Associated Baptist Press - 1/22/2009

Associated Baptist Press
January 22, 2009 · (09-10)

David Wilkinson, Executive Director
Robert Marus, Managing Editor/Washington Bureau Chief
Bob Allen, Senior Writer

In this issue
Religious torture opponents pleased, concerned by Obama executive order (610 words)
Interfaith leaders urge Obama to act quickly on Middle East peace (522 words)
Former youth worker pleads guilty to molestation charge (612 words)

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Religious torture opponents pleased, concerned by Obama executive order
By Robert Marus (610 words)

WASHINGTON (ABP) -- Religious opponents of torture expressed simultaneous approval and concern Jan. 22 about a series of executive orders by President Obama upending his predecessor's policies on detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects.

On his second full day in office, Obama signed documents closing both the United States prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and secret CIA prisons for terrorism detainees; ordering treatment of terrorism suspects in accord with the Geneva Conventions; giving the Red Cross access to terrorism detainees; and ending controversial interrogation techniques -- including waterboarding -- that are not allowed under the U.S. Army Field Manual and that critics have labeled torture.

Obama's orders left room for re-instituting some so-called enhanced interrogation techniques after a cabinet-level review of the subject. That loophole created some concern for torture opponents.

Obama "has already changed the world with respect to America's use of torture," said a statement praising the orders from the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. "He has rejected the use of torture as an interrogation technique and allowed the United States to again find its moral bearing."

However, the statement added, Obama's establishment of a task force to study whether the CIA should be allowed to establish other techniques beyond those described in the Army manual "is a cause for concern."

Coalition leaders called on Obama "to ensure that any additional techniques are humane, effective, and available for public scrutiny. We cannot afford to risk a return to the secret abuses of the past. Specifically, the president should publicly affirm that any additional interrogation techniques comply with the 'golden rule' -- that they would be both moral and legal if used upon a captured American."

David Gushee, a professor at Mercer University's McAfee School of Theology and a prominent evangelical critic of torture, released a statement praising the decision. Gushee said the orders "fulfill and in some cases go beyond both our long-term goals and the specific principles we articulated last year" in a joint statement by the religious anti-torture campaign and a torture victims' advocacy group.

"It is striking that a refrain running through these executive orders is a concern for national security, foreign policy, and justice," Gushee, who also writes a regular column for Associated Baptist Press, said. "The president has implicitly but clearly recognized today that the aberrant detainee and interrogation policies of the last seven years in fact damaged our national security, harmed our foreign policy interests, and violated core principles of justice."

But Gushee also noted that "there is more to do" to restore America's moral standing on the issue of torture.

"Congress passed laws during the Bush years that in some cases need to be repudiated through new legislation," he said.

"Executive orders are a powerful tool but they can be reversed by new presidents or under new circumstances. We need new laws, and we also need a comprehensive review of what was done to people in our name since September 11 [2001]. We need a religious and moral accounting, not just a legal one."

Congressional supporters of the Bush policies on terrorism suspects criticized some of Obama's orders. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) released a statement specifically criticizing the Guantanamo order.

"The Guantanamo Bay prison is filled with the worst of the worst -- terrorists and killers bent on murdering Americans and other friends of freedom around the world. If it is closed, where will they go, will they be brought to the United States, and how will they be secured?" the statement said. He and other Republicans said administration officials didn't have satisfactory answers to these questions during Jan. 21 briefings with congressional leaders on the pending orders.

Robert Marus is managing editor of Associated Baptist Press.

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Interfaith leaders urge Obama to act quickly on Middle East peace
By Bob Allen (522 words)

WASHINGTON (ABP) -- Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders are urging President Obama to act early in his administration to work for peace in the Middle East.

Groups including Churches for Middle East Peace called on Obama in a Jan. 21 letter to seek "a comprehensive and implementable two-state solution" to hostilities between Israel and Palestine.

"You may be the last president who will have the opportunity to deliver a two-state solution for the Israeli and Palestinian people," the leaders said. "The United States will need to take the lead, and work with its international partners to find solutions, create incentives and implement a plan. We pledge to stand by you and your administration as you work with the two parties to achieve it."

The leaders said achieving Mideast peace will not be easy, but is urgent and in the "best interests of Israelis, Palestinians, the broader region and the United States."

Earlier, Churches for Middle East Peace -- a coalition of 22 Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant denominations and agencies including the Alliance of Baptists -- called on the 44th president of the United States to fulfill his promise to engage Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts "from day one" of his administration.

