c. 2007 Religion News Service
Progressives, evangelicals pledge to `reason together’
WASHINGTON (RNS) Progressive and evangelical leaders called Wednesday (Oct. 10) for people in both camps to work together on issues that have long divided them.
Third Way, a Washington-based progressive think tank, released “Come Let Us Reason Together,” a 44-page document suggesting ways to bridge long-standing differences between some Americans that have either vilified or avoided one another.
“We are committing … to go back to our respective communities and tell them to stop using the other side for political gain,” said Rachel Laser, director of Third Way’s Culture Project, at a news conference announcing the paper.
“Imagine a Washington where we speak with each other and not at each other.”
The report, developed over a year, proposed five cultural issues where evangelicals and progressives could work together: affirming the dignity of gays and lesbians, reducing the need for abortion, placing moral limits on the treatment of human embryos, creating safe spaces online for children and promoting responsible fatherhood.
Dr. Randy Brinson, an evangelical co-author of the report and the founder of Redeem the Vote, said coming to agreement on a proposal about homosexuality was most difficult and accomplished “after a lot of discussion.”
Joe Battaglia, the other evangelical co-author and president of Renaissance Communications in Wyckoff, N.J., said he hopes to get progressives on evangelical Christian broadcasts where they may not have been featured previously.
“I hope to be a cross-pollinator,” he said after the news conference.
Robert Jones, a progressive co-author of the report and a consultant for the Third Way’s Culture Project, found in a research analysis that one-third of evangelicals are moderates who share some progressive values, and about one-fifth of evangelicals are progressive.
“We are ready to end the culture wars,” he said. “They’ve damaged our sense that a shared national life is even possible.”
Evangelical leaders such as Mercer University professor David Gushee and Orlando, Fla., megachurch pastor Joel Hunter stated their support for the effort, along with progressive leaders such as Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism and the Rev. Harry Knox of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
_ Adelle M. Banks
UCC leader arrested outside White House
WASHINGTON (RNS) Joining protest to prayer, the head of the United Church of Christ was arrested Wednesday (Oct. 10) outside the White House while attempting to deliver a pastoral letter condemning the Iraq war to President Bush.
More than 60,000 UCC members and supporters signed a petition in agreement with the letter, which blames the Bush administration for the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, the violation of human rights, and the diversion of billions of dollars from social welfare programs.
Led away from the White House gates with hands cuffed in plastic binds, the Rev. John H. Thomas, president of the United Church of Christ, said a sense of urgency over “the mess in Iraq” brought him to the White House.
Anti-war efforts “require more than the old kind of lobbying, and need extraordinary witness,” he said.
The 1.2 million-member United Church of Christ is known for its liberal stance on social issues. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is a UCC member, and delivered a keynote address at the Church’s General Synod last summer.
The Rev. Kelly Sisson, pastor of Glade Church in Blacksburg, Va., came to the White House to lend Thomas moral support.
“People of faith have been quiet for too long,” she said. “It’s time for people to have the courage to follow this example.”
Also arrested was the Rev. Linda Jaramillo, another senior UCC official. Both she and Thomas were given three chances to leave a “no protest zone,” a church spokesman said, before they were arrested by U.S. Park Police. The two were released about three hours later.
_ Sarah More McCann
Update: Vatican says bishops did not buy soccer team
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Contrary to news reports from last week, neither the Vatican nor Italy’s Roman Catholic bishops have purchased a professional soccer team, a Vatican spokesman said Tuesday (Oct. 9).
Based on an Oct. 3 article published in Italy’s La Stampa newspaper, various media outlets _ including Religion News Service _ reported that the Italian Bishop’s Conference had bought an interest in the AC Ancona football team, intending to raise moral standards among fans, players and executives with a new ethics code.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, acknowledged that the Centro Sportivo Italiano (CSI) was working with the Ancona team to develop an ethics code and to seek new financial sponsorship for the team.
“There are initiatives which have positive and commendable aims and, if the declared intentions can be effectively achieved, this is certainly a good thing,” Lombardi said.
Still, he insisted that the “Vatican and the Italian Episcopal Conference have nothing to do with this project.”
CSI, an independent organization that seeks to promote Catholic values in sports, is officially recognized by the Italian Bishops’ Conference, which appoints consultants to its governing boards. But the bishops do not own or exert any managerial control over the organization, according to a CSI spokesman.
