wfn.org | Bishop Targets Tobacco, Alcohol

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (179
notes).

Note 179 by UMNS on June 23, 1997 at 15:40 Eastern (2963 characters).

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

Contact:  Joretta Purdue                       367(10-31-71B){179}
          Washington, D.C.  (202) 546-8722           June 23, 1997

Bishop May targets tobacco, alcohol
in another phase of 'Holy Boldness'

     WASHINGTON (UMNS) -- United Methodist Bishop Felton E. May
launched an anti-tobacco and anti-alcohol campaign here June 20
that targets these substances and the campaign contributions the
two industries shower on candidates for public office.
     Announcing that "business as usual in the city of Washington
will no longer be tolerated," May recognized several area
officials who have pledged not to accept such gifts.
     The church needs to address the problems related to these two
substances, said May, who became episcopal leader of the church's
Baltimore-Washington Conference less than a year ago.
     "We cannot live by spiritual values on Sunday and marketplace
values Monday through Saturday, never allowing the two to meet,"
he declared.
     May was joined by the Rev. Alpha Brown, a United Methodist
clergyman who founded 'Cause Children Inc., which prompted
legislation that removed all public signs in Washington related to
tobacco. Legislation to do the same for alcohol and related
products is to be offered in July.
     The District of Columbia has an usually high density of
liquor stores -- one for every 1,900 people, Brown said. There is
one alcohol outlet per 330 people, he added. The nation's capital
has the highest death rate for alcohol as well as the highest per
capita consumption in the nation, he said.
     Brown also protested that "in a city where the water is bad,"
too many youth are buying 40 ounces of malt liquor because it is
cheaper than a smaller amount of bottled water.
     The Rev. Charles Anthony Muse, a United Methodist and an
elected official in adjoining Prince George's County, Md., invited
others to join him in refusing contributions from alcohol and
tobacco interests that are "helping to kill many in our society."
     Another elected official, the Rev. Norman Handy said he lost
both parents to these substances: his mother, whose cancer was
caused by second-hand smoke, and his father, whose death resulted
from barbiturates and alcohol in combination with prescribed
medication.
     Handy, also a United Methodist, was the force behind a
campaign to legislate the removal of alcohol and tobacco
billboards near schools and playgrounds in Maryland. The law was
challenged in the courts, but the Supreme Court upheld the
Maryland legislation.
     The new campaign is part of the Washington-Baltimore
Conference Holy Boldness movement. Conference letterhead and
publications bear the slogan "United Methodists with an Attitude -
- Holy Boldness."
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