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Juanita Bynum ‘Battered’ by Bishop-Husband Outside Hotel

Columnist

Plus: Graham recovering after treatment, Catholic-Protestant tensions get political in La., and other stories from online sources around the world.

Christianity Today August 23, 2007

Today’s Top Five

1. No charges filed in fight between prominent preacher coupleJuanita Bynum is one of the most prominent female preachers in America. Her husband, Thomas W. Weeks III, founded a series of churches called Global Destiny. The two married in 2002 in a televised ceremony; her ring famously sported a 7.76-carat diamond. But the couple has apparently been in for a rough patch lately,and they met at an Atlanta hotel to try to reconcile. It apparently didn’t go well. At 4 a.m., the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, a physical fight broke out and a bellman had to pull Weeks off of Bynum. “She was bruised up and battered,” a police officer told the paper. “She had purple bruising around her neck and upper torso.” No charges have been filed against Weeks, the paper reports.

2. Billy Graham recovering after treatment Evangelist Billy Graham, 88, had a colonoscopy Wednesday night, and his gastroenterologist cauterized an area of bleeding. “Mr. Graham was alert during the procedure, watching the monitor, talking with the physician and hospital staff, and asking them about their families,” a statement from the hospital said. “Mr. Graham has resumed a liquid diet will continue to rest and be under observation for the next 72 hours. This evening, he has been watching television and visiting his daughter, Gigi Graham Foreman, and his daughter-in-law, Jane Austin Graham, wife of son Franklin Graham. He will soon return to his routine of walking in the nursing unit, as he has been throughout his hospital stay.”

3. The Reformation isn’t over in Louisiana The governor’s race in Louisiana is getting nasty, and sectarian. Democrats are running television ads against Republican candidate Bobby Jindal, quoting from a 1996 New Oxford Review article (alt.) “The party claims Jindal once characterized non-Catholics as being burdened with ‘utterly depraved minds,'” says the Baton Rouge Advocate. Actually, what Jindal, who was raised Hindu, wrote was:

Post-Reformation history does not reflect the unity and harmony of the “one flock” instituted by Christ, but rather a scandalous series of divisions and new denominations, including some that can hardly be called Christian. Yet Christ would not have demanded unity without providing the necessary leadership to maintain it. The same Catholic Church which infallibly determined the canon of the Bible must be trusted to interpret her handiwork; the alternative is to trust individual Christians, burdened with, as Calvin termed it, their “utterly depraved” minds, to overcome their tendency to rationalize, their selfish desires, and other effects of original sin. The choice is between Catholicism’s authoritative Magisterium and subjective interpretation which leads to anarchy and heresy.

Yeah, sounds like New Oxford Review. But he doesn’t really, as the ads say, “refer to Protestants as scandalous, depraved, selfish, and heretical.” Yet Louisiana Democratic Party chairman Chris Whittington insists that the commercial reflects Jindal’s own words about religion. “I’m not analyzing. I’m not commenting. I’m not saying he’s right or wrong,” he told the Advocate. Looks like this has a huge potential to backfire against Jindal’s Democratic opponents and the state party. I expect we’ll soon see pressure on the national party to condemn the ads.

4. Spies in church Bynum’s battery isn’t the only disturbing religion story out of Atlanta. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also reports:

When a new couple arrived at Southside Christian Fellowship Church in August 2005, members welcomed them with open arms.

Soon, the new couple talked their way into private group support sessions in the Stockbridge home of church member Ken King.

During the private talks, church members confessed abortions, sexual orientation issues, drug addictions and other dark secrets.

No one knew the couple wasn’t actually interested in joining the church. Instead, they were private investigators hoping two church members, Bill and Leandra Pitts, would spill something they could use to discredit the pair in an ongoing lawsuit over a traffic accident.

The private eyes even tape-recorded the sessions.

The paper asks some good questions about expectations of privacy in group confessionals at a minister’s home.

5. Christians and Muslims in Norway agree on the right to convert The Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relation and the Islamic Council of Norway have issued a joint statement. It reads, in part: “We denounce, and are committed to counteracting all violence, discrimination and harassment inflicted in reaction to a person’s conversion, or desire to convert, from one religion to another, be it in Norway or abroad.” That’s significant, since many Muslim countries prohibit conversion out of Islam.

As far as we know, this is the first time that a church and representative national Muslim organization have jointly acknowledged the right to convert,” the Church of Norway’s Olav Fykse Tveit told the Associated Press. “By issuing this declaration we hope to contribute to the international process on this important matter.”

Quote of the day “Jesus has a very special love for you. [But] as for me — The silence and the emptiness is so great — that I look and do not see, — Listen and do not hear — the tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak … I want you to pray for me — that I let Him have [a] free hand.”

— Mother Teresa, to the Rev. Michael Van Der Peet in 1979, quoted in the new book Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, and reprinted in Time.

