c. 2006 Religion News Service
Eds.: Scot Sloan in the 9th graph below is cq.
Minister, Activist William Sloane Coffin Eulogized at Riverside Church
(RNS) Thirteen hundred people gathered at New York’s Riverside Church on Thursday (April 20) to celebrate the life of minister and activist the Rev. William Sloane Coffin Jr.
Coffin was eulogized by author and journalist James Carroll, as attendants filled the sanctuary to show their appreciation for the man who led this church from 1977 to 1987 and provided the voice for a host of anti-war and civil rights causes.
Coffin, 81, died April 12 of congestive heart failure.
“Life in death, that contradiction _ no, that paradox _ is a fitting last subject of the sermon that was Bill Coffin’s life,” said Carroll. “Who was that man? Why, he was the man of paradox, of course. … He was a first white man standing with black folks. A patrician who was the tribune of nobodies. A patriot in disobedient dissent. A critical thinker with a simple faith.”
Coffin was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1956 and later gained ordained ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ, which he maintained until his death.
In 1958, he became the youngest chaplain in the history of Yale University, his alma mater. Before joining the church, he served as Gen. George Patton’s Russian interpreter in World War II and worked for the Central Intelligence Agency in Eastern Europe.
In the 1960s in his role as Yale chaplain, Coffin was a major player in the fight for civil rights and against the Vietnam War, taking his first “Freedom Ride” against segregation in 1961. In 1968 Coffin was indicted on charges of conspiring to counsel draft resistance.
In 1979, Coffin was one of four clergymen allowed to visit American hostages in Tehran, Iran. Then, in the 1980s, his activism turned toward the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Recently, Coffin championed a stance of total acceptance of homosexuals in the Christian church and campaigned against the war in Iraq.
Garry Trudeau’s ultraliberal Rev. Scot Sloan, of the comic strip “Doonesbury,” is a caricature of Coffin.
On Thursday, the deceased lay in front of the altar in a simple coffin of pine adorned with flowers, as people spoke about his life’s work, including PBS journalist Bill Moyers and Marian Wright Edelman, president and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund. “Underneath the Pines” by Coffin’s folk singer son David was played. At one point, peace activist Cora Weiss asked the congregation, “Who was inspired by Bill?”
Nearly all gathered raised a hand.
“No one has ever crammed more into a life, up until the last minute,” she said.
_ Nate Herpich
Anti-Abortion Pa. Democrat Makes His Case on Evangelical Campus
(RNS) Bob Casey Jr., the Pennsylvania Democrat who has gotten attention in his Senate race for his anti-abortion platform, joined a top evangelical leader Thursday (April 20) to argue that Christians should be concerned about the environment.
Casey, who is trying to oust Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, spoke with the Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, at Messiah College, a prominent evangelical campus in Grantham, Pa.
“When you consider it from a faith perspective, it’s part of the stewardship of God’s creation,” Casey said in an interview before his speech. “But it’s also part of responsible public policy.”
Casey’s is one of the most-watched Senate races in the country, in part because both he and Santorum are Catholics, and both oppose abortion. Casey is also a model of Democrats’ attempts to speak more directly about politics and policies through a faith lens.
Casey’s campaign trumpeted his appearance at Messiah as evidence that evangelicals are taking a second look at Democrats, and that the evangelical community is warming to more action on the environment.
Cizik has been pushing evangelicals to get more involved in what he calls “creation care,” even though some evangelical leaders, such as the Rev. Jerry Falwell and James Dobson of Focus on the Family, have resisted moves to tackle issues like global warming.
Casey said the environment is one issue that can transcend traditional partisan and religious lines. “More and more we’re learning that people can achieve a lot of consensus by emphasizing the common good, and in this instance it’s the environment and protection of the Earth,” he said.
Casey is the son of the late Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey Sr., who became a hero for anti-abortion Democrats when he was denied a speaking slot at the 1992 Democratic convention.
The younger Casey served as the state’s auditor general before he was elected treasurer in 2004. Casey said he may not agree with the Catholic Church on every policy issue, but said his concern for the environment is connected to his faith.
“I’m like a lot of Americans (where) the work that I do does have inspiration from and is informed by my own faith,” he said.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
High-Profile Pair Campaign Against Gay Marriage
(RNS) Focus on the Family Action Chairman James Dobson and Southern Baptist executive Richard Land are urging Southern Baptist pastors to take part in a letter-writing campaign supporting a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
“Traditional marriage is under attack from radical liberal groups and homosexual activists,” wrote Dobson and Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, in an April 12 letter to Southern Baptist ministers.
“We need your help defending the family _ and we implore you to involve your congregation, as well, in the battle to preserve the biblical definition of family in the face of these attacks.”
The appeal included a sample sheet of postcards. Focus on the Family Action is offering to send sheets of the postcards free of charge for pastors to distribute to church members. Postcards also can be downloaded and printed out from Focus on the Family Action’s Web site.
