European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 18, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes religion new rules Don t Dampen Holiday cheer in schools Williamsville  a pupils educators and parents Are cautiously tiptoeing around new rules governing religion in Williamsville schools and finding that for All the controversy Tittle has changed since the guidelines were enacted High school students in the suburban Buffalo District can still dress up a classmate As Santa Glaus for a fund Raiser jewish mothers can still come to school to teach pupils about hanukkah. Pupils can still decorate a Pine tree in the hallways a though they Call it a Holiday tree not a Christmas tree. Religious symbols such As nativity scenes or the Star of David May be displayed in classrooms but Only As part of an educational unit. Holiday displays can re main up for no longer than 10 Days. Though most of its 10,000 pupils Are christians the Williamsville District has a Large jewish population and Many hindu Muslim and sikh pupils. A year ago when guidelines were being formulated school Board meetings degenerated into shouting matches Over the policy. Now that the policy is in effect the debate has largely died Down. School officials Are still Fine tuning the rules but teachers parents and pupils so far have seen Only minor changes. The idea is to make the schools less oppressive to those who Are not in the majority religion a said Francis Murphy school superintendent. A Why should a Muslim student coming to school 20 Days before Christmas feel like an interloper in a Christian environment a the policy bans Holiday gift exchanges in classrooms a Rule that has miffed some pupils and parents accustomed to trading presents for Christmas or hanukkah. At a fourth Grade Holiday party Candy canes a supposedly a representation of the staffs of shepherds no flocked to Christ a birth a were replaced by Pez Candy dispensers. Quot we be had to put a Little More thought into everything that goes on for the holidays a said Suzanne Tozer a Parent who helped organize the party. "1 have nothing against my son playing Jingle Bells or some of the Christmas festivities in the school a said Kailash Chadha a hindu who supports the policy. A at the same time 1 done to want my children being taught christianity in the classroom. It you re in the minority Why should you be exposed to that Quot the Williamsville policy is intended to allow instruction about religion As a cultural influence with lessons balanced among christianity Judaism islam and other faiths a no school system is seriously going to ban All discussion of religion. That goes too far and Good Cauca tors know that a said Robert Boston of the group americans United for separation of Church and state. A Williamsville is leading the Way. It s a Good source for Model policies for other  saturday december 18,1993 l.  a oppose legalized casinos from wire reports. Louisville by. A Kentucky a four roman Catholic Bishops have declared their opposition to the possible legalization of casinos. The Bishops recently voted unanimously against the casinos even though the Catholic Church lobbied hard for a 1992 state constitutional amendment that legalized charitable gambling. Many Catholic organizations such As parochial schools draw financial support from Bingo and similar games. Kenneth j. Dupre executive director of the Catholic conference of Kentucky said the Bishops feel casinos with Large stakes and other potentially detrimental social consequences pose a threat that Small stakes Bingo does t. Gov. Brereton c. Jones has commissioned a study of the economic effects of casinos and the 1994 general Assembly could consider whether to put a state constitutional amendment to allow riverboat or land based casinos on the ballot in  Appeal new York a roman Catholic and jewish religious leaders have issued an Appeal to americans to help prevent the spread of pornography throughout the nation. A statement by the National conference of Catholic Bishops committee for ecumenical and inter religious affairs and the synagogue Council of America s inter religious affairs committee recognizes a the constitutionally guaranteed right of Freedom of  # but the religious leaders said they also were concerned about he a alarming growth of pornography. A was jews and catholics we teach that the creator fashioned each person in the divine image a the statement says. A a any material that demeans the inherent dignity of women men and children by removing sexuality from the context of meaningful interpersonal relationships denies the image of the creator within All of us.�?