child Left Behind, billionaire compassion CLICK HERE,

Comments:

- Would prefer abstinence-only education, but don’t feel that is realistic in a public school. I would support a more comprehensive program if the focus was heavy on abstinence-only with a solid moral foundation, but that’s likely not realistic for a public school.   

A New Day in Vietnam
Luis Palau Ministries, Beaverton

Vietnam Pastors ConferenceHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam (March 19) – Speaking to 500 Vietnamese pastors and hundreds more by live Internet feed, evangelist Dr. Luis Palau commended Vietnam’s pastors for their unity, respect for authorities, and passion for church growth.  Dr. Palau was in Vietnam March 11-17, leading an American delegation that held meetings in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with Vietnam authorities, US diplomats, and pastors representing every denomination.

Pastors described the event as historic and unprecedented, evidence of significant changes that are taking place in Vietnam on many fronts. The two-day conference organized by the Vietnamese pastors included addresses by Dr. Palau, Intel executive Rick Coulson, San Diego pastor Mike MacIntosh, and investment banker and former Secretary of the Navy John Dalton.  The conference kicked off in Hanoi and then moved south to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon.  In Hanoi, Dr. Palau and his delegation met with US Ambassador Michael W. Michalak who told Palau there has been progress on issues related to religious freedom.  He cited as an example the Vietnamese government granting permission this past December for house churches to hold a one-day celebration. It was attended by 40,000 people.

Oregon Faith Report News Note:

Vice President Biden recently visited Israel where at the same time it was announced settlement housing expansion in East Jerusalem.   This set the American visit on edge and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a quick and sincere apology.  Now the issue has stirred up a strong disagreement to both sides.   Some see the Middle East Peace Talks in danger and a widening rift between America and Israel.  Please view the video (and ad) to see a recent CNN report.

Join the debate by giving us your opinion. Take our Oregon online survey on who is in the “right” in this Israel-White House feud. Plus answer bonus questions on clergy sex-abuse, No Child Left Behind changes and billionaire charity.

Watch CNN video below:

Oregon Faith Report News Note:

The Rev. Tom Farley, St. Clare Catholic Parish in  Portland, of has announced that he is leaving the priesthood of 30 years.  He said he could “no longer live the celibate life.” and “I leave because of a private longing in my heart and soul that I have ignored or suppressed to my detriment,” he wrote in the letter.”I love priestly ministry but I cannot live this life of celibacy.”

By Nancy Haught wrote an excellent article in The Oregonian…“Parishioners packed Farley’s last Masses — one Saturday evening and three on Sunday morning. As part of the services, the congregations knelt with him to confess their sins and listened as he preached a brief sermon. After Communion, Farley carried a sheet of paper to the lectern and read:”I want to say how honored I have been to be a fellow disciple with you in the Catholic Church. I am leaving without anger or resentment, not wanting to hurt you or the Church. I do not want to be a poster child for married priests.“

Bhutan’s Buddhists keep eye on `Gross National Happiness’
By Vishal Arora
Religion News Service

THIMPHU, Bhutan (RNS) The Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan is the only nation that puts happiness at the core of public policy. But its thrust on a “Gross National Happiness”(GNH) index is not just a warm-and-fuzzy inheritance from Buddhism, but also integral to the nation’s cultural and political security. Bhutan’s fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, coined the phrase GNH in 1972 on the belief that people’s happiness did not depend on the nation’s economic wealth, said Tshoki Zangmo, information officer at the Center for Bhutan Studies. It was, Zangmo said, “a notion of wholeness that is embedded in Bhutan’s authentic Buddhist culture.”

Ever since, all manner of government policies have centered around GNH in this landlocked Himalayan country—about half the size of Indiana—that’s sandwiched between India to the south and China to the north.

Georgene Rice of KPDQ-FM, interviews Jonathan Saenz, the Legislative Director of the Liberty Institute. They discuss the controversy of the textbook social study standards being discussed and set by the Texas State Board of Education.

GEORGENE: Due to the large number of textbooks purchased by Texas, their standards have implications for other textbook users across the country.   Liberty Institute testified before the Board for keeping historical figures in the standards and what is appropriate basic knowledge that should be taught students. Mr. Saenz please take us through this process.

SAENZ: We are talking about basic principles of U.S. Government, U.S. History, World History, and Economics, the building blocks that made America great. Early on, left wing liberals were attempting to rewrite and revise history. With our group, teachers, parents and other groups we were able to establish some balance and allow common sense to prevail, no matter what side of the spectrum you are on politically.

GEORGENE: What role does the Board play in ultimately deciding what ends up in the classroom and how does this affect our classrooms in the Northwest?

Most Americans Consider Easter a Religious Holiday, But Fewer Correctly Identify its Meaning
Barna Research Update

As American society becomes more religiously diverse, the nation’s population has had to grapple with how to define its holidays and celebrations. A recent study by the Barna Group explored Americans’ definition of the Easter holiday, asking a nationwide, representative sample of American adults how they would describe what Easter means to them, personally. The results indicated that most Americans consider Easter to be a religious holiday, but fewer identify the resurrection of Jesus as the underlying meaning. The study also explored the degree to which Americans are likely to invite an unchurched friend or family member to attend worship service on Easter weekend.

