c. 1999 Religion News Service
TenPoint is CQ in item on black clergy
Southern Baptist president predicts eventual division
(RNS) Southern Baptist Convention President Paige Patterson has predicted that some kind of division is in the offing for the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, but he expects less than a tenth of SBC churches will actually depart.”Inevitably, there will come a divide in what is today known as the Southern Baptist Convention,”Patterson predicted in an article he wrote for the millennial issue of the Biblical Recorder, the news journal of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.”No one know exactly what form that will take.” Patterson said a possible result could be an entity composed of churches affiliated with the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship or”churches desiring greater allowance for diversity in doctrinal and ethical matters and reacting in part out of disenchantment with certain conservative leadership.” Despite his declaration that a division is”inevitable,”Patterson’s estimate of the size of a split is wide-ranging.”That breaking away of churches will take between 600, at the least, and 3,500 at the most, of the denomination’s 40,000 churches,”he predicted.”Several new entities and relationships will evolve as a result of this action.” His article, titled”The SBC on the Brink of the New Millennium,”was submitted after the newspaper requested that he and others forecast the denomination’s future for its Jan. 1 issue.
In an interview also published in the newspaper, Patterson expanded on his comments. He said that the 3,500 figure would be likely only if the moderate-led Baptist General Convention of Texas _ the largest state convention in the SBC _ leads its churches out of the denomination.”I don’t think it will be that large, but I decided to err on the side of the maximum number I could see,”he said.
The Texas convention is moving toward permitting churches from other states to join its organization.
As for his more general prediction of a division, Patterson said in the interview that it might be for the best, given the continuing friction between moderate Baptists and the denomination’s conservative leadership, which has been in control since 1979.”We’re much farther apart theologically than some people imagine,”said Patterson, one of the architects of the SBC’s conservative resurgence.”Why sit around and cripple what everybody’s doing?” He added that he could not predict when the division might happen.”I don’t have a clue,”Patterson said.”I have to believe we’re probably on a three- to five-year play-out but I don’t know.”
Grand jury indicts ex-convict in O’Hair’s kidnapping
(RNS) A Texas federal grand jury has indicted an ex-convict on charges he plotted to kidnap atheist leader Madalyn Murray O’Hair, who has been missing for four years.
Gary Karr, 51, was charged Tuesday (Dec. 7) with conspiring with others to plan and carry out the 1995 extortion and kidnappings of O’Hair, her son Jon Garth Murray and adopted daughter Robin Murray O’Hair. Authorities believe the three were killed but have not located their bodies.
Karr’s indictment”is not the final chapter in this investigation,”said Bill Blagg, U.S. attorney for western Texas, the Associated Press reported.”We are continuing our thorough effort to make sure that justice is served in this matter.” Karr already was in custody in Detroit when he was indicted. Prosecutors allege he and others stole more than $500,000 in money, gold coins and jewelry from the O’Hair family. The new indictment does not name other suspects.
Dallas lawyer Thomas Mills Jr., who will represent Karr in Texas, told the San Antonio Express-News he was”shocked”his client was indicted.
At the time O’Hair vanished, she was 77 and ailing. Authorities had wondered if she and her two adult children were victims of foul play or had taken off with money from their atheist organization. Others thought she had left public view to die quietly so Christians wouldn’t pray over her.
She is most well-known for her role in a case that led to a 1963 Supreme Court decision that, along with a ruling the previous year, struck down organized prayer in public schools as unconstitutional.
Authorities said in May for the first time that the three O’Hair family members were killed, and that the crime was orchestrated by David R. Waters, O’Hair’s former office manager, as part of a plot to steal $600,000.
Waters, a murder convict, once was Karr’s cellmate. Karr was convicted of rape, armed robbery and kidnapping after a 1974 crime spree and served more than 20 years.
