THE TANDEM PROJECT
UNITED NATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS,
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
FAITH LINKED TO SPIRITUAL
WARFARE:
CHOICE & FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
Issue: Faith Linked to Spiritual Warfare: Choice &
Freedom of Religion or Belief
For: United Nations, Governments, Religions or Beliefs,
Academia, NGOs, Media, Civil Society
Review: Palin’s Faith is Linked to Form
of Pentecostalism Known as Spiritual Warfare, by Laurie Goodstein, New York Times, Saturday October
25, 2008. The Road from Wasilla: An Old Abortion Fight
Revisited, by Dorothy Samuels, New York Times Editorial Observer,
(Governor Palin’s quest
to be Vice President of the
Palin’s Faith is Linked to Form
of Pentecostalism Known as Spiritual Warfare
The New York Times article Palin’s
Faith is Linked to Form of Pentecostalism Known as Spiritual Warfare is
on the influence her religion plays on public policy relating to free choice on
issues such as abortion, reproductive rights, contraception and the right of a
woman to make her own decisions on questions of health. Assembly of God,
Governor Palin’s former church, is the largest denomination of Pentecostalism,
founded in the
“What is known, however, is that Ms. Palin has had
long associations with religious leaders who practice a particularly assertive
and urgent brand of Pentecostalism known as “spiritual warfare.” Its adherents
believe that demonic forces can colonize specific geographic areas and
individuals, and that “spiritual warriors” must “battle” them to asset God’s
control, using prayer and evangelism…Ms. Palin delivered an enthusiastic
graduation speech for a class of young spiritual warriors in June at the
Wasilla Assembly of God, the church in which she was raised. As governor, Ms.
Palin appointed Patrick Donelson, a pastor and fishing guide who helped found a
spiritual warfare ministry, to the only seat reserved for members of the clergy
on the state’s Suicide Prevention Council.”
The Road from Wasilla: An Old
Abortion Fight Revisited
The New York Times Editorial Observer reports on the
way joint action by the Wasilla Assembly of God Church in 1992 reflects on public
policy decisions sixteen years later in 2008. The regulations would severely
restrict a woman’s right to make her own choice on abortion and reproductive
rights.
“Any day now, President
Bush’s secretary of health and human services, Michael Leavitt, is expected to
deliver a parting blow to women’s reproductive freedom: new regulations further
limiting access to abortions, contraceptives and accurate information about
reproductive health care options.”
In the Russian novel “The Brothers
Karamazov,” by Fyodor Dostoevsky, choice in its modern implications may be
linked to Freedom of Religion or Belief. In the Word Document (attached) Holy Man and Holier in a Battle for Power, is a Theater
Review, by Ben Brantley, New York Times,
Choice is inviolable and cannot be compromised under
International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Article
18 paragraph 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
reads; No one shall be subject to coercion which would
impair her/his freedom to have a religion or belief of her/his choice.
Article 18 paragraph 3 reads; Freedom to
manifest one’s religion or belief may be subject only to such limitations as
are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order,
health, morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.
Is there a practical way of limiting the manifestation
of one aspect of a religion or belief to protect choice, the right of a woman
regarding her health? Choice is inviolable in human rights, and the right to
life is inviolable in many religious and cultural beliefs. Finding a compromise
is possible but incredibly difficult.
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Link to The Road From Wasilla: An Old Abortion Fight Revisited.
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Excerpts: Excerpts are presented under the Eight Articles of
the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Examples of extracts are presented
prior to an Issue Statement for each Review.
1. 2. No one shall be subject to
coercion which would impair his freedom to have a religion or belief of his
choice.
2. 1 No one shall be subject to
discrimination by any State, institution, group of persons or person on the
grounds of religion or other beliefs.
2. 2 For the purposes of the
present Declaration, the expression ‘intolerance and discrimination based on
religion or belief’ means any distinction, exclusion, restriction, or
preference based on religion or belief and having as its purpose or as its
effect nullification or impairment of the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of
human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis.
PALIN’S
FAITH IS LINKED TO FORM OF PENTECOSTALISM
KNOWN AS SPIRITUAL WARFARE
In an interview this week with the Christian
Broadcasting Network, Gov. Sarah Palin of
Ms. Palin’s faith has come under scrutiny after
two videos taken in her former church surfaced on YouTube and became immediate
sensations. The first showed a visiting preacher from
The second showed Ms. Palin at an event in June
praising the African preacher’s prayer as “awesome” and “very, very powerful.”
