J une 25, 1997 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age B6
(Right-to-die issue, impending at Supreme Coi
Final results highlight the roles religion age and pain play
As America waits for the US.
Supreme Court to release its land
mark ruling on the right-to-die is
sue. 30,000 Americans age 55 and
over have already offered their opin
ion on the subject, thanks to an in-
depth study by Rx Remedy, Inc., a
leading information company spe
cializing in the health concerns of
people 55 and over, America’s fast
est-growing age group.
This is the first-evernational study
of the age group most likely to lace
this ultimate issue. The results show
strong across-the-board support for
right-to-die legislation. But respon
dents also voiced concerns about the
potential for abuse — for instance,
whether some insurers and hospi
tals might quietly use euthanasia to
reduce the cost of caring for termi
nally ill patients.
Here are other highlights of the
provocative 44-question survey:
• 65% o f the 30.000 mature
Americans surveyed agree that the
terminally ill should have a legal
right to commit suicide with a
doctor 's assistance, and 64% favor
enacting legislation to give people
this right
• Atheists are the strongest advo
cates fo r the right to die Catholics
are the least inclined to take this
ultimate step if terminally ill Spe
cific percentages by religion o f those
who support the right to die in the
30,000-person survey
Atlieists-
96%; Jews-88%; Protestanls-68%;
Catholics-50%.
• ,4 s Americans get older, sup
port does n I waver 64 % o f people
ages 55-65, 64.8% o f those 66-80
and 65.9% o f those over age 80
support right- to-die legislation
. 57% agree that more attention
to pain control could virtually elimi
nate the need fo r euthanasia, and
"H% agree that it is acceptable to
give patients high doses o f pain-
control drugs (such as morphine),
even if it hastens death
• 53% agree that physicians
should be allowed to give people
instructions on how to end their own
lives 33% disagree. But a full 90%
agree that doctors should be al
lowed to withhold life-sustaining
measures at the direction of a pa
tient. proxy or living will; only 5%
disagree
• Religious beliefs are somewhat
more o f an obstacle for men than
women 43% o f male respondents
(vs 39% o f female) say their faith
would prevent them from consider
ing suicide fo r themselves. Even
more men. 48% (vs 43% o f women),
sav faith would prevent them from
ddxirtActress busses
a Los Angeles production of Fame
Ms Williams is survived by her: mother. Georgia Williams-Hooper;
father, Hugh Williams; brothers, Eddie Denarval. Hugh Michael, II,
Brian Keith; sister, Nicole Ronal; a host ot aunts and uncles; special
friend, James Hill; special cousin, Shawn Daniels; longtime triend, Freda
Walker and many more relatives and triends.
Funeral services were held Saturday, June 21st a, 12 o’clock noon at
Daniels Memorial Church of God in Christ. Internment will be Lincoln
Memorial Park
ing, God Sound
Weaving Biblical sensibilities, pre-millennium pre
cariousness and an inquisitive nature ot the state o t the
care7 "
Another nurse writes: "Like all
global community within a hip-hop jones, God Sound
is an aural tapestry that rings vibrant like a religious
revival: a blend that is alternatively prognostic, con
demning, uplifting and oftentimes fun; never preach
ing or condescending; and always loving.
“To me, it’s kinda like living in Manhattan and
being surrounded by all of these buildings, but yet the
sunset is still dope,”
explains Mondo of
the alb u m 's title.
‘No m atter how
much you try to take
away from it; no mat
ter how high you
make the buildings,
still look at it
, ’Yo, that’s a
phat sunset.”'
B eginning with
“ Intro,” an ominous
instrumental score
which relaysconver-
sation like a smoky
ja z z p iece, God
Sound takes the lis
tener by the hand,
painting pictures of
our relative world
juxtaposed next to
spiritual im agery
and R evelatio n s-
type prem onition,
m ost notably on
J “The Beginning of
the End." “ Mark of the Beast," “Sodom & Gomorrah
and “ Behold A Pale Horse " Here the Boogiemonsters
play significant yet low key figures. While schemes ot
grandiloquencemay have other rappers fancying them
selves as Biblical Kings, Prophets or Messiahs, Mondo
and Vex seem happy to the two unidentified angels
taken in by Lot at Sodom's gateway. (Gen. 19.)
undertaken by Rx Remedy, Inc., a
five-year-old health-information and
database-marketing company The
firm has invested $20 million in
building an unparalleled data ware
house about the health practices,
attitudes and behavior ot American
consumers in more than I 2 million
55+ households.
