To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Church votes to shorten name at conference
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 09:35:27 -0500

Church votes to shorten name at conference

04/09/2000

Knight Ridder Newspapers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints - saying the full name of the
Independence, Mo.-based church has always been quite a
mouthful. Now take a smaller breath and say, "Community of
Christ"- that's the group's new name. After two hours of
often emotional debate, delegates to the church's world
conference on Friday overwhelmingly agreed to change the
name by which they will be identified. The vote of 1,979 to
561 was well over the required two-thirds. The longer name,
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,
will remain the legal name of the organization. The new
name will not take effect before Jan. 1, to give church
leaders time to work on implementation plans for the
change. MORE...

http://dallasnews.com/national/60931_name09.html

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Prayer versus Sex
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 09:36:51 -0500

BRIEF SCIENCE: 7 APR. 2000

Prayer versus Sex

http://www.beyond2000.com/news/story_558.html

Attending religious services may help delay the onset of
teenage sexual activity. A survey carried out by
researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine
and Harvard Medical School explores the link between
spirituality and adolescent sexual behaviour.

The study found that younger age, higher spiritual
interconnectedness (particularly amongst friends) and
personal importance of religion are all associated with a
lower likelihood of voluntary sexual activity. Nearly 150
adolescents with a mean age of 16 were asked to fill out a
detailed questionnaire. Over 90 percent felt that religion
was somewhat important in their lives and there was a
correlation between those who professed a stronger belief
in a supreme being and the incidence of sexual activity.

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Drive-through Easter message
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 14:17:24 -0400

Current Baptist Press News
April 10, 2000

Drive-through passion play enables church to broaden its Easter
message

By Alysia Mathisen

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (BP)--A drive-through passion play may not be the
first thing that comes to mind for evangelism at Easter, but at
least one church has found the effort to be more than worth it.

"It's all about making church user-friendly and relevant to
everyday living," said Dennis Gray, senior pastor of Riva Trace
Baptist Church in Annapolis, Md., which uses "bridge events" to
attract unchurched families to the gospel.

"The Scenes of Easter" is just such an event presenting a unique
drive-through experience on the church grounds depicting seven
live, dramatic scenes chronologically from Easter week.

"It's like going to the theater without ever getting out of your
car," said Bill Bloomquist, minister of music and producer of The
Scenes of Easter.

Many people will not set foot in a church, but they will bring
their children and out-of-town guests to see a drive-through
Easter presentation. It costs nothing, is entertaining and is a
non-threatening way to celebrate a spiritual holiday. "Our
advantage," Bloomquist said, "is that we get to share the gospel
story."

The first scene depicts Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Next is the Lord's Supper scene where Jesus bids farewell to his
disciples. It opens with Jesus predicting his betrayal by Judas
and his crucifixion.

Following the Lord's Supper is the arrest in the garden and
Peter's denial.

"People seem stunned," said Carol Thompson, church member and
scene director. "They can't believe we go through all this
trouble -- for free. I think many wonder what motivates us to do
this."

The answer is staged in the next two scenes -- Jesus before
Pilate and the crucifixion. The crucifixion scene is the most
dramatic. It features an actual cross assembled with wooden pegs
and Roman soldiers who put Jesus on the cross.

The drive-through finale is the resurrection scene. A fog machine
and strobe lights are used for special effects as the stone is
rolled away from the empty tomb and an angel appears announcing
that Jesus has risen.

The Scenes of Easter is consistently a successful community
evangelism event for Riva Trace, which could be adapted by most
churches. But it does require months of advanced planning,
volunteer recruitment and hours of preparation.

"Our first year we made 80 costumes," Bloomquist said. "The
following years we added new costumes and upgraded old ones." His
wife, MaryAnn, a member of the Screen Actors Guild, directs the
cast of 100 actors and the seven scene directors who monitor the
scenes during each night's performance.

Meanwhile, the publicity committee is hard at work. A logo was
developed the first year and is now used in paid advertising and
all printed materials promoting the event. Church leaders
encourage members to hang professionally printed posters in
public locations. One month prior to the event, they print free
tickets that are inserted in the Sunday bulletin for members to
hand out to friends and acquaintances. They purchase ad space in
the local newspaper.