She is also seen nodding as her former pastor from Wasilla prays over her and
declares that Alaska is “one of the refuge states in the Last Days,” a piece of
prophecy popular in some prayer networks that predicts that as the “end of
times” approach, people will flock to Alaska for its abundant open space and
natural resources.
Ms. Palin declined an interview and the McCain
campaign did not respond to specific questions about her faith. Thus it is
difficult to say with certainty what she believes.
What is known, however, is that Ms. Palin has had
long associations with religious leaders who practice a particularly assertive
and urgent brand of Pentecostalism known as “spiritual warfare.” Its adherents
believe that demonic forces can colonize specific geographic areas and
individuals, and that “spiritual warriors” must “battle” them to asset God’s
control, using prayer and evangelism.
Ms. Palin delivered an enthusiastic graduation
speech for a class of young spiritual warriors in June at the Wasilla Assembly
of God, the church in which she was raised. As governor, Ms. Palin appointed
Patrick Donelson, a pastor and fishing guide who helped found a spiritual
warfare ministry, to the only seat reserved for members of the clergy on the
state’s Suicide Prevention Council.
Critics say the goal of the spiritual warfare
movement is to create a theocracy. Bruce Wilson, a researcher for Talk2Action,
a Web site that tracks religious groups said: “One of the imperatives of the
movement is to achieve worldly power, including political control. Then you can
more effectively drive out the demons. The ultimate goal is to purify the
earth.”
Ms. Palin referred to “prayer warriors” in a radio
interview Wednesday with Dr. James C. Dobson, the founder of Focus on the
Family, a conservative Christian multimedia ministry. He said they were praying
for “God’s perfect will be done on Nov. 4.” She responded, “I can feel the
power of prayer and the strength that is provided by our prayer warriors across
this nation.”
Pentecostalism is the fastest growing form of Christianity,
both in the
Mr. Grady, whose magazine reports on and promotes
charismatic Christianity, and other Pentecostal leaders said they had been
deeply troubled by portrayals of Ms. Palin’s religious beliefs as bizarre or
scary. “We wouldn’t have a problem with the fact that this African pastor prays
for her and believes Jesus is more powerful than demonic activity,” he said.
THE ROAD FROM WASILLIA: AN OLD ABORTION FIGHT REVISITED
Any day now, President
Bush’s secretary of health and human services, Michael Leavitt, is expected to
deliver a parting blow to women’s reproductive freedom: new regulations further
limiting access to abortions, contraceptives and accurate information about
reproductive health care options.
If that happens, it will
be a big victory for the far-right — one, as it happens, that is partly rooted
in an old controversy involving Sarah Palin’s church, her former obstetrician
and the small local hospital serving
In 1992, a coalition of
some 20 evangelical churches in Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna Valley — including
the Wasilla Assembly of God Church, where Ms. Palin was baptized at age 12 —
captured control of the operating board of the community’s Valley Hospital.
The new board promptly
voted to bar doctors from performing abortions at the hospital with limited
exceptions for cases of rape, incest, dire medical necessity or where a doctor
documents “the fetus has a condition that is incompatible with life.” The
policy change left
Dr. Susan Lemagie was by
then the only physician in the state who performed elective abortions after the
first 12 weeks (incidentally, she delivered the first two of Ms. Palin’s five
children). She and the Mat-Su Coalition for Choice sued to overturn the new
restrictions.
During this period, as
incidents of violence against abortion clinics and doctors around the country
mounted, Dr. Lemagie’s medical office became the target of anti-abortion
protesters. Recalling the fraught atmosphere in a 1997 opinion piece in
Newsweek, Dr. Lemagie’s daughter, Sarah, wrote that her mother “no longer
talked about managed care and AIDS; she talked about buying a bulletproof
vest.”
(Around this time, Ms.
Palin, who was elected Wasilla’s mayor in 1996, served on another hospital
board.)
