c. 1998 Religion News Service
Clinton asks prayers over”difficult”Iraq decision
(RNS) President Clinton, in a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, asked Thursday (Feb. 5) for the prayers of the nation as he faces”a difficult decision”in risking the lives of young Americans in the showdown with Iraq.
Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, joined vice President Al Gore, evangelist Billy Graham and scores of members of Congress at a downtown hotel for the 46th annual breakfast session that brings together evangelical Protestant leaders and Washington power brokers.
In his brief remarks, Clinton made no mention of the controversy that has enveloped him in allegations of sexual misconduct, but did thank those in the audience and throughout the country who”in recent weeks, and, indeed, in the last five years”have kept him in their prayers or sent him letters and scriptural instruction.”And I ask that they continue,”Clinton said.
The prayer breakfast came as the United States appears to be readying world opinion for strikes against Iraq on the grounds that he has not allowed United Nations weapons inspectors unfettered access to sites suspected of being used to create chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.”We have a difficult decision that we are facing now as a country and our administration because of the concern all Americans have that we not expose our children _ if we can help it _ to the dangers of chemical and biological warfare,”Clinton said.
Author John Hagee raises more than $1 million for Jewish resettlement
(RNS) Christian author and Texas pastor John Hagee has raised more than $1 million to help Jews from the former Soviet Union move to Israel.”We have come today as Bible-believing Christians in America to demonstrate our … unshakable commitment to the state of Israel and to the Jewish people,”Hagee said Tuesday (Feb. 3) at a news conference held during the National Religious Broadcasters meeting in Washington.
Hagee, pastor of the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, presented an official of the United Jewish Appeal with a check for $1,071,352. During the presentation, Hagee spoke of his support for Israel in the ongoing Middle East peace process.”We believe that land for peace as a policy did not work in 1948,”said Hagee.”It has not stopped terrorism since the Oslo accord.” A pastor and religious broadcaster, Hagee is president of Global Evangelism Television, which broadcasts his daily and weekly programs.
Hagee brought the issue of the resettlement of Jews from the former Soviet Union to his viewers and they responded.”The phones literally melted off of the wall,”Hagee said.
The donations are expected to help in the transport of more than 3,300 Jews.”We feel like the coming of Soviet Jews to Israel is a fulfillment of biblical prophecy,”Hagee said after the press conference.
Asked how he felt about his support of Israel differing from U.S. policy, Hagee said,”I am a Bible scholar and a theologian and from my perspective, the law of God transcends the law of the United States government and the United States State Department.”The United States wants Israel to surrender territory for palestinian promises of peace.
Irving Pozmantier, chairman of the Jewish Federation of Houston’s United Jewish Campaign, accepted the donation on behalf of the United Jewish Appeal.”Our fundamental goal is a shared goal … grant peace and well-being to all of the world,”said Pozmantier, referring to a Jewish prayer.”It is a message that people need to hear.” Eliahu Ben-Elissar, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, also attended the news conference.”Jerusalem has always been not only the capital city of the Jewish people, but the soul of the Jewish people,”he said.”Without Jerusalem, there would be no Judaism and … no Christianity.”
Israeli lawmakers support conversion bill compromise
(RNS) A majority of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) has signaled its support for a government committee’s compromise proposal for resolving the divisive”who is a Jew?”issue.
Sixty-five of the 120 Knesset members have signed a letter of support for the recommendations of a committee formed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to solve the thorny issue, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency news service reported Wednesday (Feb. 4).
The controversy revolves around Orthodox acceptance of conversions to Judaism in Israel performed by non-Orthodox rabbis. Currently, only Orthodox conversions are recognized in Israel. Reform and Conservative leaders have challenged the Orthodox monopoly in court, and Orthodox politicians have responded by pushing legislation that would codify their control of conversions.
The dispute has threatened to split the Jewish world into Orthodox and non-Orthodox camps.
The recommendation of the Ne’eman Committee would have the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform movements jointly prepare potential converts, although Orthodox rabbis would still preside over the actual conversion ceremony.
Israel’s chief rabbis, who are Orthodox, must still approve the compromise plan.
