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Friday, March 1, 2002
(WCBS) (NEW YORK) Mar 1,
2002 2:28 pm
CRACKING DOWN ON THE
SALE OF HOLY RELICS
Technology is making it easier to
buy all kinds of things, including holy relics.
"In the old
days you had to creep around in the dark corners and the dirty
streets to sell things. Now you just get on the Internet," says Tom
Serafin, founder of the International Crusade for Holy Relics.
Catholics have venerated relics, including bone splinters
and hairs from the saints for centuries. Serafin says, "A relic is
mostly a keepsake, a memento of a person who is possibly an
inspiration to you."
The sale of relics is forbidden by the
Catholic Church he adds. "The sin of simony is a sin named after
Simon Magnus. And it's the sin of selling a religious item. And that
would incorporate selling relics."
But online auctions are
creating a huge and lucrative market for them. "Here's a Website
selling relics. And she starts out in her copy by explaining it's
exosibus, so that's a bone of a saint. And she's starting her bid at
$199," he says.
The 200 members of Serafin's group are upset
with auction sites like e-Bay and have demanded they remove the
relics.
E-Bay's Kevin Pursglove says they can't monitor
every single thing for sale online. "There are 6 million items
available on e-Bay on any given day. And they generate 25 million
dollars a day in sales."
While federal law prohibits the sale
of human bones, Pursglove says there's not much e-Bay can do about
the auctioning of relics. "If e-Bay took the position that it had to
determine what was offensive to any individual or organization then
probably every single item on e-Bay could be challenged at some
point."
Tom Serafin says, "I don't think we can just simply
think of spirituality as a mere business. These are held in great
veneration by the Church. And it's very offensive to
people."
E-Bay's Pursglove says this is how the free market
works. "E-Bay is a marketplace and it is up to the e-Bay users, as a
buyer or a seller, to determine how the marketplace is going to be
used."
If you find the Holy Grail on there. Let me know.
VOLUNTEER WEATHERPEOPLE
Everyone
complains when the weatherman is wrong. But now you can help him
improve his average.
Louise Halberg, a spry 84-year old from
Sebastopol, California keeps a lush garden to attract butterflies.
But that's not all she keeps.
"People ask if this is a
butterfly house but I explain that it isn't, it's a federal weather
station," she says.
Halberg's federal weather station is a
white box in her garden that contains weather instruments. Every day
for almost forty years, Halberg has been recording rainfall and
temperature. She's one of 11-thousand volunteers scattered across
the country who collect important statistics for the government.
"There's been about eight-hundredths since this morning; we
haven't had much rain today," she says.
Having
trained-volunteers such as Halberg collect local weather information
helps meteorologists understand and predict the weather.
Andy Horvitz manages the Cooperative Observer Program for
the National Weather Service, he says "That information is critical
to provide special weather statements or update on warnings that the
National Weather Service would then issue."
The Cooperative
Observer Program dates back to 1890 and Horvitz says dedicated
volunteers who take the readings no matter what the weather is, are
what makes it work. "The one thing that just stands out is their
passion and desire and their love of the environment and their
wanting to help and knowing that their observations can make a
difference."
With drought over much of the country but Louise
Halberg's observations about rainfall are promising. "This year we
don't have to worry about getting the hose out because we've had
about 17 inches compared to 5 this time last year."
For her
outstanding service, Halberg has been awarded the government's
prestigious Thomas Jefferson Award. If you'd like to know more about
the Cooperative Observer Program, contact the National Weather
Service.
ENDANGERED FOODS
Believe it or
not there are foods in danger of extinction.
"These foods
are connections to our past. We are really at this crucial
crossroads where we could really lose so much of the history and
knowledge that go back centuries," says Patrick Martins, president
of Slow Food, USA, a group dedicated to biodiversity in our food
supply.
Should we save a species just so we can eat it?
People have gathered at New Jersey's Annual Har-fest to
feast on Delaware Bay Oysters.
"Tastes like the sea. I can't
explain it. I think it's something you have to try for yourself to
really understand. It was just like really slimy. I think the shame
would be on us as a human race to let something disappear from the
earth that tastes so good," Martins says. He wants us to slow down
and appreciate fine foods and keep them around for future
generations to savor. And the lives and livelihood of some people
too.
"When no one is buying the Delaware Bay oyster, you
lose the ambiance of that part of the river, you lose the boats that
used to go up and down the river fishing for the oysters, you lose
the families that have spent generations connected to those waters,
you lose a whole way of life."
The Delaware Bay Oyster is
the first food inducted into Slow Food's North American Ark of
Taste, named for Noah's Ark. They oyster made it into the ark
because saving oyster beds purifies the water and because they just
plain taste good.
Executive chef Jim Weaver made the winning
nomination. "The Ark Project searches the world for products that
are at threat of extinction from commercial markets. Supermarkets
are looking for things that travel well, that look pretty and things
like that. That doesn't necessarily mean they taste the best and so
we are trying to preserve those flavors that are at risk of
extinction," he says.
Other foods in the Ark include
California's Blenheim Apricot, the Arkansas Black Apple and
Vermont's Gilfeather Turnip.
RELIGIOUS BOARD
GAMES
Is Monopoly too money grubbing for your tastes?
Trivial Pursuit, a little too trivial? Perhaps you need something
more substantial.
There's the Bible Man Game, the Redemption
board game, Race to the Khaba and Steps to Paradise.
For
Saira Sayeed her husband and their four children, a night out on the
town can be expensive. A restaurant dinner and a movie can cost a
small fortune.
So the Sayeeds spend a lot of time at home
playing board games.
They play Steps to Paradise, Race to
Khaba and a Muslim knowledge game called, Know Islam, Know Peace.
"It's like Bingo. You call out the word or the phrase and
you can't put a chip on that word unless you explain what it is,"
she says.
Saira says the game teaches her children about
their religion and imparts important lessons. "It's not just for
winning and losing. It's more of how you've played the game. How
you've cooperated with others. How you've learned from what you've
played."
Suddenly, there's a board game for just about every
religion. Kosherland is a Jewish takeoff on Candyland. In
Kosherland, players race to their kosher home.
In Leela,
Hindu families advance spiritually without landing on an envy or
ignorance square.
Lou Herndon runs the Christian game
company, Talicor. He says, "There's no blood and guts or anything
like that. I also think that a lot of people were looking for more
spirituality in their lives."
(© MMII Viacom Internet Services Inc. All Rights
Reserved.)
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More The Osgood
File Stories:
Monday,
March 11, 2002 Mar. 11, 2002
11:11 am
Friday,
March 8, 2002 Mar. 11, 2002
10:23 am
Wednesday,
March 6, 2002 Mar. 6, 2002
10:45 am
Tuesday,
March 5, 2002 Mar. 5, 2002 2:43
pm
Monday,
March 4, 2002 Mar. 4, 2002 3:21
pm
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