More Articles:

Televangelist assaulted by husband | Crime | Abuse | People | Elvira Arellano | Romney and Mormonism | Politics | Louisiana gubernatorial race | Exclusive Brethren | Church and state | Education | Canada religious schools | Life ethics | Armenian genocide | Right to conversion | Missions & ministry | Church life | African church life | Uganda | Zimbabwe | Kenya | Israel | Korean hostages | Tamil newspaper apologizes for Jesus picture | Media and books | Sports | Other

Televangelist assaulted by husband:

  • Evangelist Juanita Bynum attacked by husband in parking lot | Bynum, whose ministry is based in Waycross, and her estranged husband, Thomas W. Weeks III, had met up at Renaissance Concourse Hotel near Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to try to reconcile, Atlanta police said (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  • Televangelist Bynum assaulted in Atlanta | Police said Juanita Bynum, a televangelist who has won a national following with sermons about women’s empowerment, was assaulted by her preacher husband in the parking lot of an Atlanta hotel early Wednesday (Associated Press)

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Crime:

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Abuse:

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People:

  • Billy Graham undergoes colonoscopy, bleed cauterized | Evangelist Billy Graham, who was hospitalized Saturday with intestinal bleeding, underwent a colonoscopy Wednesday evening. His physician, a gastroenterologist, located an area of active bleeding and treated it with cauterization (Asheville Citizen-Times, N.C.)
  • Mother Teresa’s crisis of faith | Her secret letters show that she spent almost 50 years without sensing the presence of God in her life. What does her experience teach us about the value of doubt? (Time)

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Elvira Arellano:

  • No sanctuary | Elvira Arellano is back in Mexico — but for how long? (Christopher Orlet, The American Spectator)
  • Dozens pray for deported immigrant | The story of 32-year-old Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant who took refuge in a Chicago church for a year to avoid being separated from her son by deportation, happened far from Denver. Yet dozens of people gathered tonight at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver to pray for the woman and others across the state who fear the same fate (The Denver Post)

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Romney and Mormonism:

  • Romney shrugs off Mormon history film | “That was a terrible, awful act carried out by members of my faith,” Romney said during an interview Wednesday. “There are bad people in any church and it’s true of members of my church, too (Associated Press)
  • Romney struggles to define abortion stance | Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said this week that as president he would allow individual states to keep abortion legal, two weeks after telling a national television audience that he supports a constitutional amendment to ban the procedure nationwide (The Washington Post)

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Politics:

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Louisiana gubernatorial race:

  • Jindal: Dems’ ad ‘twists’ religious view | The state Democratic Party on Monday began running a TV commercial in north Louisiana that contends U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal “insulted thousands of Louisiana Protestants” (The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.)
  • Also: Furor over religion in La. gov’s race | A political ad from the Louisiana governor’s race is drawing a storm of criticism for accusing Republican Rep. Bobby Jindal of calling Protestants “scandalous, depraved, selfish and heretical” (Associated Press)
  • Jindal declares prayer ban for school boards absurd | “I’m not worried about them (children) being exposed to prayer. I’m worried about them being exposed to Paris Hilton,” Jindal told supporters at the Sabine Shrine Club in Many (The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.)

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Exclusive Brethren:

  • Howard attacked for links to secret Christian sect the Brethren | When the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, admitted that he had recently met leaders of the ultra-conservative Exclusive Brethren, his critics smelt something unsavoury (The Independent, London)
  • Exclusive Brethren attacks Rudd | The separatist conservative Christian movement, the Exclusive Brethren Church, has accused Kevin Rudd of unwarranted and inaccurate slurs against its members (The Australian) Rudd attacks PM over sect meeting | Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd has branded the Exclusive Brethren Christian sect a cult and criticised Prime Minister John Howard for meeting with the group’s world leader (AAP, Australia)
  • Howard defends meeting the Exclusive Brethren | Are the Exclusive Brethren a religious group with the same rights as any other, or an ‘extremist cult that breaks up families’? (PM, Australian Broadcasting Corp.)

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Church and state:

  • Long-ignored state policy bans religious events at State House | ACLU says policy is blatantly unconstitutional (The Providence Journal, R.I.)
  • Not so fast, Christian soldiers | The Pentagon has a disturbing relationship with private evangelical groups (Michael L. Weinstein and Reza Aslan, Los Angeles Times)
  • The Gospel and hate crimes | The argument of the pastors that the proposed legislation in any way threatens their right to preach their version of the Gospel is, to be frank, ridiculous. (Geoffrey R. Stone, Los Angeles Times)
  • Court rules Right to Life not limited | A state campaign-finance reform law designed to limit corporate influence on elections does not apply to the Colorado Right to Life Committee, justices on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today (The Denver Post)
  • 2 New York prisoners sue to get their banned religious books back | Moshe Milstein, an Orthodox Jew, and John J. Okon, a Protestant, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Tuesday. They withdrew a similar lawsuit two months ago after a judge said they needed to register complaints with the prison system first (Associated Press)
  • Godless | The U.S. Mint ought find a way to incorporate “In God We Trust” into the new presidential $1 coins in a way that can be seen (Editorial, The Courier, Findlay, Oh.)

