Britain's Chief Rabbi Warns of Broken 'Jewish-Christian Relations'

Today’s Top Five

1. Sacks: Divestment vote “could not have been more inappropriate” It’s clear that Britain’s chief rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, is upset about the Church of England’s General Synod vote to divest “from companies profiting from the illegal occupation” of Palestinian territory. In an article for the Jewish Chronicle, Sacks calls the vote “ill-judged even on its own terms. The immediate result will be to reduce the church’s ability to act as a force for peace between Israel and the Palestinians for as long as the decision remains in force. … The church has chosen to take a stand on the politics of the Middle East over which it has no influence, knowing that it will have the most adverse repercussions on a situation over which it has enormous influence, namely Jewish-Christian relations in Britain. The Church could have chosen, instead of penalizing Israel, to invest in the Palestinian economy. … The church’s gesture will hurt Israelis and Jews without helping the Palestinians.” Given the Iranian president’s call to wipe Israel off the map and the anti-Semitic tone of recent Muslim demonstrations, Sacks says, “The timing could not have been more inappropriate.” Israel, he says, “needs support, not vilification.”

2. Baptists united There’s a great piece in today’s Wall Street Journal that you probably can’t read without a subscription. That’s too bad, because summarizing it like this—church burnings have brought black and white Baptists together in Alabama—doesn’t do it justice. That’s because the relatively short story is inspiring and informative without softening the edges. The Alabama Baptist Convention State Board of Missions has distributed checks for “at least” $5,000 to all 10 of the burned churches—including the black churches outside its denomination—and black and white Baptist church leaders met last Monday to discuss the details of rebuilding. Those are interesting facts, but Journal reporter Sally Beatty also gets a revealing reaction from the convention’s Gary Farley, who organized the meeting: “We are trying hard to stay away from paternalism,” he said. “It’s not our place to tell them what to do. But that is the kind of thing you always worry about—lack of sensitivity on our part.”

“But old tensions die hard, and some black church leaders struck a measured tone in applauding the generosity of the Southern Baptists,” Beatty writes. She quotes William Shaw, president of the National Baptist Convention USA: “It would be difficult for them to reach out to white churches and not to respond to black churches.” But Southern Baptists don’t have an obligation to fund churches outside their denomination, do they?

3. Happy clappy evangelicals In the U.K. and elsewhere, evangelicals are often called “happy clappys.” A new survey suggests that they’re at least happy. As The Washington Post reports this week, a new study from The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press finds Americans very happy, with (self-described) evangelical Christians being the happiest people of all. “White evangelical Protestants (43%) are more likely than white mainline Protestants (33%) to report being very happy, but this difference goes away after taking frequency of church attendance into account,” the survey summary says. The more detailed report (see p. 19) explains, “White evangelical and mainline Protestants who attend church at least weekly are not significantly different on happiness [49% of evangelicals, 44% of mainliners]; both groups are happier than those who attend services less often.” Actually, for those attending monthly or less, mainliners are more happy: 35% vs. 31% of evangelicals.

4. Dobson on the defensive James Dobson pre-empted scheduled Focus on the Family broadcasts yesterday and today in order to defend himself for backing a Colorado Senate bill granting some legal benefits to adults who cannot marry. It’s the second time this month that he has criticized his critics on the bill: He also addressed the issue at the beginning of his February 8 broadcast. “I’m about as close to being ticked at this moment as I ever remember getting on the air,” he said then. He sounded even more ticked in yesterday’s broadcast. Dobson also appeared on Fox News’s The O’Reilly Factor yesterday to talk about the controversy.

5. Will Ted Haggard run for Congress? Last August, National Association of Evangelicals president and New Life Church pastor Ted Haggard said he was considering a run for Congress if Joel Hefley were to retire. In January, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported that Haggard said “he would not be running because he’s happy with Hefley’s representation.” Today Hefley said he’s out. No word yet from Haggard, but expect reporters to ask the question over the weekend.

Quote of the day: “I’m in my mid-30s, I’ve got three kids, and it’s about time I did something that didn’t involve cheap gags. You might as well aim high, so I thought I’d try to find God.”

—Scottish TV host Dominik Diamond, who says he’ll undergo crucifixion in a television show to be called Crucify Me. “Diamond, once a committed Christian, will try to rediscover his faith in a journey from Scotland, via the Vatican and Italy, to the Philippines, where Christians celebrate Easter by re-enacting Christ’s ordeal on the Cross,” The Scotsman reports.

Divestment | Church life | Alabama church fires | Abuse | Church and state | Evolution | Education | Politics | Life ethics | Sexual ethics | Dobson defends stance | Entertainment and media | The Second Chance | Books | Spirituality | Other stories of interest

Divestment:

Divestiture dispute in Britain raises Jewish-Christian tensions | Britain’s Chief Rabbi assailed the Church of England for supporting divestiture from companies whose products support Israeli policies (The New York Times)
Synod has damaged relations with Jews, says Chief Rabbi | The Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, warned the Church of England that it had seriously jeopardized its relations with British Jews by adopting an “ill-judged” policy on Israel (The Telegraph, London)
Church’s Israel policy criticized | A Church of England decision to review its investments in firms whose products are used by Israel in the occupied territories has been criticized (BBC)
Sacks accuses synod of bulldozer ill-judgment | Chief Rabbi says vote will hit links with church (The Guardian, London)
Chief Rabbi flays Church over vote on Israel assets | In a 1,500-word article in today’s Jewish Chronicle, the Chief Rabbi, who is known for his moderation and his distaste for public bickering, condemned the synod’s action as ill-judged and said that “the timing could not have been more inappropriate” (The Times, London)

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