|
|
|
XV.)
BJCPA Executive Director Speaks with Wicca Priestess in Colorado.
1.
The
issue raised in this section of our BJC flyer was to again show the BJC’s
consistent alignment and involvement with leaders of the Religious Left. Mr. Tichenor’s response focused only on the Wicca
priestess, ignoring the other liberal religious leaders on the program. Tichenor writes: “James Dunn did participate on a panel one
Saturday with a ‘witch.’ Neither
Dunn, nor the BJC set up the program for this event.
This event was held in First Baptist Church, Colorado Springs.”
The idea seems to be that since the event was held at a Baptist church
(ABC not SBC), and since neither Dunn nor the BJC set up the program, it was
acceptable. The question should
also be raised, why would a Baptist church open their doors to provide a
platform for such an array of liberal “religious” leaders?
The Wicca priestess (also a leader in the “Pagan” movement) was only
one of several speakers we pointed out. Besides
the names we listed, Marjorie Klemp, International ECKANKAR Spiritual Council
was also a speaker. According to
the Watchman Fellowship, “Eckankar
is advertised as the ‘ancient science of soul travel.’ In occult terminology this is called astral projection, and
implies the ability to separate one’s soul from his body.
According to Eckankar theology, the soul, once liberated, is free to
transcend the various realms of existence.
Ultimate salvation is attained when the soul reaches the twelfth plane,
the abiding place of Sugmad (God).” (Watchman Fellowship Inc., P.O. Box 13340, Arlington, Texas) 2.
Serving
as moderator of the event was Rev. Gilbert Horn, executive director of the
Colorado Council of Churches, which opposed Colorado’s Amendment 2. Amendment 2 would have restricted special rights for
homosexual behavior in the state of Colorado. 3.
One
of the speakers at the Colorado event, Dr. Paul Sherry, president of the
strongly pro-homosexual United Church of Christ, was also an “endorser” of a
group called the “Call to Renewal,” led by Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners
magazine. (BJC executive director James Dunn also signed on as a Call to Renewal
“endorser.”) Wallis is a
well known leader of the Religious Left. According
to the “Progressive Periodicals Directory,” Sojourners
magazine “promote[s] an early type of ‘liberation theology’…” (Published
by Progressive Education, Nashville
TN, see p. 30. Printing of the periodical was donated by the Playboy foundation) According to
Information Digest, Wallis is “a radical evangelical, who, with
encouragement from the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) seeks to convert
evangelicals to liberation theology and convince them of the ‘impossibility of
making capitalism work for justice and peace.’” (Information Digest, Sept. 26,
1996, p. 163)
Among those serving as contributing editors for Sojourners
magazine include Honorary chairman of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA),
Cornel West, and DSA Vice chair Rosemary Radford Ruether, who was also a leader
in the Re-Imagining movement. (AFA Journal, Sept. 1995, p.
12)
Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., also a contributing editor for Sojourners
and a United Church of Christ minister, has served on the board of the
National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, a long time Communist
Party USA front group. (Chavis has served as a vice president of the National
Council of Churches. See sections VI.4 and XIV)
Speaking at the September 1996 Call to Renewal national conference was
long-time Communist Party USA organizer Anne Braden. Information Digest
identifies Braden as “a veteran organizer for the Communist Party, U.S.A. (CPUSA)
who was a delegate and then alternate delegate to the Democratic National
Convention.” (Information Digest, November
2, 1984, p. 313)
Braden was also an organizer and speaker at a 1989 “Marxist Scholars
Conference” held in Louisville, Kentucky.
Wallis stated his own support for a Marxist world view in a 1979 article
in Mission Trends:
“As more Christians become influenced by liberation theology, finding
themselves increasingly rejecting the values and institutions of capitalism,
they will also be drawn to the Marxist analysis and praxis that is so central to
the movement. That more Christians
will come to view the world through Marxist eyes is therefore predictable. It will even be predictable among the so-called ‘young
evangelicals’ who, for the most part, have a zeal for social change that is
not yet matched by a developed socioeconomic analysis that will cause them to
see the impossibility of making capitalism work for justice and peace.
Now that the ‘new socialist society’ is replacing the capitalist
system in the minds of many as the hope for the future, growing numbers of
Christians will join the movement and seek to provide a convincing religious
rationale and justification for what is defined as historically inevitable.” ( Mission Trends No 4, 1979,
“Liberation Theologies in North America,” pp. 54-55) About two years later,
Mr. Wallis was a conference speaker at a 1981 BJC conference. (Report from the Capital, Sept. 1981, p. 3) Mr. Wallis’ support and involvement with socialists and
known communist leaders has never changed.
Dunn’s involvement with such a radical movement, that is attempting to
become the Religious Left’s counterpart to the Christian Coalition, is one
more example of where the BJC’s allegiance resides.
According to the BJC, Jim Wallis
is “spokesman for a coalition of evangelicals offering alternative voices to
those of the religious right.” Quoting
Wallis, the BJC reports: “The Christian Coalition talks about a deep spiritual
crisis, but their answer is to elect as many right-wing Republicans as possible.