The 44-question survey was dis
tributed to households in the com
pany database through its consumer
link, RxEMF.DY(R) Magazine
Over 100,000 households returned
the surveys, many with impassioned
letters based on personal experiences.
From this response base, 30,000 sur
veys were selected and tabulated to
create a demographically balanced
national sample. All sample respon
dents are age 55 or over; the median
age is 71.
‘Pedina spares new debate
The Supreme Court’s decision in
Agostini v. Felton will spark new
debate about whether controversial
school voucher programs are next
on the Supreme Court’s agenda,
according to Dr. Charles Haynes,
the First Amendment Center’s reli
gious liberty scholar.
“This decision will raise ques
tions in some minds about how high
a wall of separation there should be
under the First Amendment’s Es
tablishment clause," Haynes said.
The narrow 5-4 vote ruling held
that tax-paid, public school teachers
may provide instruction on secular
subjects in parochial schools with
out violating the First Amendment.
“For a majority of the Justices, the
government may provide remedial
instruction to disadvantaged children
in a religious school without advanc
ing r religion
or i becoming
e lig io n u
U U V V 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 entangled
■■
.
I
with religion,” said Haynes. He noted
that both Justice Sandra Day
O’Connor, who wrote the Court’s
majority opinion and Justice David
Souter, who wrote the dissent, sought
to uphold the principle that the gov
ernment may not advance religion.
They were in conflict, Haynes
said, on whether the facts in this
case entangle the state in religion in
violation of the First Amendment.
“ While the majority of the Court
argues that this decision upholds
government neutrality toward reli
gion, the minority claims that it is
opening thedoor to government sup
port for religion" he said.
“This decision may signal sup
port on the Court for other forms of
government aid that may be used in
sectarian schools, including voucher
p rogram s,” said Haynes. John
Seigenthaler, founder of the First
--------o -
A _____K a n t o r
c a id
Amendment
Center, said that the
question is whether the Court will
now allow substantial state funding
for private religious education in
other cases. “Justice O 'C onnor’s
ruling does not knock down the wall
of separation between church and
state - but it is opens another leak in
the funding dike that allows state
support to flow to religious schools."
The First Amendment Center is a
non profit, non partisan institution
funded by The Freedom Forum. Its
mission is to foster a better public
understanding of and appreciation
for First Amendment rights and val
ues.
For the complete text ot the
Agostini v. Felton decision and in-
depth analysis on the impact of the
C o u rt’s ruling check the First
A m endm ent C enter w ebsite at
www.fac.org.
Reformed church joins ‘E vangeticak
. q ^rttr-cem u jy , John and
For a quarter-century, John and
n , m o „ d id everythin,:
Shirley Damore did everything
Herbert W. Armstrong told them to:
They tithed up to 30 percent of their
income, followed Old lestament
dietary laws, and sent their children
to schools run by the Worldwide
Church of God.
For this, the Damores and some
150,000 other church members ex
pected that when Jesus returned to
Earth - and that was any day now -
they would be among the select few
taken to “the place of safety,” then
transformed into godlike beings ush
ering in the Kingdom of Christ.
If that is where the story ended,
the WorldwideChurchofGodwould
qualify as a uniquely American reli
gious success story, like the
Jehovah’s Witnesses, who carved
out an original theology and thrived
by never deviating from it.
Instead, after Armstrong’s death
began one of the most remarkable
transformations in American reli
gious history: The church formally
declared its founder had been funda
mentally wrong all along and that
the historic creeds of Christianity
were the new gospel.
BiipfclscondcmnDisncil
Southern Baptists voted unani
mously to boycott Walt Disney Co.
theme parks and stores as well as its
ABC radio and TV networks, pro
testing what church leaders say are
Disney’s “gay friendly” postures
such as its same-sex employee ben
efits and the popular “Ellen" show
The resolution, which passed with
a show of hands o f the more than
12,000 delegates, urges “every
Southern Baptist to take the stew
ardship of their time, money and
resources so seriously that they re
frain from patronizing the Disney
Co. and any of its related entities
“This boycott is another Mickey
Mouse attempt by religious conserva
tives to push their anti-fam ily agenda,
said Keith Boykin, executive director
of the National Black Lesbian and
Gay Leadership Forum
things in government, loopholes will
allow people to kill elderly relatives
or others under the guise o f she/he
is terminally ill ' Unfortunately,
greed is in all professions and I
include the medical profession
A man fro m Michugan asks:
Who has not experienced periods
o f deep discouragement, anguish
and depression? Are we all to call
it quits when that happens 7 What if
Franklin Roosevelt. Itzhak Perlman
or Beethoven had given up when
physical calamity- struck.' Many
greedy relatives (or even well-mean
ing ones) try to coax an aged or
ailing relative to end it all. saying
things like. They have lived their
lives, haven t they? I say No, no,
no.