In April 1999, more than 2,000 people attended The Scenes of
Easter, and due to the unexpected influx of people, many were
guided through on foot by church staff so no one would be turned
away.

http://www.BaptistPress.org/

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Barak: United capital won't include Abu Dis
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 19:17:49 -0400

Monday, April 10 2000 09:44
5 Nisan 5760

Barak: United capital won't include Abu Dis By Danna Harman

JERUSALEM (April 10) - On the eve of his departure today
for a summit with US President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister
Ehud Barak laid out his vision of a future Palestinian
entity.

He said that while Ma'aleh Adumim, Givat Ze'ev, Gilo, and
Ramot would be part of united Jerusalem in the future,
there is "no interest" in annexing the approximately 50,000
Palestinians living in villages on the capital's outskirts,
such as Abu Dis and Anata.

Barak told the cabinet yesterday that most areas
designated Area B - under Palestinian civil control and
Israeli security control - would, under a permanent-status
agreement, be transferred to full Palestinian control.

He said the Palestinian entity should be as contiguous as
possible, so that Palestinians should not have to go
through roadblocks to get from one part to another and
their leaders should not need permission to leave its
borders.

"Nobody here could imagine a situation whereby the
Palestinian entity would consist of 12 disparate brown
spots on a map," Barak was reported as saying.

Barak leaves this afternoon for Washington, with a
stopover in Cairo to meet with Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak. He is expected to return on Wednesday in time for
the visit of Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

He told the cabinet he hopes the meeting with Clinton
would help push the Palestinian track forward, but sought
to play down expectations of making any quick progress
toward resuming talks with Syria.

Regarding the Palestinian issue, Barak said there is no
interest in keeping the future Palestinian entity under
Israeli guardianship, and no interest in having the PA ask
Israeli permission for every move it makes.

He asserted that this is the position not only of his
government, but that of his predecessor's as well.

"We heard [Likud leader Ariel] Sharon saying that de facto
there already is a Palestinian state, and we have heard
[Likud MK] Moshe Arens saying the same thing. And we have
heard both these men admit that the steps toward the
creation of the Palestinian state were taken during the
time they were in government," Barak said.

Regarding the issue of Palestinian refugees, Barak stated
that Israel would take neither legal nor moral
responsibility for the refugees, and therefore "the
solution to that problem is not within Israel."

"Our principles are clear," concluded Barak. "We are
aiming for a physical separation between us and the
Palestinians so that we can exist one beside the other: two
entities which cooperate with one another, and have mutual
respect for the other.

"The moment of truth is at hand," Barak added, as he
outlined the work ahead on the framework agreement, the
third redeployment, and the final-status agreement.

"Reaching the end of the conflict requires trust on all
levels. But that said, having trust does not mean not
acknowledging the differences. The most important thing for
us now is for us to work bravely without tricking one
another," he said.

Meanwhile, PA Chairman Yasser Arafat complained in Cairo
to Mubarak yesterday that the negotiations under way in the
United States are not productive and amount to "just chat."

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Egyptian Foreign
Minister Amr Moussa said that attempts to secure agreement
between the sides are "in crisis." He called the situation
"dangerous."

Barak also told the cabinet he is not optimistic about the
chances of reviving peace talks with Syria.

Barak indicated that he would discuss the matter of the
redeployment from Lebanon with Clinton, and that he would
ask for diplomatic, and possibly also financial, assistance
toward this end.

Later at a news conference following a meeting with
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Barak said: "I'm not
optimistic about the negotiations with Syria right now, but
we have left the door open."

Asked about his objective on the Washington trip, Barak
replied:

"President Clinton invited both myself and Arafat in order
to try to look into the ways how to keep the Palestinian
track on its time line and its objective... we have a very
tense agenda with the Palestinians and it will be shaped
better with the help of the United States."

In a meeting yesterday with United Nations special envoy
Terje Larsen - who has been shuttling between Lebanon and
Syria to discuss Israel's plan to implement UN Security
Council Resolution 425 - Barak said he is pleased with the
growing international support for the withdrawal, and is
determined to move forward speedily.

According to sources, Barak also expressed his
satisfaction with the new Syrian position, after Syrian
Foreign Minister Farouk Shara came out in support of the
redeployment over the weekend.

Barak told the cabinet that, although there were efforts
on the part of certain persons to come up with new
initiatives on the Syrian track, he had received no
indication that the Syrians themselves had come up with
anything and is not optimistic about reaching a deal.

