European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 30, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes religion the Faith saturday april 30,1994by employing new York apr unlike most american investors Mahmoud Mohamed is looking for anything but a guaranteed return. Mohamed is one of 1,200 investors in the Aman fund the first and apparently Only . Mutual fund run according to strict islamic guidelines. Islamic Law prohibits a guaranteed return on investments saying that earning Money without taking risk or performing labor is immoral. The fund holds no Bonds or preferred Stock because they pay a fixed rate of return a. A. Any Cash is kept in checking accounts that pay no. Interest. The fund however does buy stocks which Are acceptable because they Rise and fall in value and can raise lower or eliminate any dividends they pay. Before investing in Amana Mohamed kept his savings in a Bank account a until i could find something to do with  a the interest was tainted so i gave it away to Charity said Mohamed a finance executive with a poultry company in Gainesville a. The Amana fund does not Purchase Stock in any company it considers in violation of islamic principles. That includes Banks and companies involved in Garm bling liquor or pornography. A we do not invest in things that intoxicate the mind or the heart of the person a said Bassam Osman the funds chairman. Despite the restrictions and the risk that comes with buying Only stocks the fund has posted a five year annual return of 9.17 percent according to Moringstar inc., a Chicago based service that tracks Mutual funds. That compares with a five year annual return of 11.34 percent for the average equity fund Moringstar said. A a. A. A. A a a a a a a. Amana a arabic for a a Trust a is one of a growing number of funds catering to those who want to invest according to their religious beliefs. Such funds have grown along with the explosive increase in Mutual funds in the 1980s and �?T90s. Catholic and mennonite organizations have started funds this year. The oldest and largest funds sponsored by religious organizations Are the lutheran brotherhood funds. The Minneapolis based group started its first fund in 1970 and now has $3 billion under management. Amana is tiny in comparison with about $11 million under management. The average equity fund has $450 million in assets according to  archdiocese tries to Cork alcohol sales from staff and wire reports Cincinnati a officials of the roman Catholic archdiocese of Cincinnati Are urging churches to take the booze out of Parish festivals. Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk Leader of the 19-county archdiocese has told pastors in a letter that churches could be held liable for accidents involving alcohol. Mormons baptisms of the dead of controversy by Vern Anderson associated press Salt Lake City a saints and sinners Popes and villagers martyrs and mass murderers a everyone who Ever lived in fact a eventually will get the Chance to be a mormon. Alive or dead. At least that is a Central Tenet of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day saints which has 50,000 full time missionaries proselytizing the living and Many times More members performing baptisms and other rituals for the dead. To mormons the idea is a deeply spiritual divinely inspired undertaking staggering in its scope to give every Post mortal spirit a Chance to accept or reject baptism in the a True Church of Jesus  a if they do not accept the baptism it is of no effect a according to the Church sanctioned encyclopedia of mormonism. To some non mormons however the practice is appallingly presumptuous a sort of theological hijacking. For example mormon genealogical records show baptisms were performed in Church temples for dozens of roman Catholic saints including Augustine Thomas Aquinas Francis of Assisi Ignatius Loyola Thomas More and Thomas amp Becket. A you can guess How we feel about it a said Julie Anderson spokeswoman for the Catholic diocese of Salt Lake although Catholic authorities will say nothing officially about the mormon practice. Others Call it religious bigotry. Mormon officials Are Well aware of the criticism. They seek to defuse it by stressing that baptisms and other uniquely mormon rituals performed for the dead have no Validity by themselves. The dead in a the spirit world awaiting gods final judgment must accept the True gospel of Jesus Christ before the ordinances done by proxies can apply said Thomas e. Daniels spokesman for the churches family history department. A so it is a labor of love a Daniels said since the ordinances Are believed to be essential to salvation in the presence of god. A we Are doing for them what they can to do for  however the project is viewed it is accelerating As the Church approaches 9 million members and plans to build Many More than its current 45 temples. The churches