_ Francis X. Rocca
Oral Roberts University faces charges of misspent funds
OKLAHOMA CITY (RNS) Oral Roberts University, which made headlines 20 years ago when its namesake founder said God would “call him home” unless he raised $8 million, finds itself embroiled in controversy again.
A lawsuit filed Oct. 2 by three former professors at the charismatic Christian university in Tulsa alleges illegal political activity and lavish, unchecked spending by President Richard Roberts and his wife, Lindsay.
Former professors John Swails, Tim Brooker and Paulita Brooker say they were all fired or forced to resign because of attempts by two of them to act as whistleblowers.
Tim Brooker, who coordinated the university’s government program, alleges that Richard Roberts pressured him to use university resources and students to campaign for a Tulsa mayoral candidate, despite laws prohibiting such activities by tax-exempt organizations.
The lawsuit filed in Tulsa County District Court cites a confidential report allegedly written by Roberts’ sister-in-law, Stephanie Cantese, that claims the Roberts family used university and Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association money for personal purposes.
Richard Roberts, son of Oral Roberts, responded in a written statement posted on the university’s Web site that “personal charges are charged personally to me.”
Allegations detailed in the lawsuit include charges that:
_ The Roberts family billed more than $51,000 in personal clothing receipts to the university.
_ A university jet was used to fly one of the Roberts’ daughters and several friends on a senior trip to Orlando, Fla., and the Bahamas.
_ Lindsay Roberts personally awarded 13 non-academic, non-need-based scholarships to friends of her children.
_ University and ministry employees are regularly summoned to the Roberts home to do the daughters’ homework.
_ Automobiles driven by Lindsay Roberts, such as her white Lexus SUV and her red Mercedes convertible, are routinely washed, waxed, cleaned and fueled by university personnel.
At a recent chapel service at the 5,300-student university, Richard Roberts said God told him: “We live in a litigious society. Anyone can get mad and file a lawsuit against another person whether they have a legitimate case or not. This lawsuit … is about intimidation, blackmail and extortion.”
Oral Roberts’ board of regents voted unanimously Oct. 5 to hire an independent outside auditor to review the claims and the university’s financial statements.
_ Bobby Ross Jr.
Groups join Muslims to fast for peace
STERLING, Va. (RNS) American Muslims were not alone as they kept their fast on the holiest night of Ramadan Monday (Oct. 8). They were joined by interfaith groups throughout the country, who spent the day fasting to show their solidarity and shared desire for peace.
The Interfaith Fast to End the War in Iraq involved grassroots gatherings at 53 locations from Palo Alto, Calif., to New York City.
In Columbus, Ohio, participants held a public peace vigil. A group in Albuquerque, N.M., sang peace songs in both English and Spanish. At St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., students from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian campus groups met together on campus.
“People have separated the Abrahamic faiths and paralyzed us from doing things together,” said Sayyid M. Sayeed of the Islamic Society of North America in a speech at the Washington-area event. “Today, we are dismantling these walls together.”
The idea for the one-day fast came from the National Council of Churches and the Shalom Center in Philadelphia. Dozens of national and local religious organizations signed on as endorsers.
The celebrations coincided with the Night of Power _ the holiest night of Ramadan, when Muslims believe Muhammad received the words of the Quran. Ramadan also overlapped with the Jewish High Holy Days in September, as well as the Christian feast of St. Francis of Assisi and the Buddhist celebration of Pavarana, the end of the rainy season.
“Muslims are already fasting at this time, and it’s important for all religions,” said Sarosh Koshy, from the National Council of Churches. “In doing so, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and so on stand in solidarity with Muslims, fasting with them so they don’t fast alone _ they experience a lot of discrimination in our country these days.”
The fast was also meant to bring religious groups together to call for peace in Iraq, but the organizers of local events were given discretion in how much to focus on the war.
_ Beckie Supiano
Quote of the Day: President George W. Bush
(RNS) “I believe there is a universal God. I believe the God that the Muslim prays to is the same God that I pray to. After all, we all came from Abraham. I believe in that universality.”
_ President George W. Bush, in an interview with Al Arabiya television, as quoted by The Washington Times.
KRE/LF END RNS
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Eds: Photos of John Thomas getting arrested outside the White House (2nd item) and the interfaith fast for peace (5th item) are available via https://religionnews.com
