Religious Leaders

Sponsors of legislation designed to bolster protections for members of religious groups withdrew the proposal yesterday, saying they were unable to resolve problems with the measure in the remaining three weeks of the General Assembly session.Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, a Prince George's Democrat, and Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg, a Baltimore Democrat, pulled the legislation, which opponents maintained would have granted rights far beyond those historically protected under the law.In withdrawing the measure, Miller acknowledged that the bill "has possible unanticipated consequences."

Editor: I do attend church, I know I need to; I am not anti religion. I am aware that front men promote wants and causes they hope will produce big bucks for themselves and their sponsors. Religious promotions are some of America's biggest recipients of money. Religion sells well on TV and in other public arenas. Some religious promoters become rich and some do go broke. Here in Harford County prayer is banned from public schools during the school week, however some of Harford's Public Schools become Churches on the weekend.

The differences between warring factions in Bosnia are not so much ethnic as they are religious. Serbs are Orthodox Christians, Croatians are Roman Catholic and Bosnian Muslims are descended from people who converted to Islam during the Turkish invasions. Each of these religions strongly condemns the barbaric acts that have characterized this war. And they each speak of peace, of forgiveness and reconciliation. Where diplomacy has failed, perhaps the power of faith that reaches beyond creed and cant will yield the potential for finding common ground.

The Feb. 3 Baltimore Sun once again reported unsettling and saddening news: "Six shootings, two dead in spate of city violence. " One must ask, why does such violence continue when the mayor, police chief, elected officials, religious leaders and concerned citizens have each taken diligent steps to address the violence? What else needs to be done or what has been overlooked that the violence cannot be minimized or stopped? It's disheartening that so many noble deeds by so many people haven't quelled the violence.

I wait in vain for someone - politicians, civic and religious leaders, newspaper editors or educators - to point out the role of parents in student achievement ("Absence of achievement," July 18). Citing parental responsibility appears to be the third rail in any discussion about falling test scores or absenteeism. Although educators have long accepted their role in loco parentis during the school day, they cannot and should not be held responsible for being parents 24/7. No one can deny that the breakdown of the family in modern society contributes negatively to student achievement.

Maryland will become the focus of the volatile national debate on gay rights today, as a Baltimore Circuit Court judge hears arguments challenging the state's prohibition of same-sex marriages. On the eve of the legal fight over whether Maryland's marriage law discriminates against same-sex couples, a diverse group of about 50 religious leaders gathered yesterday at a Bolton Hill church to pledge their support for what they called the couples' fundamental rights of marriage. Maryland is one of at least six such states - the others are Washington, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and California - with pending legal challenges to marriage laws.

KAMPALA, Uganda -- When it comes to buying condoms, Gideon Byamugisha prefers to dart in and out of the drugstore, leaving his car engine running for a quick escape. But invariably, after watching a rattled clerk triple-bag his purchase or enduring disapproving glares from fellow customers, Byamugisha goes out and turns off the motor, returns to the store and tells his story. "It's the collar," said Byamugisha, a canon with the Anglican Church of Uganda. "They look at me and think: Sin has gone deep when even a man in a collar is buying condoms."

Army officials at Fort Meade are resisting calls from service members who describe themselves as atheists to officially recognize lay leaders to represent their beliefs and help military chaplains minister to the needs of nonbelievers. The Army recognizes lay leaders among Christians, Jews and Muslims, but says it can't do the same for 10,000 or so active-duty service members who are atheists because they belong to no organized religion. It's debatable whether the set of beliefs to which many atheists subscribe - among them a conviction that humans cannot look to God to solve their problems, and that people must seek within themselves and each other to find meaning and fulfillment in life - constitutes a "religion" in the conventional sense.

Since the arrival of the New Year, America's Nigerian diaspora, including its significant community in Maryland, must be dismayed by the news from Africa's most populous country. The reluctance ofNigeria'sgovernment to prevent or punish violence between Muslims and Christians has invited further violations of religious freedom and losses of innocent life. During the first week of January, in one day in Adamawa State in the north, at least 20 people were killed and 15 others wounded.

NEW DELHI, India -- Summoning all his moral authority, Pope John Paul II tried yesterday to persuade leaders of other religions here that interfaith understanding should lead them to recognize the Roman Catholic Church's right to evangelize."