News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. April 18, 2002 [2002-097-1]
US Jewish-Christian dialogue resumes
(ENS) While conflict in Israel-Palestine showed little signs of easing, Jews and Christians in the United States gathered in Stony Point, New York April 15-16 to resume a national dialogue after a hiatus of a number of years. Sponsored jointly by the National Council of Synagogues and the National Council of Churches in the United States of America, the two-day dialogue focused on how scripture is read in the two faith traditions.
An initial presentation by Dr. Vincent Wimbush, Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Union Theological Seminary, focused on raising such questions as "How are sacred texts created?'" and "Why do people consider some texts sacred and some not?" Wimbush said that he was not so much interested in "the meaning of texts" but of "meaning" in relationship to the texts.
Dr. Burton Visotzky, professor of midrash at the Jewish Theological Seminary, focused on the commonality of Jewish and Christian hermeneutics, given the fact that rabbinic Judaism and patristic Christianity were both heavily influenced by the Graeco-Roman culture in which they were both formed. A lively discussion among the participants followed such assertions that Christian missionaries often used the text as pretext for mercantile interests and issues of domination and control (Wimbush) and that ideology often drives hermeneutic (Visotzky).
After morning prayers on the second day, participants heard brief presentations on the topic "What is Required of Us: Scripture and Justice in Our World." Discussion flowing from this theme revolved around the way the various traditions use scripture in proclaiming God's demand for justice and righteousness in the world.
Because a number of the Jewish participants came directly to the conference from a rally in Washington, DC, a final session was spent in candid, and sometimes painful, sharing of concerns about Israel and Palestine and the heart rending situation in the Holy Land. The assembly unanimously agreed that the gathering had been productive, that it must be followed up on, and that a small group would work on an expanded consultation sometime in 2003.
"I am extremely encouraged by this new beginning," said Bishop Christopher Epting, the Episcopal Church's deputy for ecumenical and interfaith relations. "Because of our disagreements with the State of Israel over certain policies in the Middle East, Jewish-Christian dialogue in this country had almost come to a standstill on the national level. These new conversations provide a way forward for which we should all be grateful."
Rabbi Gilbert Rosenthal, of the National Council of Synagogues, and the Rev. Jay Rock of the National Council of Churches co-chaired the meeting and will provide leadership for the continuing working group.
Episcopal Church urges further debt cancellation for poorest countries
(ENS) The Office of Government Relations of the Episcopal Church hailed the introduction of bipartisan legislation in the House and Senate on April 18 to deepen debt relief for the world's poorest countries. The bill, known as the "Debt Relief Enhancement Act of 2002," is sponsored by Senators Joseph Biden, Jr.(D-DE)and Rick Santorum, (R-PA) and Congressmen Chris Smith (R-NJ) and John J. LaFalce (D-NY).
"Poor countries shouldn't be sending their scarce resources to the richest countries and institutions in the world - they should be allowed to invest in their people, in health, in education," said Tom Hart, director of government relations for the Episcopal Church. "Leaders in Congress are once again reaching across party lines to help the world's needy people with substantial debt relief."
The legislation calls for doubling the amount of annual debt service relief to the 26 heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs) that have qualified so far for the Enhanced HIPC Initiative. Currently, the Enhanced HIPC program has cut annual debt service payments for 26 countries from $3 billion to $2 billion per year. This legislation would cut an additional $1 billion per year in debt service.
"This is a strong complement to the Administration's grants-loans proposal," Hart said. "Grants and deeper debt relief are two solutions to the same problem - the poorest countries can't and shouldn't sustain heavy debt burdens. We should remedy the HIPCs' debt crisis like any bankruptcy. We should write off their debts, then help them avoid getting back into debt by providing grants. It's the only sensible long-term solution."
Washington office says Senate vote on Arctic a victory
(ENS) The Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations praised the U.S. Senate's April 18 vote to protect the Alaska National Wilderness Refuge.
"Energy security is obtained through conservation and the development of alternatives to fossil fuels, not drilling for three percent of the world's oil reserves," said John B. Johnson of the Office of Government Relations. "The Senate vote reflects the character of our country, that we can use the economic, entrepreneurial, and innovative might of this nation to solve our energy challenges. We don't have to threaten life, land and culture to meet our energy needs."
The Arctic Refuge is the spiritual homeland to the Gwich'in Indians. Oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would have threatened the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou Herd, which is the very basis of Gwich'in culture and life. Traditionally Gwich'in communities are almost totally Episcopalian and have been since Anglican and subsequently Episcopal missionaries came to bring the Gospel more than 100 years ago. For 10,000 years, generations of Gwich'in native people of northeast Alaska and northwest Canada have relied on the caribou for subsistence.
