c. 1999 Religion News Service

(Dale Hanson Bourke is publisher of Religion News Service.)

PARIS _ Jesse Jackson is preaching. At least he is supposed to be preaching.

Standing in the majestic pulpit at the nondenominational American Church in Paris, he eyes the empty press section and the reserved VIP rows that seem to taunt him. Finally, he says he wants to recognize any of the staff of the American embassy in the audience.

Two people stand up briefly and then sit back down with their families. Clearly, this is a congregation, not an assembly of power brokers.

Jackson seems disappointed but determined. He has come to the heart of the NATO-American love fest to stir things up.

He announces that his theme today is the burden and the glory of human rights. He reads the first seven verses of Luke 15, the parable of the lost sheep. And then he begins to roll.

Clearly stung by the press, he wants to correct the record about his trip to Belgrade.”I prayed with Milosevic, not to him,”he says, shaking his head over the characterizations of coziness with the Serbian president.”I told him he had the power. Then I asked him what he wanted to do with it. I told him that the fruits of peace are sweeter than the fruits of war. Then I challenged him to break the cycle of violence and death.” Jackson seems to admire Milosevic for his honesty. Milosevic, according to Jackson, didn’t release the American prisoners of war in order to seem like a nice guy.”He did it because we asked him to and no one had taken the time to meet with him before and just ask him.” But this is all preamble to Jackson’s true theme:”If human rights is now U.S.-NATO policy, there is high hope for the world. But if human rights is just a spin to justify this war, it is hypocrisy.” For the next half-hour Jackson skillfully juxtaposes”high hope”and”hypocrisy”in his sermon.

He is more than skeptical about this high calling that has brought the troops to the rescue of the Kosovar Albanians. He is astounded by the amount of money spent on the operation. And he is irritated that so much energy would be spent on Kosovo while other countries _ especially Sierra Leone _ are left to fend for themselves.

No doubt about it. Jackson sees it as blatant hypocrisy.

But that’s not all. Jackson notes that France and its neighbors were responsible for many of the current problems in Africa that resulted from colonialization. He points out that the United States benefited from the slave trade.

He uses the”c-word”and gets the congregation shifting in their seats.”Now that the colonial powers have come together again, are they ready to rise to a new level by taking the high road?”he asks rhetorically.

He pointedly asks the United States and NATO to do the right thing, just as he asked Milosevic.

He wants to believe human rights really is the reason for helping Kosovo, and, if that’s so, he wants the citizens of Sierra Leone to know that there is hope.

But noting the fact that neither the U.S. media nor the diplomatic community has shown much interest in Sierra Leone, he fears it is really hypocrisy.

Jesse Jackson knows that advocating for human rights brings glory. But he knows there is a burden too.

The United States and NATO seem to be basking in the glory right now. Jackson wants them to take on the burden.

DEA END BOURKE