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Education:

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Canada religious schools:

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Life ethics:

  • Sales soar for morning-after pill | In the year since it was approved for over-the-counter sales, the morning-after pill has become a huge commercial success for its manufacturer, but its popularity and solid safety record haven’t deterred critics from seeking to overturn the milestone ruling (Associated Press)
  • Cloning opponents seek initiative toward 2008 Missouri ballot | A fledgling political group calling itself Cures Without Cloning launched an initiative campaign designed to overturn the key provision of last year’s Amendment 2 (The Kansas City Star)

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Armenian genocide:

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Right to conversion:

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Missions & ministry:

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Church life:

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African church life:

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Uganda:

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Zimbabwe:

  • Church leaders criticize regional support for Zimbabwean president | Southern African leaders’ support for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is “sickening,” said a South African bishop, while a priest in Zimbabwe said the region’s governments are more interested in clinging to power than working for the common good (Catholic News Service)
  • Church opens probe into Ncube affair | The Catholic Church has opened its own investigations into allegations that Bulawayo Archbishop Pius Ncube had an affair with a married parishioner (Financial Gazette, Zimbabwe)
  • 15 pastors arrested in Chitungwiza | At least 15 church leaders were arrested from their homes on Monday for allegedly attending a prayer meeting in Chitungwiza without police approval (SW Radio Africa)
  • Mugabe and the churches | In his twenty-seven years of dictatorial rule, Mugabe has shorn himself of anything his religious upbringing might have instilled. (James Kirchick, First Things)

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Kenya:

  • Dispute mars rich history of second oldest church | Until two weeks ago very little was known about the rich history of St Emmanuel ACK parish – the second oldest church in Kenya’s history after the one built by Dr Johann Ludwig Krapf in Rabai (The Nation, Kenya)
  • Arrest reported in Kenya beheading spree | Police arrested a suspected leader of an outlawed Kenyan group blamed for a string of beheadings and fatal shootings this year, the man’s family said Wednesday (Associated Press)
  • Banned Kenyan gang leader caught | A suspected leader of Kenya’s outlawed Mungiki gang, linked to a series of grim beheadings, has been arrested (BBC)

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Israel:

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Korean hostages:

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Tamil newspaper apologizes for Jesus picture:

  • Malaysian paper apology for Jesus image | A newspaper catering to Malaysia’s ethnic Indians published a front-page apology Thursday for printing an image of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette (Associated Press)
  • Uproar over picture of Jesus holding beer | A police report was lodged yesterday against a Tamil newspaper for publishing a front-page picture of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette in one hand and a can of beer in the other (New Straits Times, Malaysia)
  • Tamil daily says sorry over Jesus pic | A Tamil daily has apologised for using a picture of Jesus Christ, downloaded from the Internet, to highlight the sayings of great sages and leaders (The Star, Malaysia)
  • Don’t play with religion, says Abdullah | The prime minister said that publishing a picture of Jesus Christ would only invite problems although this time it involved the sanctity of Christianity (Bernama, Malaysia)
  • Call for probe against Tamil daily over Christ’s picture | The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism wants the authorities to investigate a Tamil newspaper, which published on its front page a picture of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette in one hand and a can, which looks like a beer can, in the other (Bernama)

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Media and books:

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Sports:

  • US Christians seek God’s return to footy | A Christian sports juggernaut from the United States wants to host massive religious concerts after AFL games (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
  • Defending those who call the games | Baptist minister Lamell McMorris is the lead negotiator for the referees in the National Basketball Association and the umpires in Major League Baseball (The New York Times)

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Other:

  • The name of God | A Dutch Bishop’s unilateral attempt at interreligious dialogue gone awry (Editorial, The Wall Street Journal)
  • Of church and steak: farming for the soul | In the past few years protecting the environment has emerged as a religious issue. Now, something similar is taking place in the way people of faith view their daily bread (The New York Times)
  • Evangelicals go green — will conservative candidates follow suit? | Some Christians lead the charge in environmental policy (ABC News)
  • No votes in aid for family planning | Fears of a conservative backlash against the Federal Government mean that a ban on foreign aid money going to family planning programs is unlikely to be lifted before the election. And a move to give gay couples the same financial and legal rights as heterosexuals has been deferred (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Devil’s in the detail: trainers fuming at church’s about-face | Pope Benedict XVI’s hosting of World Youth Day at Royal Randwick racecourse next July was at the centre of a dramatic upheaval yesterday, with trainers at headquarters declaring the Catholic Church’s actions “despicable” (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Earlier: Church backdown in races dispute | Instead of 10-week closure, it’ll be three days (Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Catholic Church takes big step toward transparency | Publishing financial statements should be viewed as a milestone in enhancing financial transparency in a major Korean religious group, where lack of financial transparency has been cited as the main weakness (Editorial, Chosun Ilbo, South Korea)

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