The Episcopal Church has repeatedly called upon the United States Congress and the Bush administration "to permanently protect the calving and nursery grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd by prohibiting oil development in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."
Washington diocese and Georgetown University host Mideast forum
(ENS) The Middle East Peace Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University are sponsoring a free forum on Religion and Politics in Egypt and Israel, America's closest allies in the Middle East on Monday, April 22 at 7 PM at St. Alban's Episcopal Church on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral. Egypt is a predominantly Muslim country and the world's largest Arab nation. Israel is a Jewish state and the US's closest ally in the region. Together both countries receive over 50% of our foreign aid each year. Religion plays an important role in the political affairs of both countries.
Presenters include three Middle East policy experts who are interviewed frequently in the national and international media: Dr. Samer Shehata, assistant professor of Arab politics, Georgetown University; Dr. Ian Lustick, professor of political science, University of Pennsylvania; and Dr. Yvonne Haddad, professor of history of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations, Georgetown University.
The forum's moderator will be the Rt. Rev. Allen Bartlett, assisting bishop in the Diocese of Washington and the former bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania.
The moderator will introduce the three speakers and coordinate questions from the media and the audience following the presentations. Haddad will provide a 15-20 minute regional overview of the issue, focusing on the historic treatment of minority religions in the region. Shehata and Lustick will speak for 30 minutes on their assigned country, addressing such issues as the role of religion in promoting democratic values and how the majority religion has influenced the government's treatment of religious minority groups. Following the presentation there will be time for questions. The first 15 minutes are reserved for questions from press.
St. Alban's Episcopal Church is located at 3001 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, at the corner with Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, DC.
Pro-Israel Episcopal group responds to Massachusetts bishops
(ENS) A Massachusetts group calling itself the Episcopal-Jewish Alliance for Israel plans a response to protests by Massachusetts' Episcopal bishops last November in front of the Israeli consulate. The group will present a panel discussion of the conflict in the Middle East on April 21 in Newton, Massachusetts.
The panel includes Rabbi William Hamilton of Congregation Kehillith Israel in Brookline; the Rev. Keith Roderick, an Episcopal priest in Illinois who began working in 1982 with a group called Aid to Soviet Christians, but now heads an umbrella organization entitled the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights Under Islamization; and Dennis Hale, an Episcopalian and associate professor of political science at Boston College.
"The Episcopal Diocese of Boston [sic] has waged an unbalanced, unfair campaign against Israel," the group said in an announcement. "Now Episcopal clergy and laymen, offended by these actions, are uniting with Jews to support Israel."
The panel discussion is jointly sponsored by the Boston Israel Action Committee (BIAC) and CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.
In a statement posted on the website for the Boston Israel Action Committee, the group said that "the fundamental cause of the conflict in the Middle East is the Arab refusal to accept the reality of a non-Muslim state" and characterized the Massachusetts bishops' position as "tragically one-sided."
"Under constant attack, Israel has been forced to take self-defense measures which our local Bishops portray as an 'unjust occupation'--despite Israel's withdrawal of its military from Arab villages and towns in the 1990s--turning the victimizers into victims and the victims into aggressors," the statement said. "This is morally confused and dangerous, because it rewards terror with concessions, and in the process encourages more terror…
"We urge all men and women of good will to stand with our Jewish friends at a time when the Arab war against Israel is being advanced by terror and anti-Semitism all over the world," the statement concludes. "We must not let this darkness fall again."
CDO profiles now available online
(ENS) Thanks to new technology, Episcopal clergy can now view, update, and print their own Clergy Deployment Office (CDO) personal profiles online. The CDO On Line system is located at http://cdo.dfms.org. The first time a user logs on, the system will ask for the selection of a unique CDO user name and password.
"Clergy are encouraged to enter CDO On Line as soon as possible to check the accuracy of personal profile data imported from the old CDO system and to make any necessary corrections and updates," said the Rev. James Wilson, executive director of the Church Deployment Office. "They should pay special attention to the work history section, which presents some particular translation problems, and the compensation and skill/experience sections."
Clergy who now subscribe to the electronic version of the Positions Open Bulletin (POB) will be able to access it from the CDO On Line Main Menu after logging in. They will also be able to access the POB from the Positions Open Bulletin button on the CDO home page by using the new CDO user name and password.
All of the tools needed to update a profile, including the skill/experience manual and a list of dioceses, are available on line and for downloading, free of charge. In addition, clergy will be able to print updated personal profiles at no cost.