WINNERS
***image1***Kaune Foodtown
Happy Passover, everyone. You can find-no kidding-12 varieties of gefilte fish and white fish among the Passover grocery offerings at Kaune Foodtown. For those who think of kosher food as bagels and, uh, more bagels, this specialty store carries enough sweet unleavened goodness to convince you otherwise. Chocolate-covered matzoh, anyone?
The earth
Northern New Mexico's religious community knows how to represent when it comes to Earth Day. The Unitarians are getting involved (focus of this week's service: climate change). The Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch honors the Earth Mother in honor of Earth Day at this week's sermon. The United Church of Santa Fe is also holding eco-conscious services. At a time when Christian fundamentalists are questioning the validity of global warming, it's good to see some churches doing their part for the environment.
Navajos
When a 1,500-megawatt coal plant was proposed in San Juan County, the Navajo Nation took action, questioning tribal members to find out what they thought. The result, released at the recent 15th National Tribal Environmental Conference, was a mix of traditional environmental assessments and references to the sun god and wind spirit. Kudos to the Navajos for standing up to the big mining operators; double kudos for doing so with traditional beliefs.
LOSERS
Wayward priests
When Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Washington, DC, last week, he had strong words for abusive priests. "It is more important to have good priests than many priests," he now-famously said while flying across the Atlantic. The pope's denunciation of abusive priests was a reminder of the mid-'90s scandal involving Santa Fe Archbishop Robert Sanchez, the nation's first Hispanic priest, who was banished after allegations of misconduct with young women surfaced; 14 other New Mexico clergymen were also accused of sexual abuses in that scandal.
KSFR
With all due respect to Camp Lovewave: Why would you do a three-part series on David Icke? The anti-Semite and all-around kook is featured in no less than three episodes of KSFR's Saturday morning radio show, beginning last week and continuing through May 3. Among Icke's beliefs: The world is ruled by reptilian humanoids, among them members of the British royalty, the Bush and Clinton families and-wait for it-Kris Kristofferson.
KRQE
You've been seeing it on the national news for weeks now: everyday people speaking out against this year's Olympic Games in Beijing, due to China's deplorable human rights record and religious censorship-specifically when it comes to Tibet. The Olympic Torch's world tour has been marked by frequent interruptions, all because of pro-Tibet demonstrators. Albuquerque's KRQE 13 got in on the action, but with a glaring omission. The TV news the other night featured pro-Tibet/anti-Olympics protestors getting their heads shaved outside the state capitol. There were several Tibetans there speaking out in the name of religious freedom and getting haircuts; but on screen, who'd you see shaved and interviewed? Only the handful of white folks protesting.