That’s their plan. They
have no other plan. That’s not a
strategy for a spiritual crisis.” (Report
from the Capital, November 28, 1995, p. 1) The
BJC’s alternative to the “Religious Right” is people like Jim Wallis.
4.
In
an attempt to defend Dunn’s appearance on the program with a “witch,” Mr.
Tichenor claims that: “Dunn used the occasion to present a powerful Christian
testimony to the ‘witch’ and to all in attendance.”
First of all, Dunn does not receive invitations to speak at various
left-wing meetings and conferences because he preaches against sin, calls for
repentance and presents the gospel as a “Bible-believing” Southern Baptist.
Second, Dunn’s commitment is not to evangelism, but to ecumenical,
non-proselytizing, “practiced pluralism.”
According to a BJC article about Rabbi A. James Rudin, national
interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee, who spoke at
the BJC’s 1996, 60th Anniversary conference:
“[T]he BJC has worked alongside America’s Jewish community in the fight to
defend religious liberty, even when relationships with other Baptist groups were
bad. Rudin mentioned an oft-quoted
1980 statement by the then-president of the Southern Baptist Convention that God
does not hear Jewish prayers and a resolution by the SBC this year calling for
evangelization of Jews. Rudin
called the resolution ‘a coercive and unnecessary and unhappy resolution to
target Jews for conversion.’” This
is the reason Rudin was a speaker at the BJC’s 1996 conference, because the
BJC, specifically Dunn, does not attempt to “convert” people like Rudin.
This fact became even more clear after SBC officials attempted to reach
out to James Rudin and other liberal Jewish leaders offended because of the 1996
SBC resolution to reach the Jewish community for Christ. In a joint response written by the American Jewish Committee
and the Anti-Defamation League, their letter states: “We categorically reject the concept of ‘Jewish Christians,’ nor
do we accept the idea that such converts are somehow ‘completed’ or
‘fulfilled’ Jews…The continued insistence that former Jews who have
converted to Christianity remain Jews flies in the face of the Jewish
community’s absolute right to its own self-definition as a people of God.”
The letter continues: “[O]ne of the hallmarks of true dialogue is the presence of mutual
respect and understanding on both sides. For
that reason, we do not and cannot dialogue with those who have so blatantly
challenged our spiritual legitimacy and authenticity, and who have, by
extension, called for the disappearance of Judaism as a living faith.” (Baptist Press, March 27, 1997, “Reformed Jewish leaders deny
request to meet with Baptists”) So much for “religious
pluralism.” So much for Rudin’s
respect for conservative Christians whose commitment to evangelism is central to
their faith.
The American Jewish Committee, where James Rudin
serves as director of Interreligious Affairs, was also a “contributing
organization” in the How to Win
training manual. (See section
IX) 5.
The
60th Anniversary BJC article goes on to quote Rudin about a
“theology of pluralism:” “[A
theology of pluralism] should not simply acknowledge the fact of
religious diversity but also propose that ‘perhaps pluralism might be the will
of God.’” To argue that
“pluralism,” (religious diversity) might be the “will of God,” is to say
that Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and who knows what else, are all equally
acceptable ways to the same God. Thus,
such an inclusivist/universalist view rejects the foundational Biblical
principle that there is salvation only in Christ.
At best, such views severely redefine evangelism.
At worst, such views assault the idea of personal soul winning.
In the same article, Dunn states that the BJC “has
succeeded in relating to other faith groups not by theological dialogue but by
‘practiced pluralism.’ Rather
than sitting across the table seeking common ground, we stood side by side
against common challenges.” (Report from
the Capital, Oct. 29, 1996, p.2) In
1989, the BJC reprinted an article by Rudin praising the former moderate
leadership of the SBC for their commitment to “pluralism.” In praising the Southern Baptists where he grew up, Rudin
stated: “I can recall no attempts by any Southern Baptist to convert me to
Christianity.” Rudin concludes
his article with this statement: “…I look with some sadness upon North
America’s largest Protestant denomination of fourteen million members as it
goes through its own brutal ‘civil war.’
For well over 200 years Southern Baptists have stood with other
like-minded religious groups, including the Jewish community, in upholding
pluralism… To lose such a major
ally at this critical moment in North American history would be an incalculable
loss.” (Report from the Capital, May 1989, p. 16) Again, it appears very clear - the BJC’s commitment is not
to reaching people for Christ, but “religious pluralism.”
Interestingly, the Saturday, July 24, 1993 issue of the Colorado Springs Gazette
Telegraph (page F3) pointed out that the Wicca priestess which spoke with
Dunn in Colorado, was also raised “as a Jewish
Marxist atheist.” While Dunn has
not had a history of attempting to
“convert” Jewish people, he hasn’t done much in the area of atheist as
well. In an interview with Edd
Doerr, president of the American Humanist Association and long time “colleague
of the BJC in the battle to preserve and defend religious liberty,” Doerr
stated that Dunn had never tried to convert him either, despite the years of
working together on the boards of various organizations and coalitional efforts.