Referring to Mubarak and British journalist and Assad
confidant Patrick Seale, Barak said "there are those who
are trying to revive the track. I am not optimistic about
the chances, but I have not shut the door of opportunity
quite yet."

Foreign Minister David Levy, meanwhile, quashed any
thought that Israel might agree to the compromise solution
published over the weekend by Seale in the London daily Al
Hayat, which suggested Syria receive access to parts of the
Kinneret but not be allowed to pump its waters.

"The Kinneret and all its shores will remain under our
sovereignty," Levy told Israel Radio.

"In any event, there is much more to peace than a few
swaths of land. What we saw in Geneva was such
inflexibility that the US president did not have anyone to
talk to. Clinton told him, 'Dear Sir, when you are ready to
talk, please get in touch.' Until this very moment, there
has been no response." (Viva Sarah Press contributed to
this report.)

http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/04/10/News/News.5233.html

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - (Fwd) Jews are Destroying Russia
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 19:24:38 -0400

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 18:22:28 -0700
To: memri@erols.com
From: MEMRI <memri@erols.com>
Subject: Jews are Destroying Russia

Special Dispatch - Egypt

No. 86

April 12, 2000

Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
1815 H Street, NW Suite 404 Washington, DC 20006
Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077
E-mail: MEMRI@erols.com
Website: www.memri.org

[MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be cited
with proper attribution.]

Jews are Destroying Russia
Anti-Semitic Article in the Leading Egyptian Daily

In an April 1, 2000 article in the government affiliated daily Al-Ahram,
titled "Words Directed at the Cousins," columnist Dr. Mustafa Mahmoud,
Ph.D., claims that the Jews are destroying Russia and implores them to
change their ways lest they face the agony of Hell. Al-Ahram has the
largest circulation of any newspaper in Egypt. Following are excerpts
from Dr. Mahmoud's article:

Berezovsky, Abramowitz and their ilk

"The Zionist gang that took control in Russia after the ailing Yeltsin's
removal has turned the Soviet homeland into a den of prostitution, a cave
of thieves, and a swamp of hunger, poverty, and drugs."

"Today members of the Duma [Russia's Parliament] claim that the Jews rob
the land and that people like Berezovsky, Vladimir Gozensky, Roman
Abramowitz, Alexander Smolensky, and Alexander Mamut [Russian businessmen
of Jewish descent] are the ones who set the fire in Chechnya... They
further claim that the explosions in Moscow were perpetrated by the Jews
rather than the Chechens, and that the Mafia now corrupting Russia
operates in the service of these new criminals."

"According to reports from the Kremlin itself, this Mafia is run by Jews
from Tel Aviv and controls the collapsing Russian economy. [Russian]
Businessmen pay them protection money and all of Russia is becoming a
collapsing pyramid of obscenities."

"The Zionists sacrificed Russia to the Americans so that they could become
the sole false god with no competitors and so that the Jews could benefit
later on from the rule of this new false god [America] all over the
world…."

All Jews face Hell

"I ask you cousins [Jews]: why don't you try for once to be good and
tolerant? You have a chance now to reach out to your Arab cousins. …It is
worth a try. Try making an effort, try tolerance, try modesty..."

"The torments of Hell [that you will face] are …unfathomable to the
[human] mind. …It will be the Holocaust all over again, only this time an
eternal Holocaust with no hope and no salvation. It will be an eternal
curse."

"What benefit will they [the Jews] derive from the dominion they have
achieved in this world, once they leave it? How will they benefit from
their riches when they reach absolute poverty [in Hell]? Who will rescue
them? There is no America there, and if America were there, it would not
be able to help them; rather, it would share their fate..."

"The wise cousins should reexamine this, [after all,] they are the
brothers of Newton, Einstein, Freud, and the dynasty of geniuses..."

"I ask myself: will they be convinced? I believe not. The Jew's problem
is his arrogance, which reaches the level of religious belief and his
absolute certainty that he is [God's] chosen in this world and in the
Hereafter…."

"He sees himself as God's son. He sees the world and the Hereafter as his
private birthright to do with whatever he wants. …This can be learned
from their history and deeds. No Jew gives it up. This is the problem."

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent,
non-profit organization providing translations of the Arab media and
original analysis and research on developments in the Middle East. Copies
of articles and documents cited, as well as background information, are
available upon request.

------- End of forwarded message -------

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