These findings are the firs, re
sults from a comprehensive study
..........................
Well known Portland actress. Denise Carlen “Nuffy” Williams passed
June 16th. Among many, her credits include Ain’, Misbehavin , I he
Colored Museum, Red Beans and Rice, Long Time Since Yesterday and
We need something different in hip-hop," says
Mondo McCann. In one motion, he removes his army
fatigue cap, brushes his chocolate brown hand over his
low-cut hair, lets out a slight gush ot air, and continues
“I’m tired of hearing how high 1 can get. I m tired ot
hearing you just stuck up so-and-so. I’m tired ot
hearing about your clothes. I m tired of hearing, \ o
we need something
different’ - and no
body could pu, their
hands on it; or know
what it was they re
ally needed. So I’m
like. Bet. That’s all
you had to say,'cause
I felt the same way,’
I’m not buying an
other record til I hear
something different.”
“We not just get
ting on the mic on
some blah-blah, rah-
rah tip," adds Vex
(Sean Pollard) in his
raspy drawl, erratic
locks of hair peeking
from underneath his
skull cap. “We actu
ally have something
to bring to the table
that could actually
change your perspec
tive on how you’re liv
ing right now.”
------------
Mondo and Vex, co-conspirators in seditious and
inspiring musicianship, who together from the itiner
ant hip-hop duo known as the Boogiemonsters, sit
I back and relate the meaning of their sophomore offer
helping a terminally ill friend com
mil suicide
• Support fo r physician-assisted
suicide is weakest in the Midwest
and Deep South Yet overall. 46
states had 50% or more respondents
who supported the right Interest
ingly. support was strongest among
respondents in the nations capital
_ ?2% o f respondents in Washing
ton. DC say it should be legal
As for concerns about abuses,
the survey elicited dozens of let
ters. Following are some excerpts:
.4 nurse o f 30 years writes: Doc
tor-assisted suicide will become a
means o f disposing o f unwanted
people How soon before insurance
companies. Medicare and Medic
aid will refuse to pay for extended
T his spring, .he W orldw ide
spring, the W orldw ide
Church • once reviled as a cull
cult in
conservative Christian circles - was
welcomed into the National Asso
ciation of Evangelicals, a stagger
ing turnaround for a group that once
viewed the Catholic Church as the
Whore of Babylon decried in Rev
elation and Protestant churches as
the whore’s harlot daughters.
How great a change is this? You
can’t compare it to the Mormons’
decision to give up polygamy to as
similate with American culture. In
stead, it would be more like the
Mormons suddenly becoming Bap
tists.
The fallout from admitting its
members have no faster route to
eternal life than other Christians
has devastated the church. Annual
income has dropped from $200 mil
lion to $50 million, and member
ship plunged almost in half.
Three major breakaway denomi
nations have formed, and the num
ber of informal splinter groups could
run into the thousands, says Dixon
Cartwright, publisher of The Jour
nal, an independent publication fol
lowing the Churches of God
The people who rejecuhe char
The people who reject the changes
won’t tslo
stop
- the ones who won
p b believing
eh e
they soon will be raised up, while
others wait 1,000 years for an uncer
tain judgment - consider themselves
still the true church.
“ I’m literally basing my life on
that, my eternal life on it," says Rod
Meredith, who left Worldwide to
lead the new Global Church of God.
But for the thousands who had
become estranged from children,
neighbors and even spouses because
of the old church’s rigorous rules,
the revolutionary turn toward ortho
doxy is a breath of theological fresh
air.
“ Idon’tthinkanythingcouldhave
been better than to have these
changes,” says Ron Walston, social
izing with his family at the North
Dallas Worldwide Church of God
on a recent Saturday. “It’s abso
lutely astounding, but it’s absolutely
wondrous."
In life, he had a penchant for
private jet planes and meetings with
world leaders. But in death, not even
a separate headstone announces the
final restin g place o f Herbert
Armstrong.
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