registry of names a an extraordinary Boon to genealogists and other researchers of All faiths a exceeds 2 billion. Millions More Are added each year As teams of mormon specialists pore Over Public records throughout the world offering free microfilm copies in Exchange for Access. Church photographers make More than 100 million exposures of documents a  amps file research shows that Joan of arc portrayed Here during a festival in France has had 14 proxy baptisms Courtesy of the mormons. Since the first baptisms for the dead were performed in 1842, mormons have logged some 200 million such ordinances. But several million have been inadvertent duplications owing to a multiplicity of records spelling errors and perhaps the allure of celebrity. Research shows that Joan of arc has had 14 proxy baptisms. Judy Garland Charlie Chaplin Jack Benny and . Fields have had five each Humphrey Bogart Lucille Ball Fred Astaire Boris Karloff Marilyn Monroe and Walt Disney four each a my Vivien Leigh Alfred Hitchcock and Mae West three apiece. A nothing is going to entirely eliminate duplication a Daniels said not even incorporation of the cumbersome microfilm into a new computer system designed to offer quicker Access. Even one misplaced letter in an entry can Lead to duplications. Daniels said some demographers estimate 69 billion to 70 billion people have inhabited the Globe at one time or another and Church experts estimate that identifying records exist for Only 10 percent of that total. A we done to have any Way to determine who those other people Are a Daniels said but mormons believe the bulk of their work on behalf of Mankind will come after Jesus Christ returns and peace reigns for 1,000 years. A i would be very Happy if All our parishes and institutions simply decided that there would be no Selling of alcohol at All in the context of social or athletic activities a he to it the. A a the archbishops april 14 letter did not order a ban on alcohol sales. St. Rita school for the deaf affiliated with the archdiocese holds a summer festival that generates at least $100,000 for school operations. Alcohol sales account for 15 percent of the profits spokeswoman Becky Fickenworth said. A we Are still going to serve Beer. But there May be some changes like in the size of our Servings a she  group to meet Kaiserslautern Germany the first formal gathering of the newly reactivated unitarian universalist Fellowship of Kaiserslautern will meet at 2 30 . Sunday. The Rev. Orloff w. Miller will be the guest speaker at the Public meeting in building 3211, the religious education Center on Kleber Cavern. Miller is a minister at Large for the european conference of the unitarian universalist association. His topic will be a Why i chose unitarian  the Kaiserslautern Fellowship serves military Anad civilian families in the Community. For information Contact Mindy Goeres at 06395-8595 or Valerie Harrison at 06385-5698.whalers Pray for catch Barrow alaskan whaling captains  families Are seeking divine help for the Spring season. _ they gathered at the inupiaq Assembly of god Church recently to Pray for safety and successful whaling. It was a fitting place to gather the Church roof is shaped like the ribs of a boat. The service is held at one of two churches in Barrow each Spring. A we should never lose sight of who a the source of everything for us. We should always worship the giver not the gift a the Rev. Dwain Mckenzie said. The whaling Crews have been getting ready since Early last month when they began Patching up their Umi aks the Sealskin covered boats they use for their Spring Bowhead  cashing in Frederick my. A when a Maryland Church offered $10 to All newcomers april 10, the Church was swamped with worshippers a a and with journalists. The Story of the Church the Frederick Christian Fellowship and its $10 inducement became National news. A but what happened the next sunday attendance was Down from the celebrated sunday but higher than it had been before said the pastor the Rev. Randy Goldenberg. On the sunday of the Giveaway about 300 people attended nearly double the regular attendance. Most of the newcomers accepted the Money and All but a few demonstrated that they had a conscience a they put the $10 in the collection plate. Goldenberg said that Only 32 people kept the Cash. One week later the pastor said there were about 200 people in Church and despite the Lack of incentives Many new faces. , he said was not to raise membership but to reach those who find Church a waste of time inconvenient or irrelevant. A we believe that the gospel is As valid today As it was 2,000 years ago but has to be communicated in contemporary  the pastor favors Blue jeans for worship and makes ample use of a  in the service. The Church which the pastor described As evangelical and interdenominational is in Frederick about Midway Between Baltimore and Washington