mm
5B
RELIGIONACOt Charlotte ^ot
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Afro-Cuban priests predicting more
homeland disease and crime in 2006
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAVANA—Priests of the
A6ro-Cuban religion Sant«ia
called on islanders Monday to
be wary of diseases, broken
agreements and corruption as
they issued their much-antic
ipated predictions for the
New Year.
Althou^ the annual ‘Tet
ter of the Year” is vague
enough to be interpreted in a
variety of ways, Cubans anx
iously look forward to it each
January
Several competing groups of
Santeria priests, or babalaos,
gather every New Year’s Eve
for religious ceremonies that
include chanting and animal
sacrifices. Predictions are
announced in the first days of
the New Year.
Santeria is a mix of spiritu
al traditions carried here by
Afiican slaves and Roman
Catholicism brought by
Spaniards. The faith is prac
ticed throughovit Cuba; even
many m^nbers of the Com
munist Party follow its ritu
als and look forward to the
predictions each year.
The “10 de Octubre” group
of nearly 900 priests, named
for the Havana municipality
where it is based, issued the
warning about disease, rup
tured accords and incresised
corruption.
The group said that the
Santeria orishas, or gods, rul
ing 2006 will be Obatala, god
of wisdom and justice repre
sented in the Roman Catholic
faith as Our Lady of Mercy,
and Ochun, the goddess of
maternity and newborns,
whose representation is
Cuba’s patron saint, the \^-
gin of Chaiity
The priests predicted that
Cubans will need to watch
out for cerebrovascular prob
lems, stomach disorders, hor
monal ailments and
unknown diseases.
Society as a whole can
expect an inaease in crime,
particularly corruption; bro
ken agreements, including
international accords, and a
risk of drought and other nat
ural disasters.
A different Santeria group,
the Yoruba Association,
which is more closely allied
with Cuba’s communist gov
ernment, had similar predic-
Muslims’ religious differences
underscore liquor proliferation
Continued from page 6B
dty and ^ddle Eastern shop
owna^, many of them also of
Muslim faith
“Any Muslim is foibidden to
sell alcohol but that doesn’t
give you the ri^t to vandal
ize by force and try to impose
your view,” said Mohamed
Saleh Mohamed, president of
the Yemeni American Grocers
Association, which repre
sents 250 to 300 Oakland
merchants. “That’s not
acceptable in any religion.”
Four men connected to a
bakery founded by a promi
nent black Muslim family
were arrested in the Nov 23
attacks and the images of
seven others were caught on
store security cameras. In
both instances, the vandals
asked store clerks why Ihey
were selling alcohol when it
was against the Muslim
faith.
At the center of the vandal
ism is Your Black Muslim
Bakery, a community institu
tion founded by Yusuf Bey a
prominent black Muslim
leader who died of cancer in
2003. Bey’s 19-year-old son,
Yusuf Bey IV, is one of file
four men facing felony
charges that include hate
crimes, vandalism and false
imprisonment
The bak^y features an out
door mural of Elijah Muham
mad holding a pie and sells
Malcolm X books along with
baked goods. The organiza
tion faced scrutiny in the
past, when founder Bey
defended himself against alle
gations that he raped young
women fix)m 1976 to 1995,
but it also has been lauded for
providing jobs and guidance
to young black men fix)m poor
communities.
Bakery ^nployees declined
to discuss the late November
incidents at the two stores.
But defense lawyer Loma
Brown said the vandalism
has prompted discussions
throughout the black commu
nity
‘T think it’s pretty clear that
the number of these stores in
low-income communities is
not good for people,” she said.
While black and Middle
Eastern Muslims may pray at
the same mosques on week
ends, their worlds do not tend
to overlap much beyond that,
said Hatem Bazian, professor
of Near East and Ethnic
Studies at the University of
Cahfomia, Berkeley
Muslim store owners tend
to live in the suburbs away
fiom the concerns of black
Muslims, who disproportion
ately live in cities, Bazian
said. The immigrant shop
keepers also interpret Islam
to justify selling alcohol.
“They open businesses
regardless because of econom
ic opportunities,” Bazian said.