Sacred Descriptions
In response to a free-response query, most Americans described Easter as a religious celebration. Two out of every three Americans (67%) mention some type of theistic religious element. Common responses included describing it as a Christian holiday, a celebration of God or Jesus, a celebration of Passover, a holy day, or a special time for church or worship attendance.  

Family-Faith Film Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid
By Catholic Office of Film and Broadcasting

Diary of a Wimpy Kid—Mostly likeable, though lightweight coming-of-age comedy about the travails of a first-year middle school student (Zachary Gordon) whose ill-conceived efforts to gain popularity and status in his new environment — frequently, though unintentionally sabotaged by the carefree nerdiness of his long-standing best friend (Robert Capron) — instead see him slipping lower and lower in the lunchroom and recess pecking order, while his home life is made miserable by the petty bullying of his cocky older brother (Devon Bostick). Director Thor Freudenthal’s adaptation of Jeff Kinney’s best-selling 2007 novel in cartoon format offers lessons about loyalty, self-sacrificing friendship and gaining genuine acceptance by being true to yourself; but the proceedings sometimes veer into mildly off-color humor, and the script makes it clear — albeit in a restrained way — that one of the hierarchical divisions separating the students is based on the rate of pubescent physical development. Brief images of a scantily clad woman, a few instances of mildly gross and scatological humor, a couple of vaguely sexual jokes, at least one crass term.  A-II — adults and adolescents. (PG) 2010
Full Review

Family-Faith Film Review: Repo Men
By Catholic Office of Film and Broadcasting

Repo Men—Extremely violent futuristic thriller about two men (Jude Law and Forest Whitaker) whose job is to repossess artificial human organs when the recipient falls behind on exorbitant interest payments owed to a malevolent corporation. Despite a major twist involving virtual technology, there’s scant evidence that director Miguel Sapochink wants to spin a profound science-fiction yarn, let alone offer a serious cautionary tale or insightful social satire; with no redeeming qualities to offset the butchery and degradation, it counts instead among the most distasteful and morally barren movies to appear in recent years. Unrelenting brutal, graphic violence; grisly images of surgical incisions and operations; instances of drug use; fleeting glimpses of bystanders engaged in sex acts; several implied or simulated nonmarital sexual encounters between the leading male and female characters; partial rear nudity; and pervasive rough, crude and profane language.  O — morally offensive. (R) 2010
Full Review

The danger of replacing Communion with a coffee bar.
by Paul Louis Metzger
Prof. Multnomah University,

It’s very difficult for many contemporary Christians to recognize how much we have been shaped by the consumer culture in which we live—it is in the air we breathe and the water (or coffee) we drink.

Consider that in many churches the coffee bar has displaced the Lord’s Table as the place where real community happens. Due in part to the neutralizing of sacred space that has been popular since the 1980s, churches began removing or de-emphasizing the Lord’s Table and introducing coffee bars. Without doubt the desire has been to build community by offering people a culturally familiar setting to engage one another. But we must ask: What formative message does a coffee bar convey?

By The Witherspoon Institute

WASHINGTON — A growing body of research suggests that the habitual use of pornography — especially Internet pornography — can damage people of all ages and both sexes, negatively impacting their relationships, productivity, happiness and their ability to function in society. These are among the social costs of pornography, according to The Witherspoon Institute at Princeton, New Jersey.

The Witherspoon Institute released today “The Social Costs of Pornography: A Statement of Findings and Recommendations.” The consultation was the first multifaceted, multidisciplinary, scholarly exploration of pornography since the advent of the Internet. The proceedings, research and recommendations are available in booklet form and as a two-DVD set of the actual two-day meeting that assembled leading experts in several fields, including economics, psychology, sociology, and law to present a rigorously argued overview of pornography in today’s society.

By Randy Alcorn
Eternal Perspectives Ministries
Sandy Oregon

Sunday morning, March 7, I was with Greg Laurie and Harvest Fellowship in Riverside, California. Greg interviewed me about Heaven, and evil and suffering, and we opened the Word together…To facilitate the interview, someone at the church built a Larry King-style interview desk. They did a beautiful job.

As background, Greg called me last year to tell me that my book Heaven had been a real encouragement to him in the wake of his son Christopher’s death in a car accident in the summer of 2008. I mention Greg a couple of times in If God is Good:

Oregon Ruling could affect churches’ dealings on internal matters
By John Fortmeyer, CNNW publisher
Christian News Northwest, Subscriptions

SALEM — In what is being described as a first-of-its-kind ruling in the United States that could force churches to change the way they handle internal matters, a former Vernonia pastor’s $335,000 award in a defamation suit has been upheld by the Oregon Court of Appeals.  As reported by The Oregonian, the recent ruling means a church can’t use the First Amendment as a defense against a defamation lawsuit if church officials accuse a former pastor of wrongdoing in front of the congregation.

The appeals court upheld an earlier decision by a Multnomah County jury, which had awarded Tim Tubra $355,000 after officials of Vernonia Foursquare Church accused him publicly of “misappropriation of church funds.” Tubra had filed the defamation suit in September 2005 against The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.