Show - - - - - - Li FAITH The Salt Ldie Tthune CS Saturday March 20 2004 r the ie "spiriL- ad set up Al" hal hip her gift Embracing ' 'Al P' "l'A mu- ! : f 1 )orary age in ress their irge cand canned ked sack 'S Former nun demonstrates her power as a spiritualist medium )ss s meant JEFFREY SEGLIN r ever'-- ETHICS "but to that n peo- - Face the music and pay for the show tunes ! a expert-collec-- a relic Chris-a- y for te evan- as rhen t it gets and God ' di-- y of vork dhi's can be to seek' about I the 'J es sayi Lo ra "I it has't makes t It forl elerri tIAN THE NEW YORK TIMES Passion umiak WAYNE - M y wife and some friends have been planning a trip to Las Vegas where they will take in a few musical shows Recently when the traveling companions had dinner together one brought gifts for the others: homemade CDs of the soundtrack for one of the musicals She told her friends that her husband had burned the copies of his own CD on his home computer When my wife came home she ment tioned that she had mixed feelings about accepting the gift She knew that her friend's husband had broken the law by making an unauthorized copy of the soundtrack But she also understood that his intentions were benign: He thought he was doing the travelers a favor Turning down the gift would have been difficult My wife is certainly not the first to fmd herself in such a situation CD burners now come standard on most computers making CD copying simple More common is the practice of illegally downloading music from the Internet and sharing it with friends Every month more than 26 billion music files are downloaded without permission or payment according to the Recording Industry Association of America The RIAA has begun an aggressive campaign to stop this and it has sued hundreds of suspected music swappers — including teens Part of the problem may be that some 'people don't realize that what they are : doing is illegal Decades ago most teens thought nothing of making tapes of their favorite songs from records to give to friends That also violated copyright law — but record companies : never went after fresh-faceyoungsters trying to impress a few pals with their i awesome party tapes I The man who copied my wife's CD is not the serial downloader the music industry is targeting But the massive campaign to protect music copyright has elevated the question ofjust how rigorous people should be in policing themselves and their friends 4 "I'm very pleased that one of the benlents of the lawsuits is to make people much more aware that what they've been doing is illegal" says Cary Shertman president of the RIAA But what about people like my wife who receive the gift of pirated music — unsolicited? ' Sherman says the best response would be to express appreciation for the ' gesture but then tell the giver that they !Teel uncomfortable taking a gift that would hurt the people creating it" Of course Sherman doesn't have to vacation with someone right after on go she's been told her husband is a thief Rami Yanni an intellectual property ' lawyer in Los Angeles says my wife is not liable for copyright violation if the CD is used only privately at home t : But that doesn't mean she can enjoy ' The right thing to the music guilt-fre- e do is destroy the illegal copy and then puy an authorized one My wife has aleady done both And I've encouraged her to let her friend know that her husband's good deed was actually illegal Making an unauthorized copy of copyrighted music is stealing It means the creator won't be compensated for his or her work And there's nothing ethical about that : f: - ' ) )eople" o a man standing there And I'd run and get my mom and she'd come Migion !flews Salict and there would be nobody there" : ' N i says Nohavec who was baptized as a NJ —The Rev i Roman Catholic although her family a Nohavec wearing didn't attend church velvet dress 4 Young Janet described a bearded and a strand of pearls is doing what man wearing a dark hat and dark does she every Sunday to her mother Her mother clothing Within the SpiriDuring Journey was ) said he Janet's paternal grandfatualists' National Union Church's who had committed suicide ther of Sister former the service weekly Were these sightings influenced Charity demonstrates her power as a s Ri 1 : k hidphotos in the family album? by of decades medium after three f "When my parents came here ing it a displaced persons camp in from After prayers hymns and a homipost-wa- r NoGermany they brought no demonstration begins ly the I 4 pictures of any of these people" says havec picks a woman out of the ' the medium who is of Czech and Polcrowd of 45 Nohavec tells her the a' V ' ish heritage name Jim or James is important to 'i Her mother considered the mani her and that someone close to her a bad omen As a result festations accident died in a car or motorcycle Nohavec ignored the spirit people The woman tells the congregation she continued to see At 25 she Joined that her nephew James died in a car the Sisters of Charity of St Elizabeth annithe was " accident that very day in Convent Station Five years later death his of versary she left before taking fmal vows Gasps and whispers ripple She embraced her gifts two years through the congregation which t after leaving the convent At the invimeets in a wedding chapel at a cater°'10kr " tation of a friend she attended a ciring - cle (a group of people who contact the Nohavec