Waters, 52, has been convicted of skimming $54,000 from O’Hair’s organizations. After authorities discovered 119 rounds of ammunition in his Austin, Texas, apartment in March, Waters pleaded guilty to weapons charges. He is serving 60 years in prison.
Patrick Ganne, Waters’ attorney, said his client had no involvement in the disappearance of the O’Hairs.”If they had a case against him, he presumably also would have been indicted,”said Ganne.”All along they point the finger at him and yet we don’t see any charges against Waters.”
Dueling Baptist-Jewish letters end with no imminent meeting
(RNS) Dueling letters between Southern Baptist and New York Jewish leaders about a potential meeting to address a dispute about Jewish evangelism efforts have led to no consensus at all.
Jewish leaders, angered by what they viewed as”deceptive”Southern Baptist claims that one can be both a Jew and a Christian, had sent a letter to Southern Baptist Convention President Paige Patterson urging him to end the practice.
Patterson initially responded by criticizing the Jewish leaders for allegedly trying to”repress the religious liberties of `Messianic Jews.'”Then he proposed a meeting of eight Jewish leaders and eight Southern Baptist leaders, including two Messianic Jews _ Jews who accept Jesus and say they are still Jews.
Gedale Horowitz, president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, responded by suggesting a meeting solely between himself and Patterson. The Baptist leader, in turn, informed Horowitz that the larger meeting was his”final offer.” In a Dec. 3 letter, Horowitz gave Patterson more detailed reasons for supporting the one-on-one meeting, including an example of a Messianic congregation affiliated with the SBC that is listed in Houston’s Yellow Pages under”Synagogues.””We firmly believe that the one-on-one format suggested would be most conducive to discussing this narrow and well-defined concern,”Horowitz wrote.
In a Dec. 7 letter, Patterson again declined Horowitz’s offer.
Responding to Horowitz’s examples of”deceptive”actions, Patterson said he was not aware of them.”I will assure you that I am checking into the situation,”Patterson said.”I repeat that which I have before said to you, that we intend to be involved only with those Christians (whether Jewish or otherwise) who are up-front about who they are and what they are doing.” While many Baptists believe Jews who become Christians are still ethnic Jews, many Jews believe Jews who convert from Judaism are no longer Jews.
Philip Abramowitz, director of the Jewish council’s Task Force on Missionaries and Cults, told Religion News Service Wednesday (Dec. 8) that no meeting appears imminent.”We don’t know what the future holds, but we’re hopeful a meeting … will come together one day,”he said.
Black clergy urge black leaders to act on African AIDS crisis
(RNS) The Rev. Eugene Rivers, a prominent Boston minister, and other African-American clergy have issued an open letter to black leaders urging them to address the AIDS crisis in Africa.”What verdict will our descendants render upon their ancestors who stood silently as a generation of African children were reduced to a biological underclass by this sexual holocaust?”said the letter, dated Tuesday (Dec. 7).
The letter details the devastation of AIDS, which it calls the”leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa.”It notes that the United Nations Program on AIDS reports that of the 5.6 million new HIV infections in 1999, 4 million were in Africa. Two-thirds of the world’s AIDS cases are in sub-Saharan Africa.
Signatories include Rivers, co-founder of the National TenPoint Leadership Foundation and pastor of the Azusa Christian Community in Boston; Bishop Charles E. Blake, a Church of God in Christ official in Los Angeles; and the Rev. Clarence L. Hilliard, chairman of the board of the National Black Evangelical Association.
The writers urged black U.S. leaders to focus on public education, political advocacy and humanitarian assistance concerning the crisis.
They asked leaders to work on the education of elected officials and the general public about the issue and counter trends, such as the high rate of rape in South Africa, leading to escalating numbers of HIV infections.”Black leaders must challenge African leadership to be more accountable to the needs of their own women and children,”the letter said.