Obama did just that. According to news reports, his first call to a foreign leader was to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Jan. 21, his first full day in office. Agence France-Presse said Obama assured Abbas that he intended "to work with him as partners to establish a durable peace in the region."

Obama also reportedly placed calls to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Adullah of Jordan, saying he is determined to stop Hamas from smuggling arms into Palestine. Hamas is the radical party that controls the Gaza Strip portion of the Palestinian territories.

In his inauguration address Jan. 20, Obama pledged a new approach to the Muslim world seeking "a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect." To leaders who "seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West," Obama offered to "extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

Israel and Palestinian militants declared unilateral cease-fires Jan. 18, ending three weeks of fighting in Gaza that left 1,300 dead, 5,300 wounded and 4,100 homes destroyed in the narrow coastal strip that is home to 1.5 million Palestinians.

The U.N. Security Council called Jan. 21 for the temporary cease-fire to be turned into a "durable truce" with guarantees to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza and permanently open border crossings to Palestinians.

Churches for Middle East Peace called the cease-fire a "much-needed end to the unbearable violence of recent weeks" but said a long-term solution must address the root causes of the hostilities.
"Ultimately only a comprehensive negotiated resolution of the conflict between Israel and its neighbors, including creation of a Palestinian state, can provide necessary security and a brighter future for both Israelis and Palestinians," the group said.

CMEP said a sustainable solution must also include an end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza, measures to secure Israel's security and urgent humanitarian relief and reconstruction in Gaza.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

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Former youth worker pleads guilty to molestation charge
By Bob Allen (612 words)

LAKELAND, Fla. (ABP) -- A former volunteer youth worker at a Florida Southern Baptist megachurch pleaded guilty Jan. 21 to molesting three boys, putting his fate in the hands of a judge instead of a jury.

After jury selection and with opening statements set to begin, 41-year-old Marshal Seymour pleaded guilty and no contest to five felony charges. A sentencing hearing is scheduled March 12, where he could receive up to 65 years in prison, according to the Lakeland, Fla., Ledger.

Seymour was arrested in November 2007 on charges he molested three teenage boys he met through First Baptist Church at the Mall in Lakeland. At the time Senior Pastor Jay Dennis called the scandal a "Category 5 storm" for the 8,000-member congregation active in the Florida Baptist Convention.

The congregation's unusual name owes to the fact that it meets in a converted shopping mall facility.

"The congregation and staff of FBC at the Mall are grateful that Marshal Seymour has acknowledged his actions and spared his victims from reexamining the events surrounding this prosecution," Steven Davis, the church's executive director, said Jan. 22.

"It is our fervent prayer that the healing process can begin, and we continue to offer our compassion and support to all persons and families affected by Mr. Seymour's actions," Davis said.

"Finally, FBC at the Mall commends those victims who were so brave as to step forward to ensure that Mr. Seymour can no longer victimize children, and today's events are an affirmation that justice will be served. We have every confidence that the presiding judge will carefully weigh all of the evidence before pronouncing a just sentence in March."

Leaders at the church said they ran two background checks on Seymour before allowing him to volunteer for the student ministry in 1999, but after his arrest it was discovered he had previously been arrested on charges of sodomy and sexual assault while working as a youth minister at an Assembly of God Church in Mobile, Ala. He eventually got a suspended sentence and probation after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of misdemeanor assault.

In June the Southern Baptist Convention rejected a proposal to establish a denomination-wide database of clergy who have admitted or been convicted or credibly accused of sexual abuse. Instead, they referred local churches to the Department of Justice's list of convicted sex offenders.

The SBC Executive Committee added resources for preventing sexual abuse to its website, but in the end said the responsibility for weeding out sexual predators lies with local churches and not the denomination.

The Florida megachurch "has more resources than most Baptist churches," said Christa Brown of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "If a church such as this one couldn't manage to uncover prior allegations and charges against a minister, how likely is it that other churches can?"

"It is delusional for Southern Baptist leaders to keep thinking that local churches can handle the scourge of clergy sex abuse on their own," said Brown, who lobbied unsuccessfully for two years for an SBC abuse database.

"And background checks will never be enough because most active child molesters have never been convicted of anything," Brown said. "For the protection of children in Baptist churches, a strong, cooperative, denomination-wide effort is required."

According to news reports, Seymour's trial was delayed for several months. He turned himself in to police Nov. 2, 2007, and was originally scheduled to stand trial Aug. 11, 2008. The trial was postponed to seek expert advice about whether he was competent to be tried. A new trial date was set for Nov. 10, but that was also postponed when the defense requested a continuance.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.