later explains the interdead) "That night was the first night 1 action between her and the recipients I heard a spirit person" she says of her messages "I need their particiShe began attending a Spiritualist Nothe validate to message" pation church Eventually she trained at havec 47 says in her office at The 1 Lily Dale a Spiritualist enclave in Angel Within her metaphysical gift 4 New York and with the Spiritualists' is go"lithe in message shop Wayne National Union in England ing really well and the recipients are The SNU's teachings "resonated in the right place I'm not going to get with me Just live by the Golden many no's" Rule" she says The British-baseSpiritualists' Photo courtew Vimild Met Still she had her doubts "Once I National Union with which No-- I started to hear the spirit people havec's church is affiliated traces its The Rev Janet Nohavec delivers a Sunday sermon at the Journey Within God: to remember can called beliefs 1848 core praying to Its just history Spiritualists' National Union Church in Wayne NJ In addition to her pastoral 'Are you sure you want me doing the Seven Principles are: the duties the former Catholic nun is a psychic reader and local celebrity this?' The reply was a clear yes" fatherhoodmotherhood of God the With that certainty nine years brotherhood and sisterhood of huthe Journey Within Over founded Nohavec from to minisher sensations and the of ago communion the conveyed "spirit physical spirits manity the years the congregation has grown to 150 people" Spiritualist parlance for the dead She try of angels the continuous existence of the huwith 75 official members On Sundays the also can see into the future man soul personal responsibility compensation church usually draws 50 to 60 attendees Among "I love what I do I treasure it" says Nohavec and retribution for good and evil deeds and the them are Christians and Jews some still active own church teacher and founder of her soul for pastor every possibility of eternal progress In traditional congregations The church which emphasizes contact with psychic reader and local celebrity "The As a goal is to have an alternative place the spirit world teaches that mediumship should growing up in Franklin Lakes to for she her NJ verifiable be people worship who are not fitting into tragifts began by hiding ditional religions" says Nohavec "I'd be out playing and all of a sudden there's Nohavec says that she can see hear and feel - BY LISA HADDOCK s disci-l- e :' '-':- ' 3 f i d one-on-o- ) d 00 am I VICES 100L r ProvidNI Pn a view IlltOt 15 at exit) rchorg Ai isses I -- ' f pm 1 Who were you again? 7 "If you've 4 got something to say then it loud enough to be heard" That's the way Don Taylor of Nor-:fol- k Va responded to a recent question about whether it's OK to post criticism on the Internet anonymously hi Other readers such as Robert lc itHansen of Austin Texas feel that V"anonymous criticism is perfectly fine l'in many cases" One example is a Web !site Hansen uses to get information on the quality of apartment complexes While he suspects that landlords post lanonymous positive reviews to counter negative comments "most people can lee through those" he wrote Janise Woolstenhuline Witkowski of Sandy Utah believes that anonymity can be both helpful and destructive But too comes down squarely on the klide of full disclosure "Too much unfair damage is done under this flag" she wrote "Trashing a Colleague using this cloak is akin to writing and scratching on the bathroom They carry his image throughout the capital of San Salvador They paint murals of him on the walls of plazas around the country They compose songs and poems honoring him They also repeat his most famous sayings and remind those who weren't born during the war about the coun- El Salvador remembers Romero Continued from Cl f 14t‘14'Z 11(f:4 4' V -) try's past The Rev German Unarm a Salvadoran priest living in Salt Lake City believes Romero also has risen in people outside El Salvador At Westminster Abbey he is one of less than a dozen Christian martyrs honored with a statue Books about him have been printed in several languages Hundreds of Web sites are devoted to him telling about his life in languages that include German Italian and Portuguese A North American movie "Romero" focuses on his life as an archbishop And around Wednesday his native country welcomes thousands of international tourists who visit his tomb inside San Salvador's main cathedral the chapel where Romero was killed and the house where he lived They join the manifestations of love and respect for the archbishop among the people he loved Umaila said On Wednesday and on days leading up to the anniversary of his death crowds of people take to the streets el Nit " f th ‘Nv Nt — 1 11' le' 1 4 v101 NE k 14 i - to k 4101044 (1 91'46 d - ii "altt–' t 4 liIMatt'll iff"' oo' r11 40e' 1 - 01c iii'' t'-- V6111 Vc:'cVl ON ‘'1 m' ''041)!Ii ::h 7e-- — 'NI - 1 ro 0 ' Romero had urged the military to t '"Nt $ f 1 t 1 1ak — -- ' t 1 -flet ' J ' I 1 a war civilians that rst ' 1 stop killing during erupted in late 1979 over unequal land -- --- I 1I distribution and economic injustice "No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God No one has to obey an immoral law It is high e 4 time you obeyed your consciences rather than sinful orders" Romero RH INA Gut Dos Thr Salado TrIbunt said in a radio broadcast targeted at In March 