A Long Beach man who has done...

A Long Beach man who has done investigative research to debunk faith healers and satanist cult scares has been named new editor of the Humanist, the nearly 50-year-old magazine of the American Humanist Assn.

David Alexander, 46, will succeed Lloyd Morain, 73, starting with the bimonthly’s September-October issue.

Published in Amherst, N.Y., the magazine’s circulation is between 25,000 and 30,000--at least four times the membership of the association.

“The membership (of the American Humanist Assn.) is disproportionate to the effect that humanist ideas have in society,” Alexander said. Author Isaac Asimov is president of the organization.

Alexander, who has worked as a magician, photographer and private investigator, wrote the lead article in the March/April issue of the Humanist. The article criticized the growing number of occult crime experts and anti-satanist “hysteria,” drawing heavily on a debunking study done by the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion, chaired by Gerald Larue, a USC professor emeritus.

“I’ve been associated with James (The Amazing) Randi for years,” Alexander said, “and I was one of his chief investigators for his book on faith healers.” Randi, a frequent guest on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show,” was given the 1990 Distinguished Service Award at the organization’s annual convention in Orlando last weekend. Broadcast executive-entrepreneur Ted Turner was given the Humanist of the Year Award.

Although the organization is incorporated as an educational body--not a religious body--the magazine and the organization often delve into religious and ethical issues, but from a non-theistic, skeptical point of view.

The Humanist magazine will be 50 next January. “It goes to virtually every major library,” Alexander said.

PEOPLE

Rabbi Harold Schulweis, a Conservative rabbi who leads Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, put a large crack in what he called the “Jewish Berlin Wall” when he spoke to an Orthodox group at Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills on a recent Sabbath. Orthodox and Conservative synagogues have been traditionally off-limits to rabbis of each other’s tradition, especially as religious and political issues have divided the strict Jewish law observing Orthodox and the more modernizing Jewish branches. It was not surprising last September when Rabbi Daniel Landes of Beth Jacob was warmly received at Schulweis’ synagogue--the first half of their bold exchange. But Schulweis’ appearance before the Upstairs Minyan of Beth Jacob last month was preceded by heavy criticism from other Orthodox rabbis. But Leo Noonan of the Jewish Journal reported that the overflow crowd “broke into loud applause for the Conservative rabbi” amid cries of a job well done. Schulweis, praising the “courage and warmth” of Rabbi Landes, said in his talk that if Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews don’t end their mutual hostility that violence and permanent polarization are likely. Schulweis suggested more such pulpit exchanges.

Father Alfred LoPinto, 45, now ending a five-year term in Washington as executive director of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ social justice-funding Campaign for Human Development, was named this week as new executive director of Catholic Charities in the San Bernardino Diocese. Bishop Phillip F. Straling also appointed LoPinto, who will start his duties Sept. 1, as rector of Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral in San Bernardino.

DATES

Fearing that Christian churches in general are perceived by the public as being anti-abortion, a 350-member United Methodist Church in Monterey Park has scheduled a convocation for 2 p.m. Sunday to affirm the denomination’s stance “to safeguard the legal option of abortion.” The Rev. Barbara Kilgore, pastor of the host Sage Memorial United Methodist Church, said the forum will also deal with family planning and world population problems.

The 25th renewal of Mary’s Hour, a revived devotional event sponsored by the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese, will be held in East Los Angeles for the first time on Sunday. Archbishop Roger M. Mahony will preside and give the homily at East Los Angeles College Stadium. The program is expected to run from 3 to 5 p.m.

“Are You Running With Me, Jesus?” was a religious best-selling collection of poetic prayers two decades ago. This Sunday at St. Augustine-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Santa Monica, its author, Father Malcolm Boyd, will be joined by eight other Episcopal priests for readings, starting at 5 p.m., from the revised and expanded edition of the book.