c. 1998 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON _ Some 30 religious leaders _ saying President Clinton’s alleged sexual misdeeds do not meet the Constitution’s standard for impeachment _ Wednesday (Oct. 7) urged Congress to end its inquiry and focus instead on”the larger moral imperatives that urgently demand our attention.” One day before the Republican-controlled House was expected to vote in favor of launching a full impeachment inquiry, Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders _ many of whom have long supported Clinton policies _ said in a joint statement,”We plead with members of Congress to adhere to a responsible order of priorities.” Their statement was the latest in a series of pronouncements by religious figures on both sides of the impeachment issue. While conservative religious leaders such as Pat Robertson have urged Clinton’s impeachment, African-American clerics, among others, have been notable among those saying that because Clinton has asked Americans for their forgiveness he deserves another chance.
In the new statement, the religious leaders said they shared”America’s distress arising out of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair”and were”deeply disappointed by President Clinton’s behavior and strongly condemn his willingness to mislead the nation.””In his personal conduct,”they said,”he has violated the fundamental moral teachings of our religious traditions.” Nonetheless, said the leaders,”our reading of the Constitution’s provisions for impeachment strongly suggests that the personal transgressions here involved are not what the framers had in mind when they spoke of `high crimes and misdemeanors.'” Instead of continuing with impeachment proceedings, the religious leaders urged Congress to turn instead to public education, crime, health care, campaign finance reform, the”escalating human tragedy in Kosovo”and other”profound moral issues”in need of political attention.”We remind (Congress) that politicians are judged not only by personal character, but also by their willingness to do what the Constitution urges: `establish justice’ and `promote the general welfare,'”they said.
One signer, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of Reform Judaism’s Union of American Hebrew Congregations, said in a separate statement that the president’s moral failings have become a pretext for Congress”to ignore the great moral issues.” In addition to Yoffie, signers of the statement included the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary of the National Council of Churches; James A. Dunn, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs; Dr. Maher Hathout, imam of the Islamic Center of Southern California in Los Angeles; and Rabbi Jerome Epstein, president of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
Other signers represented the Armenian Orthodox Church, the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the United Church of Christ, the Moravian Church in America, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the United Church of Christ, the Mar Thoma Church, the American Baptist Churches, the African Methodist Episcopal Church and Islamic groups in Nevada and New York.
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