c. 2007 Religion News Service

Clinton Raises $1 Million for Christian Anti-hunger Group

NEW YORK (RNS) Former President Bill Clinton has challenged the U.S. faith community to make the fight against global hunger and poverty the type of defining issue that can affect the outcome of state and national political races.

“That’s what you have to do about hunger _ make it a voting issue,” Clinton said Wednesday (Feb. 28) at a New York City benefit for the anti-hunger advocacy organization Bread for the World.

Clinton said the political pressure from those who are committed to a single issue can be strikingly effective, and praised Bread for the World and other faith-based groups for spearheading an initiative to reduce debts owed by the world’s poorest countries.

The former president highlighted the moral and ethical need to fight hunger, as well as the cause’s pragmatic results. Clinton said foreign aid in the form of food assistance can benefit the U.S., that it is “less expensive (for the U.S. if it builds) more partners and creates fewer enemies.”

Clinton avoided any partisan remarks at the event, which drew a number of New York religious and business leaders, including Manhattan financier and former New York Stock Exchange Governor Terry Meehan, who hosted the event.

In an interview following the benefit, Bread for the World President David Beckmann praised Clinton as an “ally on the issues of fighting global poverty” and said the former president’s appearance was an example of the growing concern and commitment over global hunger.

Clinton’s appearance, Beckmann said, helped raise $1 million for Bread for the World, a nonpartisan ecumenical grassroots organization based in Washington, D.C.

_ Chris Herlinger

Navy Chaplain Discharged After Court-related Delay

WASHINGTON (RNS) A military chaplain who publicly protested a Navy policy that urged “nonsectarian” prayers was discharged Thursday (March 1).

Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt signed the final documents after an appeals court determined that his suit against the Navy did not demonstrate the “stringent standards required” to prevent the court from halting his discharge.

Klingenschmitt received orders stating he was to be dismissed by Jan. 31, but the appeals court postponed the discharge until it had reviewed his case. The Navy said Klingenschmitt was discharged after his request to renew his chaplain appointment with a different denomination was denied.

“The decision to disapprove his request was based upon a review of his credentials,” said Lt. Tommy Crosby, a spokesman for the Navy. He said that review included “his military record and performance.”

Klingenschmitt, who was a lieutenant, had argued against a Navy policy that urged chaplains to lead “nonsectarian” prayers outside traditional worship services.

The chaplain argued his faith compelled him to pray “in Jesus’ name” at all times, including at a protest outside the White House. A military jury determined last September that Klingenschmitt disobeyed orders by making that protest.

Late last year, Congress passed a bill that dropped the policy the chaplain opposed. Klingenschmitt said he was satisfied that the policy was dropped, despite the loss of his 16-year career.

“Other chaplains are free again to pray in Jesus’ name,” he said. “I would do it all over again and I praise God that my sacrifice purchased their freedom.”

Klingenschmitt said he was discharged “honorably,” but Navy officials would not confirm that, citing privacy law. The chaplain is now pursuing a theology degree at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., and plans to travel to speak about his experience.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Soulforce to Target Christian Colleges in Nationwide Bus Tour

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) A busload of gay-rights advocates will come to two West Michigan colleges this spring to speak against what they call “religion-based oppression” of gays.

Calvin College and Cornerstone University are among 32 schools slated to be visited by the Soulforce Equality Ride in March and April. Twenty-six gay-rights supporters will come to Cornerstone on April 23, and Calvin on April 24, on a national tour targeting schools they charge have anti-gay policies.

“This is a social justice issue,” said Bram Wispelwey, 22, a student from Virginia who describes himself as “a straight, Christian ally.” He is coordinating the visit to Calvin, which his parents attended. “We’re trying to eliminate the negative effects of homophobia.”

Calvin officials say they will provide an opportunity for the group to talk to students, though details are being worked out. The Equality Riders also have been invited to a student worship service.

“We find this an opportunity to practice the Christian principles about civil dialogue with people with whom you disagree,” said Shirley Hoogstra, vice president for student life at Calvin. “We think our students have something to offer this conversation.”

Cornerstone is taking a harder line. The Soulforce bus will be allowed on campus, but riders will not be allowed into buildings to meet with students, President Rex Rogers said.

“I’m not advocating against their civil liberties,” Rogers said. “But it doesn’t mean I agree with their moral choice or give them access to our classrooms, our chapels and our students.”

The Lynchburg, Va.-based Soulforce is a national gay rights group opposed to “spiritual violence.” President and co-founder Rev. Mel White is a former ghostwriter for Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.

The tour _ the second in two years _ targets schools that ban enrollment of openly gay and bisexual students. But Calvin’s admissions policy bars discrimination based on sexual orientation, a fact tour organizers acknowledge. Calvin follows Christian Reformed doctrine that homosexual orientation is not sinful but homosexual practice is.

_ Charles Honey

N.J. Marks 60th Anniversary of School Bus Case

EWING, N.J. (RNS) The year was 1947. The case was Everson v. Board of Education. And the national testing ground was Ewing.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of a landmark Supreme Court decision which ruled in favor of using state funding to transport students on public school buses to religious schools.

Ewing’s school district had authorized reimbursing parents who sent their children to Catholic schools on public school buses. A local taxpayer, Arch R. Everson, filed suit, and the case went to the Supreme Court. Everson argued that Ewing’s decision amounted to indirect aid to religion, and therefore violated state and federal constitutions.

The resulting decision has influenced shifting boundaries between church and state ever since. Educational, legal, political and theological leaders gathered at a recent symposium at Princeton Theological Seminary to discuss the ramifications of the Everson case.

It was “one of those iconic decisions,” said Robert Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “It’s cited so often by judges throughout the federal system.”

The court ruled 5-4 that publicly funded religious school bus transportation did not violate the “establishment of religion” clause of the First Amendment _ which prevents the government from promoting, advocating or funding religion.

At the same time, the judges unanimously reaffirmed Thomas Jefferson’s words, that the clause is intended to erect “a wall of separation between church and state.”

Thomas Fisher, son of Gilmore J. Fisher, the Ewing School superintendent at the time, said Everson’s legacy is “the ongoing conversation about what it means for church and state to interact in wholesome ways in this country.”

What constitutes a religious symbol, what can be included in the curriculum, and whether and how religious groups can use school buildings is still debated in Ewing today, said Raymond Broach, Ewing School superintendent.

It adds up to a lot of political pressure, he said. The township is more diverse than it was in the day of Everson _ which means differing religions and holidays.

“School buses don’t have ideologies,” said Broach, “but certainly how we respond to diversity does. We’re so afraid to respond to diversity because we’re going to make a mistake, we’re going to offend somebody.”

_ Julie O’Connor

Quote of the Day: Southern Seminary Vice President Russell D. Moore

(RNS) “We chew tiny pieces of what seem to be Styrofoam and cough back shot glasses of juice while scrunching up our faces and trying to feel sorry for Jesus. Jesus doesn’t want us to feel sorry for him. He gives us the supper as a victory party in advance, declaring that we are invited.”

_ Russell D. Moore, senior vice president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, speaking at a recent conference on Baptist identity at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. Quoted by Baptist Press, he said many 21st-century Baptist congregations fail to consider Communion a celebration of Christ’s victory over sin.

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