COMMENTARY: Morality of Clinton scandal top religion story of the year

c. 1998 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin is the National Interreligious Affairs Director of the American Jewish Committee.) UNDATED _ Here are my picks for the ten top religion stories of 1998: 1. President Clinton’s sex scandal was the center of a national obsession about defining public morality, personal repentance, and societal forgiveness. Particularly striking […]

c. 1998 Religion News Service

(Rabbi Rudin is the National Interreligious Affairs Director of the American Jewish Committee.)

UNDATED _ Here are my picks for the ten top religion stories of 1998:


1. President Clinton’s sex scandal was the center of a national obsession about defining public morality, personal repentance, and societal forgiveness.

Particularly striking was the enormous spiritual and political support the president received from America’s black churches. Clinton’s foes focused on the David and Bathsheba biblical story, while his friends cited the Hebrew prophets’ God of compassion and mercy.

2. Science and religion, like two wary boxers, faced off against one another in a series of controversial issues, most notably the increasing likelihood of human cloning.

In addition, scientists claimed they could assemble the necessary parts to create a viable human being. Some religious leaders were appalled by such news, while others cautiously welcomed the prospects claiming that God, the Creator of all things, may be offering us new ways to battle disease and pain.

3. In February and again in November, Iraq narrowly escaped being bombed by the U.S. But in December, the United States and Britain launched their attack. The conflict between Iraq and most of the world has raised some profound religious questions. What are the criteria for a”just war?”How should the international community deal with the radical evil of Saddam Hussein’s regime? How are weapons of mass destruction morally different from conventional ones?

4. The Holocaust and its horrendous consequences made big news in 1998. After a long series of denials and evasions, Switzerland formally created a fund of over $1 billion as compensation for previously unacknowledged bank accounts belonging to Holocaust victims and their families. The complex question of returning assets, including valuable objects of art, stolen from Jews during the Holocaust was the focus of a large international conference in Washington, D.C.

5. The brutal murders of Matthew Shepard, a gay man, and Dr. Barnett Slepian, a physician who performed abortions, were violent lightning flashes illuminating America’s troubled moral landscape. Shepard’s murder forced religious leaders to confront the divisive questions of same-sex marriages, the ordination of homosexuals, and the role of gays and lesbians in synagogues and churches. And the polarizing debate over abortion, our nation’s most fevered issue, claimed Dr. Slepian’s life.

6. Acts of religious extremism continued to increase during the past year. Despite hopes for moderation, the Iranian ayatollahs strengthened their hold on the government, and the Islamic Taliban brutalized much of Afghanistan. In nearby India, Hindu nationalists carried out a nuclear test which was quickly answered by Pakistan with a”Muslim”atomic test as Hindu-Muslim tensions accelerated in the sub-continent. Israel celebrated its 50th birthday, but the bitter split between the Orthodox religious establishment and Conservative and Reform Judaism intensified.

7. The unlawful behavior of clergy from all faith communities made news. The sex offenses committed by a Catholic priest in Dallas, a bishop in Palm Beach, and a cardinal in Vienna captured the headlines along with the financial scandal that plagues the leader of a large U.S. black Baptist church body. But during the year there were a host of court cases involving clergy including a Long Island rabbi who broke the rule of confidentiality in counseling and a New Jersey rabbi who was charged with plotting his wife’s murder.


8. The long awaited Vatican document,”We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah (Holocaust),”was issued in March and drew mixed reviews from both Christians and Jews. In his introduction to the”Reflection,”the pope declared”…the sufferings of the Jewish people during … the Shoah remains an indelible stain on the history of the (20th) century.”But other parts of the document, especially those dealing with the actions of the church during the Holocaust and the role of Pope Pius XII, drew sharp criticism.

9. Millions of people, especially those living in highly developed countries, continued their personal and sometimes quirky searches for spirituality, the religious buzzword of 1998. While much of this phenomenon took place within the established religions,”New Age”groups and destructive cults attracted many followers as well. It is a trend likely to escalate as the traditional bonds of family and faith grow weaker in Western societies.

10.The always startling contrast between the extraordinary achievements of human creation and the uncontrollable forces of nature was illustrated by John Glenn’s second successful trip into space and the series of hurricanes, fires, and tornadoes that destroyed so many lives, particularly the poorest among us.

On a personal note, I mourn the deaths in 1998 of three dear friends who were pioneers in Christian-Jewish relations: Roy Eckardt, Paul Van Buren, and Edward Flannery.

DEA END RUDIN

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