�12 Steps to owning Home Detroit a twelve step programs Arentt just for alcohol and drug addicts anymore. A Detroit Church group has started a 12-step program for people addicted to renting but wanting to kick the habit and buy a Home. The Church of the messiahs new Home buyers club program includes real estate tips and counselling a a combination of self Nelp and recovery techniques More commonly used to treat drug and alcohol abuse. The goal is to help those who want to own their own Home but can to seem to find their Way. A that May be someone who has saved enough Money and can pay Cash but just does t know How to someone who is Low income or underemployed and has a lot of bad debt and just does no to know How to get out of it a said Barbara Allison Simpson of the Church of the Messiah. Simpson who studied Home buying programs in new Orleans Kansas City and Washington d.c., decided to weave in the 12-step drug recovery approaches after concluding that some people need a change in attitude As much As approval from a  to churchgoers Santa be . A churches Are tailoring programs to meet the needs of today a churchgoers Many of whom shop around before deciding where to worship Church leaders say. A it used to be you could just offer sunday services and sunday school and maybe a wednesday night service and that was enough said  Smith associate pastor at St. Johns United methodist Church in Santa be. A i think people feel More spiritually dissatisfied and Are doing More searching these  in response the Church has added divorce recovery groups parenting classes and programs on grief. Ministers and other Church leaders said they can no longer rely on denominational loyalty to bring people into a Church and keep them there. Mark Toulouse associate Dean of Brite divinity school at Texas Christian University in fort Worth Texas Calls it the a Post denominational age a a time characterized by a greater tolerance among denominations and a growing consumer approach to. Religion. Evangelist Palau sees Graham As Model for his own Success fort Worth Texas a a polite smile slides across evangelist Luis Palau slips As he prepares to answer the question he a heard dozens of times. A what about Billy Graham a Palau a 58-year-old International preacher with immense popularity in South and Central America has been pegged by some to replace Graham As the United states pre eminent evangelist. Graham 74, has been diagnosed with Parkinson a disease and is expected to slow his hectic global schedule. His Empire raises an estimated $100 million per year but can a minister who quietly accepts that mtg cartoon characters such As Beavis and butt head arc cultural fixtures really step into grahams shoes Palau thinks so. A a it relating. Who does t want to be compared to the Best of the Best a asked Palau who was born in Argentina and immigrated to the United states in 1960. But William Martin a Rice University sociologist who wrote a biography of Graham said a i Don t think there is an heir apparent to Billy Graham. I Don t think anybody will be Able to move into his position when he retires or  Martin Calls Palau one of the major second tier evangelists. �?o1 think he a extraordinarily Good Quot Martin said. A the has about As Good results As you would find among contemporary  Palau models his ministry and organization after Graham. Graham his influenced Palau since 1962, when he served As an interpreter at a Graham crusade in California. In the 31 years since an estimated 10 million people in 60 countries have attended More than 300 of Palau a Cross denominational crusades and rallies. The Luis Palau evangelistic association his nonprofit organization based in Portland or., cites More than 500,000 a known decisions for Jesus Christ As a result of the crusades. A listing of his crusades reads like a world Atlas Jakarta Indonesia Kiev Ukraine Buenos Aires Argentina and san Antonio. He has preached on every continent except Antarctica. From Aberdeen Scotland to Zurich Switzerland Palau has tried to awaken cities to their need for god. Evangelist Luis Palau discusses a five Day crusade he held at the Tarrant county convention Center in fort Worth Texas in october. Now Palau plans to step up operations in the United states. A i think we re about 20 years behind Europe in going away from christianity one says. A if we done to have a massive reawakening in America we will go the Way of Western Europe. Proportionately there Are More atheists in Europe than there Ever were in the soviet Union a Palau said. �?o1 think vigorous campaigning can turn that around although 1 know that san ambitious  Palau a ambitious plan includes starting up a National television Call in show expanding his radio broadcasts to 500 stations by Christmas and crusading in every major . City by 2000. In the Short term he wants to bring cities together for crusades which Are planned a year in Advance and organized primarily by local volunteers. Palau sees the United states As a racially divided country driven by greed and Money thus making it an even harder place to evangelize. A a american a not the Bottom of the pit a done to get me wrong. There Are worse places. But there a a selfishness that has come in Quot he said. A this is not the Christian Way and its really in the Long run self defeating because when you got everyone asserting themselves you have a Case for shooting each