Muslims affirm Saudi king's interfaith effort. Hundreds of Muslim leaders worldwide have endorsed Saudi King Abdullah's recent call for intensified interfaith dialogue in order to dampen global conflict and demonstrate Islam's commitment to solving world problems. The declaration came at the close of a three-day conference in Islam's holy city of Mecca to discuss Abdullah's surprise announcement that he wants to launch a new dialogue among Muslims, Christians and Jews. The lengthy declaration affirmed dialogue as an Islamic value, and cited the need to refute those who promote “clash of civilization” theories and “claims that Islam is an enemy of contemporary civilization.”
Families feud over ‘Footprints.' “Author Unknown” once asked Jesus why there was only one set of footprints in the sand during life's most perilous moments. Now a federal court on Long Island is trying to decide just whose footprints those were. Basil Zangare of Shirley, N.Y., claims they belonged to his late mother, Mary Stevenson, and that she's the author of the “Footprints in the Sand” poem. Zangare filed suit May 12 claiming his mother penned the words in the 1930s and registered them with the U.S. Copyright Office in 1984. Not so fast, said John Hughes, lawyer for Canadian evangelist Margaret Fishback Powers, one of the women named in Zangare's suit. Hughes said Zangare waited too long to sue and, besides, the registration of a copyright doesn't prove absolute authorship. Powers, who lives in Coquitlam, British Columbia, is the only one with a registered trademark for “Footprints” and “Footprints in the Sand,” he said. Carolyn Joyce Carty, the other woman named in Zangare's suit, claims to have written the poem in 1963 when she was 6 years old and inspired by poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The proof of who actually wrote the poem could actually be lost in the mail. In a probate settlement after Stevenson's death in 1999, Hughes said, an alleged “original document” of her writing was lost in an overnight delivery.
Cal State reaches accord with Quaker teacher. The California State University system and a Quaker college instructor who balked at signing a state-required loyalty oath have reached an agreement that allows her to teach and attach a statement to the oath. Wendy Gonaver, 38, said the oath, with its promise to defend the United States and California constitutions against all enemies, contradicts her Quaker pacifist beliefs. Under the agreement, brokered by CSU and People for the American Way Foundation, Gonaver will be allowed to attach a statement to the oath stating that such compulsion violates her right to freedom of speech. “And, as a Quaker, in order to sign the oath in good conscience, I must also state that I do not promise to undertake to bear arms or otherwise engage in violence,” the attached statement continues. The state-run school system had objected to a previous statement Gonaver attached to the oath, believing it undermined the pledge, which is required of all state employees. Gonaver will teach two classes this fall at Cal State Fullerton.
Compiled from Religion News Service