However, by signaling their support for the plan, the Knesset members have put the chief rabbis on notice that the pending legislation to codify Orthodox control faces defeat should the rabbis reject the committee’s recommendation.
The chief rabbis are expected to discuss the matter Monday (Feb. 9).
The committee’s recommendation, which was worked out over a seven-month-period, has already been accepted by the Reform and Conservative movements.
Update: Laotians still held for Bible class participation
(RNS) More than 30 Laotians arrested for participating in a Bible study class sponsored by U.S. Christian aid workers were still being Thursday (Feb. 5), a week after they were taken into custody.
One of the 33 Laotians held was being kept in solitary confinement, according to Bill McDonough, the international director of Partners for Peace.
McDonough said the Laotian man in solitary confinement had been”incarcerated before”for his involvement with the Christian group.
Partners for Peace is a Christian humanitarian aid group that has worked in Laos since 1993, providing medical assistance and English-language instruction to medical workers, and assisting on development projects. The group is associated with the 6th and Izard Church of Christ in Little Rock, Ark.
Last Friday, Laotian officials raided a Bible study class organized by the group in a village outside Vientiane, the Laotian capital. Some 44 people were arrested.
Three Americans who worked with Partners for Progress in Laos were among those arrested. The three _ Kenneth Fox of Mesa, Ariz., and Jerry and Meg Canfield of Fort Smith, Ark., _ were expelled from Laos, as were two other unidentified foreigners. A half-dozen Laotians have also been freed, McDonough said.
The Laotian government news agency KPL said the arrests were made because the Bible class participants had”wrongly slandered the Lao government, (and attempted) to interfere in the internal affairs of Laos.” The news service said the classes'”real intent was not religious practice.” In an interview, McDonough said the class was held in a house that had been serving as a church. He said written permission to hold services and classes at the house had been obtained from village authorities.”None of us are sure why these arrests were made,”said McDonough.”Our conjecture is some newly appointed federal official was trying to prove themself.” Laos is a communist, predominantly Buddhist nation. According to a 1997 U.S. State Department report, Laos restricts religious activities. Foreigners, for example, are not allowed to proselytize. The report noted that foreigners are often associated with unwanted influences.
Cardinal Pironio, one-time papal candidate, dies at age 77
(RNS) Cardinal Eduardo Pironio, the Argentine-born Roman Catholic leader once mentioned as a possible papal candidate, died at his Vatican residence Thursday (Feb. 5) at age 77.
No cause of death was given, but Pironio had been ill for some time, the Associated Press reported.
Pironio, born in Argentina to Italian parents, was made a cardinal in 1976 by Pope Paul VI. He was named a possible candidate for pope following the deaths of Paul VI and John Paul I in 1978.
Pironio was one of Pope John Paul II’s earliest envoys to Cuba, representing the Vatican in 1986 at the first major assembly of Catholics in Cuba since the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959.
Pironio served as bishop of Mar del Plata in Argentina and as president of the Latin American Bishops Conference prior to his transfer to the Vatican, where he headed the Congregation for the Religious and the Pontifical Council for the Laity.”
Richard John Neuhaus receives Prison Fellowship award
(RNS) The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, an author and Catholic priest who has helped forge Catholic-evangelical Protestant dialogue, has been honored with the Wilberforce Award from Prison Fellowship.
Neuhaus, author of”The Naked Public Square”and president of the New York-based Institute on Religion and Public Life, received the award Wednesday (Feb. 4).
Chuck Colson, chairman of Prison Fellowship, and Neuhaus were co-editors of”Evangelicals and Catholics Together”a controversial document that sought to foster dialogue among Catholics and evangelicals.
Quote of the Day: Theologian Carl F.H. Henry
(RNS)”The more prominent an evangelical warrior, the more he or she will run the risk of casualty. The deeper one’s faith, the less such assault will decisively determine the course of his or her life, for the holy Lord of history prevails in human affairs.” _ Theologian and author Carl F.H. Henry, speaking to students Jan. 28 at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., about why he quit as editor of Christianity Today in 1968 after conflicts with the prominent evangelical magazine’s board over editorial control.
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