Turner teams with churches
NEW YORK (AP) - April 1, 2008 Turner, 69, said he had only made a few disparaging comments a
long time ago and that he is "always developing" his thinking as
he grows older.
"I regret anything I said about religion that was negative,"
he said in a brief interview with The Associated Press.
Years ago, the CNN founder called Christianity a "religion for
losers." He also wrote his own version of the 10 Commandments and
asked CNN employees who commemorated Ash Wednesday whether they
were "Jesus freaks," saying they should work for Fox. He
apologized at the time.
Turner now says he does not considering himself agnostic or
atheist, as he had sometimes described himself previously. He prays
for sick friends because "it doesn't hurt," he said, and
maintains several churches on his properties for his employees and
others who live nearby.
He said he has attended the churches a few times, but isn't a
regular.
"I find it really hard to believe I'm going to hell," Turner
said.
Turner said he had read the Bible "cover to cover twice" even
though some of it is "pretty tedious" and considered becoming a
missionary as a boy. But he rejected religion after his younger
sister died of a form of lupus when they were both young.
On Tuesday, Turner's United Nations Foundation, which he started
in 1997 with a $1 billion donation, launched the malaria project
with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod and the United Methodist Church. The
Protestant groups have been working overseas to fight poverty and
prevent disease for more than a century.
"Religion is one of the bright spots as far as I'm concerned,
even though there are some areas, like everything else, where
they've gone over the top a little, in my opinion, " Turner said.
"But I'm sure God, wherever he is, wants to see us get along with
one another and love one another."
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also provided a $10 million
grant that will help promote the campaign in churches. The
Protestant groups together have more than 15 million U.S. members.
Turner's foundation had been working with many groups, including
the Methodists, on the Nothing But Nets campaign, which provides
insecticide-treated bed nets in needy communities. Lutheran World
Relief also had been helping malaria-infected communities.
But their new joint project has an even more ambitious goal: to
stop deaths from malaria.
The United Methodist Church will raise $100 million for the
project. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, with their humanitarian arm
Lutheran World Relief, will raise between $75 million and $100
million.
"This will be the largest campaign of its type ever for
Lutherans," said the Rev. John Nunes, president and chief
executive of Lutheran World Relief.
Turner has not completely embraced faith.
He said he continues to subscribe to his alternative
commandments, which he called the "Ten Voluntary Initiatives."
They include caring for people and the earth, promising not to have
more than two children and contributing to the less fortunate.
Nunes said that while the new anti-malaria project will address
the underlying poverty that contributes to the spread of the
disease, it will not involve distributing contraception.
"The religious community is huge and has a very good reputation
for being able to mobilize resources," Turner said. "Why not use
them and be thankful?"
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On the Net:
United Nations Foundation: http://www.unfoundation.org/