2000 marchers in San Salvador El Salvador commemorate the 20th members of El Salvador's armed forcof Oscar Arnulfo Romero's death Next week crowds of es "In the name of God in the name of anniversary Archbishop will to streets to remember and honor Romero take the this suffering people whose cry rises to people again heaven more loudly each day I implore But Romero's views changed when you I beg you I order you: Stop the has been used to accuse Romero of bea his friend the Rev Rutilio Grande was whom subversive with ing by people repression" murdered and the archbishop began He called for economic justice in a he once socialized The bookish Romero came from examining the lives of the country's country where a group of wealthy elite roots and as an avid pucontrolled the majority of resources — middle-clas- s poor and oppressed that Grande had defended pil was sent to study theology in Rome largely with the backing of the military Umaiia believes the tales from the where he was ordained in 1942 as well as the government In 1977 he was appointed al chbish"He's become a symbol for all oppoor who saw Romero in his last days pressed people around the world" said op Considered too conservative to paint a truthful picture of the Dee Rowland of the Catholic Diocese of cause any waves in the country's politarchbishop "He was a man who loved humble Salt Lake City ically heated climate the wealthy welThat message has appealed not just comed him believing that he would people who loved the poor" he said "And that was the cause of his death" to Catholics but to anyone fighting support a political situation that fasaid them vored and it rguidos(asitribcom against injustice Umalla 1 i rolk I N- - 'Outsiders' weigh in against Pledge's 'under God' lusay I I E Li 7 stall" sat rt )1! m To see more reader comments httylirightthingnytsyncom visit BY ADELLE M Religion News his favor in June BANKS Srnite As the White House conservaWASHINGTON tive Christians and school board officials anticipate the arguments and outcome of the debate over "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance atheists and a range of religious minorities also are holding their collective breath In the last month pantheists Buddhists and humanists have added their views to the files at the US Supreme Court as the high court prepares for a March 24 hearing on the most closely watched case dealing with the intersection of church and state this term Michael Newdow an atheist who sued an Elk Grove Calif public school district where his daughter was required to join her teacher in saying d the controversial phrase said he is not more 20 than that briefs surprised have been filed in support of his arguments He feels the words added 50 years ago to the pledge make it unconstitutional "I figured they'd have the same feelings because it turns people into outsiders" Newdow told Religion News Service The Rth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in two-wor- friend-of-the-cou- rt 2-- 1 0 1 (COPYi 2002 but stayed its decision so schoolchildren in the affected Western states continue to recite the pledge with the words he opposes Newdow who has joint custody of his daughter with the mother argues that the school district is placing itself in the midst of family and religious decisions where it does not belong "The mother says there is a God" he said "The father says there isn't a god They're taking sides and they're interfering with my relationship with my daughter" Like some of those represented by the burgeoning number of arnicus briefs Newdow continues to declare his patriotism through recitation of the pledge but without the two words in question "I say it out of cadence from that point on and I'm turned into an outsider" he said Paul Harrison president of the World Pantheist Mmement said children of pantheists must make similar choices "They might opt out and take their chance of consequences" he said "They might recite it and just keep their mouths shut during those words or they might just pretend to be like everybody else They're not very nice options which is why we'd like to see those words removed" His organization which was incorporated in 1998 I is speaking up for the first time in a legal brief to the Supreme Court Its members revere the universe and consider nature to be sacred gathering for such occasions as a viewing of monarch butterflies in a eucalyptus grove in Santa Barbara Calif People familiar with Buddhist organizations say It is also unusual for them to take a legal stand of this sort "You should be allowed Ito be both a Buddhist and a patriotic American and what the pledge does in its current form is it forces these children to choose" said Ken Pierce a lawyer for a Wall Street firm that usually represents banks and filed an amicus brief for Buddhist organizations as part of its practice The I lawaii State Federation of lionpa Hongwanji Lay Associations one of the almost two dozen Buddhist groups on whose behalf Pierce filed an amicus brief wrote President Bush an September 2002 to in- form him that they passed a resolution in support of the 9th Circuit's ruling Bush responded that he intended to stick to the current language according to a letter appended to another brief filed jointly by Americans United for Separation of Church and State the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans for Religious Liberty pro-bon- o |