“The question becomes would
Court upholds the GM program that
was accused of religious bias
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
INDIANAPOLIS-A Gen
eral Motors program that
allows Hispanics, blacks or
lesbians —but not Chris
tians—to organize in employ
ee groups is not committing
religious discrimination, a
federal court ruled.
GM’s Affinity Group diversi
ty program does not discrimi
nate against Christians
because it treats all religions
equally the 7th Circuit U.S.
Court of Appeals in Chicago
ruled Thursday
The coxirt upheld a decision
by a federal judge in Indi
anapolis, where the original
lawsuit was filed by John
Moranski, a bom-again
Christian who woiks at CM’S
AUison TYansmission plant in
Indianapolis.
Moranski applied in Decem
ber 2002 to start an interde-.
nominational Christian
employees group as part of
the diversity jMogram, accord
ing to coiu*t docum^ts.
GM rejected the application
because program guidelines
do not allow AflSnity Groups
to promote religious positions,
the documents state. Morans
ki filled a ccmplaint with the
Equal Employment Opportu
nity Commission and then
filed a federal lawsuit claim
ing that the denial constitut
ed illegal rdigious discrimina
tion
Judge David Hamilton dis
missed the suit, holding that
Mcxmiski had failed to state a
claim for the court to consider.
The appeals court agreed
“The allegations in Morans-
ki’s complaint make clear that
GCTieral Motors would have
taken the same action had he
possessed a different religious
position,” Judge Ann Claire
William.q wrote in opinion.
Moranski argued that the
guidelines treat religious
groups less favorably than
nonreligious groups, but the
appeals court disagreed The
guidelines, the court said, pro
hibit the forming of Affinity
Groiqjs based chi any religious
position, including atheism.
“Simply stated. General
Motors’s Affinity Group policy
treats all religious alike—it
excludes them all fi*om serv-
tions with some variations
and said that the orishas rul
ing 2006 would be Oggun,
asscxdated with St. Peter in
Roman Catholicism, and the
Virgin of Charity
The Yoruba group called for
Cubans to pay attention to
their health, especially car
diovascular ailments and
mental problems.
It warned against violence
and alcohol and drug abuse,
calling for the exercise of
intelligence, humility and the
guarding of secrets.
Like the larger “10 de
Octubre” group, the Yoruba
Asscxriation also called on
Cubans not to underestimate
the power of meteorolc^cal
phenomenon.
cue
Cbaiiottt
Post
hv
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they open a liquor store back
home? The answer is, they
wouldn’t be able to do it.”
As pohee contiriue the
search for suspects, communi
ty leaders have targeted the
glut of comer markets selling
fortified wine, malt liquor and
cheap alcohol as one of Oak
land’s most pressing prob
lems.
West Oakland, where the
twin vandalisms took place,
has 69 stores supplying liquor
or beer and wine. That’s 28
more than the maximum
number acceptable by state
standards for the population,
according to Urban Strategies
Council, an advocacy group
working to reduce poverty
Jamillah Smith, 33, lives in
a West Oakland neighbor
hood close to several liquor
stoi^ and comer markers.
She said the stores are hubs
for drug dealing and violence
and that drunks often urinate
on the walls of the markets.
Smith is afi*aid to let her
children, ^es 14, 12, and 10,
walk near the shops after a
man was shot in fixjnt of a
market. But she doesn’t own a
car and must occasionally
visit the stores to purchase
essentials.
‘Tf I had known it was like
this I would have never
moved over here,” she said,
adding that the markets
should be encouraged to sell
more fi^h foods.
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THE STOCK MARKET
ing as the basis of a company-
recognized Affinity Group,”
Williams wrote.
GM corporate diversity
spokeswoman Crystal Hick
man said the company was
pleased with the decision but
declined to elaborate.
According to GMs Web site,
the company recognizes nine
Affinity Groups including
ones for {people with disaldli-
ties, gays and lesbians,
women, Hispanics, veterans,
and four groups for people of
Afiican ot Asian ancestry
Moranski could not be locat
ed for comment as no home
telephone number was listed
for him in the Indianapolis
1
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9:00 - 10:00 AM
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