(Phone interview
with Edd Doerr, April 14, 1997) The question then arises,
if Dunn never attempted to “convert” James Rudin or Edd Doerr through all
the years they worked together, then why would he agree to speak at a
celebration of “religious diversity” where “pluralism” was to be
praised, and then “present a powerful Christian testimony” to a “Jewish
Marxist atheist?” Though Dunn may
well have done this, it certainly does not appear to be his standard practice.
Nor would one find “a powerful Christian testimony” of any sort in
the BJC’s journal, Report from the Capital. 6.
Reflecting
the BJC’s commitment to “religious pluralism” over theological truth, the
August 26, 1997 issue of the BJC’s
Report from the Capital quotes president Clinton praising America’s
religious diversity. Appearing on
the front page of the BJC’s journal, Clinton states: “I
have been immeasurably enriched by the power of the Torah, the beauty of the
Koran, the piercing insights of religions of East and South Asia and of our own
Native Americans, the joyful energy that I have felt in black and Pentecostal
churches and, yes, even the probing
questions of the skeptics. That
is America at its best.” In a
December, 1997 ABP article about an increasingly “pluralistic America,”
well-known BJC supporter Bill Moyers asked the question: “One nation under
God? Whose God?”
Critical of conservative Christians for their opposition to abortion
rights and “public funding of the arts,” Moyers states that he is “more
‘deeply a Christian’ and ‘more firmly a Baptist than ever.’”
He continues: “And yet, I am so much richer for having learned from
Buddhists about contemplation and the infinite within; from Muslims about the
beauty of sobriety and surrender, the ecstasy of union with God; from Jews about
the imperatives of justice as the foundation of our society; from Hindus about a
universe charged with divinity, realms of gold hidden in the depths of our
hearts; from Confucionists about the quality of empathy, and the connection of
inner harmony to social ethics.” (ABP,
Dec. 2, 1997, “America looking for inclusive religious vision, Moyers says”) Mr. Moyers was recipient of the BJC’s 1996 J. M. Dawson
Religious Liberty Award. (Report
from the Capital, Nov. 26, 1996, pg. 2.)
In the December 2, 1997 issue of Report
from the Capital, the BJC quoted former president Carter’s comments about
the SBC’s plans to “convert Mormons during the convention’s June 1998
meeting in Salt Lake City.”
Carter also received the BJC’s 1996 Religious
Liberty Award. (Report
from the Capital, Oct. 15, 1996, pg.
The point to be make in all this is that evangelism
(“soul winning”) is viewed by the religious 7.
Dunn
is also highly critical of what he calls “semi-baptists” who would “invoke
a moral creed,” which he states
“really just has two test poles - abortion and homosexuality.” (Report from
the Capital, April 19, 1994, p.3) In a
December 16, 1997 article in the BJC’s Report
from the Capital, diversity among Baptists was noted, which “include
people on one side like [Bill] Moyers, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Richard Gephardt
and Jesse Jackson and those like Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich and Jesse Helms on
the other.” Interestingly, Moyers,
the BJC’s 1996 J. M. Dawson Religious Liberty Award recipient, was lumped
together with Clinton, Gore and Gephardt. Thirty
days earlier, Baptist Press released three stories, one on each of these
political figures. The first
article, entitled: “Clinton becomes first president to speak at homosexual
rights event,” deals with Clinton’s speech at the first annual Human Rights
Campaign dinner: “President Clinton affirmed homosexual rights in an
unprecedinted manner Nov. 8 before 1,500 attendees at a dinner sponsored by the
homosexual movement’s largest political organization.”
The article also noted: “Clinton, who has appointed more than 100
openly homosexual people to his administration, mentioned several such recent
appointees in attendance at the dinner.” (Baptist Press, November 11, 1997) In an article entitled: “Gore says homosexuality is
divine creative act,” the article states: “Vice President Al Gore stepped up
the national dialogue over civil rights protection for homosexuals in a Nov. 16
news conference, saying God creates homosexuals and that God is grieved at their
mistreatment.” Quoting Gore, the
article states: “I do not believe that God intended them to suffer persecution
and discrimination throughout their lives here on earth.
I do not believe God would have created them as he has and intend for
them to be mistreated.” The article also notes: “Gore said the movement for civil
rights for homosexuals mirrors the drive for civil rights based on race three
decades ago.” (Baptist Press, November 17, 1997)
Dunn’s
Theology:
In the June 1996 issue of Focus on the Family’s newsletter, James
Dobson talks about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s address at the
Mississippi College School of Law. According
to the FOF newsletter, “Scalia said intellectuals through history have
rejected miracles and the Easter story. ‘The
wise do not investigate such silliness,’ he said sarcastically.
‘they do not believe [in the resurrection of the dead.]’
Scalia said it’s ‘irrational’ to reject miracles.
‘One can be sophisticated and believe in God.
Reason and intellect are not to be laid aside where matters of religion
are concerned.’” The newsletter
continues: “During an appearance on
CNN’s television program ‘Crossfire,’ Dunn was asked if he believed in the
miracles of which Scalia spoke. He
replied, ‘Yeah, I believe in miracles. I
believe in the essential miracle of incarnation, and after that, all the rest
are downhill from there.’” |