c. 2005 Religion News Service

Religious Groups Critique Bush’s Social Security Plans

WASHINGTON (RNS) More than a dozen churches and Jewish groups have issued a veiled critique of President Bush’s Social Security proposals, saying financial security for older Americans should not be jeopardized by the “vagaries” of “economic cycles.”

The joint statement from mainline Protestant, Catholic and Reform Jewish groups did not endorse or condemn specific proposals, but hinted that Bush’s plan would be too expensive and too risky.

“Security for the elderly, survivors and persons with disabilities should not be left to the vagaries of fragile family support systems, voluntary charity or economic cycles,” the statement said.

Without naming specific proposals, the statement said “costs and benefits should be distributed progressively,” indicating support for raising the current $90,000 cap on income that is subject to Social Security taxes.

It also said future generations should not be “unfairly burdened by this generation’s debt,” signaling disapproval of the massive borrowing that would be required to implement Bush’s plan to create private investment accounts that are tied to the stock market.

Kay Bengston, director of domestic policy for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said the coalition remains open to ideas or a combination of proposals, but opposes Bush’s plan for private accounts.

“I can’t say at this moment that we should do this, this and this, but we should not do private accounts that are carved out of the Social Security tax at this time,” she said in an interview. “It would hurt low-income people dramatically.”

But, Bengston said, the group supports changes that would extend the program’s solvency and ability to deliver the benefits promised to millions of American workers.

“So much is up in the air, but that does not mean you should do nothing,” she said. “It’s not a crisis, but the sooner you begin to react to this, the less painful it will be.”

Signers include the Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Quakers, the National Council of Churches, the Presbyterian Church (USA), United Methodists, Reform Jews, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby.

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Methodist Bishops Say Win for Gay Pastor Does Not Affect Rules

(RNS) The bishops of the United Methodist Church said the legal victory for a defrocked lesbian minister “does not in any way” change the church’s sexuality standards for its clergy.

The bishops, meeting outside Washington, D.C., for a semiannual meeting, said Monday (May 2) that the Rev. Irene “Beth” Stroud won because of a legal technicality, not because church rules against “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy are wrong.

Stroud, who was defrocked last December for being an open lesbian in a long-term relationship, was reinstated Friday (April 29) by an appeals court of the church’s Northeastern Jurisdiction.

Stroud was the associate pastor of First United Methodist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia and remains a paid member of the staff at the church.

In an 8-1 decision, the panel sustained the guilty verdict against Stroud but threw out the sentence because of due process errors, and because the church’s use of “practicing homosexual” had not been clearly defined.

“The decision of the Northeastern Jurisdiction Committee on Appeals does not in any way reverse the standards in our Book of Discipline,” the bishops said, referring to the church constitution.

One year ago, the bishops issued a similar statement after an openly gay pastor from Washington state, the Rev. Karen Dammann, was acquitted in a similar case. That not-guilty verdict led the church to tighten language regarding gay clergy last year.

The church has 30 days to appeal the case to its highest court. The bishop urged all Methodists to “join us in patience and prayer for a just and fair outcome.”

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Lutherans Call for U.N. to Seek End of All Kinds of Religious Bias

(RNS) The Lutheran World Federation and other nongovernmental organizations have asked the United Nations to call for the end of all kinds of religious discrimination instead of singling out bias against particular religious groups.

The groups delivered a joint statement to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights.

They urged a return to the practice of speaking more generally about discrimination rather than using terms such as “Christianophobia,” “anti-Semitism” and “Islamophobia” because referring to just the three major religions created an impression of religious hierarchy.

The organizations’ statement asked the commission to consider how matters of freedom of religion could “be applied consistently and absolutely without discrimination,” reported Lutheran World Information, the information service of the Lutheran World Federation.

They also wanted to ensure that the commission was clear that intolerance occurs within religions as well as between them.

“The implication that religious discrimination and intolerance are only practiced by `outsiders’ is not only wrong but misleading, and dangerously so,” they said.

Among those joining the federation in the statement were the Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers), the International Association for Religious Freedom and Franciscans International.

Their statement came a year after the commission adopted a decision that added “Christianophobia” to a list of problem areas that included “anti-Semitism” and “Islamophobia.”

Three Arrested in Gay Protest of Christian Organization

(RNS) A man and his parents were arrested Monday (May 2) in front of Focus on the Family’s Colorado Springs, Colo., headquarters as part of two days of protests by the gay and lesbian rights group Soulforce.

Jacob Reitan and his parents, Phil and Randi Reitan, of Eden Prairie, Minn., were arrested for trespassing after trying to deliver a letter to Focus founder James Dobson, who was in Washington for National Day of Prayer activities.

“This is about love. My parents love me as I am, as God created me, and James Dobson is out to destroy loving families like mine,” said Jacob Reitan, according to a Soulforce news release.

Soulforce, based in Lynchburg, Va., said in a statement Monday (May 2) that more than 1,000 supporters joined them in two days of protests outside the headquarters of Focus on the Family, a conservative religious nonprofit.

Families of gay and lesbian individuals brought hundreds of letters to Dobson, the organization said, detailing how they believe Dobson’s public speeches against homosexuality harm gays and lesbians.

A spokesman for Focus on the Family _ which placed the number of protesters at 700 _ said the Rev. Mel White, founder of Soulforce, refused an invitation to attend a “community dialogue” in which speakers offered opposing views about homosexuality.

“That would have been a wonderful time to give an extended argument for his case,” said Tom Minnery.

“One of Mel White’s charges against Focus on the Family is that we commit `spiritual violence’ when we say gays can change. That’s a very intolerant statement.”

_ Celeste Kennel-Shank

Prominent Southern Baptist Pulpits in Transition

(RNS) Two former presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention are in the midst of transitions that will lead to retirement.

Jerry Vines, pastor of First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla., announced that he would retire from his pastorate next year.

“In no way am I retiring from the gospel ministry,” he said in a statement Sunday (May 1). “I plan to devote whatever remaining time the Lord Jesus gives me to a ministry of Bible preaching, teaching and writing, and a ministry to preachers as he opens doors of opportunity.”

Jim Henry, pastor of First Baptist Church of Orlando, Fla., announced last spring that he thought his church should seek a “co-pastor” who would work with him and eventually become the congregation’s senior pastor. On Sunday, the chairman of the search team announced that the candidate for that position is David Uth, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in West Monroe, La.

Vines served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1988 to 1990 and was known for his leadership in the denomination’s conservative resurgence. His church’s pastors’ conferences have been a prominent national event and he intends to serve as pastor until the conclusion of the next one in February 2006.

Vines is also known for his controversial comments about the Muslim Prophet Muhammad at his denomination’s pastors’ conference in 2002, in which he called the founder of Islam a “demon-possessed pedophile.”

Henry served as president of the denomination from 1994 to 1996. He previously served on the Southern Baptist Convention Peace Committee that sought to resolve some of the controversies between moderate and more conservative members of the denomination in the 1980s.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Quote of the Day: John Mason, fiance of the `Runaway Bride’

(RNS) “Just because we haven’t walked down the aisle, just because we haven’t stood in front of 500 people and said our `I do’s,’ my commitment before God to her was the day I bought that ring and put it on her finger, and I’m not backing down from that.”

_ John Mason, fiance of Jennifer Wilbanks, who ran away from her Duluth, Ga., home four days before their planned wedding. Mason, quoted from an interview with Fox News’ “Hannity and Colmes” show, said the couple still plan to marry.

MO/PH END RNS