Thou shalt not eat potluck? Young adults who regularly attend religious activities are 50 percent more likely to become obese when they reach middle age than their nonreligious peers, a new study shows. Based on their findings, researchers at Northwestern University’s medical school think congregations should be a focus in the fight to prevent obesity. The research marks the first time a longitudinal study of obesity has been linked to religious involvement, the university said. The study, which tracked 2,433 people 18 years, compared men and women who attended a religious activity at least once a week to those with less participation. It found adults ages 20 to 32 with normal weight who were frequent attenders were 50 percent more likely to be obese in middle age. The researchers noted their findings do not indicate that people with significant religious involvement are likely to have worse health overall than nonreligious people. For example, religious people, who often smoke less than nonreligious people, generally live longer.
Protection sought for religious employees. A coalition of religious and civil liberty groups is pushing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to stop employers from segregating “visibly religious employees from customers and the general public.” In a letter submitted to the EEOC, the groups asked the agency to “exercise its regulatory authority” and enforce Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on religion. The organizations are concerned adherence to religious dress can cause segregation for employees, citing examples of a Muslim woman in a headscarf or a Sikh man in a turban, where courts ruled for employers who segregated those employees for their attire. The 25 co-signers, including the Interfaith Alliance, the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, presented three ways for the EEOC to be more aggressive in enforcement. The EEOC must enhance training on the guidelines for “inappropriate segregation” already in place; make enforcement a priority; and clarify that it is never appropriate to separate religious employees from customers to save a “corporate image,” the letter said.
Gay-friendly training for military chaplains begins. The Armed Forces have begun training chaplains for the repeal of the ban on openly gay military members, saying those who are unable to follow the forthcoming policy can seek a voluntary departure. President Obama signed a law repealing Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell last December, but the new policy will not take effect until 60 days after Obama and military leaders are assured that it will not harm military readiness. Lt. Col. Carleton Birch, a spokesman for the Army chief of chaplains, said about half of the military service’s 2,900 chaplains had received the training, which started in February and is likely to conclude this month. Only one Army chaplain has left the service over the pending repeal of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell, Birch said. But Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, an independent group that strongly opposes gays serving openly in the military, predicts more departures when the policy is lifted.
–Compiled from Religion News Service