Dobson and Land asked pastors to “mention this campaign personally from the pulpit, if God should lead you to do so.” They also suggested pastors collect the cards at the end of the service to send or hand-deliver to senators’ state offices before debate on the Marriage Protection Amendment starts the week of June 5. They hope to send at least 1 million postcards.
Focus on the Family Action is a separate legal entity from Focus on the Family, although both were founded by Dobson. Unlike Focus on the Family, it is not classified as a charitable organization and has greater latitude in lobbying activities.
Last month (March) the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops proposed a similar plan in a letter to the nation’s bishops.
In the letter, Bishop William S. Skylstad called for bishops to participate in a postcard campaign run by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization.
_ Anne Pessala
Cardinal Once Considered for Papacy Backs Condoms for Preventing AIDS
ROME (RNS) A highly respected cardinal, once considered a candidate for the papacy, added his voice Friday (April 21) to a growing list of prelates who back the use of condoms as a “lesser evil” to prevent the spread of AIDS.
In an interview with the leftist Italian newsweekly L’espresso, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini expressed views that appeared to depart from Vatican teaching on a wide range of issues, including in-vitro fertilization, abortion and adoption.
Martini’s assertion that “everything possible must be done to fight AIDS,” including the use of condoms, contrasts with the views of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family, which has challenged the effectiveness of condoms in preventing HIV infection.
“In certain situations the use of condoms can constitute a lesser evil,” Martini said, providing the example of sex between married couples, in which one spouse is infected with the AIDS virus.
Martini, 79, is considered a leading voice among liberal thinkers in the Roman Catholic hierarchy. He was also regarded as a top contender for the papacy until 2002 when he began showing signs of Parkinson’s disease _ the same ailment that marred the final years of John Paul II’s papacy. Despite his condition, Martini is believed to have drawn a significant chunk of votes from progressive-minded cardinals voting in the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI.
The Vatican’s ban on contraception has been in place since 1968.
Martini, a Jesuit, also said that abortion laws should not seek to ban abortions outright, but to prevent “savage and arbitrary” abortions, such as those performed out of convenience or for the sake of population control.
Martini also credited abortion rights legislation with producing the “positive” outcome of reducing back-alley abortions.
The Vatican has been a fierce opponent of abortion rights laws, condemning the procedure in any context.
Martini also departed from Vatican opposition to in-vitro fertilization, asserting that it was more “ethically meaningful” to implant embryos that are currently frozen to “allow life to expand rather than be left to die.”
Turning to the topic of adoption, Martini said married heterosexual couples made the best candidates for adoption, but added that the question of single-parent adoption should be left to adoption agencies to decide. Some within the Catholic Church believe that permitting single-parent adoptions opens the door to gay couples looking to adopt children _ a practice opposed by the church and a source of recent controversy at some Catholic adoption agencies.
_ Stacy Meichtry
Salvation Army’s First Black National Commander Takes Office May 1
(RNS) The first black man to serve as the Salvation Army’s national commander for the United States will take office May 1.
Commissioner Israel L. Gaither was appointed Feb. 1 by his predecessor, W. Todd Bassett.
Gaither “not only has a reputation of excellence in his leadership role … he also has a great reputation for being very compassionate and being very in tune with the Salvation Army’s ultimate motivation and mission, which is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and serve the suffering of humanity without discrimination,” said Melissa Temme, public relations director for the Salvation Army National Headquarters.
The appointment is a landmark but does not represent a dramatic change in leadership for the Britain-based denomination, one expert said.
“Given its history of seeking inclusion, it’s not surprising that they would promote an African-American to the national commander position,” said Diane Winston, a professor of media and religion at the University of Southern California and the author of a book on the Salvation Army titled “Red-Hot and Righteous.” “The only question is why it took so long.”
In his new role, Gaither will operate out of the national headquarters in Alexandria, Va.
Gaither’s wife, Eva, will serve as national president of women’s ministries, in accordance with Salvation Army practice.
Her husband previously served as the chief of the staff of the Salvation Army, the second-highest position in the organization after the general. He was appointed in 2002.
Also taking office in May will be the Salvation Army’s new international leader, General-Elect Clifton Shaw.
It is unusual for a general and national commander to take office at the same time. Bassett was scheduled to retire last summer. Just weeks before Hurricane Katrina, he was asked to extend his term by several months. Temme said the request, in light of the flurry of activity that followed the hurricane, was “divine providence.”
Another first for the worldwide Salvation Army leadership is Robin Dunster, who will be the first woman to serve as chief of the staff.
_ Anne Pessala
Quote of the Day: Lexington, Mass., Schools Superintendent Paul Ash
(RNS) “We couldn’t run a public school system if every parent who feels some topic is objectionable to them for moral or religious reasons decides their child should be removed.”
_ Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash of Lexington, Mass., responding to complaints about a Lexington teacher who read a book about same-sex marriage to a class of second-graders. He was quoted by The Boston Globe.
AMB/PH END RNS