Finally, in 1997, the
Alaska Supreme Court ruled 4 to 0 in Dr. Lemagie’s favor, holding that Valley
Hospital was a “quasi public” institution because it was the only hospital
serving the community and received millions of public dollars. As such, it
could not deny a woman’s “fundamental right” to abortion, which is secured by
the broad right to privacy embedded in the state’s Constitution.
The outcome reverberated
nationally. Supporters of reproductive rights felt bolstered. Those opposed
seized upon the
Individual health care
providers long had the right to refuse to perform or assist in abortion or
sterilization procedures on moral or religious grounds. The bill proposed
extending that right to hospitals, H.M.O.’s, insurance plans and an array of
other health care institutions. Under the bill, any law or regulation mandating
such services was deemed “discriminatory,” and could trigger a loss of federal
financing.
When the House Energy and
Commerce Committee held a hearing on the bill in 2002, among the witnesses was
Karen Vosburgh, a
The issue did not fade
away. In 2004, a version of the bill known as the Weldon Amendment was tacked
onto the spending bill for the Labor, Education and Health and Human Services
Departments. It remains in force.
Now, Mr. Leavitt appears
poised to enlarge the Weldon Amendment’s reach, for example, by adding abortion
counseling and the provision of accurate reproductive health information to the
list of services health care providers may refuse. He also would open the door
for providers to decline to make emergency contraception available, even to
rape victims.
ISSUE STATEMENT: International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of
Religion or Belief are international human rights treaty law and universal
codes of conduct for peaceful cooperation, respectful competition and
resolution of conflicts. The standards are a platform for genuine dialogue on
core principles and values within and among nations, all religions and other
beliefs.
The United Nations Human
Rights Committee: General Comment No. 22 (48); On Article 18, Adopted 20 July
1993, Paragraph 8: “The Committee observes that the concept of morals derives
from many social, philosophical and religious traditions; consequently,
limitations on the freedom to manifest a religion or belief for the purpose of
protecting morals must be based on principles not deriving exclusively from a
single tradition.
Surely one of the best hopes for the future of
humankind is to embrace a culture in which religions and other beliefs accept
one another, in which wars and violence are not tolerated in the name of an
exclusive right to truth, in which children are raised to solve conflicts with
mediation, compassion and understanding.
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STANDARDS: http://www.tandemproject.com/program/81_dec.htm
Submit information under the Eight Articles and
sub-paragraphs of the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of
Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief by using The Tandem
Project Country & Community Database.
http://www.tandemproject.com/databases/forms/card.htm
Introduction: The Tandem Project is dedicated to support for International
Human Rights Standards on Freedom of Religion or Belief. The focus is on
fundamental values shared virtually universally by public, private, religious
and non-religious organizations to change how our cultures view differences,
how we often behave toward one another and to forestall the reflexive hostility
we see so vividly around the world.
As we are all painfully
aware, religious conflict continues to escalate worldwide whether in the
Surely one of the best hopes for the future of
humankind is to embrace a culture in which religions and other beliefs accept
one another, in which wars and violence are not tolerated in the name of an
exclusive right to truth, in which children are raised to solve conflicts with
mediation, compassion and understanding.
The Tandem Project: a non-governmental organization founded
in 1986 to build understanding, tolerance and respect for diversity, and to
prevent discrimination in matters relating to freedom of religion or belief.
The Tandem Project, a non-profit NGO, has sponsored multiple conferences,
curricula, reference materials and programs on Article 18 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Everyone shall have the right to
freedom of thought, conscience and religion - and 1981 United Nations
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination
Based on Religion or Belief.
The Tandem Project
initiative is the result of a co-founder representing the World Federation of
United Nations Associations at the United Nations Geneva Seminar, Encouragement of Understanding, Tolerance
and Respect in Matters Relating to Freedom of Religion or Belief,
called by the UN Secretariat in 1984 on ways to implement the 1981 UN
Declaration. In 1986, The Tandem Project organized the first NGO International
Conference on the 1981 UN Declaration.
The Tandem Project Executive Director is: Michael M. Roan, mroan@tandemproject.com.
Word Documents Attached:
Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor - New York Play on Free Choice & Freedom of Religion or Belief
The Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression
No Consensus for Resolution on Freedom of Religion or Belief
The Tandem Project is a UN NGO in
Special Consultative Status with the
Economic and Social Council of
the United Nations
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