The writers asked for greater action on the part of African-American Protestants and Catholics.”Why have black churches, especially the seven major black denominations, not used their unique position to serve as more effective advocates for the needs and interests of millions of orphans in Africa?”they asked.”They should develop a strategic alliance with the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the World Bank and other international lending agencies to demand debt forgiveness for African nations, thereby freeing up financial resources to be redirected towards the AIDS crisis.” The letter acknowledges that some efforts have been made to address the issue in the United States and in Africa, but calls for more work because”all have been woefully inadequate given the overwhelming scale and magnitude of the crisis confronting us.” The letter also addresses politicians, journalists, civic organizations and entertainers in its appeal for assistance.”Africa is experiencing a genocide,”Rivers said in a statement.”The moral and political failure of the old-guard leadership to move on this issue has cost the lives of innocent millions.”
Survey: 4 out of 10 Americans don’t give money, time to poor
(RNS) Four out of 10 Americans contribute neither money nor time to helping the poor, according to a new survey, even though most Americans agree that society has a moral obligation to help the poor.
A survey by Barna Research Group of 1,002 U.S. adults found that more than 70 percent of them agreed that society has a moral obligation to aid those suffering through poverty.
But 42 percent said they have donated money to nonprofit groups serving the poor in this country or other places in the world. And 33 percent said they volunteered time in the past year to help the poor. Fifty-seven percent said they either volunteer time or donate money to aid the poor, but only 19 percent said they do both.
The random telephone survey, released Wednesday (Dec. 8), was commissioned by World Vision, an evangelical Christian humanitarian organization based in Federal Way, Wash.”We wanted to take the pulse of Americans and their attitudes toward the poor,”said Robert Odom, an executive of World Vision.”That pulse, we found, is not very strong.” George Barna, president of the Barna Research Group, said poll respondents also were”soft”about their compassion for the poor.”Regrettably, many quietly believe the poor have somehow `asked for it’ or `gotten what they deserve,'”said Barna, who is based in Ventura, Calif.
The survey found that 31 percent disagreed strongly with the statement that”most poor people do not work very hard to become self-sufficient.”It also found that 41 percent disagreed strongly that”most people are poor because they have made bad choices.” The rest of those surveyed either agreed or were less certain.
The poll also found that people favor aiding those at home more than those abroad. One in seven said they donate to fight poverty outside the United States.
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Teens using drugs or alcohol more likely to have sex
(RNS) Teen-agers who take drugs or drink are far more likely to have sex at a younger age with several partners than are teens who abstain from drugs and alcohol, a study has found.
Teen drinkers who are 14 and younger are twice as likely to have sex than other teens in that age group. The risk of sexual activity is doubled for teens 14 and younger who use drugs, said the report from the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
The study, released Tuesday (Dec. 7), also found that older teens who use drugs are five times as likely to have intercourse than nonusers and three times as likely to have it with four or more partners, the Associated Press reported. Older teen drinkers are seven times as likely to have sex than their nondrinking counterparts, and are twice as likely to have it with four or more partners.”While it’s clear that teens who drink and use drugs are likelier to have sexual intercourse at earlier ages and with many partners, it is not clear which starts first _ sexual intercourse or drinking and drug abuse,”said Joseph A. Califano Jr., president of the Columbia center.
The research findings raise concerns about sexually transmitted diseases, he said.”Condom use is erratic, at best,”he said at a news conference.
The findings are based on national data of more than 34,000 teens.
Overall, 63 percent of teens who use alcohol have had sex, compared with 26 percent of those who do not drink. About 72 percent of teens who use drugs have had intercourse, compared with 36 percent who do not use drugs.
Quote of the Day: Holocaust scholar Michael R. Marrus
(RNS)”Truth will be pursued rather than found.” _ Michael R. Marrus, a University of Toronto professor and member of a joint Catholic-Jewish panel examining Vatican World War II records relating to Pope Pius XII’s actions during the Holocaust. Marrus, who is Jewish, believes the panel will reach no definitive conclusions. He spoke Tuesday (Dec. 8).
IR END RNS
